Hi, my name is Andrew and
I will be turning 16 in 2 months. I moved to Abu Dhabi when I was 8. It wasn’t
easy but so does learning how to speak English at that age. To this day, my
English speaking skills is still not as fluent as most of my friends at school
but I’ve never felt excluded from a certain culture due to the bizarre number of
people from different countries and different cultures that experienced the
same transition in their lives. Language plays an important role here because
it is the only way of communicating ideas between people from different
cultures. When being exposed to different cultures, people change due to their
ability to adapt with their surroundings and the use of language, the only way
to communicate with one another.
In this multi-cultural country that we live
in, a conversation would usually include “back in my country, we call that _______.” or “where I used to live, we do it differently.” these quotes
refer to a person’s culture where they used to live or where they are from. I
believe that a culture is a society that follows certain acts, customs, ideas
and rules to maintain their way of living. Each culture has a distinctive way
of doing things, other cultures might find it somewhat unusual but others might
have the same ideas and an altered interpretation. For example, I have an
interest for music, I can play the guitar, drums, bass and the cajon. In this
world we live in, not everyone listens to the same type of music. People’s
music taste sometimes relate to their cultural difference. In my opinion, music
is just a language that expresses ideas in a culture or community in a slightly
different way and again each culture have their own ways of expressing ideas
and customs whether it is through music or sacred rituals.
At the end of the day, my idea of a culture
is very similar to Renato Rosaldo’s, it is something we learn or born into.
“Culture encompasses the everyday and the esoteric… culture is all-pervasive.” -Renato Rosaldo
It isn't easy moving to a country and having to learn a new language. You may struggle at first, but it's just the best feeling when you finally feel in place.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard living in new place and learning new language. I struggled with it for a while. By the way, I agree how you say that music is language spreading culture and ideas, because each culture/country may have thier own tradition instruments which I have in my country. The way it sounds and is played can express thier culture through music tones.
ReplyDeleteVery well written blog. I like how you related it to music because its another factor to look at and very creative and i like the quote you added in the end. Well done
ReplyDeleteAwesome Andy! Keep it up! Most people who move to the UAE will find the transition hard, especially at the age that you were at the time, but it's great that you didn't feel excluded at any point. I also agree with your choice of definition. :)))))))))))
ReplyDeleteYou said that you didn't feel a barrier due to the people around you, then do you think that language can be a barrier if you cannot relate directly to them?
ReplyDeleteYes! it can be a barrier but there are other ways to relate such as music, sports, games, etc. In my case, my surroundings helped me settle and together we broke through this 'language barrier' :)
DeleteLove the title of the blog, its hilarious xD
ReplyDeleteAnyway, the post was really cool,and you made me look at culture in a really different way.
Best of luck and nicely done :)
i agree with you in terms of finding it difficult when moving to a new country, where you discover many new cultures and it can be very difficult to get along with them at first, but sometimes with some culture, you find that you can also relate to that culture after you know them for awhile.
ReplyDeleteAnd i didnt know you play guitar, we should start a band together ;)