Reflective Reflection Of Culture

Four months ago I described culture as “a makeup of different groups that someone can relate to, which in the end will form that person’s identity”. To some extent I still stand by this definition, but ever since then I have come a long a way in understanding culture and even experiencing it in different ways. This by itself has led me to be more introspective of my definition of culture and has made me realize that things aren’t always how we assume them to be. I found this out through one of my best friend’s presentation that I had to attend for the cultural activities assignment. Mirada’s’ presentation has really helped illustrate the diversity of culture for me. This has made me more respectful of other people’s cultures and beliefs, which

I found it very interesting to hear about his thoughts on Armenians, given the fact that Azerbaijan borders turkey, and we were reading the bastard of Istanbul at the time. Let’s just say that he did not have a good opinion about them, which was interesting given that the book depicts Armenians more like victims rather than oppressors. In addition to that he also talked about the food which is different from what the western culture is used to, but is surprisingly similar to Ethiopian food. In addition to that I found it to be an eye opening experience to better appreciate the different cultures people all around the world have. And what surprised me the most was how his culture defined his actions, from the way he cuts his hair to how he interacts with people. Just like how I talked about the influence Ethiopian culture has had on me on my initial reflective essay, which brings me to my final definition of culture. Culture for me is an entity, be it a place, a music or a book that has similar, but not the same effect on a group of people living in a community. But that is just my definition, if I have learnt anything in the past four months is that everyone’s definition of culture