Taja Tates

Ms. Dawn Miller

English

July 27, 2010

Samoa
Samoa and the United States are both very unique countries. Both these countries have

similarities and many differences in many aspects including cultural beliefs, traditions, morals,

dances etc. Some things that differ between the two countries are geographic features, dances

and religious beliefs. Although, there are many dissimilates, both the U.S and Samoa have quite

a few similarities such as weddings, sports and the pregnant women’s job to teach the younger

generation of future mothers how to parent.

Samoa is an indigenous country located south of Asia in the Pacific Ocean. It is a very small

island that is very small populated but abundant in lush scenery. Its waters are non polluted

unlike the U.S and its air quality is a big difference compared to America's because of their rare

use of factories and pollutants. Samoa also has numerous active volcanoes and beautiful

mountains that are very leafy. On the contrary, the U.S consists of big cities with populations

bigger than the Samoan population all in all. America in some areas are rural and unlike Samoa

we have different temperatures where as in Samoa majority of the time the weather is

mild/warm. Furthermore, the U.S does not have many natural features but it does have some in

active volcanoes coupled with a few mountains but not many. The U.S. is not very green and is

high polluted in both air quality and the waters. All in all, Samoa has many differences compared

to the United States geographically which makes both of these countries interesting places to

visit and study in.

 In addition, Samoa and America also differ in cultural aspects, values and traditions. In the

U.S a native culture does not exists, but has many people from different cultural backgrounds.

On the other hand, Samoa has a native culture and they worships their ancestors. Their dances

are tribal traditions along with tattoos. Tattoos in Samoa are believed to protect you against harm

and to mark your citizenship in society unlike the U.S where tattoos are gang-related or have a

personal meaning. Dances in Samoa tell a story and are used for celebrations in contrast to the

U.S. which dances have no meaning and are often times using sexual gestures. Also, Samoa has

a ritual for a rite of passage. In the U.S. there is no rite of passage it is believed that at age 18 you

are mature enough to legally be considered an adult. As you can see, Samoa is a country that has

a strong sense of culture that is integrated into their daily lives ad politics unlike the U.S. which

focuses on currency and success.

Despite these two countries differences, they have some similarities such as weddings, sorts

and motherly values. In both the U.S. and Samoa, weddings are greatly celebrated by food,

dancing, music and the company of family and friends. Moreover, both countries have similar

interests in sports. For example, both countries greatly support football and are played

predominately by men in both societies. Likewise, Samoa and the U.S. both have a similar

cultural belief specifically targeted towards women. In both countries, older women are to teach

younger women how to take care of a household as well as how to take care of children to

prepare them to birth children into the world. This has been widely practiced for generations in

both countries which makes this similarity more unique than others.

In conclusion, Samoa and America have many dissimilarities but have a few things in

common, varying from cultural prospective to public entertainment. America is more political

and their sense of culture is success where as Samoa's culture is more native and family oriented.
Both countries have values that are vital to having a happy life

which makes both countries appealing to people as well as interesting. The diversity, prosperity

and the social values make both of these countries extraordinary.