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Patricia Medina

Professor Edgar Miranda

Edu 928. English as a Second Language and Cross-Cultural Awareness

January 16th, 2021

Responses on “Understanding Cultural Complexity”

As stated by Cushner (2006), culture is a broad term that could be difficult to define.

When talking about it, we will include information related to our nationality, gender, social

status, religion, education, special conditions, and affiliations. We will identify ourselves with

different categories, and each one has an implicit code of behavior. In this sense, I agree with the

author's affirmation that we all have multiple cultures influencing us at the same time, at diverse

levels.

Question N° 1. “People tend to communicate their cultural identity to others in the broadest

possible terms” (Cushner, 2006, p. 18). Some of my major sources of cultural influences are:

 Nationality: I am Venezuelan.

This is a significant part of my identity, and it is being reinforced since I left my country in

2015. Since that period, I have always been an outsider, it is revealed in the way I speak, in the

drive that I have to get things done, and in my nutrition. As a foreigner, I must do my best

because I cannot afford to lose a job, I live by myself with my mother and she depends on me. I

am conscious that sometimes I may be very competitive, but this is a response to a need. My

nationality also reveals in my nutrition, it does not matter what do I have for breakfast, if it is not

an arepa I am not satisfied; this is because arepas main ingredient is corn, which is very

fulfilling.
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 Religion: I am Catholic.

My religion is an important part of my identity, I pray and celebrate the religious festivities. I

try to make space for God in my everyday life, I believe in Baby Jesus, Holy Mary, St. Joseph,

and other Saints from the Catholic Church. I was baptized, did the Confirmation, and, even

though I am separated now, I got married under the Church as well. I try to make my religion an

active part of my life, and not just a label.

 Cultural background: Jewish.

Although I am not a Jew and neither was my father, still we inherited some cultural aspects

about our Jewish ancestors, such as an appreciation for education, love for traveling, appreciation

for reading literature, and interest in learning to play instruments. Since I was not raced inside a

Jewish community, I did not know those were Jewish values until I started working on a Jewish

school in Panama and recognize them in that community. For the first time in my life, I

identified some of the same principles that my father instilled in me; that I could not see before

in my surroundings while growing up in a lay Venezuelan school.

Questions N° 3. “Culture is complex, but it is not chaotic” (Cushner, 2006, p. 19).

Regarding different patterns of expectations and behavior, I can say that most lay teachers at

my school celebrate Christmas; however, since we are in a Jewish context, when we go out for

vacations in December, we must be aware to do not wish Merry Christmas.

Another occasion when there is a difference in the patterns is in the celebration of Mother's

Day: In Panama, it is celebrated in December, but in Venezuela is in May. As a Venezuelan, I

used to celebrate it only in May; but now that my mother has one year living in Panama, she is

expecting to celebrate it twice a year!

Questions N° 5. “Behavior should be judge in relation to its context” (Cushner, 2006, p. 21).
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In my first year in Panama, I was surprised that most students in First grade did not know

how to write. I was comparing them to my standards; however, the educational system is

different. In Panama, it is common to see students in first grade that are just starting to learn how

to write. In this case, there was no problem with my students, but with my expectations.

It is not that the Venezuelan educational system is better, but in my home country, I belonged

to a medium-high class where most children start their education in preschool. When moving to

Panama I also lost my social status, and I started working in a school where many of the students

started in 1st grade, without having preschool or previous knowledge in writing.

Question N° 6. “Persons holding a multicultural perspective continually strive to find common

ground between individuals” (Cushner, 2006, p. 22).

When I traveled to the USA as part of the Fulbright FLTA Program, I had the great

opportunity to share with many cultures. There were Fulbrighters from all over the world, we all

were excited and eager to learn from each other, and we could communicate in English as our

lingua franca.

However, sharing with other cultures can be also challenging. For example, my roommate

was from Egypt, and she wanted to keep the room at a very hot temperature for me. It was

difficult to find a common ground because she insisted on keeping the room warm. I just tried to

spend a lot of time out of the room, and just went there to sleep, adjusting the air conditioner

temperature for periods, at night. I can recognize that this is a poor example of finding a balance

because the main solution was me leaving the room.

On the other hand, to bring a successful example, I remember in Panama, in the Jewish

school where I work, before the 2019 December break one student and his mom gave me a

Christmas present, with a card which had written "Feliz Navidad”. I found this to be truly kind
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because even though they do not celebrate it, they were recognizing my religion and expressing

their care and respect. It was touching for me.

To conclude, I must say that reflecting on my identity has been an interesting exercise

because it showed me the reasons why I have felt sometimes out of place; I can recognize now

that I do have a multiplicity of influences. I am not an exception; we all have different influences

that interact to guide our behavior and give sense to our decisions. It is also fascinating to think

that this will continue to change my whole life; if I am blessed to keep traveling and learning

from other cultures, probably in 10 or 20 years I will find in myself other influences that I ignore

now.

References

Cushner, K. (2006). Understanding Cultural Complexity. Human Diversity in Action. McGraw

Hill.