A graduation requirement for Covenant is that one visit another culture and then write a series of essays about it. Since I grew up as an MK, I didn't actually have to go anywhere but was able to write the non-sponsored version. I'm not sure if there are any differences in the formats. The paper required reading a book entitled, Studying Abroad/Learning Abroad, by J. Daniel Hess. The cultures I listed having lived in are as follows:
Alaskan Urban
Amazon Jungle
Athabascan Indian
Dade County Kuyperian Subculture
Eskimo
Michigan Suburbia
Pacific Northwest
Southern Brazilian
Texan
The Introduction is here; the individual essays will follow in separate posts.
The cultures I have lived in have been as extreme as their geographical distance from one another. Returning to Michigan between them was probably a key factor in not really experiencing too much culture shock, which might have been the case had I gone straight from Alaskan winters with three hours of daylight and temperatures approaching 70 below to the jungles of the Amazon during rainy season, where the water would come down in sheets and immediately turn into steam. And yes, I think that geography and climactic conditions have a lot to do with the culture and personality of the people.
The Alaskan cultures were very reserved. People did socialize, but it didn’t really have to take the form of talking to each other. A typical visit to our home, this especially with the Eskimos, went something like this: someone would just walk into our house-they never knocked. If necessary, we would do whatever it took to get them warm (there was occasional danger of frostbite). Once this had happened, they would just sit there. We would just sit there. After an hour or two, they would say, “Bye,” and walk out. I like this approach.
I probably related better to the Athabascans. Theirs seemed to be a culture in transition. I never noticed then, but as I look back on it, there seemed to be a fairly large generation gap. A tribal society was gradually becoming Americanized. There was a strange mixture of respect for customs and the wisdom of the elders with a rather selfish mix of drunkenness and individualism. I preferred it the way it had been.
I recall that there was a married couple that I often liked to visit in the summers. Their names were Billy and Jessie. I would sometimes help her with various things around the house and yard. Since she was only in her mid-eighties, she was young enough to keep busy. Billy would sit in a rocking chair inside. I used to sit and listen to him tell stories. I can’t remember any of them, but I do recall being interested. They were usually about his life and there were plenty of them-when I met him, he had just turned 102.
The Brazilian people are a lot more friendly and outgoing and, consequently, harder to get to know one on one. Most of the interaction takes place in the market place; literally. The day of the average Brazilian woman (unless she were at least middle class, but this was considerably above average) was spent going to the market to buy enough food to prepare for that day. And since it wasn’t in the convenient pre-packaged portions that we are so used to, it would take much longer to get ready. This daily work had to include Sundays and so we rarely had anyone but children in our morning services.
But there was also a sense in which Brazilian culture, much like that in Alaska, was fairly laid back. Both of them were event oriented rather than time oriented. Punctuality just wasn’t that big a deal.
It’s hard to find a stopping point. I could go on and on here describing the various cultures I’ve been in but I think I’ve said enough to provide a feel for the diversity among them.