Culture

When you think of culture, what are some of the first things that come to mind? Maybe different countries around the world or different ethnicities. The definition of culture as discussed in my class means to have a set of traditions or norms that a particular group follows. Learning by example; seeing it, hearing it, and speaking it. So as I said before, our initial thoughts are a lot greater and bigger but could we bring it in even closer to home? Do you have traditions or norms that your own family has followed throughout the years? One thing that I found interesting while discussing culture was the accommodations or adjustments you have to make when you get married. Now I'm not talking about individual habits that you have to sometimes get used to. Sometimes those things can get mixed in with culture and we have to be careful to see the difference there. For me this cultural mix has become a very new experience for me, I recently got married in July 2015. I haven't been a part of holiday traditions yet but I have gotten a taste of the other family traditions that my husband does. One example is family reunions, they get together with family very frequently for family reunions. This is something that is complete opposite from what I am actually accustom to, my family on both sides have probably done a total of 4 or 5 reunions in my life time. It's kind of hard for me to adjust to because I'm not used to being around so many people at a time for days at a time. This isn't a small reunion either, they are huge! Don't get me wrong, I fully believe family reunions are great and I want that for our some day little family. This is just one cultural difference that I will need to learn to get used to. Sometimes it can be really overwhelming with how many people there are but they are all great and wonderful people. As I briefly mentioned earlier about wanting family reunions for our own little family, this is an example of me sort of adopting new cultural practices into my life. That's the great thing about culture, you can take traditions from other people to make a more positive impact in your own family. However, it is also important that you don't try to adopt traditions that could be negative to the family. Have fun with it and brain storm the cool varieties of culture around you!