Are You the Bully or the Bullied?
Being a settler in the United States can lead to two roads: it can either make you completely forget your cultural backgrounds, or make you stick to your own language and culture, never being able to adapt to the American traditions. How then, can one keep a balance between the two? It is very difficult to practice two completely different cultures every day and try to keep it stable.
Seeing how other students struggle with language and the culture barrier makes me think back in summer 2007 when I just arrived tin the U.S with no plans in mind. I was eagerly waiting for a new school year to start, hoping that I would soon make new friends, which later I found out, was harder to make than I thought. Hearing my interviewees’ responses and their somewhat disappointed voice and tone, made me realize how hard it was for them to adapt to this new culture. Truly, when one cannot speak a nation’s language fluently, that makes him or her close up which slowly kills the skills of communicating and reduces social implications. None of these interviewees had a close friend who was of a different nationality. This research proves that when an immigrant comes to the point where they have to implicate themselves in social activities and interact with other people, they choose someone who speaks the same language or has the same cultural background. This can lead to a person being anti-social and lacking participation in American culture. Not having a lot of friends in a new culture will leave a new settler alone which can later lead to depression. The more culturally diverse friends one can have, the brighter and more fun their life can be, because that can open up a person to try new foods, music, programs etc.
Another issue making most immigrants forget their values and principles is the American Media. I asked my three interviewees if they listen to any of their natal music and the answer was no. I did the math and came up with 90% of the music on their playlist to be American songs. Movies and music would impact on young adults more because they tend to do anything to fit in the society. Matthew English mentioned in his scholarly article: “Now, there is no denying using movies or music to formulate a perspective on American culture is both unfair and grossly inaccurate. Nonetheless, it is quite amazing how much attention other countries pay to our seemingly shallow entertainment industry. They soak it up eagerly“ (English, 2010). Because young adults are still developing their character and beliefs, I encourage that they be the ones who really stick to their traditions and open up their hearts to their past motherland that made them who they are today.
Clearly it is very difficult to leave a country behind in hopes of finding religious freedom, economic opportunities or better cultural perspectives. A citizen will always leave voluntarily. A country will not hold its citizens on its territory, not allowing them to leave. But in this process not only the motherland is left behind but also all the beautiful traditions that one lived in. Usually we don’t hear children leaving their mothers behind. The same way, a citizen, even if far away from home, should always keep their motherlands in their hearts.
Picture credit: http://www.fairimmigration.org/tag/barack-obama/
Being a settler in the United States can lead to two roads: it can either make you completely forget your cultural backgrounds, or make you stick to your own language and culture, never being able to adapt to the American traditions. How then, can one keep a balance between the two? It is very difficult to practice two completely different cultures every day and try to keep it stable.
Seeing how other students struggle with language and the culture barrier makes me think back in summer 2007 when I just arrived tin the U.S with no plans in mind. I was eagerly waiting for a new school year to start, hoping that I would soon make new friends, which later I found out, was harder to make than I thought. Hearing my interviewees’ responses and their somewhat disappointed voice and tone, made me realize how hard it was for them to adapt to this new culture. Truly, when one cannot speak a nation’s language fluently, that makes him or her close up which slowly kills the skills of communicating and reduces social implications. None of these interviewees had a close friend who was of a different nationality. This research proves that when an immigrant comes to the point where they have to implicate themselves in social activities and interact with other people, they choose someone who speaks the same language or has the same cultural background. This can lead to a person being anti-social and lacking participation in American culture. Not having a lot of friends in a new culture will leave a new settler alone which can later lead to depression. The more culturally diverse friends one can have, the brighter and more fun their life can be, because that can open up a person to try new foods, music, programs etc.
Another issue making most immigrants forget their values and principles is the American Media. I asked my three interviewees if they listen to any of their natal music and the answer was no. I did the math and came up with 90% of the music on their playlist to be American songs. Movies and music would impact on young adults more because they tend to do anything to fit in the society. Matthew English mentioned in his scholarly article: “Now, there is no denying using movies or music to formulate a perspective on American culture is both unfair and grossly inaccurate. Nonetheless, it is quite amazing how much attention other countries pay to our seemingly shallow entertainment industry. They soak it up eagerly“ (English, 2010). Because young adults are still developing their character and beliefs, I encourage that they be the ones who really stick to their traditions and open up their hearts to their past motherland that made them who they are today.
Clearly it is very difficult to leave a country behind in hopes of finding religious freedom, economic opportunities or better cultural perspectives. A citizen will always leave voluntarily. A country will not hold its citizens on its territory, not allowing them to leave. But in this process not only the motherland is left behind but also all the beautiful traditions that one lived in. Usually we don’t hear children leaving their mothers behind. The same way, a citizen, even if far away from home, should always keep their motherlands in their hearts.
Picture credit: http://www.fairimmigration.org/tag/barack-obama/