Assignment #4--The Cross Cultural Experience

During my time here, I have made several friends from different countries around the world. In the picture above is Aimee from Canada, Martina from Austria, Lucy from England, Nicole from Germany, and that's me on the end (US of course)! This has been my first experience living abroad, and I was honestly quite worried about making friends...Where would they be from? Would we have enough in common? It was quite a relief to learn that most 20-something year olds from several countries (the ones I've met at least) are pretty similar...at least similar enough to be able to relate. Of course there are the occasional things we have to explain to each other about our own cultures while we are telling stories and such...probably similar to what I would have to explain to an exchange student coming to live from abroad.

One of these things is football. There is always big confusion between American football, football, soccer, and rugby when I'm talking with my international friends. This is a good example of the difference in nomos, or the way cultures name different things. If you are going to be an exchange student at Clemson, you've got to know that "football" to us means American football (what everyone else calls it), which is sort of similar to rugby. Also, soccer is our name for the sport that the rest of the world actually calls football. They say this is more obvious because the game is played with the foot. I know it's confusing but these are very important to keep straight as sports are a pretty important part of the Clemson culture.

Sororities are another thing I've had to explain a hundred times since I've been here...even to my American friend (who went to a small Christian school in the north that didn't have them). Sometimes people will understand what a fraternity is and I can just say it's the female version of that. Sometimes I have to go into further detail...explaining that it is a group of girls who get recruited based on shared interests and people they know...who then perform community service and attend social functions together...eventially growing into close friends or "sisters" in a large network that can be a good source of contact for life. It's actually quite complicated when you think about it because there are so many different important elements. This would be considered an example of ethnos because we are a group that share visual (we have certain colors and symbols that represent us), oral (chants and cheers), and textual (sorority letters) meaning.

Moving down to my hometown, Charleston, there are a million more things left to explain about my people and culture. A good example of techne are the sweetgrass baskets you can find at the Slave Market and along the highways in rural Mount Pleasant and Awendaw. I actually brought my French host family a little sweetgrass basket when I got here to share a piece of my culture with them because I thought it was such a good representative. For those of you who don't already know, sweetgrass baskets are a traditional art form brought over by slaves from West Africa and have been passed among family members for generations. These baskets are handmade, and if done correctly, are supposed to be able to carry water! Now they have become more a piece of art or collectors item rather than used for utilitarian purposes, but they tell a story that is a really big part of the Charleston culture.

Mythos is cultural expression through stories, legends, or histories, that are part of the substance of the groups identity. Another thing I've found myself explaining a lot (whether it be to a friend or to try and scare the kiddies) is the ghost story culture in my town. Charleston is an old city rich in history (at least in comparison to the rest of our country) so there is obviously going to be a ghost tour market. My eighth grade english teacher, Ed Macy, actually writes books with another famous author, Geordie Buxton, so I've heard quite a few of the tales. Whether you believe them or not, the culture is quite important to the tourism industry in my town, so it's important to know about.

Last but not least, we have archon, which is learning about culture through the publicly displayed artifacts with cultural significance. If you look closely at the sign in this picture, it says "FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS EAT IMPORTED SHRIMP." I took this picture a few years ago in my grandparents hometown, McClellanville, SC, which is the location for the annual Lowcountry Shrimp Festival and the Blessing of The Fleet. I think it's a good example of the pride the Lowcountry takes in their cuisine, which happens to be particularly important to us! Haha call me a seafood snob, but I wouldn't even eat it when I was four hours from the coast in Clemson!

For more on my thoughts on Gerfsteed's Cultural Dimensions, see last week's post...I guess I kind of got ahead a bit.

Pictures Sources:
http://bradley.chattablogs.com/archives/2008/03/
http://kristenknits.wordpress.com/2008/11/06/41-days/
http://www.batterycarriagehouse.com/ghosts.htm