Culture to me is language, religion, social behavior, clothing,
food—an assortment of the distinctive characteristics found within a collection
of people. To me, culture has no confinements to the way it can be defined. I believe my definition of culture associates most with Aime Cesaire's definition. Cesaire was a Martinique writer who once
stated,
“Culture is everything. Culture is the way we dress, the way we carry our
heads, the way we walk, the way we tie our ties—it is not only the fact of
writing books or building houses.”
My bicultural life enables me
to experience the best of both worlds. I love coming home to the tastes and
smells of my mom’s cooking. I love going to big Indian weddings with crowds of
people. I relish times I get to watch a good Bollywood movie. At the same time,
being here in Aggieland I have taken in much of the culture here. From the
cowboy boots to the Howdy and Potato Shack, College Station culture is pretty
different from home.
The introduction of new
cultures into my life is something I enjoy. If you got the chance to try
something new, wouldn’t you take it? John Cage, once said
“I can't understand why people are frightened by new
ideas. I'm frightened by old ones.”
To take on new
experiences and to try new ways of life is my definition of becoming “cultured”. I don’t think I will ever really like country music, but I will admit I do jam to some of Josh Turner's songs.
Do you agree that
culture can be defined as everything? Would you experience a new culture if you
could? Comment below!
