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We had a very short class on Thursday.  A one hour class seems long, but for the brief discussion we had on culture, it was the. Shortest. Class. Ever.

Going around the table, shedding a light on each person’s culture, I kept everything I heard in mind.  I tried to apply them to my everyday life.  Did I relate to some?  Yes.  Did I try to relate to others?  Yes.  Did I compare other cultures to mine?  Of course.

I noticed much of this when I was at my brother’s wedding.  I stood with my brother’s best man and “chit-chatted” with him.  We gave each other usual greetings, by which I mean “Hi, how are you?” “Good, you?” “Good.”  An awkward silence shrouded us, so we gave each other excuses to leave.  The same conversation went as followed for the rest of his groomsmen and me.

Talking to my dad about the common American “Hi, how are you?” he said Chinese and Vietnamese culture have something similar.  “In China,” he said, “people ask ‘Did you eat yet?’  I think it’s because back then, food was rare.  If someone ate, that someone was doing well.”  I was skeptical at first.  He went on to tell me, “That influenced a Vietnamese sort of greeting.  Have you ever noticed me, you, or anyone going somewhere, and your mom asks, ‘Where are you going?’”  I thought it was because she was nosy.  “In Vietnam, people ask other people where they’re going. It’s nothing personal.  It can be someone’s acquaintance. The person who asked doesn’t need an answer.  It’s just something to say.”

I’m very excited about this culture unit in class.  It’s really something I can relate to, reflect upon, and ask questions from curiosity.  I've got so many stories that I'm eager to share!  Maybe I’ll take in some culture I’ll hear about and modify my own.