Examples Of Different Culture

Submitted By lejohn14
Words: 766
Pages: 4

People are accustomed to the lifestyle where they are familiar with the way they live but one can not see the difference lifestyle of others without experiencing it themselves. There are many cultures and lifestyle people live with many differences which are familiar and unfamiliar to others. What one see to be abnormal and bizarre can be habitual to others. I have had the chance to experience a different culture which was familiar and unfamiliar. My family is from Vietnam, a small country located in East asia near Laos and Cambodia. My parents told me many stories of them growing up and how difficult to make ends meet. They grew up during the Vietnam war where it was it was a difficult time for them, men were being drafted and women were being treated as slaves. After the war they were given the chance to come to America. They took advantage of the opportunity and decided it was time to start fresh. They moved to America to Monterey, CA where I was born. Being born in America I was Americanized, I didn't have to go through the difficult times my parents went through. Living here I was able to go to school, enjoy my childhood instead of working at a young age. I didn't know what they were talking about when my parents told me about their stories until i got to experience it myself. During my 5th grade year my parents decided to visit Vietnam and take me along. When I got there everything was unfamiliar to me. Different people, culture, transportation, food but I was also familiar with some of their lifestyle as well. I was familiar with their language and some food. I was accustom to some of their culture because growing up my parents only spoke Vietnamese so I was taught how to speak it at a very young age. My parents would also make home-made vietnamese dishes which I was familiar to some in Vietnam. Vietnam was a whole new environment where I was unfamiliar with most of their customs and lifestyle. In Vietnam the roads were all uneven with no traffic signs to guide the motorists. Everyone drove mopeds in Vietnam where everyone drives cars in the U.S. The streets were unfamiliar with no street signs, heavy traffic full of motorist, and trash covering the roads. I felt Vietnam was unsanitary because everywhere I went it was filled with trash or flies or rats running around. In America I would never find rats running around or flies flying in your food in a restaurant. I stayed there for a month and I was sick the entire time because I was so unfamiliar with their food and it was unsanitary which made it even worse. I was unable to eat anything. One thing I did notice that I was familiar to was family dinner time. They would