Bridging the Cultural Gaps

Recently my class has been given the privilege to work with a group of ESL students from varying countries. These countries are the same countries that we are exploring in Second Life. This has allowed us to have both views of the community as both people from the physical and virtual world are contributing to our understanding of their communities. Although both distinct groups are valid they do provide an excellent comparison to one another.

            The three ESL students from China; Gerry, Carol and Holly. They allowed us to interview them on a multitude of questions. The interview occurred as follows.

How did you prepare to come to America?

Carol: Money

Gerry: We bring a credit card from China and I think maybe 500 cash on me

What did you wish you had done before you left for America?

Gerry: Not sure… I just wanted to come here and have some fun

Did you study to come here?

They informed us that they spent quite a large amount of time learning English and even visited New York City (which they though was dirty).

Anything else you wanted to do before you came here?

Carol: Go to Hawaii

What were your first impressions of America?

Gerry: Hungry; I was really hungry. I wanted to try hamburgers.

What were your first impressions of UK and Lexington?

All: Inconvenient

Why do you say that?

Carol: Everything is spread out here

What do you think of the students?

Gerry: Pretty friendly and polite

What do you think of the city?

They confirmed that they have been downtown but stated that it was too far away.

Did you all have any pets?

Gerry: Like three years ago my grandma had a cat and dog. The cat died.

What’s your favorite Slang word?

Gerry: Bitch

Any words of advice to Chinese coming to America?

Bring money. Practice English.

Do you all miss anything?

Carol: No

Thoughts on Chapter 7

 

Chapter seven had some interesting ideas, but I found like a few of the other chapters, a little distracted by the stories. I struggled following along with the different places he was talking about and how they really fit in with the chapter.  I think Appiah makes some strong claims in this chapter however and the study guide questions hit upon a lot of the strong points made. When Appiah talks about cultural imperialism he is talking about the cultural aspects of a imperialized civilization. This is an idea that talks about how cultures are influenced to an extent by capitalism, and he used the United States and Europe as examples. We are influence by the things we see in the media and in general by things we like. He dismisses this idea because it is around us everywhere, it’s an overwhelming idea and principle, there is really no hiding from it in the end, it’s all around us, and everybody does it.

Appiah’s “golden rule,” in chapter seven is “I am human: nothing human is alien to me.” This idea, in order to be a true cosmopolitan in our world today you cannot be afraid of anything.

When Appiah says “cultural purity is an oxymoron,” he is basically saying, we can sit here and talk all we want about being a cosmopolitan and what it takes to be one, but really chances are that in our day in age we already are cosmopolitans. We may not know that we are true cosmopolitans, but in our society today it is a lot easier to be a cosmopolitan and therefore there is a high chance we already are one. Thanks to technology and travel we are exposed to so much more today than ever before, and we are much more likely to be a cosmopolitan.

Cosomopolitanism: Chapter 4

In chapter four of Cosmopolitanism, I believe Appiah was trying to explain the difference in values and morals and how that when these are discussed across different cultures and societies that agreement on some matters can be very difficult to reach. I believe when he describes values as “open textured” that he means some value can be seen is mostly the same fashion across all cultures and societies. They are open, and everyone can “feel” them and understand what they are about and mean. The “texture” or true core meaning isn’t hidden or different from others; it is in plain sight. Appiah also goes on to say that values are “contestable.” I believe he is meaning the some values some societies hold, or different cultures, are different from our own or from what we believe in. That others might not understand why such values are important to the society. And some might question or argue against why these values are held up in such a way. These two terms then can complicate discussions about values, because if some values are accepted among many societies and then some are contested when discussed across societies this could cause unwanted tension, because neither side would want to think from the others point-of-view.