Giamo's Thoughts: Culture

What is culture? 

Culture is a very complicated word. There are many aspects of culture such as music, language and food.

When we talk about food and culture we can use the word cuisine. This words means a style of food from a particular country or region. For example I could say I love Italian and Thai cuisine. That is actually true!

Other aspects of culture are fashion, architecture and literature.

Literature is a word used to describe written works such as books that are seen as great or classic. My favorite author is an American man named Ernest Hemingway. One of his most popular books is called the "The Old Man and the Sea".

What is interesting about your culture? 

Well I am from the United States, so I belong to American culture. In my opinion the most interesting aspect of American culture  is the entertainment.

Many people from around the world know about the United States because of the movies, tv shows, music and many other forms of entertainment created in the country.

My favorite form of American entertainment is the NFL and NBA. These two sports leagues are exciting to watch, provide great drama and are an escape from reality for a moment.

When people from other countries think about your culture what do they usually think of? 

Foreigners usually think about fast food, obese people, gun violence and some other things when they think about America.

Also when foreigners think about America they may think about the diversity in the U.S. For example in the city of Miami there is a lot of diversity because we have many people from different countries such as Cuba, Israel, Colombia, Haiti and many others.

What has surprised you when you have met people from other cultures? 

Well one time I was talking to a student from Saudi Arabia. I asked him how many brothers he had and he told me he had six. Then I asked him how many sisters he had and he told me he had 7. I was amazed at how many siblings he had, but then he told me that he had such a big family because his father had two wives.

That really surprised me at the time, because in the United States polygamy is illegal. But I guess having more than one wife at a time doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing!