Culture Reflection Paper

One's Cultural Identity Everyone's culture differs, it is one way that distinguishes one from others. It is acquired, everyone is raised from it, and it determines the way one view the world and others. Imagine being in place with others that have different perspective of culture. Culture greatly informs the way one views the world and others.

The ability to see the world as others do occurs only once. This is before the instance of any stimuli, any thought or experience; before the first breath. Culture is a foundation of beliefs and morals that are specific to one’s ethnicity. This is the distinct quality that everyone has based on their abstract views and varying backgrounds. The foundation of how people identify themselves and others is shaped by their experiences and interactions throughout life.

Culture refers to the social heritage of a people- those learned patterns for thinking, feeling, and acting that are transmitted from one generation to the next, including the embodiment of these patterns in material items. Culture provides the meanings that enable human beings to interpret their experiences and guide their actions (Hughes and Kroehler, 2013). The African culture have played a role in our society for many years. America is known for its diversity and is called the melting pot.

THE CONGO Greg Foster II United Sates Army The Democratic Republic of the Congo also known as Zaire, DR Congo, DRC, DROC, Congo-Kinshasa, East Congo or simply the Congo. It is the second largest country in Africa and the 11th largest country in world. With a population of over 78 million, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the fourth most-populated nation in Africa and the 17th most populated country in the world. I will be informing you about the Congo culture, five major characteristics that define culture, the common culture characteristics of the Congo as well as some military history pertaining to the Congo region. Culture is defined as the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group; also: the characteristic features of everyday existence (such as diversions or a way of life) shared by people in a place or time Culture has five basic characteristics:

Every day we use our culture. Whether it be to argue claims, express opinions, or make decisions, culture plays a part in each area. Culture is who we are, one’s identity, its extent is enormous over our views and actions. A person grows up surrounded with culture at a young age. This can affect how they learn and what they learn.

Culture is the building block for life. It sets society's standards, it sets our own standards, and everything we know is all because of our culture. Culture is a way of thinking, a way of behaving and learning. We express our opinions based upon our beliefs, and define ourselves by what aspects of our culture we choose to show. Culture's impact on someone's perspective of others and the world is greater than its other influencers because it can change how you interact with people, your ability to change, and your opinions of the world.

During this semester, I gained a lot of skills and knowledge about interpersonal relations. As a human being, as a member of the "global village", everyone need to communicate with others. It is important to learn how to communicate well and how to build a healthy and positive interpersonal relationship with others. Like the textbook’ name “Looking Out Looking In”, we looked in the communication itself, looked out the language barrier, nonverbal messages and effective listening, and looked at relational dynamics. I learned and recognized about how environmental factors can impact our communication.

Culture is defined as the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group. (www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/culture) It is the history of the people; their reason for conducting themselves the way they do. The culture of a group of people is something they are proud of. It showcases the very things that make them unique and separates them from others. While culture does provide a uniqueness to groups and regions, all cultures do have similarities.

Everyone has their own unique cultural identity. Individuality is the genetic code for differences and individuality, and it allows people to perceive certain aspects of the world through a different lens. Everyone has different tastes in music, different behavioral attributes, and different facial features that set others apart. To a great extent, one’s culture informs the way they view others and the world.

Culture is a belief system commonly shared in the society. Every human in a society share a common value and behavior distinct from other people, depending on where one was raised. That being said, I like to compare and contrast three divergent characteristics and describe which one I hail from. Individualist versus collectivist Individualistic culture is a culture where people cherish liberty and privacy and often trust their personal ability to emerge victorious and successful in their endeavors. Whereas, in a collectivist culture, people emphasizes the collective need of the society in general.

The film Lost in Translation follows two Americans visiting Tokyo during important transitional periods in their lives. Charlotte is a recent college graduate trying to figure out her career while also moving on from the honeymoon phase of her new marriage. Bob Harris is essentially going through a mid-life crisis as he sorts through life post-movie stardom and struggles to maintain a relationship with his overbearing wife. The two find each other in the hotel bar as a result of their inability to sleep and form a connection based on their mutual isolation in both their relationships and the city of Tokyo. The film touches on the importance of communication as well as what it is like to be a foreigner alone in a vastly different culture.

Everyone around the world has different beliefs, behaviors, objects and religion that are common for a particular society or a group of people who enjoys shared values and thus gives positive contributions to the society. This is called Culture. These are carried on by the people from generation by generation. It is the particular view point, customs and beliefs that discern one culture from another. It is transferred from one generation to another through language, material objects, and daily rituals.

Culture is defined by characteristics that are shared by a group of people. It is usually represented by language, religion, cuisine, traditional clothes, music, arts, and is dependent on social habits. Therefore, culture plays a major role in an individual’s perspective of life and his/her personality. Cultures have differed than each other, depending on the places they were established in, the way of survival people pursued to acclimate with different circumstances, and how they shared their experiences with each other.

Cultural Analysis of China The definition of culture is; the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group; the characteristic features of everyday existence (such as diversions or a way of life) shared by people in a place or time. Mainland China has a rich and prosperous culture which dates back more than 4,000 years, which is full of Chinese culture and history. China has a colorful history, which focuses on more traditional aspects like food, customs, and the life style of its people. The Chinese people have shared a common culture longer than any other group of people on earth.

Culture is a very vast and complicated term. As a result, it is extremely difficult to provide an all encompassing definition. In layman terms, culture is used to refer to symbolic markers used by societies to differentiate and distinguish themselves from other societies. These symbolic markers range from religion to customs and traditions to something as basic as language and clothes. Basically culture is a way of living.