We started off this school year with an activity that our director had us do. We approached it in the usual spirit of 'team building' but quickly found that it wasn't meant to be one of those exercises. This activity involved a reading that made us closely examine our roles as expat teachers. I don't remember the reading but I still think about what we talked about.
In this reading the question was asked, "do you live with or in the native culture?" As someone who has traveled a bit in the course of his lifetime, I have taken pride in the fact that I have always tried to do as the locals do and immerse myself in the culture that surrounds me. But as I reflected on what my experiences were in those foreign cultures, I came to realize that I was only living WITH a culture, not in it. What's the difference? IN involves being accepted into the culture and considered to be one of the group, an insider. WITH means that I am a perennial outsider and that I am observing from the fringes looking in.
Living in certain countries, I will be totally unable to live in a culture. Based on my appearance, blending into some areas is impossible. But as I am living in Holland right now, my heritage should allow me to look the part if nothing else - which should help me out, right? But yet I find that no matter how hard I try to live IN the Dutch culture, I am still an outsider. When I asked my friend whom has lived here for 15 years, he feels the same. His Dutch is great but yet his Canadian accent makes it known that he isn't a local. As a result, he is still considered an outsider. This is not a criticism of the Dutch, just an observation of how hard it is to become accepted by any culture.
Nevertheless, I will continue my travels and continue to learn about other cultures in the world. As a 3rd culture kid, I will probably never live IN any culture, unless there is a country out there composed of people who are like me (see bio for 'hardest question to answer'). I will always be the American expat who never knows where he wants to live, the nomad who can't find a place to settle down. But life could be worse and while I may always be an outsider, it is quite a view from here.
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4 comments:
Hmmm, interesting post. Does mastering the language alone make one part of a culture? (as per your Canadian friend example). I always joke that my Chinese girlfriend (2nd gen, born&raised here) is more of a kaaskop than I ever will be.
I (and of lot of my friends) try to fit,create, and mold more of a global culture than one limited by nationality and geographical limits. Because haven't issues of nationality caused mainly grief, strife and war? At any rate I certainly don't feel as much a part of Dutch culture as I am a part of the net culture, which is free for all :)
Does mastering the language make someone part of a culture? No, but it does help in the process. As my Canadian friend has noted to me, it takes more than the language to live in a culture.
What I am focusing more upon is the idea of being an expat and being accepted in a host culture. I agree with you that nationalism has caused (and will continue to do so) many conflicts because people aren't readily willing to accept others into their society. While people say that they are open to new ideas, are they truly? Based on the trouble that I have found from many expats with cultural immersion, I think not.
I would love to see the world a place where the moniker of where I came from wouldn't limit me as to whom would accept me as a peer.
Interesting comments from both of you "dutch boys."
Just today I was speaking with another expat colleague about our experience living in this country "Somewhere in Asia." Neither of us feel a part of the culture, primarily because we haven't yet mastered the language. For the six years that I lived in Central and South America, I felt much more part of the culture because I speak Spanish.
However, language (and the politics of a nation) aside, birds of a feather tend to stick together. There are many sub- cultures within the US, for example, that identify themselves as "Mexican-American" or "Japanese American", and some do not master the un-official language of the United States: English.
I'm fascinated with group dynamics: why do we hang out with the people we do?
I would venture to say that beyond age (my two best friends are age 21 and age 65), nationality, or sexual preference, humans tend to congregate with those who have similar interests. And it helps to speak the same language.
I lived in a working class area in Mexicali, Mexico for seven years. Even though I became fluent in the language, my accent gave away the fact that I was an American. Nevertheless, because my wife (who is a junior high teacher) was Mexican and we chose to have our daughter's birth in Mexico, the folks "adopted" me into the neighborhood and culture. It was an unbelievable experience that I wouldn't trade for anything.
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