Running Head: CULTURAL IMMERSIONS

Cultural Immersions (Mini Assignment C) Christine Lindie Communication and Cultural Diversity Georgia State University

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The four immersions that I decided to plunge into were: All of We is one, Feed your sense immersion in Israeli, Bengali Cultural Awareness, and Learning Hispaniola. Before going to all of my immersion I knew little to nothing about these cultures. I wanted to be completely blinded entering the immersion so I would not have so many stereotypes about the culture. I wanted to see the culture for what it was at the time it was presented to me. All of We is One All of We is One is a cultural talent show that is presented to Georgia State every year by ISAC. This was my first year attending the event, but I was so excited because my cousin, Juwan, expressed how diverse the talent show was. The acts consist of: Bengali dancers, Vietnamese fashion show, poets, rapping for Prohaize, Caribsa doing a dance number, and Asian 5 doing a dance number. Of all the talents I was most excited about Asian 5, mainly because of the reviews they received. Not knowing what groups would be performing I did not have any prior judgments of any of the groups. After the performances my views alter for most of the groups that performed. For example, I always associated Asian with education. Seeing these five young men break dance and rally the crowd the way they did; honestly, surprised me. I have stereotyped Asian since I started elementary school. Listening to my peers, and watching television has helped developed this idea in my head as a child. Actually seeing how most Asian I went to school with made straight As made my stereotype a reality. As an adult I try not to stereotype, but my reaction of amazement toward the group performance reminded me that I was still stereotyping. I honestly have no sympathetic or unsympathetic feelings towards this group. I do feel that I should develop some feelings towards the group in order to help them efficiently. If I was to work with an Asian today I would feel no connection. Mainly, because I do not feel that I can relate to them without first looking into their culture some more. In general this event was an eye-opener. I learned a custom dance from the Bengali girls dancing. I was able to view the traditional garments of Vietnam. As well as enjoy a lyrical about Africa from Porhiaize, and watch the Asian 5 perform their selected piece I was uplifted after this immersion. As I stated before, I try not to stereotype; it seems as if it is impossible. I noticed that me just associating Asian with education was a type of oppression, mainly because I had no idea that these five guys had rhythm let alone know how to break dance. I was excited to learn about more cultures Feed Your Sense Immersion in Israeli My next cultural immersion was, Feed your sense immersion in Israeli. This immersion was open to the public and was held in the Rialto center for the arts. It stated out by serving some traditional food of the Israeli people. My plate consists of: applesauce, potatoes cake, and tuna on wheat bread, pita chips and hummus. I was expecting Tuna to be on the menu as well as the apple sauce. I was told that you dip your potato cake in the apple sauce. It was pretty good. While I enjoyed my lunch I was entertained by Helen and Michael Kates. They sung a variety of songs. While I was at the event I was very confused. Simply, because though I was at the immersion of Israeli, I didnt feel as if I was grasping their culture. I depicted the food and music

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to be completely different. Before this immersion I knew nothing about the Israeli culture. Now I have had a taste of what they would eat for lunch. Knowing nothing about this culture I had no current views. This experience surprised me. Though I knew no facts about this cultural for some reason I was expecting their food would be spicy and their music would be upbeat. I sincerely have no clue where I came up with these ideas. I think Im associating Israeli people with those individuals from India. After this immersion I knew I had to research this group more in depth to get a feeling for who they are and what they associate with. Bengali Cultural Awareness The Bengali Cultural Awareness was one of my favorite immersions of the four that I did. Mainly, because it was more than just food, there was a very detailed presentation about a festival that they celebrate. The festival is known as Durga Puja or as Durgotsab. It is an annual Hindu festival which celebrates worship of the Hindu goddess of power, Durga or Shakti. Not only did we learn about one of their goddess and about their clothes, traditional dance, and music. Overall it was a great experience. Before this immersion I had no idea what Bengali meant. I learned that Bengali is the language Bangladesh is the country, and that they are South Asian. I enjoyed their food because it was similar to my cultures food. It was brightly color and very flavorful. This immersion helped me realize that this culture is very similar to my own. Before this immersion I did not people worshiped goddess. Even though this was my first interaction with Bengali people I feel like I can relate to them. I had an informal interview with Abir Rahman. It started out like a formal interview and then I became so comfortable it flowed like a normal conversation. While we were talking he explained to me why they worship Durga and how the festival is in Bangladesh. I told him I was Caribbean and he made a comparison to a carnival festival that I would attend to Durga Puja. He explained that there is a ton of dancing and laughing and eating. We also talked about his traditional clothing. I sincerely enjoyed how welcoming the environment was. I never felt like an outcast when I was at this immersion and that was appreciated. Learning Hispaniola This immersion was a blend of Dominican Republic and Haiti as an island, but their cultures are completely different. Before this immersion I did not know that both cultures shared an island. The room the event was held in represented the island that these cultures share but was divided in half for people to understand that they have completely different. I started on the Haiti side where I was taught how to say whats up in Creole. I also was informed about Haitis history and special landmarks in the country. I had the honor to interview Cemilie Thebaud, she elaborated on the traditional clothing of her country. Marline explained the tradition past-times in Haiti and a typical day in Haiti. On the other side of the room I was introduced to Dominican food, which is much like Guyanese food. As, well as traditional dance moves they take part in. After learning a few concepts from each side we were allowed to taste a little of Haiti and The Dominican Republic on one plate. I enjoyed the food so much. It was very spicy, and colorful.

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Both cultures were easy for me to identify with. I enjoyed this immersion just as much as I did the Bengali immersion. It was full of life and information. I received a full sense of both cultures. With so much information provided I have a better sense on who these people are and relate with. This may be the reason I feel like I can make a difference with these cultures because I have a feeling for who they are. In general all four immersions were a different way for me to learn about different cultures. I enjoyed each immersion and have gained a lot of respect for each culture. This experience will definitely help me as a future social worker in more than one way. The main way would be to keep an open mind and not to assume thin, but to get familiar with things your uncertain about.