We can never escape cultural differences. It easily exists in every corner of the world. You do not need to travel to know that the Japanese compliments the taste of the soup with a loud slurp, while the same action may be intepreted as being rude by the others.
Cultural differences appear anywhere, in the language we speak (words used etc), the clothes we wear and even the food we eat. Not only among countries, but also within the country itself. Singapore provides a great example here. But I'm not going into details about the cultural differences in Singapore but rather what I experienced in other countries.
Remembering the trip to Taiwan, the food culture has definitely left a deep impression, well, not in a good way though. We always see how delicious Taiwanese food could be from the various TV shows. But in reality, the food was only 10% as nice as what I have always imagined. It's not just me I could assure you, I went with a tour group of 12, and a quick poll indicated that 100% of them thought the food wasn't nice too! While the food tasted only so-so to us Singaporeans, they are actually Taiwanese delicacies! So it goes to show how cultural differences can start from the most basic thing - food.
(correction: by food, I meant 90% of those found in their famous night market)
Because of the cultural differences, we tend to perceive things in a different light. In the more extreme cases, the practices of one culture might even be viewed as taboo and we start to question the ethicality of such practices (when they are actually the norm in that paricular culture).
Well, the presence of cultural differences prove to be inevitable. We can never bridge the differences.So the bottom line is, if we cannot avoid, we face it. In my opinion, as long as we respect the cultures that are presented to us, we'll come to understand the differences. Understanding leads to appreciation.
You have explained about the cultural differences well. Food is one of the major things that differs from culture to culture. It does not matter if you like the food or not but you can always taste food from different cuisines. Each one may have different opinion about different cultures. But we should take effort to face those even if we like them or not.
ReplyDeleteYour blog deals with the cultural differences generally. You could have chosen situation that tells us about the intercultural interaction that you had. I think coherence is kind of missing in the blog. Next time when you are asked to write a blog which has a situation to describe make sure that your situation is strong and you go deep in the situation rather than just covering generally.
Hello Alicia !
ReplyDeleteI can understand what you mean by having cultural differences in food. It is like how most Asians love the smell and taste of durians but most Caucasians are disgusted by the mere smell of it. When people are brought up in a particular culture, the food aspect of the culture is being programmed in them. They have been accustomed to a particular type of food which other cultures do not. As such, what taste delicious to them may not be so to us since the taste seems foreign and unusual.
But then again, the perception that taiwan street food taste awesome might be due to marketing and media. Perhaps the locals there think the snacks there taste 'so-so' too? Their taste could be overrated (since street stalls are ubiquitous in Taiwan) to promote tourism ? Maybe you can ask some of the locals there next time ! (:
P.s Is the food really that bad? I haven't been to Taiwan, but the Taiwan shilin snacks here taste good ! haha.
Hi Alicia,
ReplyDeleteI can understand what you went through ! When I came to Singapore, I found the food plain. We Indians love spicy food. Also, we always have some sort of curry with the rice. Whereas here, it's mostly just boiled vegetables.So initially, I would find it very hard to eat vegetarian food, and resorted to mc Donald's, KFC,Subway. However, as days passed, I got used to it and now i love it just as much as the Indian food.
Its more of adjustment and openness. It's just a matter of time, that we start to like and understand other's cultures as well.
I like your last sentence - "Understanding leads to appreciation ". An excellent way of summing up your blog post.
Will look out for your next post. :)