New Age Culture

Discussing what culture is can be very tough. Trying to define it, can be even tougher. When giving this assignment, I was struck by many things-among them was how vast of a culture Philadelphia has, how many cultures we have in the U.S., and how we all contribute something different to make the world and environment around us. To have this opportunity to observe human behaviors and mannerisms and communication, was fun, amazing and opened my eyes to what has always been in front of me.

I had defined culture as traditions that defined who you are, where you come from, and how you act. A simple definition that has stuck since grade school. Upon embarking to Redding Terminal, I didn't have the slightest clue as too how many cultures actually exist. There are of course the cultures that are defined by race-African Americans, Whites, Hispanics, Native American, and etc. But we can go deeper than that. We can look at the geographical cultures-if you're from New York, Baltimore, Philly, Los Angeles, Texas, and etc. We often don't consider the cultures such as if you're a man or woman. Typically, we just think about gender but never about how we act as a man and woman, which is just as important as your race or geographical location. Furthermore, we fail to realize that cultures are communities. Communities are created by people, who share the same values and ideas. While walking to Redding Terminal, I saw the culture of homeless men and women: they way they argue, fight, communicate, and their movement. What I began to encounter while on this trip was culture extends to age-the younger generation to the older generation and even to things we like-such as a community of artist. Each special and different in their own kind of way.

I would just like to put a disclaimer on my next paragraph before I began: This section contains observations that could be consider a little narrow-minded and racist. I do apologize if you're offended, as it wasn't my intention: It was simply, what I observed in the melting pot that was Redding Terminal.

At Redding Terminal, there is a mixture of every race, religion, artist, professionals, food interests, restaurants, markets, and more importantly people. African Americans, Hispanics, Whites, Asians, Men, Women, Seniors, Children, Teenagers, Homeless, Rich, Middle Class, and etc. can be found at this one location. I noticed that older couples tend to sit very close together-almost huddling-when in conversation and eating, compared to younger couples and people, who tend to sit across from each other. Also I noticed that those of Asian descent tend to give direct eye contact and value family. I had a chance to listen to their conversations and observe how they work. They tend to smile a lot, joke, laugh, have quick and quiet exchanges, and tend to be clean excessively. I noticed that African Americans tend to give eye contact and look at everyone when walking in an unfamiliar and familiar place. Males of Middle Eastern descent tend to take small and more concise bites when eating. Most women of a Eastern or Western European country wear a head wrap while working and wear homemade clothing, that is sewn together, layered,and very circular.  Males typically lean back in their chairs when listening.  Most white females smile, and tend to start easy and simple conversation. Women, regardless of race, tend to take time to get themselves together-dig in their purses, take over clothes, send texts, and etc.  As a culture, we do a lot of pointing and talking with how hands and may have a slight obsession with carrying bags-which is interesting.

After having spent the day at Redding Terminal, my perception of things have changed. More importantly, my definition of what culture is has changed as well. Culture isn't about where you come from, what you look like or what you do; its your experiences that shape where you'll go, who you'll be, what your going to be doing, and how people perceive you. Today, its hard to define what culture is. Our cultures, traditions, and opinions have been changed so much, through interactions with each other, that no set culture has distinct characteristics, especially in the United States.