Year of the Rabbit

As soon as the homework was assigned I knew I wanted to visit Chinatown to observe intercultural communication. I thought I could provide a different perspective to the group by interacting as someone unaccustomed to the culture surrounding me. I happened to arrive while a Chinese New Year celebration was going on. The streets were all blocked off and there was a big parade following puppeteered lions dancing through the street. The whole parade was beautiful, festive and fun. I squeezed through the crowd to get a better look at the performers with incredible ease. No one was pushing or blocking—people actually stepped out of the way to let others pass. The entire feeling surrounding me was extremely positive and cooperative. Like it was a group effort to celebrate the New Year. Everyone was smiling and little kids were being lifted on their parents’ shoulders- all the typical parade behavior, but there was an air of appreciation, unfamiliar to the American culture. Here, intercultural communication was swimming about and there was a trade off of respect between the inhabitants of Chinatown and the seeming tourists.

            Upon the conclusion of the parade, the aforementioned feelings seemed to diminish almost immediately. The intercultural communication hardly existed much outside of shops and restaurants. If no one had to talk to each other, no one did really. Communication happens without speaking, of course, but even on the streets people went about their day, hurrying past one another, etc. Still, the people in Chinatown were very accommodating to everyone. Most people were able to switch from speaking Chinese to English from sentence to sentence, but it was clear that no “outsiders” made an effort to speak the Chinese language.  I think being in a position of lesser familiarity allows for a better look at intercultural communication. I was able to very easily pick out the people in Chinatown who were visiting from those who actually live the Chinese culture.

 During the parade, people’s personal agendas were put on hold and everyone there, whether familiar with the Chinese New Year celebration or not, came together to enjoy something bigger than themselves. In that half hour or so, intercultural communication was swimming through the crowd. The people involved in the parade and the people of Chinatown were clearly having a wonderful time celebrating, but were perfectly happy sharing their customs with whomever was following the crowd. Those of us who had stumbled upon the celebration had an obvious appreciation for the festivities and for the cultural experience. I was humbled in a way to be enveloped in a cultural celebration I knew little about.

After several pages of journaling, I decided to look up a dictionary definition of “culture”.  Dictionary.com says “The quality in a person or society that arises from a concern for what is regarded as excellent in arts, letters, manners, scholarly pursuits, etc." I was very excited to find a definition that talks about the quality that arises in a person or society derived from an excellence in art. I love that. Before I even looked up this definition, I had noticed that it really was an artistic venture that brought different cultures together. And I think that says a lot about artists and the responsibility we have to unite people.