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Culture refers to the way of life of a particular group. It can be divided into two; material and non-material culture. Material culture refers to resources, physical objects, and spaces that represent a certain group. Different cultures have different ways of designing and building their homes, houses, offices, and cities, weapons and hunting instruments, household articles, food, and drinks, as well as ornaments. Others use technology to gain a competitive advantage in the business world. On the other hand, non-material culture refers to beliefs, values, language, symbols, and rules that define a society. A symbol is a sign used to represent something. For instance, the United States flag represents democracy, freedom, and the values of the American people. Another common symbol is shaking hands which is evident in different communities. It is used to convey friendship or a sign of greetings.
The culture I would love to focus on is the Asian culture. The growth and diversification of the Asian culture over the past decade has been phenomenal. Driven by immigration and refugee settlement during the ’70s and ’80s, Asians have emerged as the fastest-growing racial group (Kim, 2007). In the United States Asians are at least twelve point five million individuals and represent more than thirty different ethnic groups such as Lao, Filipinos, Bangladeshi, Japanese, Chinese, Sri Lankan, Hmong, Cambodian, Malay, Vietnamese, among others. Moreover, the Asian culture depicts differences in the local dialect, educational level, political perspectives, and religion. For instance, two Filipinos may communicate in English because one’s native language is Ilocano while the other’s is Tagalog. Another factor that contributes to the complexity of the Asian culture is the increasing number of interracial marriages. Thousands of Asian children have American roots where their parents are from other cultures. For instance, a Vietnamese teenager may have an African American father but a Korean mother, therefore learning English as his language of communication.
The most common cultural customs in Asia include; first, the way of greeting. As different communities are used to shaking hands as a way of greeting people in Asia this is not the case. The most common method to greet a person is “Wai..” This is where an individual brings his hands together and give a slight bow of the head while saying hello. It is also a sigh of respect, especially in Japan and South Korea (Kim, 2007). There are different etiquette rules that accompany the bow, a deep depth is used for formal setting while such as funerals or religious events. Second, removing shoes before entering an Asian home is a sign of courtesy. Actually most homes have indoor slippers to make the person feel more comfortable.
Third, a person’s feet and hands are regarded as an essential part of the body. A person is not allowed to be touched their head or feet. The feet are regarded as the dirtiest part of the body. Considering, this culture loves sharing food among themselves, hygiene is really maintained to avoid illness. Forth, when served with a drink, a person is not allowed to pour it since it shows disrespect to the host family. The host family keeps refilling the guest glass as a form of etiquette. Lastly, public display of affection is not allowed in the Asian culture. It is rude when members of the opposite sex are seen kissing or holding each other’s hand in public. This are regarded as intimate acts and should be done in private. My current perception of this culture is that they do not use spoons while eating which is so different from other cultures and they do not shake hands.
Reference
Kim, K. H. (2007). Exploring the interactions between Asian culture (Confucianism) and creativity. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 41(1), 28-53.