Cultural Identity Interview - Essay Example

Cultural Identity Interview Martin Sharkey Western International Interview results Bulgaria is a country, located on the Balkan Peninsula, in the Southeast of Europe (Wikipedia, 2006). Official statistics about its population today state that its 8 million people (Wikipedia, 2006), but according to Peter Markov, a recent Bulgarian immigrant to the US it is decreasing. He says, that many young Bulgarians look to the West, and many have chosen the immigrant's way of life, going to Canada, Australia, or, as is in his case the US. Peter participated in the Green Card Lottery several years ago and moved to the US to look for new opportunities for work. He is 28 years old now, and has lived here for one year. Although he's getting used to it, he says he misses his home country and willingly shares his knowledge and memories about Bulgarian culture. Race and ethnicity Peter says that Bulgarians are the Caucasian type, almost all of them are ethnic Bulgarians, but also there are minority groups like Turks and Roma populations. According to Peter, many Southern regions in Bulgaria are heavily populated by people who have Turkish ethnicity, in some villages even only Turkish is spoken. A double check with the Wikipedia (2006) shows that Turks amount to 9.4% of the population. The other Bulgarian minority are Gypsies. Peter shares that Gypsies in general are the poorest among all Bulgarians and are not at all integrated in the dominant Bulgarian culture. Languages Peter's native language is Bulgarian, and this is the only official language, although there are other languages minorities speak, like Turkish, Roman, or Macedonian. The Bulgarian language belongs to the group of Slavic languages (Wikipedia, 2006). In the United States Peter speaks English, especially at work. He has little accent and in my opinion he has no difficulties in communication in English. Still, he says, "In the US there are many other languages that can be of use for you. I would say that US is a bilingual country, because Spanish language is also very popular, even sometimes is it widely spoken". He uses Bulgarian every day at home or when talking to his friends via the Internet. He adds that he is also trying to improve his Spanish, and Russian, because both languages are useful for him at his work as a guard at a local mall. Peter has learnt English and Spanish at his secondary school. This partially explains why he knows Russian and is eager to improve his speaking abilities in the language. Religion Peter is an Orthodox Christian. He says that most people in Bulgaria belong to the Orthodox Church. Further investigation into the Orthodox religion proves that the Bulgarian Orthodox Church belongs to the Eastern Orthodox Church (Wikipedia, 2006), but minority groups have other religions, like Islam, adopted mostly by the Turkish population; some Protestants and Roman Catholics (less than 1,5% together, according to Wikipedia, 2006). When talking about religion, Peter mentions that Bulgarians in general are not very religious. He says, this varies from region to region, but the communist period that ended in 1989 did not tolerate religious beliefs, partly because of the high influence the Church used to have, and because its financial strength that threatened the status quo. Today, the Southern and Western regions of the country are more religious than the Northern and Eastern regions. Also, where Turkish population is predominant, there are villages with no Christian churches, and it is a normal thing, he says, for any village to have a church. Food Peter mentions a variety of national favorite foods - foods containing various meat types, potatoes, rice and different types of vegetables. It seems bread is something Bulgarians do not miss at the table. Peter says that fruit and vegetables are much cheaper in Bulgaria, than they are in the United States, and are much tastier, having fewer conservatives. According to Peter, the Bulgarian cuisine today is heavily influenced by the Arab cuisine and is closer to it with regard to preparation methods, and ingredients. Still, it is a largely diverse cuisine, young people choose between many international dishes, introduced through restaurants and fast food outlets. Personally he prefers Chinese, also sea food, Thai and Italian cuisine. Although Bulgaria is at the seaside, in the regions that are not near the Black sea, sea food is not that popular. As he adds, healthy food obsession is not the case in Bulgaria, mostly because of financial limitations among older population, and because of the hectic life style of younger people. Family make-up The typical Bulgarian family has one to two children. According to Peter, the picture in the United States is pretty much the same. Larger families in Bulgaria are typical for the minority group of Bulgarian Gypsies. As Peter says, this is so, because of low sexual culture, lack of education, but also because Gypsies use governmental subsidiaries and do not work; the larger the families, the bigger the amount of the financial help. This, however, is not the case of the typical Bulgarian family. A common trend both in America and Bulgaria is that more and more young people "cohabit", and even buy property together, but do not get married. Non-verbal messages According to Peter, non-verbal communication in the Bulgarian culture today does not differ significantly from the US dominant culture. In terms of behavior, increasingly globalized communication patterns in the Western world and in European countries unify the meaning of non-verbal messages. Still, as Peter mentions "We do have some different gestures between Bulgarian and American cultures, one specific gesture that I remember is the meaning of the head nodding". In the United States, moving your head up and down means "yes", whereas in Bulgaria this very gesture means "no", and vice versa. This can cause a great deal of misunderstanding, if a confirmation or a refusal is expressed non-verbally. Clothing According to Peter, there in no significant difference between the European and American dressing style, and in that aspect Bulgaria is not an exception. Still, he mentions that Americans can accept more casual business style, than Europeans do. There are traditional clothes in Bulgaria, but these are worn on national festivals by actors or singers, and not by the general public. Cultural norms When discussing specific Bulgarian cultural norms, Peter mentions a few specifics that discern Bulgarian culture from the American. For one thing, it's the degree of openness in communications and the way it affects hospitality. For example, as Peter says "In Bulgaria, when you go to visit your relatives, parents or even friends, hospitality requires that people invite you for dinner. Even if you refuse, your hosts will place you on the table and will not accept a refusal, because this is what hospitality requires, they assume that your refusal is because you're being humble." In the United States "no" to a dinner invitation means "no", people expect you to say if you're hungry, straightforward communication is the norm. Another different aspect is the relationship between parents and children. In Bulgaria children are parent-dependent to a very mature age, even after they move away from home they keep up very close relations with their parents, receive financial support, and in return, are expected to financially support their parents when they retire. This means that children are less independent than in the United States, and maybe, in a way, have stronger family traditions and community-orientation. Culturally derogatory experience According to Peter, there is a general misunderstanding of what the Bulgarian culture represents. In America he has mostly been confronted with the misleading assumption that Bulgaria is not a European, and in that aspect in many situations he has had to explain that Bulgaria is in Europe and is subject EU accession next year, that is January 2007. Also, many Bulgarian immigrants to US or Europe are gypsies and these create a different notion for what the Bulgarian nation is. This, according to Peter, undermines the essence of the Bulgarian culture. 2. Further cultural evaluation As a whole, the Bulgarian subculture today is not very different from the dominant US culture. This is so, because on one hand USA is a vastly diverse country, and on the other because Bulgaria is part of Europe and its culture has many international elements. In that aspect Peter's behavior in US is not heavily influenced by specific norms, but rather by the American lifestyle. Because the largest city in Bulgaria, Sofia, has a population of 1 million, distances are not big and socialization is much easier than in the United States. In the United States, he says, he lives a much more secluded way of life, and this is not because of cultural or communication barriers, but because of a life style difference. Still, having a subculture, with a different language and a different nationality carries its negative implications. For one thing, Peter has difficulties in integration, because most companies require local experience. He understands this requirement and is decided to dedicate a couple of years of his life to get used to the American way of life, maybe get a higher education degree here, in order to integrate more easily. Beyond his career, his personal life also suffers. Because of the relatively secluded way of life, he feels he does not meet people as often as he wants to, and mostly communicates with other Bulgarians. This is so not because Americans are not open for new acquaintances, but because he does not have many opportunities to make such. At present he finds support in his friends in US and in Bulgaria. He also has a close relative, a cousin there, and this makes him less insecure for the future. 3. Theory analysis 4. Summary To sum up, interviewing Peter is a useful experience, because it helps me adopt a more systematic approach in understanding other subcultures in USA. Peter comes from a culture that does not seem too different from the dominant American culture, yet there are differences that make him feel alienated and there are cultural gaps that he has to overcome to become integrated in a culture, where integration is necessary to succeed. Language is the tiniest difficulty, especially when English is today an universally studied and spoken language. Although Peter's experience in the country is not so dramatically different or unexpected, it made me reconsider the real power cultures play in our lives today. When we live in a dominant culture, and are part of it, cultural norms do not impress us. It's a very different situation, when we confront values that are different and it takes knowledge, effort and motivation to understand and overcome the differences that arise. References 1. Interview with Peter Markov, March 3, 2006. 2. Wikipedia contributors (2006). Bulgaria. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved, March 6, 2006 from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.phptitle=Bulgaria&oldid=42401888. Read More