A Clash of Cultures

First let met say this: Purdue is awesome. The endless opportunities to learn about cultures from around the world are invaluable. People are missing out if they don't take the chance of meeting students from different countries and taking fresh perspectives. I personally can say I've learned more here at Purdue about life in 2 years than I had my previous 18 years of living. And this isn't the result of sitting in classes but rather everything I do outside of classes. This includes meeting new students, trying different activities, being open to radical ideas, and absorbing insights from anything/anyone different from what I've known in the past.

I realized that I probably have more international friends than American friends. I have been and continue to be that kid who constantly asks questions about why cultures do this, think that, eat this, wear that, and whatever else comes to mind. Anything different seems to be interesting. Well, though I'm often the one asking questions, recently I have been on the receiving end of such questions in regards to American culture. And it's been a real learning challenge to evaluate and explain why Americans do what Americans do, especially college students.

Here are some of the questions that I've been asked by two of my Chinese friends: Why are American college students so obsessed with getting drunk? Why do American girls just seem to like guys that play football with strong muscles and a mean attitude? Why is it so hard to be good friends with Americans? Why is it considered "cool" to use curse words? Why don't American college students think about their career or their long-term future?

Now some of these might be a little critical and biased due to the situations my friends have experienced. Nonetheless, there is some truth to them. For example, when compared to Chinese culture, college students in America tend to abuse alcohol to a greater extent. In China, alcohol is used more as a casual social drink, not something you consume at party until you're falling-over drunk and spend the rest of the night puking it all up. Well that description was maybe too graphic, but the point I'm making is that alcohol is viewed in pretty different ways according to a Chinese vs. American college student perspective. Thus, my friends asking these questions has spurred on some really healthy and informative conversation. And what I've learned is that more contact with other cultures allows me to learn more about my own culture.

I look forward to our group's service learning project because it's focused on engaging with students of different cultures. I'm excited to not only learn about their culture and specifically sports they play but also get a clearer picture of my own culture.

With love,
Andrew Battiato