A Collision Of Two Cultures

As we collide with different cultures we think we are normal and the other culture is not, yet they think the same as you do. So in the end what really is normal? I found it very interesting how in this book the mother doesn’t understand why Americans smile in the pictures she says, “What are you laughing at?” In her culture there is no point in smiling for a picture.

Another example of culture and customs is about putting away the straw hat before fall began, “If you want to save your hat for next year, you have to put it away early or else when you’re riding the subway or walking along Fifth Avenue, any stranger can snatch it off your head and put his foot through it.” Someone who doesn’t know about this tradition might become very angry and scared, yet people do it as a tradition, it’s not evil intentions. It is their way of celebrating the change of season.

This is why when you move it is so difficult to adapt. All the customs you were used to have become new ones, and some of which may seem ridiculous to you. There many different cultures, traditions, and customs all over the world this is due to the fact that people believe different things according to the environment that surrounds them and their ancestors.