O America, Land of the Free and Home of the.. Wait What?

Currently, I am taking a class called “Intercultural Communication.” It is definitely an interesting class and has provided me with incredible insight to the many question of.. why? Through the lectures, discussions and readings I have been able to really evaluate myself .. 

What does it mean to be a part of many cultures and none at the same time? This was an issue I struggled with as I did my senior art show at Biola. 

The class got me thinking back to my freshman year at Biola. I was, for lack of a better term, FOB (or Fresh Off the Boat), although I wasn’t entirely oblivious to American culture, I didn’t have a funky foreign accent or looked like I was straight from a Hello Kitty magazine, walk barefoot or wear clothes decades old. I thought I would be able to blend in with American society, but it was in the subtleties that I was most confused.

For example:

1\\ Tips (A good 15% will do) \\ It was hard for me to grasp this concept at first. Why would I pay more than what was listed on the menu? And tipping varies from customer to customer.. there is no way to regulate it. Just tell me how much, so I won’t be surprised when my $15 meal turns into $25.

2\\ Surprise! You’re been Taxed \\ I guess this goes hand in hand with tipping. Why can’t they just tell you how much they want from the get go!?! It’s like an unfriendly surprise when the 99cent soda ends up being $1.07 and you just do not have those extra 8cents on hand!!!

3\\ HonkHONK \\ Honking is a pretty common sound to hear in Asia. There’s a honk honk here, and a honk honk there, here a honk, there a honk, everywhere a honk honk.. old macdonald….(you get the point). But here no one honks unless you are about to have an accident EXCEPT when they are an impatient driver who insist that you step on the gas the moment the light turns green. Apparently, taking longer than a mili-second justifies a good HONK!

4\\ Sue You! \\ The idea of suing someone for your incompetency appalls me. Yes, there are times when suing is justified. But on the other 99% of the time when suing someone for stepping on a crack that you were able to see with your two God given eyes hardly seems justifiable.

The list goes on...

Captain America anyone? Perhaps he has some answers...