Difficulties in one's culture

Cynthia Manu

ESL100

9 /15 / 09

Difficulties in one’s Culture

Cultural practices were as easy as counting one- two- three. There have been so many difficulties that I have encounter in my life. At the same time, I have had a hard time in practicing one’s culture. I was born in Ghana, and lived there for almost twenty-one years. I was aware of the culture, and was active in it. I went to high school, and then I graduated. However, because schools in my country are not too good, I was not able to go further. Due to the cost, higher education is very hard to get access to in my country. I now lived in United States, and I have been in this country for almost three years. I have witnessed so many difficulties in cultural practices since I got to America.

First, extended family is the number one custom in Ghana. Some cultures are so difficult that it makes me feel very uncomfortable. Especially, in my country, we were used to the extended family, which is a system that makes one feels very comfortable, in living in Ghana. Even though you cannot provide for yourself but the members in the family will provide. That custom makes sure that the rich people in the family take care of the poor. For example, one of my mother’s sisters, Auntie Doris has four kids, but she does not have money to take good care of them. Therefore, the family has to take care of them. On the other hand, my mother is taking two of them to school and caring for them. Nevertheless, in this country, the focus is only the nuclear family. Therefore, if your parents are less fortunate, that means the kids are also the same. Nevertheless, in my country, there is nothing like ‘homeless’, and in this country, you can see many people in their own country. A country, that is with milk and honey that everybody will like to come to, although people call themselves homeless.

Again, the types of food that I used to eat in my country are also different in America. In Ghana, I go with my parents by the customs of eating fufu, and soup with my fingers. My mother prepares fufu, and palm nut soup with bush meat and some dry fish. This makes the soup have a funny smell, and makes my American friends hesitate to eat it. Some of them just look at it, and say this food is nasty. We have some kinds of food that I cannot eat in public in this country. I can only eat them when I am in the house.

Furthermore, how to respect an elderly person was one of the major things in Ghana. For instance, my parents taught me how to approach an elderly person. For example, in my country, if I see an elderly person, I cannot call them by their names like Cynthia or Edward, rather, I have to say Mrs. Cynthia or Mr. Edward. By calling them by saying Mr., Mrs., Miss., Papa and Mama, otherwise they will say you are not a respectful child. As a result, I cannot stop calling people by saying Mr. or Mrs. However in this country; they used to tell me not to call them with any title it makes them feel too old. In Ghana, my parents also taught me that, if I see any body that is, older than I am, with heavy load, I have to offer help to it and carry it for that person. This means you are a respectful child. I used to have a hard time when I see an elderly person in this country with a heavy load, I want to help, and on the contrary, they may think I want to steal their things.

In conclusion, I have had so many difficulties in cultural practices in the United States. However, I have witnessed some cultural practices in my country and this country as well. In Ghana, I was okay with any cultural practices. In contrary when I got in this country, things have been tough for me. How to respect an elderly person was one of the major things in Ghana, but in this country is opposite way. They think it makes them feel too old. Sometimes I feel that I am insulting the elderly people that I come across by, calling them with their names. The way to approach an elderly people in America is quite different form others. I think American people have to teach their kids how to respect any body that is older than. At the sometime, the nuclear family is the focus in the United States. Because of these, it has lead to many squatters. These people called themselves as homeless. I think that, America should pass this extended family as law. Moreover, types of food that I used to eat are also different. Fufu and soup with meat are not eating by Americans. All the same am trying to coup with every thing in America.