Becoming American, Becoming Ethnic - Adopting a Balanced Approach - Essay Example

Institute: Becoming American, Becoming Ethnic My ethnic roots are the core foundation of my identity. I am very proud of my identity, my roots and the place where I belong from. My life experienced a huge change when I decided to come to America for studies. When I was in Saudi Arab, I was not too sure of how the life would be in America until I came here for higher studies. It was an interesting experience for me to understand the life and culture in America. I observed a huge cultural difference between America and Saudi Arab. I came from a financially strong background and here I was surprised to see that how people make efforts in supporting their lives, paying for their expenses and saving every penny to pay their education loans. In Saudi Arab, we are very much dependent on the head of the family who plays a typical role and supports the family to meet all the necessities of life until the other male members grow up and participate actively. My ancestors and all the members in my family belonged to Saudi Arab. I am proud of being an Arab with rich culture and strong traditional values. Arab civilization is as old as the world is itself. And I take pride in calling myself, “An Arab from the clan of Bedouin.” Leaving Saudi Arab was the hardest decision of my life. When I came to America, it was hard for me to understand the English language and to follow the accent of Native Americans as I was accustomed to Arabic as a medium of language and communication in Saudi society and at schools. There is a very little emphasize on how learning any language other than Arabic. People normally speak to each other in Arabic when they are at home. It is the official language of Saudi Arab. Arabic is the one of the oldest languages and it is one of the most understandable language anywhere in the Arab region. As a result, my bonding with this language is way stronger than my recent association with English. For me, English is just another language that I use as a medium of communication and learning at school. When I was in Saudi Arabia, I used to see American English movies. The life as depicted in the movies was magical and different from me. However, I sometimes think that American society lacks the basic ethnic touch and there is very little emphasize on the value of relations and families. Anywhere in Arab, families are the main focus of an individual. Having a family is considered as a blessing and normally, we have huge families which typically include many siblings from different mothers. Polygamy is another key characteristic of an Arab culture and society which is man’s legal and religious right. In America, I observed that there is a very little room for the people belonging from different cultures and nationalities to celebrate their national festivals on a large scale. I remember, I used to have so much fun on national and religious festivals in Saudi Arab. I remember how I used to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan with my family, relatives and with other people around me, how we used to enjoy the true spirit of this month by helping others and refraining ourselves from all the bad deeds and the memories of long awaited “Eid-ul-Fitr” still mesmerizes me. However in America things were opposite to my personal experiences and memories, I did not see any kind of celebrations even among the Muslim and Arab communities. People remained so busy during the month of Ramadan and last but not the least, I failed to observe the true spirit of Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha among the Muslim and Arab communities in America. Back in Saudi Arab, my family and I used to enjoy the most on Saudi National Day and the Eids (both Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha). It’s the high time of the year, when all the families celebrate the moments together in a traditional way. We exchange gifts and Saudi sweets with each other. I miss my festivals and traditional customs a lot and I also miss the family values that we shared in Saudi Arabia. I became very much aware of the American culture, lifestyle and society by watching different American movies in Saudi Arab but my personal experience in America completely differs from the idea that I had in mind about American life. I cannot say that I fully assimilated myself with the American culture. I have my own cultural identity and I have my own ethnic roots. However, knowing little English and having a little idea about America helped in assimilation but only to a limited extent. When I came to America, I met many people who had obnoxious and narrow-minded thinking about Saudis. People believed that I was also one of them with anti-American sentiments. Many people made me feel alienated as If I was from another planet yet some people believe that being an Arab means you are a terrorist. It was an overall sad experience for me. My admission in the school helped me to learn about American people, their attitude, and American customs in a better way. In my class, many people took me as a stranger with olive skin color, having an odd long name and who speaks English in a pure Arabic accent. I remembered nobody in my school in Saudi Arabia cared about how I look, what is my name, my accent and my skin color. People were friendlier than the people I met in America. Everyone around me asked so many different questions that were more focused on the region from where I was coming and less on who I am in real. I was surprised to learn that people know very little about the life and traditions of Saudi Arabia. People knew nothing about culture of Saudi Arab. However, I have tried my level best to exemplify myself as a role model for the people around me to understand how Arabs are; they are friendly, courteous and kind people with rich culture and strong ethnic foundations. They would remain respectful to you no matter how you behave with them. Apart from what I have experienced in America, I learnt so many new things such as I learnt to be independent as I came from a background where stress is given on remaining close to your family and friends while other people doing work for you. I learnt how to say “No” and “Yes” without any hesitation to anyone or to anything you disapprove rather saying “Yes” all the times to anyone or to anything you like or not. Courtesy is a part of Saudi values and I would say that on many occasions I have tried to remain respectful to other people despite their bad behavior and attitude. However, I firmly believe that we all should understand that at the end of the day we all are human beings and we should learn to respect each other despite the differences among us. I have derived my inspiration for this writing after reading My Ethnic Roots and Me by Lila Shah, a South Indian girl who moved to America with her parents. Her piece of writing revolves around her experiences she faced while adjusting herself with the new norms and traditions of America. She was faced with the same problems that I have encountered during my early days in America when people welcome you with a polite indifference and look at you in amazement. Her essay is directed towards all those people who are in struggle to adjust themselves within the American society but her greater emphasize lays on the importance of having an identity with strong ethnic values. Her writing has inspired me to a level where I believe that any person who is adjusting himself in any society, anywhere in the world, should not forget about his roots. Assimilation in any culture is good but it has to balanced; don’t be extremely modernist and don’t be extremely conservative. A person should adopt a balanced approach to attain success in life anywhere in the world. Read More