Intercultural Communication Autobiography

I am a daughter. The only daughter, born the youngest of three children. Being African-American and partially raised in the United States Virgin Islands, from a young age I could see the difference between the two places, socially and culturally. In the food, the culture and in the music. Growing up with my father as a disk jockey, I remember falling asleep and waking up to reggae, calypso and soca music. Summers, Christmases and a year spent in school on an island, I began to adapt its social culture from a young age. I never quite understood as a girl, why my grandmother and my elders made certain faces without saying a word. Symbolically, now what I learned to be linked to semiotics, I realized they were communicating with me. As I grew older, I began to understand the intrapersonal communication that had unknowingly been established. I could tell when my aunts or uncles were upset, without them saying a word because I understood their mannerisms.
I often was called a “Yankee” or “fresh water yank” which meant I was an American, not born or raised on this beautiful island. It created a sense of belonging, but no matter how many summers I stayed or number of years I went to school, I still was not one of them. I grew to understand this intercultural communication and I accepted who I was, despite …show more content…
With humility and maturity I try to address the issue accordingly. I will try different methods of communication if my message has not been decoded correctly. I will love others and treat them with respect, just as my grandmother did. Seeing how my grandmother’s faith in God kept her grounded, I can see how she never lost hope. Standing in all white with my family, as pink balloons floated in the sky, I began to stare at my grandmother’s mahogany casket as it was lowered into the earth. Her life, her culture and social environment influenced her generations, now, and for years to come. My heart whispered “thank