A cultural assumption is when we assume that a person has particular values and attitudes based on their cultural background. In Elizabeth Wong’s “The Struggle to Be an All American Girl”, Elizabeth narrates her childhood struggle to be an American girl while growing up in a Chinese-American family. Elizabeth defy many parts of her culture such as language, the way the Chinese language sounded and simply the way the Chinese people acted. When I moved to the United States in the 7th grade many of my cultural assumptions were challenged with American social assumptions. While Americans are quick to open self-criticism, Dominicans think “dirty laundry should be washed at home” and that you should not share your flaws or short coming with your
…show more content…
I arrived to the United States knowing Basic English, therefore I mostly listen rather than talked. On my first day my guidance counselor parried me up with a girl that spoke Spanish, she was very nice and introduced me to her friends. When lunch time came around, we all sat together and everyone started sharing their summer stories, their schedules and new crushes. The girl next to me quickly introduced herself, and asked to see my schedule, although I was placed in ESL all my other classes were consider to be “regular classes”. After looking at my schedule she said “Oh you have regular math with Ms. Kumar” I nodded and though nothing was wrong with that, then she started to go on and on about how she did terrible in the states standardized test NJASK and that was why she was placed in basic level math, she told me about how she always hated numbers and often scored poorly in tests. I though how can she tell me all this while barely knowing me? Soon I learned that this behavior was normal for Americans, but for Dominicans this was a punishable offence, if your mother or father heard you sharing negative details about yourself you will be lecture on this behavior, and will be shame into only disclose to a family …show more content…
In the Dominican Republic, is not quite as easy to obtain a well-paying job with minimum education, therefore uneducated people opt for jobs Dominicans regard as low paying and un-honorable. An example, of such jobs are being a cashier or a waitress. At sixteen I got a job as a cashier at my local supermarket the A&P, to my mother and our relatives that lived in the United States this was an honorable part-time job for a student, but to people in the Dominican Republic it was consider as very low. When me and my mother visited the Dominican Republic her friends, and other people will ask me how I liked the United States and what was I doing, my mother will quickly replay that we liked it and that I had gotten a job; when people asked what was I doing, my mother will tell them that I was a cashier at a supermarket, she will very quickly follow up by saying “Well you know, she is a student, and over there that is a job that many students have” , without people objecting to my job my mother will excuse me for being a cashier. This made me feel shameful of what I did, but I realized that Dominicans predestined judgments did not apply to me anymore, as I was living in the United States now and thought as an
I arrived to the United States knowing Basic English, therefore I mostly listen rather than talked. On my first day my guidance counselor parried me up with a girl that spoke Spanish, she was very nice and introduced me to her friends. When lunch time came around, we all sat together and everyone started sharing their summer stories, their schedules and new crushes. The girl next to me quickly introduced herself, and asked to see my schedule, although I was placed in ESL all my other classes were consider to be “regular classes”. After looking at my schedule she said “Oh you have regular math with Ms. Kumar” I nodded and though nothing was wrong with that, then she started to go on and on about how she did terrible in the states standardized test NJASK and that was why she was placed in basic level math, she told me about how she always hated numbers and often scored poorly in tests. I though how can she tell me all this while barely knowing me? Soon I learned that this behavior was normal for Americans, but for Dominicans this was a punishable offence, if your mother or father heard you sharing negative details about yourself you will be lecture on this behavior, and will be shame into only disclose to a family …show more content…
In the Dominican Republic, is not quite as easy to obtain a well-paying job with minimum education, therefore uneducated people opt for jobs Dominicans regard as low paying and un-honorable. An example, of such jobs are being a cashier or a waitress. At sixteen I got a job as a cashier at my local supermarket the A&P, to my mother and our relatives that lived in the United States this was an honorable part-time job for a student, but to people in the Dominican Republic it was consider as very low. When me and my mother visited the Dominican Republic her friends, and other people will ask me how I liked the United States and what was I doing, my mother will quickly replay that we liked it and that I had gotten a job; when people asked what was I doing, my mother will tell them that I was a cashier at a supermarket, she will very quickly follow up by saying “Well you know, she is a student, and over there that is a job that many students have” , without people objecting to my job my mother will excuse me for being a cashier. This made me feel shameful of what I did, but I realized that Dominicans predestined judgments did not apply to me anymore, as I was living in the United States now and thought as an