Setting the Scene

Well I'm in working with the Canadian Education Centre in Mexico City. The Centre's role is the promotion of Canadian instutions to Mexican students interested in an international education. The organization does not just deal with colleges and universities but also with high schools, elementary schools and second language academies. The only thing I seem to have been hearing from before my departure in Canada to now is how dangerous the country is and how the swine pandemic is devastating. I shrugged these comments off not because I was not sensitive to these issues (Mexicans have been telling me how the crime is serious in some areas), but because these things exist in many countries. They are always going to be sketchy individuals, there have also been biological dangers such as SARS which has threatened the entire world over. Is it because the country does not have obvious ties to Canada and we are so different culturally that these fears have so much intensified. Other Commonwealth nations seem comparable to Mexico in my opinion.

I'm staying in a well-to-do part of the city just five minutes away from my placement. The landlord there is very nice and has lots of experience accepting international students so I felt at ease. I have not yet dove in to the real Mexican dishes but I am looking forward to doing so this week. The picanate will become part of my everyday dishes very soon. The high altitude has not affected yet perhaps because I have not been doing any heavy excercising. I was very interested since I have never been this high above sea level. I have also gone out on weekends to experience the night life in the city. It's very enjoyable leaving at night and the people there seem welcoming. Actually when people find out where I am from, I end up giving English lessons! Everyone wants a piece of the language. I guess I am lucky in some ways that English is the dominant langauge right now. I like to say everyone has an Englsih personality!! Last but not least. I got to see a game with the Mexican national soccer team at the national stadium. The atmosphere was good, the soccer did not seem that impressive...Mexico vs. Trinidad & Tobago maybe would not be my first choice for an international match but so be it...

My Culture

Having already shared my definition of culture, I still have a hard time defining my own culture. My parents are Guyanese Canadians and I do have some Caribbean influences. I have not required the Island accent but I do sometimes use its syntax which can be a little awkward with a Canadian accent. I eat roti, curry chicken and, ox tail but seem to have developped an allergic reaction to fried rice! I developped a love for cricket and can play it relatively well I have absolutely no moves when it comes to dance moves during Caribbana.

Then I have other aspects prominent aspects of my personality that have relatively little to do with the Caribbean. I speak French and Spanish but I speak those languages with a European accent! Every time I speak those langauges, people seem to have a puzzled look on their face as they cannot map where I come from. Sometimes I feel like I'm more European than anything else. I don't mind greeting with two kisses on the cheek, drinking espressos on the terrace or having large lunches at 2:00pm and small dinners at 9:00pm. Hellos and goodbyes are implied and don't need to be expressed ostensively and speaking your mind is not frowned upon. I cannot speak my mind in English as that is my Canadian personality coming out!

I get lost in uniformity. Even though the Black community is so diverse and is spread all over the world, I don't feel like I'm "in". In places where I'm the only Black person, I feel really left behind. There are individuals who only know me by one langauge and one culture by either emphasizing how I look or accentuating how I speak. I think I enjoy hiding the underlayers of my character.

If I were to define my culture, first of all I want to say that I'm an Earthling. Other than that, I need to find characteristics that take me away from everyone else. I'm quiet and reserved which can be sign of weakness in Guyana but a sign of confidence in Canada. I love to drink and encourage it but I have never had nor ever want a cigarette. I'm a baptised Anglican Christian but am extremely open to other religious or secular philosophies and that can be a scary thing to say for some members of my family. I think if I can use one word to define my "personal culture", it's adaptation. I'm not scared to try new things and if it happens to contradict previous philosophies, I would give it a look anyway then make an informed personal decision. A little bit of everything is always a good thing. It keeps life fun and it distinguishes you from the crowd. Who wants to be part of a "1984" world?

What is culture?

Well in my previous international experiences, I always looked forward to promoting Canada and accentuating the characteristics that make us who we are as Canadians. In the many occasions where I have had the opportunity to be such an ambassador, I found that when discussing Canadian culture, I end up talking about the differences we have with many countries rather than the features that we share with relatively fewer countries.

I was born to an immigrant family who came to Canada from Guyana in the 1970's during a huge wave of Canadian immigration. My parents always said that I was a Canadian and that even though I was born to Guyanese parents, I should recognize where I was born. The majority of my extended family live in the United States and are patriotic in their adopted country in my own humble opinion. I recognized this difference from a very young age and felt the need to endorse my own country in which I was born. Even at the age of eight, I felt the need defend against the giants south of us by stating who "they" were rather than who "we" were.

I think cultures around the world general look for differences in order to emphasize their uniqueness. For example, Canadian and Americans generally speak the same variety of English, so we look to our spelling and our Francophone communities to emphasize our closer ties to the Commonwealth and French-speaking world. New Zealanders look at the prevalence of Moari culture and how it helped shape their country as opposed to the Aborigenies in Austrailia. The Bodi tribe in southeast Ethiopia differentiate themselves from the Mursi tribe by the fact that they own cattle and they have guns, even though there really aren't really many other differences between them. What fun would it be if different groups just focussed on the things that they share rather than what they don't? Would they have a reason to exist if there is nothing by which they can distinguish themselves?

Personally I have found some characteristics that can be used to define a culture and distinguish it from a fad. It is transmitted to younger generations. It is accepted as a way of being by the most powerful. It can be shared by just a family or by many nations. It can be modified by converging or separating as time goes on. Culture can be defined in different ways by, ironically, different cultures and the way we distinguish these groups is done abitrarily. Even though I have given my method of defining a culture, it is by no way the only way nor should it be. Uniformity is not fun and finding differences is always a better way and actually a safer way of living.