Culture shock is something that hasn't resonated with me as much as it has with other people. Coming from a multicultural family of Ethiopian and Jamaican descent, I think I may have been exposed to culture shock early on. Moving to New York could have been a huge culture shock for me, but it wasn't because I was brought up knowing that every place and everyone has different beliefs and ways of life that may seem strange to me but perfectly regular to them.

I moved around a lot as a kid, about 13 times, not including my independent move to New York. It definitely felt like I was living a gypsy lifestyle. As soon as I would make friends and get comfortable somewhere, my parents would then tell me we were heading out. Not only did I have my parents languages to understand, but when we moved to Houston, the dialect and accents were very different. I had to adapt to Houston's cultural relativism. Houston's dialect was different, a long southern drawl. Not like a South Carolina or Mississippi accent but more of a country drawl that you can find in Arkansas or Oklahoma.




But moving to New York City was a completely different story. Everything that seemed norm to me changed when I moved to New York. New York City is a melting pot of multi-cultural ethnicities. People in New York definitely don't share the same beliefs, languages or behaviors, but the people that inhabit New York share the same city and have to evolve in each others space. This is in turn makes everyone in this city exposed to many, many different cultures. The natural ethnocentrism that comes along with living amongst so many different cultures was mind blowing to me. There are more people from different countries living in New York than anywhere else. The dominant culture permeates the United States no matter where you are in it. The difference about it in New York is that many second and third generations keep the language, all of the material cultures and their real culture is valued deeply.

Traveling to different countries has taught me that every country has some of the same exact ideal cultures with or without knowing it but behaviors are something no one can hide from when traveling into another country from their own. When I was in Berlin, it is like a sin to cross the street even when there were absolutely no cars, the cross walk signal had to be changed. There also was a huge subculture of Turkish communities all throughout Berlin.

My own culture is very hard to define, I am constantly changing and learning who I am. As I am doing that, I am learning from other people who live elsewhere. This helps me understand how big and vast the world is. Acknowledging other cultures, the different freedoms other cultures have, has brought on a different perspective on all angles of my life.

From watching football in Texas to eating my way through New York and dancing to electronic music through Germany. I am becoming more multicultural than I ever thought I could be.