Discussions about culture always prompt me to do some introspection. Not that I don’t reflect on my life enough – I do that a lot, especially these days – but because I default to understanding what’s going on from my reservoir of experiences. I don’t suppose that it’s a bad thing or a sign of egotism either; after all, all of us are cultural products who will always grapple at comprehending our encounters with the world from our own vantage point.

With the advent of the internet, cultural exchanges are more dynamic these days. Whether we like it or not, we are now part of a global neighborhood – a membership we got by default the moment we accessed information from the world wide web. With a click of a key, we are presented with loads of information about what’s happening immediately around us and those locations that are oceans away. And now that educating ourselves about the world around us has become more accessible, becoming more aware and sensitive of others has also become more feasible.

Or so we think. Because like anything else we humans have been afforded with, everything comes as a boon and bane. While one end of the spectrum allows and encourages us to be more open about others’ perspectives, the other end remains laden with baggage and beliefs that we only want to reinforce, since it’s easier to stay in one’s comfort zone rather than open up to new pieces of evidence that could influence our worldview.

In this paper, I anchor my opinions on cross-cultural communication based on excerpts from Meyer (2014)’s The Culture Map. My reflections on her passages overlap with Dumitrascu’s (2023) thoughts in Fundamentals of Cross Cultural Communication, so I weave my narrative around their takes on the interactions between individuals with different (cultural) backgrounds, but who carry with them an awareness of what may or may not be appropriate during such interactions.

Generational judgment
Meyer (2014) underscores the importance of the relative position of two cultures when examining how people coming from different backgrounds relate to one another. As a major influence to one’s worldview, one’s positioning plays a big role in one’s culture. In its most literal sense, where we are right now in our house, city, country, or the world will matter to how we interpret things. For example, as a Manila-based graduate student, freelancer, and wife, who is usually in her room by 10PM, I would think that any time beyond that is already way too late. However, even if I am that same student-freelancer-wife, and I find myself in Boracay for a beach party or in Iloilo for Dinagyang Festival, I would consider the night to be young at 1AM.

Positionality and its influence on culture is also observed when discussions about those in the peripheries arise. The further one is away from the center, the more things become different in perspective. As someone raised in suburban Bulacan, coming to the metro for my college education was daunting: I was an awkward girl fresh out of Catholic school, sheltered to some degree, brainwashed about the terrors possibly waiting for me in the metro, suddenly facing the horrors of daily commute, floods, heavy traffic, and the sea of people in Manila streets. I remember how – despite fulfilling my dream of studying in the University of Santo Tomas – I couldn’t help but wonder how much simpler life would be if I stayed put in Meycauayan. But then again, I’d be stuck in the small-town world I’ve been dying to leave. I remember how my mom told me it just takes some getting used to – and so used I am to it now, that I don’t see myself living back in Bulacan until retirement.

We form prejudices because of our positionality. Dumitrascu (2023) points this out as we tend to feel superior about our own ethnic or cultural group (the Tagalogs acting dominant about their mastery of the Filipino language, because most of the terms are lifted from their dialect – which sometimes makes me think that Cebuanos prefer to speak in English when conversing with a Tagalog to avoid judgment on their accent, or as an act of rebellion); make false assumptions on someone else’s behavior (Ilocanos are stingy, Kapampangans are haughty, Visayans are dependent, and Bicolanos are concupiscent); or generalize about an individual based on misperceptions about the person’s background or beliefs (don’t fall for: policemen, they’re players; lawyers, they’re liars; seafarers, they’re womanizers; soldiers, their line of work demands that you be a mistress to the country). Yet while we are oriented with this general information, we’re not exactly to blame either: we grew up hearing these from our elders, who grew up hearing these from their elders. The actual challenge then is how to unlearn them, or set them aside, and exert due diligence to really get to know a person better.

Which could be easier said than done, as in the Philippines, our regionalistic loyalties are very much at play. Ironically, for a country whose citizens wear their Filipino badge with pride, many still choose to vote candidates based on their provinces over their credentials. The country has a politics of patronage…[and] family and favors really still do hold a lot of sway (Syjuco, n.d.).

Living with others’ cultures
It’s often said that traveling is a test to a relationship, so you only travel with people you are ready to make or break it with. From overnight stays in nearby cities to different countries abroad, I was lucky to have found people I jived with. There were also others, however, who I never got to travel with again – because even if we were very close, our values clashed when the trip happened. Neither of us enjoyed the expedition we looked forward to for a long time, and by the time we were gathering our suitcases from Manila airport’s conveyor, we both knew that it was the beginning of the end of our friendship.

The thing with traveling is that it not only exposes you to a culture that’s waiting in another country – it also exposes you to the personal cultures of the ones you are traveling with. The trip in itself is not just about learning more about foreigners and understanding what floats their boat – it is discovering more about yourself as you deal with another person, who is also very different from you, as you both deal in an unfamiliar terrain where you only have each other.

A popular quote is attributed to Saint Augustine: the world is a book, and those who don’t travel read only one page (Goodreads, n.d.). Just as the books we read and the other media we consume shape our personalities, our exposure to the countries we visit and immerse ourselves with influence who we are. Eventually, “you may begin to notice how multiple cultures have helped to shape your personality (Meyer, 2014),” so you are never the same person when you return to your homeland.

We are like sponges that take in cultural learnings from all over the world, first hand or vicariously, as we develop ourselves to be the person we are. This is why Dumitrascu (2023) is keen about achieving the right mindset that acknowledges the differences between people: from anyone, anywhere, is a learning experience that could alter the way we view the world.

As the lens through which you see the world (Dumitrascu, 2023), the culture in which we grow up has a profound impact on how we see (Meyer, 2014) what’s around us. Culture is the software we use to process our world, and this reminds me of my husband and I’s recent attendance at the Chinese New Year festivity in Binondo. Half the crowd didn’t look like they had Chinese blood in them, but the Filipino-Chinese community didn’t shun anyone. I was especially amused by the strategic location of the Minor Basilica and National Shrine of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz, a.k.a. the Binondo Church, at the heart of the world’s oldest Chinatown – it was a perfect example of how cultures cross, intertwine, and become domesticated over time.

And so, while the Catholic church generally discourages belief in horoscopes and animal signs, I appreciate how their parish priest juxtaposed the significations of the Year of the Dragon and reflections from the gospel about the man healed from leprosy: just as the dragon stands for new beginnings and good omens in Chinese culture, being released from an infectious disease that shuts the sick away from society is also representative of being given a fresh slate in life.

Relativity and awareness of contexts are things that culture teaches us to appreciate. Just as an hour on a red hot cinder is punishing while an hour with someone special passes swiftly, different strokes do apply for different folks. The proponent of the Theory of Relativity did know what he was talking about.

References:
Dumitrascu, S. (2023). Fundamentals of Cross Cultural Communication.

Goodreads. (n.d.). Augustine of Hippo Quotable Quote.
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/6193-the-world-is-a-book-and-those-who-do-not

Meyer, E. (2014). The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global
Business. PublicAffairs.

Syjuco, M. (n.d.) Quote by Miguel Syjuco.
https://www.quotetab.com/quote/by-miguel-syjuco/the-philippines-it-has-a-politics-of-patr
onage-family-and-favors-in-addition-t