Culture- The Way We Live

Yesterday, in class we were split up into groups and given certain directions on how to play a card game. Once the loser and winner left from my 'culture' and two new players joined; the game was then played again. Since my culture was set on the idea that aces trumped all, we continued to play like that. But, when the new players started to play, they encountered a culture shock due to the fact that they learned to play the game differently. When you enter a new territory, you either want to revolt against what is presented right in front of you, or not argue and give in to how the culture has already been established. For instance, last winter break I went to Miami, Florida. Since it is so close to the border of Mexico, every employee who worked at the mall spoke Spanish. It was quite overwhelming, because I had stopped taking Spanish after sophomore year. Even the signs at the grocery store were in Spanish. Like the card game, I had either a choice of going against what was presented in front of me, or try my best and adjust to the language that was predominantly spoken in Miami. I also experienced this shock when I went to Mexico. There happened to be stray dogs everywhere! In the United States, that sort of thing is looked at as maybe someone lost their dog. But, the dogs in Mexico had no collar or identification. It is definitely looked at differently between different cultures. When we enter a new culture, we must learn to adapt and learn how each of their customs work.