Culture is a screen we use to show others how we are, what and how we do things. Also involves our way to dress, talk and relate with the population.
We use to judge cultures from our own culture perspective, even though we practice similar activities.
Something really impressing to me is what a friendship means to Americans. In Honduras your circle of friends are formed by those people who is close to you and who you feel comfortable with but also those in who you can trust and those who you can look for when you are in troubles or at least when you feel sad or depressed.
Amrican friendship could varie according where are you going or what are you doing. So, it seems like they would not want to expose their feelings and thoughts to anyone.
So, this makes think about: do Americans have a real friend in which they can trust or they just prefer to do not get involve in any uncomfortable situation?
Do they think about their own members family as friends?
What do they do when they need to express their own feelings?
Are friendships important in an American community?
Douglas Lopez,
Honduras.
May 7th, 2014.
You ask interesting questions, Douglas, and I have to wonder where you got your impression that Americans might not have "real" friends. I have several close female friends that I have had for 20 years, and 4 or 5 that probably know me better than I know myself. I absolutely think that Americans have close friends. Friends are often closer than family, I think. We make friends from our classes when we're in school, from our jobs when we're older, or simply from participating in activities we enjoy. You might get along with some people better than others, but I know in my experience, I need to find at least one person that I feel especially close to and confide in.
ResponderEliminarOf course there are individuals that would answer your questions differently, but I think that's more an issue of personality more than culture.
It was a wrong impression! And thanks to the interviews (and also you comment), now I understand better how friendship works in some places. It is not the same if I compare it with how I relate with my friends, but still being an important element in any country and culture.
ResponderEliminarCan I put in my two cents here? I think Americans do friendship differently than some other cultures. Like Molly said, we often do have a few very close friends who we may have been close to for a long time - even though we may not currently live near them. But we also have a lot of more casual friends, too. We might have friends that we exercise with or friends that we do a hobby or take class with. A different group of work friends that we may see socially from time-to-time. I think in your reading, the author pointed out that sometimes friendships can seem more related to the activity at hand rather one group of friends that we do everything with.
ResponderEliminarAs far as families, for me, my family members are my closest friends. Because other friends come and go, move away, find new hobbies or interests that I'm not involved in, or just get too busy with life to have much social time (a hazard of marriage and children!), having family members who are my best friends keeps me anchored. They are who I WANT to spend time with.
And that is something I understood today! (Please, check last post published today jajaja) Thanks a lot Molly and Rochellle!
Eliminar