우리는 어떻게 한 문화를 터득하게 되는가? 우선 우리는 인류학적 의미에서의 출생지와 부모의 언어, 일련의 사고방식, 관습 및 관례 등을 유산으로 물려받는다. 물론 이것만으로는 문화인이 되기에 충분하지 않다. 사실인즉, 문화는 고립되는 바로 그 순간부터 숨을 쉬지 못하고 죽게 된다. 그것은 문화라는 것이 본질적으로 어느 한 지점에서 발생하여 조금씩 이웃 문화들을 새로이 만나게 되는 여정의 결과물로 형성되기 때문이다.
How do we acquire a culture? First of all, in an anthropologist sense, we inherit birthplace, mother tongue, the way we behave, and traditions. Of course, this is not enough to be a cultured person. In fact, when a culture is secluded, it is going to stop breathing and start dying. This is because a culture essentially starts at a point is formed as a result of the interaction between a culture and its neighborhood culture.
The Russian philosopher Vasily Rozanov once stated, “Nothing stays unchanged; such is the culture of humanity.” It is often said that people acquire culture based on the environment in which they were raised. However, I believe that we form our own culture continuously while we experience new cultures and as we interact with others.
To begin with, we build our own culture when coming across other cultures (we come in contact with another culture) met with another culture. This is attributed to the fact that mankind is flexible and can easily adapt to his environment. human is flexible and adapts to the environment very easily. (For example: When Korean international students first come to the United States, they start to acknowledge the differences between the two cultures.) Take the case of Korean international students who study in the United States as an example. When they first go to the United States, they realize a variety of differences between the American culture and Korean culture. To clarify my argument, I would like to point one specific difference between the two cultures. Koreans traditionally have rice and Kimchi for their breakfast because they think bread or cereal is not enough to satisfy their hunger. However, Americans enjoy bread and cereal for their breakfast. The international students from Korea would be surprised to find that by the fact that, Americans often do not have rice for their breakfast. According to the research conducted in 1987 by the universities in California, Korean students typically become accustomed to eating American foods after a period of time. The example demonstrates how the international students have adapted to the American culture.
Not only is culture created when a new culture affects the original one, but it is also formed when people build relationships with others. This is due to the fact that people learn about the culture of others as they communicate with one another. The case of Americans living in Korea provides a viable example. There are several aspects of Korean culture that the Americans learn from their fellow Koreans but only one unique cultural facet of Korea learnt by the Americans will be illustrated. When Americans go drinking with their Korean friends, they would definitely see their Korean friends calling the alcohol vendor “aunt” if she is a woman. It is a tradition in Korea to call female alcohol vendors “aunt” even if she is not related to them; this builds a somewhat close atmosphere with the vendor and the buyer. Americans(?) would find it interesting to call the alcohol vendor “aunt” and I bet they would try calling them “Aunt”. According to the research conducted by the Ministry of Culture, about 80% of the foreigners living in Korea found it interesting to call the alcohol vendors “aunt” and approximately sixty-five percent of them have actually tried calling the vendor “aunt.” The example illustrates how the Americans have learnt one of the aspects of Korean culture as they spend time with their Korean friends.
On the other hand, some people may still insist that culture is what we inherit from the older generations. This is explained by the fact that we learn our mother tongue, the way we should behave in the society, and the food culture from them. They believe culture is preordained by our parent’s culture. However, they are not right because they have not considered the possibility of the alteration of a culture attributed to the interaction between two different cultures.
In brief, people develop their own unique culture constantly when they learn about new cultures and while they meet a variety of people with different cultures. It is essential to keeping forming our own culture in order to keep update ourselves up to date with the society and to avoid keep ourselves from being narrow-minded.