Identifying the Cultural Characteristics of My Family

Soviet Union, Russia, the northern side of Europe is where my roots originate. My culture is rich and exciting, characterized by many traditional ceremonies, spicy foods, flavored drinks, magnificent buildings and colorful clothing. Although I am now based in the United States, being from a Russian lineage is something that has given me an internal pride, but at the sometimes influenced my normal life.

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In our family, we still eat Russian foods and drinks, some of the Russian traditional food that I found to be delicious include Zakuski, Aspic Shashlik, and chicken kiev; although we also prepare pirozhki, I have never liked it because of its spicy taste. Concerning drinks, out Russian culture is known for its tea and vodka; however, this is not the case here in the United States where there is no such culture. I do not embrace such a Russian culture; I am used to hanging out with my friends taking snacks as a way of warming our moods as we have some conversation.

Russian being the Russian commonly spoken language, I am not conversant with it despite it being spoken in our household. Since I came in the United States when I was still a little child, having no slight knowledge of what is going on around me, I have never had a chance to interact with a group of friends who are purely Russians. In the United States, I encountered multi-cultural communities from different parts of the world, and I have never had a chance to speak my native language since I am used to speaking English.

There are cultural practices that my parents and relatives who visit us, practice and instill in use but they are contracting with those in the United States. For instance, it is always important to give flowers that are odd numbers since the even-numbered flowers are meant for the funerals, though I find myself often giving even-numbered flowers. It is a taboo to whistle in the house according to our Russian culture, but that is common here in the United States. It is a taboo greeting someone across the threshold since it is a sign that you have quarrels. The only smile when it is necessary, in our family, everyone is sober and serious at all times, I find this being difficult when we are restricted to smile. In our culture, we practice Christianity, and we fall under Catholic congregation, I do not have any problem with that though.

I have a friend who is from Mexico, and she is always proud of it, and I am also mesmerized by it also. Some of their cultural and family practiced are slightly similar to that of Russian. For instance, they are Christian Catholics just like as, and they also have various spicy food. The most interesting thing that the Mexican communities are known around the world is their culture of bullfighting also known as corrida de toros. My friend's family is biggest fans of the sports, and they annually go back to Mexico where they get a chance to see the sport live. My friend is a pro at playing some of the musical instruments for Mariachi, Mexican type of music; she can play the guitarron guitar and violins. When visiting at their place, I often get her together with her family playing the Mariachi music. My friend's situation is not similar to mine since most of their cultural behaviors especially are nearly equal to that of the United States, they can smile, and they have limited cultural barriers, and hence they can easily interact with the multicultural group of people.