Cultural Differences

There are many cultures in the world today. And every country or even city, has its own special culture. Some of the basic things that make up a culture are things like greetings and food. How one greets another can really show what their culture is like. The food in a culture can sometimes even define a culture.

Firstly, lets start out with the food. Turkish food is known for it's delicious fried rice, the famous döner, and iskender. When I interviewed 4 different people, I received a variety of responses. One of the responses was that Turkish food was more greasy, however, that it was still more healthy. David Mathew Lutz said, "Americans eat a lot of red meat which can be bad fo yo body". Mr.Lutz implied the fact that there was much more vegetables in Turkish food than American. A similar response came from Miss.Caroline Elliott. She also believed that Turkish food had more vegetables so it was healthier, but Turkish food used more butter for rice and other food. Dr.Austin Page, another American(Texan), said, "i would say the food is much healthier. the staples of food here in turkey is bread, soup, tea and vegetables, whereas the staples in the USA is what...cheesburgers, hotdogs and beer?" However, these were all Americans. So, as I interviewed Abbs Renberg, I received a different answer. Miss.Renberg said that in Malaysia, there is a greater variety of food, and she also said that Malaysian food was more "oily" than Turkish food. Most of the food in Malaysia are fried, like fried noodles, fried rice, fried pig intestine etc...

Another way to see cultural differences is the way one greets another. In Turkey, both men and women, greets another with kisses on both cheeks. Of course many cultures have different ways of greeting another. Dr.Page said, "...in USA, kissing someone as they open the door would horrify the host. Americans settle on a strong handshake and pat on the back". Mr.Lutz said, "In Turkey, a natural greeting between guys would be a hug and a quick kiss on each side of the face, while in America all you'd get is a fist bump." So, this raises this question, what about the ladies? Miss.Elliott said, "I kiss my Turkish friends here on the cheeks to greet them, It'd be a little socially unacceptable to do that in the states." She said that in the States, she would just 'hug' her friends. But sometimes, she would hug her Turkish friends too. Miss.Renberg said that in Malaysia, they would greet another with a hug, or sometimes just a 'hello'. However to elders, they would bow their heads and shake their hands.

Overall, as we have compared cultures, we have clearly seen some differences in food, and the way people greet one another. Turkish food is considered for the most part healthier, with  more vegetables. However, it is definitely considered to be quite oily. For greetings, Turks kiss each other on the cheeks, and most Western cultures gets handshakes, fist bumps, pat on the back and sometimes a hug(with closer friends).


Sources:
1. Interviewed David Lutz, Caroline Elliott and Austin Page.