Anthropology: Culture and New Orleans Essay

Submitted By robin_mo2012
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One experiences culture shock when attempting to operate in a different cultural environments from their own and tend to isolate themselves from the host culture. When entering new cultural environments, things may seem foreign and hard to understand what is going on in that particular setting. When trying to be acceptive of another culture you must understand its history and the reasons why certain things are done in that way. It may seem that some things are strange and sometime may become unpredictable. Adjusting to another culture can sometimes be hard, but as a child from Denver, Colorado, it was easier for me to fully adjust to New Orleans' culture. Normally when I visited different cities I would be extremely excited about seeing and learning new things but this wasn’t the case when I moved to new Orleans. New Orleans’ culture is completely opposite from Denver’s culture. Everything seemed foreign to me: the food, accents, clothing, climate and even the way the houses are built .I felt like I had to learn everything over once again. The first baffling impression came from the appearance of the “shot gun” houses. They were extremely small and close together. In Denver, majority of the houses are single houses with its own back and front yard. I was accomusted to suburban areas rather than urban communities. New Orleans is known for Mardi Gras and the "great" parties that are held. I thought the complete opposite. Mardi Gras was not exciting to me at all. I wanted to be in Denver at the Cinco de Mayo parade enjoying myself with my family and friends. My diet drastically changed when I moved. The Toca Bell was unbareable, everything seemed so arificial. I quickly had to learn and accept the fact that the food is very spicy, it is hot most of the year, and the residences rarely sit inside beacause this would definitely be my home for a while. The most memorable culture shock experience moving from Denver, Colorado to New Orleans was adjusting to the climate. Denver's climate is cooler and not as humid compared to New Orleans. It hardly never snows in New Orleans, while in Denver it snows majority of the Winter and some parts of Spring. In 2005 in snowed in New Orleasn, the city closed down roads, shut down schools and the residence seemed so amused about the snow. Personally,I felt like they were over-reacting. Snow is commonly seen in Denver so I was shocked to see their reaction. The snow in New Orleans was like a drizzle compared to the snow I've seen in Denver. During my first years in New Orleans, I found myself making many malicious remarks about the city’s culture. I began to critize and show animosity to the people in New Orleans.All the while when I was judging New Orleans’ residence and their culture, they were probably doing the same thing but in all reality I was the outcast. Now when I look back at my culture
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