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September 13, 2005
Rachel's Culture
I honestly can say that I've never really thought of my culture. Maybe it's because I don't have anything extraordinary that sets me apart from everybody else that I can think of off the top of my head. I am German and Polish from my mother’s side of the family. I've actually been to Germany and I love German food. But I don't celebrate any German holidays (if there are any?) or make a huge deal that I'm German. Being Polish isn't anything big for me also, but it is still part of my culture. On my dad's side of the family, I am Swedish. That is a huge part of my dad's family, especially the baking! (mmmm). They have a Swedish craft fair every year around Thanksgiving and I used to always help out at that so that was something big for me. But I guess I would say my culture is based on my friends, where I grew up, but mainly on my family.
My family is my backbone. I wouldn't be who I am without my mother and father, but especially without my older brother. He has high-functioning autism and is very hard to live with. If you all were to meet him, you wouldn't notice anything was wrong with him. He is an angel, a hard-worker, an honest, reliable, funny, young man outside of home. He is twenty-one years old and I'm eighteen, but in reality it feels as though I'm twenty-one and he is eighteen. My parents have brought him to so many doctors and they all said the same thing: he will not drive, he will always need to live at home or with someone, he this and that and this and that. But today, he has three jobs, he drives, pays his own bills, and so much more. My brother makes me who I am; he gives me hope and courage to go through every day. He has pulled through so much, thick and thin, big and small. I am always the one who he goes to when he has a problem or when my parents are being "stupid" and he needs someone to talk to. I have learnt patience, respect, faith, and so much more from him. I don't know if that is what culture is, but when I had to think of what sets me apart, what is the traditions, behaviors, what I'm born into, what the common goals are of my family, I think of him. My family has so many practices or set of behaviors that have become the norm in our house because of him. He is who makes my family's culture.
Posted by lcisnelson at September 13, 2005 11:56 AM
Comments
I have a German ancestry also! I've been to Germany also, and actually found it so beautiful that I think it deserves more credit for being what it is now. As of German food... My Grandma still makes great dishes, and I worked at the only German restaurant around my area for the past nine months! It makes me kind of sad, however, to think that just a couple generations ago, my family spoke German... and here we are, at least me, not knowing it.
Posted by: Allie at September 13, 2005 01:27 PM
Rachel! I love your essay about culture. It was great to hear abot your brother, he must be almost like a hero to you since he is able to do so many thing that the doctors never thought he would be able to do. Great essay!
Posted by: Katie at September 13, 2005 04:46 PM
Rachel,
I was stunned by your blog - it started out with the ordinary and then became extraordinary. I'm glad I read it and thanks for writing it. What a great cultural heritage to have in a world where intolerance is so often promoted.
Nanette
Posted by: Nanette Savides at September 14, 2005 06:24 PM
If I could improve this piece about my culture I would start by improving the first paragraph. I tend to use the same word over and over (part and big). Also, I seem to question myself before I begin to write. Now that I reread it and am thinking about how I was thinking while writing it, I shouldn't question myself and think that I'm not writing correctly or about the right thing, because in the end it all pulls together.
When I started to read the second paragraph, I could tell that the "real writer" was coming out. The second paragraph was the most thoughtful of the whole piece. I believe that I was thinking clearly and that my fingers just did the typing without having to be told what to type.
Overall, I think I did a good job on this piece. There are things to be fixed and to work on, but I enjoyed it.
Posted by: Rachel at September 25, 2005 08:09 PM
Your post had a powerful, unexpected (as Nanette already commented above) punch and a unique spin on what comprises "culture." Certainly reading about the culture of a family united in its struggle with autism is of interest and benefit to us all.
See if you can make the essay pull together from the get go. You already have some ideas about how to do that...good luck.
Posted by: ellen at September 27, 2005 02:25 PM