Clash of the Cultures

Don't worry, this really isn't as dramatic as the title sounds.  I just really liked how the title sounded.  Clash might be too strong of a word, but "Cultural Tension" just didn't have the same ring to it.  Plus, ever since I heard a reference to "Clash of the Titans", I couldn't get it out of my head. 

Some might think I played it safe in studying abroad at Westminster here in Cambridge, for the UK and USA have many things in common.

• Both are considered "First World Countries", which while having many meanings, according to Merriam Webster, it is defined as the "countries of the world that have many industries and relatively few poor people, the rich nations of the world...the highly developed industrialized nations often considered the westernized countries of the world". 

• The UK and the USA both speak English, with a variety of accents, depending on location.

• Weather in the UK is comparable to weather in some of the states of America.

• Large cities full of fashion, fame and fortune, as well as industry in various kinds, advanced technology, and an abundance of food.

• Cars. Public transportation. Colleges. Schools. Churches. Sports (football and football). 

• Pop stars/television stars.

• Did I mention we both speak English?

I could go on and on how we're similar but then that wouldn't give any insight into the title I've chosen for this blog.  Here's one of the best analogies of how I'm feeling right about now with culture - and this analogy is totally USA biased, and worse, Texas biased. 

It's like when I moved to Georgia and everyone thought, "oh, you're from the south and just moved to another part of the south". Moving to Atlanta, GA from Dallas, TX was a bit of a culture shock for me.  Georgia was a south I had not experienced, just as Texas might be a south that many Georgia folks are unaware of. 

It's like when Texans from Austin, TX get compared to Texans from Amarillo, San Antonio, Houston, or, even worse, Dallas, TX.  I have ongoing debates discussion disagreements conversations in regards to this matter. 

It's the same but it's different.  

And part of the "different" we experience often comes from assumptions made.  

Back to the Texas examples, it is often assumed that everyone in the city of Austin roots for the college football team the Texas Longhorns.
(While many think they should, many don't. Especially with how the team's been doing...)  

Or that everyone from Dallas love the Dallas Cowboys.  

Or that every Texans loves meat, especially beef.  Lots and lots and lots of beef.
(We don't...ok, ok, I don't.)

Or that it never snows in Texas.
(It does, especially once I leave the state.) 

I remember going on a mission trip as a youth and having my brother share with us that his work team assumed he lived on a farm and rode horses to school because he was from Texas.  

(I can assure you, we did not ride horses to school...maybe our bikes but not horses...)

As much as the USA and the UK have in common, there are many things they don't have in common.

• In regards to English spoken here, things are said differently and different words are used for different things.  I had no idea what a "boot" was and sponge seems to be the universal word for cake.  Also, trying to explain JELLO to everyone was hilarious. I often have to ask people what they exactly mean...

• Do I need to bring up the restroom experience again?

• Spelling.  Are you going to organise or organize? I really hope my essays aren't counted against for these minor differences...

• The government system here with the monarchy is sometimes too much for me to think about, but in all fairness so is American politics...

• If you've taken a look at the food pictures, you'll notice things are a bit different. (If you haven't, I only have one and two.)

• Public transportation here is way different - walking is one of the first means of transportation (much like many college towns), busses run routes that make sense, the tube and trains can take you just about anywhere.  And bikes are used - I will probably get hit by a bike before I get hit by a bus. If you want to read some more about travel in the UK, I found this quite interesting. 

• Our American stars are a bit different than UK stars...there will be a picture post on that one. 

It's the same, but it's different. 

And in regards to playing it safe, anytime you decide to go somewhere new, such as a new studying community, you're taking a risk.  A risk to share some of you with others and pray they don't just mark you up as the ridiculous American.  (I seriously felt like that my first class...)  We can easily get wrapped up into the cultural assumptions and then when these assumptions are proved wrong, there's a kind of struggle to make sense of exactly what we are experiencing - or who we are experiencing. Discussions of what ministry looks like has been so vastly different than what would happen with me back stateside that sometimes it seems hard to compare the processes between URC and PCUSA.  How classrooms and lectures are facilitated is much different than my Austin College days and classes at Columbia.   There are many times when I find myself caught up in what I thought this cultural experience would be like, and I'm proven wrong.  I'd like to think, too, that my peers have assumptions of Americans that are proven wrong as well.  I think it works best in partnership like that, a little bit of both giving and taking.  

 And of course, I can't help but think about these cultures we have created in the sense of church culture.  What I've deemed as appropriate or familiar on Sunday mornings isn't the same as my neighbor, fellow student, or even a fellow congregant!  I've had the privilege to visit a variety of churches, not only here in Cambridge, but also during my time in Atlanta.  I've even taken a class where we went and participated in worship with people of different faiths.  I've taken classes with professors who have challenged me to look at church culture, specifically mine, and see how it works, how it doesn't and what else is out there.  Yet, even in the midst of all this experiencing, my love for the church culture I hail from isn't tossed away.  I've become a bit of a melting pot of worshiping traditions - it's a bit give, a bit take. I've tried to encounter with an open mind and heart, and yes, there probably was eye-rolling. I don't have to love everything I experience, but I should respect it.  (And maybe I will love it!)

It's the same, but it's different.

 It is a risk to immerse oneself in a new country, culture, community, or church, but in just these five weeks I've been here, the amount I've learned, absorbed, and experienced have been overwhelmingly amazing and frustrating at the same time. It can really feel like a clash at times, but most times I feel as if I'm being held in tension - tension to conform and allow myself to be re-formed*.


It's a bit give, and a bit take.


It's the same, but it's different.


It's a Clash of the Cultures, but a clash that leads to growth, discernment, and awareness.


I'm good with that.







*Can't escape saying that with a nod to the tradition I come from, roughly, "Reformata et semper reformanda secundum verbum dei", "the church reformed and always being reformed according to the word of God".