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Cross Cultural Experience Research Paper

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Cross cultural experience
I live in Spokane Washington and had a little trouble finding a true cultural experience, there seems to be more opportunities for them in the summer months vs winter. I decided that I would like to try an ethnic restaurant for two reasons; 1) Date night with my husband, 2) get out of cooking dinner. Again, Spokane is not inundated with ethnic restaurants and there is only a handful, and some had bad reviews and the food looked downright scary. I ended up choosing Top of India which serves authentic Indian food, curry and all. I am not a very adventurous person when it comes to food and spiciness so I have never tried Indian food, the mentioned of curry has me turning up my nose. Maybe, in part to the horror stories …show more content…

The main course choices were beef, chicken, lamb and shrimp served a top onion and peppers and other vegetables. Most of the dishes were similar to one another with the variations coming from different types of curry and how much heat you wanted. I, decided on the sample platter and my husband on a yellow curry and lamb dish. We, also ordered a cucumber vinaigrette salad which reminded me of a just that, a cucumber vinegar salad your grandma would make for a summer picnic. I would assume that this would be a fermented dish if we were actually in India. All meals were served with basmati rice and we opted for an addition, of plan naan, a leaven white flour flat bread baked in a Tandoori oven. The naan was served with a variety of chutney, the mint being my favorite, chutney was originated from the Indian cuisine and the more familiar version, made of tart fruits was derived from this Indian staple. All of our dishes were cooked in the Tandoori oven, which is a clay cylinder clave partial buried in the ground and the meat is skewered and cooked inside, while the naan is slapped on to the outside and cooked, very different from our modern ovens. The food was amazing, filled with flavor and cooked to perfection and the meat was tender and moist. I tried the yellow curry dish my husband ordered, and as I expected I was not a fan, …show more content…

I would definitely feel what Hansen refers to a cultural “bump” a slight uneasiness in the unfamiliar if I were to visit India (Lynch, 2011). Indian culture is deeply spiritual, but it is also complex made up of mystic, mythology and superstitions. (ISHA, 2014). Unlike, the American culture, which if religious, is mostly comprised of Monotheistic religions (one god). Another, vastly different practice is the Caste system in India, which you’re socioeconomic and social status are determined by your birthright. Meaning, that you can never climb the social class ladder, your future and success are predetermined. So different from the US, where here you personally in charge of your future success and could be born into a low socio economic family and still rise above your circumstances through hard work and education. Money, is America’s social class system regulator, and the more you have, the more your status, power and influence increases. Here, is another unusual fact I learned from a previous anthropology class, India is the only culture to recognize a 3rd gender possibility, which are called Hijras (Nanda, 1999). While, they are not always socially accepted, they are tolerated, and justified through mythology and serve a place within society, all be it, not a high one (Nanda, 1999). America has come a

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