Instructions: You will interact with at least 2 classmates. When replying to your classmates, if someone else also did the same cultural group, you may interact with this person and compare/contrast experiences.
Each reply must be minimum 250 words APA format reference cited biblical worldview
For my cultural immersion project, I learned about the Vietnamese culture as an African American Christian woman. I’ve had the opportunity to attend worship service and have dinner with them at a Vietnamese restaurant.
Gina Post Catholic Culture: I choose the catholic denomination for my cultural experience. I found a middle aged Caucasian female her name is Lienne that agreed to be interviewed and share her experience of growing up in the catholic church. Some of the early memories she shared that she remembered was starting catechism in the first grade. Which is catholic Sunday school that brings the educational history of the catholic church. this was also a prerequisite to her first communion. which is the highlight for every boy and girl. The catholic church Lienne shared was intimidating to her as a young girl as she felt afraid and had to learn these rituals to be forgiven.
Lienne shared that after making her first holy communion she was able to go to her first confession. This is when she admitted her sins to the priest also called father and she would go into the dark booth that was referred to as the confession booth that was private after the father heard my sins he forgave them and gave me what we called pennence. This allowed me to go to the alter and pray ten our fathers and,5 hail Mary’s and an act of contrition prayer. when that was finished I was free to go. Saturdays was the day for confession. The next day on Sunday is when we would go to the catholic church for communion. the history of the catholic church is so rich in history. it dates back to ancient Rome. The beauty and sounds of the catholic cathedral can compare to no other. Beautiful stained glass windows with the sun shinning through I will always remember the presence that I felt and still feel to this day . The statues of Mary and the saints of old bring a holy atmosphere to breathe in . A place of peace and reverence and respect.
The robes and rituals and nuns and priests giving their lives to serve at the temple and minister God’s peace. As I listened to Lienne share I had felt that atmosphere and also watched the sun shine through the beautiful stained glass windows/ I believe the catholic church has deep roots in history and is full of God’s love and God’s people.
Eileen Post Greek Culture: The culture I chose to study was the Greek culture. This culture was amazing to explore because of its history and ties to the United States culture. Our country’s culture has its roots in ancient Greece, and also all of Western civilization. Ancient Greece was the cradle of Western philosophy, law, and democracy. I decided to study the Greek culture because I was very much familiarized with the ancient Greek culture, but not with the Modern Greek culture.
Even though my initial encounter was not a very positive one, I did gather a lot of information and cultural perceptions during that time. Also, the Lord provided two amazing individuals that I could interview and learn from, which helped answer many of the questions I had when I had the first encounter. What I learned about the Greek culture during the individual interviews was complementary to what I learned during my first group encounter. Yet the interview experience was an extremely positive one.
Greece is a country with many regional local cultures that celebrate a number of life events with religiosity and food. Also, just like many other modern cultures, the advent of postmodern secular thought has made the traditional culture at odds with the modern one in their own country (Efthimiou, 2000). As a result of this divide, the Greek culture in the diasporic communities tend to cling to traditional ways, so the expatriate culture is preserved, but also being expressing full Greek American identity (Efthimiou, 2000) .
As I studied the culture, the most interesting thing I found about it was how in order for the older generations to consider themselves Greek, they must be part of the Greek Orthodox Church (Roudometof, 2008). And yet, the newer generations of Greek citizens do not consider the church as integral in their citizen identity, even though there is still a strong nationalistic sense of belonging (Triandafyllidou, & Kouki, 2013). This is because Greek identity has been historically a matter of heredity more than religion, even though both are necessary for a Greek person to be considered part of their culture (Triandafyllidou, & Kouki, 2013). This really explains the initial findings in Part I of my Cultural Immersion Paper, where I found that most Greek immigrants and their children do not have a permanent status, and are not considered fully Greek (Triandafyllidou, & Kouki, 2013). I am still learning more about this culture, and plan on learning as much as possible from it. Also, loving my Greek neighbor is an action that is commanded by the Lord since he said in Galatians 3:28 (ESV) “ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”.
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