I remember the first time I experienced a cultural clash here in the United States; it happened just a few days after I had arrived here and had not yet interacted with many people. It was one of the best experiences that I have ever had and it has been stuck up in my mind ever since. A friend of mine called me over for dinner to his place and I couldn’t resist such an offer so there I was going to meet him and his parents and of course have a nice meal with them. This opportunity to me was a once in a lifetime opportunity because it meant leaving my home and meeting entirely new people and this is what made it more interesting to me. It was also an opportunity to meet someone who could potentially be my husband in future as I had always had the hope of one day getting married to an American man. I had told myself that if I was to ever get married to an American man then I had to learn the American culture just the same way he was to learn my culture.
This dinner presented me with a perfect opportunity to market myself as a potential future husband. I was welcomed into the house warmly by my fiend and his parents also welcomed me politely asking who I was, about my home and how long I had been in the United States. I answered all questions politely and it was a very nice evening to say with the parents of my host making it a worthwhile experience. When dinner time approached I was shocked to find out that they had prepared pork for dinner. I simply said “Sorry but I can’t take that” as everybody looked at me with amazement. He asked “And why not my dear?” I explained to him by telling him I was a Muslim and that our culture does not allow us to take pork because it is sin according to the Quran. He was very apologetic to me on this matter and offered his sincerest apologies but I could understand he was a Christian and so there was no way he would have known we Muslims do not take pork. I replied, “Its okay I understand” and there I was with my first real encounter of culture clash.
Works Cited Page
Walker, Alice, “Everyday Use”, accessed on, September 25, 2013 at
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug97/quilt/walker.html (2013)
