Prior to RGLP, I considered tolerating ambiguity to be an immense challenge. In my personal life, I naturally distinguish right from wrong without second thought; I oftentimes struggle to find the middle ground in many situations in which I maintain strong opinions.
[more]What does it mean to be multicultural or culturally ambiguous? I represent a particularly easy-to-notice example of this phenomenon, having been born and brought up by liberal westernized parents but in India attending a conservative Indian school. I am a hodgepodge of cultural identities, with an American accent and values, but the American knowledge of a recent immigrant and a conversely strong cultural understanding of the South Asian context.
[more]How does one enter into a constructive dialogue with individuals that come from different cultural and personal backgrounds? Adaptation is often cited as a possible solution, but I feel very strongly about the cultures and beliefs that shape who I am, and, as a way to honor them, I like to express these backgrounds in my interactions with others. Because of this, I sometimes struggle with the idea of adapting.
[more]Adaptability, to me, means adjusting to new environments and situations while still keeping true to the essence of the self. For a cultural context, I thought of the My Thai Vegan Cafe we went to in Boston. In my culture, veganism and vegetarianism is looked at as a burden and as the person choosing to be difficult. Hungarian cuisine has meat in most dishes and preparing food in an altered way can be read as a burden or as non-traditional to the culture.
[more]Being adaptable means being able to accommodate new situations. Adaptability is especially important in cultural contexts, where oftentimes people are exposed to values and practices that differ from their own. Some may go into a cultural interaction with little knowledge while others possess extensive knowledge, but, in either case, it is necessary to take into account that not everything will always go as expected.
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