INTERCULTURAL RELATIONS
Intercultural relationships happen when people from different cultural backgrounds come together and decide to build a relationship. This may be dating, friendship or even as a couple for example a Kenyan marrying a Canadian or a Brazilian marrying a Dutch. The relationship however builds depending on the level on which both understand the culture of the other.
Alupoaicei 2009 says that the world today is more accessible than ever with the endless opportunities for study, work and travelling to different places in the globe so it is no surprise that the number of intercultural relationships have raised as times goes by.
However there are a lot of challenges as well as benefits associated with one being in an intercultural kind of a relationship.
The cultural challenge may seem overwhelming but may prove to be irreconcilable. Being in an intercultural relationship is not an easy task as alupoaicei 2009, put it as he considered it a lifetime experience.
This cultural challenge may be brought about by food, dressing, religion, race, family, environment and language which one of the partners’ in the relationship was not accustomed to.
For example a Kenyan student undertaking further studies in the states will find it challenging to build a relationship with those of the host nation because his culture is totally different from what he is used to, not to mention the way of dressing, the food that they eat, the way they speak and the activities they partake in.
A research that was conducted by bull state university on students shows that establishing relationships with persons from cultures different from ourselves proves to be a challenging task. The study reveals one of the challenges as the relationship forces one to learn new customs and traditions. Learning this custom may seem fun and an exciting experience but the fact that it takes time and practice makes it tiresome to some people.
Secondly relating with people from different cultures from ours is identifying fears, prejudice and stereotypes that only guide our social interactions and contribute to misinformation about members of various cultural groups but help to perpetuate various social inequalities. Uncertainty and confusion as Toomey 1999 puts, it is common for many students who represent the majority culture which comprises of whites, heterosexuals and Christians to feel uncertain on how to interpret and respond to the attitudes and behaviors of some students who are culturally different.
Fear and discomfort is another challenge. Students may feel awkward and uncomfortable interacting with persons from different cultural groups due to limited exposure to members of these groups. However, the feeling of discomfort revolves around doing or saying the wrong things and being labeled a racist, sexist or homophobe.
Being in the relationship doesn’t mean on loses their own cultures but it’s rather a mixing of culture and that of their partner. This makes it interesting as it gives one the opportunity to learn many languages and travel a lot.
However (Casmir 1997) far outweighs the benefits of being in an intercultural relationship more than the challenges.
The author lays out some of the benefits as one gets the chance to learn something different languages. Rather than signing up for classes to learn a particular language. He argues that being in a relationship with a person from a different culture automatically gives on a chance of having a language teacher.
Listening to your partner converse with their family and friends gives one the opportunity to pick up on many words and pronouncing them thus being able to learn the language. Again ones’ family gets introduced to diversity. This is through sharing our travel experiences; inviting them to festivals and making them try new dishes. One’s mind is continually opened to different ways of life thus becoming an important way of breaking a lot of stereotypes.
One also gets the chance to travel a lot. This is because having a spouse from a different culture means that you must plan for a trip to visit your partners’ homeland and family. In some cities, there are no direct flights thus giving the partners a chance to discover and explore different places.
Intercultural relationships also give one the option to settle in two countries. This makes it easy for partners to settle in the country of their given choice once their visas and immigration documents are all sorted out.
No matter how challenging it may seem, (Casmir 1997) views intercultural relationships as a way of learning, exploring new ideas, travelling to new places, doing away with stereotypes and a boost to love one another despite the skin color, race and the nature of one’s’ cultural background.
Mutana, J. & Nganga, S. (2017)
Intercultural relations
Intercultural relationships happen when people from different cultural backgrounds come together and decide to build a relationship. This may be dating, friendship or even as a couple for example a Kenyan marrying a Canadian or a Brazilian marrying a Dutch. The relationship however builds depending on the level on which both understand the culture of the other.
Alupoaicei 2009 says that the world today is more accessible than ever with the endless opportunities for study, work and travelling to different places in the globe so it is no surprise that the number of intercultural relationships have raised as times goes by.
However there are a lot of challenges as well as benefits associated with one being in an intercultural kind of a relationship.
The cultural challenge may seem overwhelming but may prove to be irreconcilable. Being in an intercultural relationship is not an easy task as alupoaicei 2009, put it as he considered it a lifetime experience.
This cultural challenge may be brought about by food, dressing, religion, race, family, environment and language which one of the partners’ in the relationship was not accustomed to.
For example a Kenyan student undertaking further studies in the states will find it challenging to build a relationship with those of the host nation because his culture is totally different from what he is used to, not to mention the way of dressing, the food that they eat, the way they speak and the activities they partake in.
A research that was conducted by bull state university on students shows that establishing relationships with persons from cultures different from ourselves proves to be a challenging task. The study reveals one of the challenges as the relationship forces one to learn new customs and traditions. Learning this custom may seem fun and an exciting experience but the fact that it takes time and practice makes it tiresome to some people.
Secondly relating with people from different cultures from ours is identifying fears, prejudice and stereotypes that only guide our social interactions and contribute to misinformation about members of various cultural groups but help to perpetuate various social inequalities. Uncertainty and confusion as Toomey 1999 puts, it is common for many students who represent the majority culture which comprises of whites, heterosexuals and Christians to feel uncertain on how to interpret and respond to the attitudes and behaviors of some students who are culturally different.
Fear and discomfort is another challenge. Students may feel awkward and uncomfortable interacting with persons from different cultural groups due to limited exposure to members of these groups. However, the feeling of discomfort revolves around doing or saying the wrong things and being labeled a racist, sexist or homophobe.
Being in the relationship doesn’t mean on loses their own cultures but it’s rather a mixing of culture and that of their partner. This makes it interesting as it gives one the opportunity to learn many languages and travel a lot.
However (Casmir 1997) far outweighs the benefits of being in an intercultural relationship more than the challenges.
The author lays out some of the benefits as one gets the chance to learn something different languages. Rather than signing up for classes to learn a particular language. He argues that being in a relationship with a person from a different culture automatically gives on a chance of having a language teacher.
Listening to your partner converse with their family and friends gives one the opportunity to pick up on many words and pronouncing them thus being able to learn the language. Again ones’ family gets introduced to diversity. This is through sharing our travel experiences; inviting them to festivals and making them try new dishes. One’s mind is continually opened to different ways of life thus becoming an important way of breaking a lot of stereotypes.
One also gets the chance to travel a lot. This is because having a spouse from a different culture means that you must plan for a trip to visit your partners’ homeland and family. In some cities, there are no direct flights thus giving the partners a chance to discover and explore different places.
Intercultural relationships also give one the option to settle in two countries. This makes it easy for partners to settle in the country of their given choice once their visas and immigration documents are all sorted out.
No matter how challenging it may seem, (Casmir 1997) views intercultural relationships as a way of learning, exploring new ideas, travelling to new places, doing away with stereotypes and a boost to love one another despite the skin color, race and the nature of one’s’ cultural background.
Mutana, J. & Nganga, S. (2017)
Intercultural relations
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