Understanding Culture

In traveling to any country, Americans immediately notice the differences in culture and that is certainly the same here in South Africa. However, the culture is very diverse here because of their unique history. In reading more about the history of the nation, I have learned that there is a disagreement as to who the actual indigenous population is since so many different groups have migrated through South Africa (Coombes, 2003). While many countries seem to have a truly dominate culture, I do not get that sense here because they truly are the rainbow nation. There are several tribes that live in South Africa including the Xhosa, Zulu,  and at least 8 others. The first Europeans to arrive were the Dutch who settled in the Cape Colony which is now Capetown and many of them were farmers and eventually developed into the Afrikaners. Later, the British arrived in South Africa and had tension with the Afrikaners. Through their history, the various groups in South Africa have lived together to create this rainbow nation.  I have been repeatedly amazed that most people know multiple languages. There are 11 official languages and everyone seems to know at least two. While I understand that learning multiple is out of necessity, I still believe that American students would benefit from becoming fluent in another language. 

Through the readings, I have also learned since apartheid has ended, that the various cultures have disagreed as to how to create public monuments to represent their history (Coombes, 2003). Different groups want their histories to be represented differently,with respect to their own truths. On Wednesday of next week, we will be going to Capetown where more of these public monuments exist and I am looking forward to seeing them. We will be going to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned and we replanting to go to the District Six Museum as well. District Six was essentially a diverse neighborhood in a prime location in Capetown. After being declared a whites only area, around 60,000 people were forcefully relocated and their communities were bulldozed. With the fall of apartheid in 1994, the government has attempted to resolve this issue by providing property rights for those who were removed and helping to rebuild their homes. Like all other monuments, they tell a biased story and many feel that everyone's side of history needs to be expressed.

Another significant cultural difference is the concept of time. In the United States, we value timeliness and we tend to have every minute of our days planned out. However, that rigid concept of time is not valued in the same way in the Xhosa culture. This is most recognizable for me in working in the classroom at Emafini. After being in the school for four days, I still do not understand their daily schedule which they call a timetable. The classes rotate differently each day and students are in each class for a different amount of time each day. One of my classes was scheduled to end at 9:20am and my lesson went over to 9:24am (there are no bells to dismiss class) and I felt bad for keeping them for so long,but the teacher I am working with didn't seem to mind and casually told the students that they could switch classes. The concept of time is just more relaxed but it has reminded us to just let go and that it is okay.

Overall, American society is very individualistic and competitive which are values that go hand in hand with our capitalist economy. There is a much more collective culture present in the Xhosa culture which is also noticeable at the school. In the classroom, the students hold each other accountable for being quiet in class by shushing each other or tapping on the desk to quiet their peers. Pens and other school supplies seem to be in short supply so students are constantly sharing with each other to make sure that everyone has written down whatever needs to be. This morning, we watched the morning assembly in which 1200 students lined up very close together to sing songs and to officially welcome us to the school. One of the department chairs, named Mrs. Thambo (Tom-Bo) talked about me in front of entire school by talking about how good I was at teaching social sciences and apparently all of my 7th grade students have been talking about how much they like me in Xhosa. It was such a great honor to be recognized in front of all of them. In many instances, I think that the collective mindset would be beneficial in American society and especially in American schools.

Finally, today, we visited Lugisa High School which serves grades 8-9. We talked with their principal and the department chairs before taking a tour of the school. We discussed some common issues wears having with our high school students from motivating them to go to class to low test scores. There seemed to be many similarities and it was oddly comforting to realize that teenagers are teenagers no matter where they are. In touring their school, it was very obvious how bad the vandalism was. The school has had problems with people breaking in to steal things that they cannot afford to replace. In two classroom, all of the electrical wiring had been torn out. Since these rooms now haven't electricity, they cannot be used and they cannot afford to replace them. While theft certainly occurs in our high schools, it was obvious that it was a true problem at Lugisa. Regardless, it was really great to talk with the teachers at the school and learn how the high schools are run here.

References 

Coombes, A. E. (2003). History after apartheid: Visual culture and public memory in a democratic     

     South Africa. Durham: Duke University Press.