Cultural Reporter Project

When contemplating the definition of the world culture, there isn't one correct answer.  This word can be defined in many different ways.  Dictionary.com alone has five different meanings of the versatile word, but to me there is only one definition I would define culture by and that definition is "the behavior and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group."  My cultural reporter project is on the difference of a rural upbringing to the upbringing of an urban area.  To begin with this comparison, I asked my brother, who lived in Los Angeles for two years.  My brother stressed the difference of transportation, communication, and the social aspects of living in a city of almost four million people.

Transportation in a large city such as Los Angeles is hectic, to say the least.  The image above clearly represents that.  Cars line up for miles only to travel two miles in twenty minutes.  Some parts of the day are worse than others, obviously.  Transportation in a rural area is essentially you being the only one on the road unless there is a sporting event or social event in a nearby town or city.  Come to think of it the only type of traffic jam is when there is a tractor infront of you and you haven't gotten the opportunity to pass it.  In large cities such as LA there is different types of transportation.  You have the choice of bus, taxi, or your own car.  Being raised in a rural area you had one way of transportation, your own.  Growing up I didn't have a town within 60 miles that had a taxi.  Bus is more common.

Communication is another difference between rural and urban upbringings.  In large cities such as LA, it is frankly impossible to know everyone in the population abundant city.  In a rural area you would communicate with everyone you passed in your vehicle with a simple finger wave, which served as a way of greeting each other on the road.  In LA and other large cities it is unheard of to give that simple finger wave to a stranger and for them to return that wave.  Along with the silent communication you have trouble with the verbal communication due to the variety of ethnicities in a large city such as LA.  When going to the mall you're walking passed people that may have accidentally bumped into you and as you turn to each other to apologize, you begin speaking different languages.  Imagine if they weren't apologizing to you but rather scolding you for being a clumsy person.  And what if you run into a person who speaks English but its just a different type of English such as the ones listed in Chapter Two of our Intercultural Communication book.  Do you attempt to speak their language to hopefully establish clarity between the two.  Another way of communication is the devices accessible to you.  In a rural area, there may not be a pay phone in sight if you were to lose your phone.  For instance, in my hometown we have one pay phone, located next to the local pub.  In a large city, pay phones are located on many of the corners.

Another aspect of living the big city life is the social events.  In large cities you can go to places like the one pictured above.  If you are of age of course, there is actually something you can go out and do on the weekends or maybe even the weekdays if thats your style.  In rural areas there isn't places like this around.  You would have to go to a nearby larger city to experience clubs such as these.  With this type of environment, there are positives.  The positives are the fact of meeting the amount of people you couldn't dream of in a rural area.  But with this positive, you also put yourself at risk.  I am being stereotypical, but I feel I have a right to be with what is seen on the news with the violence that is encountered when residing in a large city such as LA.

As a result of being in a big city, you have the luxury of attending this iconic sports venue.  Last I checked there won't be a place like this in Nebraska until next year when the new Pinnacle Bank Arena in downtown Lincoln is finished.  You can see a place like this picture and automatically assume that this is a place of a large population, as you can do for all of the venues of major sports franchises.  As a result of it being the only franchise you've seen in person, it tends to grow on you and become your favorite.

While talking to my brother, I realize that I would be open to living in a urban area such as LA but the transition would be difficult.  Getting use to the alternative forms of transportation, communication, and other forms of social gathers would be difficult, but it would be something I will definitely consider when choosing where I want to raise a family.  For now I am completely content in living in good ole Nebraska indefinitely.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/culture - Definition of Culture

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=indefinitely&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&biw=1053&bih=658&um=1&ie=UTF-8... - Staples Center Photo

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=indefinitely&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&biw=1053&bih=658&um=1&ie=UTF-8... - Night Club Photo

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=indefinitely&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&biw=1053&bih=658&um=1&ie=UTF-8... - Traffic Photo

Martin, J.N. & Nakayme, T.K. (2012) Intercultural Communication in Contexts (6th ed.) Boston, MA: McGraw Hill