Holiday Customs: Fourth Meeting With My Conversation Partner

With fall break just around the corner, holiday breaks were fresh on my mind. During todays’ meeting, this led to a discussion about Venezuelan versus American holiday customs. Jose said that the New Year’s Eve he spent in the US “was the most boring” New Year’s Eve he experienced. When the clock struck midnight he went outside expecting the whole town to rush into the streets and celebrate together until the early morning like is done in Venezuela, but of course that isn’t what happened. While you can find community-wide celebrations like this in the large cities like New York, I think celebrations in America tend to be more exclusive and amongst family and close friends. My first thought when Jose told his story was that these differences in celebration customs reflected a difference in cultural mentality. Exclusive celebrations in the US seemed to indicate an individualistic society. The basic unit for an individualistic society is, obviously, the individual. Having celebrations that solely include ourselves and those that directly influence us individually, like friends and family, reflects this individualistic mentality perfectly. The Venezuelan form a celebrating seemed to reflect a more collectivist society concerned with the betterment and inclusion of all people. They see the town as one large family and want to celebrate with everyone.

When I asked Jose if he agreed with this assessment, his responded, “I think people in all countries think about themselves, but people in my country help one another.” Jose’s thought that it is human nature to think about one’s self reflects a more individualistic cultural view then I originally thought, but on the spectrum of individualism vs. collectivism, I still think Venezuela is closer to the collectivist view than the U.S.

When discussing our plans for the holidays I also asked Jose if he planned to return to Venezuela for the winter break. He told me that his father is not allowed to return because of some problem with the insecure government. I wonder what it would be like not to be able to return home. Being unwelcome in the one place I felt most comfortable would be so disconcerting. If you can’t find comfort at home, where can you find it? I now have a better appreciation for how difficult it must be for Jose to adjust to life in the US.