Hello my name is Robert Chapman. I'm 17 and I identify myself to be from the Pacific Northwest (United States) even though I was born in Mission Viejo, California. I have many ties through my family to various European cultures and customs along with other customs from around our country including the midwest.
Concrete.
I have lived in the Portland Metro area for the majority of my life and have been influenced by most cultural references surrounding the area. My ancestry goes back to various European cultures including Britain, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Ireland, and some from surrounding areas of Switzerland.
In my family we don't have a whole lot of traditions, but we do follow some that have been passed down for a long time. One traditional food that we have is Goulash. It is like a meaty pasta in essence. We also have a homemade chili that we make.
We appreciate music in our family, but not all of us necessarily practice any instruments. I play the drums, but my parents do not really play any instruments. I enjoy indie music, alternative, 80's/90's music, and electronic music. On the other hand my parents like more of the oldies music, but my mom seems to like some of the music I enjoy that is newer.
Unlike some parts of the world, our clothing isn't really flashy or over the top; it is very casual. We rarely dress in fancy clothing.
Our family (and extended family) has a tradition during Christmas of Secret Santa where we all exchange gifts. We also get together on Easter for Easter Egg Hunts for the younger kids of the family. Within my immediate family, we have always been influenced by the world around us, especially in nature. We love going to the beach and seeing different landscapes that decorate such diverse areas within Oregon. Personally, I enjoy seeing the contrast between city life and nature and how one road in Oregon can change its landscape over and over just driving down its winding paths.
My mom and I enjoy reading, but I have never seen my dad near a book in my life. We all enjoy going on drives and finding new places to go in the future. I enjoy watching movies, finding new music, and sharing jokes with the people around me in addition to everything said above.
I also love the outdoors in general (reiterating that), Oregon is a great place for that believe it or not. Everything is so diverse here, you could literally drive for three hours and go through the coast range/beach, Portland, and make it towards Mt. Hood, and eventually into the desert beyond.
Behavioral.
In my family we only speak English. We all have roles in our family that keep a roof over our heads and keeps the family running. For one, my mom takes cares of the finances (and things that are mostly indoors) and my dad will mainly work on things outside. I will usually do whatever needs to be done around the house. We aren't strictly working in these areas because we will switch jobs and still get everything done. My mom will never let me or my dad do these two things; laundry and the dishes. She thinks we don't do it correctly. We are considered a democratic family, but my dad sometimes leans more towards republican tendencies. Education is a big aspect to our family now. My parents have High School diplomas, but never went to college or extended education. They strive for me to get good grades, work hard, and go to college to be successful. I want to be successful and be the first in my immediate family to go to college. The notion of family is one of the most important things to all of us. We appreciate our family and never take them for granted, everyone that is a part of it is important. We also like to learn about the world around us (especially my mom and I). Our family has a form of nonverbal communication now when we get mad at each other. We try not to get mad at each other and simply ignore the issue or address it calmly.
Symbolic.
I will start out by saying that our family isn't really religious at all. We are technically Catholic, but I cannot remember a time where I ever went to church. The closest thing to a "religion" that we follow is that we believe in some of the things that are religious (but we aren't fixated on one definitive religion). We believe in nature as a healing force, and that there are signs in nature that remind us of people whom we have lost and that they are giving us signs that they are still there even after death (deaths in the family). My parents were raised a different way however; they did go to church and found later that it really wasn't worth the time. I believe that I am a very open-minded person. Both myself and my family believe in accepting all people for who they are.
I would consider myself an existentialist because I find value in our world that isn't really there. I make value for things in my mind in an otherwise meaningless world. I think that we need to give meaning to things because on their own we just disregard them. As a whole, my family is pretty laid back when it comes to how we feel about religion and our beliefs. I think that if you want to do something, or do things in your own way you should do it (within good reason though).
Like I said, my entire family believes different things regarding religion or spirituality. My mom would probably say something about this that differs in many ways compared to my dad.
(One more thing) We try not to focus on the past, or things that have caused us misfortune. We always say, "why worry about things that could have been when the present is facing you with great certainty?"
I think that art is one of the greatest influences for me right now. It has made me think more about myself and how I want to express myself as a person. Currently, new age art forms have been the most thought provoking to me, but I love learning about art from the past. It is so interesting to interpret how art has evolved. I also find myself learning about how we have grown from our past in all sorts of ways, it inspires me to think deeply. It makes me realize that everything we do is art; our handwriting, our way of speaking, the way we sweep a floor, the way we type a paper, it makes us all a form of art.
I like looking at, and thinking of worlds beyond ours. Maybe instead of looking forward, we should look up above to other galaxies or planets; it's very humbling. I'm not quite sure how this fits into my culture symbolically, but I guess it does fit in because it is something I believe in and it makes me feel... so small. I don't mean that in a negative way, it's just that all of these "huge" problems that we have here on Earth, are so diminutive compared to the big picture. Basically, I believe that there is something beyond us that we have just not quite discovered yet.
When there is a death in the family, or we are going through hard times, we believe that we shouldn't focus on the negative and remember the good things that we do have. We have recently had a loss in the family. It was a hard thing to take in because it had been one of the first deaths that effected me in a way where I understand what it means. Of course we were, and are, still saddened by it, but we know that there is a great amount of positivity that he had brought to our lives and we choose to remember that. Instead of having a sad occasion during a "funeral" we would have "A Celebration of Life" which seems like a much more meaningful time for the family.
Explaining my culture has been an interesting project. It has been a long time since I have analyzed who I am and where I come from; and possibly what my future actions will be. I feel that I have learned more about myself through this project in a lot of ways which will show in the photos I have to take.
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