For me the concept of intercultural communication was very
interesting. I grew up in the beyond small town of Westhaven Ca., where most of
the kids I grew up with were all the same as me… white, middle class, and
appeared overall happy. To me we were all from the same culture and our parents
seemed to be about the same. It wasn't until I moved to Auburn that I was
introduced to the cultural world of clicks. I was the new kid and from the “back
woods”. When I moved here in 1986 Auburn was probably half the size it is now,
and I thought it was a huge city. On the first day of school I went up to a
little girl and tried to say hello, she stuck her nose up at me and said I
dressed weird. I will never forget the feeling of being the outcast. We moved again 8 months later to Applegate,
and my parents gave me the choice of staying at my current school or changing
to the school in the new area and it took me less than 2 seconds to decide I
wanted a new school, that I was tired of being the “weird” kid. The interesting
thing was that at the new school, I wasn't the weird kid. Again, I was just
like everyone else. I made friends with people that to this day we still talk,
and hang out. Funny how a little thing like clothing can make or break the idea
of clicks for a child. It wasn't race or religion, it was the fact that I liked
to wear boy’s pants and climbed trees, and played outside. The way we define
culture is personal, and unless we teach our kids acceptance it will never end.
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