Food for Thought on the Cultural Experiece

Wow, 5 posts in one day! Over whelming to the readers, I know, but I figured now that I had a day-to-day take on my experiences in Broome. I figured I should post one on my over experience/what I got out of it. We are supposed to wirte an 1000 word reflection on this trip for my Australian history class, and I am not yet sure what I want to narrow my experience to 1000 to be, but I figure I would blog about my over all experience, and hopefully figure something out from there.

It is really hard to put into words my experience in Broome, not because it is a life-altering experience, just because no one really, truely understands unless you are in that place what we really felt or went through. I can try to describe my experienced to someone, but story telling is always selective in the way it is told. Story telling often benefits the person telling the story and often loses focus on the people that are actually in the story. My story of my experiences is just one outsiders take on anoter peoson's culture. It is not the true culture, nor should it be taken as a true depiction. Five days was definite not long enough to depict the culture, nor is only one visit to one Aboriginal community a good depiction of what Aboriginal community is like. When we first entered into the community, the community looked really run down. The first instinct is to judge and feel sentimental for the people of the communtiy because of the lifestyle they live. However, we tend to go for sentiment rather than knowledge because that is what we know best and are comparing it to our own culture. I need to step back and ask myself, "Are they happy living that way" rather than feeling sorry for them right away. That is their lifestyle and they know nothing else. That is how the European settlers probably felt when they first came across the Aboriginal community and tried to change it to live how they live. And even so, if the Aboriginal community we visited is a 6 sided cube, we only got one side of that six sided cube. There is so much more we didn't see under the surface that the community chooses to hide from the outsiders. It is just like if you had a guest over to meet your family for the first time, you may not want to invite your alcoholic uncle to dinner the first few times your guest meets your family. When we were on the beach hanging out with the children and the elders, there was one older lady that came down to the beach and was making a scene to one of the elders. She was yelling and swearing at her because she wanted to be the one that prepared activities and such for us to do for the day. She was all over the place and really obnoxious with her slurred speach and swear words. The rest of the elders tried to calm her down and hide her from us so that we wound't get the wrong idea of their culture. I mean, the Aboriginal culture already gets the stereotype that they are all alcoholics. A lot of the Aboriginal ladies were truely embarressed for the way she acted. Although it is really easy for us to jump to conclusions about all Aboriginal people being alcoholics because of the drunk Aboriginal people in Freo that no longer practice their own culture, and the scene I just described, I know better than to judge. You only need to sit down and talk to one Aboriginal persoon that can break down that naieve stereotype and bridge the gap of your perceptions. For stereotypes, every one person that you see of a different culture for you that becomes that stereotype, there are about ten people of your own culture doing that stereotypical action from the opposite culture you are stereotyping in the first place. The Aboriginal experience that I had almost seemed like they were trying to depict a perfect Aboriginal community to us, when we know that in every community you get people that fit that stereotype--that doesn't mean that everyone in the community are like that. Because I felt like we were forced to depict this perfect image, we didn't really get an authentic Aboriginal cultural experience--if that makes sense. Don't get me wrong, it was an AWESOME experience, just not truely authentic and more forced. 

So, yes, Broome was this big cultural experience, but I think my expectations were set on a standard that it could not even live up to. We are always told that Broome is the most important part of the trip and it is supposed to be life altering. Yes I did get a really good cultural experience, but it wasn't anything that I was expecting it to be--not on a lower level, but on a different level than anticipated. The experience that I had in my mind was an impossible experience. There were cultural and life changing expectations that could never be met. I think this came because of how everyone puts the cultural experience from Broome on a pedistool and tells us what we should be getting out of it. The reason why I have the photo of all of us playing in the rain in the ocean as the photo that depicts my trip from Broome is because that is the most Authentic fun I had on this whole Australian trip so far, and I almost feel guilty. I feel guilty because the most fun I had on my Broome trip was not from a life-altering cultural experience, but from my whole group acting like we were little kids again--playing in the rain, and I shouldn't feel bad about that. I had no expectations as to how to have fun that day, it wasn't planned--it just happened. That is where the most authentic and fun experiences come from-- no expectations, just living in the moment. 

I feel that when you share laughter with someone, of a different race, of the same race, just a human in general--you are sharing an authentic moment and a connection. There is no judment or racism in shared laughter, there is just an authentic connection. You are sharing your smiles and letting go of all tension between two people. It is not where you come from, where you are right now, the color of your skin, how to depict another culture, it is just about how to live with a human that is completely different from yourself. Once you share a laugh, you may find that they are not all that different from you in the first place.

.WE ARE ALL HUMAN.