First of all, I was born in a Javanese family and raised with Javanese culture. However, my extended family does not only consist of Javanese but also people from different culture such as, Chinese and Batak. Beside the cultural differences there is another difference within my family which is religion difference. Most of the members of my family are Moslems but there are also those who are Christians. On the other hand, the main topic I am going to discuss is about the cultural differences and how it makes people treat others differently. In this case, I am using something I encounter in my everyday life. I found out that, apparently, people from different ethnic are different in raising or in taking care of a child. I can see it almost every day whenever I pay a visit at my aunt and my uncle’s house which is very close to my house. My aunt, who is my father’s older sister, together with my uncle help their son and his wife taking care of their daughter, a one and a half year old toddler, since they are both working until the evening from Monday to Friday.
Actually, there is no major conflict about their cultural differences, but things like having disagreements over something trivial is unavoidable. I realize this problem since last year several months before December. The first problem is when it comes to feed the child, my aunt tend to be more gentle and understanding. For instance, if the child does not want to eat or starting to show the sign that she is going to vomit, my aunt would stop feeding her and wait for a while. On the other side, it is different with the child’s mother who tends to be more firm and a little bit coercive. Sometimes I would find it horrifying when she was feeding her child, because the child could end up cry if she refused to eat. Another problem I find between them which is related to the child’s food and what time she should be fed. There was a time when my cousin’s wife was upset about my aunt because she did not make the child’s food on time. My cousin’s wife is someone who is deft in doing things and she wants others to be as deft as she is. However, what made it a problem is she got mad about it and my cousin did not like the way his wife showing her disappointment. That problem showed me that Javanese usually stay quiet and just admit things while Batak people are blunter in showing their feelings.
Most of the time, I would feel bad and upset after seeing those events because usually I was there watching them argued or, sometimes, I heard it from my mother. I do not like the idea that ethnic differences can cause conflict in my family or in this case, my aunt’s family. I felt that way because an ethnic difference in family is not an obstacle but a plus point which can make the family has an open-minded and a broad point of view in solving problems. I really adore a family with more than one culture inside, because I think it would make the family rich of something unusual and unique.
By seeing my aunt’s family very often, I could say that people from different ethnic would have different way of thinking and expressing their feelings. If Javanese are more quiet and not really good in expressing their feelings, then Batak people are blunter and direct in showing what is in their minds. Of course, having the two in one family would be a bit difficult to make them understand or accept the differences of both cultures, since they would need some time to adjust with the situation and would probably go through many misunderstandings in the process. However, for me, that is the art of life. It would be nothing if there is no challenge in life. That is why, I think having different cultures in a family is not a really big problem.
Astari
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