Describe a situation where you had to work or closely associate with someone from a culture very different from your own. What challenges did you face and how did you resolve them?
Righty for Six Days
If you were an airplane passenger, the thought of thirty teenagers occupying four rows of seats would probably be your worst nightmare. Luckily, we were seated at the very back of the plane where our disturbance would be minimal. We were en-route to Kota Kinabalu, the capital city of the Sabah province in Malaysian Borneo, because we had opted to delve into the lives of a Malaysian family for six days.
Our host families lived in a village in the outskirts of Kota Kinabalu. Weeks before departure, our teachers constantly reiterated the many rules that we should be aware of since Malaysia is a predominantly Muslim country and the Sabah province was no exception. There were so many restrictions imposed by Islamic culture, especially for females, that we were each give a list of do's and don'ts. We were visitors to their homes and their country so showing respect was very important. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that their lifestyles would be drastically different from ours. As my eyes quickly skimmed the list, I felt bullet points literally jump out of the page at me, most noticeably: "It is considered rude to use your left hand when eating or greeting someone with a handshake. Please use your right hand on such occasions and as often as possible".
Left-handers make up approximately 10% of the human population, and considered to a certain extent as a non-conformist, I am very proud to be part of this minority. Just like the majority of situations, my left handedness was not going to work to my advantage in Malaysia. We had a small, home cooked buffet as a welcoming meal, and my struggles to achieve a balance between personal comfort and respect immediately surfaced. I realized that eating was not going to be an easy task as I stabbed at vegetables multiple times and pushed mushrooms to every edge of the plate until their path probably covered every inch of the green plastic plate. It had been almost eight hours since our last meal so when I thought no one was looking; I quickly switched hands and gobbled down chunks of food. "Don't be disrespectful, Pri!" my friends teased, but I was starving! However, as a representative of our school and in some ways also the city of Hong Kong, it was my duty to be respectful so I did not maintain my left-handed eating ways for long. Throughout the meal my friends watched in amusement long after they finished eating as I switched from left to right and vice versa multiple times. This was only the beginning of the epic saga of our experiences with Malaysian and Islam culture.
Growing up in a Chinese family, healthy eating was preached constantly at the dinner table - "Don't eat so many fried things!", "Eat your vegetables!" my mother would always demand. Her reasons went far beyond the usual of zits and the food pyramid; they delved into the realms of Chinese superstitions that I do not (and never will) understand. Apparently, these arguments hold no merit in Malaysia where, one night, we helped prepare an unusual dish - deep fried cauliflower. Wasn't the whole point of eating vegetables to be healthy? So doesn't deep frying them completely negate this purpose? As guests it was not our place to be critical. It was an unusual dish and I was surprisingly reluctant to try it; I suppose my mother reinforced her rules well.
Throughout the trip, everyone had to take extra precaution with their actions. Handshakes and greetings were only considered polite if done with the right hand and a gesture as simple as pointing had to be done with the right thumb instead of a forefinger. The left hand is considered "dirty" due to its connections with the bathroom. It was obvious that life in rural Malaysia was very different from the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong, but we were open to the many adaptations and adjustments we had to make. After all, nobody was asking for us to live there forever. The village folk happily welcomed us into their lives and all we could give them in return was our respect. This was their lives and they weren't going to change it just so that we could continue to live our city lifestyles. That also defied the purpose of a home stay program. It was up to us to adapt to their culture and lifestyle as much as possible because as guests it was our responsibility to show the utmost respect to these generous strangers. Most of the time they were extremely understanding, knowing that we were not accustomed to pointing with our thumbs and that I could barely hold a fork with my right hand (there were numerous occasions where I used my left hand first), and soon enough following their cultural practices was unimportant as we realized that it was our differences that brought us so close together.
I'm not sure if I answer the prompt well enough because it wasn't that big of a challenge after all. And there wasn't really a clear resolution...
I wanted to be honest and I really suck at fabricating something realistic so...I went with a true story.
Tell me what you think, thanks!
Your experience is great. However, personally, I think you focus too much on the challenge. It would be better if you write more about how you resolved the challenges.
Wish that helps !
Good luck! :)
Yea, I thought so too but I'm not sure how 'cause the resolution wasn't huge...it was basically adapt and adjust to their culture, end of story. :S
What do you think of this idea.
You can write that you spent time and energy learning more about Malaysian culture. By understanding their culture and the reason why they hate using left hands and why they like eating fried food, you began to appreciate and accept their culture. You did not feel hard anymore. As it is said, "When in Rome do as the Romans do." Your dedication to appreciating the culture won your respect from your peers and Malaysian students.
No, this seems just about perfect to me. It seems exactly right for the prompt. Here is a fix:
Growing up in a Chinese family, healthy eating was preached constantly at the dinner table: "Don't eat so many fried things!" my mother would demand, and she would say, " Eat your vegetables!"
I LOVE your first paragraph!! Very cool beginning.
What do you think about my ending? Is it too abrupt? I was thinking of adding a short sentence to the end that goes somewhere along the lines of "There was so much to share all our differences were put aside. "
Is it necessary?
thanks for all the feedback :)
I'm also applying to Macalester. But I'm stuck with my essay :((, I envy your experience in Malay Priscilla.
Honestly, I like your essay very much, especially the conclusion:
Most of the time they were extremely understanding, knowing that we were not accustomed to pointing with our thumbs and that I could barely hold a fork with my right hand (there were numerous occasions where I used my left hand first), and soon enough following their cultural practices was unimportant as we realized that it was our differences that brought us so close together.
I don't know if it answered thoroughly the "resolve" part of the question, but it is creative that you don't have to change so much to adapt to the situation.
About the vegetable paragraph, why dun you elaborate more, such as: how is that vegetable, did it taste good, and do you now understand why they deep fried the vegetable despite the fact that it will ruin the healthy aspect of eating veg?
Anyway, good luck to you. I don't have time to write a new essay for Mac :((, though people commented that my essay was a little rude :((.
Thang: I'm completely stuck on the first essay in the supplement - I feel like what I've written so far isn't flowing properly. Plus it might be on the long side, lol. Have you submitted your app yet? Did you post your essay here? I want to see what other Mac applicants are writing about :)
I really like your ending, it sounds great. If you want to add that sentence, I think you should put it in NEXT to last. Any other ideas that arise from that final thought? The end of an essay is a time for reflection.
:)
I like your last sentence more
Most of the time our host family was extremely understanding, knowing that we were not accustomed to pointing with our thumbs and that I could barely hold a fork with my right hand (there were numerous occasions where I used my left hand first), and soon enough following their cultural practices was unimportant as we realized that it was our differences that brought us so close together.
If you rewrite like that, the adcom will remember more about the wonderful marvels of tech, or it will like you are going to blah blah blah about how technology brings our cultural difference closer. Like Kevin said, you should keep your last sentence
ok maybe i'll just delete the technology part or something, thanks!
Take out all that is unnecessary:
Throughout the trip, everyone had to use extra caution. Handshakes and greetings were only considered polite if done with the right hand and a gesture as simple as pointing had to be done with the right thumb instead of a forefinger. The left hand is considered "dirty" due to its connections with the bathroom. It was obvious that life in rural Malaysia was very different from the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong, but we were open to the many adaptations and adjustments we had to make. After all, nobody was asking for us to live there forever. The village folk happily welcomed us into their lives and all we could give them in return was our respect. This was their society , and they weren't going to change it just so that we could continue to live our city lifestyles...
To this day, we remain in contact (albeit not very close or frequent) with each other due to the wonderful marvels of technology.
Good luck!!! :)
Oops, sorry pris, I mis-posted my essay in your thread, probably because in my "My Threads" tab there are many Macalester :)). Thanks mod if you can delete this post =.=.
Thanks a lot guys, I've submitted my application already and read through it a couple times to take out any unnecessary things, like you pointed out Kevin.
Thang, I've been getting kind of confused by the Macalester threads in my "My Threads" column too. I thought one of mine had disappeared. This thread is actually under your title so I'm not sure how that happened...if the mods could take out the "challenging children" part cause that's not what my essay's about at all, that's Thang's. :P
