My Culture Pattern In America

Before I really dive deep into this, I want to first attempt to define what my culture is. Culture, for me, has always been something elusive, something hard to grasp. I like to blame my difficulty in the way my brain is just wired – I’m more suited for logical, mathematical, abstract thinking rather and less so for understanding people. But this doesn’t mean I shouldn’t attempt to do so. Growing up, I had always been isolated from my peers. I was different – in elementary school I couldn’t speak English as the rest of the kids did, nor could I speak Spanish, which a large portion of the student population did. At the same time, however, I wasn’t fully Korean. Growing up isolated meant there was no community for me to build up relationships

Americans tend to have a weak avoidance value pattern. This is reflected in the large number of entrepreneurs that emerge from America. Americans are not afraid to take risks, and are comfortable acting in situations where the future in uncertain. Koreans lean more towards a strong avoidance value pattern. Most Korean parents want their kids to be one of the three professions: doctor, lawyer, or engineer. It’s a common trope among Korean-Americans, and while this is a generalization, this generalization comes from a place of truth. Uncertainty is something to be avoided when you cannot afford to face losses, so a stable career is advocated for much more than an unstable one. I would lean more towards a high uncertainty avoidance. I structure my life in such a way that I can always be prepared for future outcomes. I follow a strict schedule and I like to avoid doing things where I am unsure about the outcome. However, I do realize there certain benefits to acting in more uncertain situations, so I have taken measures to change myself. In fact, going on BRIC was one of such actions – I have never left the USA after moving there, so I have no experience being in a completely foreign place (after growing). The old version of myself would never think of going abroad, but I have pushed myself in order to experience things in situations I would be uncertain

While I must admit that since I am not the best observer of people, I may not have the most insightful observations, I am glad to have noticed what I did. For example, during some of the tours, the way the tour guide explained certain descriptions were in line with a more collectivist rather than individualistic culture. Often times the word “we” rather than “they” were used, which indicates a sense of connection to a larger group. Furthermore, the business visits definitely showed examples of high uncertainty avoidance patterns. Many things felt procedural rather than fluid, and certain approaches to jobs felt stability was more important than innovation. However, there does seem to be trend towards a lower uncertainty avoidance. People like Oleg are taking risks pursuing businesses that don’t have a proven model in Russia (although he did mention that most Russians are still afraid to take the risks he is taking), and people like Anastasia Kosnikovea are choosing to leave extremely stable jobs in order to pursue a path where they believe they are creating innovation and change. Perhaps over time I will be able to observe a shift in Russian culture, especially in the new generation, but only time will