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Our family hails from the United States, the land of many cultures, but we currently live in Mexico. We speak English fluently and Spanish not-so-fluently. My family is mostly Polish with a mix of European decent. Brad’s family is German and American Indian, plus some. As you can see we are a pretty diversified bunch with many cultural backgrounds. I love being a multicultural family because various cultures and skin colors is part of what makes life so interesting and beautiful.
What is Culture and Why Is It Important?
A person’s culture can consist of the following:
- Traditions and Customs
- Beliefs and Religions
- Traits – physical or personality
- Behaviors
- Values
- Language
- Art and Music
- Food
- Plus more!
Your culture is a big part of who you are as an individual. This is important because your culture can define you, as much as you allow it. Some of us love our cultural background and some of us are searching for something else. Being multicultural means you are not afraid to be different. You may come from many backgrounds. You may have accepted many different cultures. All these are put together and they make you. In this age and time, many of us can say we are multicultural because we have been raised with several cultural backgrounds. All these different traditions, behaviors, values, and so forth, are intertwined and woven into a bright, colorful, and unique tapestry. This paints a lovely picture of diversity.
What Does Being A Multicultural Family Mean For Us?
For us being a multicultural family means introducing our children to the whole world. A man named Seneca, who lived a very long time ago, once said, “I am not born for one corner, the whole world is my native land.” I intend to live by his quote and I hope to instill that same mental disposition in my children. God may have made us all a little unique, but he didn’t do this to divide us. He made us this way because it’s beautiful like that tapestry I mentioned above. These are a few ways we include all cultures in our family life:
- Our best friends just so happen to be a mixed couple, with three beautiful little girls. Color, looks, income, family background… none of these things have ever been important to us when we make new friends. We look at the inner person, their principles and morals. Our kids have been taught from little on that the inner person is what is most important. Our girls are the same age as our friend’s children and they are best friends as well, despite being two thousand miles apart.
- As I stated in the intro, we live deep in Mexico country, only about three hours from the Pacific ocean. Everywhere we go people look at us a little funny, like “What is this white family doing here?” It doesn’t bother us a bit. We love Mexico and the people who live here. Being able to bring our family to live in southern Mexico has been our most multicultural experience to date.
- One day I hope that we can visit every land in the whole world. Each country has its own beauty and I want to experience them all. That may seem a little grand but I like to dream big. Last April we spent the month in Belize. Although the trip was a bit rough, I must say that Belize was awesome. Although I decided that I didn’t want to live there, the things we saw and experienced in Belize in one month were more then some people experience in their entire life. It was amazing.
- Our Bible congregation is part of a worldwide brotherhood. We number over eight million in 239 lands worldwide. It doesn’t matter where you live or what language you speak, wherever you go you will find that our organization is united in beliefs. That is part of what made our transition to Mexico so easy. We knew that we would have “brothers and sisters” there to greet us and made us feel comfortable in our new home.
If you would like to learn more about our family and our multicultural family adventures check out:
For our family being multicultural means exploration in new lands, learning to speak a different language, acquiring a taste for unique foods, appreciating unfamiliar art and music, accepting a person’s skin color or other physical traits without prejudice, and realizing the grand scale of God’s creation. Being multicultural is opening up our minds to accept diversity. We are learning how big the world truly is and how small all of us as individuals really are. We are learning to adapt and change for the better. This is an enlightening adventure for us all.
What Does Being A Multicultural Family Mean For You? Tell me in the comments below. Signing off, Tina
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Tina Ernspiker
Latest posts by Tina Ernspiker (see all)
- Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop #29 – A Bilingual Journey - July 19, 2015
- What Does It Mean To Be A Multicultural Family? - February 23, 2015
Thank you for sharing a look inside your multicultural family! Like you said, it is important to embrace your culture and learn about it.