BLOG 4

    I have been living in the USA for almost 4 years.  When I came here, I can say that I have had a cultural shock. I always had thought that I had grown up under the influence of American culture. Because in Turkey, the structure of the economy and system of education are based on the American system. Also, there are many American famous Brands in Turkey such as Starbucks, Mc Donald, Burger King, and Tommy Hilfiger. Moreover, we had grown up with American movies and songs. Nevertheless, I saw that these were not enough for understanding culture.
   On my first days in America, we had gone to Walmart. That day I had many opportunities for recognizing American culture. First of all, when we arrived there, I noticed that car parking spaces are larger than parking spaces in Turkey. Then, we entered in. While we were looking for something,  someone said to me '' excuse me! " to pass. After that I realized, everybody who wanted to pass someone said this phrase. After I had put on my cart all the things which were on my shopping list. We began to wait at the line to pay. Nobody was too close to one other. There was a certain distance between everyone. On the other hand, in Turkey especially in Istanbul, it is impossible because of the dense population. They also let me go to the head of the line because I was pregnant.  I had a last shock at the cashier. She asked me how I am. She has never seen me but asking friendly. I thought at that moment, I am probably dead and now I am in heaven. After a few months, I saw that Americans love 'small talk' which means short conversation. Last but not least, the book of Communication and Culture helped me to understand American Culture. After I had read the article of cultural patterning of space in this book, the puzzle in mind was completed. The width of parking spaces, the certain distance between each person at the line, and saying excuse me to make more space for another person to pass through were all related to personal space.