Monday, March 1, 2010
Culture Shock
During a Sociology course that I took two semesters ago, we were assigned to visit and experience another culture and then write a paper reflecting what we learned and how it differed from our own. I chose to study the Greek culture because one of my close friends is Greek and he agreed to accompany me to Astoria(which is where the majority of the Greek neighborhoods are located in Queens) and teach me a little about the culture. Aside from that visit, the actual experience that I witnessed about Greek culture that shocked me as well as interested me the most, occured at work. I am a Maitre'd at a catering hall, and I have worked several Greek parties including weddings, christenings, birthdays, etc. In all those parties, I witnessed the Greek people do a cultural dance where they all hold hands and dance in a circle while other friends or members of the family throw money at them. This cultural tradition resulted to be very different, but very interesting as well to me because I am not used to any such traidtion in my culture. If I remember correctly, my friend told me that the throwing of the money signifies good luck and wealth for the honored guests. Based on my experiences with these parties at work, the actual money that is thrown, is later picked up and given to the DJ or band as a form of gratuity (I am not 100% sure if this is true in all cases, but it has been in my experiences). The dances usually last a pretty long time and there is often one person in the center of the circle who does a sort of solo dance as the others cheer. It is very interesting and fun to watch this dance and to see how the people really get into it and enjoy it. Cultures vary in so many different ways and it is important to acknowledge and understand the different cultures of the world. In our management course especially, we incorporate different people and cultures in order to learn how to manage people who's ideas and norms differ from our own, which in the "real world" will prove to be very important.
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The throwing of money in the Greek culture reminded me of my cousin's baptism many years ago.I'm Catholic and I'm not sure if other religions practice this too but I remembered that after the religious ceremony at the church, all the guests will come to the house to celebrate. This is when the Godfather has to throw money at the guests. I asked my mom why is this a tradition and what does it symbolizes and she told me it is a tradition that has been lost over the years, but it means that the child who has been baptized will live in wealth and prosperity according to how generous the Godfather has been with the guests. Funny thing but i think it was worth mentioning since I think it relates somehow to the greek tradition. Oh, the money the Godfather throws is called "bolo" for more information, I found this website
ReplyDeletehttp://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:QQubiRD-qTMJ:www.anthro.uci.edu/faculty_bios/maurer/AnthroMoney/baptism.html+godfather+throwing+money+baptism&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
Wow I did not know that in Greek tradition it is acceptable to throw money on the dancefloor during major occasions or partys because in my culture, usually only the wealthy individuals involve in this type of activity. It is interesting however that other cultures have similar traditions.
ReplyDeleteI love Astoria!, I lived most of my childhood there until my family moved to woodside. I agree with you there is a big Greek population in Astoria although in recent years it has become more ethnic with a big Bangladesh and Hispanic population moving in.
ReplyDeletethis is actually an interesting tradition that the greeks do. i know of a few cultures that have dancing and the shape of a circle, such as in russian culture, but i have never heard of money to be thrown will this dance is going on. plus, the fact that the money then becomes tips for the entertainment is a very nice gesture.
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