Subtle Hints of Culture
Lynden, Washington, is nestled in northwest Washington state, about 10 miles south of the Canadian border. This town is as "Anytown-USA" as it gets: family farms rolling from the edge of town to the horizon; each front lawn is precisely trimmed -- a point of pride for each homeowner; church steeples peak up among the treetops and buildings; the Stars and Stripes proudly emblazoned from the front porch of homes and businesses alike. Main Street is the heartbeat of the community; Dutch Mother Restaurant is a gathering place where local retirees meet each morning to catch up on local news. The Lynden Bakery is a favorite place for children, the elderly, and everyone in between to enjoy a cup of coffee and a warm pastry. And at the far end of Main Street is a small hotel made to look like an authentic Dutch windmill. Lynden, you see, is a Dutch town. Were you to flip through a rolodex of residents, you'd find that the number of last names beginning with the letters A through U roughly equalled the last names beginning with the letters V through Z. "Vanders" "Vandes" and "Vans" abound for surnames.
Anchored to the sidewalk in front of that Dutch Windmill is a plaque:
The wording is difficult to make out (Unfortunately, I didn't have a high-quality camera with me!), but it says, as best I can make out, the following:
My working definition of culture is that it is an expression of a shared narrative. Culture is a story that we tell sometimes using the more explicit tools: a jazz quartet playing a piece, or a poet reading her work, or an athlete, hitting a home run. But of course, the story of culture is often told in much more subtle ways -- like cleanliness that permeates the Dutch subculture.
The point is that we give expression to our cultural narrative in ways we probably aren't even aware. If that's true, then perhaps the best recognize these cultural idiosyncrasies when we are plunged in a culture foreign to our own. I've travelled several times now to the country of Ukraine, and I've grown fond of this country. Ukraine is a nation emerging from her own difficult past, and the people are a proud, patriotic, and determined people. I recall a strange learning experience I had when I first visited that country. Walking down the streets of Kyiv, I found myself smiling, and nodding at strangers -- to be met only with quizzical looks. It turns out that Ukrainians don't smile at strangers, and if you do so, you are considered a foreigner, or someone with a mental instability. I should emphasize here that my experience with Ukrainians has been incredibly positive -- they are, indeed, a kind and friendly group of people, and my interactions with them have been enriching.
It's said that if you want to know what it feels like to be wet, don't ask a fish. So too with our culture; if we want to recognize the subtle ways that we tell our cultural story, maybe best not to ask those immersed in it. Or at least, as those who are immersed in it, we need to understand that if we are going to learn to understand and critique our own cultural narrative, we are telling our story in ways that we may not even realize.
Anchored to the sidewalk in front of that Dutch Windmill is a plaque:
The wording is difficult to make out (Unfortunately, I didn't have a high-quality camera with me!), but it says, as best I can make out, the following:
The Peoples of Lynden are mostly of Dutch descent. Attracted by amicable climate and fertile soil, Dutch arrivals began in 1900. An outstanding Christian School system serving some 1000 students and a large number of Reformed Churches are products of their heritage. Visitors often remark about the famous Dutch penchant for cleanliness, evident in many tidy homes and farms.The sign caught me by surprise -- I am of Dutch ancestry, and I know all too well about the "famous Dutch penchant for cleanliness." I grew up cleaning bathrooms on Saturdays, and learning how to sweep, mop, and keep clean from my Dad (who also grew up as the son of a Church custodian!) What surprised me was that this was a thing. I suppose I assumed that everyone aspired to the same standard of cleanliness that I had been taught. But, it turns out, cleanliness isn't a universal quality or trait, but a trait tied to a particular cultural expression (of course, this isn't to say that the Dutch are the only ones who are clean -- my goodness no! -- but it is to point out how this quality does find amplification in some cultural traditions).
My working definition of culture is that it is an expression of a shared narrative. Culture is a story that we tell sometimes using the more explicit tools: a jazz quartet playing a piece, or a poet reading her work, or an athlete, hitting a home run. But of course, the story of culture is often told in much more subtle ways -- like cleanliness that permeates the Dutch subculture.
The point is that we give expression to our cultural narrative in ways we probably aren't even aware. If that's true, then perhaps the best recognize these cultural idiosyncrasies when we are plunged in a culture foreign to our own. I've travelled several times now to the country of Ukraine, and I've grown fond of this country. Ukraine is a nation emerging from her own difficult past, and the people are a proud, patriotic, and determined people. I recall a strange learning experience I had when I first visited that country. Walking down the streets of Kyiv, I found myself smiling, and nodding at strangers -- to be met only with quizzical looks. It turns out that Ukrainians don't smile at strangers, and if you do so, you are considered a foreigner, or someone with a mental instability. I should emphasize here that my experience with Ukrainians has been incredibly positive -- they are, indeed, a kind and friendly group of people, and my interactions with them have been enriching.
It's said that if you want to know what it feels like to be wet, don't ask a fish. So too with our culture; if we want to recognize the subtle ways that we tell our cultural story, maybe best not to ask those immersed in it. Or at least, as those who are immersed in it, we need to understand that if we are going to learn to understand and critique our own cultural narrative, we are telling our story in ways that we may not even realize.
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