Culturally Influenced Essay Collection- Michiko

7/31/2019 Culturally Influenced Essay Collection- Michiko

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Growing into You:

Finding Your Culture

Essay Collection Written By: Michiko


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Please Pass the Plantains

The first time I remember seeing an uncooked plantain was at the grocery store; I was

shopping with my mom for vegetables, when I saw a giant greenbanana. I couldnt help but

wonder why anyone would need such a big banana, I could barely eat a regular sized one. Soon,

I realized that Idactually eaten plantains; theyre used in many Puerto Rican foods. As I got

older I became more aware of my Puerto Rican culture, and I began to see just how much

plantains were used. There are a variety of uses for the plantain in Puerto Rican food, such as

garlic tostones, sweet tostones and mofongo.

Plantains are a staple food in Puerto Rico, as well as many of the Caribbean Islands.

Portuguese monks brought plantains to the Caribbean from Africa in 1516. Plantains grow well

in tropical areas, and have been a prominent part of food in the Caribbean ever since they were

introduced. Although the plants grow well in Puerto Rico, there arent nearly enough plantains to

supply the whole Island, so more are imported from the Dominican Republic. The people of the

Caribbean have found many ways to cook plantains, since they arent very good raw; many of

their recipes are similar to the recipes used in Puerto Rican culture.

One way to cook plantains is to fry them with garlic and salt, smash them, and fry them

again. Thats the way Puerto Ricans make tostones, a food that can be eaten as a snack or a side

with meat and rice. Puerto Rican culture is very prominent in Florida, they have a lot of

restaurants that serve Puerto Rican cuisine; in these restaurants you can find tostones made many

different ways, like a side of fried plantains or tostones made into little cups to put meat into.

Tostones are easy to make and can be found at every Puerto Rican Restaurant you go to.


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Plantains can also be made into something sweet. Tostones dont always have to taste

like garlic and salt, you can also make them into a sweet treat. Many Puerto Ricans like to treat

themselves to sweet tostones after a meal full of garlic and spices. When a plantain is almost

fully brown, it is sweeter because it has ripened; following the same, fry, smash, fry again,

procedure you can make tostones that are sweet. They can be topped with condensed milk, if

they arent sweet enough, or you can just eat them plain. These tostones can be eaten as a desert

or even just a treat for your breakfast.

Another Puerto Rican dish that is made with plantains is called, mofongo. Mofongo is a

side dish that could be described as a plantain casserole. It consists of mashed plantains, garlic

and other spices, and meat (usually pork). The ingredients are combined, baked, and served with

a meal (just like mashed potatoes would be). Mofongo can have many different flavors,

depending on where you eat it at, because none of the recipes are set in stone. Many restaurants

like to put their own twist on the dish. Mofongo isnt a traditional thing you would find at a

Puerto Rican dinner, but it is a regular dish that can be found in most Puerto Rican restaurants.

Plantains are a popular ingredient for Puerto Rican meals and can be cooked in a

multitude of ways. They are used in snacks, desserts, and side dishes. Tostones and Mofongo are

only a two of the ways that plantains can be prepared, there are many other ways to cook them.

The plantain is a very unique fruit, not many other vegetables have so many uses.

Word Count: 617


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Hanami: A Journey to Japanese Snow

A beautiful painting of pink blossoms falling from their trees, resembling snowfall in the

winter, something you could call Japanese snow; cherry blossoms are like Japanese snow. Those

beautiful pink flowers you generally see in Japanese art are the blossoms of the cherry tree.

These blossoms are delicate and soft, and as they fall they resemble a light snowfall. Japanese

culture is all about peace, they typically portray the tranquility of nature in their art, and the

cherry blossoms are the perfect embodiment of that peace, thats why many Japanese art pieces

portray the falling blossoms. The Japanese culture involves many different symbols; one of the

most common is the cherry blossom.

Yoshino (Japanese cherry trees) are a typical sight in Japanese gardens. Since the

Japanese culture relies very much on a sense of tranquility and order, it is no surprise that the

delicate Yoshino would be in their gardens. In the spring time, the trees blossom and after two or

three days the blossoms begin to fall. The blooming and falling of the blossoms are portrayed

beautifully in traditional Japanese art, exhibiting all of the fine details of the tranquility of

Japanese culture in one painting. In Japan they have a Cherry Blossom Festival, to appreciate the

beauty of the falling of the cherry blossoms. The festival has been brought to areas in Northern

California, also. In Japan some people take part in cherry blossom viewing excursions known as

Hanami.

There are different interpretations for what the cherry blossoms symbolize in Japanese

culture. Some compare the falling of the blossoms to a winters snowfall, subtly beautiful and

delicate. Most see the cherry blossoms as a symbol of the transience of life. The cherry tree

blooms beautifully, but blossoms only lasts for two to three before they fall, just like the process


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of life. The blooming and falling of the cherry blossoms are also closely tied with Japanese

history of the samurai, representing their fleeting lifestyle. The cherry blossoms are so important

in Japanese culture that some people go on Hanami just to see the blossoms fall from their trees.

They are a symbol of the overall culture, the purity and peace of being Japanese.

In 1912 Japan gave three-thousand cherry trees to Washington D.C. as an act of

friendship, allowing the beauty of their culture to be witnessed in the United States. The cherry

blossom is part of who I am and how I view the world, with hopeful eyes and a forgiving heart.

Theyre something inside my heart that helps me become an understanding person; I have to be

able to forgive people who have hurt me in the past. They remind me that life is short and I

cannot waste my time not making my life mean something; they also remind me that theres

more beauty in the world than there is ugly; you just have to be open to finding it. When you can

find the beauty in the world you have the ability to make things better.

Word Count: 508


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Feliz Navidad

Unwrapping a fresh tamale could be the best part of Christmas, actually eating that

tamale is the best part. Making tamales for Christmas is probably one of the most practiced

Mexican traditions here in the United States. My family doesnt do many things the Mexican

way anymore, whatever that might be, but it was probably lost when the oldest of the

grandchildren told my grandma she didnt like her cooking. So, we dont make pozole and

tamales every time we throw a party, but we do get to savor the taste of fresh tamales every

Christmas. Although weve lost some of the more Mexican traditions, we end up becoming more

in touch with our culture on Christmas. Our Christmas is made of tamales, arroz con leche,

Mexican hot chocolate (Abuelita brand), board games, movies and presents. Christmas is the

holiday that reminds us who we are and where we came from. We dont celebrate Christmas in a

traditional Mexican-Catholic way, but weve adapted some of the traditions to fit our lifestyles.

We celebrate a hybrid Christmas.

Christmas is the celebration of the birthday of Jesus Christ. It is one of the most

important days in the Catholic faith, right after Easter. Since many Mexican families practice

Catholicism, Christmas is a very important holiday in Mexican culture. The story of Christmas

goes something like this: One of Gods Angels visited Mary, who was to be married to Joseph,

and told her that she would soon be impregnated with the Gods Son. Instead of doubting this

Angel, Mary agreed to be impregnated, saying if it is Gods will let it be. Nine months later on

December 24th

, Mary went into labor while walking through Bethlehem, she and Joseph had

nowhere to stay and no one to help deliver the baby. They tried knocking on doors and asking for

help, but no one agreed to help the couple. They came across an old barn and settled there, thats

where Mary gave birth to Jesus early on December 25th

. Three Wise Men followed the North


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Star to find Jesus, and brought gifts for the new baby. The gifts under our Christmas tree

represent Jesuss gifts from the Wise Men. Back to Christmas traditions, during the Christmas

season many Mexican-Catholic families participate in a practice called posadas. Once a week

they go to a relatives house to pray the Rosary togetherand have pan dulce and Mexican hot

chocolate. Posadas can last two to three hours, and they bring a family together for the holiday

season. They are very important to many families, so important that they will drop other

priorities to make it to a posada. One Christmas Eve they all get together to eat, usually tamales

and pozole, and sometime during the day (probably midnight) they attend Mass in remembrance

and celebration of Jesus Christ.

Our whole Christmas season is a little different. We dont do posadas, but we spend most

weekends together anyways. A few days before Christmas, my grandma starts preparing the

tamales. This way, on Christmas Eve she will be able to have fresh, warm tamales ready for the

whole family. That night we all go over to Grandmas house and spend the whole night together,

eating tamales, watching movies, playing board games, just being together. Our tradition is to

stay up until midnight and open all of our presents; since money has become tight in the family

we adopted a new tradition, Secret Santa. All of the kids (under eighteen) names are put into a

cup for us to pick a name, same with the adults, then you buy a gift for the person whose name

you pulled, and bring it to them on Christmas. Sometimes my Aunt will take us to midnight

Mass, then everyone has to wait to open their gifts until we get back. After we open gifts we go

home to sleep. On Christmas morning, George and I open our gifts from our parents, we eat

breakfast, and get ready for the day. We spend the day delivering gifts to the families we dont

spend Christmas Eve with. In the evening we make our way back to my grandmas for more

tamales and arroz con leche.


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A typical Mexican-Catholic Christmas has shaped most of my familys Christmas

traditions. We dont celebrate Christmas the way most Mexicanfamilys do. Weve made our

own traditions over the years, and our Christmas fits our family perfectly. I think weve achieved

a great balance between the culture that is present in our community but still remembering where

our family came from. No matter how you celebrate it, Christmas will always be a holiday that

should be celebrated with family.

Word Count: 780


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Who am I really?

Mahatma Gandhi once said, No culture can live if it attempts to be exclusive. As I

wrote the essays in this collection, I found myself asking if this was really me. Throughout the

process I learned what really made me who I am, and by the third essay I was no longer writing

about things that I didnt really know anything about, I was writing about who I am. I believe

that Gandhi had a valid point, racism and exclusion of people who are not the same does not let a

culture thrive. My culture is no more Mexican than it is Japanese and Puerto Rican, even though

my blood lines say differently. Only about one third of my culture comes from my ancestors,

though, the rest comes from my environment, the people and places Ive had experience with. I

am an American, a Californian, a Stocktonian, but most of all Im part of the future. My culture

is part of a movement that can break down the walls that exclude other ways of life from ours.

Being of mixed decent has allowed me to see many different views on life and an

exceptional amount of views on what I should be doing with my life. I have so many different

idiosyncrasies that have just naturally come along with my blood culture, and I dont mind them

at all. But one thing I cannot stand about being exposed to the cultures is a preset decision on

how I will live. Luckily, my family has evolved a little from the girls are supposed to clean the

house and have a full meal prepared for their husband when he gets home. Thats probably

because both of my grandmas did everything themselves, they had no husbands. Sometimes the

culture youve known and grown comfortable with stops fitting your lifestyle, and it has to be

adapted.

Then youre experiences and environments can influence your culture, for example: my

moms mother was born in Japan, but we dont know much about Japanese culture because when


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she was seven she was adopted by a Filipino couple and brought to the United States. My

grandma was sent to an English speaking school and she lost all of the Japanese language she

knew, because she had no one to use it with. In the time she lived with her adopted parents she

wasnt allowed to be friends with people of other cultures. She learned to eat and make Filipino

food and learned to speak and understand some Ilocano and Tagalog. She lost the majority of her

Japanese culture. Then, she married a Puerto Rican, learned to cook Puerto Rican food, and

learned to speak Spanish. Her environment and experiences have shaped what she considers her

culture now. For me, Ive spent most of my life around the Mexican side of my family. My mom

who is half Japanese and half Puerto Rican moved to Northern California and met my dad, who

is full Mexican. There is a high Mexican population in Stockton, and its had a large impact on

what I consider to be my culture. Another thing that has influenced my culture is being an

American, growing up in the United States has given me a huge advantage to succeed. The one

thing I can surely call myself without hesitation is American.

The American culture isnt something that can be defined; there are so many

different factors that contribute to making it what it is. Being American has given me insight on

different cultures, and has allowed me to open up to experiencing new things. The walls that

normally separate different cultures of the world are rarely present in America. I can drive for all

of fifteen minutes and see so many different cultures alive in my community, like a Jewish

Temple, a Greek restaurant, Asian and Mexican supermarkets, and so many other cultures.

America is a melting pot where no culture is excluded.

As Americans, having so much experience with so many other cultures than what we

consider to be our own, we have the power to make a change. We have the power to bring peace

to countries at war because they just dont understand the other cultures. If every country was as


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accepting to other cultures and beliefs as America is there could be peace in the world. People

can argue that not everyone in America can accept other cultures, and its true; but the majority

of the American population can and will. As America grows other cultures will grow in their

understanding of the people around them. We have the power to change the world.

Culture doesnt only come from who you are by blood, where you live and grow

up have just as much influence on your culture. Growing up in the United States has given me so

much insight on other cultures and on the world around me. My culture has no exclusions, you

can be Muslim, Japanese, Chinese, Mexican, Greek and you wont be forced into some box that

will isolate you from the rest of America. Wherever your blood lines are, it doesnt matter; you

can still be an American. My culture will stay alive, because there are no exclusions; and we will

change the world.

Word Count: 881


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Works Referenced:

1. "April - The Cherry Blossom (Sakura) - The Japanese Kanji meaning andThe Rite of Spring." Chibi Seimei Inc. Chibi Seimei, n.d. Web. 26 Oct.

2012. .

2. "Hanami- Cherry Blossom Viewing." Cultural Savvy. Cultural Savvy, 1999-2011. Web. 26 Oct.

2012..

3. "Food History: Plantains/Platanos." Multi Cultural Cooking Network.digitalnature, n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2012.

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Culturally Influenced Essay Collection- Michiko