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Culture is a term, which is usually used to refer to a society or group, where most, or even all people live and think in the same ways. In 1871 Tylor also wrote a still widely quoted definition of culture, describing it as that complex whole that includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of a society (Microsoft Encarta). Children are brought up with certain values, principles and attitudes, which they keep most of their lives. It can be different for a person with one cultural background to understand someone else. Cultures do not necessarily always influence peoples political and religious views, but they surely always affect their life-styles.
Many people go to the other countries on various exchange programs to experience what it is like to live in another culture. It is always interesting to see how ones gender, race, age, social and material status influence the way a person lives his or her life. There are many films and books that tell readers and viewers what it is like to wake up one morning and find yourself in a completely different environment, to be a completely different person. How would it really feel like to become some other person from a different culture, though? The daily life of a person from Ukraine, for example, is certainly very different from a life of an average American. Let us view how a 30 -year-old Ukrainian male, who has no children and is not married, spends his days.
It is worthwhile mentioning that people of this generation in Ukraine have caught a unique historical period, when the Soviet Union collapsed and something totally new and unknown was introduced to the lives of millions of people. This generation of people in Ukraine has a mixed set of attitudes and beliefs, which on one hand are very common for the old Soviet society, and on the other hand are very western-like and contemporary. Most of the Ukrainian people, who are in their thirties are confused and do not know neither what to expect not what to want from their lives. They sort of go with the stream and only sometimes do they try to determine their own direction.
Ukrainians of this age groups do not feel needed by their country and do not believe that they every will be. They think that although formally everybody is equal in their rights, it is not so in reality, and that only the upper class interests are considered. It is also a common opinion among these people that their lives are, for the most part, predetermined already and that only by enormous work and effort they can make decent living. Ukrainians of this generation are trained to be real survivors, because they adapted quicker than other age groups when the new times of democracy and capitalism came. They feel that nobody will take care of them except for themselves, which makes them a bit aggressive at times. The uniqueness of this generation lies in the fact that they have established their own culture.
The things that they learned from their parents were not applicable in the new environment and they had to come up with their own ways of doing things. Peter Lysiuk, let this be the name of our imaginary character, belongs to the Ukrainian middle class, making about $ 150 /month. He is a miner and works on one of the numerous coalmines. Peter lives in a tiny two-room apartment in an industrial Ukrainian town of Donetsk, which is located in the east of the country. He was lucky to inherit this apartment from his great grandfather, because otherwise, he probably would not be able to buy one.
Peter has a girlfriend, whose name is Anna. She is only a year younger than he is and has very similar material status. They cannot afford to get married yet, because traditionally a Ukrainian wedding requires a big ceremony with many guests, food and drinks. If a couple does not provide such a generous dinner for their neighbors, family and friends, there might be rumors and other unpleasant talks around it. For Ukrainians, public opinion is very important and they often make material and other sacrifices to gain approval in the eyes of those that surround them. Most Americans would not, probably, even ever think of this reason when deciding whether to get married or not.
Peter and Anna also do not want to live together until they get married. Even though these two people do not view this as something strictly prohibited, they just would not feel right if they did it. In the old times, cohabitation was viewed extremely negatively and the authorities often punished people involved in it. In the modern Ukraine people are free to do whatever they want to, but the tradition of the past, according to which a couple has to get married first and only then live together, is still widely followed.
Peter has senior parents, who are in their 60 s. They live in the same town not far from their son. Generally, it is very common for Ukrainians to be born, live their entire lives and die in the same town. They do not move from one place to another very much, although this is now slowly changing. Peter, as every good son, visits his parents almost every other day. He always brings them food or other useful things for their household.
Pensions are very small in Ukraine and old people can rarely afford a decent life, so it became traditional that children care for their parents after the latter retire. Peter respects his parents very much and would probably never even dare to raise his voice at them. Peter is a Ukrainian Orthodox Christian, but he almost never attends church or practices any religious rituals. He was baptized when he was a newborn and his belief in God is rather dogmatic. Religion is not important in his life, but he still respects the church, its authorities and the Orthodox holidays. Ukrainian people are very particular about the way they dress.
Because in the past everybody was expected to look neatly and formally, most people still wear suits and shirts even when they go out just to buy some bread. Peter is one of those people as well. Due to his financial situation, Peter does not have that big of a wardrobe, but it for the most part is composed of clothes for the formal dressing. It is very different from what people are used in America.
For most Americans the main criteria for good clothing is its comfort in wearing and care. When Peter wakes up in the morning, he drinks a cup of black strong tea and eats some plain brown bread. Then he dresses and goes to work. He always takes a bus, which is usually very crowded and noisy. People are very unfriendly towards each other and it is not uncommon that Peter has a fight with another person over stepping on his foot or something of that sort. When he gets to work, his coworkers usually greet him very warmly.
People who work on mines are all like one big family. Their dangerous job has united them greatly. In addition, most of the miners work in one place for 30 or even more years. The personnel on the mine changes only when somebody new comes or when somebody retires, otherwise, it is pretty constant. For Peter, his friends at work are the only friends he has, so he spends most of his free time with them.
Peter goes under the ground at least three times a weak. The rest of the time is devoted to various meetings, planning activities and just relaxing. Meeting that are held are usually very formal, even though people who take part in them are close friends in regular life. This is one of the other things that people inherited from the Soviet past formality has to be kept in the working environment.
Much of the work time is spent in front of TV or radio. Around one oclock in the afternoon Peter has a lunch break. Normally, he brings makes his own lunch at home and then takes it to work with him. It is common that Peter has a couple of beers at his lunch break. The second half of the day is very similar to the first one.
It has become a tradition for the miners to stay after work on Fridays and celebrate the end of the workweek. The necessary components of such a celebration are alcoholic drinks. One of the favorite pastimes of Peter and other Ukrainian men is playing and watching soccer. When the weather is good they all gather at the local stadium to play their favorite game.
Those who have sons bring them as well. Even more attention is given to watching soccer games on TV. This is usually a whole ceremony of first gathering at someones place, having good dinner and than crying out for each goal of the supported team. This ceremony is usually accompanied with vodka or beer. Peter enjoys playing chess at his free time as well. There are always many people sitting on the benches playing chess outside of his house.
During the matches, it is customary to discuss politics, bad situation in the country or sports. This serves as an emotional buffer for many people. Such talks in the yard are their own form of self-expression, release of their anger and despair. Dating of Peter and Anna does not usually include anything special. They either just walk in the park, go to visit a mutual friend or go to a discotheque, which is held at the local movie theater. There are occasional visits of Russian and Ukrainian pop stars in this city, and this couple tries to never miss such concerts.
In the spring and summer times, they often go outside to make a traditional barbecue. Most food and clothes are bought at the local market. The typical shopping days for the majority of people are Saturdays and Sundays. Shopping includes a lot of bargaining and talks. Peter is a good shopper and he sometimes reduces the price by half and picks only the best. Low wages motivate people to use their incomes more efficiently, trying to save up as much as possible.
If we look at the American culture in comparison with the Ukrainian one, we would find that although they are not as polar-different as, for example, some eastern culture would be, there still are certain very significant distinctions between them. First of all, the Ukrainian culture depends very heavily on customs and traditions of the past, which sometimes put very strict limitations on people. As a result, individuals feel guilty when breaking them and, moreover, almost condemned by the surrounding society. Americans also keep their customs and traditions, but because there are so many people with different backgrounds, the society does not care very much for what others are doing. Also, Ukrainians tend to be very old-fashioned and conservative in their views. Even the younger generations have stereotypes about everything: e.
g. how a decent person has to look, dress, behave, etc. It seems, that Ukrainians do not like to show their feeling very much. It is completely opposite for the Americans, who are at times too loud and emotional. It is interesting to see how differently people can live somewhere on the other side of the world. They think completely differently, they have other occupations, other ways to entertain themselves and other traditions.
What is valuable and important for some people might have no sense for the others at all. What actually causes these differences in behavior and lifestyles is culture. It acts like a built-in program, which drives people to make certain decisions and think in a special way. Every area of a countrys life, whether it is history, economics or politics, makes a contribution in a formation of what is called culture.
Peoples values, beliefs and lifestyles depend not so much on the external factors, but more on what is inside, what has been given to them by their parents, and what they will pass on to the future generations. Bibliography: Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia, 2002 Article about Ukraine and its culture Ones Subtelniy, History of Ukraine, Hungry Mines, Inc. , Chicago, 1996 Milton Reach, Beliefs, Attitudes and Values, Jossey-Bass Inc. , Publishers, San Francisco, 1970
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