Culture Palooza!

During my classes at Gateway, whenever we talked about cultural adaptation, I've always thought about it in terms of mine vs. theirs. Two cultures colliding in my life. However, my actual situation is much more complicated. My field supervisors are Koreans who have been in South Africa for 7 years. I’m living with a 3^rd generation Indian woman who raised three colored children. (The term ‘colored’ is completely pc here). I’m working in a Zulu township most days and partnering with a mostly white church.


So when I had to answer a Gateway assignment question, “How are you adapting to the culture?”, my first thought was, “which one?”


Having dinner with Jane, her kids and her grandson.

Growing up in LA has given me experience living in a diverse community, however my current surroundings are diverse in a whole different way. Firstly, the Zulu people have their own language. Now it’s easy to argue, “Well in LA you have different neighborhoods with communities that speak different languages”. True, but that culture and language is being imported from another country. Chinese, Mexican, Korean, etc. Those communities have roots somewhere else. Here there are Zulu, Afrikaans, and Colored neighborhoods all within one city. They all speak different languages (although most people do know English) and have cultural backgrounds. However, their roots are right here in South Africa.

The apartheid era wasn’t that long ago and it seems like the city is still very racially segregated. However a lot of these aspects lie under the surface. I'm constantly learning new traits about life in South Africa, specifically in the province of Zwazulu Natal. Being a cross-cultural missionary requires constant observation. It's an adventure of learning!

Self portrait in my backyard.