Embodied Ethnocentrism

I am from Bahrain a small island in the Middle East and I'm sure most of you have never heard of it! I've been studying in the US for the past two years and every time I meet new people they ask me if being here is a culture shock. I had the advantage of visiting the US a couple of times before college so I had a first hand understanding of the people and way of living here. As a result, I do not feel uncomfortable or out of place.

As we discussed in class, there is the idea that when you are in a foreign country you tend to stick with people of the same background as yourself. It was interesting to me when we started talking about this since it’s a situation I'm going through. I do believe this is somewhat true. Most of my friends here are from the same area as me and with similar cultural backgrounds. The textbook explains this calling it embodied ethnocentrism. Embodied ethnocentrism is the notion that when we are in our own cultural surroundings we feel a sense of familiarity and comfort. I think that makes sense since it is what you are generally used to. However, I believe this idea is prevailing to those who have a strong identification with their own cultural conditions.

As for myself, even though I come from an Arabic culture, we are a pretty 'open-minded' society. It was funny when Professor Hayden brought up how Saudi Arabian boys behave pretty much like people here. Despite being from different ends of the world, surprisingly, we all go through the same problems and lifestyles as everyone else here. As a result, I do not feel so out of place.