Culture Talk

At our last hub-day (a bi-monthly[ish] event gathering of all of the PCTs in my group from the four different PST sites for a series of informational sessions) an Az8 led a “culture talk” for the Az9s. She began by asking us to make a list of things we noticed about Azeri culture since our arrival in Azerbaijan. We talked about çay, language, hygiene, the way people dress, common courtesy (or lack thereof) towards people on the street, the country’s obsession with it’s president, religion, etc... Then, she asked us to make a list of things we missed about American culture. From the get-go, our responses centered on democratic values, human rights, gender equality, and freedom—okay, Starbucks might have made the list too. She then explained the Iceberg Model of Culture. This model metaphorically depicts an iceberg as a model of culture: both have visible and invisible parts. Elements of culture that we can see, such as the way people dress or what they eat, are represented by the small portion of the iceberg visible above the water. Those elements of culture that we cannot see such as why people eat or dress the way they do are represented by the huge underwater portion of the iceberg, invisible to us from the surface. Her point was that the things we miss about American culture are those aspects at the bottom of the iceberg. They are ingrained in our beings because we are Americans. And those aspects of Azeri culture that we have noticed are all above or just below the surface of the water. (Oh, how wise the Az8s have become in their first year of service!) This model makes homesickness make sense. Of course we miss home! We’ve been uprooted and replanted in a soil that doesn’t recognize our roots. The things that we see, taste, smell, feel, and hear are so unfamiliar. No matter how in tune we are with cultural assimilation, it takes time to truly understand a culture so incredibly different from our own. We can’t merely step onto this new frozen island, and using our American goggles, peer down through the water to see the bottom of the iceberg. The bottom of the iceberg cannot be seen. It’s invisible, remember? It’s not something you can point to and show someone; rather, it’s more of a perspective that is gained by experience, patience, and openness to change. Perhaps we won’t even know that we’ve gained this perspective until we’re once again uprooted and returned to American soil.