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Writer's pictureOmar Sakr

HOW CAN CULTURAL HERITAGE AFFECT A PERSON'S EXPERIENCES AND PERCEPTION OF THE WORLD?

Updated: Jun 6, 2022

**Warning: This article discusses sensitive topics about different biographical values**


We've always had the perception that based on where someone is born or raised, they mostly have the same views on life. An example of which is to eat, sleep, work, and repeat, and for all that is true. But there are different values that fill in the "work" variable. For example, a child in the western world could have a their "work" variable as going to school. But someone in Asia could have their "work" variable as working hard work to provide for their family, and that is just an example of two very similar, yet different people and how they percept the world.


I've been all over the place. I was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and since my family and I are Egyptian, we've been going from Saudi to Egypt a lot. Then my parents came here in 2009, then we went back to Saudi for a few more years, then we finally settled in Canada for the past 9 years in London, Ontario since 2013. As for my parents, they were both born in Egypt, but they grew up in different environments, not only Egypt.


My dad

My dad moved to Libya from a young age and went back to Egypt before University. The middle east is known for being stern, but Libya is double that. Libya wasn't always a developed country too. They mainly relied on Egyptians for manufacturing and modern-day knowledge, so some Libyans weren't huge fans of how Egyptians were "running" the country and sometimes acts of public discrimination would be expressed from Libyans to Egyptians. But not everybody in Libya had hatred towards Egyptians. In fact, lots of Egyptians moved to Libya because of its strictness and how they stick to their Islamic traditions, etiquettes and manners. That's why the current generation of Egyptians show well-manners, but the future generation of Egyptians quite literally act as if they were thugs.


My mom

As for my mom, her dad was an army general. He was responsible for leading and training the troops, as well as maintenance. Because of that, he was always repositioned between places in Egypt and in the U.S.A. So, my mom also grew up in different environments as well, but she was exposed to them a lot more frequently, and in an oscillating fashion. Because of this, if my mom was introduced to a certain topic, like games, she would observe what games meant to people living in the U.S. and in various parts of Egypt. Still don't understand? Allow me to elaborate. To an American child at the time, when they'd hear the word games, he could think of a Nintendo console, or the arcade, same with people living in Egypt in certain parts, but to the poorer regions of Egypt, the word "games" could mean playing soccer on dirt with a ball made of socks, or going down to their local convenience stand and hanging out there with their friends.


What about in general?

Take for example same sex relationships. In parts of Europe, North America, and Australia, same sex marriage is a normal thing. But everywhere else in the world it is considered shameful, disrespectful and wrong. The Arabic language hasn't had a word for those types of people until recently. The word that Arabs used to and still do use is abnormal. In Asia, they have special types of torment for homosexuals. One of the most commonly used methods is sticking pumps into the back side of homosexual men, and they'd start to pump air inside of them. The tormentors' excuse is that homosexuals like the pleasure. All these values were derived from cultural traditions and heritage. To Aboriginal people, when they hear the phrase "grabbing some food", some think of the men going out and hunt for fish. Why? Because culturally, Aboriginals were the last race to reduce the hunt for food in favor of buying it from a grocery store. This concept of different meaning and interpretations of the basics apply to all nations in most terms.

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