Culture, Culture, Culture

My culture is very traditional; my family does the same thing every year. I like to describe my dad’s side of the family, as “My big fat Italian family”. I say big, because I have seventeen first cousins on just that side. We always get together on major holidays like Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving. When we get together though, one thing is always certain—we’re loud. Everyone in the neighborhood knows when the Cauzillo’s get together. One of the most important parts of my culture, or my family, is my dad’s job. My family owns their own business—Cauzillo Plumbing. My grandpa and my great uncle started this business way back before my grandpa was even married. My dad took up the business when my grandpa retired, and it is a huge part of my life. After my grandpa died, the business was the most precious thing my family had of him. This is a major part of my culture and back ground. My mom’s side is just a little bit smaller, with ten cousins. Every year, my grandpa hosts Thanksgiving and my grandma hosts Christmas. My mom’s side is very Belgium. My grandpa would make these special Belgium cookies called “luckys” and all the kids loved them. They were big thin cookies made in a waffle maker, sprinkled with cinnamon. I’m quite a mix of both cultures from Italy and Belgium. I love having family from both cultures and having the best of both worlds.

I cannot come up with one simple definition for American culture. America is so many different cultures combining to create one big culture. Many people have called the American culture the “big mixing bowl”. I have to agree. Of course there is apple pie, and baseball but that only covers a little bit of our population. As Americans we celebrate both Christmas and Kwanza. Some individual families celebrate both! We change so frequently according to all the diverse people that calls this country home. America also has a changing culture. In the 1950’s the culture consisted of the picture perfect stay at home mom, dad working at the auto industry, and kids playing catch with the neighborhood. A home-cooked meal was expected almost every night. It isn’t like that anymore. Most moms and dads work so there isn’t much time for homemade turkey and gravy, so it’s frozen dinner night, four or five nights a week. Kid’s don’t go outside and play every day after school anymore. Most change like this comes just from time change, or because so many new cultures come here from different countries. It’s hard to put a label on our culture, but it is certainly ours.