Living an American Life: Is That Sushi?

Living in the 21^st century in America means being exposed to hundreds of different cultures and customs via many sources, including, but not limited to the internet. When I think of my childhood I don’t reminisce about a typical American life where I had a white picket fence and grew up on good ol’ American cooking, I think of all of the cultures that influenced me. In this day and age what is being American or having an American culture? It seems that as the world has shrunk, due to globalization and the spread of the internet, it is harder and harder to define something as American for me.

Starting with my entertainment as a child, which was based solely on Japanese games and shows, I can truly say that what I was entertained by was not what would be considered American. All of the TV shows I watched were Japanese anime shows like Sailor Moon, Pokémon, Naruto and YuYu Hakasho. These were Japanese cartoons that they had dubbed in English and I was obsessed! Not a single TV show I watched was produced or made in America. This means that I was being exposed to Japanese styles of animation, writing and ideas. I also was obsessed with Pokémon the Japanese game that took America by storm. I along with thousands of other American kids were crazy for Pokémon. As far as I can remember, I really was not entertained by anything that was not Japanese as a child.

When someone thinks of the typical American meal what comes to mind, a giant tray of meatloaf, a traditional turkey dinner? When I think of the meals I ate as a child so many different cultures and cuisines come to mind. Even when I was young, my parents were feeding me meals that most people would not think of if you asked them what a typical American family would eat for dinner. I remember getting Chinese food, sushi (A LOT!) and many other types of ethnic cuisine. As I was growing up, I was unintentionally learning about cuisines of the world and all the foods that were traditional to the Asian, South American and other countries that the food I was eating originated from.

As I was growing up I was introduced to many types of music, one of them being Zap Mama, a French-African group that my aunt introduced to me. This group was funky and very cool and I loved it. On top of Zap Mama I was introduced to other French artists and even some Chinese ones that I really enjoyed growing up. This type of music differs from what people would think of as typical American music, country music. Country music was and is a huge part of the music industry and I was not listening to it at all. So, growing up, the music that was influencing me was not Americana, but a mix of African/European/Asian.

Growing up in America, did I grow up American? I believe so because even though what it was watching, eating and listening to was not originating from America or in an American style, I was experiencing all these different cultures in America. I grew up not actually liking many typical American aspects of society/culture, but what really is typical for America? It is a mish-mosh of so many different people and cultures that eating sushi or watching anime isn’t seen as foreign, but as a typical thing that Americans experience. So, “traditional” American foods, shows and music don’t have to originate from America or really be in English to be considered part of America. This is truly because I grew up in a global culture and I currently am in a global culture. With the internet and as the world modernizes, cultures spread so quickly and root themselves into other countries, becoming typical parts of these countries’ societies. Looking back on my childhood, I grew up as an American living in a global culture because through the lens/society of America I was experiencing aspects of other countries/cultures that had rooted themselves in American culture and had over time assimilated into everyday American life. From the track it has naturally taken, it seems that globalization and the advent of a global culture are here to stay and have really permeated most every country in the world. This means that not only did I grow up an American, but I grew up a citizen of a global culture.