There are many ways to define culture religion, ethnicity, language, nationality. However, Josh’s interview reveals that culture may develop in ordinary, mundane aspects of daily life. Indeed, Josh grew up in a mixed household of Jews and Puerto Ricans his Puerto Rican and Christian mother and his Jewish father are his parents. Hence, his culture consists of two components. An outsider may notice the presence of these two elements in Josh’s family life: food, holidays, music, traditions, and conflict inherent in being bicultural. From my experience of talking to Josh, I discovered that culture does not always mean harmony. Indeed, one may say that culture can manifest in happy families, music, and traditions but also in disagreements and confusion. Yet, culture plays a vital role in helping people understand themselves and who they are. As a newcomer, I immediately understood that language is not the dominant element of Josh’s everyday culture even if it is present to some extent. Talking about language in his household, Josh stated, “My family doesn’t speak any other languages my dad speaks Spanish. We don’t speak it in the house though we mainly speak English. I wish I spoke other languages though” (Josh). This statement indicates that culture cannot be transmitted through language alone. Thus, Josh’s father is Hispanic, whereas Josh’s mother is Puerto Rican. Moreover, they speak English at home, so their culture exists despite language differences. The second essential element of Josh’s culture is the media, which plays a tremendous role in shaping his identity. Indeed, although he did not identify any films featuring Jewish people that would be close to him, Josh mentioned several films with Natalie Portman that he liked. Moreover, he said, “I am also Puerto Rican and I love Bad Bunny. I listen to his music every day” (Josh). One should note that culture does not only consist of family heritage but also of media and celebrities that represent some aspect of one’s identity. In particular, a University of California San Diego website states that Bad Bunny is proud to express his roots as a Puerto Rican man and promotes Latino culture (“How Bad Bunny”). For Josh, Bad Bunny became a source of inspiration that proves that “even with my diverse background I can still be successful” (Josh).
A third important element of Josh’s culture is the family traditions, which take many forms. For instance, he mentioned his mother’s birthday and Thanksgiving. However, there is a tradition that is dear to his heart. Josh shared with me that every Thursday he spends with his family since he had four siblings who still lived in his house and the Thursday is the day off for his father, who is a doctor working in shifts. Thus, Josh said, “On Thursdays we spend the day together watching movies, his mom cooks and we play games” (Josh). From this description, one could visualize the typical Josh family: four siblings playing around with a father watching some movie and playing a board game, eating delicious food prepared by a mother. Clearly, such a family tradition represents Josh’s culture. Food is another significant element of Josh’s culture, especially because Puerto Rican and Jewish cuisines have much in common. Indeed, Josh described his mother as a “sick cook” who makes all sorts of food, starting from Puerto Rican meals and ending with tacos, homemade pasta, sourdough bread, pizza, roasted chicken, vegetables, rice, and cornbread (Josh). Interestingly, Josh praised his mother’s Puerto Rican food, stating that it is “really good” (Josh). The Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino explains Latino culture and its cuisine as a combination of Indigenous, European, and African cultures (“Latino Food”). Hence, Josh’s mother managed to preserve her culture without speaking Spanish every day in the household. Religion and holidays play a crucial role in Josh’s culture as well. Indeed, both of his parents follow some religion: Josh’s mother is Puerto Rican Christian, whereas his father follows Judaism. Therefore, they celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah in Josh’s household. In his words, they celebrated both “we like to blend both and it’s always double the presents so I find that pretty cool” (Josh). Interestingly, Josh expressed some confusion regarding religion. Indeed, his mother did not pay attention to her religion in her daily life, whereas his father took him to the temple. Josh confessed, “I don’t enjoy going to a temple, but I do it anyway to please my father” (Josh). The menorah plays a vital role in Judaism as its symbol and the act of lighting candles is connected to the Festival of Lights during Hanukkah (“Menorah”; “Hanukkah”). Consequently, lighting candles was a unique part of Josh’s culture.
One of the most revealing parts of the interview was when Josh told me about judging attitudes of Puerto Ricans and Jews towards each other, which is why his mother and father rarely visited their grandparents. Josh explained that his “Jewish grandmother doesn’t actually accept my Puerto Rican mom and Puerto Rican grandfather actually hates Jewish people” (Josh). Indeed, it made me realize that it would be unfair to perceive culture as only a positive phenomenon, consisting of happy holidays, delicious food, and media. Instead, culture could create conflicts and discrimination, which should be considered. Thus, analyzing Josh’s culture enabled me to examine my own in a new way. Josh’s interview taught me to appreciate my culture and to understand that culture does not have to remain unchanged in order to preserve the heritage. In fact, I came to understand that Christmas and Hanukkah, Puerto Rican food, and Jewish traditions could peacefully coexist and complement each other. Moreover, Bad Bunny and Natalie Portman are two representatives of different Latino nationalities whose songs could inspire people. In addition, the family tradition of going to the movies on Thursdays could also enrich my culture. Analyzing an insider’s culture from an outsider’s perspective helps an analyst to identify cultural patterns and norms that the person himself may miss. Thus, one could state that Thursday movie dates may be perceived as regular family time by Josh but cultural tradition by an analyst. Besides, it is easier for a nonJosh analyst to recognize the patterns between different elements of his culture. Nonetheless, there is always some loss in describing somebody’s culture from the outside. In particular, an outsider loses some of the emotions and meanings that belong to the culture. Hence, it may be stated that an outsider can only describe culture but cannot become part of it.
According to Raymond Williams, “culture is ordinary” (“Keywords”). Indeed, Josh’s culture appears in many ordinary details: dinner, music, phone conversations, holidays, trips to the temple, family conflicts. At the same time, Josh’s culture is extraordinary because of the fact that he maintains two conflicting identities in order to preserve his identity. Specifically, Josh said, “being Puerto Rican and Jewish is not normally a mix you’ll see, so people are curious about how our family works” (Josh). In conclusion, Josh’s culture is shaped by mix, family, food, religion, music, and resilience. For instance, in order to talk about culture, Josh used his experience instead of theoretical understanding and gave some examples: delicious meals cooked by a mother, the music of Bad Bunny, celebration of Christmas and Hanukkah, attendance at the temple for his father’s sake, trips to Puerto Rico, and Thursday family meetings. Culture is constantly changing depending on the relations inside a family, views of other people, and individual decisions.

Works Cited
Britannica. “Hanukkah.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. Accessed 12 May 2026.
National Museum of the American Latino. “Latino Food.” Smithsonian. Accessed 12 May 2026.
UC San Diego Today. “How Bad Bunny Became a Global Cultural Force.” UC San Diego Today, 5 Feb. 2026. Accessed 12 May 2026.

I used Ai to make a outline for my paper