Heritage

I've always know that where you're from can have an impact on who you are and your mannerisms, but I never really knew what huge effect it can have on people until I read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell .
He showed just how large the impact could be through the example of the first officers and flight engineers, who came from a culture that had great emphasis on respect for people who are considered your superior, which ultimately caused several plane crashes. At first it may seem a bit ridiculous that they didn't just speak up when they realized that the plane was going to crash, but then I thought about it, and how I could see a little bit of myself in that. Vietnam's culture also has emphasis in respect for superiors, specifically elders. I realized that when I greet elders in the Vietnamese community and my grandma I  bow to them as a sign of respect, an say a very formal greeting. This is something that I was raised to do, and something that I have done for so long that I don't even notice that I do it anymore. So you never really know just how deeply your heritage impacts who you are.
You can't choose you heritage, but you can go against it like the first officers and flight engineers from Korean Air, and change your habits, you just have to work at it. This is reassuring news since its a nice though that you can decide to change and be something other than what your heritage has, in part, made you.