Today I read the following Fast Company article “WHY PEOPLE WITH MULTICULTURAL EXPERIENCE ARE MORE CREATIVE”.

I have to agree that I think my travelling experience has helped foster creativity, and I have always felt extremely lucky to have grown up in a culturally rich household. My mother was raised speaking German and celebrating German culture and my father Ukrainian. This said, my sister and I were raised as a “Gerainiams” a term coined by our mother to combine our German, Ukrainian and Canadian heritage.

My personality has been influenced by these cultures and the traditions passed down through many generations. This is illustrated by the clothes I wear, the food I eat, the way my home is decorated, the way I communicate, they things I regard most important, the way I celebrate special occasions, and more. Instead of a Grandma and Grandpa, I had an Oma and Opa, and a Baba and Gedo. I eat things like rouladen, spaetzle, sauerkraut, perogies, cabbage rolls, borscht, and fondu. Sandwiches are always open faced with meat, cheese, and bread fresh from the European Deli, usually accompanied by soft boiled eggs sitting in hand painted egg cups for brunch. The women in my family are exceptional cooks, and I am proud to say that I will be able to pass their authentic recipes along to future generations. In addition to cuisine, the ways of thinking and doing that have been shared with me have profoundly shaped who I am today. Aside from the traits I possess that can be directly attributed Klein or Bendzik, I attribute my cravings, openness, and acceptance of new experiences and perspectives to my exposure to different cultures.