When I was first approached with the topic of doing ethnography in New York City, I was intrigued by the idea of observing people and what they did that day. I thought it was borderline stalker-ish because it’s not customary to have someone stare at you and what you are doing for an extended period of time, especially in New York City where something like that might result in confrontation. I wasn’t about to have any of that.
Despite my many apprehensions, I decided to give ethnography a chance. This came about from many reasons: 1) I wanted to develop a new skill, 2) I wanted to broaden my mindset and how I viewed the city, and most importantly, 3) this project was worth a hefty bulk of my grade for the class. After getting over my worries, my group and I decided on going to Brighton Beach to conduct our observations. All I knew about Brighton Beach was that it was a beach and that it was a heavily Russian-populated area.
During the course of conducting the ethnographic research and upon completing it, I came away with two things. One, Brighton Beach is a perfect example of the patterns of immigration within New York City and two, the people of Brighton Beach are of their own unique culture that may or may not be representative of the city as a whole. For this project, my group assigned me two senses to focus on during our two trips to Brighton Beach: smell and hearing. At first, I was bummed out to get assigned to these senses. I saw sight and taste as much more interesting and more concrete in being able to present my audience with the experience of being at Brighton Beach. But as the project went on, I was able to see that smell and hearing were just as valuable of senses as the rest.
So how did smell and hearing help me realize the two points I brought up above? Well, from my many years on this planet, I’ve come to realize that you can learn a lot about someone or a place through food and language. Although, I didn’t have taste as a sense to focus on, I was still able to “experience” food through smell since those two sense are connected (I still ate the food though). While walking around Brighton Beach, I could smell meat being barbecued, fresh bread being baked, and pastries being made. This allowed me to get an insight into what the food in that area (which I presumed to be Russian cuisine) was composed of. In addition, I could hear people speaking to one another whether during a business transaction, an inquiry, or a normal everyday conversation. They spoke to each other in languages that I’ve never heard before besides the occasional Spanish I heard from the Hispanic workers around there. These things made me realize that I was in an entirely different place that was slightly outside of my comfort zone.
Upon further research and observation, I discovered that Brighton Beach was more diverse than I first thought. I found a New York Times article that discusses the patterns of immigration in Brighton Beach called “From Brighton Beach to America; The Wave of Immigrants Began 25 Years Ago. Soon Russian Filled the Streets. Now, the Tide Is Ebbing” by Edward Lewine. Lewine discusses how different factors such as religious persecution and social problems in the Soviet Union drove people from Eastern European to move to the United States. This was something I could see during my trips to Brighton Beach. The area was filled with people who spoke Eastern European languages and the food was representative of their respective countries. So, it was no surprise to me after reading the article that I saw a Georgian restaurant among the many Russian ones.
The article also raises issues regarding the immigration of non-Eastern Europeans to Brighton Beach and how that has caused internal conflicts in the community due to marked differences in culture and ideology. Contrary to this, I saw no animosity between the people there. In fact, I saw cooperation especially between the Russian storeowners and their Hispanic workers. From this, I was able to conclude that Brighton Beach is in fact more diverse than I initially thought and it is a perfect example of the changing patterns in immigration over the years.
The second thing I discovered was that the people of Brighton Beach truly make it a unique place. The people there are unique and I mean this in the most respectful way possible. New York City is known for its people and the unique characters that live in it, but Brighton Beach and its people operate on a different level: their own level. I found a New York Times article by David Gonzalez called “In Brighton Beach, a Bittersweet Peace”. The article interviews different people who live in Brighton Beach and chronicles what they do there. The group of people interviewed were each unique: a 54-year-old female bodybuilder, people who swam in the ocean in the winter, musicians, just to name a few. During my trips to Brighton Beach, I saw this to be true. I saw a man in snorkeling gear paddling in the ocean in the winter, a man wearing only shorts jogging in the cold, and a 73-year-old violinist on the street who played music.
It is clear that the people of Brighton Beach are comfortable being who they are and embrace freedom, an American ideal. In this way, they may be representative of what it means to be a New Yorker and an American. Despite this, I believe that the people of Brighton Beach operate on a different level. They are not interested in the latest fads and trends that exist in much of the city such as eating healthy foods or buying health food products. They do not care for any of that. Rather, they are happy eating meaty and filling foods that cost less than five bucks.
The only regret I have is that I was not able to understand anything that was said among the people there. In Brighton Beach, I was an outsider because of the language barrier. Despite still being in the city, I felt as if I was in a whole different country. It would have been interesting to be able to comprehend what people were saying. Were they happy? Were they sad? Perhaps they were gossiping. I will never truly know until I learn their language. This may have partially affected my ability to conduct accurate research, but nonetheless, it was an insightful and enlightening experience for me as a whole.
Works Cited
Gonzalez, David. “In Brighton Beach, a Bittersweet Peace.” New York Times. The New York Times Company, 23 Nov. 2012. Web. 18 Mar. 2016.
Lewine, Edward. “From Brighton Beach to America; The Wave of Immigrants Began 25 Years Ago. Soon Russian Filled the Streets. Now, the Tide Is Ebbing.” New York Times [New York] 14 Mar. 1999. New York Times. The New York Times Company. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.
