Cultures

Learning about different cultures and countries people live in can be very interesting because of the fact that not one culture is the same as another culture. In different cultures people speak, eat, gesture, and communicate in different ways. We learned in class that many different countries are taught different gestures and languages that can be interpreted in many different ways for an American or even one with a different background. Living in America most people can assume that every word in English can be translated that its not that hard, but that's not always the case! When I was a little bit younger my family and I took a trip to Jamaica and although Jamaica is not completely different from America, while most speak English, their qualities are some what different. When I went out for dinner we were not allowed to sit down until we were invited and told where to sit. Also, the forks in Jamaica is always held in the left hand while the knife is always in the right. In American most people do what makes them comfortable most of the time they will have the fork in the hand they write with, since people in America mostly do things with the hand they chose to write with. I think it is very important to learn other peoples cultures and where they come from considering everyone's different and experiences different conditions of living.

A Bronx Tale

The wonderful movie A Bronx Tale was based on a true story about a young boy C living with his family in Bronx, NY as a divided Italian family. Back in the day, their neighborhoods were completely divided, and usually people that were black or any other type of race were not seen to be in the same neighborhood. C had a pretty hard life growing up witnessing the his soon to become friend Sonny kill this man. His father was very protective and didn't want C to associate himself with Sonny. Although he did not listen to his father. As they began to hang out more Sonny taught C life lessons because he didn't want C to face the same mistakes that Sonny did in his life. In the end C learns a lot from Sonny and began to distinguish between right and wrong even though C's friends were not a good influence. C grew up to become a pretty well rounded kid who became stronger because of Sonny. Although Sonny had a big impact on C's life it was also C's surroundings that made him a stronger person and taught him to be a better man. For me, my family, friends and people i care about our the ones that shape who I am today. I have changed from the people I care about. Different people are shaped by different things. C just formed to be a better person by his neighborhood and the way he was taught not to do the same things Sonny had gone through.

Division

In class, it was interesting to learn how much a like I am from others who I didn't think I would be similar too. Writting down different groups we all belong to and talking about it has made me realize a lot. Prior to this activity, to be honest, i was a very judgmental person because people would always judge me. Sociologists would agree it is bad to judge people because you are more a like someone than you actually think you are. For example, a lot of my good friends at one point all judged each other. I felt guilty because I didn't realize until after we started talking that we were actually a lot a like and love to do the same things as me, love to have a good time, and have mostly the same morals and beliefs as me. People that I never thought I would be friends with way back when I am now friends with today. It makes me feel bad that I judge my friends before we became close, but everyone makes mistakes and hopefully will learn from them like I do. This exercise helped me to realize that you can be similar to someone more than one would suspect.

Social Construction of Reality.

When most people think of the word "spit" or "saliva" it is not a pretty sight. It it weird to think that in different situations are we are more accustomed to the word saliva than in others. In class, Sal asked a volunteer to spit into a spoon. Everyone could see she was nervous and embaressed to spit in a spoon in front of the whole class. Not something that is typically done in a classroom. Most found this utterly gross. But what is weird is if we were going to a major league baseball game watching the batters spit wouldn't be as gross maybe not gross at all to some. The social construction of reality is how people around us influence us to experience things in the world. Everything is created from the society we live in. When i was younger, as Sal mentioned, my mother also used to wipe everything off my brother and I face. In America, we don't find this gross because this is what a lot of mothers do and we see it in our daily lives walking down the street or passing by. In a different kind of situation though, this would automatically be considered discusting! For example, most people at least in America would agree that a manager or another employee spitting on your paper work would be seen as gross and rude, although, in a situation i just stated such as a mother taking mustard off of their child's cheek with their spit would be seen as "normal." It's weird how two situations both based on one factor, spit can be completely different and can be taken as acceptable or unacceptable.