culture shock

In the beginning of the week each table learned a card game. Then when players from different tables moved around we realized each table had a different set of rules, like some tables the ace was high, and some tables the ace was low. Each table had essentially become their own culture, and each table had a different set of rules to play the game by, which is like how different cultures have different rules to live by. When I stayed with a French family in France for two weeks, I experienced a lot of culture shock. It was hard to get accustomed to certain things. One night my French family ordered pizza for dinner, and I thought yes, finally something I have had experience eating before. Except that when we all sat down and started eating the pizza I realized I was the only one eating the pizza with my hands and everyone else at the table was cutting up the pizza with a fork and knife. I felt like I had no table manners, and I felt so rude and embarrassed. I put down the pizza and started to eat it with a knife and fork, and I apologized. I said in America, Americans eat pizza with their hands. My french family was understanding because they are aware there are different rules for every culture, and they didn't mind me eating the way I was raised to eat pizza. So, what I learned from eating pizza was that every culture has different rules, customs, norms, and sometimes you don't understand them but you have to have cultural relativism and just be aware that people do things differently. One way isn't better than the other, they're just different.

A Bronx Tale-Groups

The groups that Calogero belonged to was his family group which was made up of his mom and dad. He belonged to his school group of friends that he grew up with. He is in a group with the African American girl from the bus. He is also part of Sonny's crew like when he was throwing the dice, but I also think that Sonny and Calogero are their own group too. No one really understands their relationship, even the guys in Sonny's crew are confused by the interest that Sonny takes in Calogero. Even though Calogero belongs to all these groups, I think that his master status is son. I think that his master status stays the same throughout the film and doesn't change. He is a son in different ways though. He is a son to his father, but also is like a son to Sonny. I would say my own master status is being a daughter. That's a big part of how I identify myself. I've been a daughter all my life and my parents have probably impacted me as a person the most. Through my life though, my different statues have changed. I'm a friend, coworker, and my newest status is being an aunt to my two baby nieces.

In-groups & Out-groups

Today the class was divided into two groups by what we were wearing. After the activity was over and we discussed why the other group was wearing what they were wearing, I was really surprised how fast my group started to make judgments about the other group. I was in the color group and the things we came up about the group wearing black were intended to be more joking, but still ended up being mean. Some things we came up with were things like the people wearing black were depressed, hated their lives, or wanted to try and look skinnier which implies that they are fat. This activity shows how easy it is to identify with your in-group, and judge the out-group. In our everyday lives we are apart of so many groups, and we're also not apart of a lot of groups. In my life, I sometimes have a hard time not judging an out-group because I have a hard time understanding that group. I was raised Christian, but I'm not very religious at all, so I have trouble identifying with people who are religious no matter what religion they are. All anyone can do is have an open mind about things, and try to work against the judgments we make.

The Social Construction of Reality

What is the difference between spit and saliva? Nothing, except the feelings that society has created about the two. To illustrate this Tuesday in class Mr. Sal had someone spit on a spoon and the whole class thought it was disgusting. Spit in a classroom is deemed socially unacceptable and odd in American culture. On the other hand we wouldn't think kissing someone or sharing a drink with someone, which is exchanging saliva, is gross. Certain feelings that we feel in situations are completely made up and created by our culture, environment, and society. When I went to France and stayed with a French family, in their bathroom was a beday. In French society, and even all of Europe that is normal and acceptable, but in American society and culture it is odd, and unacceptable. Most Americans would even say it's gross, or unhygienic, and being from America, I even thought this too. I couldn't bring myself to use the beday it was just too weird and different in my eyes.