Final Blog: Did I Meet My Goals?

After looking back on the goals that I had set for myself at the beginning of the semester I think that I have met those goals. I wanted to be able to better understand the cultures that make up me. With the final project that I have done and our culture day project I learned more about to of the countries that some of my family originated from. The second goal that I had set was to be able to speak up in class and not be so quiet and shy. I can not say that I fully met this goal completely. I will always be shy I'm afraid because it is harder for me to speak up in class.

Freedom Writers

The Freedom Writers movie touched on a lot of things that we talked about this semester. In the movie it shows the amount of hate that people had towards one another because of the color of their skin. The students segregated themselves into their own little groups of the people of their “own” kind. These kids only trusted who was like them in fear of losing their lives. In class we talked about racism and that is exactly what the movie showed. If you were of a different culture, they didn’t like you. Not only didn’t they like you, they hated you. They hated people that they didn’t even know all because their skin color was different. Another thing we learned about this semester was different cultures and how they differ from each other. The culture here was the gang culture. The thing that I noticed from the movie was that all the groups were pretty much identical. They all stood up for their own kind and “protected their own”. At the beginning they didn’t realize that they were all the same and had the same interests but their skin color prevented them from getting to know one another and realizing just how alike that they really were. The last topic that I want to talk about is how they came together and made a change. I know that we didn’t exactly talk about this subject in class but we did a project this semester where we had to choose a country and inform people about that country and how they differ from ours and I consider that as us coming together to better inform people of the unknown. Ms. Gruwell took this class of kids and gave them the chance to be something extraordinary.  She was selfless and knew that if she accomplished the goal of bringing these kids together that the world is one step closer to being a better place.

weekly overview 4/10

This past week I was gone on Tuesday but we had gone through sexual orientation a little more and the class talked about how people who may be transgender or gay are treated in other countries compared to how we in the United States handle the situation.

This week was very busy because we put on our culture day event in the old gym at the school.  I thought that the turnout for our event was very good and it was exciting to see who was anxious to learn more and who actually enjoyed spending their time learning more about our country. I didn’t really try any of the other foods except from the Canadian section and it their food was very delicious! It is very interesting to see how countries are similar and how they are different comparing them to the United States.

On Thursday we were privileged enough to get to me Ed. Ed is a transgender who go to come spend some class time with us via skype and shared his story with us. I think this really opened my eyes and he taught me things that I may have never known if I wouldn’t have got the chance to listen to him speak. I feel like I was so sheltered in my high school. We had speakers but they were usually for bullying and what not and I think that if schools had more diverse speakers come in and talk to us maybe that would eliminate some bullying and then maybe schools would be able to have more diverse speakers in the first place.

Even though this week was crazy and hectic I feel that I did learn quite a bit and that it made me realize how much more I need to learn about someone before I judge them.

Cultural Article

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/11/nyregion/11sexchange.html?_r=1&ref=transsexuals#


This article is about a transgender man who was fired because his job was only a mans job and he was not technically a man to his employer. He is now filing a discrimination lawsuit against the his former employer. This article caught my eye because we had been talking about sexual orientation and what not in class and I was curious about what other situations that others go through. It is sad that the guy was fired just because he wasn't originally a man when that is what he said that he always felt like all his life was that he was a man. It is something that really makes you rethink the things you judge people on.

Cultural Snack: Russian Tea Cakes

For class we had to sign up for a day to bring a cultural snack to class. I decided that the snack that I was going to bring was Russian Tea Cakes. They were very easy to make and there are very few ingrediants! They came about in the 18th Century and were typically made for special occasions such as Christmas. There are many different variations of this snack in other parts of the world and a lot of people know them as Mexican Wedding Cookies. I have also heard them called Snowballs and Honeyballs as well!!

weekly overview 4/3

This past week in class we talked a little more about disabilities and how disabilities are handled here compared to in other countries. It really shocked and kind of upset me that in China some people would use their children to get money off of other people that feel bad for them. I feel that when people do that they are putting their kids in a freak show like image when they are really not. They are normal people that have something that may hinder some of the things that they may like to do.

This week we also talked to Mary from San Diego who shared her work with LGBTQ. This stands for Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer. There is also Q and I that are classified here that stand for Questioning and Intersex. This is a group at the college there that is a safe zone for people that are open about their sexuality. The thing that made this whole discussion even more interesting was finding out that Mary herself was a lesbian.

For me, it was interesting hearing about the kind of ridicule and hate she receives being of that sexual orientation. We hear about all these protests and what not that go on but we don't really see much of it in this area. I also liked how comfortable that she was talking about all these things and how she would say all these terms like queer that most of us are typically very uncomfortable saying.

I really like seeing things from a different point of view in all of the discussions that we have in class. It helps a lot for me to then come on here and talk about what we talked about when I can reference it back to our class time.

weekly overview 3/27

Last week we talked a lot about personal space and languages. A lot of people have different preferences of how much personal space they need.  With me it kind of depends on the person whether or not I am comfortable with them in my personal space or not. If the person is someone that I know and that I have been around quite a bit then I am comfortable with them being close up to me. The thing that makes me the most uncomfortable is when I am at work at the bank and random strangers will lean over the counter and get really close to me. It makes me very nervous because you don’t know what they are going to do!

On Thursday we had Matt Come in and speak to us about disabilities and about his disability. I never knew what Matt was diagnosed with until we spent time talking about it. Matt was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when he was 6 months old. He was very fortunate and was not fully affected so he can do a lot more than other people with cerebral palsy can. He said that is was a lot easier to adjust to it when you become disabled at a young age rather than when you are older because that is what you are used to and that is normal to you rather than having to change your whole lifestyle completely after you are already used to the way things were. The girl who is in our class became very sick when she was 19 and pregnant and she lost the baby and her ability to walk. I can’t imagine having to relearn basically everything and having to give up the things that I love at my age now.

Matt said that people with disabilities do not use their disabilities as an excuse. I never realized how true this was until he had said it. People who have a disability are very independent and try to do most things that they can by themselves. He also talked about doing the simple things like not staring, don’t make them feel like they are less superior to you and don’t talk down on them. Matt’s discussion really put a lot of things into perspective for me.

weekly overview 3/20

This week, our classmate Ian got up and taught us a little more about Canada. Most of the things that he went over were things that I kind of knew but there were a select few things that really interested me.  He said that Canada didn’t become its own country until the 1980’s! They were more a settlement of Britain until they officially became a country. The other thing that I enjoyed was the video he found that stressed out all the Canadian stereotypes that people have. It made me laugh because that is how most people think they act! The funniest part was when the guy in the video poured maple syrup on every bit of his food for like ten minutes! Most everything they do there is similar to what we do here today. They really are not that different from us at all!

On Thursday we watched a video called the world of language. This video described us as animals living in the wild, which I thought was different because I have never thought of us in that aspect before.  The guy in the video talked about how we all have different reactions to different things in our cultures. Things as simple as a handshake can be elaborated not for the fun of it, but because that is a custom in their country.  The thing that interested me most was how we show anger compared to how other countries show anger. We usually flip people the bird or swear at them in our country whereas some countries lift two fingers at people or show them horns with their fingers. The other thing that interested me was how different countries say no.  Some wobble their head while most just shake their head no.

You do not think about all these differences until you see them first hand and once you do realize it it interests you to learn more about the other interesting things that different countries do that we do not!

weekly overview 2/28

This week we spent more time looking at indigenous people. We watched a film about Pine Ridge, SD. On that reservation they live from Government paycheck to Government paycheck. They live off of food that is very unhealthy for them and most of them spend their money on alcohol. It frustrates me that they can’t do anything for themselves because they need the money to get a vehicle to be able to transport themselves to a job off the reservation.

I have mixed feelings about this situation. On one side of the situation they wanted to be treated as equals but they are not even trying to do anything about it but on the other hand if I was put on a little patch of land with no jobs available and no way to get to a job off of my given land I would probably give up too.

The other thing that we watched this week was about food and how different countries have different customs and how we wouldn’t imagine eating some of the things that other countries eat on an everyday basis. One of the thing that interested me the most was how people in the UK think that the combination of peanut butter and jelly is one of the oddest combinations. That is something that is so normal for us that it is different to hear that some people have never heard of it.

The other thing that interested me was the spitting in the cup experiment. I, as well as most of the other people in the experiment would never re-drink my own spit. When that guy that was asking them all the questions said that the spit was something that came out of their mouths it made me realize that a lot of people are like that including me. The sight of some things make us thing that it won’t be any good.

Weekly Overview 2/21

This week we talked a lot about other countries. We discussed things like the laws that they have and follow and also about the different dialects they use along with some of the different things that they believe in and choose to follow.

I think one of the things that most interest me was the fact that in Germany some parts of the country cannot understand other parts of the country because they use different dialects. I found this interesting because here we also have different dialects but we can, for the most part, all understand each other because most of us have the same meaning for words. I could imagine what it would it would be like to not even travel out of your own country and still not be able to communicate amongst with each other.

It’s different to hear what things are different in other countries compared to here. There are also a lot of similarities too. Most everywhere has modernized just as we have but it’s cool to hear that some still follow rules that were set years and years and years ago. Most of our rules are still there but whether or not states choose to still follow them all varies.

We also talked about some of the weird laws that are set in certain areas, though most never follow them. One of the funny ones in North Dakota is the law that you cannot sleep with your shoes on.  I always wonder what someone did that there is now a law like that. The other law that always makes me curious is in certain states you cannot walk around with an ice cream cone in your pocket on Sundays. Who does that anyway?

Even though we were way off topic this week it is always cool to take time to discuss the random stuff that a lot of people either don’t know or are curious about. That is what makes a class interesting!

Weekly Overview 2/14

Since I was gone on the 14^th I am going to talk about the guest speaker that we had the 16^th. Dr. Porthen, who is a teacher here at the college, came in to speak to our class about her culture which is very different from what we typically see around here. She is from India but was born in South Africa. Her parents were brought from India to South Africa before she was born. In her culture women are not allowed to get a job until they have finished schooling. It is either that choice or become a housewife and they would have to cook, clean and have children. She said she wanted to have a family but her education was important for her to receive. She became the first woman to graduate from the college in South Africa which I think is pretty cool!  

Seeing what a culture that we don’t know much about is something that is pretty interesting. I knew that the male was the dominant feature but I didn’t know things like they were depended on to have kids and clean house. Here, having kids is something that most women want but some also want to have the education and not have to just rely on the husband as well what is exactly what she did.  Another thing that I thought was different was not getting a job until you have finished your education. Here, most of us kids are going to school, working, doing extracurricular activities and also the chores that most parents assign their children. We are expected to multi-task while they are expected to focus on things one at a time.

I had had her for a class last semester but didn’t really know much about her background and where she really came from so it was kind of nice to finally here what her culture is all about!

Holiday blog: Ramadan

Ramadan is a holiday that is celebrated in the ninth month on the Islamic Lunar Calendar. It is celebrated by many Muslims all around the world. During this month Muslims do not eat or drink during the daytime. The proper term for this sacrifice is called fasting. It is a time for people to focus on God. This holiday is also about more than just restraining yourself from food. It is about being holy in all aspects. You are to restrain yourself from talking back; you must not look at unholy things and other sorts of things like that.  I understand this to be an important holiday to the Muslims because it is a time for them to cleanse themselves and bring themselves closer to the Lord. I chose to research this holiday because it is something that Americans are aware of but it is a holiday that most overlook and don’t take time to learn more about.

Extra Credit: Crash

We were given the opportunity to receive extra credit by watching the movie Crash. The movie was about people of different races and different job positions and what kind of hate that these people had or developed over the span of the movie. This movie showed so much hate when people didn't even know the person that they hated. I decided that I was going to discuss some of the characters in the movie and the types of hate that they showed. It made me think about the times that I have done this and how I probably should have handled the situation that I was in.

In the movie the character that Sandra Bullock played was very hateful after the two black characters in the movie stole their vehicle.  She didn’t even want someone who was Hispanic changing the locks on her door and she also began to be very rude to her maid as well. She didn’t know that the Hispanic guy had a kid and wasn’t a “gangsta” as she had called him but I think she was so freaked out that she didn’t really know what to do in that situation. She didn’t feel comfortable at that moment.

Another moment is when the two black kids came out of the restaurant. The one, who was played by Ludacris, thought that everyone was either scared of them or didn’t serve them the same way that the waitresses served the white people. He was overthinking everything and didn’t stop and think that maybe he was just imagining these things.

He thought that everyone was discriminating against him which brings me to my second point in the movie. There was a lot of discrimination that went on. Besides the incidents with the two black kids there was the white cop who was played by Matt Dillon. He pulled over the black couple in the movie because he thought the girl was performing a sexual act on the man. When he saw that they were black he instantly searched them and was trying to embarrass her husband and herself by feeling her up.

One other act of racial discrimination is when the Persian man was trying to buy a gun and the guy who sold the guns got into an argument with him and refused to sell him the gun because he thought the Persian man was Arab.

The final thing that I would like to talk about is stereotypes. The black kids in the movie automatically thought that they were being stereotyped in the restaurant and when they walked out and thought that the character Sandra played was scared of them because they were black.

This situation also gets flipped around with Sandra’s character as well. She thinks that she was being stereotyped as being a scared white lady after she had had her car stolen.

When everyone shows hate like that then it is very hard for everyone to get along in society. Here, you don’t really see quite as much of this because we are really not as culturally diverse.  With the oilfield we are becoming more diverse and everyone is having to adapt to and learn how people from other places act and the reasons that they may act in that manner. This movie showed what bigger cities can be like and the kind of hate there really is here.

Weekly Overview 2/6-2/10

This week we had a guest speaker over IVN from Ole Miss. She was asked to come speak to us about the Islamic religion and about Muslims. The one thing that surprised me and I think the rest of the class as well was that most of the Muslim population are from Indonesia. Most people assume that many of the Muslims are from places like Iraq, Iran and other places of that sort. Ever since the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers Americans have stereotypes all Muslims and all people that practice the Islamic religion as bad people, as terrorists. For us I think we are just scared that something like what happened in New York is going to happen again. The fear we have of that creates the hatred that we build for "those people."  We were told by Mary what all the Islam’s practice. The people who choose to practice this faith are typically very strict about it. If they are considered unclean they are not allowed to touch their holy book. To me, it’s very different to hear about these things that they have to follow since my religion isn’t as strict, or that my family and I are not as strict about it. It’s different to hear about religions that are different from yours.

On Thursday, we watched an episode of Sister Wives. I also watched this in our Cultural Diversity class so this was my second time seeing what their Polygamist lifestyle is like. It is very hard for me to watch this show. I personally do not think that the practice of Polygamy is right. I know it is just what they believe in and it is accepted in their religion but in mine it is frowned upon. I am a more jealous person so I would most definitely never be able to be a part of something like that. I don’t know how these ladies can handle sharing someone like that and still feel normal. It’s just something that I would never get used to.

Weekly Overview 1/30

This last week in class we talked about monochronic time and polychromic time. We started discussing which countries were classified under each time. You don’t ever really think about things like these until they are brought up. The United States is classified under polychromic time. It’s funny that after this class I noticed how much that is true. We cannot even drive here without trying to operate our cell phones, check our hair, do our makeup, change the song on the radio and cuss out the person who cut us off all at the same time. I feel everyone is so impatient and everything has to be done all at once here. Then I realized this place could probably be a lot less stressed out if we would just take the time and do things the right, and safe, way.

We also started talking about racism, othering, discrimination, prejudice and all the things that go hand in hand with these topics. There is a lot of hate in the United States and other countries and there is so many different things that people are like the ones that I just named. I don’t get how people can hate someone or some race so bad when they don’t even know their backgrounds and who they truly are! It’s like when people see people with tattoos and automatically think that they are bad people and mean and disrespectful which most of the time isn’t true. Just because people like to express themselves differently or look different doesn’t give other people the right to judge. You may have your own personal opinions but those are your opinions, not a universal opinion!  The video we are watching is one that is kind of hard to watch at moments. Not that they show what happened but listening to how these people were tortured because they were different is horrifying. It’s something that you never want to hear happening in your hometown.

My Family

My family originates from many different countries. I have many different cultures that make up me. I am mainly German, Russian and Norwegian. But I am also Irish and Swedish as well. My Great Grandma and Grandpa on my mom's side grew up in Germany. They came to America after my Grandma was born. My Great Grandma still has a very VERY thick German accent and it's funny but sometimes hard to handle! My mom's dad is full Norwegian which explains a lot of the things I do that I don't even think about. On my dad's side of the family they are mainly German and Norwegian. Although I did find out that my Great Grandpa has some Irish and Swedish in him too which I think(my thoughts are always right, right?) that that is where my blue eyes come from and the reddish tint my hair has comes from too! I do feel like I have little characteristics about me that give off each part of where my family comes from!

Last Name

This past week in class we were asked to find out where our last name originated. So when I went home this weekend I asked my dad. He told me that my last name, which is Hornberger, originated from Germany. I then found out that there is a little town by the name of Hornberger located in Germany which I thought was pretty cool! I didn't really find out anything else but I do think that it is kind of interesting to know that my last name is a town!

Overview of the Week

One of the things that I learned this week is that just because something is custom in our country, doesn't mean that people from other countries share that same custom. We learned that just because someone looks like they may be one thing doesn't mean that they are! This kind of stuck with me because of what we are going through here in Williston and in other parts of North Dakota right now. I have become very frustrated because where I work we have a lot of foreign people here on a work exchange trip that come in to the bank. With the language barrier it is hard to understand what they are trying to tell you or ask you and that makes things extremely difficult when you are trying to answer their questions correctly. I really hadn’t thought about the fact that they are from a different country and that just as we cannot understand them, they also cannot understand us. I think that this week kind of put things in a different perspective for me. I learned that I do need to be more patient with things when all I am being is frustrated.

            With this oil boom and the town being overpopulated all of the people that are originally from are all becoming very frustrated very fast, including me. And even though most people are just from another state, things are also different from the way we do things as well. Just as we have to adjust to them being here, they also need to adjust into coming into a new place as well. They basically have taken over the town and they do not realize that not everything will change for them to make them feel at home. It is our home too and has been for a while so the natives in this town are refusing to budge which is causing a lot of controversy. I think that these situations tie in perfectly with what we began talking about even if it isn’t about other countries.

My Goals

One of the goals that I hope to get from this class is to better understand the different cultures that make up me. I know where my relatives came from and I know bits and pieces of history that happened in those countries but I don't really know much about why those places came to be. My other goal is to be able to speak up more and not get so nervous to talk in front of people that I am not familiar with. I can never get over my nerves when it comes to getting up and giving a presentation in front of everybody, especially when it is something that I have to memorize.