You're Weird! Well, so are you.

Earlier this week Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids, IA had a Foreign Exchange Student Banquet. Foreign Exchange students for this school year were introduced formally to the students and few facts about their life was shared about them. These students have come from all around the world. Three have come from Europe, from countries such as Spain and Norway, while others have come from Asia, like China. These foreign exchange students come here to learn in America and experience our culture. However, not only do they learn new things, we can all also gather knowledge from their experiences in their home country.

 

The foreign exchange students were presented mainly by their host family, but sometimes their classmates. They would give an explanation of where the students were from, a background about their life, talk about their family, and discuss their hobbies. All the students seem to come from different backgrounds with different traditions, because they come from different areas around the world. All of them seem really excited to be here and very interested to learn more about the American culture. The students were mentioning things that there are many things that are different about America compared to their home country. 

After the students were introduced, they were asked to say something that they find different or weird about the American culture. The student from Norway said this city is much larger than where she comes. To most of us, we believe Cedar Rapids to be a small country. Many people who are not from the area probably have never heard of the area. To hear that Cedar Rapids seemed like a big city to someone was just an astonishing fact. But it is true. Many countries are made up of many smaller cities, with the exception of a few cities that are much more populated than the others. In America that is not the case because we are such a large country.

Another student, the one from Spain, was saying how people in America eat at very awkward times. He was saying that in Spain they eat much later than we do here. People tend to eat lunch around one o’clock and eat dinner only at nine o’clock. That seems crazy to us here in America, because our lunch and dinner time is extremely earlier compared to that of Spain. We tend to eat dinner from any time in-between five to seven; hearing the fact that the Spanish eat at nine is unimaginable. I know I would be starving by then. Similarly, one of the foreign exchange students from China was saying that back in China they have a lunch room or more of a large area to eat lunch that seats 4,000 people. All the students in the whole school eat lunch at the same time. When she came here and saw the small lunch room and the amount of people in a lunch compared to the size of our school, she was shocked. The idea of having different lunch periods was just different to her. For people in America, it is just another normal thing, but looking at it from an outsider’s point of view, I understand how some of the way we do things may be weird.

One of my favorite comments came from another kid from China, whom for a foreign exchange student from China had a great English speaking ability with little accent. He was saying the amount of homework we get here is a huge amount. He said that in China they tend to get less homework that are a little longer to work out and require more thinking and analyzing. He says here we get a ton of homework that keeps going on and on. It takes him longer to do homework in America than in China. For most of us this was surprising. When thinking of stereotypes, people in China are said to be smart. Therefore, we assume they have more work to do. However, that seems to not be the case. This just shows the difference between cultures around the world. To these students, the culture in America is different, but to us, their culture is also unique.  

USA! USA! USA! 'Merica!

America is a country filled with diverse people from all different cultures, traditions, languages, and countries around the world. This country was built by people immigrating here for a new life. At first Europeans moved here for religious freedom, economic reasons, work, a new start to life, and later on others from different countries immigrated here for similar reasons. America is a country that is accepting of everyone and allows freedom for all. The diversity in America helped create the country we have become today. It is a country that has variation wherever you go and a rich background full of traditions from places around the world.

No matter where you are, from small cities to big cities, there is always diversity in America. Though small cities tend to have less diversity, they each seem to be different. Some small cities even have a prominent culture.  For example, in Cedar Rapids, though it is a small city, there is an area near downtown called Czech Village, with a larger amount of people from the Czech Republic and is rich in Czech culture. Similarly in larger cities, and more commonly in larger cities, there are places like Chinatown and Little Italy, for example. These areas tend to be highly populated by people of that specific culture. In this little stretch of land in a city, there is also an increased amount of shops and restaurants selling items, clothing, and food from that culture. This is a unique thing that helps show America is a culturally diverse country.

American culture has been influenced by cultures all around the world. Our main language we speak is English, because our country was first settled by the British, who spoke English. The food we eat comprises of things from all over the world. In America we eat food like burgers, salads, sandwiches, meats, and soups. However, some of our favorite foods include Chinese food, Mexican food, Indian food, Italian food, Thai food, Mediterranean food, and much more. We acknowledge all sorts of holidays, from Christmas to Hanukah. It’s a part of what makes us America; we are accepting of all cultures, at least most of us are. Our country has grown on the foundation of diversity. It creates an exciting adventure and is like one place to find all other places around the world put together, with minor changes. There are still many characteristics that make us unique. We are a mixture of cultures and traditions from other countries plus our own. America!

America the Beautiful

From the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, in-between Canada and Mexico (minus the islands and the lonesome state by the Arctic Ocean), lays the wonderful country of USA. The land of the free, the home of the brave, the land of the beautiful, USA. A country that is filled with diversity full of people from all different cultures coming together to create one nation. From all over the world, people come to visit and live in this country. A place that provides freedom, shelter, security, jobs, and adventure; a place to make memories.

United States is a large nation filled with plentiful adventures. It is a nation that one should visit if possible. A person who travels to America for the first time must visit the nations most well known cities, including New York City, Washington D.C., Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, somewhere in Florida, to name a few. One may visit Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park, Death Valley, the Grand Canyon; however, there are hidden beauties of this country that travelers should also try to discover. The beautiful snow covered mountains in the Rockies, hills in the Badlands, and the scenic drive down California's coast, all of which are things to experience in America. The luscious forests that cover the mountains in Oregon and Washington, Northern Michigan and the Great Lakes, the tropical island of Hawaii, and the lonesome state of Alaska all wonderful places to visit, as well. Each of these areas are unique places to create special memories. So the next time you travel to America or around USA, remember do not stick to the big cities, try to explore its hidden treasures.

Sorry, but you can't be Miss America... You're brown!

This past weekend, the Miss America 2014 pageant took place in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The 87th pageant was the first to crown a winner of Indian descent. That does not mean Native American, but a person from the country of India. Nina Davaluri, a 24 year old studying to be a doctor from Syracuse, New York, was the first Indian-American to win the Miss America pageant, what most would see as a major accomplishment. However, after Ms. Davaluri was crowned, she faced plentiful backlash from social media, mostly full of racist remarks. One would think that in the 21st century this would not be occurring, but sadly it did and still does.

I personally did not watch the pageant, but news obviously spreads fast these days. I was doing stuff on my computer when I read something about the wonderful Miss Kansas, who served for the Army and overstepped boundaries by showing off her tattoos, not winning. At first I was a little disappointed, that was until I found out the winner actually happened to be another woman who broke the boundaries. A woman named Nina Davaluri who is an Indian that can dance very well. I was surprised and thrilled, however the social media and other people believed otherwise. Many people on social media, such as Twitter, were posting racist remarks. Here are some of those tweets and more can be found here. 

" Are you serious??!! The Arab wins??!! This is miss AMERICA!!! Not miss Arabia!!! Miss Kansas is in the army and is a country girl!!! C'mon"

"This is miss America not miss terrorist #getoffthescreen #USA"

First of all, just because she is brown skinned, does not mean she is a terrorist. Secondly, just because she is brown does not mean she is a Muslim or from Arabia. Lastly, just because you think she is a Muslim does not mean she is a terrorist either. Is this really what America has come to? I thought USA was supposed to be a free country where anyone could practice their own religion and a country that accepted everyone. That is not what it seems like. It seems like we live in a country full of culturally ignorant and intolerant people.

Our founding fathers envisioned our country to be a place where anyone can come and live without being judged for what their skin color is, what their ethnicity is, what their religion is. That is what our country is based on, yet this foundation does not seem to hold true.

People have judged Nina because of the way she looks and her ethnicity, saying she is not American. Just because she is of Indian descent does not make her any less American than any other person living in America. It does not mean she isn't a true American. As Ainee Fatima says, "It turns out we [American South Asians] can win your spelling bees, scholarships be your doctors and even be crowned Miss America but we're still not considered American." How in the world is that fair? 

 

Culture. What is that?

Culture. What does that mean? Culture as defined by the Webster Dictionary as the beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society, group, place, or time. Each different country, each different group of people, each different person is unique in their own way. From eating different food, speaking different languages, to celebrating different holidays, and wearing different clothes, people are unique. Out of over seven billion people, 196 countries, seven continents, each place has its own culture and its own tradition.


But there is more to it. Culture can be influenced by experiences a person has gone through. For example, say a person from a different country is living in America. They are an immigrant, who not only has a cultural background and follow the traditions of their home country, but they also grow up in this country and grow accustomed to the way things are done here. I definitely know this feeling, maybe it is a reason why I love learning about new cultures.

A person who studies cultures is known as an anthropologist. For many years in the past, anthropologists have just observed the culture they are studying as a bystander. Over time anthropologists have discovered the best method to get to understand a society or culture is to actually immerse themselves in it. Anthropologists will live in the societies they are studying and participate in all the traditions. Through the year, I hope to tell you about various cultures, but I am no anthropologist. Sadly, I can't leave school to go travel to various countries and study the cultures then blog about them, but I promise I will try my best to provide information about the cultures as if I was living there. Just remember, cultural tolerance is required.

When meeting a new person, people tend to judge them or associate them with other things or people they know. Most of the time this tends to come from the way they look and the way they talk. However, there is always more to a person. There are special qualities each person possesses and have different experiences that have created them into the person they have become. Culture is a part of this. Sometimes, people immediately jump to conclusions about labeling people when they first meet them. This may not happen all the time, but I know it can happen. If a person sees someone who is of Middle Eastern descent or are Muslim they might identify them as a terrorist. If someone sees a person of Asian descent, they may conclude this person is extremely smart. This occurs often, maybe too often. An answer to this problem is to inform people about culture. Creating a community that is culturally aware will also create a diverse and culturally tolerant community. Luckily, our community tends to be culturally tolerant, but in other places racism and intolerance to culture does occur.

So as we now know more about culture in general, we can start exploring the various ones around the world.