blog 15

Lately we've been doing an activity called "Life happens",and it's like a real life family scenario where we have to manage our family's income and spendings. Before that, we were asked "What class do you believe you belong in? And how much do you think this class makes a year?", and most people wrote down middle class, but the numbers were everywhere. Someone wrote down a million a year, and I was so astonished. I was wondering if it was a joke. Apparently, it wasn't. This just shows how much of us are unaware of how socioeconomic classes shape us.
For our group we got a middle class family scenario, that makes 6000 per month; and the parents have two young children. While I was working so hard on trying to save money for our "family", someone told me that "you are going to screw up our kids". I was so confused, cause it didn't make any sense to me. I didn't have a cell phone at the age of nine. I didn't get to buy new shoes every month. All the disputes in our group, showed that we all came from different backgrounds and were raised very diffrently. Not saying either is good or bad, but understanding how our socioeconomic status affects us in such a huge way.
After watching the little clip of how economic recession has impacted some younger kids, I felt truly bad for them. And now I'm even more grateful for my life.

Bocce Ball

Last Sunday I went to the Special Olympics Bocce Ball event to do community service. The whole event lasted for 8 hours, and was very exhausting. However, it was something new for me. I thought I was going to act all weird when helping the athletes. Cause usually when I see people who are handicapped, I usually just feel bad and turn my head away. It was surprising how when the event started, everything just came naturally. I encountered so many different kinds of people. Young girls, teenage boys, elderly women and men. There was this one lady who used a walking assistant device. It was challenging for her to walk around all the time. And the rules were when it's the opposite person's turn, nobody else should be in the box. So I helped her, and talked with her while we were walking. She kept on saying the same thing. And I kept on answering her the same thing. I felt I became very patient that day. There was also an elderly man who didn't stop throwing his Bocce balls until he ran out of them. And I didn't want to make him feel bad. So I just let him continue. Later, his coach came and asked me if I understood how to score Bocce Ball. I felt really bad. Then the lady told me it was okay to tell the athletes what's wrong and what's right. That made me realize that deep down I felt sympathetic, and maybe I shouldn't be so, cause they're all fine. They're all very nice people, who see themselves as champions. And we should see them as champions as well!

Positive Deviant Behavior

So this week our task was to do something deviant that ends up being seen as heroic or positive. On Wednesday during lunch, I bought a chocolate milk and walked back to my table. On the way back, the huge table full of guys caught my eyes. They are all juniors, and I know one of them from Spanish. I went back to our table, and told my friend about my ideas. She grabbed me and said,"No...that's too weird". Wanting to get over with this, I turned around and poked the guy closest to me, and asked if he wanted chocolate milk. Their whole table was looking, and the guy asked the other guy next to him if he wanted it. And then it became extremely awkward. Nobody ended up taking it. So I turned around feeling embarrassed. My friend laughed, and then we giggled together. It was a very funny experience. Since I'm usually very shy, it was my first time to do something like this. Even though nobody took the milk, it was okay, cause I got to keep the milk. :D

Blog 10- Time to clean up your room girls!

Gender roles are reinforced throughout our lifespan. We learn to expect specific behaviors from different sexes. An example would be how it's stereotypical that girls are dumber than boys, and boys should be tough.  Girls are always expected to be pretty, clean, and nice. If you Google "clean up", a bunch of girl games will pop up, for example "Big House Clean Up" and "Clean Up Time Girl Game". And that's the kind of girl my mom expected me to turn out to be. Unfortunately, I didn't turn out to be the girl who loves to clean her room. And I often get yelled at because of that. Usually, I clean up before people visit us. Cause that's how people expect a girl to be . And if you don't do so, you might look "weird"(or what my dad says- poorly mannered).  So, in order to not let my parents feel embarrassed or letting my self feel bad about being judged by outsiders, I try to keep up with the cleaning. And yes, it's so much work. :D

Blog 9 - Would you ask your neighbour for sugar?

Socializing agents provide structure and stability for the child, and is an inevitable part of our lives. Depending on what you are exposed to, you are naturally influenced by it.
Since I was young, my parents always wanted to provide me with the best environment. We lived in a rather wealthy neighbourhood, but everybody seemed to be distanced and liked to keep things to themselves. People don't knock on the doors of neighbours and say "Hi" when you move in, like in the U.S.. And we would never ever consider about asking a neighbour for a cup of sugar if we lacked some and didn't have time to buy some. Growing up in a  neighbourhood where everybody just didn't interact with each other has made me a shier person. That's probably why I'm an introvert, and why I get nervous when a stranger comes up to me. It has also made me value the thoughts of "family business is only meant for family to know". Therefore, I don't share much with others.
Even though we moved back to the U.S., we still remain distanced from our neigbours; it's become a habit. I think if I were raised in a caucasian family, I just might have the courage to walk up to our neighours door, ring the door bell, and ask for some SWEET sugar. :)

Extra: Something interesting I found while looking for pictures to add on to my blog. Here's The Wolf's Side of the Story. http://www.shol.com/agita/wolfside.htm (I do not own this article).

Blog 6

In class we keep on mentioning how we are similar to fish in a fish bowl. We don't really notice what kind of environment we are living in, not until we are forced to get out of our comfort zone.
While many people has questioned the way of life in America, I've never really noticed these issues before.
We live in a culture where everything is so fast paced. We plan about our futures, we think about practicality; it just seems reasonable to always have work on our minds. In The Values Americans Live By by L. Robert Kohls, he explains how we are constantly wanting to find something to do in value#9 Action/ Work Orientation. It's so common to hear people say, "Don't just stand there; do something!" This constant thought of "working" adds stress to our daily lives. But I also find it kind of ironic when people think "sitting around and doing nothing" is sinful, but everybody seems to keep on doing so. We spend so much time in front of TV's and laptops. Instead of interacting with others, we'd rather waste hours in front of the TV. It's like how we are obsessed with the concept of "low fat" this and that, but we have all different varities of snacks, we love foods with high calories(hamburgers, pizza, french fries etc).
I actually think that being an American is hard to explain, we have a complex culture.

Polar Plunge

On the day we went to Polar Plunge, it actually wasn't that cold. What was difficult during this volunteer service wasn't plunging into the frozen lake but raising money.
Donating seems to be something that doesn't make sense to many asians. Many expect an incentive after donating. Knowing that I'm asian, and my friends are mostly asians, trying to raise money was extremely difficult. Despite explaining over and over what I was going to do, some just believed that I wasn't doing anything and just taking other's money. It was sort of dissapointing. However, it was okay. Everything worked out well.
This experience made me learn how to communicate with others more, and by doing something that many perceive as crazy, it made me feel great about myself. I can actually support someone who needs help.
What really shocked me was how calm everybody was when seeing that someone was having a seizure. Since it was the first time I've ever seen such thing happen, it was kind of scary for me. But it's better to be calm than chaotic. The whole scene was under control, and that really impressed me. People didn't point around and whisper.
Polar Plunge was a great experience, and it was really fun. I strongly recommend all of you out there who see this blog to consider participating next year. It's for a great cause!