Why are you judging?

This week we got to go on a field trip within the school to hear people speak about their sexuality. There were five speakers and they each got a chance to share their own stories/experiences. One girl had spoke about how it was so hard for her to come out to her friends and family because of the expectations they had of her. She was terrified of the outcome; the predicted comments and judgements by her peers made her sick to her stomach. The more she tried to deny her feelings, the more she felt the need to let her secret out. As I listened to her speak, I put myself in her position. How would you feel if there was a 50% chance that you would no longer be accepted in your own family? Or possibly losing friends over your final decision. If it was one great lesson I learned from the field trip, it'd be that gay people are just like you. There's no reason that you should treat them any differently than you treat someone that's straight. You can't force them to be something their not and the only thing you can do is accept it. And if you can't accept it then be mindful to those around you. The words we use such as: 'fag' and 'your gay' can offend anyone that's gay because to them those aren't just words, they're ignorant, hurtful words. The next time you think about making a ignorant comment, make sure you stop and think about what your saying. Is it necessary to say things that may hurt someone else that isn't straight? How would you feel if you were in that person's shoes? They're already going through enough as it is, the last thing they need is an ignorant comment made by someone that's inconsiderate.

Foreign Exchange Students

Starting on Wednesday of this week, we had four new German exchange students in our sociology class. At first, I was too tired to notice the new kids sitting in some of our desks around the room. After, we started to learn little things about how different their lives were compared to ours. For example, the drinking age in Germany is 16 years old while ours is the age of 21. Another was that their school schedule is more like College. Instead of having eight different periods for 50 minutes they have certain classes on different days at specific times. They claimed that everything in the U.S is bigger ranging from products like cereal boxes to other things. It was interesting to hear from teenagers that lived in another country. Although, our fashion may be different or our music may not be the same, it seemed to me that the teens seemed comfortable with us. There was no doubt that they were intrigued by how our class worked. I tried to picture myself and a few friends going to another country; then going to school there and experiencing it all like the German kids in our class. Although they didn't say anything was too out of ordinary when they toured Chicago, I'm positive they went through culture shock as they got the tour of our school and met a variety of students that were unique in their own ways. As much as they say our country is as similar as theirs, we're very different on many levels.

Adapting to New Culture

This week, we read an article called 'Bemused in America' by Dtefan Schirmer. In this article, Schirmer talks about how different American culture is from European culture, specifically in Germany. For example, he watches Americans jog outside and doesn't quite understand the concept. He wonders why Americans feel the need to jog outside? That doing a sport should mean you want to be healthy, but jogging outside means your intaking the pollution which is terrible for you. Although he made a good point, what he didn't catch onto was how obsessed Americans are with their appearance. They'll exercise until they're satisfied with themselves or until they see a progressive change. This was considered culture shock to Schirmer because he wasn't used to how Americans exercised or better yet why they worked out alone. Our normal daily routines that we regularly perform may be impossible to follow for a foreigner. When I had a friend that visited from Atlanta, Georgia she found it odd that my friends and I were so involved with school. She claimed that nobody at her school was spirited and that they never found football games fun. As soon as I took her to one of our football games, she was surprised to see how many people were in the stands wearing our school colors and being supportive. Since Atlanta, Georgia isn't that far away, you'd assume that it wouldn't be so much of a culture shock. Especially knowing that we're the same age, just attending different high schools. You'd be surprised because their atmosphere is completely different from ours.

What makes you unique?

This week during class we talked about subculture, and how it's apart of a larger culture but it has certain unique aspects. What makes Chicago different from other cities is that we're very involved in sports. Most Americans are either true die hard fans of watching sports on T.V, do it out of enjoyment, or have been sticking to it consistently for many years. However, I fall under the third category. I've been doing Tae Kwon Do since I was three years old and haven't stopped. As you may or may not know, Tae Kwon Do is an Olympic sport that has become generally popular over the past few years. Some examples that make it more unique would be the language. Each kick has it's own terminology, so does each stance, and the positions you should be in. Whenever your sparring another individual, you have a coach on the sidelines that talks you through each fight and this language is only understood by anyone that's involved in Tae Kwon Do. Outsiders listening in on the different language would assume or  misinterpret the slang terminology. Another aspect that sets Tae Kwon Do apart from different sports would be the values. For school, some values would be going to college, getting good grades, or being competitive towards other schools. But a few examples for Tae Kwon Do values would be self discipline, respect, and setting specific goals for yourself. This taught me to be mindful because each large culture has little subcultures that are either harder to adapt to or something that varies from your own mindset. What may be strange to you, may be the norm for someone else.