American Values

If you compare the American values to European or any other country values, they would be very different. Here in America we like to have control of everything. If you don't have control of your life, people in  might think that you are lazy and unsuccessful. That's not the case in other countries; people believe in destiny and fate, they think that everything happens for a reason and there is not much you can do about it. One of the biggest things Americans value is MONEY! Most Americans will do anything for a higher salary, a better job, anything that gives them more money. If they have to move across the U.S for a better job and leave all their family friends behind, most will. In other countries, family always come first. Living a long healthy life and having a healthy family is more important to them than having money. Another value that Americans cherish is privacy; the article we read in class said all Americans need at least half an hour of alone time with them selves or they will go nuts. This is probably because since we were little, we are taught to be an individual and to depend on yourself not others. Surprisingly, " privacy" is not even a word in other languages! People like to be with others to comfort them and help them out. Lastly, Americans value change. Look at our presidents campaign slogan " Change we need". That right there tells you that Americans like change. Change means improvement, progress and growth to Americans. On the other hand, change is viewed as a bad thing in other countries. Stability, continuity, tradition and a rich ancient heritage are the big values that they follow.

Trip to Poland

During my trip to Poland, I experienced culture shock a few times. Ive been to Poland three times but only remember my last trip vividly. As I got off the airplane, I went to get something to eat and choose a hot dog. As the server handed me the hot dog, I was very confused why the bun was so thick and the hot dog was more like a sausage. It was a lot tougher to eat than an American hot dog but it sure was tasty. My grandmother told me that I should of put more toppings on it; I found out that people usually put a salad co slaw type topping on it. So after my 3 hours car ride from the airport to my home,I really wanted just to take a shower and go to bed. When I asked my aunt if I could take a shower she said " yea let me just heat up the water for you". WHAT?! my reaction was, she told me that only twice a week they take real showers and the rest of the time they just warm a pot of water up and you have to basically give yourself a sponge bath. I was very shocked when she told me but I had no other choice. Not everyone in Poland does this, just my family dose not have to much money so they try to save as much as they can, like only turning on the boiler twice a week. Now the last shocking experience I had was with dinner. Of course I love polish food but after I saw my uncle slaughter a pig,( I live on a animal farm in Poland) cut it open, take all the organs out and what not, I did not really want to eat dinner that night. My family there kills one of their own pigs once every two or three months so they don't have to buy meat from the store. Again another way to save money. I stayed away from pig meat for a few days until the headless pig finally go out of my mind. Living a diffrent lifestyle for a few weeks, I relized that people live way diffrent lifestyles than in America.

A Bronx Tale

In the movie A Bronx Tale, the neighborhood is composed of mostly if not all Italians. Most of the people in the neighborhood are racist just because of the time era they live in and  if someone truly is not, they probably just go along acting racist because they don't want to be singled out and called a trader. Being a rat is the worst thing you can be in an Italian neighborhood so one of the unwritten rules is to keep your mouth shut. Also most people know not to screw with sunny or his crew because they will be sorry if they did. Sunny gets respect because he is feared, being feared can bring you allot of power. Like I said earlier, no one wants to be called a ( N.... lover) or trader so most people just join the bandwagon and act racist.

Gang Leader for a Day

In the book Gang Leader for a Day, Sudhir Venkatesh took a different approach to studying black poverty. Instead of taking the normal approach of just surveying a bunch of poor blacks (quantitative study). He decided that the best way to understand how it feels to be poor and black would be just to hang out with a black gang ( qualitative data). With him becoming good friends with J.T, the gang leader. He truly finds out how gangs operate, the kind of life they live and how it feels to be black and poor. That is why qualitative study is just as, if not more important than quantitative. You get a way better sense of emotion when you observe people instead of just surveying with multiple choice answers. Quantitative study is still important because the more people you work with, the more variety you have in your answers. If you wanted to know whether to send your child to a school or not, you should look at the average ACT and GPA because that will give u a good look at how strong academically the school, but also look into what kind of groups and clubs they have after school. 

Spit-Saliva.. whats the difference?

Spit and saliva.. whats the difference? Absolutely nothing, the only reason why people might think that spiting is nasty is because their thoughts are shaped by people, society, TV, movies basically everything around them. I have a friend which is Greek and they spit on there floor! Its not because they are dirty people, its because the society in Greek is different than the society in America and they were taught to spit for various reasons. Also when I played football, and someone forgot there water I would let them drink out of my bottle or even a couple of times a teammate forgot his mouth guard during a game, so the coach just told them to use someones that isn't on the field. It sounds nasty but its no different from sharing a drink or kissing someone. Again, people are shaped by society and the the things around them. If allot of people start a trend or think in a certain way, people will follow because that is social construction.