hispanicmerman

[hispanicmerman]

Final Project

        Language: What Really Shapes Our World

When we think of translation, we think of a simple language-to-language interaction so that one language can be so ever easily transcribed in to another language, creating a coherent piece of grammar, style, and syntax. This might seem all fine and dandy, it is (unfortunately) not the case. The book, Found in Translation, discusses how translation affects billions on a global scale, from companies to homes, from the difficulties and eases of translation a like. While this book is not a single plot, but a collection of many translation stories within chapters of topics, such as business, and how each story is affect by positive or negative translation. In Intercultural Communication, we talked about language and how different languages can differ across continents and countries. I will be discussing the stories in the book and how they compare to what we have learned in class during the spring semester.

Chapter 1: Saving Lives and Protecting Rights in Translation

        In class, we talk about hate crimes and what they can do to certain groups. While reading the first chapter of the book, I came across a couple of stories about how people were denied basic rights because they were not provided with translators. For example, A Korean had her restraining order denied because she was not provided a translator in court. We talked in class how the US has no official language, and the book says that it is created by design. Having an official language would have created restrictions for people to be forced to learn English and would be denied translators. Language barriers are the fault of companies and not the person themselves for not speaking English, even though language barriers should not be able to interfere with basic rights, they are being violated each day.

Chapter 2: Keeping Peace in Translation

        Culture is something that we all have. Here in America, we have a mix of many cultures that come together to become the American culture. We understand jokes about football, pop-culture, and many other things. But what if you had to translate a text that contains an American football joke in Urdu? One would have to explain American football, and then translate the joke. The book states that proverbs, allegories, famous quotes, and jokes fly at interpreters out of nowhere and must be translated. If you mess up what the original language is saying into the preferred translated language, you can risk being misunderstood.

Chapter 3: Crossing Borders in Translation

        In class, we talked about many aspects of language in our language unit. First and foremost, we know that language is different varying from region to region and country to country. For example, which is the correct term: Pop or Soda? For Americans, we argue that either one could be correct, but it depends on which region of the USA one is from. In chapter 3 of the book, it explains a similar story. Around the 1950s in China, journalist chose to refer to astronauts as “taikonauts” coming from Taiko (Space) and Naut from Astronaut; however Chinese people refused to use the term. They prefer their term of “Sky Sailor” or Huang Tianyuan. Why do they prefer that name? Because it comes from Chinese roots, and not western roots.

Chapter 4: Sharing Stories and Spreading Religion During in Translation

Religion is a big factor in culture, something that we have learned in class. We have many major religions today, and the book states that we would not have any of them if it was not because of the work of translators. For example, many of the Buddhist scriptures would not have made it because they were burned by Tibetan overloads in the 12th century, and Buddhist monks in Tibet saved it by translating the scriptures into different languages so the teachings would not be lost. Because of this, the teachings spread all over Asia and into European countries. And we would not have the culture we do have in almost every Asian country.

Chapter 5: Partaking in Pleasures and Delighting in Senses in Translation

        Abilities are amazing right? Some of us have them, and some of us, unfortunately, do not. Some people are not able to see the same, or hear the same, or even use their body parts the same. But what people do not know is that language can actually have an effect on your train of thought of senses? The book discusses many things about this. For example, Hanuno-o, a language spoken in the Philippines has words for only four colors: black, white, red, and green; Thai has a word for “green” but it can also be used to describe the sky; English describes color as black or white, even though they are varying shades of peach to brown. In the American culture, we have many colors that we describe. However, many other cultures have no need to describe such a long list of hues.

Chapter 6: Entertaining Fans and Playing to the Crowd in Translation

        When Mamma Mia! made its debut in China, the Chinese translators completely went the opposite way in terms of translation. Instead of literal translation, they chose to give the musical Chinese slang, and even Chinese folk dances so it can be culturally relevant to China. In America, we do the same thing when eastern films come our way. Many anime includes sexual American references, slang, and cuss words that are not present in their Japanese counterparts; the interpreters intentionally do this because the original Japanese dubs are filled with slang and jokes Americans would not understand. We talk about bridging the border and language gap in class, and this is exactly how to do it. Understanding both audiences (i.e.: American and Japan) and gapping jokes that will appropriate the same meaning.

Chapter 7: Connecting the World and Advancing Technology in Translation

        Microsoft is amazingly multilingual, releasing Windows 10 with 111 language options. But it was never like that, it was released with just 36 languages. However, if one’s language was not any of those select 36, you were out of luck. The Microsoft team saw this as a flaw and began to help dying or native languages by adding them onto Windows. Their first native language was Maori, a language native to New Zealand by their native peoples. This helped the Maori language to be officially transcribed in a popular operating system. Many teens that grew up speaking Maori only speak it to their family and speak English everywhere else, but with Maori parents being able to communicate through the internet in their own language helped the culture spread. This reminds me of our indigenous unit; We learned about native peoples being stripped of their language in favor of English a long time ago, and how many of those natives are embracing their culture in today’s society.

All in all, language affects many things in our lives. From reading the book, it has taught me a lot about the way translation impacts all of our lives, and my life included. From indigenous to protecting rights of people, translation is a part of every crack and crevice of business and our personal world. People would not have many luxuries and services today if it was not for proper translation and interpretation. Found in Translation has many stories and blurbs that explain this phenomenon and the knowledge from Intercultural Communications helped along the way as well.

[hispanicmerman]

Freedom Writers: My Thoughts

Freedom Writers was a really interesting movie. It showcased the many problems minorities have in the inner cities and how they overcame it through education and an awesome teacher.

So, while I was watching the movie, there was many interesting parts that stood out to me:

The boss lady that runs the department does not agree with the integration because the city kids “ruined the school” because the school was apparently once an all honors school. The new teacher joins the school because of the integration program, as she sees a lot of potential. I think it was great for the teacher to view this as a great opportunity and follow with her plan.

As a minority myself, I’ve seen first-hand on what these kids go through every day. Drugs, gangs, and everything under the sun. Luckily for me, I’ve had family members and supporters take me out of such an environment and give me a loving home in a safe environment, but for others like these kids, it is not so simple.

The movie really inspired me, one of my favorite part was when the kids were able to bring the person who housed Anne Frank. I thought it was great they could relate to the Diary of Anne Frank so much they wanted to see the person who housed her.

Throughout the movie, I thought it was great to see the kids grow and want an education. Not a lot of people do not have an amazing teacher like Mrs. G.

A little part of the movie that was really interesting to me is that the only white person in room 204 stayed in that class and became friends with all the minorities. He became less shy and started to love the class!

In all, the movie was a great way to see the struggles many minority American teenagers face every day, and how they could overcome it with just a little persistence.

[hispanicmerman]

What I’ve learned from Class

I had two major goals in going into the class

One was to understand myself better, which I did a lot. For example, I learned a lot about the LGBT culture, one culture that I’m in. I’ve learned that some states don’t offer LGBT protections. But one thing that really enjoyed was talking to Ed. He is a strong and amazing person, and I really appreciate to ask him questions. Thanks Ed!

I’ve learned about my family because I had to ask question on where my family came from for one of my blogs. So I’ve learned that my asian side came from china and my puerto rican side came from Spain, and what languages they speak and what languages they speak now.

One was to understand other people better.

I feel I met this goal because of how much I learned about religion and people’s way of life in the class. I have learned that religion is geographically based usually and if you are born in a country that practices one major religion, you are likely to practice it too. I learned this in the religion portion of the class, and I’ve learned about different religions like Hindu and understand their way of life and it’s pretty cool.

That was a part of the  I use to not understand how people can be so hateful to groups like muslims or the transgender community, but now I understand a little bit because of the hate crimes portion of the class. Watching many documentaries about racism, like Welcome to Leith, really made me understand that some people are truly brainwashed with how they think.

In the end, I’ve learned that people are becoming more aware of some causes and are changing their minds on some negative views. I’ve learned more about myself, thanks to what Kim has taught and Ed.

The class has been the best!

[hispanicmerman]

The Rabbit-Proof Fence

The Rabbit Proof fence was really sad in my opinion. But did spark somethings that we did learn in class and from my personal experience.

So this movie is about immigration and some about migration, somethings that we’ve learned in class. So the three girls (Molly, Daisy, Gracie) in the movie were going to be “white washed” and sent to an re-education camp. Right off the bat this reminds me of what the United States did to the Native Americans. We wanted to “re-educate” natives so that they would become the culture of Europeans so they would have “better lives”.

One of the opinions I have about the movie is why “half-castes” (one white parents, one aboriginal parent” should be bred out of existence by Mr. Devil.) The girls were half castes so it’s sad to me that people thought like that back in the 1930’s.

So the girls find a way out of the camp and could use the rabbit proof fence to go back home to their home time. This can be akin to migration. They’re trying to escape the re-education camp to return to their native land where they will find peace with their family.

Of course, Mr. Devil is trying to find them. So he uses a bounty hunter person to find them. But the girls know how to hide their tracks. To me, this is like Slavery. They wanted the girls to be servants and when they found out the girls were gone, they put a search to find them so the girls could fulfill their “white” destiny.

The girls eventually find their way, without Gracie because she is captured. And from the epilogue she had died after being captured by the bounty hunter. They had travelled a nine week journey just to get to their parents. Again this is like the Native Americans. We forced them to travel long distances to their new home, and many died on the way or were killed.

All in all, the movie was very sad, and the ending was sadder when I found out Gracie had died!

[hispanicmerman]

The Lost Boys of Sudan

The movie we watched in class was great, I learned a lot about migration and how people come from terrible situations and find refuge in different countries, like the United States

So from what I gather from the movie, The Lost Boys of Sudan is about boys that were found without any parents because their parents were killed by militants of the Sudan Civil war and the boys were forced to run away when they heard gunshots. They were found without any parents. They got visas for the United states and basically were put in different states in the US to get accustomed to US life and to find a better life from Sudan.

While watching the movie, there was a couple things that stood out. There was a scene where one of the young men were on a bus. And he said something like this: “The black people here are not as black as me. I feel like I stand out and everyone is watching me. Because I am blacker than black.” and then later some of the sudan boys were grouping themselves with other US african americans. But of course that’s not the case. As an american, I can tell the looks between a US american and foreigner. US americans are a lot more mixed and appear different from their country of origin, so I would never put African people and African-americans in the same category. I think that people would notice them being African, but of course most people would not judge them here in the US.

The other thing is that they were trying to get accustomed the US life as much as they could. The guy who was supporting his whole apartment by himself without help did not know where to put a check for his rent, so he put it in the wrong place and assumed it would just go to his landlord. Not to mention that in the beginning, a volunteer YMCA lady helped the refugees understand some american culture. Like smelling good, “not holding hands with your friend, or you’ll be seen as gay”, and how to buy grocers; so I thought about how this can be so simple to me, but to someone else it is not as simple and needs to be taught the american culture.

There were a things that I did like about the movie. I enjoyed you can see them grow in REAL TIME. For example, the boy who was in school was later seen graduating and understanding US life as a teen and seen in many places with his peers. For me, that’s all I know. But for the boy, this is all new to him, so it really makes me realized what I have and what some people don’t. He even caught a bird for the girl he liked because he knew she liked bird; to me, that was a very sweet thing to do.

[hispanicmerman]

Class: WEEK 13

So last week on Tuesday, we did our diversity event!

My team did the LGBT community and we did many things. We brought rainbow-colored things. We made cupcakes and brownies that were rainbows. The most amazing thing that I’ve learned in doing this, everyone liked it so much. I was so scared that people weren't going to be accepting. But to my amazement, I was so wrong. People loved the rainbow-colored stickers, people got so many gay flags it was amazing. Something that people learned were that there are more LGBT flags other than the rainbow one, so I’m glad I taught someone something. In all, the event was an absolute success.

Next topic is migration.

In class we talked about migration and why people migrate. People obviously migrate for a number of reasons. Some because their home country is unsafe. Most for a better life. Personally, both of my family lives have came to America for a better life, and they got it. And unless you are Native American, than your family has came to America looking for a better life too. So I agree with migration no matter what.

Something that I thought was interesting was the difference between Immigration and Emigration. Basically, You immigrate “into” places. You emigrate “from” places. So I thought that was pretty cool.

Unfortunately, many people do not agree with Migrants coming to America. But the same thing can also be said for many other countries. In S. Korea, they don’t like North Koreans coming to South Korea for the same reason as some people in the US don’t want migrant coming: because they don’t want their burdens. I don’t think that’s a valid excuse because many people have hardships and should be able to go to a safe place.

In all, last week was pretty interesting in terms of the topic we covered AND the event that our class did!

[hispanicmerman]

Class: WEEK 11

This week was awesome! We were continuing the topics of Gender and sex.

On the tuesday, we watched a video about a transgender woman who was living in Hawaii and it was about her life and her struggles. She is a mahu, which is a person who is third gender and has traits of both a woman and a man. I thought this was very interesting because in the western world, we very gender as very binary, and this can cause problems to transgendered people or people that do not have a gender at all. So I thought it was very nice to know that in basically every other cultures, trans people are valued and very respected within their community.

On that thursday, we had a video call with Ed. Ed is a transgender man who lives in Oregon and answered all of our questions about what it means to be a transgendered person. As a person within in LGBT community, I respected what he had to say, while I did not ask many questions myself, it was amazing to see people ask earnest questions and to understand another walk of life. We don’t see that in North Dakota, so I became completely drawn to what Ed had to say and how he truly became himself; I very much respect him for that. I feel like people know the LGB part of the LGBT but not the “T” so I’m very glad for him.

Gender for me is NOT binary. I do not completely feel like a “man” on the two gendered system. I consider myself as having traits of both. I do not conform because that’s not who I am. It’s very important for me to tell myself that because then I can truly remove the “gendered” limits that were placed on me. I can wear makeup if I want.

[hispanicmerman]

Class: WEEK 10

This week we talked about Sexual Orientation and Gender:

On tuesday, we talked about sexual orientation.

We looked over a couple articles and a video that talked about the LGBT community. The video was especially powerful because it provided the outlook into why people that are thought of as LGBT or are gay themselves, commit suicide due to peers bullying them. To me, that’s not right. That’s not okay. I’m gay and I have had experiences where family members and people I didn't even know would say hateful things just because of something that I was inside. A lot of LGBT people kill themselves, and it’s pretty bad. I personally never had it that bad, but I can understand that I would have if it did get worse. That being said, it is important to look at people of other sexual orientations as normal. Their body is telling them to like a sex, so it’s perfectly natural.

We also talked about gender. I know a lot of people moan and groan over that topic because there should be a black and white definition, but we watched a video and that’s not what it said. The video talked about how some people are born different and have different genitalia that have both parts from the sexes. I think it’s important to realize that gender is a spectrum and NOT just “black and white”. Our body tells us to feel different things and if someone does not feel the same way someone else does, it’s not wrong.  I have transgendered friends and they feel confident in who they are, and I love them for it. In spite of this, a lot of trans people get killed; I always think what the motive for killing a trans person is, but some people aren’t comfortable with the fact that people are different, so they get mad. I also think they should get educated about gender and sex, because they will realize it’s not what they are taught.

[hispanicmerman]

Class: WEEK 8

This week was interesting because we had two speakers.

We focused on physical and mental disabilities, and how both of them are just as equal and important.

On that tuesday, We had a guest speaker about the Physical disabilities. I am glad that I got to ask the dumbest questions that I genuinely had questions about and always wanted to ask. It was great to get answers. I know I asked about the “dating scene” and my thought was correct in that it was hard to find love if you are disabled. I was also fascinated in the fact that he was so happy with his life, even though he is disable. And I agree that if you have something your entire life, then it is not as bad because you never lived life without that something: in this case, it is being disabled and confined to a wheelchair.

On thursday, we talked about disabilities that you cannot see. In this case, it was someone that has a Bipolar disorder. I know for me, I have a stuttering problem and people cannot see it, and I am scare for people to know that I have it; and most of the times, I cannot help it. So I understood where the speaker was coming from, and it’s great to understand like how I did for him… I did ask him a lot of questions however, and the weed question was the funniest. I am glad I got to talk to him, because it was great seeing the insight of a person that is actually bipolar and his daily life, and how he copes with it.

One thing that I notice is that people don’t care if you have a mental problem because you’re just being a “baby”, but people will care if you have a physical problem, because they can see it. I think that issue is becoming better and better.. So it’s great to see that happening.

In all, it was great seeing them both. It’s great seeing unique people and how they live their daily lives.

[hispanicmerman]

Movie: American History X

American History X is a great movie, I already watched this movie but wanted to see it again.

Derek Vinyard who was a Neo-Nazi, wanted to make sure that Danny (his younger brother) does not do the same things Derek did as a neo-nazi leader. Derek went to Prison for three years after he was convicted of manslaughter after he curb stomped men who were trying to steal a truck. Then he went to prison and changed, then finds out that Danny is a neo-nazi and then Derek tries to change Danny.

The weird thing about this movie is how relevant it is today for some odd reason. I hear a lot about Neo-Nazi’s in the real world. I think that hate breeds hate and you will never get anything done with hating a group of people. There are scenes in this movie that I think were really great. One being the ending scene where Danny got shot and then narration of Danny’s voice can be hear. It basically says that life is too short for people to be mad for no reason at other groups. I thought that was a really powerful speech and a great way to show that one can change even if they hated certain groups or races in the past.

This movie relates to stuff we have learned in class in many ways. This is obviously about pure discrimination and we know that’s not okay one bit. We did talk about white supremacy and in some way this movie relates to that. I feel like Neo-Nazism spreads a lot of hate towards African-Americans and in the end, one of the main characters were killed by an African-American. With this, neo-nazism is powered by supremacy in thinking that caucasian peoples are the “best kind of humans” and therefore should be the ultimate races on Earth.

On another random note, this movie reminds me of “Welcome to Leith” due to the fact that they are both about neo-nazis. Expect the people in this movie actually change.

[hispanicmerman]

Movie: Hidden Figures

Hidden Figures is an AWESOME movie.

It was about the first black mathematicians who worked for Nasa during the early years of space exploration.

Of course, the themes are much more important than the actual plot. The lady, Katherine Globe, was segregated based off her gender and race. And of course in class we learned about “white privilege” and racial discrimination. This is no different. There was an amazing scene in the movie that really shook me into the point of tears. I am usually on the edge of crying everytime I see great and not so great social movements, this movie was no different. The “bathroom scene” is a scene where Katherine explained that she has to walk half a mile to use the colored people’s bathroom after Harrison tells her she is never where she is supposed to be; and then Harrison abolishes bathroom segregation after that. That was the most amazing scene of the movie, in my opinion.

There was a scene where Euler makes a equation for an elliptical orbit to a parobotical orbit. And it stuns the white crew that she was with. That scene really had me thinking. She proved that she can be capable of much more, if given a chance. That part had me crying!! Someone so smart was able to do her job well, because she had the chance to, and wasn’t refused because the color of her skin. (Also the scene where Katherine is granted to go to an all-white school from a judge was a very inspiring speech for me.)

I just feel like this movie was an awesome movie to show the time period that was changing to be more acceptable of people of all colors, and has shown a lot of things we learned in class. Even the ending scene has the to be astronaut wanting Katherine to check the landing coordinates, and he did not care what color or sex she was. It was crazy seeing the movie progressing into an un-segregated world.  

[hispanicmerman]

Class: WEEK 6

In Week 6 of class we learned a lot about non-verbal language and food and health.

We watched a lot of videos about nonverbal language. And I think that’s hella interesting as I am planning to be a language major in two languages.

We watched a video that says that language isn’t just from our mouths, but for our hands and facial motions too. We use our face, mouth, and hands to create emotions. They used an example of how some people in Europe flick their head back while they are talking without even realizing it.

I think it is interesting to think of these arbitrary traits as having a lot of meaning to it. The video also mentions that the gestures are usually in the same area, despite the political borders. I think that it is so cool for humans to just naturally do that with speech AND gestures, but I am also a geek so who knows if anyone else cares.

We also talked about food and health and watched videos about that.

We watched how food around the world can be and what other cultures think of the food Americans eat. I find it so weird that some British people think Peanut butter and Jelly is gross, because I think it is amazing.

As a multicultural person, I can tolerate a lot of great food from other cultures thanks to my two parents. The video that we saw mentioned how one person thought Korean Pizza was gross, however I think that Korean Pizza tastes better than American pizza. I have also tried Dog once and I thought it was nice, but I would never go kill a dog and eat it.

Food shapes so many cultures I think it is fascinating to learn them all. I would try many dishes from many countries, even if they are weird, because I think that every culture has a lot of great foods.

[hispanicmerman]

Article: Logan Paul’s Video.

Logan Paul’s actions on Youtube were very disgusting and cruel towards the Japanese Society, and the whole world as well. Showing suicide like the way he did was very, very disrespectful.

If you did not know what he did, he went to Aokigahara 青木ヶ原(Suicide forest) and filmed a dead body from a man that committed suicide. He poked the body and while he was doing that, he asked the dead body “Yo, are you alive? And “Are you fu**king with us” and posted it on Youtube as a blog. I was actually a subscriber of his and this was extremely offensive. I am not Japanese but this was offensive to me. Suicide is not something to make fun of in any culture, especially in a culture such as Japan.

Anyway, What Logan did was truly appalling. In my opinion, his channel was awesome-- until he did what he did. In class, we talk about all types of discrimination. What discrimination can unfortunately lead to is suicide. Suicide should never, ever be made fun of in any way, shape, or form. We talk about depression and its impact in can have on a human… but to see someone in a video that is dead is creepy to say the least. It’s weird to think the person in Logan Paul’s video had a life, family, and struggles. Logan Paul eventually released a video campaign to inform people about suicide, and claimed he was very sorry for what he did. I don’t think so. Who in their right mind would ever release a video like that? I wouldn’t. Logan was eventually banned temporarily from ever going back to Japan because of what he did in that Suicide Forest.

As an American, I am glad that I have the life that I do. I have many clothes in my closet, I have free college, great supportive friends, and great teachers. That video made me realize that some people don’t have that, and turn to suicide as a way to release their pain.

The full article can be seen here: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/01/a-social-media-stars-error/549479/

[hispanicmerman]

Food: Kimbap

My food I bought was Kimbap (AKA Korean Sushi)

Kimbap is made exactly like sushi-- mostly rice with things such as egg, vegitables, and other things inside the food. The only difference is that the ingredients are native to S. Korea and not so much Japan. My mother made them both. One with Tuna and one with Avocado (for the people who are scared of sushi). My mom use to eat them as a kid all the time and loves it, so she taught me to make it.

Of course this Dish comes from the Korean culture and is made by North and South Koreans, but my grandmother says North Koreans do not eat it daily because they can not afford the ingredients. But South Korean can eat it because they have access to the food daily. It’s not a dish on its only usually, you would eat it with Cabochon or garnishes like fried eels, fried mini mushrooms, or lemons. Kimbap can also be in vegan or vegetarian options. Those taste just as good if you put soy sauce on it, or ginger (my favorite). However, I made the meat option for one because I think those taste the best. I made an avocado one as well, but I think that tastes too much like biting into a raw avocado.

I chose the food because It’s so damn good. My mother makes it all the time and if you eat it with kimchi, it’s the best thing on God’s planet Earth. I also chose it because it’s such a staple food in Korea, it will help people understand Korean culture better. During the Japanese occupation of Korea, Korean peoples made their own version of Sushi, which is Kimbap. My grandmother would say that people would eat it because it developed as a tradition.

Now you tried it.. You said it was good? Awesome.

[hispanicmerman]

Holiday! 휴일

Today, I chose Chuseok for my holiday! I chose Chuseok because my grandma in S. Korea would a l w a y s celebrate it with my mother. We do not do it anymore because we aren’t in Korea so my friends nor my family’s friends would know the significance. It’s like a Korean Thanksgiving

My grandma would always tell me that she would celebrate the holiday because in ancient Korea, it would be a celebration for the good harvest. However today people usually go out of the big cities to pay respect to their ancestors to thank them for the life they have. My grandma would always make songpyeon, or a rice patty cake with jujube and sesame seeds-- it’s very good. It is a staple dish akin to turkey on American Thanksgiving. It’s shaped like a full moon, which is a symbol of good luck. When someone eats it, they become luckier. If they eat it under a full moon, rumors say you will have a bright future!

In S. Korea, Chuseok is celebrated from September 23-25. During that time, people also give out gifts if they go to someone’s chuseok dinner for each day it is celebrated. The gifts are necessities like foods such as olive oil, pasta, and rice. Other gifts include soaps and for college students.. Laptops!

Many popular games include Juldarigi! Juldaarigi is like tug of war they would play in the ancient times symbolizing the female and male forces of the natural world. If the male side wins, people will be more confident in the next years. If the female side wins, the harvest will be fruitful.

So in all, Chuseok is basically a thanking to the Earth for the harvest and thanking your ancestors for all they did. Giving presents is giving thanks for people in your life for doing all they can for you.

The info provided was all from my South Korean Grandma. She lived in Korea for all her life and Chuseok is her favorite holiday. She told me about the main parts of Chuseok and why she celebrates it (which I reflected in my blog). She used Korean words for most of the native korean words like Chuseok and Juldarigi. She is a native and a very reputative person when it comes to the Korean culture!

[hispanicmerman]

Class: Week 5

This week was great… I love language and this week was almost all about.. Language!

We talked about Language and Religion this week.

So I speak Four langauges… Korean, Japanese, Spanish, and English. I speak Jap, Engl, and Span very, very well. I learned Spanish from my father and wanted to continue learning it throughout my life, as well as my Japanese when I took it in middle school; it’s a beautiful language. As for Korean.. Ehh. I can talk to my mom in it, she speaks it fluently.

とても綺麗し、難しし、出来る言語は日本語と思う

Español para mi es facíl y un idioma que me ayuda que hablar con mi familia hispanohablante.

한국말을 조금만 해요.

I still learn a lot of those languages everyday so I can get better. We talked about how languages are vital. We also talked about IF the USA should get a national language. I would say No. This is because the USA never had a language “evolve” within its land. For example, I think the United Kingdom should have a national language because.. THAT’S WHERE ENGLISH EVOLVED, IT’S THEIR LANGUAGE. If the USA ever had a national language it better be every single one of the native languages. So no, I don’t think we should have a national language.

Next on to… religion!

So I know I talked about this last blog BUT religion is something that is very very.. Iffy to me. Unless the religion is progressive, I won’t be associate with it, but I will respect it. However I believe people should have a right to not be discriminated against, I am for that. If I had a religion it would be Buddhist. Actually, I do consider myself Buddhist if people asked me if I had a religion. I also think that the USA shouldn’t have a national religion because people will use that as an excuse for things like abortion, same-sex marriage, and trans rights because they are wrong in their “holy book”.

[hispanicmerman]

Class: WEEK 4

Some things I learned this week… are things like privilege.

Before I speak about Privilege, there are some privileges that I have as a mixed, gay male. First and foremost, a lot of jobs (like clothing stores) prefer to hire gay people (or it’s something that I’ve noticed) and a lot of people want to be my friend because I’m gay. Maybe I’m the only one that sees it but I don’t know. Also, in many college settings I am picked first because I am racially diverse and there are special scholarships for hispanic, asian, and even gay people. I have been asked for my opinions and advice by straight people, and even fashion advice. Those are some of the privileges that I’ve had.

What is privilege you ask? It is a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group of people. We have talked in class about White Privilege and I do now know how I feel about that. I feel that if you are caucasian, you might get an advantage in life. However, I only see this in Data and never experienced in actual life, therefore I don’t really know how I feel about it.

Also, when I watched the World’s Religion Video, I understood most of the video was saying. I learned a lot about the Islam religion the most and what they believe in. I understand why people celebrate religion HOWEVER it seemed like the video showed the fact about it being good or supportive of people’s cultures and ideas. It did not tell the bad side of religion such as prosecution and even killings based on people’s different or radical ideas. I identify mostly as atheist because of the un-progressive nature of religion. I think religion was for meant to control people and I refuse to be apart of that. In spite of what I said, I feel the “good” of religion is really beneficial for society in the fact that people can group together and feel better about themselves doing so.