Activity 12 Intercultural now and later

During this class I have learned much about myself and the ways that others around me from different cultures communicate, while being able to pick up on the subtle differences between our cultures. I have also realized that I did not know myself or my cultural ways as well as I had suspected before enrolling into this class. My culture has been growing and changing since I was born, each day allows for a new challenge that I must face and decide what decision would be best to represent myself, along with who I am as a part of my culture. I learned about both ascribed and avowal identities that are a part of who I am and thought about how I obtained these different traits. Although I learned more about myself, I also realized that I do not know as much about those living in the United States as I had thought, after taking the quizzes about different accents.

Keeping an open mind with new ideas, religions, different political views, and ways of life is something that I think I am very good at doing. However I feel it is also something that will always be a challenge because of my own cultural views wanting to only accept my own way of living. Also, I feel that something I have always been good at doing is communicating nonverbally with other individuals because I often find myself being expressive with my physical gestures and facial expressions. Which allows people to understand what I’m trying to say better if I am having trouble verbally expressing myself.

I feel that once this class is over there are some very easy things I can personally do to continue to improve my intercultural communication skills. These things consist of opening my mind to different and new ideas, attempting to get out of my comfort zones when I am around those of other cultures so they may feel more comfortable, as well as many other things. While there are always going to be different barriers that keep me from fully understanding people from other cultures, I still plan to do my best when it comes to being open to these individuals. Even though I currently do some of these things I plan to further my personal development and do my best at keeping these open views so that I can accept people as themselves instead of developing judgments of a culture based off of an individual’s actions or words.


What do you feel will be the most difficult barrier when trying to keep your plan?

Activity 11 What's the Conflict?

The conflict in which I found quite interesting is one going on here in the United States, the issue of Arizona’s new Immigration law. For those unfamiliar with the bill, Arizona is aimed to identify, prosecute and deport Illegal immigrants. Basically those living in Arizona who do not carry immigrating documents on them at all times, if stopped by the police they can potentially be detained. According to the article those opposed to the law called it, “an open invitation for harassment and discrimination against Hispanics regardless of their citizenships status.”
I agree and feel that this new law is another reason for people to be ignorant and racist towards people of non-Caucasian backgrounds. Creating many conflicts in culture, I think this new law is a way to bring additional prejudice views towards those of Latin, Hispanic, or any kind of Mexican descended individuals. I believe that this conflict involves a goal that can never truly be met because the real goal hidden between the lines is to create hostility and there truly is no way to find and deport all illegal immigrants. This new law also abides by the four assumptions for the orientation of conflict as destruction. Since police are able to go up to any suspected person who they believe to be an illegal immigrant this also it allows for potential disturbance of the peace. It is forcing the social systems to adjust so that those who are living illegally but still living by societies rules should be deported back to their countries instead of letting them live in our “free country.” It is still unclear how destructive and ineffective the confrontations will be however I do feel that since they can create harsh prejudice views towards those from other countries and since they are disciplining those who do not carry their papers with a misdemeanor and those who do not have proper papers with detainment as well as deportation, I feel that it potentially can amount to a very high amount of destruction in the cultures living in Arizona.
Illegal immigration is a difficult topic, in my opinion, to find a solution that would resolve the differences of both the government and those who are legally living in the state of Arizona as well as for those illegally living there. Since those who have come to the United States may have come here to better themselves, their families, or gain better opportunities, I feel that they would not want to leave if they found this here in our country. While those who are living here legally, I feel that they are going to be the most affected since they now need to carry around their papers at all times to avoid being detained and punished in anyways. Although I do not think that it would be difficult for them to carry around their papers, I feel that it is an inconvenience and unnecessary. As for those who are enforcing the laws, I feel that this is a tedious task that also seems inconvenient for them.


How do you feel about this law? Do you think that it is positive or negative?


Archibold, Randal C. "Arizona Enacts Stringent Law on Immigration - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 23 Apr. 2010. Web. 10 June 2010. .

Activity 10 Culture and Relationships

When describing relationships and how they are seen in my culture, first you have you to look at who is involved in my culture. My culture looks at people who are related by blood, dating for over two years, close friends for a few years, as well as married or engaged all to be considered “family.” Each member of my family is unique however some have similar qualities; those close friends are there and have been there for me just as I have been for them. Those related by blood are loved although not always gotten along with, as for the others they are also there for each other and for me. While growing up we are encouraged to live in the same house till we are old enough to continue our education then we move out to take up a job and live on our own while still keeping in contact and occasional visits or get-togethers.

The norms have changed greatly since I was young. Once meeting someone online would have been completely taboo however in this current point of time it’s not uncommon. Also it seems more common that people often become more romantically involved after knowing each other for only a short period of time, while this is not always the situation but does happen. The most recent proposal in my family was my oldest brother who had been dating his now wife for over three years, although this was longer then most people in my culture tend to date for. In my opinion after about a year to two years of dating and getting to know each other I think by that time it would be known whether or not the relationship would have the possibility of moving to a proposal and marriage level. After all this time if the couple is close to their families, it is also traditionally accepted for the male to ask the female’s parents for permission to propose. It’s difficult for me to explain the typical wedding since I have not been to or been a part of too many. However, those few that I have been to usually take place outside if the weather permits, with close family and friends at the wedding itself, while many more are invited to the reception after the wedding ceremony.

In my culture divorce is not an uncommon thing, although neither is remarriage. Divorce is not what someone goes into a relationship planning to do except it seems in the current culture people view it as an easy escape when things go wrong. If divorce does occur, often times the couples stop talking to each other, if prenuptial is not signed then money and other valuable items are split up. As for the children if there are any, usually there is a custody hearing or if the kids are old enough they are allowed to decide. Then in some situations if kids are present, then occasionally the parents will have communication after a period of time and space.

Generally the opinions of my culture towards homosexuality are very open just as the views are with most personal lifestyles. While there are still people who feel that marriage should remain between male and female they are not necessarily against same sex couples. Personally I do not have any problems with gender roles regarding the differences between cultures. I feel that if two people love each other that gender should not matter and it is up to the couple to determine their roles in a relationship.


Who do you believe was your biggest influences in regards to your own culture? Do you feel that most people in your culture tried to be a positive influence on you?

Activity 9 Who you are on TV

The show that I decided to watch was It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and the episode “Charlie gets crippled.” In this episode Charlie one of the five main character’s in the show is injured when Dennis runs over Charlie with his car. Then Frank the father of Dennis and Dee decides to take Charlie to the strip club to help cheer him up. Once there he notices all of the attention Charlie is getting so he decides to leave and comes back later “injured.” When trying to take all of the attention away from Charlie. Then in further attempts to one up Dennis, Charlie decides to take his injury to a new level, showing up to the club a Vietnam Veteran. This ends up scaring the girls away and Charlie leaves unhappy since his plans to take advantage of strippers failed.
This was the main plot of the episode although there were additional things going on, such as Dennis and Dee who were also pretending to be handicapped. When reflecting on this episode and its “American” qualities, it shows other people in the world that those in the United States are willing to take advantage of things such as people’s disabilities, anyone’s willingness to trust them, each other, as well as many other very negative things that a person could do. Denis, Dee, Charlie, Mac, and Dennis often find themselves in situations where they come up with a crazy scheme get into a huge amount of trouble then manage to find their ways out.
Even though the gang tends to show a very low side of those in America, there are some out there willing to take advantage of others like this just to get ahead in life. The group keeps each other close although as friends who never really seem to think about the things they do or any of the consequences and usually ends up in more trouble than they really should have been in. Betraying each other or talking each other into stupid situations where they get hurt or end up wanted by the police they are just a group a friends who like many others often have good intentions but end poorly. They all live in Philadelphia, a large U.S. city where there are plenty of things for them to get themselves in and out of when it comes to trouble. However, when I watch this show I do not see it as them showing the lowness of Americans but I see it as a group of friends who own a bar, drink constantly and are who show their lack of education by their very unintelligent decisions made in each episode.


Do you ever find yourself either with or without your friends doing things that could look bad on your culture?

Activity 8

One of the most difficult times in my life was when I was in seventh grade and I had four very close people in my life pass away. Each person taught me a different lesson about life and the trials of growing even though each person was very different I learned a great amount. My oldest brother’s best friend was the first who passed in a car accident, he was one of those people who could walk in a room in which everyone would smile, raising the mood and everyone would become happy. He showed me that even in the worst of times if there are things that can be done to help everyone be happy and he never seemed to be afraid of making a fool of himself. Not long after this my grandfather passed away. Although I didn’t know him very well the time I did spend with him he taught me about never giving up on my family and always putting my all into everything that I did. He had fought cancer for years and ended up living a few years after they said he wouldn’t make it. Never giving up on anything he tried for, putting every bit of effort into his life. It was also him who had my oldest brother, who was living in Oregon, come to Wisconsin to live with my mother and the rest of my brothers.

Within that same year there were two other close friends of my mom’s who passed away, both of which I was close to. One taught me about hard working and that even though times may be difficult that we should keep our heads up pushing till we get to where we are happy. The other was the chief of a Native American tribe who taught me many lessons about spirituality. He taught me about being open-minded and that even though there may be people who can make a group of people seem horrible that we should look at individuals as themselves instead of as a group.

These lessons I have learned have pushed me to be the person I am today. I still am meeting people who teach me about life and the things I will always take with me. I hope that I will continue to meet more people each day and learn until I can’t learn anymore.

Between the lessons we learn from those close to us, do you feel it is easier to learn lessons first hand or by seeing the people we are close to go through things? What are somethings you have learned from both situations?

Activity 7 Nonverbal Communication

I’ve never really had too many problems talking face to face with people I know or even someone I just met but when doing this activity I felt very strange because it struck me as something out of the norm to do some of these communication behaviors. First up was direct eye contact; this was slightly difficult because when having a conversation with someone it is common to take breaks from having direct eye contact. However it was somewhat easy for me because two minutes can go by quickly when you are talking about something interesting. Even though it was not very difficult for only a couple of minutes I still felt that there was a want to look away and have a break from the eye contact even for a few seconds.

As for the second part of eye contact, this I found to be the easiest. During this conversation it was spent talking about a television show that my roommates and myself were having. Although I felt this was slightly cheating since it was an assisted conversation but there was nothing saying that the conversation was suppose to be direct. I did find it quite interesting though that between both situations people seemed more comfortable not making any eye contact then in the first situation where eye contact was maintained.

Finally the “back me up situation,” while doing this part of nonverbal communication I begun to feel rather uncomfortable. I felt as if I was encroaching into my friend’s personal space. Although we are good friend I began noticing that the more I would move forward the uneasier my friend became. But I continued to get closer till they actually ended the conversation short and walked away because they became very uncomfortable. Afterwards I explained the assignment and they thought it was just a strange way to test nonverbal communications.

People react differently when it comes to nonverbal communications and when pressures are put on the “typical” communications. When reflecting on these activities it is unclear exactly how people will react out of the normal situation.

Do you feel that there are any things you do out of the typical norm when having a conversation with people you have known for a while or anything with those you may have just met?

Activity 6 Language in the U.S.

The two little quizzes from the PBS website were interesting to say the least. Since I was born on the west coast and moved here when I was younger I’ve never really noticed the “accent” that people say those from the Midwest (mainly Minnesota and Wisconsin) have when pronouncing “o” sounds in words. However I often have conversations with my dad who lives in Oregon so I ended up getting the West and the North pronunciations mixed up but I did get one of each. As for the rest I did well with the South, matching both of theirs while messing up the New England, Mid-Atlantic and Midland since all of these sounded similar yet different to me.

With the second little quiz “Do you speak American?” I ended up getting a two out of five. The two that I figured out I got right away, which were “block” and “desk” while coming close with busses and not having any idea what the other two were. These others were too difficult for me to understand at all even when listening to the sample sentence I still was completely unsure since the vowel pronunciations has such a heavy accent to understand.

While this activity was to see how much we understand people from our own country, I feel that I did not do very well. The United States, as small as it may be, it has a very diverse amount of dialects in which there are subtle differences from one part of the United States to other parts. While being in person I feel we could have a better understanding of where people are from because we would be able to hear more then a couple of words. It still is interesting to see how different our verbal communications may differentiate just by being in a different part of the U.S. While having a background from both the West and the North I felt that it added additional confusion just because both ways of speaking are familiar to me so it was difficult judging the differences between each of them. However to me I felt the easiest dialect to identify was that of the South since it is often the heaviest with slurs and has a different sound as opposed to that of people of from other parts of the U.S.

Why do you think so many differences reside in the way people speak, while the difference in distances may not be so great?