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?

Activity 5- Ascribed and Avowal

Ascribed Identity-
Gender- Male, Age- 20, Race-Caucasian, Ethnicity- Irish
Avowal-
hardworking, honest, computer nerd

After twenty years I feel like I have a good understanding of my identity based on those things I was born as; a male, Caucasian, Irish and other ascribed identity. Generalizations persist with all of these such as males tending to be competitive, Caucasians as a majority in the United States, often are looked positively on by other Caucasians while there can be hostility from those of minority groups since many Caucasians look at them in this same way. As for being an Irish twenty-year old an assumption that can easily be made by others is that I’m a drinker and since I am in college that I party. Assumptions and generalizations can be heavy influences on ascribed identities, however that is if people live up to these things.

While these may have been things I was born as, I am also familiar with those avowal identities I have. Although these things are often changing based on day-to-day situations. A few of them consist of hardworking, honest, and enjoy working with or on computers. Like many people out there, I tend to push myself to get as far as I can in life making the best out of myself as well as my situations. I do this because I have often seen friends and family struggle with jobs since our economy has been fluctuating so highly. Pushing myself to work as hard as I can while not cutting down others to get a head, because to me this would not be an honest way of living. My mother has been one of my biggest influences in who I am today since she has always taught me that honesty will pay off one way or another in the future. While some of my closest friends have had a large influence on whom I want to be in the future as apposed to my career with computers. Yes, I do consider myself as a bit of a computer nerd while I do not consider myself as unsocial or by any means a strictly indoors kind of guy. I am also a communications minor so this is part of my way in showing that I have no problem talking to or communicating with others.

While there are many other things that are ascribed and avowal identities, as well as many between the two that overlap, the influences in my life are often those people who are close to me. While I tend to look for the best situations there are also identity flaws that I have picked up over my years of growing. I still have a long ways to go in life so who knows what identities I may adapt in the next year or even further down the line.


What identity traits do you think you will or would like to have as a part of your life in the future? What influence do you think can help you with these?

Activity 4 Reflecting on the Quiz

Before taking the quiz for Activity 4 I read the power points over so I had a good understanding of the chapter, although I was not expecting the quiz to be on people of different nationalities. I know that I did better the second time around however I still had troubles thinking of different people who lived in certain centuries.

Thinking back at the quiz I feel that the majority of people that I put had some kind of media connection. Most of them were actors or actresses, showing that my personal influences have been highly molded from movies and televisions. Aside from that, other influence would be that of political and information I have learned from history books throughout school. However a lot of this information has been forgotten over the years. When thinking about histories books, they are suppose to teach us about past and cultures, although as our culture in the United States progresses we become more of a mixed nation. Making the knowledge we learn throughout most of school outdated because we have been influenced in this nation by more then just our founding fathers, but by others who we may not have been apart of political movements for there people. I think that it is highly important for us to learn about other people as well since our history should not be one sided.

As a nation we should open our minds and views to more then just what the media shows us or tells us about. Thinking about this, schools should also widen their teachings so that students growing up can read and learn more about our founding fathers which as my old history teacher would refer to them as “old dead rich white guys” and learn more about how far our country has come. Learning more about those who have helped influence us by giving us equal rights and helped bring our country together as a whole.

What do you feel individuals can do to help our country become more open-minded and learn about people of other cultures and their influences on future generations or our current generation?

Activity 3 Ethnicity and Communication

My cultural background in ways is similar to many others; I am Irish, Scottish, German, a little bit of Swedish, and other little amounts of random nationalities. However in my life I also have my youngest sister who is half Native American. Although there is about twelve years between us I still feel that we have a very strong bond with her and I know that she often looks up to me.

Being part Irish, Scottish and German I’ve never really looked at those ethnic backgrounds as being such a big thing in my life since many people I have met often tell me that they are the same general combination. Except when I mention that although I am not Native American I associate myself with the nationality because I think that since the culture’s traditions seem to be fading from our country that it is a good thing for me to help culture my little sister on her background. Growing up my mother was very close to the Native American chief in my area, since they were so close it allowed me to learn a great amount about their traditions as well as Native American spirituality.

I do think that my personal ethic background has little influence on me because living in the United States; I feel that almost everyone has multiple amounts of nationalities in their lives one way or another. I have always been taught to keep an open mind about people and I try to do this as often as I can. I think the general aspect of living in the United States allows people to be in contact with so many people of different races, religions, and ethnic decent. Thinking about some of the biggest variables in my life, I think the shear fact of where I live has had one of the largest impacts on me.

With other people’s perspectives, I think they could assume that I am Irish since Wisconsin has had a large amount of Irish immigrants move here in the past years. However I do not think that anyone would be able to see me and make the assumption that I have such a strong influence from Native American backgrounds. I think since most people see me as a Caucasian male many assumptions could be made before they have the chance to communicate with me, except this is something that also varies from person to person. Judging by past experience when I tell people about my Native American background most people are unsure what to think and some have even made harsh generalizations. If they could tell just by looking at me I think it would change how they approach me completely, although that is just an assumption.

Any ideas as to why people with Native American backgrounds are often looked down upon? Reflect on your own ethnic background and think about the different ways that almost every culture, when immigrating to the U.S. has been ostracized.

Activity 1 Observations

For activity number two, I decided to do my observations of other people at Glenn Park in River Falls. I do not often go to the park so I thought that it would be a nice place to go since the weather was just right. When going to the park, I went with a friend and her nieces so I did not only receive visual observations from sitting in one place but interacting with the kids as they played, which I feel allowed for both the parents and kids to see me as just someone else spending time with kids. The importance of this would be so I did not seem like some creepy person just hanging out at the park watching kids and parents play.

The way the parents interact with their own kids is one of the easiest observations to make since it was one of the most predominating interactions at park. When walking up to the playground equipment one thing that I noticed was most the parents there were just sitting back watching their kids play since they were the only ones there. Shortly after we got to the equipment a few other parents came with their kids. As more people seemed to come, the closer and more protecting the parents seemed to get to their kids instead of just sitting back watching. An interesting thing that I noticed was a parent who was on her cell phone speaking in a language that I was unfamiliar with, while doing so she wasn’t really paying attention to her child playing.

The parents’ interactions with each other were an interesting thing to take note of. While keeping distance between each other they hardly even acknowledged each other aside for a smile when their kids would get close to each other, they would look up at each other to see the other’s reaction and almost gage the situation. Although the parents rarely interacted with each other they would occasionally interact with the other kids but only if the kids came up and talked to them first. Interactions would consist of asking their ages, names or simple minuet details like those. While the parents rarely interacted with the kids, the kids would more often interact with each other but only if their parents were not standing or playing with them. It was quite interesting watching the kids play with each other because they seemed very cautious of each other. Their initial interactions were to go up to each other and just look at one another until one would run off to play then the other would chase after.

There seemed to be many unwritten rules when it comes to kids at parks and interacting with kids that are not yours. If one was to go up to someone else’s kids at the park they would probably have cops called on them epically if they were there by themselves. Even though the parents rarely paid attention to each other they would always assess the situation when other people would come up with their kids to use the equipment.

Although there was little diversity, if this was in another country do you think parents would be more likely to be passive about their kids playing with other kids? How about the parents interacting with each other, would it be just subtle glances or do you think they would be more likely to actually have interactions with one another?

Activity 1 "Far and Away"

The Irish immigrants in the movie “Far and Away” faced many struggles and challenges throughout their story of coming to America. Although not everyone in the Irish nation struggled there were many who did, mainly those who did not own their own land, as seen in “Far and Away”.

After the death of his father and the burning of his house, Joseph the poor young Irish peasant sets out to avenge his family. Joseph seeks out Daniel Christie the owner of his land and man who he thinks sent Steven to burn his house. However, on Joseph’s arrival he learns that Mr. Christie is not as bad of a man as he had earlier suspected.

Once Joseph fails his attempt to kill Mr. Christie he is challenged to a dual of pistols in the morning by Steven. Unexpectedly the morning brings in a heavy fog that allows Mr. Christie’s daughter Shannon cover to escape. In the process of her escape she picks up Joseph and takes him with her so the two can start a new life, her life to ride horses however she pleases and his to own his own land free of unruly landlords. The two like many others looking to gain land board a ship, which leaves to the New World. While on the boat Joseph and Shannon meet a man who offers to help them get the supplies they need to make it to Oklahoma land rush.

After the group arrives in Boston the man is shot, realizing the man was trying to steal Shannon’s silver spoons she attempts to collect what she can although she is unsuccessful. The two follow a young boy who offers to help them find work, which they do, except these jobs pay very little and so Joseph decides to join a group that partake in fights each night. Kelly, his employer, exploits his skills till he loses a main fight against an Italian. Kelly kicks him and Shannon out of their housing and fires both of them. Now forced onto the streets with no money or food they come to realize that as Irish immigrants everyone is reluctant to hire them. Breaking into a house they think they are safe till the owner comes back, shooting into the dark Shannon is hit in the back. With no other place to go for help Joseph takes her to her family who had come to America to find her.

Joseph then leaves finding work on the railroad, building tracks across America, one of the only jobs that would hire anyone. After a few months of work Joseph finds himself in Oklahoma territory where he jumps off of the train to go and claim his land in the land rush. After registering he runs into Shannon who has healed as well as Steven who makes it clear to Joseph that he must stay away from her unless he wants to be killed by “accident”. Being unfamiliar with horses Joseph purchases a great horse, according to the salesman, although shortly after the purchase the horse if found dead because it was so old. The journey soon comes to an end after he purchases a new horse and races Steven for Shannon’s perfect spot of land. The two fight till Joseph falls, hitting his head on a rock when Shannon confesses her love for him and how she will never truly care about Steven. As Shannon rushes to Joseph’s aid they can see others coming to their flagged spot of land, once recovered the couple placed their flag into the spot to claim their land together.

There were many challenges that the two had to endure and overcome in order to finally make it to Oklahoma, where they were finally able to claim their own land. Although, not every immigrant from Ireland has a similar story like this, it appeared that many people did not receive land in Oklahoma except it was difficult to judge in this movie.


What are you thoughts on Joseph working on the railroads?
Does this say something about immigrants in general and not just those from Ireland?

Two Truths and a Lie

Two Truths and a Lie

1. I have never broken any bones.

2. I have jumped off of a bridge into a river.

3. I have a quarter coin collection with all states collected but Arizona.