Body language

For the past couple of days in Soc we have been talking about different cultures. We talked about how people react when we come in contact with other cultures, about non-material culture, and hand gestures around different cultures. For example the Japanese style toilet. When we were discussing this in class i was very familar with this toilet because in Turkey they also have toilets very similar to the Japanese toilet. Also hand gestures. Coming from a Turkish family, while my dad speaks he uses his hands a lot while talking because Turks like to commnicate with their hands and arms. Turkish body language to Americas would seem a bit weird and strange.  For example people greet each other by kissing each others cheeks on both sides; even man will greet other man by kissing each others cheeks. Or hand kissing is also a very important and traditional gesture in Turkish culture. It is a way of greeting a person significantly older or than you. This is a mark of respect for the elderly. Its also very common to see man holding hands or arm(very touchy-feely) but they're not homosexual.  The "OK" hand gesture in Turkey doesn't mean "ok" but means you are homosexual. The middle finger in Turkish is also very different. You place your thumb between your index finger and middle finger, then close your fist. I believe it's very important to learn and that we should to aware of our different surroundings.  

Generalize...

Generalizations and categorizing is everywhere and every one does it. It is very natural and normal to generalize. It is something we can not escape from. From reading this short article, "Should We Generalize" by Joel Charon, it has made view generalization and categorizing in a positive outlook. I also thought that categorizing people was the same thing as stereotyping but it isn't. If we do not generalize and categorize accurately that is what leads us to stereotype. We categorize people by the skin color, race, or  religion they belong in. Categorizing helps us learn about the different groups around us. But stereotyping isn't that. Stereotyping is when we put a group in a negative way. For example if someone is black, we assume that all black people like grape juice or koolaid. When we categorize we really need to be careful about the assumptions and stereotypes of the certain groups.

In group-Out Group....

Today in class we were divided in groups by the color that we happened to be wearing. There were two groups, the people wearing black and those wearing colors. The color that you wear determined the group that you were in, which was your "in-group". For example, I was wearing black, which made me "in" the black group. We then had to list reasons to why the other group wasn't wearing black.  Although this was just a lesson, right away the reasons become very judgement. Through this I have noticed how easier influenced you can by your friends, your family, and just by the different groups you are in. The diversity of groups are seen everyday and everywhere even throughout history. By not accepting other races, genders, religions, etc., we have created a society of in-groups and out-groups. It is important for all of us to be aware of our conscious and try to understand others even if their views, morals, religion, sex, race, etc,  are different. 

A record breaking Snowstorm..

Waking up on Feb.2 on my snow day, at 5:15a.m. to help my mom shovel the snow was irritating and annoying. Once I saw the snow I was actually very surprised on how much snow there was. the snow want up to my thighs. Unfortunately we do not own a snow blower so we had to use shovels. On top of that my dad wasn't home to help, he slept over night at his job to be on the safe side since he works in the city. So that was even more of a reason I HAD to help my mom. After an hour of trying to shovel, only successing 1/3 of the drive way, my neighbor finally came out to help us, his drive-way wasn't as bad since he got half his driveway powed. Its crazy how the snow storm was able to unite neighbors. We were all done shoveling my drive-way, my neighbors driveway, and the person who lives three doors down from me at like 11. After that my neighbor want and picked up one of my family friends to came over  with her little sister because their neighborhoods power was out. They spent the night and the whole day at my house. The snow storm brought all of us together. My dad told me that Lake Shore Drive was closed and that there were more than 700 cars abandoned. He told me that everyone was outside on Lake Shore Drive with their dogs, children, friends playing in the snow. I thought that was crazy.