Artifact 5 – Time

Time is a tricky concept. I have very little knowledge of the relative theory of time or whether its linear. What I do know is that in my life, time is not a suggestion. When I make plans or schedule an appointment, it is very important to me that the person I’m meeting is on time. I’ve learned this semester, that even though I thought the importance I assigned to time was abnormal, but many Americans hold this same value. Other cultures, however, do not. I wanted to include this Items to Archive in my blog, because I felt like this was an important lesson that I learned this semester. I did one of my Assignments this semester on time, and it is something that I have held onto all year. 

Artifact 4 – Emotions

I struggled with associating the colors with emotions. I mean, I had a few obvious ones: gray was gloom, yellow was happiness, and red was anger. But, other than that, I didn’t really associate emotions with any particular color. But I do associate color with other things. For example, I have all my school subjects organized by a different color, and I have matching pens and highlighters. In fact, my family says I’m a little neurotic about my pens. I don’t know if this has anything to do with the fact that I don’t associate colors and emotions very well, but it’s something. This was an interesting assignment, because I usually associate colors with different things; words, subjects, etc. I was interested to learn, about myself, that I don’t really associate colors with emotions.

Artifact 3 – Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions

The country that I would most like to visit is Greece. I have been drawn towards it in recent years for no particular reason, but I would love to see the beautiful country and taste the ethnic food. Comparing the US and Greece in Hofstede’s value dimensions shows me that I might fit in pretty well. Greece and the United States are comparable in masculinity and indulgence. But in the values that I am not in the majority for the US (power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation), the inclinations of Greece are geared more towards my beliefs. The biggest difference is that I rank higher in individualism. I choose to include this item as I love to see psychological concepts compared across different cultures, genders, ages, or anything.

Artifact 2 – Values

By far, my immediate family has shaped my values the most. However, my extended family is not to be forgotten. Each person has uniquely helped, shaped, and guided me; from my oldest grandparents to my youngest sibling. This is a picture from our family vacation this past summer, and I feel like it truly represents the vast differences between all of us. This picture, which was supposed to be a “serious” family picture, is not at all completely serious. There are those of us who were trying our hardest, and those who did not try at all. Again, this assignment taught me more about myself. Family is very important to me, and to something I sometimes forget.

Artifact 1 – Social Emotions

On the left is a picture that was taken at the end of summer 2016. For the past six years, I work in the kitchen at Bethel Christian Camp, and it is by far one of my favorite places to be. After an intense, sleepless, fun-filled eight weeks of working together, the end of the summer comes bittersweet. The picture cannot capture all the emotions that were going on at the time, but it perfectly encompasses the idea of socially engaged emotions, because that summer, and every summer, I learn more and more about learning to rely on my coworkers.

This final picture is of one of my favorite activities to do alone, reading (and drinking coffee!). This shows socially disengaged emotions. As an introvert, I need my alone time to recharge, and reading is the perfect way to do that. There is a very real difference to me between these two pictures. Each activity that I’m involved in gives me a different kind of joy. One of the greatest things I’ve learned from Cross-Cultural psychology is how many different sides of me there are. This was my favorite assignment because it really helped me dig deeper into two very different sides of me.