Assignment Takeaway #5

The image above is a picture of rice taking

the shape of chicken and rice. I chose this

image because I remember my mom doing

something like this in order to feed herself

when she was in the Philippines and didn’t

have any money.

The article I chose discussed over-work

suicide in Japan. This image is meant to

represent the fact that people in Japan

were handling more than they could. They

did this so much that they didn’t make the

time to take care of themselves… hence, the

above image. You can eat rice with sauce to

fill your hunger, and maybe shape it in a way

for it to look like a meal. However, it is still

not a meal. Self-care is important.

 

I related this assignment to my HIS 101

class, in which I learned about Confucianism.

The philosophy has this one belief that has

stuck with me. The individual must work

on the individual before he can take care of

others. And, that is a way of thinking that

the Japanese people facing overwork

suicide failed to realize.

This assignment helped me learn to think

in the same way. And, it makes sense! I do

my best already to do so, but it is now

ingrained in my head. I wish to share this

philosophy with others. I also wish to share

with people that over-work suicide is real,

and must be recognized before it is too

late.

Assignment Takeaway #3

The image above is a picture of me in
the Line Store in New York! I chose this 
image because it is the farthest I have 
traveled outside of Virginia. This most 
recent assignment was about traveling
abroad, a task I have yet to complete, 
and comparing the blog posts to the 
personality chapter ideas in the textbook.
The student I analyzed, Susannah Duncan, 
studied abroad in Japan, a dream I wish 
to achieve someday. This assignment was 
so relevant to me, especially as a future 
Japanese teacher. I was very excited to 
read on another student's experience, 
especially someone with a similar 
personality as mine. Her
neuroticism and openness was very high 
and enabled her to achieve a wholesome
experience in Japan! I hope to be able
to travel there one day and give others
insight on my experience as well.
Her blog was very helpful!

Assignment Takeaway #2...

The image above is a picture of my
friends and I posing for my friend's
Filipino debut ceremony. This ceremony 
celebrate's a Filipino girl's 18th
birthday. As you can see, we are all
wearing formal clothes to represent 
our respect for the occasion.

Assignment #2 helped outline that
the way we dress is another way of
showing respect to a culture. It is
easy for me to see how we can show 
respect through spoken and body 
language. However, the presentation
of oneself in different occasions is 
also quite important. In my 
assignment, I had focused on the American
value of informality, and how it can
be used to show respect. Dress-wise, it
seems that surpassing casualty during a
casual event is seen about as awkward as 
calling a close friend Mr. or Ms. -insert
name here-. The way we present ourselves
not only represents our interests or way
of perceiving fashion, but also our
way of understanding the world around us!


Assignment Takeaway #1...

This assignment enlightened me as to how I
approach learning. I understand that it 
targets the approaches of learning
culture, but learning, to me, deals with 
both old and new information. And,sometimes
this new information can make us 
uncomfortable. I say this with the 
subjects of science, religion and general
philosophy in mind. As an example, many 
Christians are uncomfortable with the 
idea of evolution. When we learn, we take
our culture with us. It can bias us and, in
learning, we often combat our ethnocentric
mind.

I am now knowledgeable that I approach
culture through the acceptance and 
integration of difference. However, like
anything, I feel as if these approaches
come with levels. I feel like I can also
relate to the other approaches (denial, 
defense, minimization and adaption) to
an extent, based on the topic. For
example, studying psychology, I denied 
Freud's psycho-sexual stages, rather than
approached it with an open, understanding
mind. With the ability to also approach
learning with these other categories
in mind, I am able to keep myself in
check when learning new ideas.