Materialism
With materialism Americans would like to think that their material objects are just the natural benefits which always result from hard work and serious intent. Some items Americans have been dreamed about owning by other countries. America is one of the most materialistic countries in my opinion, but there are individuals around the world that are just as materialistic. I feel that our high material world is from the stress of social standards; sadly, many cannot live that life. Something bad about high material standards is that it is very wasteful and damaging to the environment. We constantly feel the need to upgrade our phones, computers or gaming systems even if our items are still functional.
With my family we have always been gamers when it comes to consoles. I personally do not think we need our collection of systems, but we have kept and use all of our systems unless they have crashed. If I was an international student, the equality value in this country is ridiculous with how people are treated. There are fewer formal actions and discussion with others which is not common in their culture possibly. I would see this as a negative factor about Americans and would feel uncomfortable and unwelcomed.
With materialism I got permission to take pictures of one of my friend’s collection of statues. To condense the photos, I took a picture of all the boxes stacked.
Assignment Takeaway #3
For Assignment takeaway #3 I chose Erin Knotek who studied abroad in Oviedo, Spain. Before she traveled to Spain, the build up to the trip made her feel more anxiety rather than confidence in the idea of studying in Oviedo. Having a passion for language and the culture of Spain kept her hopes high. Once there for the first week it was full of unknown customs and language barriers which can increase the stress and anxiety factors. Within the second week any study would get stressed about their first day especially with testing for placement and scoring on their oral exams. To help calm the nerves Erin spoke with her teacher which helped her calm down and feel more confident about the tasks ahead. Erin has been going through these stressful times and is now halfway through and is learning some stress managers which are working for her. These include; journaling, talking with other students about missing home, calling her loved ones and with this she is able to enjoy more of her time in Spain. Once relaxed she made the most of it by diving into the culture and trying new foods and things while absorbing the Spain culture. The ceremony for completion of their course was high with different emotions and they have flags with signatures to remember everyone. Once returning home it was difficult with jet lag and speaking to everyone in spanish but all in all the experience was enriching.
The topic for this entry was emotion and looking through the eyes of stress and adjustment. For Chapter 6 there is the five-factor theory; within that there are the cultural bases. The bases in this theory are adaptation, personal strive, attitudes, skills, roles, and relationships. All in my opinion were described in Erin’s Blogs. She blossoms in the adaptation of managing stress and learning new skills while abroad. Growing relationships with new friends and professors that can last a lifetime because they can meet up later in life. Personally, I chose Erin because of her major and the location; I have always thought Spain was a beautiful country when I was taking Spanish in high school. I would like to travel to Spain but as a vacation, I feel as though I stress enough academically in English and would prefer not to over stress my experience.
Oviedo, Spain
The Cathedral Of Oviedo Stock Photo – Download Image Now – iStock (istockphoto.com)
Assignment Takeaway #4
For this discussion about men vs women advertisement; I feel It shows women being more sexualized in the advertisement industry. Between the pictures for example: alcohol, white claw being at the beach parties for females and then four guys, alcohol ads are at the bar with sexy women around a gentleman. Out of the six pictures that I used, the main types that struck me were for clothing. The way that women versa men are displayed to sell clothing is different to me because it is always sexualized for the most part. I found a seventh one which is below to give an example of the differences.
In chapter 7 we discussed gender and culture and gender is my main focus. Gender stereotypes are used in advertisements such as behavioral characteristics associated with men and women. Women have to pose sexually and show skin to sell clothing but with men it is more relaxed and just looking cool. Gender differences within each country were relatively small compared to cross-country differences. In Sweden from the images that I found that both men and women models were in modest more than sexy outfits. There was not much skin exposed; women wore long flowing skirts and men were in gentlemen-like attire.
