I..dentity

In the reading of Holliday, I was immediately drawn back to my experiences of while living in Spain. The diagram on page 14 of Figure A1.2.1 although seemed at first confusing, made me laugh as I realized how much it actually applied to me. In the bullets on the next page, there was an explanation as to what aspects of your life are reflected in not only others vision of your culture, but your own vision. I remember that while being in spain, there were certain behaviors, qualities, and dispositions that would give me a certain stereotype. The first bullet that discusses social group settings as 'distasteful' made me laugh. My very first evening in Spain a large group of us decided to go out to dinner. As an American waitress I can tell you this is the furthest thing from abnormal. Reservations are often preferred but not always necessary. When we showed up with a group of about 20, the servers were absolutely flabbergasted. We were the loud, obnoxious group of Americans. We were excited and enchanted by the thought of being in Spain; not realizing this was SO beyond what these women were used to seeing on their shift. One of the other bullet points discusses the concept of clothing and etiquette. Although this may have been a culture shock for some, I was very comfortable in the environment in terms of how I dressed and fit in. The way I was raised was to never leave the house in sweats; its disrespectful. For a long time I wondered why my dad had this rule and was curious as to who I was disrespecting. Over time I didn't think that way, but developed an undying passion for shopping and up to date fashion. The last thing I found absolutely hilarious over this reading was in terms of the difference of beliefs between two cultures. It was what we know as Good Friday, prior to Easter Sunday. In Spain they refer to it as the Semana Santa, or Holy week. It was the week that we were given as our 'spring break' but only for the reasons that [it certainly felt this way] every Spaniard was involved with the processions and ritutals. However, come Good Friday my roommate and I were informed that the WHOLE family of my host mother was coming over. We were excited because this had become our family as well, but we had no idea what was in store. Let me tell you, there was commotion and an enormous amount of hussle and bussle. My roommate and I were overwhelmed with the craziness. When it finally came time to sit down at our late lunch, we were shocked at the amount of food that was presented. About thirty seconds after we sat down, everyone shot up from the table! We were beyond confused; then everyone started to pray for a solid ten minutes. After the praying subsided, the craziness resumed. It was so bizarre, all Jess and I could do was laugh.

 Although they had completely different traditions, there was a common thread in the beliefs of my host family and my own. The point I am getting at is that I very much support the paragraph following these points. 'Culture is as shifting reality, and people make of it what they need to live their identities in different circumstances.' For six months I learned to not ignore or forget my personal traditions, nor to support something I didn't believe in. However, my eyes were opened and I realized that in order to live a comfortable life abroad I would have to ammend to my surroundings. I did not come back to America the same person that I was. I still find myself missing certain daily routines or views that Europeans had of us. I also stand firm in how some things function 'the American way'. Through my experience, which is later discussed in the reading, I was given messages that others unintentionally sent to me about culture.

TESOL & Culture

Ironically, right before I read the article by Atkinson I was watching an episode of 'Friends.' In the very beginning of the episode Ross (one of the main characters) is getting off the plane after attending to work over in China. He has met a Chinese woman and they have begun dating. His friends welcome the woman by, at a level that presumed she was deaf, telling her that they, "hope she likes their country." In amusement she loudly responds, "I'm from NEW YORK!" 

As I read the article by Atkinson I realized that there is no one correct way to define culture itself. There is no one way to identify to a specific culture either. Culture is defined as fluid and ever changing. (Zamel, 1997). This is the  obvious in the United States, but as an American, how do we define the ever changing cultures of others. How do we get rid of our stereotypes or what we know little about and refrain from continuing to believe that's the only way it will ever be? It also states that instead of looking at a child's background in order to identify them as a student, we must look at them as individuals. As a bilingual education major, I have spent an enormous amount of time in Little Village with Hispanic students. We are constantly talking about developing a student's L1 before worrying about L2; he or she must have the foundations of learning to build upon. When I was in Chicago, I was shocked at how surprised I was to realize that these children were learning the Spanish alphabet, sounds, and phonics. I appreciated how this article emphasizes the different approaches to culture and how one can choose to identify themselves; but also that a student does not necessarily have to 'be' of a certain 'something' in order to learn. They are a student with a history and traditions which are not necessarily set in stone in every single family in today's world.

While reading Holliday and reviewing the chart on pages 57- 59, I kept thinking about the time I spent in Spain my sophmore year of college. "Understand that while people might be deeply influenced by the social structures of their nation, this does not mean that they are confined by them." (Holliday, 2010). As an American in a city where locals refused to speak English, I was the outcast. As my time went on there, I began to make friends with locals. They would ask what we would consider to be silly questions, but they were curious about the stereotypes they so often heard about. This was a critical moment in my own life to evaluate how I looked at the world, especially when I returned home and returned to the majority. Religion, family morals, family traditions, special meals, holidays, clothing, manners, ideals- will be different for all of the students that will one day enter my classroom. I think it is important to be an advocate for each student to share their background. They should share what is important to them, but should not be stereotyped or classified in terms of their learning styles. They should not have faculty members predetermining what paths they have ahead of them in life. My ultimate goal is to help students realize that there are no boundaries to finding success, but still being able to be true to who you are and who you see yourself as. 

First Post... attempt 234234

I FINALLY think I got this working right! I'm normally not great with technology, so I was pretty proud when I figured it out fairly quickly............. So here we are. First post!