Interview 

• What did you expect for me before I was born?
• "I expected you to be very pretty just like me. I expected you to have a lot of my qualities. Also, I expected you to be a smart girl. Your dad though expected you to be a boy but it turned out that you were a girl but I knew it all along."
• What about me reminds you of yourself or my dad?
• "Your nose reminds me of your dad no doubt. But most of all, your attitude especially reminds me of your dad. You are a stubborn little girl who if you don't have it your way you always argue your point, wanting to be right all the time. But you did get some of my qualities like your intelligence hahaha, although your dad is pretty intelligent. The way you talk reminds me of myself as well."
• What is uniquely about me?
• "Your laugh. It's just so out there. People can probably hear you from a mile away because your laugh is so loud. There are times though when you're laughing but nothing comes out so you have this ridiculous open mouth face. Not only your laugh but your smile too. You are always smiling. No matter what is going on, you just seem to find a way to smile. There has never been a day where you don't have a smile on or you don't laugh. That's something unique about you. "
• Did you and my dad discuss discipline with each other? Has it been difficult?
• "Your dad and I did not discuss discipline with each other. We just reflected the ways my mom and dad raised me and how your grandma and grandpa raised your dad. I think that since we were both raised in a similar way, it was easier for us to parent together. But sometimes your dad and me differ in what we should let you do and that becomes the difficult part. Like you driving alone. You know I don't want you driving alone right now until your much older, but your dad let's you and this is where it becomes difficult, when we don't agree on what to do and as you and your sister get older, it becomes more and more difficult because you two are going to want to do things that your dad and I never did when we were young. You tell me all the time that "we are in the modern world now and it's not like the olden days" but that's the way I was raised."
 

 

 



 

What do Americans Value?

 

Americans have many unique values that they live by. According to Robert Kohls the thirteen most important values that Americans live by are personal control over the environment, change, time and its control, equality, individualism and privacy, self-help concept, competition, future orientation, action/work orientation, informality, directness and honesty, efficiency and materialism. Out of these thirteen values I disagreed with three of the suggested values. For the equality value Kohl states that all people have been "created equal" and that a foreigner should always be considered like anybody else I feel that although we do stress equality a lot and to treat everybody equally, we don’t necessarily exercise it. For example, even though "all men are created equal" is printed in the constitution, not everyone has equality. Others are treated more unfairly than others due to who they are or where they came from or what they believe in. Also, I feel that when a foreigner comes to visit America, they do receive the respect and welcoming here, however, if the person were to go to a school, she will possibly be questioned by her classmates why she does certain amount of things because she has brought her values from where she immigrated from. I'm not saying this is true everywhere, but I do think it's out there. Another value that I disagreed with was the self- concept value where a person will only takes credit for what they do themselves. I think that they do take credit for what they did themselves but only if it created a positive impact. If it created a negative impact then I think that the person would not take credit for it. The last value I disagreed with was the direct, open and honest value; although many people are honest and open, I believe that in the American culture people are more honest about the person behind their back then when they are with them. This is seen especially at school and possibly everywhere, where a friend would talk behind another friend's back because she did something wrong that the other didn't like so instead of saying it in front of her face, she told her other friend. However, we do say the truth only if we re comfortable with the person or sometimes we sugar coat it to not make it sound cruel. The value that I most related myself with was the how much we value time. It's everywhere and you are always conscious about it: "Oh sorry but I gotta run, I’m late", "I got to get up early to go for a jog," or "I’m late for my doctor's appointment." time is referenced every time and we don't even realize how much we rely on it.



 

One Unique Culture

 

What is Culture? Culture is the entire way of life of a group of people, including both material and symbolic elements that act as a lens through which one views the world. Our culture shapes and defines who we are such as what we believe is right and wrong, good and bad.

Often we can be arrogant of our own culture and therefore only perceive and evaluate another group or individual using what we think is normal and abnormal. In America, we are a more diverse group which allows us to see things in a variety of ways and possibly understanding other cultures on our own terms rather than judging or evaluating according to one's own culture. However, when we look at the cultures revolving us outside of the United States, we tend to only see things from our perspective and not coming to consent about what’s right and wrong. For example, the controversy issue of the Mohammad video that angered Muslims. The Islamic culture believes that freedom of speech should be limited and that religion should be respected. While on the other hand, the U.S. values the right of freedom of speech. For this reason, Google and YouTube aren't doing anything to remove this video because they are only seeing things from an American perspective and not how this affects and hurts the Islamic population. What may seem right to us may be seen as wrong by others.

Values are ideas about what is desirable or contemptible and right or wrong in a particular group. Our values articulate the essence of everything that a cultural group cherishes or honors. Growing up with a Hispanic family, my norms are very different from the average American norms. I remember going to my first play date and realizing that not everyone greets the same way; I arrived to my friend's house and when I was welcomed in, I extended my arm towards her mom and right when I was about to lean for a smooch on the cheek I realized that she didn't lean towards me when we shook hands. I was a little confused but learned to accept the fact that not everyone had the same values as me. Going to school really impacts the way I perceive things, not from what I learn by the teachers, but what I learn by just being around my peers and seeing how different they act. This is the advantage of growing up a place that is so diverse, I am able to see the values of others and try to view things how they see it.