Blog Post #2

1) Before watching the TED talk, I already knew that Nigeria was just like any other country in the world and it is most definitely not like what many stereotypes make it seem. Nigeria, like many other places has cities and homes with people living in them. I also knew that Nigeria, even though it like many other places had things like cities, had a lot of poverty due to their form of government. This is the second time I have watched this particular TED talk, so I do not really have much that I already did not know. 

2) "All of these stories make me who I am" (12:58) I chose this quote because I believe that a lot of stories in a persons life is what makes them who they are. When people go through different things, it shapes different opinions and thoughts. Just as if someone were to be mean or bully, the person they bully at the moment is broken but later on becomes stronger. 

"But to focus on only the negative things will flatten the story" ( 13:05) I chose this quote because I believe that to focus on the bad things and self pitying yourself is not a healthy way to live. You want to revel in the different opportunities that life has blessed you with. Of course, this is not to say that a person should not reflect on different experiences in their life that were not particularly postitive, because reflecting is also healthy. Bottling things up is not a good thing either. But anyways, looking at things with only one side with literally flatten out what you can see. It is like looking through glasses to see better. When you see better things are more clear, but when you dont wear glasses, things are misconstrued. 

"Her  position to me as an african was a patronizing well-meaning pity" (4:58) Here, Mrs Adichie is explaining about her college roommate, who prior she had said had asked about the kind of "tribal" music she listened to and was very sad when Adichie played a Mariah Carey cassette. Here this shows how close minded the american culture can be. For our whole lives we are raised to believe that Africa is not a civilized continent and that many people still live in tribes. This is not true! We believe that there is not much money in Africa and that being African is something to pity, not be proud of. 

3) It is important to look at other sides of stories because seeing only one side is very close minded. (And IB learners are suppose to be open minded thinkers!) A good example that I connect with is in real life and rumors that stir around the school because there was only one side of a story. Someone, like a friend of mine, comes to me complaining about something that went down in the hallway. They explained what happened to them in their perspective, how they felt and things like that. But if I were to talk to the other person, there is almost a guarantee they will tell the story completely differently! It is really how people perceive things and how they emotionally feel about other things. 

4) A time that I experienced a culture much different from my own was when I turned 10. My brother has a friend whose parents are originally from Malaysia and they celebrate Chinese New Year. My parents are very open to trying new cultures, so when they invited us, we of course decided to go. But as soon as I got there I felt very out of place, especially by the smell and look of all the different foods. I did not know if I would like any of them because a lot of the stuff was fish or rice (and I personally am not a fan of fish OR rice!) My mom and I said that we would try the stuff together, but I will admit, when we did try them, I did not like them and I still do not like them, but at least I tried! Also during Chinese New Year I learned that this is a time to reflect and pray, so every hour they pray to Buddha which was kind of interesting! I guess I never realized that! I am so use to New Years here and how everyone just parties and has a good time with friends. 

5) Living in another culture or abroad will cause people to challenge what they believe because it is a whole new culture by which they are not use to. Many times people must learn to adapt quickly when they enter these cultures. Like in the show The King and I by Rogers and Hammerstein s, Anna Leonowens states they she has lived in Siam for over a year now and has learned and gotten to know the people of Siam. This cant be more true! It is a great learning experience. The King and I is the perfect example of challenging beliefs. The king brings Anna to Siam in order to bring Western Culture to Siam, but the King is very stuck in his old ways. Anna challenges him to look beyond what has always been and see other things in the world, which in turn makes him more wiser and slightly less stubborn. 

Response to Mrs.McDowells china experience

What did you already know?

What did you learn?

What do you have questions about?

What surprised you? 

How might living abroad result in a paradigm shift (way of thinking differently?)?

What role did some of the WOKs (language, perception, emotion, intuition, memory, reason, imagination, faith) play in my experiences in China?

1) At the moment, I already knew that the Chinese use the whole part of an animal and like things like pig tongue. My family has family friends who are from China and more than once I have been offered to have Pigs tongue, fish eye, etc. In Chinese culture it is considered rude to say no apparently but there were times when I would have to say no because the smell would make my throat close up! I wanted to try it but could not push myself to. 

2) I learned a lot by reading through the document. I guess I did not realize that privacy in china was strange and abnormal. Being from America, it is weird to fathom that a whole group of people seeing someone alone is strange. Personally, I like my alone time. It is what helps me think and regenerate. I also did not know about the day thing. I still am not sure about the days because it is so confusing, but apparently the chinese culture likes to change stuff up. 

3) How do the days work?? 

Why is the man who supposedly one a nobel peace prize blocked? 

they dont know what Pads are? When they are on their period what do they do? And if they cant take showers or touch water... I would feel gross! 

Having muscle as a woman is bad? 

4) The period thing was definitely a shocker. I cannot imagine not being able to take a shower or touch anything that is cold water. I know I take a shower every night, so not taking one for a whole week would be ... I cant even fathom! I would feel so icky! Another thing that shocked me was the days thing. I would be so overwhelmingly lost and confused. Why do they change the days? I guess I am wondering what is the point in changing the days? 

5) Living abroad can result in a paradigm shift because it is forcing a person to step out of their own head and see what other cultures are like. By living with a different culture you get to see different things and learn much more about why and how they do certain things. It would be just like if you decided to go and stay with a family you did not know. Not necessarily that they live in another country but it is another home. They may do dinner differently at their house, or they may go to bed at a different time. It helps you appreciate things in your culture as well as theirs.

6) the way of knowing; language, is a huge part in your experience, i believe. I do believe that there was a language barrier, but I also do not know how much Chinese you spoke or how much English they spoke. I would think that if you were teaching there that you would know a good amount of chinese, or if it was an international school, that the children were required to know a good amount of English to get by. But language is how the human world interacts. It would be really hard to not have the language. 

Perception would also be another big one. How you perceive the culture. Like, in the Chinese culture they do a lot of things in large groups, but in America we prefer more alone time. The Chinese perception of you would be that you are a loner, which is far from the truth! But also your perception probably changed after living there. 

Why TOK?

PART A: 

One reason that the IB requires diploma students and encourages certificate students to take a theory of knowledge course is so that we have the ability to question and see things from a whole other perspective. In general people in the world just go along in life, never questioning anything and if they do, their questions are minimal. TOK gives students a longer thought process. Like above in the cartoon, the child is questioning the lunch lady. Of course, the comic strip is made for enjoyment to readers, but on a deeper level, it is asking for people to question what they have and what others have and maybe even why theirs is different from the other persons. It also allows students to be much more open minded to the world. An IB thinker is someone who is opened minded, as stated by the IB learner profile. Even the thought of believing there is more is being open minded. Wanting to push boundaries and figure out different meanings and perspectives. 

PART B: 

After looking at the IB learner profile, I believe that students at Sturgis need to work on being balanced. Whenever I talk to someone, they are extremely overwhelmed about different things. They schedule themselves to thin. I know I personally am a kind of person who will spread themselves extremely thin and then want to explode later on due to all the stress. I feel like if Sturgis were to work on balancing out school with other out of school things, that the amount of stress would go down and people would generally be kinder and less likely to snap due to the stress.