Book Title: Westminster Abby
Pages Since Last Week: 475
Pages Since Semester: 530
Weekly Summary: Abby frequently bumps into Ian, a student. Lately, Abby hangs out at the pub with the rest of her peers.
Weekly Thoughts: Have you ever thought about how stereotypes came about? Since reading Westminster Abby, I have discovered that kids from this book drink at pubs, and they are high schoolers. I do not think any of them are the age of 21 or over, because Abby is just a junior at the age of 17. The laws in America and London may be different about drinking, but as of now it definitely seems as if London's age drinking limit is much lower. Since London and America seem to have different laws, America and London also seem to have different cultural values and perspectives. This must be why you hear people say, "Americans are more..." or that "British are..." and this and that way. Every culture is seen as one perspective in a whole, or generality. I know many people do not like to be judged as a whole, because every person wants to be their own person, but this must be how stereotypes came about. Even though stereotypical notions may not apply to every individual, stereotypes most have some kind of trueness since it truly did not just appear out of thin air.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Blog #8: respect my privacy
Book Title: Westminster Abby
Pages Since Last Week:414
Pages Since Semester: 475
Weekly Summary: Abby describes herself as a "vanilla-sweet, plain and not very exciting" kind of gal. This summer she decides to be less of her restricted self and more outgoing especially since she is in a totally new country, once living in New York and now living in London, away from her parents.
Weekly Thoughts: Why is it that we only find enough courage to be someone new in a new location?-where we are isolated from all the people we know. Is the lack of self-confidence and embarrassment enough to stop us from discovering ourselves? Do we live in a world that makes our self-confidence feel so judged and scrutinized even though normal people, like us, do not live under the microscopic eye of a celebrity, not want to be ourselves? Life can be hard especially if you have to break out of your usual self to become more of you, the growing you. You shouldn't let other opinions bother you in the process of breaking molds or becoming yourself. I sympathize over private lives being displayed and studied. No one person wants their private lives to be displayed. So, the next time you are about to eavesdrop into a conversation, stop yourself!
Pages Since Last Week:414
Pages Since Semester: 475
Weekly Summary: Abby describes herself as a "vanilla-sweet, plain and not very exciting" kind of gal. This summer she decides to be less of her restricted self and more outgoing especially since she is in a totally new country, once living in New York and now living in London, away from her parents.
Weekly Thoughts: Why is it that we only find enough courage to be someone new in a new location?-where we are isolated from all the people we know. Is the lack of self-confidence and embarrassment enough to stop us from discovering ourselves? Do we live in a world that makes our self-confidence feel so judged and scrutinized even though normal people, like us, do not live under the microscopic eye of a celebrity, not want to be ourselves? Life can be hard especially if you have to break out of your usual self to become more of you, the growing you. You shouldn't let other opinions bother you in the process of breaking molds or becoming yourself. I sympathize over private lives being displayed and studied. No one person wants their private lives to be displayed. So, the next time you are about to eavesdrop into a conversation, stop yourself!
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Blog #7: Ipseity
Book Title: Now and Zen
Pages Since Last Week: 353
Pages Since Semester: 414
Weekly Summary: Jiji takes Nori to Nijo Castle and to the Silver Pavilion once again. Nori confesses to Jiji that she does not know who she is.
Weekly Thoughts: "Excuse me, who am I?" I hear my friends screaming, "who am I?" in confusion. Identity crisis! Who am I? Discovering who you are may be hard or an easy obstacle, but I believe college is one place where you can discover yourself a little more. The whole idea of going to college is to discover who are as an independent person, away from help-parents. A part of college is living in dormitories. The location of living somewhere new and different helps you define yourself with what struggles you have to go through while learning and growing independtly. College is like a challenge on how you would handle your life independently generally without any help, because you make all your decisions. This is where you are in control of your own life and can learn from your own mistakes. We are often defined by our actions and this is where you can begin your identity.
Pages Since Last Week: 353
Pages Since Semester: 414
Weekly Summary: Jiji takes Nori to Nijo Castle and to the Silver Pavilion once again. Nori confesses to Jiji that she does not know who she is.
Weekly Thoughts: "Excuse me, who am I?" I hear my friends screaming, "who am I?" in confusion. Identity crisis! Who am I? Discovering who you are may be hard or an easy obstacle, but I believe college is one place where you can discover yourself a little more. The whole idea of going to college is to discover who are as an independent person, away from help-parents. A part of college is living in dormitories. The location of living somewhere new and different helps you define yourself with what struggles you have to go through while learning and growing independtly. College is like a challenge on how you would handle your life independently generally without any help, because you make all your decisions. This is where you are in control of your own life and can learn from your own mistakes. We are often defined by our actions and this is where you can begin your identity.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Blog # 6: Forever
Book Title: Now and Zen
Pages Since Last Week:337
Pages Since Semester:353
Weekly Summary: Nori visits The Temple of the Silver Pavilion. She learns about her parents through her great-uncle and auntie referred to as Jiji and Baba and is told that she is reminded much as her mother.
Weekly Thoughts: "I am my mother's daughter." ( from the movie of Spanglish); I did not understand what this statement meant when I first heard of it. Initially I thought that this comment was only stating the obvious, but I was sure that this comment defiantly had some kind of importance since it seemed to be the moral in the movie. About two months ago, this quote finally made sense to me when I was thinking about my birth date, who I am today, why I am this way, and what made me this way. This made me realize that a person can try to change themselves as much as they want, but can never change the fact that he or she is his or hers mother's son or daughter. Some people do not like what they see in their parents and try to not let themselves be that way. The fact that you are your mother's daughter is unchangeable and nothing else can be done about it. Even as much if you try to change yourself with the characteristics that you seem to obtain from your mother, you will still always be your mother's daughter.
Pages Since Last Week:337
Pages Since Semester:353
Weekly Summary: Nori visits The Temple of the Silver Pavilion. She learns about her parents through her great-uncle and auntie referred to as Jiji and Baba and is told that she is reminded much as her mother.
Weekly Thoughts: "I am my mother's daughter." ( from the movie of Spanglish); I did not understand what this statement meant when I first heard of it. Initially I thought that this comment was only stating the obvious, but I was sure that this comment defiantly had some kind of importance since it seemed to be the moral in the movie. About two months ago, this quote finally made sense to me when I was thinking about my birth date, who I am today, why I am this way, and what made me this way. This made me realize that a person can try to change themselves as much as they want, but can never change the fact that he or she is his or hers mother's son or daughter. Some people do not like what they see in their parents and try to not let themselves be that way. The fact that you are your mother's daughter is unchangeable and nothing else can be done about it. Even as much if you try to change yourself with the characteristics that you seem to obtain from your mother, you will still always be your mother's daughter.
Friday, March 02, 2007
Blog #5 : Roots
Book Title: Now and Zen
Pages Since Last Week: 302
Pages Since Semester:337
Weekly Summary: Nori snuck out of her dormitory and left with Erik, her love interest and foreigner, to take him out in the nightlife ofJapan Kyoto
Weekly Thoughts: "Nori felt strangely comfortable here already. Like she'd come home." (pg.142)
Nori, just arriving at her great aunt and great uncle, feels the comfortableness easily. I think this is so, because she feels welcomed, loved, and a part of something that she has been missing in her life. Nori living in Powell, Ohio, where you are distances across, is hard to hold onto your own ethnic culture. Coming to Japan is something she needed that brought her a piece of herself. Nori and me are both Asian born in America. I have never visited my ethnic home, neither has Nori until her acceptance and arrival to the SASS( Students Across the Seven Seas) host location in Japan. Finding out who you are and your passions, is part in understanding your ethnic culture. Whenever I immerse myself with stories about Gods and ethnic values and ethnic traditions, I feel safe and secure. I think the feeling of having faith, involvement in some type of traditions, like whether celebrating Vietnamese's New Year or the Kitchen God, you feel spiritually connected to your ancestors and self. This feeling of knowing where you came from and feeling the sense of belonging somewhere, helps you define/discover yourself a little further, hopefully comfortableness.
Pages Since Last Week: 302
Pages Since Semester:337
Weekly Summary: Nori snuck out of her dormitory and left with Erik, her love interest and foreigner, to take him out in the nightlife of
Weekly Thoughts: "Nori felt strangely comfortable here already. Like she'd come home." (pg.142)
Nori, just arriving at her great aunt and great uncle, feels the comfortableness easily. I think this is so, because she feels welcomed, loved, and a part of something that she has been missing in her life. Nori living in Powell, Ohio, where you are distances across, is hard to hold onto your own ethnic culture. Coming to Japan is something she needed that brought her a piece of herself. Nori and me are both Asian born in America. I have never visited my ethnic home, neither has Nori until her acceptance and arrival to the SASS( Students Across the Seven Seas) host location in Japan. Finding out who you are and your passions, is part in understanding your ethnic culture. Whenever I immerse myself with stories about Gods and ethnic values and ethnic traditions, I feel safe and secure. I think the feeling of having faith, involvement in some type of traditions, like whether celebrating Vietnamese's New Year or the Kitchen God, you feel spiritually connected to your ancestors and self. This feeling of knowing where you came from and feeling the sense of belonging somewhere, helps you define/discover yourself a little further, hopefully comfortableness.
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