tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3023682178369530177.post7593876189344755644..comments2012-05-01T00:41:46.959-07:00Comments on SWK 280 Augsburg Blog: First ImpressionsSWK280 Studentshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14402523283015460958noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3023682178369530177.post-27056526405488174942010-03-27T00:04:55.557-07:002010-03-27T00:04:55.557-07:00Boonchan Khamda:
Great story, I can see when peopl...Boonchan Khamda:<br />Great story, I can see when people take offense to what others say. Just today at a show I had an Asian guy ask me a question and he was shocked to hear me speak. He said to me "you look like you just got off the boat but your English is perfect." I get this a lot when people hear me speak because they assume I have broken English. I can understand that the gestures they made may be offensive. For Asians we have so many of us with different languages. I've been greeted in Chinese, Japanese, and Hmong non of which is my native language. I've gotten use to it now when someone says anything about my culture, I just correct them and explain the differences. Hopefully one day I get to meet the one person who guesses my nationality correctly. =)SWK280 Studentshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14402523283015460958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3023682178369530177.post-26338069507782939772010-03-20T10:38:20.842-07:002010-03-20T10:38:20.842-07:00Kelsey, I appreciated your blog post because I hav...Kelsey, I appreciated your blog post because I have encountered similar experiences. I almost always get labeled as a Mexican, when Im actually Colombian. I've been to Chipotle a few times and every time I go up to order food Im greeted in Spanish. This has a positive and negative affect for me. The positive is that I am glad that people speak spanish to me because, to my understanding, it means they still identify my features as being latina. On the negative side, well, I cant respond. I have minimal experience with speaking spanish. (which I hope to change!!) Once I tell someone that I don't speak spanish it turns into another ordeal. Those who speak spanish say to me "Aw, how can you call yourself a latina, but you don't speak spanish?" I reply that I was adopted from Colombia at a young age, and only took a few years of spanish in high school. <br /><br />Also, this statement you made "Both of those countries have distinct identities their own history/culture/traditions. Much in the same way that many people view Africa as a country rather than a continent made up of 47 separate countries..." Is SO SO TRUE!!! <br /><br />-Alicia FowlerSWK280 Studentshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14402523283015460958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3023682178369530177.post-63064511214793081132010-02-10T12:18:22.251-08:002010-02-10T12:18:22.251-08:00Hi Kelsey!
This is Annie, writing in from Cuernav...Hi Kelsey!<br /><br />This is Annie, writing in from Cuernavaca, where we have been talking about some of the exact same things!<br /><br />It is very compelling how you analyze such a small interaction as "Hola" vs. "Hey", but as you say, these are the interactions that are so telling of our experiences and perspectives. Identity is such an interesting aspect of humanity...does it matter more how we identify ourselves or how others identify us? In class here we kind of decided that how we usually identify ourselves is what we see reflected back to us by others. That's why this interaction was so important, because you and your friends didn't want to be mis-identified. No one does... it is something we all need to work on being responsive to.<br /><br />Here in Mexico, most of our group is easily identified as "extranjera, guera, gringa..." and we hear these cat-calls, "piropos," every day. We are treated with higher regard by a lot of local businesses and people. It's hard for me to deal with, because my identity as a white woman has been established here for me, but without my input. One of the main stereotypes is that we have come to Mexico to party and have sex... It's much harder to foster pure relationships when so many stereotypes have been set up on both sides. I hope our group will de-bunk some of these prevailing perceptions by showing our interest in learning the culture, the language, the history, and sharing ours.CGEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06790315938510664461noreply@blogger.com