29 December, 2006
I awoke to the sounds of strange traffic and sirens going off, or it quite possibly could have been my cell phone's alarm going off, I'm really not sure. Either way, I awoke and quickly got ready for the day. Sean was not feeling up to snuff, apparently the Chinese Restaurant was not agreeing with him, in fact it was having some sort of arguement over which utensil worked best, or something of the sort.
At 0900 we met up in the conference room of the hotel, and proceded to listen to lectures about Pangea and world cultures. Somehow the discussion got onto the subject of Iraq, and after much bad noise, we were released for lunch time. Before we left, we were informed that if we wanted, we could all meet back up and go snorkeling at the wonderful Hanauma Bay. We ate at the food court in some freakesh example of capitalism at it's finest, and then returned. Quickly we suited up and covered our bodies in a mix of peanut oil and sun block, though from experience I knew that the sun block was a bad idea. We met up in the lobby with our cohorts from Tennessee, and proceded to drive to this bay of snorkeling.
Once there, we made our way down to the water, and I can truely say that it was a glorious site. We rented our equipment, and made our way towards the water. I had never been snorkeling before, at least in real water, I had once attempted it in a swimming pool, but the chlorine and urine was not the same as the salty brine of the sea. We full heartedly beleived in the buddy system, so me an Big Fat Paulie entered into the waves. From my own experiences, breathing through a tube instead of the nose was a strange experience to say the least. We made our way deep into the cold water, doing our best impersonations of Darth Vader. I saw several types of fish, many of them were swimming in one fashion or the other. Someone had seen an eel, but I luckily did not. As far as the water goes, I've always had two life goals; one is to punch an eel in the face, and the other is to take on a baracuda in a thirty round bare knuckle brawl on Pay-per-View.
After I emerged from the water in a horrible fashion akin to a 50's movie, I dried off on the beach and then began to the long trek up the hill to return to the van. We were then informed that we were going to head to another beach just on the other side of a ridge, and we all jumped at the chance to see more water, strange as it may have been. When we arrived at the spot, playfully named Sandy Beach, we all got out and marveled at the monster waves that were being produced.
Waves were cresting that were roughly 7 feet high, and some were even taller. What struck me as odd was the fact that they did this a mere three feet away from the shore. Sean, being from Califorina and a surfer, warned everyone that waves like these were not to be trifled with. In fact, they would so much as stab you in the back as they were to shake your hand in a friendly manner. But of course this warning was not taken in stride, because everyone wanted to get into the water and be thrown around like a rag doll. I of course was more intelligent than this, after all, the waves reminded me of some sort of billowing beast with a hunger only matched by its strength. Misty and Greenly started to run around the beach like chickens with their heads cut off, and soon began to find sea glass, which later was discovered to not be a natural occurance. It was then that one of our members got tossed by a wave and injured themselves in the torrential sea. After much bad business and some ingenuity, she was returned to her van and we departed the beach.
On the journey back, I had the need to use the facilities, but due to the lack of one, or at least my assumption that there was not one, I had to hold it until we reached the hotel. And of course, there was a massive traffic jam all along the ride back. Of course my friends helped out by shaking water bottles and speaking of waterfalls and rivers. Once the van was within running distance, I jumped out of the van and had to go up to my room to use the facilities.
Once this nightmare was over, we decided to try and go to a grocery store in an effort to save money. Of course this was not the case, because a package of sliced Government cheese cost 8 dollars. Once we got back to the hotel, we began to shut the studio down because we had class at 0800.
Prompt Answers:
Blog prompt 1
1. Pangaea was a super continent that consisted of all of the continents today being stuck together. It existed 200 million years ago. It was special because it explains the similarities in species on different continents today. It began to break apart 180 million years ago. Important because it explains the similarities in species on different continents.
2. Hominids first appeared about seven million years ago, depending on which fossil you want to go by. Homo Sapiens first appeared about 40,000 years ago. What set humans apart from others was the ability to adapt.
3. Crosby thinks that culture is a system of storing and altering patterns of behavior not in the molecules of the genetic code but in the cells of the brain. It is important because it is what makes humans what they are.
4. In Crosby’s view, humans moved into Europe around 50,000 years ago, 40,000 years ago for Australia, and 13,000 years ago for the Americas.
5. People in the Americas were isolated by sea.
6. The Neolithic revolution was when man began to grind and polish their stone tools instead of chipping them, and it ended when they began to smelt metal for tools and weapons.
7. During the Neolithic Revolution, man learned how to write, build, produce agriculture, and began to settle and build civilizations.
Prompt 2
1. Diamond’s principle argument was that mankind prospered in Eurasia because the entire continent was roughly at the same level of latitude, which was the same temperate climate. Longitudinal differences brought about different climates, many of which were not suitable for agriculture, therefore did not develop as quickly.
2. Diamond believes that the factors that drove world history all deal with the ability to settle down and start agriculture. Due to this, the agriculture lead to positions in society, which gave way to kings, and soldiers and such, or basically a form of organization. Diseases from the domesticated animals also were close to people, and they developed immunities to the diseases.
3. Blaut criticizes Diamond in the way that Diamond explains that this trend worked throughout Eurasia, but Blaut points out that China and Europe evolved very differently.
4. After reading both, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.
Prompt 3
1. A culture is a body of beliefs and practices that are of a value to a society and shape people within a region. Culture in relation to political demarcations are not the same. An idea or social practice can easily travel over a political or linguistic border and be shared by multiple groups all over the world, even if they are separated by thousands of miles.
2. To be considered a part of culture, it must last longer than 4 generations.
3. Cultures can change by either adapting to new technologies, or change due to other cultural influence. To say that a culture has progressed is itself a paradox, since a culture can change, but who can say that it is for the better if it looses some of what it once was?
4. It is hard to say whether the world is moving towards one global culture. Where it may be happening on some level, mainly the globalization of McDonald’s and Wal-Mart, there are many peoples who do not wish to loose their identities. An example of this would be the French. They accept these global corporations, but they will vehemently make everything become “French” to them in a way to keep their cultural identity. There are also people who strictly do not want to allow anything from the outside in, and this can be seen with the conservative Muslim people of the middle east and Iran.
5. To better function and interact with peoples of other cultures, a better understanding and knowledge of the other cultures is necessary. What might be considered a simple gesture to one people may be a vile insult to someone’s mother, which can only be cleared up with a dual to the death. Definitely something that one does not want to get involved with by a simple gesture.
Prompt 4
In the intercultural interaction called The Shopper and the Vendor, I feel that the best explanation was the vendor was not used to people of mixed races and was confused at how a person could be of two different Asian nations, especially since the vendor was in Singapore. To the vendor, the idea of a mixed person of both Chinese and Japanese might seem a bit odd, or he might not have ever come across someone like that before. All of the other explanations are flawed in one way or the other in that they don’t have much merit to them.
I awoke to the sounds of strange traffic and sirens going off, or it quite possibly could have been my cell phone's alarm going off, I'm really not sure. Either way, I awoke and quickly got ready for the day. Sean was not feeling up to snuff, apparently the Chinese Restaurant was not agreeing with him, in fact it was having some sort of arguement over which utensil worked best, or something of the sort.
At 0900 we met up in the conference room of the hotel, and proceded to listen to lectures about Pangea and world cultures. Somehow the discussion got onto the subject of Iraq, and after much bad noise, we were released for lunch time. Before we left, we were informed that if we wanted, we could all meet back up and go snorkeling at the wonderful Hanauma Bay. We ate at the food court in some freakesh example of capitalism at it's finest, and then returned. Quickly we suited up and covered our bodies in a mix of peanut oil and sun block, though from experience I knew that the sun block was a bad idea. We met up in the lobby with our cohorts from Tennessee, and proceded to drive to this bay of snorkeling.
Once there, we made our way down to the water, and I can truely say that it was a glorious site. We rented our equipment, and made our way towards the water. I had never been snorkeling before, at least in real water, I had once attempted it in a swimming pool, but the chlorine and urine was not the same as the salty brine of the sea. We full heartedly beleived in the buddy system, so me an Big Fat Paulie entered into the waves. From my own experiences, breathing through a tube instead of the nose was a strange experience to say the least. We made our way deep into the cold water, doing our best impersonations of Darth Vader. I saw several types of fish, many of them were swimming in one fashion or the other. Someone had seen an eel, but I luckily did not. As far as the water goes, I've always had two life goals; one is to punch an eel in the face, and the other is to take on a baracuda in a thirty round bare knuckle brawl on Pay-per-View.
After I emerged from the water in a horrible fashion akin to a 50's movie, I dried off on the beach and then began to the long trek up the hill to return to the van. We were then informed that we were going to head to another beach just on the other side of a ridge, and we all jumped at the chance to see more water, strange as it may have been. When we arrived at the spot, playfully named Sandy Beach, we all got out and marveled at the monster waves that were being produced.
Waves were cresting that were roughly 7 feet high, and some were even taller. What struck me as odd was the fact that they did this a mere three feet away from the shore. Sean, being from Califorina and a surfer, warned everyone that waves like these were not to be trifled with. In fact, they would so much as stab you in the back as they were to shake your hand in a friendly manner. But of course this warning was not taken in stride, because everyone wanted to get into the water and be thrown around like a rag doll. I of course was more intelligent than this, after all, the waves reminded me of some sort of billowing beast with a hunger only matched by its strength. Misty and Greenly started to run around the beach like chickens with their heads cut off, and soon began to find sea glass, which later was discovered to not be a natural occurance. It was then that one of our members got tossed by a wave and injured themselves in the torrential sea. After much bad business and some ingenuity, she was returned to her van and we departed the beach.
On the journey back, I had the need to use the facilities, but due to the lack of one, or at least my assumption that there was not one, I had to hold it until we reached the hotel. And of course, there was a massive traffic jam all along the ride back. Of course my friends helped out by shaking water bottles and speaking of waterfalls and rivers. Once the van was within running distance, I jumped out of the van and had to go up to my room to use the facilities.
Once this nightmare was over, we decided to try and go to a grocery store in an effort to save money. Of course this was not the case, because a package of sliced Government cheese cost 8 dollars. Once we got back to the hotel, we began to shut the studio down because we had class at 0800.
Prompt Answers:
Blog prompt 1
1. Pangaea was a super continent that consisted of all of the continents today being stuck together. It existed 200 million years ago. It was special because it explains the similarities in species on different continents today. It began to break apart 180 million years ago. Important because it explains the similarities in species on different continents.
2. Hominids first appeared about seven million years ago, depending on which fossil you want to go by. Homo Sapiens first appeared about 40,000 years ago. What set humans apart from others was the ability to adapt.
3. Crosby thinks that culture is a system of storing and altering patterns of behavior not in the molecules of the genetic code but in the cells of the brain. It is important because it is what makes humans what they are.
4. In Crosby’s view, humans moved into Europe around 50,000 years ago, 40,000 years ago for Australia, and 13,000 years ago for the Americas.
5. People in the Americas were isolated by sea.
6. The Neolithic revolution was when man began to grind and polish their stone tools instead of chipping them, and it ended when they began to smelt metal for tools and weapons.
7. During the Neolithic Revolution, man learned how to write, build, produce agriculture, and began to settle and build civilizations.
Prompt 2
1. Diamond’s principle argument was that mankind prospered in Eurasia because the entire continent was roughly at the same level of latitude, which was the same temperate climate. Longitudinal differences brought about different climates, many of which were not suitable for agriculture, therefore did not develop as quickly.
2. Diamond believes that the factors that drove world history all deal with the ability to settle down and start agriculture. Due to this, the agriculture lead to positions in society, which gave way to kings, and soldiers and such, or basically a form of organization. Diseases from the domesticated animals also were close to people, and they developed immunities to the diseases.
3. Blaut criticizes Diamond in the way that Diamond explains that this trend worked throughout Eurasia, but Blaut points out that China and Europe evolved very differently.
4. After reading both, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.
Prompt 3
1. A culture is a body of beliefs and practices that are of a value to a society and shape people within a region. Culture in relation to political demarcations are not the same. An idea or social practice can easily travel over a political or linguistic border and be shared by multiple groups all over the world, even if they are separated by thousands of miles.
2. To be considered a part of culture, it must last longer than 4 generations.
3. Cultures can change by either adapting to new technologies, or change due to other cultural influence. To say that a culture has progressed is itself a paradox, since a culture can change, but who can say that it is for the better if it looses some of what it once was?
4. It is hard to say whether the world is moving towards one global culture. Where it may be happening on some level, mainly the globalization of McDonald’s and Wal-Mart, there are many peoples who do not wish to loose their identities. An example of this would be the French. They accept these global corporations, but they will vehemently make everything become “French” to them in a way to keep their cultural identity. There are also people who strictly do not want to allow anything from the outside in, and this can be seen with the conservative Muslim people of the middle east and Iran.
5. To better function and interact with peoples of other cultures, a better understanding and knowledge of the other cultures is necessary. What might be considered a simple gesture to one people may be a vile insult to someone’s mother, which can only be cleared up with a dual to the death. Definitely something that one does not want to get involved with by a simple gesture.
Prompt 4
In the intercultural interaction called The Shopper and the Vendor, I feel that the best explanation was the vendor was not used to people of mixed races and was confused at how a person could be of two different Asian nations, especially since the vendor was in Singapore. To the vendor, the idea of a mixed person of both Chinese and Japanese might seem a bit odd, or he might not have ever come across someone like that before. All of the other explanations are flawed in one way or the other in that they don’t have much merit to them.
1 comment:
I saw eels! they are scary and not to be trifled with (and make me inhale large amounts of salt water as i'm trying to get away)
and i did not shake water or any other liquid at you :p
Post a Comment