10.15.19 First ICR Event

Two weeks ago, I along with 3 other of my fellow Butler Students went to the Indianapolis Museum of Art. This was our first event with Benny leading the way, what we did was go around and get a brief introduction of all the different cultures we have on our wonderful Earth. One of the main things that I learned and was able to see on first hand experience was how relative and influences o other cultures have on each other. Benny briefly touched on the dynasties and how when one came along they brought a little with them from the previous, but not everything, and this pattern happened every time a new ruler took over. While walking all through the museum, this being my first time to it, it was a lot to take in and learn about all of these cultures I have only heard and learned about through a textbook, but to see and actually look at real artifacts that were made 2000 years ago was very special. I keep looking forward to see what the next adventure is on this process of learning more about different cultures and about other people and their communities, and I look forward to keeping the rest of the class posted to those who are unable to attend and learn from outside the classroom.

End of China Unit Blog

Overall, when I first signed up for this course I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy the topic but decided to take it anyways (try new things/subjects). To my surprise, I have really enjoyed learning about the culture in China and various topics we covered in class. This course has made me realize how much I like learning about other cultures and making connections to mine. From going to the Chinese lunch and religion matters dinner, I really enjoyed talking with some faculty and other students about religion all over the world as well just conversing in conversation (very good and welcoming environment at the blue house). I tend to be a picky eater but have to admit the food at both events was pretty good. The discussions from the readings: GHS, Ha jin, and Craig, the fictional short stories seemed outrageous and unbelievable but when you do some research sometimes find it actually does happen in the world.

For example, connecting “When Cowboy Chicken came to town,” to Chinese buffets seen all around the world and how the similar structure in the story has happened to some restaurants here.

“Tiger-Fight,” this story I was sure enough could not possibly be similar to anything that has happened in real life but we all have seen the MGM lion roar before movies? Yes, real lion. Here’s an article if you want to read about the behind the scene making of the roar. 🙂

Moreover, from learning about Daodejing and Confucianism how it is still used in China’s society today/seen in the culture, government, lifestyles (household relationships/duties), and in religion. How all the topics all the way back from 300 B.C to present day, we still see these traditions and rituals practiced. I’ve enjoyed learning and discussing on all these matters. I feel more closely connected to China’s culture than I did prior to this course and to be able to discuss some topics seen here with them.

Ending the unit with modern age topics seen today: women and equality, authority, and further individual traditions for genders. In relation to the short story “Woman from New York“, how it was unlikely seen that a woman had a lot of money and for her to even leave her native home. The story gives a good perspective on many people judge and pursue someones life and choices. Many suspected the woman who had money in the story didn’t obtain the money in a popular many (such as from a working in a company). Many spread rumors how she possibly got money from being a gold digger or acts of adultery for money. Some even spread rumors how she didn’t have money and she was poor. Rumors can go a long way and it is hard to believe what is true and what is not. This made me think about the movie “Easy A.” In the film, the main character was talking with her friend in the bathroom at high school about her weekend, and she decided to tell her friend a little lie, so she would shut up basically.  This little lie was overheard and spread all around the high school and was even twisted around has it went from person to person. Everyone then believed these rumors and viewed/treated her differently, all because of a little lie that turned into many rumors. Moral of the story is to tell the truth, as well as, not spread rumors.

Ending the unit with the short story of “Bad Joke,” how two men just said a joke about a higher authority in an empire was spread all around and the men were then arrested for it. This story was very outrageous all because of a little “joke.” From research mentioned in another blog of mine about China, this is in fact true that you can receive some prison time or even executed from “joking” about any political individual or matter.

All these readings not only were enjoyable but they always made me research if some of these events happen in real life in China, as well as, see if they happen in the United States. In conclusion, this unit was very informative on learning about another culture, trying some food or traditions, and comparing it to the culture we live in today. These past few weeks have made me think back on my life and childhood to see if any of the relationship events with family, work, or other people in my life can relate to those in the short stories. In addition, to be able to just educate myself on more religions and traditions in a culture other than mine. Very good unit overall, look forward to the next one!

 

Combatting Religious Intolerance Lunch

I was able to attend the lunch that discussed combating religious intolerance as part of the Religion Matters series. I found the discussion very interesting and eye-opening. Dr. Chad Bauman helped to lead the discussion in the Diversity Center. He began the discussion by presenting a couple of examples of speeches from America’s past that presented religious minorities in a negative light. Some of the minorities discussed in these passages were Catholics, Mormons, and Muslims. There were many commonalities in these speeches that isolated the minority group. One of these ideas was that the Americans believed that the minorities were being loyal to the “other”. They believed that they were not loyal to the American ideals, people who were not American, and a location that was not America. For example, for Catholics, this would include being loyal to the Catholic beliefs, being loyal to the pope, and the Vatican. Another commonality in the passages was the idea of authoritarianism. There was a belief that the minorities had a blind loyalty with their beliefs and that created an “us” and “them” in society as the majority did not believe the minority should have had the beliefs that differed from their own. During the discussion, we clarified that the majority in the United States in Anglo-Saxon protestants. This was surprising to me as I have always thought of Catholics being a religious majority. However, I have since realized that where I grew up, in Cincinnati, there is a large population of Catholics with many Catholic elementary and high schools.

As we continued the discussion, we were asked where is a similar mentality seen today? It was brought up that for some there is a sense that if one is not adhering to Christianity then one does not believe in a God. Then it was stated that there is a belief that if one is not Christian, then one is not being patriotic. I found this insight very interesting, as I had never really given this idea much thought, but I can understand where this can be seen in our society. It was brought up that many of these stereotypes and beliefs have immigrated with us from Europe when the Americas were first being founded. These stereotypes have remained the same for the most part but have only varied in their expressions over the years.

The final point we discussed was ‘how these stereotypes manifested today and how can we combat them’. One of the professors who attended brought up that some students had a belief that their professors are not religious or are concerned to share with their professors their own personal religious or political views. I may have a different perspective on this idea, as my mother was a principle when I was younger, but I have never had this belief and I find it interesting that some people have this belief. Additionally, we discussed the idea that most people do not realize the extent of their religious illiteracy and that there is a monolithic nature in our society. This nature has one specific view and then creates generalizations regarding the “other”. I found this point to be very interesting as, for the most part, I have not experienced the same situation. Growing up, I went to a very diverse parochial elementary school and then a Catholic high school, therefore, I believe that I was almost given a false idea about the knowledge of others about minorities as both of these schools had done well examining and educating various minorities in our society. Attending this discussion was very educational for me as it opened my eyes to many of the “general views” of others and their views on minorities in our society today.

Service at Nur-Allah 10/13/19

This weeks’ service at Nur-Allah was very educational, and introduced me to basically my first education about the Islamic faith. Last week, we assisted in actually teaching the class. But, this week there was a teacher there that attends the Mosque and also helps out with the weekend school. We started the class with an opening prayer, which is a large point of emphasis this year for the weekend service. Sister Carol wants to make sure that each child has at least two opportunities to prayer while at weekend school, because in one of the pillars of Islam is praying five times a day, and if the children can pray at least twice at the school, they are much more likely to pray on their own to reach prayer five times a day. After opening prayer, the teacher began talking about “principles”, instead of helping with the class, Anna and I were actually students and were being asked questions about our faith and what we know about Islam to contribute to class discussion. After talking about the principles of Islam, we talked about the five pillars of Islam. The five pillars of Islam are Pilgrammage, fasting, prayer, charity, and declaring faith. We also learned what the corresponding words were in Arabic. We focused on Hajj- which is pilgrammege and what it means to the faith. She also emphasized that pilgrammege can include anyone, no matter what faith, race, or class. After learning the pillars we then read the Qur’an. We read the first two passages, or in Arabic they are called A Surah. We studied what every single sentence meant in the opening prayer, and first part of the second Surah to see what they mean to the Islamic faith and what they mean outside of faith and how it applies to every faith. We then helped prepare a meal.
Today was such an eye-opening day. I knew little about the Islamic faith, but really delving into some of the passages of the Qur’an and learning about the faith and pillars and how they apply to everyone in everyday life was very educational. I am very excited to continue learning about the Islamic faith both in class and through service at Nur-Allah.

The Gentleman

While reviewing information for the China unit exam, I came across the small section in Craig’s text in which “Confucius defines the gentleman” (16). To be completely honest, I do tend to skip the extra sections added throughout the textbooks I read even though they have interesting and important information. When I decided to read the section, I found that Confucius had a short saying that compares with the Christian saying “to turn the other cheek”. His saying is as follows: “to repay an injury with straightness”. The author of the book, Craig, was trying to make the reader decide which saying is more accurate or correct, and I thought they were the same thing so why ask which is better? After reading the rest of the section and thinking a more deeply, I believe that Confucius’ saying may be “better”. I say this because rather than turning a blind eye to a person who mistreats you, why not attempt to “straighten” the situation. I’m not insinuating the idea of fighting fire with fire, but to simply make it known what they did wasn’t okay so that they can learn from their mistakes, while continuing to be the bigger person.

China Lights in Milwaukee

Last weekend I was able to go home and I came just in time for the annual China Lights Festival that happens in my hometown. The China Lights Festival is a display of lanterns that represent different cultural treasures and historical symbols. You can walk around between the different lanterns and read about their meaning and history. The festival also presents many Chinese folk-culture performances. When I was there, there was a martial arts performance. There are also many booths with various samples of Chinese cuisine and they all look so tasty! I have attached some pictures and a link to the website if you’re interested!

IPS Newcomer – 1

I am completing my ICR requirement at the IPS Newcomer School and so far it has been an incredible experience. The IPS Newcomer program is designed to help acclimate children and families that are new to the United States. The classrooms are comprised of students from many different areas of the world although a majority of the students speak Spanish. My role as a volunteer is to assist the teachers in any way I can. Usually, I help make sure the students in the classroom understand the instructions and that they have their questions answered. The class sizes vary between 15-40 students per teacher so our assistance is very helpful especially since most of the students are still learning English.

At first, I was placed in a science classroom and the topic of the day was the solar system. The students were making flashcards of all the planets and as they were working together most of the students were speaking Spanish amongst each other. I loved listening to the language even though I have no experience with Spanish what-so-ever. After the science class ended, I moved to help out in the music classroom. The teacher was very interactive with the students and they all loved her. The students spent the class practicing 2 songs that they had previously learned and they had the option of playing the guitar, ukulele, keyboard, or drums. The coolest part of the music class was at the very end when they had some free time and one of the students began to play classic Spanish songs on the guitar and all of the students joined in and started singing. This situation reminded me of a class discussion that we had on music and cultural patterns in music and how music tends to unify different cultures together. I doubt that all of the students in that classroom were from the same community but they all joined together in song and they all empowered each other by clapping whenever someone held a microphone and sang into it.

Overall, this first experience with IPS Newcomer was incredible. It was great to see how the students felt empowered in their classroom because others in the classroom were in similar situations. I can’t imagine how challenging it must be to acclimate to a new school without this type of program. IPS provides a very safe place that removes a roadblock for newcomer students and families as they transition to a completely new community.

How Apple and Other US Companies Support The Chinese Government

This past week, American tech giant Apple removed multiple apps from the IOS app store which conflicted with the views of the Chinese government. Apple removed a Hong Kong mapping app and a news outlet app in respect to mainland China’s wishes. Both of these apps were viewed as supporting the pro democracy movement/riot in Hong Kong, and as such the Chinese government wanted to quell the power of these apps.

Apple released an official statement which stated that they removed the mapping app because it “has been used in ways that endanger law enforcement and residents in Hong Kong” and has been “used to target and ambush police.” I believe that Apple’s defense here is really in their own self interest, not with the people of Hong Kong or even the people of mainland China. Apple generated over $51 billion in revenue during 2018 from the Chinese market , accounting for about 20% of their total revenue for that year. Apple produces most of their products within China, so in order to protect their massive supply chain they have to side with the Chinese government on any social issues which may arise.

Apple is one of the most powerful companies in the world. They have the power to influence millions of people the information accessed by their customers through the devices they sell and maintain.  Major companies like Apple are in a tough spot when it comes to freedom of information in foreign markets. They need to support the sale of their products in foreign nations but at the same time not go totally against their own values. Apple does seem to be hypocritical when it comes to their stance on China, stating “We believe that Apple can best promote fundamental rights, including the right of free expression, by being engaged even where we may disagree with a particular country’s law”.

I believe that the censorship of information in China is detrimental to their rise in the world. If their own people are not allowed to think for themselves and learn all that the world offers, then how can China take over the US both socially and economically?

 

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/10/apple-deferred-to-the-chinese-long-before-the-hong-kong-protests.html

Modernizing China during the Recent Decades

While reading chapter six in The Heritage of Chinese Civilization, I found some parts very interesting. One of the sections discussed the economic growth that China has gone through in recent years. Craig mentioned that “by most measurements, in 2010, China’s economy will be the second largest in the world”, as this book was published before 2010. I wanted to see if this prediction was accurate so I found this article by CNN from January of 2011 that confirms the prediction. In 2010, China’s economy had a 10.3% growth surpassing Japan with $6 trillion following behind the United States with an estimated $14.6 trillion GDP in 2010.  CNN also presented an interesting visual that displays economic growth for fifteen different countries that I found interesting.

Another topic from this reading I found interesting was the population growth that Craig discussed. Craig mentions that China’s population was estimated to peak in 2030, and this would lead to “too few workers to support the many who have retired”. I thought this was an interesting statistic and wanted to see if it was true. I discovered that China’s population is now expected to peak in 2023, instead of the estimated 2029, according to a study done by and online database company, Global Demographics and analytics firm Complete Intelligence. Part of this will be attributed to the “maternity cliff”, which is described as a decrease in the number of women who are of childbearing age (defined as between 15 and 49). The fewer women who can give birth will lead to fewer births unless each woman has significantly more children, which is unlikely according to Tony Nash, the chief executive and founder of Complete Intelligence. One cause of this “maternity cliff” and the peak of population is the one-child limit. It is believed that China lifted this policy was lifted too late as now, all the women who will have a child before 2035 have all been born. The effect of the population peak will last for many years, as there will be a large “baby boom” then it will decrease significantly effecting schools, toy production and dependency rates in the future. 

China Today

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/10/10/nba-preseason-game-china-tips-off-players-have-been-silenced/

NBA Chinese business partners are ending their relationship with the league because multiple players and fans have been protesting or commenting on the freedom of Hong Kong. It is unfortunate that China is bullying people into silence to keep business relations.