Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Painting a Picture
Two people can go to the same place in the world and come back painting two completely different pictures to those who are wanting to learn what it was like in that part of the world. Last night I did something brave and bold that I don't generally do. I was in my room when I overheard my roommates friend talking about China. He was saying more or less his opinion that women have more equality to men in the work force in China then in most places of the world. Now I do not know if this is true or not, but I can tell you that when I lived in China teaching English that was not what I felt or observed as my view to be the case. Normally when I do not know a person too well I am hesitant to step in and share my views. I probably would have stayed in my room listening to their conversation only making rebuttals in my mind. However, in class I'm learning that it is okay, even good, to challenge others views and share my opinion. So I walked into the living room and began talking with him. I asked him questions and tried to understand why he felt the way he did. Then I shared some of my feelings and views as well. It was a very good experience. I was able to gain insight into new areas and I considered points that I hadn't considered before. Afterwards I thought. "Isn't it interesting how we can both go to the same place/culture and more or less come back with different views and interpretations." Because of class discussions I have started to ponder this concept or painting a picture. What type of picture do I currently have of Mexico and the place I will be staying in Mexico? Is this picture accurate? Am I glamorizing what my field study will be like? What type of picture will I paint for others of my experience when I come back? Will it be true to the experiences I went through while living in Mexico? I know that I have some faults assumptions and I hope to change these before I get to Mexico. I must admit that during class on Monday when I saw pictures of Mexico and the places I might be staying at I realized that I have painted a faults picture. I am changing some of my views because I'm beginning to see things as they really are. That is exciting. I have to acknowledge the faults assumptions I have made so that when I arrive in this area of Mexico I can get the most out of my experience because I see things as they really are. I hope that after my field study the picture I try to paint will be as accurate and true to the real thing as it can be.
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Maggie- Thanks for the comments you gave me in class! I do agree with you that it is ok for 2 people to come back with two ideas because they had two different experiences. That is so true. I didn't go into that or portray that way in this last post, but I had thought about this specifically. He was living in a different area of China then I was. It connects to what we were learning in class this last Wed. When writing this I was trying to connect to the main culture of China. What I didn't address was the fact that there are many different subcultures, like family cultures, group cultures, etc in that main culture. These things would of course have impacted our views. Thanks for pointing this out. It is a very important point that should be clarified. As well I do not feel that one idea is right or wrong. Our own personal experiences we had shaped our different individual views. What each of us saw individually is truth because where we lived those experiences were applied knowledge. I feel that each of us can have different views and they can both be right. In life there is not usually one answer that is “just right.” I think that is because we come from different cultures and subcultures so in each of those different circumstances each view can be correct. Is what I'm trying to express making sense? You know like Dave said in class. Stealing in one situation can be correct and in another it can be wrong due to the circumstance. So due to the circumstance of our cultural makeup the answer can be right for right from one view and wrong from another but they can both be right. It just depends on what context you’re coming from. Oh and yes, "false" is what I meant to write when I wrote, "faults." Grammar is not a strong point of mine and it was early in the morning, which doesn’t help. I will work on this. Please continue to point out those things I do grammatically that are incorrect. This is an area I hope to improve through these journal entries so I can use all the feedback I can get. THANKS!
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