Reflect upon what you learned from the culture project presentations--both your own and those of your fellow learners.
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Reflect upon what you learned from the culture project presentations--both your own and those of your fellow learners.
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I learnt a lot from my presentation and the best part was actually being a part of a Sindhi wedding myself because I had first hand experience with all the rituals that gave me a deep understanding on the subject. My language partner also gave me his perspective on Sindhi weddings as different types of Sindhis have a few varying differences in the way they celebrate weddings. Being a Sindhi I actually never learnt as much about the rituals of a Sindhi wedding than I learnt through working on this presentation and for me my culture is something I deeply value and I am proud to have deepened my knowledge in this topic.
I got to watch a few of the other presentations. From the ones I did watch I liked Aromi’s presentation on Korean cuisine and the stereotypes about that. I was amazed at the variety of kimchi that Korea has and the unique fermentation techniques used in making that was highly interesting.
From Jensen’s presentation what I liked was learning about the various holy sites that Iran has and the one I really like was the pilgrimage site of emam Reza. I have some knowledge about haj because in India I grew up with many muslim friends but the sites I learnt through Jensen’s presentation were different and something new.
Rafy’s presentation was on immigration laws and integration of immigrants in Israel was informative. I was unaware of how the language Hebrew affected the different groups of people living in Israel. Most amusing was seeing the number of Arab-Israelis who speak Hebrew decreasing as compared to other groups of people.
I got to see David’s cultural presentation where I had some knowledge about what he was talking about since I am from India and India and Pakistan have a long history that is part of my culture. What I was amazed by were the strict laws about muslim beliefs that don’t exist in my country. The case studies he brought up at the end of the presentation were heart felt.
My presentation: Rabindranath Tagore's literature influenced the writings in both India and Bangladesh as he's considered a classic today. His poetry was mystic and his novels, dramas, and essays displayed his political/social views (anti-nationalistic and modernistic).He wrote and composed the songs that are now the national anthems of Bangladesh and India. His influence still lingers and all of South Asia still celebrate his birth anniversary every year.
Jensen's project was on monuments in Iran and he talked a lot about religion and culture. Something about his presentation that I liked was that he had a lot of vocabulary for words that he learned- it was definitely productive for his language learning in Farsi. It was also nice that he included historical backgrounds for the monuments he included because though I love history, I don't know all that much about countries' histories. Another cool thing was that he showed the influence of other cultures in Iran today to show how important that was the country's cultural identity today.
Rafy's presentation was very well done. I enjoyed the way he set it up with questions he was interested in answering and then answering them throughout his presentation. I would have never learned just how interesting immigration is when looking at it historically and how it contributes to societies. In Israel, I learned that every 10 years there is a population growth of a million and that 20% are Arabs. I was able to recognize Arabic words in his Hebrew and I found that was very cool because of language integration. I thought it was amazing that mothers in Israel have more influence and right on their children because they carry more burden in rearing them. The Israeli immigration seems quite exceptional in that it's helpful in helping their immigrants assimilate to Israeli life- for example with education and language lessons in Hebrew. I learned about an ethnoreligious group that I did not know existed- druze, a religion that derived from Islam. Something that I loved about Rafy's presentation was that near the end I had a question that came from what he was talking about one point (which I can't seem to remember now) and he answered it as he went on. The question was "what is an Arabic accent in Hebrew?"
Arumi's presentation was on Korean food and it was put together beautifully. Everything flowed into each other and she included a lot of vocabulary about food. I liked that she made us laugh and made funny comments throughout her presentation- it kept me engaged and interested. I learned that chili pepper was introduced to Korea by European influence. I thought that was absolutely remarkable because now it's a staple part of Koreans' diet. One of my favorite parts of her presentation was that she had a map of Korea and showed how the climates affected what foods the different parts of the countries ate most; it was very innovative. I did not know that kimchi was created through fermentation, but now I know! I also learned that Korea has a fridge made specially for kimchi. I found that interesting and it made a lot of sense because of how important kimchi is to Koreans. It only makes sense for them to have a fridge specific for that!
Lejla presented on Turkish coffee and it was a great presentation. My favorite part was the marriage customs that coffee has in Turkey; I heard of this idea before and I feel as though it happens in another culture, too. I just can't remember which. I liked that she included a Turkish saying in her project- "fala inanma falsiz kalma" which translates to "do not believe in foretellings, but do not stay without them." The contradiction in that is hilarious to me. The tradition of coffee in Turkey is deep in their culture because it's a way for people to develop their relationships and bond through. It's very much the opposite of what coffee in the western world is; to be on the run!
Labiba presented on Korean rage, and idea that never occurred to me before and so it was very remarkable. This sort of cultural concept of anger/suppression was a surprise to me, but at the same time made sense because it happens in so many cultures that don't allow many things in their society. According to Labiba, Korean rage is a new psychological study that's been on the rise recently because it just came to peoples' attentions. In Korea, anger is considered a "forgotten emotion" because it's an emotion they tend to not show and instead suppress to stay with cultural/societal identity. For this reason, sometimes when someone reaches an extreme level of suppression they will explode and this explosion is called "han". Although this concept of anger applies to Koreans because of how they tend to suppress it, it is really a psychological concept and can apply to everyone. I loved how she incorporated historical anger into the presentation to give a background on Korea's perspective of the matter over time.
Mallory presented on an Iranian movie called "Facing Mirrors" and it is the first Iranian movie that has a transvestite in it. When it comes to culture and gender identity, it sounds extremely intriguing. She showed us a trailer and it looks promising. I won't summarize the movie that she talked about, but it was basically about the story of two separate females- one with a husband who's in debtor's jail and is now working as a taxi driver to earn money in his stead, and the other a woman who wants to undergo a sex change and become a man. The female-to-male person faces conflicts with his family who pressurizes him to marry a woman and so the story unfolds when he meets the other woman in her cab as he's running away from his house. This movie shows gender breaking roles because of each of their identities and I want to watch it! I talked to Mallory about it and hopefully I'll get to see it soon.
As the semester comes to an end, each one of us presented on various cultural aspects correlated to the languages we are learning. Each one of us picked a topic, which interested us. I learned not only many things from my classmates and the respected culture they are studying, but about the culture I am studying myself as well.
From Jenson’s presentation I learned that are many famous sites in Iran. These cities can reflect on the countries’ person religious belief to just the beauty of the country itself. One of the most interesting to me was learning about the location that is concerned important to Shiite Muslims. I have always thought that Mecca was important to all Muslims, regardless if you were Shiite or Sunni. But considering the differences in beliefs between Shiite and Sunni Muslims, this made more sense to me. These religious sites have some sort of dedications to all the imams of Islam.
From Rafy’s presentation I learned about immigration in Israel. It was not a surprise when I found out there is an expectation for many Arabs to learn about Israel’s culture, such as Hebrew and so forth. What really did surprise me when Rafy stated that Israel does provide funds for any children who whose to attend school if the family does not have funds. This is when I realized media has a strong influence on our thoughts. With the constant imageries of war between Palestine and Israel, I did not imagine Israel helping Arabs. But what did not seem as a surprise was when Rafy stated one must know Hebrew in Israel to receive a decent degree. Although the two languages, Arabic and Hebrew, are very similar, it still must be highly difficult for immigrants to Israel to fully learn the language.
Aromi’s presentation about Korean food was my favorite. I knew many of the things she already stated due to the fact we both are currently studying Korean. But what did surprise me was the correlation between of Buddhist beliefs correlated to the meals. There apparently are certain colors and emotions that can be distinguished between each type of meal. Also, after asking Aromi why Koreans
Layla's presentation was so interesting! I really enjoyed the concept of using coffee grains for fortune telling. This proved that something simple as coffee and show the overall image of one's culture. Coffee is seen as a very important aspect of Turkish culture. Not only is it used on a daily basis to meet up with one's friends, but it also used during wedding periods. The preperation of the coffee is directly correlated to how they view the person who proposed to them. The more enjoyable and less bitter the coffee, the more the woman likes the male who propsoed to them. Another interesting fact about Turkish coffee was that it was so popular at one point, that Muslims did not go to pray calls as often. As a Muslim myself, I found that rather amusing.
Noraya's presentation about Rabindranath Tagore was interesting but rather familiar. Growing up in a Bangladeshi household, I heard about Rabindranath Tagore frequently. I was aware about his influence in poetry, science and literature. It was pleasent to see something from my childhood being presented to my classmates. All I could think about during Noraya's slideshow was my mother's face when she first told me about Rabindranath Tagore and his influence on Bangladesh.
Malorie's prersentation about "Facing Mirrors" was really interesting. I once watched a movie about how conservative Afghanistan is. Therefore, hearing about a movie that deals with LGBT issues was rather surprising. After watching the trailer I was interested how the movie exactly was made. The concept itself seems like it would not be accepted in Afghanistan, so it made me wonder if filming it was rather difficult. Also, finding actors for the movie was probably difficult as well. But it was great to learn that in the end, regardless of the culture, the characters did get their happy ending.
My presentation was about Korean Rage. I first became interested with the idea of “Korean Rage” after reading the New YorkTimes article, “The Other School Shooting”. The article was about a shooting that took place in Okios University in Oakland, California in April 2, 2012. The shooting was committed by One Goh. One Goh was the second Korean who started a shooting in a university. The first being more well-known, was taken place in Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007 by Seung-Hui Cho. The author initially only wished to research about school shootings, but his interest started to branch somewhere else. He was curious as to why there have been not one but two university shootings committed by Koreans. After visiting many places and talking to various Korean-Americans, and Goh himself, the author finally met a blogger from San Francisco who was equally interested in the common theme in both shootings. He then mentioned the fact the han and hwabyung.
Han and Hwabyung are not found in the English language. Actually in Western standards, these two are very similar. Both are a description of a state of hopeless, crippling sadness that is combined with anger at an unjust world. Both are a part of Korean vocabulary as long as anyone can remember. The roots actually date back to the country’s history of occupation, war and poverty which I will explain further layer.
Rafy gave an informative and statistic-heavy presentation on Israelian Immigration laws. The struggles of immigrants there is universal to the struggle of immigrants elsewhere: the politicization of learning the country’s language, the difficulty assimilating into the culture, government help with employment opportunities and housing, etc. It seemed that there was a correlation between knowing the language and successful assimilation.
It was a nice surprise that I already knew of Rabindarnath Tagore before Noraya’s presentation, as I have come across quotes and poems by him before. But she highlighted his intercultural interactions with various thinkers of the time, including Einstein, William Butler Yeats, and Gandhi, which I hadn’t known. I would be interested to research their conversations on nationalism, colonialism, science, and religion since Noraya mentioned that they had divergent views.
Jensen talked about Iran’s various religious holy sites, which include tombs such as Ferdowsi’s tomb, gardens, Persepolis, etc. I should look to the works of Ferdowsi, who is considered the greatest Persian poet, particularly his classic, “The Shahnameh” or “The Epic of Kings” which is the history of Iran’s past.
Lejla presented on Turkish coffee’s important place in the culture, a topic I related to instantly due our presentations’ underlying theme: food is indelibly linked to a country. I found it interesting that, although coffee reigns supreme in Turkey, it isn’t cultivated there due to its unsuitable climate. That coffee holds sway in potential marriages and that it prompted the Ottoman rulers to ban coffee drinking due to it being more popular than attending mosques only highlights coffee’s immense popularity with the Turkish people.
Labiba’s presentation dealt with the concept of Korean “rage” and the two words hwabyeong and han. Han is a uniquely Korean word. The presentation reminded me of a post I’d read on askakorean.blogspot.com, and the blogger cited an article by Jay Kang, a Korean American writer who wrote a feature about the Oikos College mass shooting. That psychologists are treating “Hwabyeong” as a psychological disorder, though, does sound like some sort of pharmaceutical ploy--to my jaded ears at least.
I would not have known about an Iranian film (“Facing Mirrors”) that centers on two women, one of whom is a transsexual man, something that surprised me due to stereotypes attached to the country’s rigid stance on sexuality issues. I will definitely watch the movie later.
And finally, my presentation on Korean cuisine. Prior to my research, I had not known about the philosophical aspects. Based on my experiences with Korean food, I mainly got the 'health-conscious' aspect. It may be that the philosophical aspects, yin and yang balance and the like, are less overtly espoused in modern day Korea. But it's in the cuisine's roots so regardless of whether or not it still holds true, it is important to be aware.
I was particularly intrigued by the presentations about food. From Aromi's presentation on Korean cuisine, I learned how complex it is and the underlying symbolism and philosophical concepts surrounding what and how people eat and prepare their food in Korea. The fermentation process is used for a lot of the food preparation as it provides natural preservation for at least a year, encourages healthy bacterial growth, and gives the food a new flavor and texture. I personally enjoy fermented foods like pickles and kombucha. I want to look further into how I can incorporate the principles of the harmony between yin and yang in my personal diet post graduation.
Lejla's presentation on Turkish coffee taught me about the ways in which coffee traditions have proliferated within the culture despite it being an imported product initially from Syria. I find the courting and marriage rituals to be clever and sweet. I reallyw ant to have Turkish coffee soon so that I can have my fortune read form the coffee grounds. From hearing the way the coffee is prepared, it seems as though it has a strong taste. I love strong flavors in beverages so I think that I will more than likely enjoy my first cup. Overall though the message surrounding coffee in Turkish culture is that the company and conversation shared over coffee is what is important and I can dig that.
Thanks to our presentations I was able to learn a lot about different cultures.
From Jensen’s presentation I learned a lot about the monuments in Iran. I learned that Ali-sadr cave is the longest and biggest water cave in the world. Ali-sadr means “cold”, and that is how the water cave got its name. I also learned that Jam’eh is the biggest and most important mosque in Iran. What I wrote down but unfortunately was not able to memorize was “Ma’zerat mikhaaham” which means excuse me.
From Noraya’s presentation I learned more about Rabindranath Tagore and his influence on Bengali literature. I was surprised when I found out that Rabindranath was close friends with Albert Einstein and Mahatma Gandhi. I did not know that he received the Nobel Prize for Literature and was actually considered to be Shakespeare of the South Asia. I also enjoyed the song we listened at the end of the presentation. It was very relaxing!
From Rafy’s presentation I learned more about the effects of immigration on the Israeli culture. I enjoyed hearing about immigrants and their ability to integrate in the Israeli culture. I like how Rafy first discussed what the government does to help those immigrants and what resources it provides to them. I also enjoyed hearing about the comparison between new immigrants and Israeli citizens based on poverty and education. I also learned that there are universities in which students can study in Arabic but the range of majors and available fields of study is not very huge.
I really liked Malori’s presentation that was about the cinema within Iran. I like the trailer we watched “Facing mirrors”. The movie is about Rana who is a traditional wife in Iran whose husband is in prison. In order to pay debts and bills she has to drive a taxi. One day she drives Edi who is very wealthy and disguised as a woman. When Rana finds out that Edi is a transgender, some conflicts occur. As Malori said “Facing Mirrors” is the first film in Iran that includes a transgender character. Also I learned that it is usually men who choose to be women than women that choose to be men.
From Aromi’s presentation I learned more about Korean food. I have to say that I have never tried Kimchi but after this presentation I believe I should as it is obviously the most popular food in Korea. It was interesting to hear about the Seaweed Korean soop (contains high amounts of iron) that is very popular in Korea and is also eaten for birthday celebrations. I did not know that Koreans are extremely concerned about their food and that they choose very carefully what they intake into their body.
From Labiba’s presentation I learned about Korean “rage.” This was a very interesting topic. I never thought that Koreans actually keep their emotions (anger and rage) inside them to that extent that they eventually have physical demonstration of rage. I learned that when Koreans keep their emotions inside themselves it is called Han and when they finally demonstrate them it is called Hwabyeong. Today, this issue is actually known as psychological disorder.
From my presentation I learned so much about the world’s famous Turkish coffee. What I found extremely interesting (but also ironic) was that there is not even a single coffee tree in Turkey because of unsuitable climate conditions. I learned how Turkish coffee and coffee houses were so popular in the past that men would spend more time in them than in the mosques. I also learned that at one point in time, coffee houses were shut down because the Ottoman rulers were intimidated by frequent men’s gatherings. Then, I learned about marriage customs that are defined through coffee rituals. Men would judge the efficiency of women through her skill of preparing coffee. Then I learned about the fortune telling, which is a very popular thing in Turkey. I learned that fortune telling is even a business in Turkey where people go to professional fortune tellers to have their life fortune read from coffee grounds.
I learned from Jensen's presentation that there are several famous sites, including gardens and holy cites. The gardens are great sites to visit. Religious holy cites are usually tombs of Imams (maqbara) and the most famous one is the tomb of the 8th Imam, Reza. I also learned about the leader of the Islamic revolution, Khomeini. If I ever need to learn about the history of the country, I should read the works of Ferdowsi.
Aromi's presentation about the food culture in Korea was very interesting. It was interesting to hear that Korean meals always contain rice, kimchi, meat or fish, and up to nine side dishes. I am very surprised about the wide variety of fermentation methods used to make kimchi. The five phases of health, food, and spices are very interesting. It seems like Korean meals are usually rich in color to present the different elements, but they maintain the health aspect.
I learned from Noraya's presentation that it is not necessary to be literate to learn about a famous poet, especially when his works become part of the culture of an entire region. This poet was also a philosopher, a composer, and a play writer. He was also close to Gandhi and Einstein. His poem, My Golden Bengal, became the national anthem of Bangladesh. His poem, Ruler of Minds of People, became the Indian national anthem.
I specially enjoyed Layla's presentation. Turkish coffee is amazing. It is much richer and tastier than Starbucks. It was interesting to see its historical and profound effect on Turkish culture. Coffee houses became so popular that coffee houses are called schools of the wise in Turkey. At some point coffee became so famous that the government banned it. It was also amusing to hear about their marriage and coffee traditions. Since the future wife has to prepare good coffee for the groom, I would think that most Turkish women must be able to prepare amazing coffee. I am also familiar with coffee cup fortune reading, since we adopted that cultural aspect in my culture as well.
Labiba's presentation about Korean anger was interesting. I never thought that an emotion could be considered as a psychological disorder. However, this could be the way pharmaceutical companies are trying to make money. In Korean, there is a word that translates as (fiery anger). The first step is Han, which is the condition where Koreans maintain their emotions inside them for a long time. The next step is Hwabyeong, the physical manifestation of the anger. The literal meaning of Hwabyeong is fire and illness combined.
Malorie's presentation about the Iranian movie, Facing Mirrors. This is the first transgender Iranian film. The movie combines the story of a trans man (woman biologically) that is being forced to marry a man, and a happily married woman whose husband is in jail. It was interesting to hear a bit about gender roles in Iran. For example, women are not allowed to drive a cab with a man in the car.
Finally, I learned a lot about the Immigration laws and the integration of immigrants in Israel. Israel is a country of immigrants, therefore it is crucial to help them learn Hebrew and provide them with housing and employment opportunities to increase their chances of success. I found several scholar articles about different immigration groups in Israel and their success rate in the society. I found that immigrants generally have lower employment rates and higher poverty, which can be explained by the lack of language abilities. By focusing on Arab-Israelis, I found that they were the only immigration group whose Hebrew speaking abilities are not improving, but are actually declining. The Arabic language defines this group's identity, which may explain why they are not learning Hebrew. They are offered classes in Arabic with an Israeli curriculum. However, they do have to study Hebrew as a second language.
korea (anger) - people like to drink and may beat their wives so house-women are usually very angry. There are two words that relate to extreme anger and one is the physical manifestation of the anger. Rarely crimes are committed without good reason and violent outbursts are explained as repressed anger (hungogeo buno) that is expressed physically (hwabyeong).
Turkish (coffee)- Turkish coffee is a way of indicating when you want to get married. There are professional fortune tellers that read the grinds. In the centuries past, coffee was a political threat to the regime as coffee houses were widely popular and myths grew that during the prohibition policemen would first beat you and secondly, force you to drown in a bag. Coffee quality is still a tradition in the highest classes.
Bengali (Rabindranath Tagore): we learned that he won the nobel prize, associated with Einstein and Mahatma Gandhi and was the William Schakespeare of Bengal and India. He wrote the national anthems for both. Bengal is a Muslim country yet his anthem is accepted and sung by the lowest class workers. He wrote the first ten lines.
Iran Cinema: women make movies all women. Surgical procedures in Iran are approved by Ayatollah but not homosexuals. you can't drive with someone of the opposite sex but one does in the movie "facing mirrors." Marriages aren't based on love, but are prearranged. Respect to family members is very important and transgender is not widely accepted, although typically it is men who choose to be women than vice versa.
Iran (tourist sites)- I learned that many sites in Iran are religious holy sites. There are some that predate the Islamic period and include Ferdowsi's tomb and Persepolis. Very important is the Shia pilgrimage site at the emamzadah for Imam Reza, the eighth Imam. There are also churches formed in the aftermath of the Turkish genocide of Armenians. Ferdowsi wrote the most famous persian book, the book of kings.
I learned kimchi has lots of flavors, its made of garlic, pepper shrimp and greens came by Europeans from Japan
Koreans have beef jerky made out of some fish that they hang out to dry
Koreans eat seaweed at birthday parties
Koreans incorporate humors into their meals of sour, sweet, salty, and spicy. have special kimchi fridges
Israel has Arabs in the military but education and economy integration problems, lots of immigrants
Israelis have a word for return; the population of Arab-Israelis is growing faster than non-Arabs but some are leaving. Language barriers persist with employment and education disparities. Citizens can be non-Jewish.