This week we got a chance to hear presentations about different aspects of students' target language cultures. The presentation about Indian weddings was fascinating given how lavish, valued, and expensive weddings are in Indian culture. I thought Kristen did a really good job of making comparisons between how much typical Americans vs. Indians make, but yet the amount of money Americans vs. Indians will spend on a wedding is huge. I also found it interesting to hear about the rituals associated with weddings such as the red dresses and the stepping patterns that a couple will take with different prayers said after each step. Kristen also did a really great job tying the topic of weddings to female justice issues via the concept of dowry deaths. I had no idea that men got paid to marry women and that they would be willing to kill if the amount of money wasn't sufficient.
Alan's presentation on Korean table manners was also really unique. It was very obvious that Korean is a culture that denotes a lot of respect towards elders as all table manners seem to rely on watching when the oldest person sits, what pace the oldest eats at, etc. I am a very fast eater so I thought the idea of having to keep pace with the oldest person at the table's eating pace would be challenging for me because I'd be tempted to eat a lot faster. The etiquette of receiving a drink and pulling up one sleeve was also something I'd never heard about and certainly something different from American culture.
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