105 Learning Journal #4

[Noelle Garcia]

My classmates' presentations were interesting in that I learned a lot about a variety of cultures I am not very familiar with. One part of culture that I find fascinating is the fashion that is unique to each culture. It makes me wonder at what point did people stop wearing the specific clothing identified with that culture in exchange for the custom pants/jeans and shirt combo. I also love the concept of each article symbolizing something because it reminds me of the history that piece of clothing has, and its relation to that culture's story as a whole. One thing that stood out to me were the bathhouses in Korea, and made me think about the values Koreans hold in regards to cleanliness. The fact that certain services like those exist in that certain region and space must be a reflection of the values they hold as a culture. Take for example the value of respect for the elderly with Filipinos, and how it is so deeply ingrained in the culture that there are words to denote terms of respect in everyday language. The intertwining of language and culture is very fascinating.