Blog Assignment #4 - From Two Years in the Melting Pot

PART1: What do you think of Liu’s need to be with other Chinese? Have you had a similar experience? What do you think accounts for the need to be with other people from your own country, even if they are strangers?

“Try not to hang out too much with people who speak the same language.” This is one of the common advice if someone is planning to go abroad to learn a language. Since the language-learning comes from a lot of speaking and listening practice, that is obviously something to avoid to make a faster progress because you would not use the second language if it is not needed. Nevertheless, I have seen so many students who are spending most of their time only with the people who are from the same country. In fact, I am one of those students. I feel comfortable and secure with them because I know we have a lot in common in the current situation and the things we have experienced.
Liu felt relieved only because he was with Chinese people even though he had never met them before. I totally understand what Liu felt. I like his term "bridge person." and I agree with his description. I think that is why we are trying to be with the people from our own country especially at the beginning. If you move in somewhere strange, everything is new and you don’t know how to deal with things in a different system. When you are having a problem, they are willing to help you because many of them have experienced the same difficulties and they know how to take care of them. Moreover, they can explain the solutions better using their native language. They become the “bridge person” who connects you with the whole new world.
However, our tendency to be with the people from the same country is not only because the adapting procedure. As the writer mentioned, sometimes it is hard to understand Americans’ conversation although we understand every single word. This is because we don’t know about the “background.” They share the same history, culture, and educational system. For example, if an American makes a joke with a dress saying “Why don't you buy that dress? You would be a prom queen tonight!” and another replies “Come on, I am not a high school kid anymore.” I would question myself, why is it funny? I know neither how typical American high school kids are like nor what the prom queen looks like. This discordance would make me depressed because it seems there is, and there will be a wall between them and me no matter how good my English is. It is about whole life understanding based on the experiences which I can't learn fast. People from my country would understand me better simply because we shared many things even such as TV programs and celebrities. These similarities bind us together tightly.
For these reasons, in a foreign country, people tend to seek someone who is from their own country even if he/she is a stranger. Since people who have the same nationality make a big familylike society in the world, once they are out of their country, even a stranger becomes like a family member.


PART2: Based on our reading selection, post three words and their definitions that you had to look up in a dictionary this week.

1. excerpt
Noun. An excerpt is a short piece of writing or music which is taken from a larger piece.

2. preeminent
Adj. If someone or something is preeminent(pre-eminent) in a group, they are more important, powerful, or capable than other people or things in the group.

3. dispel
Verb. To dispel an idea or feeling that people have means to stop them having it.
e.g. The president is attempting to dispel the notion that he has neglected the economy.

4. complacent
Adj. A complacent person is very pleased with themselves or feels that they do not need to do anything about a situation, even though the situation may be uncertain or dangerous.
e.g. We cannot afford to be complacent about out health.

Blog Assignment #3 - Nonverbal Communication

What differences in gestures, eye contact, and body space have you noticed between your own culture and what you have seen in the United States? Why do you think this is? What similarities in nonverbal communication have you seen between the two cultures?

We can communicate somewhat even if we are in one of the African tribes where the language is totally different from ours. That is because a big part of nonverbal communication is universal. Emotions such as happiness, fear, and sadness are good examples; nobody would smile when they are angry. Facial expressions can be used to disguise true feelings as the person, who is about get a ticket, does in the textbook. However, even this fake smile can be universal as well. I have seen many similarities in nonverbal communications so far. To be specific, talking to someone with a kind manner, a smiling face, and warm tone of voice means speaker is caring about the listener. I met someone talking to me in this way and I appreciate her kindness because I was able to feel her care for me, even though it was not my native language. Moreover, we know hugging and touching mean something positive showing affection. I would say, as far as universal emotions, facial expressions, and physical contact(although the extent of physical contact can differ.), there are more similarity than differences.
On the other hand, there are many differences in nonverbal communications. One of the differences in gestures is greeting manners, when Americans greet each other, they wave their hands, whereas Koreans bow each other to greet, unless they are close. There are big differences in eye contact and personal space too. In Korea, if you talk to someone who is order than you, you should avoid their eye contact especially when you are being scolded. In this situation, looking into the speaker’s eyes means your disobediences to him/her. In the U.S., Avoiding eye contact would give the speakers the impression that listener is not paying attention to his saying and he is not respecting the speaker. Regarding the space, it seems the personal space is very small or almost doesn’t exist in Korea. Once, my American friend asked me why Korean people stand so closely together when they are in the line. I never noticed it until she said that. Now I realized the “body bubble” is really small in Korea. Koreans would stand right behind you even while you are withdrawing money at the bank or ATM. Because the personal space is almost "0", they wouldn't think they intrude into someone’s personal space. Therefore, unlike Americans, they are not used to apologizing when they bumped into someone. Koreans may be perceived as rude by people who are not aware of this difference.

Blog Assignment #2 -The First Four Minutes

Option1: What kind of image of yourself do you like to portray when you meet someone? Do you feel you are usually successful at portraying yourself as you want to be seen? Is the personality you use when you first meet someone the real you?

“The First Four Minutes.” I have heard the importance of these few minutes from a cosmetic advertisement. The advertisement also said that what is worse is that you have to meet the person 60 times to change his first impression of you. No wonder people are struggling to make their first impression better.
I also want to give people a good and positive impression every time I meet someone at the beginning. However, it is not so easy and I cannot be successful at all times. I picture myself as a happy, outgoing and sociable person. I am pretty self-confident as well. I think that is because I am satisfied with myself and my environment. I could add some good personality traits that I barely have such as ‘patient’ ‘relaxed’ just to show people a "better me", but I don't do so, because I would like to show people the real me. People usually can tell whether it is real or not. Even if they do not know at first, I do not want them to be disappointed when they find out in the future. Moreover, it would not be very successful if I portray myself a lot differently from what I really am. Honestly, I think first impressions include a big part of appearance as well. Therefore, I sometimes try to wrap myself in a better-looking box. But I strongly believe I should keep the contents of the box. In this way, I have been able to succeed in portraying myself as I want to be seen. I think the best way to have a nice first impression is to be honest and positive. People always love that kind of person. I simply try to be someone who I would love to meet.

Laguage is a chameleon, which adapts its surrouding environment.

If you are planning to buy a dictionary, you should try to buy the newest version available. It is not because of its design or price, but because of its contents. Language is changeable and it has many different forms, even if it means the same.
Over time, languages can change drastically. Many words are being generated while some of them are vanishing. That is why my language and that of my next generation are both different. New words usually reflect certain time periods and its trends. For example, my mother has a problem understanding my little brother’s saying. For his age, they tend to use acronyms and initialisms such as ‘kilmack’ for ‘kileul macknunda.’(kil and mack are initial letters in Korean), which means to block the road. They use these words not only when they talk, but also when they write. Likewise ‘OMG’ stands for ‘oh my God’ and ‘lol’ is for ‘laughing out loud’ in English. He also uses such word “Hyorish”, which means to wear clothes like Hyori, who is Korean popular singer. This, my mother would not know, unless she were interested in temporary celebrities and their fashion. If this extends to my grandmother, it gets even worse. She might say pancake pointing a pizza, if she does not know what the pizza is. She would not understand great amount of English words that we also use as Korean in our daily life.
As the author Amy Tan says, languages have different levels of formality. I also use different languages depending on the situation. Especially in Korea, I control my language both when I am in formal status and when I am with elderly people. With my family and friends, I would not worry about my grammar or manners. For instance, if I am at the interview, I would like to be considered as a well-educated person who uses proper and high-class language. Therefore, slang, and made up acronyms-as I mentioned above- and even verbal phrases will be replaced with appropriate expressions. When I introduce myself at the interview, I would say ‘I obtained/ received/earned my university degree at UD,’ instead of saying ‘I got my degree at UD.’

Who am I? Get to know Misol!

Hi, everyone. Welcome to my blog! My name is Mi-Sol Han and I am from Seoul, Korea. I came here at UD as a transfer student. Back in Korea, my majors were English and German linguistics. However, when I transferred to UD, I switched my major to Psychology. Since this is the first semester that I have started my new major, everything is quite tough for me. But, I like challenges and new and unique things make me excited! I think that is why I like to experience different cultures, food, and people. A big hobby of mine is traveling. I have been to almost 15 countries so far and I hope to travel around the world someday. Here at UD, I live in Cristiana Towers. I miss living with my family: my parents, younger brother, and my dog, Liebe, which means "love" in German. My brother plays guitar. Originally, my parents wanted me to be a musician, which is why they named me “Mi Sol” which is from Do Re Mi Fa Sol...etc. However, my brother is the one who ended up doing music instead of me. He is really good. He won the grand prize at rock music contest in Korea. My interest is teaching. I find language is a very interesting subject to study. I want to teach foreign languages to international students in the future.