1. After watching the “Eye of the Beholder” video, I thought about the social institution in our culture. According to the Human Education in Diversity textbook, social institution is defined as “a set of rules, or norms, that enable us to get through the day without having to figure out how to behave toward others” (Cushner, 2015, p. 6). In the video, what I perceive as ugly is beauty to the normal people in the video. To me, the patient 307 looks very normal, and the doctor and nurses look ugly. As I watched this video, I thought about social norm is different in every culture. I came to America from Korea when I was 13 years old, therefore, I was exposed two cultures as I grew up. There are many cultural differences between two countries.
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As I mentioned above, I was born in Korea and I spent 13 years growing up in the capital city called Seoul. When I was young, I did not have any interaction with non-Koreans. I did not know what culture meant, and I did not have any intercultural experiences. I had the opportunity to watch American movies and television shows, but I do not recall learning about other cultures. I learned about different people when my family immigrated to America. I lived in Los Angeles where the majority of students were Hispanic. That is when I experienced “perspective consciousness.” Cushner defines it as “a person’s awareness that he or she has a view of the world that is not universally shared” (p. 215). I experienced that the interaction between students and the teachers in America are different than what I experienced in Korea. One thing I remember from back than is how students move around the school to get to each class rather than staying at one class like elementary school. In Korea, students stay in the assigned classroom and the teachers rotate. Therefore, students eat in their classroom rather than going to cafeteria to eat like American schools. I did not know that I had to go line up at the cafeteria to eat lunch, and I was so lost. Of course, I did not have any friends and I could not make any friends due to a language barrier. In American culture, strangers communicate with “small talk.” I refused to talk to anyone because I was not comfortable speaking in English, and I was from a culture without small talk. Over time, I learned to have a small conversation with others and I ended up making new friends in the new
As I mentioned above, I was born in Korea and I spent 13 years growing up in the capital city called Seoul. When I was young, I did not have any interaction with non-Koreans. I did not know what culture meant, and I did not have any intercultural experiences. I had the opportunity to watch American movies and television shows, but I do not recall learning about other cultures. I learned about different people when my family immigrated to America. I lived in Los Angeles where the majority of students were Hispanic. That is when I experienced “perspective consciousness.” Cushner defines it as “a person’s awareness that he or she has a view of the world that is not universally shared” (p. 215). I experienced that the interaction between students and the teachers in America are different than what I experienced in Korea. One thing I remember from back than is how students move around the school to get to each class rather than staying at one class like elementary school. In Korea, students stay in the assigned classroom and the teachers rotate. Therefore, students eat in their classroom rather than going to cafeteria to eat like American schools. I did not know that I had to go line up at the cafeteria to eat lunch, and I was so lost. Of course, I did not have any friends and I could not make any friends due to a language barrier. In American culture, strangers communicate with “small talk.” I refused to talk to anyone because I was not comfortable speaking in English, and I was from a culture without small talk. Over time, I learned to have a small conversation with others and I ended up making new friends in the new