What was I supposed to blog about again????!!!!!!one111

BWAAAH!!!!!11!!!!1one!!1

Whitney has the printout that I need, so I guess I'll fly IFR.

*disclaimer: my culture (family) does not think too highly of Islam. It is my belief that it is not possible for America and Islam to get along. Sharia law doesn't work in a democracy, and Islam is not 'Islam' without sharia law. Anybody is welcome to debate this with me, as I still understand that a human being is a human being, no matter what religeon, but I highly doubt that my opinions on Islamic culture will ever change.*

The speaker on Islam was very good at conveying the information in an understandable manner. Unfortunately, I did not learn much, as I have already done some research into Islam (I wanted to know why I heard people shouting "Allahu Akbar!" after something was blown up, shot, or lit on fire).

I did like the discussion on modesty, it is something that I have thought about before. I completely agree with the idea of each person having their beliefs and customs, but there is no need to wear them on our sleeves. 

CHRISTIANITY IS A VIOLENT RELIGION!! The bible is full of people committing violent acts on behalf of God, it is a part of the history. Not to mention the horrible things that were done to people because of Christianity. (Saving people, then killing them to make sure they don't stray from the path of God for example)

Christianity had it's turn to toss the world into war, now it's Islam's turn.

Anyway, I better stop before I actually start to get worked up, it's just that, If I see a group of people who are all wearing the same hat, and one of them says "I'm going to kill you, your family, and destroy everything you hold dear." I dont worry too much. But when others in that group agree, and begin to take action against me, I get defensive, and nobody won a fight with defence.

"But what about the people in the hat group that don't want to kill you?" one may ask. I have not seen any of them lift a finger to help me, or stop the others in their group. And all the rest will sit quietly and do nothing while the more agressive of their people follow their own agendas.

I suppose I should censor myself, because I can just see these words biting me in the ass later in life, but part of the reason we are in danger is because Americans are afraid of stepping on toes.

When was the last time a Buddhist from Tibet tried to blow up an airliner? Why do we bother searching them? Because we dont want to make the Muslim population angry, because it is the Islamic EXTREMISTS that are doing the bombing. There is nothing wrong with racial profiling, even if they profile me on a trip to Saudi Arabia.

Bah, see? I went off again.
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The second part of the assignment was to interview the "oldest living reletive" about our family history.

My grandma talked for quite some time, in fact I said this "Tell me about where my family comes from." and she just went off the deep end. I have two full pages of handwritten notes (written quite small)  My family has been in north dakota for 5 generations, I'm in the 5th. There is at least one full blooded norwegian, and one full blooded german. There was also a Cherokee Native on my grandfather's side. There is a lot of information to sort through, I think I'm going to try to upload a digital copy of my notes to the blog cause it would be a lot of typing, and the little lines and notes and bubbles wouldn't convert to typing very well....

Class last week.

For the life of me, I cannot remember how to spell (or even say) her name. She told us about life in Ukraine, and it is very differnent. I enjoyed listening to her talk about her experiences in the United States, and how they compare to the ways of life in Ukraine.

The videos were informative, but they were a little dated. I wonder how those people would react if I asked them what they want to be called. Whatever happened to "sir" or "ma'am".

What was realy funny was the comedian after class. He told a few jokes involving race, and they were very funny... "How many locks do you have?"

The class discussions are very lively, and I feel as if I'm walking through a minefield. Some of the items of discussion could flare up into very hostile situations...

What I want (Part II)

When I signed up for this class I had absolutely no idea what to expect. I only knew that it was required to take at least on of two classes to attend the trip to China. Schedule conflicts did not allow me to take the other class, so I signed up for this one.

During class today it was explained what we are supposed to take away from this class. Now that the purpose is known, I can add what I want from the class, personally. My previous statement of "Learn how to avoid putting my foot in my mouth" still stands, however, there is one thing I must add.

I want to be exposed to other cultures because I need to have an understanding of why things are the way they are. I don't want to go into too much detail, but I know there are groups of people who don't like me simply because I am who I am. It would be nice to have a better understanding of why.

What I expect from the class is to achieve my two goals. It sure would be nice to get more out of it though.

The movie we watched was interesting, once I got past the bad acting, but it did show some difficult situations, and some of them I have actually been in. It is nice to be able to learn how to react in a situation without having to screw up and learn. Much like the Chinese proverb,

"The fool learns from his mistakes. The wiseman learns from the mistakes of others"

So what does the Weismann say?

What I want....

A soda, a million dollars, maybe a pony too. Unfortunately intercultural communications cannot give me those things. Instead I hope to settle for learning how to keep my foot out of my mouth when dealing with other cultures.

I don't understand...

This is a blog, huh? I have been trying to help Wee get her blog set up. Kara and I are going to watch some RWJ =3 when we're done here. It will be epic. We can see viral videos from other cultures, usually involving stupidity and physical pain.

Peace, love, and a heck of a lot of fun!


Vinny