Assimilation or maintaining ancestral heritage
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Posted:Mar 16, 2008 3:23 am
Last Updated:May 12, 2024 11:21 pm 4436 Views
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Assimilation or maintaining ancestral heritage
Living in America, one wonders if it is better to assimilate or remain true to one’s heritage, whatever it may be, Japanese, Chinese, Italian or Nigerian. I suspect that in years past, people born in foreign countries tended to live in the same area out of necessity, that is, they were forced by the general populace’s prejudice to live in Japan Town, Chinatown, or Little Italy. Coincidentally, living amongst others from your ancestor’s homeland also provided companionship, others that spoke your language, understood your cultural idiosyncrasies. It provided a buffer zone and a place to combat homesickness.
Remaining within such environments had disadvantages. Living amongst such comfort reduced the motivation or need to learn English language skills, including reading and speaking. I have a friend who believes her lack of English skills has created an advancement ceiling in her career. Chemical & Engineering News (a publication of the American Chemical Society) recommended in an article that foreign-born graduate students should also attempt to maintain friendships outside of their own ethnic or national backgrounds to facilitate the development of English language skills and foster assimilation into American life.
Total abandonment of one’s heritage and ancestral culture also has disadvantages. My parents refused to speak the ancestral language in the house hoping to foster assimilation. Now I regret not having the language skills for business purposes. Being knowledgeable of subtle cultural behaviorisms is also beneficial, in business and science. I have heard many foreign born Asians complain about American society and it’s shortcomings…the inadequacies of the schools, the violence/lack or safety, the lack of respect.
So I guess one should consider a middle ground. One could try to retain the best of the ancestral ethics and mores and use them to modify the American framework. Despite the need to develop English skills, retain the ancestral language skills. I also propose not resorting to blind adherence to the old ways. Not all of them are worthy of such obedience, even in the home country.
jpollock
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Hiking and swollen fingers
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Posted:Mar 15, 2008 12:06 am
Last Updated:Jan 2, 2011 9:26 am 6102 Views
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For the first couple of times I hiked Mission Peak, I noticed my fingers were a little swollen. I was a little alarmed and wondered if I was having a medical problem. I did some research on the web and discovered that it could be a result of salt deprivation resulting from the hike. I guess in order to replenish the salt I had sweated out, the body responded in part by trapping fluids in body tissue, causing the swelling. It has also been suggested that the swinging of your hands while hiking contributes to this swelling effect.
To remedy this effect, I have learned that drinking a can or glass of V8 (a high sodium drink) the morning of the hike and drinking a can at the top of Mission Peak minimizes the swelling effect. I also periodically clench my fists as a sort of isotonic exercise. As a result of these activities, I no longer experience the swelling that frightened me the first few Mission Peak trips.
jpollock
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Tongue type and wine preferences
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Posted:Mar 14, 2008 11:47 pm
Last Updated:May 12, 2024 11:21 pm 4352 Views
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A recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle (Unconventional wine expert says the number of taste buds determines your wine preference, San Francisco Chronicle, March 7, 2008, by Stacy Finz) mentioned recent work by Tim Hanni, describing a correlation in the types of wine you like with the number or concentration of taste buds in your tongue. He believes that the higher the number of taste buds per given area, the more sensitive your tongue is and the more likely you prefer delicate flavors, lower alcohol levels and often, sweeter wines. In contrast, on the other end of the scale, if your tongue has fewer taste buds, you are more tolerant to alcohol, but also prefer red wine, cabernets, Rhones, Old Vine Zinfandels, Brunello, Barolo, Italian Amarone.
I prefer Reds, Old Vine Zins...so I wondered if I am a tolerant taste bud person. I like those wines (Australian Shiraz) because the flavors are bolder. While I drink and occasional cabernet, I think I am unable to appreciate soft nuances between high price cabs ...by high price I mean more that $100 a bottle. I do however also like sweet wines, so bold and sweet/fruity tend to be my favorites (Henry's Drive Reserve Shiraz was my most memorable wine...). I started drinking sweet wines before I cultivated a taste for reds. I like stoney german rieslings (J.J.Prum). So perhaps what you also started with affects the wines you like and drink. I am a firm believer of drinking what you like, not what everyone else says is the best...
jpollock
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Out the door...at 1am
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Posted:Mar 13, 2008 1:24 am
Last Updated:May 12, 2024 11:21 pm 4736 Views
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I just let my cat outside at 1 am in the morning because he was making those "I want out" noises and pacing back and forth in the area of the bed room he has taught me to mean "I want out". Before I used to be afraid that he would get beat up or some cat hater would do something to him...Now I just go to sleep and if I wake up during the night, I go to the door to see if he wants in...I could keep him in because it is late and I may not let him in right away...But he seems to handle himself well...even if he does occassionally return with a new nick in his ears...
jpollock
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Too Many Books to Read
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Posted:Mar 13, 2008 12:57 am
Last Updated:May 12, 2024 11:21 pm 4047 Views
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...I want to read a book on fascism (Three Faces of Fascism,by Ernst Nolte) to understand the basic concepts and refute arbitrary analogies with former fascist states. I want to reread (I read it when I was a ) "We Seven" (a book about the seven Mercury astronauts). I want to read a book about the FDA procedures and the Hatch-Waxman Act (ugh) for professional growth. I want to read "Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression" because it sounded good in the literary review section of the San Francisco Chronicle (that source directed me to the Kite Runner and the Namesake). I want to read several military books about unconventional warfare (several stuffed in a box of books for storage...hahaha like those will ever get read...). I just sold some Anne Coulter and Bill O'Reilly books to the used book store....always nice to read about the enemy....but I never got to read them....so all I did was indirectly support them by purchasing their books....(double ugh). I want to read some Charles Dickens or the Jungle by Upton Sinclaire or In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote just for classical reading.
What I did manage to read...caught up and finished all the Harry Potter books, the Starter Wife...
I am currently reading Shoeless Joe by W.p. Kinsella (Field of Dreams)... I think the Heathen book is next...
jpollock
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In the Shadow of the Moon
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Posted:Mar 12, 2008 11:54 pm
Last Updated:May 12, 2024 11:21 pm 3891 Views
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I am watching the DVD entitled "in the shadow of the moon". I was a when the actual events described in the movie was occuring in real life. It is a very interesting movie, but perhaps it is interesting to me because I am a of that time. I was a science nerd then, and being a nerd was not socially acceptable then. There was no thought that nerds could be affluent...IPO's (Initial Public Offerings) were unheard of... I think teenagers now are not so interested in science... I was just thinking that the friends I had in high school, also nerds, are all engineers or professors.
jpollock
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Isolated Housewives
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Posted:Mar 10, 2008 11:28 pm
Last Updated:May 12, 2024 11:21 pm 3862 Views
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In the Sunday March 9, San Francisco Chronicle, there was an article (Front page A1 and A22) discussing women having H4 visas (dependents entering the US with a husband having a H1-B visa). Apparently, if you have an H4 visa, you are not allowed to work or get a social security card. Thus when the H4 spouse enters the US, even if they have a university degree, professional license or extensive work experience, they are unable to work. This often results in the H4 spouse experiencing depression and extended homesickness. I was just thinking that spouses from Asia should consider this if they are planing to follow their H1-B spouses to the US.
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