I have more experience with foreigners than the average American.
One day in the spring of my senior year of high school, I stepped on a sheet of paper as I walked into my German classroom. It was the foreign exchange program info sheet of a girl named Rebecca Rutscheit from Meschede, Germany. I looked at her picture and just knew. The deadline for the program happened to be that afternoon. I ran home ecstatic. I had to have this girl as my foreign exchange student. My parents were shocked when I asked; I had expressed no interest in doing a foreign exchange program before. We talked it over and finally my mom beamed and told me to run and call the guy before we lost our chance.
"I'm sorry, Miss Watson, but there's no one left in the program named Rutscheit. She must have been selected already," the man on the line told me. I felt defeated. He suggested I look online at the other applicants. It was no use. I wanted Rebecca, not just any ol' exchange student. I didn't see any applicants online that made me want to call the man back.
Ring, ring!
I jumped. "Miss Watson?" the man asked.
"Yes, Miss Watson speaking."
"I found her! I found your girl! It's Rebecca Kutscheit, not Rutscheit! She's still available!"
***
Two weeks later my parents and I waited anxiously at the airport holding a sign. We hoped she would be a fraction as sweet as she sounded and looked on her info sheet. When I saw, it was like meeting a long lost friend. She threw her arms around me, kissed me on the cheek, and said, in the cutest German accent I've still ever heard, "Oh, hello! I'm Rebecca. It's so very nice to meet you. I'm so very thankful you chose me to be your friend." (She told me later that she'd rehearsed that speech the whole way on the plane so she could pretend she spoke English. :P) I am too, because she has remained my best friend in the world.
***
That was five years ago. She lived with me that time for a month, shadowing me at school, and begging me to translate slang in school to proper English that she could understand. I loved being able to speak rapid-fire German with her without anyone knowing what we were saying. On her first day, though, a boy in my theater class asked her, "So... do you guys think you were the good guys in World War II? Gassing people and stuff? I mean do they like teach you that that was right?" She looked at me, confused.
"Kate, what he mean?" I stared at her guiltily. "Translate please!" she requested in her sing-song voice.
"Yeah, translate!" shouted the class, all waiting to hear her answer. I felt my jaw tighten.
"I refuse to translate that question. Rebecca, tell the class what your classmates said in Germany when you told them you were going to live in Dallas, Texas."
"Ahh yes! They said, 'Oh, they murdered the president!'" Yeah. That's our reputation abroad, Texans. Is it fair to judge all of us on the actions of one man? I think not.
***
That summer I visited Rebecca in Germany for nearly a month. It would take me too many blogs to describe my experiences there. I am proud to say that I could easily converse with everyone, including Rebecca's maternal grandfather, whom her father refused to visit because he couldn't understand a word he said. This grandfather told me I speak excellent German. That was one of the highlights of the trip, since Rebecca's dad made such a fuss over how I wouldn't be able to speak to the grandparents.
***
The following summer she came to visit for the summer with her best friend, Carina. Carina speak very little English, to the point of hardly being able to communicate with my dad without a translator nearby. She had never been to America before and couldn't believe the Stockyards were real.
***
Last year we were fortunate enough to live together for the whole semester. Rebecca finished high school and wanted to live with me for a bit before going to college. It was a happy coincidence that my roommate was going to London for the fall semester, so Rebecca came and took her place. She was in the IEP program at TCU.
***
We try to meet on Skype once a week. We have always kept in touch through weekly emails, Facebook messages, et cetera, but Skype has been a real godsend. Now I have it on my iPhone so she can get ahold of me no matter where I am. I miss having her here with me, but it's not so bad, since I get to see her face-to-face on a regular basis. She suffers from reverse culture shock. She loves America and misses it desperately.
I am up for the Fulbright scholarship for Germany and one of the main reasons I want to go is so that I can spend nine months exploring Europe with Rebecca and all of the other friends I've made in Germany. She is "pressing her thumbs" for me everyday in hopes that we will end up living together again. Although my hopes are fairly high that she will eventually move to America, because she belongs here.
Needless to say, I highly recommend foreign exchange programs. I basically mail-ordered my best friend.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
Literary Theory: My World
If I suddenly found myself in charge of the world, I would make the following five changes:
1. Follow Europe's lead to support local economies. This is more of an American change. I would love to see more people going to farmer's markets, supporting locally grown produce, locally raised meat, locally made cheese... well, you get the idea! It also helps with fuel emissions because the food doesn't have to travel far before hitting your plate!
2. Make voting in every country required. That way everyone has a (albeit forced) voice. Voting should be as accessible as possible and people should be fined if they don't vote. (This already exists in one country, but I can't remember which!)
3. Create livable space stations. I would love to see more technology and funding be put towards space adventures, which is a bit hypocritical since I myself have no desire to go into space.
4. Promote solar powered energy in sunny places, and find a suitable alternative source in cloudier regions. I don't know a lot about energy, so don't jump on my case if this is a bad idea. Sunshine is free and should be used! I am a big advocate of green living.
5. Cure cancer. It's tragic that this awful disease is still plaguing so many people and stealing so many lives. The US is working hard to raise money for cancer cure funding, but I wish this would be more of a unified global effort.
1. Follow Europe's lead to support local economies. This is more of an American change. I would love to see more people going to farmer's markets, supporting locally grown produce, locally raised meat, locally made cheese... well, you get the idea! It also helps with fuel emissions because the food doesn't have to travel far before hitting your plate!
2. Make voting in every country required. That way everyone has a (albeit forced) voice. Voting should be as accessible as possible and people should be fined if they don't vote. (This already exists in one country, but I can't remember which!)
3. Create livable space stations. I would love to see more technology and funding be put towards space adventures, which is a bit hypocritical since I myself have no desire to go into space.
4. Promote solar powered energy in sunny places, and find a suitable alternative source in cloudier regions. I don't know a lot about energy, so don't jump on my case if this is a bad idea. Sunshine is free and should be used! I am a big advocate of green living.
5. Cure cancer. It's tragic that this awful disease is still plaguing so many people and stealing so many lives. The US is working hard to raise money for cancer cure funding, but I wish this would be more of a unified global effort.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Intro to Literary Theory: Common Sense is Complicated
"You'd need to know how photosynthesis works to research green plants, but if your work is successful, it may change the way we understand what photosynthesis means." (The Theory Toolbox 87) This, to me, was reminiscent of Frank Navasky in You've Got Mail: "Technologically speaking, the world's out of hand. Take the VCR. The whole idea of a VCR is that it makes it possible for you to tape what's on television while you're out of the house. But the whole point of being out of the house is so you can miss what's on television." I think that Mr. Navasky would have enjoyed The Theory Toolbox more than me, but I will say that this was one of the most interesting chapters.
To say that an ideologist is someone with their head in the clouds seems counterintuitive. Don't ideologists have great ideas? Apparently not, because ideas are not realities. I have posted before that I am not a realist, therefore this is not something I can really get behind. I love ideas. I thrive on ideas. Although unlike the politicians accused by Nealon & Giroux, I actually follow through with mine.
The statement, "You have to agree with ideology, or there's something wrong with you," made me pause to consider all of the times I have been guilty of saying, "It's common sense!" In terms of fashion, it's common sense that you should never pair black and brown. Yet when done right, it can be brilliant. It's also "common sense" that you shouldn't wear white after Labor Day but I think that's ludicrous. White is a lovely winter color. So I too am guilty of committing common sense fraud.
Nealon & Giroux write that "all meaning is contextual; all contexts are social," and I think that is something that Americans lose sight of. (Nealon 91) We are so often guilty of assuming that the American ideologies are the right ones, or even the only ones. For example/zum Beispiel, it is common courtesy to extend invitations to your home or somewhere, even if you never intend to follow through. ("Hey! How's it going? We should totally grab coffee sometime!") But in Germany, it would never be considered polite to mention that off-hand and never mention it again. For that matter, it is not polite to invite yourself to see a German's home, because they are much more private than Americans about their homes.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Conversation Partner 3
Yesterday I had lunch at Starbucks with June. I got there first, bought lunch, and grabbed a table. As soon as June saw me she wanted to know what kind of sandwich I was eating because she wanted to go get one. I told her that I was about to eat a veggie sandwich. It was so hard to suppress my giggles as she kept saying "wedgie sandwich." She has been here a year and still hadn't heard that there was a shorter way to say vegetable. She was delighted with the news, because she thinks vegetable is a difficult word.
I learned that Koreans like soccer best but that they are also baseball fanatics. She thinks that football is silly, and she said that most Koreans feel the same way. She told me about her weekend hanging out with Japanese IEP friends. She lived in Japan for a short time and learned Japanese but she said they mainly speak in English to each other because she thinks Japanese is so difficult. So take that, whoever thinks that all Asian languages "sound the same!" Her English was a little bit more polished yesterday, and I think the weekend English-speaking helped considerably. She speaks Korean with her daughters at home.
I should probably come clean. I think June might think I am a celebrity. She bought my children's book and constantly refers to my website. She always says, "I know real American author! Cool!" I have to admit, I like being in the same category as my beloved Mark Twain but I feel that's really (really) blowing things out of proportion! Still, we discuss writing a lot since it's a shared interest. Her book hasn't been translated into English or else I would purchase it. She said it's only available in South Korea.
We talked about the Fulbright scholarship, too, since my application was due yesterday. She had heard of Fulbright and seemed astonished that I would even ask if she knew what it was. "Very famous!" she'd replied. She told me that I would be a better European than American. Her reasons? "You eat healthy, you like museums and opera, you like walking places, you take dog all around. You are not very American!" (I should note that, in context, she meant the museums and opera are not common things to like for 21 year-old Americans, not Americans in general.)
I learned that Koreans like soccer best but that they are also baseball fanatics. She thinks that football is silly, and she said that most Koreans feel the same way. She told me about her weekend hanging out with Japanese IEP friends. She lived in Japan for a short time and learned Japanese but she said they mainly speak in English to each other because she thinks Japanese is so difficult. So take that, whoever thinks that all Asian languages "sound the same!" Her English was a little bit more polished yesterday, and I think the weekend English-speaking helped considerably. She speaks Korean with her daughters at home.
I should probably come clean. I think June might think I am a celebrity. She bought my children's book and constantly refers to my website. She always says, "I know real American author! Cool!" I have to admit, I like being in the same category as my beloved Mark Twain but I feel that's really (really) blowing things out of proportion! Still, we discuss writing a lot since it's a shared interest. Her book hasn't been translated into English or else I would purchase it. She said it's only available in South Korea.
We talked about the Fulbright scholarship, too, since my application was due yesterday. She had heard of Fulbright and seemed astonished that I would even ask if she knew what it was. "Very famous!" she'd replied. She told me that I would be a better European than American. Her reasons? "You eat healthy, you like museums and opera, you like walking places, you take dog all around. You are not very American!" (I should note that, in context, she meant the museums and opera are not common things to like for 21 year-old Americans, not Americans in general.)
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Literary Theory: Snow White & The Seven Dwarves
I never liked Snow White. I know, I said that about Little Red Riding Hood too, but it's true. As far as Disney goes, I always preferred the movies from the late 80s-90s, which I recently discovered is called the "Disney Renaissance." But, I digress.
My biggest problem with Snow White is that she's stupid. She's the fairest in all the land but she repeatedly lets strangers into her house. In my mind, it's a survival-of-the-fittest scenario and she is miraculously saved again and again despite her own naivety. In most version, Snow White "dies" multiple times! A high school teacher once told me that the definition of crazy is trying the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result. According to that teacher, Snow White is crazy because she expects to let strangers in and have it end without her dying. I also dislike that Snow White, in every version, relies on other people to save her. She just lies there helplessly. Even Maria Tartar says, "Snow White [is] so dull that she requires a supporting cast of seven to enliven her scenes." I think she is a terrible role model for girls. Beauty isn't everything.
I'll have to go watch the intro to Disney's Snow White on YouTube, because I have no recollection that the evil queen was Snow White's stepmother, as the introduction to Snow White in The Classic Fairy Tales discusses. I will say that I have always thought the queen was an excellent villain, but she's better in some versions than in others. I also never realized how violent the story of Snow White really is until I read all of the versions in The Classic Fairy Tales. Snow White gets beaten in The Young Slave, killed several times in the Brothers Grimm version (lace, comb, apple), gets her fingers cut off and is killed in Lasair Gheug, and again dies several times (lace, comb, apple) in Anne Sexton's poem. And yet things always end happily for Snow White, through no actions of her own. At least the hunter is always a virtuous character in each version, refusing to kill an innocent girl, and lying to cover for her. (Okay, so lying is particularly virtuous, but we'll forgive it in this case.)
Last note: Did it seem funny to anyone else that Snow White's name in Giambattista Basile's The Young Slave is Lisa?
My biggest problem with Snow White is that she's stupid. She's the fairest in all the land but she repeatedly lets strangers into her house. In my mind, it's a survival-of-the-fittest scenario and she is miraculously saved again and again despite her own naivety. In most version, Snow White "dies" multiple times! A high school teacher once told me that the definition of crazy is trying the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result. According to that teacher, Snow White is crazy because she expects to let strangers in and have it end without her dying. I also dislike that Snow White, in every version, relies on other people to save her. She just lies there helplessly. Even Maria Tartar says, "Snow White [is] so dull that she requires a supporting cast of seven to enliven her scenes." I think she is a terrible role model for girls. Beauty isn't everything.
I'll have to go watch the intro to Disney's Snow White on YouTube, because I have no recollection that the evil queen was Snow White's stepmother, as the introduction to Snow White in The Classic Fairy Tales discusses. I will say that I have always thought the queen was an excellent villain, but she's better in some versions than in others. I also never realized how violent the story of Snow White really is until I read all of the versions in The Classic Fairy Tales. Snow White gets beaten in The Young Slave, killed several times in the Brothers Grimm version (lace, comb, apple), gets her fingers cut off and is killed in Lasair Gheug, and again dies several times (lace, comb, apple) in Anne Sexton's poem. And yet things always end happily for Snow White, through no actions of her own. At least the hunter is always a virtuous character in each version, refusing to kill an innocent girl, and lying to cover for her. (Okay, so lying is particularly virtuous, but we'll forgive it in this case.)
Last note: Did it seem funny to anyone else that Snow White's name in Giambattista Basile's The Young Slave is Lisa?
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Conversation Partner
Today was actually my second meeting with June, but I thought we were supposed to keep a Word document journal of our sessions and turn it in as one big document so I didn't post about the first meeting on Blogger. Below I have copied & pasted my first journal entry:
-----------
Today's entry:
Today I met June for coffee. She ordered a cappuccino, her favorite. I ordered a tall mocha light frappuccino... okay, okay, and a warmed up piece of coffee cake. =\ Sue me, that stuff is delicious! We sat in the plus Starbucks chairs for two hours talking. She says she doesn't speak English very well, but she does!
I was so touched to hear that she had googled my children's book, searched for it on barnesandnoble.com and ordered it!! She said it should be here next week and she wants me to sign it. How adorable is that? She asked me to tell her the big long story of how my children's book came to be. I also learned today that she loves taking walks, so I might suggest taking her for a walk with Gabby (my dog and the main character of my children's book) on the Trinity Trails next week.
June also told me that she has two daughters who are with her in Fort Worth. She swears they speak English much better than her, but they all speak Korean at home. She also said that her daughters (who got to pick their English names) want to stay in Texas and are saddened at the thought of returning to Korea! Apparently there is a lot of pressure on Korean kids to be geniuses and go to the best colleges and get the best jobs and, "Here, no one cares." Sad, but amusing.
June and her daughters flew to NYC to meet her husband for a six day visit. This was June's second time to NYC and she says that if she were "young like [me]" she would move to NYC in a heartbeat. Her favorite part is Central Park because it reminds her of parks in Korea. She told me that she feels like a better mother here because she is a workaholic and lived at a studio near her job Monday-Friday in Korea and that her husband and mother-in-law took care of her kids during the week. She's really enjoying her time with her daughters in Texas and is also reluctant to go back to Korea, except that she misses her husband every day. These kinds of problems make my problems seem so minuscule.
Besides all that, we discussed my horses (she saw pictures on my Little Gabby Books website), health and fitness in Korea, language difficulties, books, et cetera. June is so sweet, I can't imagine anyone not liking her! Oh, and I also told her that I spoke with Rebecca over webcam last weekend and that she sends her love from Germany. June was delighted.
9-15-2010, 2-3 PM
Today I met June. She is from South Korea and has been studying in Texas for a little over a year. Her English is quite good but she is self-conscious about it. Turns out, she knows my best German friend, Rebecca Kutscheit! They were in IEP together last fall.
I don’t know much about South Korea so I was really interested to ask her about her country. She said that Americans are much more openly affectionate than Koreans and that eye contact here was shocking to her, because in South Korea, it is proper to look at someone’s nose rather than in their eyes. You only look in the eyes of close friends and family. So interesting! She also told me that the school system is very similar to American schools: elementary, middle, high school, and anyone with good enough grades can get into college.
We talked about our interests a little, too. June loves to read and write, as do I. She was so pleased to hear that I am a children’s author because she is a writer in South Korea! I gathered that all of her published books are about travel but she’s also working on some novels. She said she would love my help with her book about the United States. How cool is that, that now I know a published author in South Korea?
I can’t meet with June next week because she will be in New York with her husband. She told me that they fly back and forth to visit each other. She also mentioned that she misses her dog very much, but that her husband has everything in order. June is so kind and sweet, with a big grin! I am excited to meet with her again in two weeks.
-----------
Today's entry:
Today I met June for coffee. She ordered a cappuccino, her favorite. I ordered a tall mocha light frappuccino... okay, okay, and a warmed up piece of coffee cake. =\ Sue me, that stuff is delicious! We sat in the plus Starbucks chairs for two hours talking. She says she doesn't speak English very well, but she does!
I was so touched to hear that she had googled my children's book, searched for it on barnesandnoble.com and ordered it!! She said it should be here next week and she wants me to sign it. How adorable is that? She asked me to tell her the big long story of how my children's book came to be. I also learned today that she loves taking walks, so I might suggest taking her for a walk with Gabby (my dog and the main character of my children's book) on the Trinity Trails next week.
June also told me that she has two daughters who are with her in Fort Worth. She swears they speak English much better than her, but they all speak Korean at home. She also said that her daughters (who got to pick their English names) want to stay in Texas and are saddened at the thought of returning to Korea! Apparently there is a lot of pressure on Korean kids to be geniuses and go to the best colleges and get the best jobs and, "Here, no one cares." Sad, but amusing.
June and her daughters flew to NYC to meet her husband for a six day visit. This was June's second time to NYC and she says that if she were "young like [me]" she would move to NYC in a heartbeat. Her favorite part is Central Park because it reminds her of parks in Korea. She told me that she feels like a better mother here because she is a workaholic and lived at a studio near her job Monday-Friday in Korea and that her husband and mother-in-law took care of her kids during the week. She's really enjoying her time with her daughters in Texas and is also reluctant to go back to Korea, except that she misses her husband every day. These kinds of problems make my problems seem so minuscule.
Besides all that, we discussed my horses (she saw pictures on my Little Gabby Books website), health and fitness in Korea, language difficulties, books, et cetera. June is so sweet, I can't imagine anyone not liking her! Oh, and I also told her that I spoke with Rebecca over webcam last weekend and that she sends her love from Germany. June was delighted.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Literary Theory: Beauty & the Beast
I shouldn't have been surprised that Beauty and the Beast has been around so long. Even Disney admits that it's a Tale as Old as Time! But still, as a Classical Studies minor, I was surprised that I had never realized that Beauty and the Beast is based on the myth of Cupid and Pysche. Loosely based.
I can't say that I'm entirely on board with all of the stories included in "The Classic Fairy Tales" counting as Beauty and the Beast. Obviously De Beaumont's version is the most similar, and someday I would like to read de Villeneuve's version since it was not included in the book due to length. My favorite quote from de Beaumont's version is: “It is not good looks nor great wit that makes a woman happy with her husband, but character, virtue and kindness and Beast has all those good qualities. I may not be in love with him, but I feel respect, friendship and gratitude for him." I feel like every little girl needs to recite that quote again and again. "The Classic Fairy Tales" states that Beauty and the Beast is a parable for arranged marriages and was meant to help ease anxieties about marriage, but I see it more as a guide for what qualities young women should look for in men.
I don't find The Pig King nearly as favorable because the beast-character doesn't have any redeemable qualities. He's a cold-blooded murderer and doesn't even have to be a pig! At least Meldina loved him, unlike the swan maiden in The Swan Maiden, who was tricked and captured by a young hunter. She doesn't have the option to fall in love with him. My least favorite is The Frog King, because the beauty-character is not virtuous and in fact throws the frog against a wall, yet is still rewarded with a handsome prince in the end! I thought Urashima the Fisherman was a lovely story, because (a) it sounds like a Greek myth and (b) they truly loved each other. Plus, I think it's a nice tale for children, since Urashima is the cause of his own grief by disobeying his love and opening the jeweled box. Finally, The Frog Princess is one of my favorite versions just because the Beauty-character is clever. It is also the only version with a suitor, so perhaps that's the foundation for Gaston. Like Urashima, Prince Ivan causes his own grief by being too impatient. Unlike Urashima, Prince Ivan searches for, fights for, and wins Elena the Fair in the end.
Beauty and the Beast has always been one of my favorite Disney movies. My parents never had a problem with me watching it again and again because they thought it held such great values for young girls. I always found it interesting that Disney changed Beauty to Belle (which obviously means "beauty") but they didn't give Beast a name, even after he transforms into a handsome prince. That always has and always will bother me.
I can't say that I'm entirely on board with all of the stories included in "The Classic Fairy Tales" counting as Beauty and the Beast. Obviously De Beaumont's version is the most similar, and someday I would like to read de Villeneuve's version since it was not included in the book due to length. My favorite quote from de Beaumont's version is: “It is not good looks nor great wit that makes a woman happy with her husband, but character, virtue and kindness and Beast has all those good qualities. I may not be in love with him, but I feel respect, friendship and gratitude for him." I feel like every little girl needs to recite that quote again and again. "The Classic Fairy Tales" states that Beauty and the Beast is a parable for arranged marriages and was meant to help ease anxieties about marriage, but I see it more as a guide for what qualities young women should look for in men.
I don't find The Pig King nearly as favorable because the beast-character doesn't have any redeemable qualities. He's a cold-blooded murderer and doesn't even have to be a pig! At least Meldina loved him, unlike the swan maiden in The Swan Maiden, who was tricked and captured by a young hunter. She doesn't have the option to fall in love with him. My least favorite is The Frog King, because the beauty-character is not virtuous and in fact throws the frog against a wall, yet is still rewarded with a handsome prince in the end! I thought Urashima the Fisherman was a lovely story, because (a) it sounds like a Greek myth and (b) they truly loved each other. Plus, I think it's a nice tale for children, since Urashima is the cause of his own grief by disobeying his love and opening the jeweled box. Finally, The Frog Princess is one of my favorite versions just because the Beauty-character is clever. It is also the only version with a suitor, so perhaps that's the foundation for Gaston. Like Urashima, Prince Ivan causes his own grief by being too impatient. Unlike Urashima, Prince Ivan searches for, fights for, and wins Elena the Fair in the end.
Beauty and the Beast has always been one of my favorite Disney movies. My parents never had a problem with me watching it again and again because they thought it held such great values for young girls. I always found it interesting that Disney changed Beauty to Belle (which obviously means "beauty") but they didn't give Beast a name, even after he transforms into a handsome prince. That always has and always will bother me.
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