Cultural Communications Blog by Gabby Tucker

 Chapter 12  What the Future Holds and Forgiveness The past is the future, and the future is the past. Or history repeats itself. Have you heard those phrases before? What does that even mean?  We live in an unpredictable world with many cultures, beliefs, and morals. Not one person is the same. Every person on this planet would look at one situation and view it differently. We all have different beliefs, largely due to our familial upbringing. Nothing is predictable, which is scary to most. Our economy can change in an instant. Terrorist attacks can happen at random. The coronavirus can take out a good chunk of humans. Accidents can happen. The list goes on. When issues arise, what do you do? Do you help, do you get mad, do you blame, do you get even or better yet, do you forgive? Forgiveness is hard. Think back. Someone has wronged you. You were upset and deeply hurt. Or something tragic happened.  How did it make you feel? Did you want to harm the person? Did you ...

 Chapter 9  The Power of Pop Culture Pop culture or popular culture is everywhere. Why is it everywhere? Because it is popular. Anything in the media or social media, from movies to music, is considered pop culture. It is often controversial and dramatized. People complain that children are exposed to too many things and have no boundaries. Are they right? That is a matter of opinion.  Pop culture is worldwide. However, US pop culture is more prominent internationally than vice versa. U.S. Americans aren't as exposed to populate culture outside of the United States.   Popular culture is not a high culture ; it is now considered the former low culture .  Pop culture has four characteristics: 1) It is produced by culture industries 2) it differs from folk culture . 3) it is everywhere, and 4) it fills a social function.  It is not social media. Sure, social media helps to influence pop culture but it is not pop culture in itself.  Pop culture can be a ...

 Chapter 10 Benefits and Challenges of Intercultural Relationships A benefit of intercultural relationships is that they help one see and understand the differences better. Hearing issues or complex things someone from another race is subjected to helps me understand and put things into perspective. The open forum and the examples help me realize when I need to see another viewpoint. I don't want to live a sheltered life. I know I have many privileges, others don't, and there are others around me who are more privileged than myself. We are all raised differently, but to understand what another person goes through is challenging. In order to understand, I think communication is key.  Relational learning is good as long as it is done with sincerity and kindness. I often get nervous speaking to another race about racial situations that are negatively affecting all of us. I don't want it to come out as a blame game and a yelling match. I love to speak with the understanding w...

 Chapter 8  Types of Migrant Groups After reading this portion of the chapter about migrant types, I understood the differences. The four types of migrant groups and whether they are voluntary or involuntary help to break it down. Sojourners are those who leave for a period of time in a voluntary capacity. I almost studied abroad in Amsterdam, so I would have been considered a sojourner if that had happened. An immigrant is the other type of voluntary migration , but this one is long-term.  Both of these scenarios seem to be on the happy side of migration and would possibly be something people would look forward to.  The involuntary migration humbles me in many ways. I cannot imagine having to leave my home for a long or short time without my consent or desire. In 2019, an estimated 71 million people worldwide were forced to flee their homes. I cannot even wrap my head around that number. That is just crazy.  Hearing the immigration stories is eye-opening ...

 Chapter 6 Moving Between Languages When I moved to Colorado in the 6th grade, it was a unique experience. Many people were bilingual or multilingual in our ski resort town. Where I came from, it wasn't as prevalent in the Midwest as in Colorado. In fact, many schools in Colorado started teaching Spanish in the First grade. Many people were bilingual or multilingual, speaking both English and Spanish. Many would speak Spanish when we went into a grocery store or restaurant. Once, in Glenwood Springs, we entered a Burget King, and every person in the restaurant spoke Spanish. Everyone at the tables, the people in line, and the people who were ordering their food all spoke Spanish. I wanted to learn Spanish and tried, but I didn't pick it up easily. I didn't have a driving force behind it, like going on a vacation to Mexico. So it was just another thing to learn to me in school. Everyone else was far more advanced since they had been learning it for an additional 5 years.  ...

 Chapter 5  Cross-Cultural Perspectives People's identities carry much individual weight when looking at "who we are" or our identity. In many cultures, the family dynamic is a strong and unbreakable bond where the influence of the family is quite prevalent. Many families in Mexican, American, Asian, and African societies are taught to bond within the family first and then with others later. Creating that bond and sense of self, also called familial identity . The family's opinions influence that person's life, and decisions are made with that influence as a factor.  Individualized identity is more self-reliant than familial identity. The person doesn't look for information or approval from others. They are independent in their thinking and decision-making process. The pressure of being independent and making singular decisions reflects this identity. Spiritual identity is another dimension of our identity. The beautiful thing is we are not the same. Many in...