Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Be Vewy, Vewy Quiet--We're Hunting Knowidge
By now, you and your peripatetic partner have identified a moment of knowledge with different implications for each of you, based on your cultures, your societies, your unique perspectives as knowers. By 9:30 pm on Wednesday, please record below what you found, what it means to you, what it means to your partner, and whence the differences. Read the full class's posts before we meet on Thursday and arrive ready to discuss, please.
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Cathy and I quickly found something we both see as very different. We went around to the back of Jesser by the playgrounds a pile of dead trees somewhat strategicaly placed. Although it seemed decapitated and messy, to me I knew it was a cross country jump for eventing. While Cathy saw it as a pile of dead trees and death, I saw it as one thing I live for and my future. For me, eventing is everything. Cross country is my drug as it gives me a rush like I believe nothing else can. One look at this old, decapitated jump and I see the sport that I cannot live without, but I also see my future. I see my dream to prelim level, to go to Rolex, to keep horses in my life forever.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting how one jump showed how important cross country is to my present and my future and could mean just death to another person. The jump was clearly old, and the tree trunk it was made of was clearly rotting. I thought it was interesting that the power of my love for the sport and my dreams influenced me to look beyond the dying trunk. For Cathy, though, she saw death. It is interesting to see how one person grows up changes the way someone looks at something. Because Cathy does not do cross country she did not see it the same way as me.
Heather and I found a tree trunk lied horizontally between to two trees.
ReplyDeleteFor Heather, she immediately related the tree trunk to cross country. The jump indicates her life, career and future.
For me, it is only a tree trunk. I saw death. I thought about how many years did it take the tree to become this thick. Why is it here? Did it got cut down when it was still alive?
In my opinion, the different interpretation of the tree trunk between Heather and me is resulted from the different experience we have in our lives. Heather almost have spent her whole life riding. She must have a strong feeling towards anything relates to riding. She may also relate normal things to riding while I can not. For me, I grow up in a city, where I can barely see real nature. Also, everywhere in a city in China is so crowded that there is no extra space for farms or barns. When there is a tree trunk lying in front of me, I can only relate it to a dead tree and I think it would be taken away really soon. However, my perspective have changed after I came here. There are so many riders in the school so I know more about riding. The tree trunk has more meaning to me now.
Today, during our hunt, Maah and I finally decided to pick a dandelion for our subject. At first glance, a dandelion can just be seen as a plant, but we quickly realized that we each had very distinct views or experiences with dandelions. For Maah, she started off by stating that the dandelion was just an invasive weed that takes over prettier plants and space. Relating it to her culture, she said that it could almost symbolize how Ghana was invaded by Britain. In the same way, both Britain and the dandelion were invasive and seen as a threat. In her eyes, Britain invading Ghana was almost like a weed taking over the original flowers and people. Related to my culture and background, I had a very different view. In America, most kids are taught that dandelions are wish-makers. This is how I’ve always seen them. When they get to the stage where the top is all white, I always make a wish and blow the seeds away. Similarly, growing up, I lived across from a big hay field. In the spring, hundreds of thousands of dandelions would litter the field. Once they became white, all the seeds would drift into my yard from the wind. After a simple 3 days, hundreds of dandelions would take over my front yard. I always found them to be quite elegant, while Maah saw them as the opposite. This shows that even something as simple as a plant can be seen in very different ways depending on someone’s experiences and culture.
ReplyDeleteSherica and I quickly found something that we see differently-however; our hunting brought a very surprising result. Naturally, I suggested we go to the barn. I figured we would have different perceptions about horses; and that we did-to start. Sherica come from Jamaica, where horses are used for labor but primarily for tourist purposes. She explained how horses are a major way of transportation in her country. They play a major role in progression of her countries economy. When Sherica thought of horses she saw a source of income, progression, and the future of her country. When she asked me what my perception of horses was I said something very different. For me horses are athletes; a partner. They are a creature of talent, knowledge, and care. I never saw horses as labor animals or even at that a human’s possession. I always saw them as a part of me and my future/career. In some ways our perception of horses was similar in the sense that both of us saw horses a symbol of the future. We discussed our diverse perception of horses on our way down to the barn. However, when I introduced Sherica to a 17.1 hand bay, Cosima, I believe I saw a change in opinion. Sherica had never been near a horse of that nature. Her perception of horses came from her culture. She had never thought of them any other way but as labor animals. Astonished, Sherica stood next to the large, yet careful animal in awe. We walked in and around the barn, feeding and petting horses. I could tell this was the first time she had eve interacted with “show horses”. By the end of the class period, while we walked up to school, Sherica admitted that her opinion on horses changed in a matter of 45 minuets. She even decided to apply for the horseback riding scholarship this winter and try to ride a horse.
ReplyDeleteAlthough my love for horses did not come from my culture or society, I believe that plays a major role in shaping who I am. I was so excited that I was able to introduce Sherica to a side of horses she never knew. On the other hand, I also got an interesting perspective of how horses are viewed in different cultures.
Today I partnered up with Jordyn. Although we are from the same nation, (even the same side of the nation), we grew up in very different environments—city and country. The first thing we talked about was the role that trees played in our childhoods. When I was little I remember climbing trees every day, frankly because there was nowhere to go besides the woods. I remember many, many trees in my back yard of all different sorts. On the other hand, Jordyn grew up in New York City, and she recalled a single tree with cement around the bottom of it by her home… (She never did climb it). Another thought that we both had, had been the annoyance we have with tourists. While I complained about how city people always drive slowly here, (looking at the foliage “OoooOOo aAaaaahhh!”), Jordyn complained about tourists in the city always looking at the skyscrapers and Time Square attractions. I found it very amusing how similar yet different our perspectives on certain things were. Although trees and foliage are very normal to me, Jordyn’s normal is a very urban setting. Branching off of our childhood contemplations, we began discussing our relations to other people where we grew up. I always remembered being friendly with my neighbors and being able just walk into their houses, or vice versa. My family never locked our door or worried about strangers. Almost everyone knows me in my town, and I know them as well. Something that Jordyn said was very shocking to me, in that she said her neighbors rarely interacted. Apartment neighbors who live right next to each other never speak a word or get to know one another. It is amazing to see the contrast in lifestyles of two girls living merely hours away from each other.
ReplyDeleteSo Qian Qian and I had a pretty informative discussion that quickly advanced from a somewhat superficial talk about how grass is grass and trees are trees into an exchange about the governments both of us grew up with and the ways that our governments affected our family life and the expectations that are raised throughout our childhoods by our parents and society.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is thats a really broad moment to encompass, so I'll focus on when Qian Qian and I were talking about when it all started. It began with grass. So in China (where Qian Qian lived until she was 8), they don't have a lot of grass left because of the Communist revolution (Still unclear why China lacked grass). So the government, more recently started planting grass everywhere, in order to rebuild it. The thing is, grass is so fragile when it's new, you can't really step on it or walk on it, so theres also all these little signs everywhere saying "Please stay off the grass!" Qian Qian was saying how the routes people take through the grass (you know, like sidewalks and paths), depend on where the route is worn down. I think what she was explaining was that people take the past most travelled, regardless of weather its the easiest one or not.
Now isn't that a metaphor for life.
Anyway. I spoke about how grass is pretty plentiful here in the United States, but also about how its pretty difficult to talk about my home in terms of grass because its something thats so constant. I dunno, in china it seems like the government and society are much stricter than here in America, where people walk wherever the heck they want without thinking twice about it most of the time. We have a lot of things; one thing we don't have as much of is discipline.
I dunno, I know I didn't exactly describe a moment but I think Qian Qian and I like to talk about this kind of stuff too much for either of us to only speak about it for one specific moment.
Sorry for spelling 'I don't know' like 'I dunno.' I don't know what came over me
ReplyDeleteI was paired with Yasmin and surprisingly what we shared different views on was the vegetation of the campus. We had been randomly searching for something interesting to relate to , but we never thought that the simplest thing such as grass could share many meanings. When I saw the grass and the vegetation such as the trees and the corn stalks I was brought back to my childhood in the islands. The grass for me represented callalo a green leaf that when cooked resembled grass. I particularly remembered how my mother would force me to eat it and threaten me if I didn't (good times). Then as we looked further we saw dried corn and hay. I was then reminded of a very popular tradition in the Caribbean, where at a young age we perform the Christmas story. The dry corn leaves and hay resembled what was placed in the manjor that Jesus was born in.Yasmin had indicated immediately that the grass to her symbolized being constant in a time of change. She stated that even though different weather patterns may occur , the grass will still always be there whether damaged or covered in snow, and has the ability to grow and repair itself. She also stated that the grass had symbolized optimism because of its bright green colour.
ReplyDeleteThe difference in our opinions was based on our different experiences and contrasting lives. Vegetation brought me back to the islands to my childhood and vegetation for Yasmin represented a more general maturity level that should be adapted by many people, to be like grass and stay constant in times of change.
While moving around the school with Grace, we saw someone taking her dog for a walk. Grace asked me what the dog signified to me. I answered her that according to my culture and I, dogs signified idiocy or stupidity of a high level. My culture has taught me to term dogs as stupid and useless creatures even though I find them friendly and wise. Every time I curse someone or something in my own language, I cannot miss using the word ‘dog’ (Pacifique is an expert at this, you might want to ask her more about the meaning of dogs in the Rwandese culture).
ReplyDeleteI was a little bit shocked when I tried asking Grace what dogs signified to her. What is interesting to know is that dogs mean friendship to Grace and stupidity to me according to our cultures. She told me that dogs described friendship, care and love to her. Grace told me that dogs were one of the admirable creatures to her in this world because of the way they handle themselves in the friendliest manner. Grace went ahead by telling me how she sometimes called her friends using the word ‘dog’ which would be an insult to me if somebody called me so. As a Rwandese, I call someone a ‘dog’ when I’m trying to say that they are stupid or foolish. This helped me to understand how a particular thing might have a different meaning to different people or in different cultures.
For our assignment Franny and I went down to the barn and decided to use horses as or topic for comparison. We had an interesting conversation on the walk there as Franny explained her love of horses and how she started riding. Up to this point, I hadn't given much thought as to how horses impact my life or what they meant to me. I then decided to reminisce on my few experiences with horses in the past before I came to Stoneleigh-Burnham. The earliest memory I can recall was from a visit to a popular tourist attraction in St. James, Jamaica where I live. The horses there are trained to give tourist rides in the sea water. I was amused at the fact that these horse would swim in water with people on their backs. I then recalled me memories of horses on carriages taking people on tours around the city. I noticed how fancily adorned they were for show. I hadn't given much thought even at that point. I then realized that horses in my culture and home are used primarily for Economic purposes and work. In the rural areas they are sometimes used by farmers to carry heavy loads of produce from place to place. It is a very different culture from New England where horses are used as athletes and for recreation. While I occasional saw them back home as simple animals serving a purpose to human life, this was not the case with Franny. It seemed like her entire life was centered on them and they were not mere animals but her friends. I found it quite interesting that something that I don't even takes note of could have a profound influence on someone else's life. We spent the rest of our time at the barn talking about many contradictions about horses. We settled the question as to whether weave came from horses, whether they are dangerous and even how to mount one. This was a very successful assignment for both of us and I left with my perspectives being changed with the help of Franny. For me horses meant boosting my countries economy in whatever way it can and a means of employment for many persons. Until today they were just that. Now they are a possible means of making my Stoneleigh-Burnham experience an adventurous one and a means of understanding the people around me.
ReplyDeleteAs Cynthia and I walked around campus, we came across someone walking their dog. I asked her what dogs represented in her culture, and was surprised to find out that they were not as welcome in her culture as they are in ours. She explained to me that dogs in her culture meant stupid, and calling someone dog is an insult. I think that that’s quite a parallel to our society. If you go to New York, or watch Jersey Shore for 3 minutes, you’re guaranteed to hear someone calling someone else dog, (or “dawg”). Although I was not raised in either of those places, When I hear someone calling someone else “dawg”, I can recognize it as a word people use to call their friends. I associate dogs with friendship, and loyalty. They’re man’s best friend. They’re intelligent service dogs that improve the lives of people with disabilities. They’re friendly, and I think that they’re actually quite smart. It was interesting to find out that because dogs have different uses in different societies, they are viewed as different things, and hold different meaning.
ReplyDeleteYesterday while Sarah and I were looking for something deep and thoughtful to relate to we went outside and came across a lone dandelion in a bed of flowers and grass. Sarah saw this dandelion as a wishmaker, something that would make wishes come true. She believed that if the dandelion was a flower and if it was blown on at the same time someone makes a wish, then that wish would be fulfilled. She talked about how she thought the dandelions were pretty and how mystical the could be. Sarah’s point of view leaned more towards the happy, wishful aspect while mine leaned towards the dismal side of the dandelion. A dandelion is a weed not a flower. It is invasive to other plants and spreads like an epidemic. I related this lone dandelion in a sea of plants to the British and how they tried to take over the world, specifically Ghana. The dandelion was the British and the other plants were the country of Ghana which the British had tried and successfully colonized. This dandelion made me think about how invasive the weed was and how intrusive the British were to Ghana. The British enslaved and oppressed my people. To me the dandelion is a danger to the surrounding plants, which to me means that the British were a danger to not only Ghana but other countries.
ReplyDeleteMy partner, Gabby, and I had some difficulty thinking about things that we shared different perspectives on, or even things “worth” sharing our perspectives on. We stopped by things such as computers and pieces of artwork but found that we could not easily think of something to say about it despite things that merely scratched its surface. Ultimately, as we strolled outside we realized looking at the grass made us think of different things. Though I do not believe grass has a special meaning to us necessarily, I do believe seeing it triggered different memories and ideas within us. When I saw the grass, the first thing that came to my mind was the brilliant green color. When thinking deeper, I realized the green color alone reminds me of happiness and optimistic things, furthermore it reminds me of spring. In general, bright colors tend to remind me of bright things that make me happy. Spring also makes me happy with its bright colors. Even further, grass grows, even if people do not realize, it is constantly growing. This makes me think of the growth of optimistic things, and change. Even through drastic changes, such as the change of seasons, grass will always be there though we may not be able to see it. Therefore, grass to me relates to the positive change in life and progress though it may take time. Gabby on the other hand, related grass to her childhood in Jamaica. She said the grass reminded her of a cultural dish that she has in Jamaica called callalo. Though it did not trigger such a good memory in her as it did for me. More vegetation we came across, such as the corn stalks and hay (near the grass in the oval) reminded her of another cultural childhood memory which was a popular tradition and Christmas which eventually related to Jesus and her religion.
ReplyDeleteOur perspectives on simple grass and vegetation differed significantly. However, our differences were brought upon by our different experiences in our past. Since I never really had a significant childhood memory relating to grass as Gabby did, I related it to life in general and in the future however she related it to her past and significant events in her life.
During our hunting time, Suki and I took a walk around campus and to the barn and back. We found a few things the we, and our different cultures, thought of differently. One of them was a tree. Suki explained to me that, to her, trees are a symbol of age and wisdom. Trees can stand for a very long time and they can also symbolize a family tree or a long line of family history. I believe the same thing, however that wasn’t the first thing that came to my mind. When I think of trees the first thing I think of is nature and how in East Boston, where I’m from, There really isn’t much of that. I told Suki how my grandmother refuses to go outside of the city because she just really hates trees and bugs and outdoorsy kind of stuff; this is very different from life at Stoneleigh. Suki also said that in China, Autumn is thought of as sad time because the leaves start to fall from the trees making them bare and not as beautiful. In New England, I’ve never really found Autumn to be a sad time; it is always so festive and there are a lot of traditions that go along with it.
ReplyDeleteDuring our time at the barn we also talked briefly about horses. Suki told me that in China, horses are mostly only talked about in history lessons when learning about wars and riding is not a very popular sport. I agreed that’s what it had been like for me when I lived in the city. I had never really heard of riding as a sport. However, when we both came here that is when we were exposed to it.
Overall I thought that it was really interesting that one thing could bring about so many different ideas and opinions. It was really cool to learn about things from Suki’s perspective and see how it was different from mine.
Brianna and I started our hunt for knowledge by skipping down the short cut from Jesser to the barn to see the ducks. We wanted to talk about how ducks had different meanings in our different cultures, in China, ducks are considered a delicacy to eat, but in American culture, ducks are considered animals that live in ponds, definitely not a food. I thought about how limited American food is, the mainstream meats are only chicken/turkey, beef and pork. However, in China, most of the animals (excluding humans…maybe?) that are not poisonous are considered edible. There are a few Chinese dishes that involve bullfrogs, different insects, and all kinds of birds, not to mention much of the organs of sheep, cows and chickens. What makes these diets in different cultures so different? I think that it has to do with that culture’s history. This discussion was just one of our subtopics.
ReplyDeleteOur conversation took a turn in direction when I tried to teach Brianna to say, “the grass is green” in Chinese, because we were skipping. I still feel guilty whenever I step on grass because in China, people were forbidden to walk on grass; there are always little signs that tell passerby’s to walk on the pavement or path instead of the grass. I have never seen a sign like that in America. This seemingly insignificant phenomenon can reflect a great deal on the American and Chinese society. The American society is a humanitarian one, in that, if a path was to be created that travels through a small area of grass, the engineers are likely to take notice of the path that most people take before paving a path, or they might create the path that is most convenient. However, this is different in China, because the procedure would be reversed, and the people would be expected to follow the path, and stay on the path. I guess this example was more metaphorical than I expected, but it could be interpreted both as a parallel to the societies, and the people in it, as well as just that the PRC is nominally democratic, because it isn’t humanitarian.
On Tuesday, Sophia and I had a conversation that revolved around how different our living environments were. Sophia was raised in a rural town, while I was raised in a big city. We started off our conversation on the topic of trees, and what they meant to both of us. To Sophia, trees had a role in her life. They are abundant in her environment, and she mentioned always climbing trees as a child. On the other hand, trees were not a big part of life in New York City. Trees were there of course, but they were given no space to grow because the roots were constricted by sidewalks. As a child, I remember Con Edison having to trim certain parts of trees down so that electric wires could have a clear path to go through on the sidelines of the block. What I got from this conversation about trees was that for the reason that we were raised into two different communities, we value things differently. Im sure that both Sophia and I were taught that trees were essential for human life, but the communities that we were in shaped us to think a certain way about trees. For Sophia, trees were nature, and just part of life. On the other hand, I was taught to think that trees were obstacles, and got in the way of things. We also talked about foliage and what fall looked like to us in our home towns. Fall in New York is not as vibrant as Fall in new England because there are not as many trees. Sophia said that when New Yorkers drive up to New England during Fall, they are usually in awe at the beauty of the color , because they are not used to it. However, Sophia is used to seeing the colors of Autumn because she is used to it. To us, this also shows how we value things differently because of what we are accustomed to..One fact that I found very interesting in our conversation was that Sophia didn't find out what a ‘block’ was until about fourth grade. In her community, there were no ‘blocks’. The streets were simply referred to as streets. This emphasizes the difference between the places that we called home, and it goes to show that what we know is highly dependent on society and culture.
ReplyDeleteOlivia and I had a walk around the campus. We talked about the tree first. The big trees remain me of ancient trees that I saw while I traveled to many places of historic interest and scenic beauty. Those ancient trees always were planted by a famous person, and represent the history of a family. Also, I learned the trees have persistence characteristic in Chinese class. Trees always stand straightly no matter in the wind or in the rain. The rough bark symbolizes the difficulties they met. But my pattern Olivia, who comes from Boston city, told me that her grandmother does not like outside activity, and hates the trees.Olivia also told me that Autumn is the pretties season in the New England. The leaves turn to gold, orange, and red, and some of them fall on the ground. It spreads out a huge colorful rug on the ground. While I spent three Autumn in SBS, I admit it, but from many poet I have read, Autumn is a sad season. The falling leaves make the people who are far away from the hometown miss their family and old friends. The destination of the falling leaves is the root, but those people cannot go back to their hometown.
ReplyDeleteThen, we went to the barn. the horse remains me the horse in the ancient war in the Chinese costume drama. Out of my expect, Olivia does not familiar with horse in her young age, and she started horseback riding in SBS. Since she lives in the city, she did not familiar with the sport horseback riding.
Finally, we talked about red which is the color of my country. Chinese flag is mostly red. We decorate our house with red, and let off red firecrackers during the spring festival, which is the biggest holiday in our country. Kids receive red pocket with money, and some brides wear red in the wedding. Red represent lucky in China, but Olivia told me that she felt bloody in red.
In a word, I found it was so interesting that people living in the same community which is SBS are influenced deeply by their own experience and cultures. The world in my eyes is different in other people's.