Hey ladies! I was having trouble watching the movies online, so i rented them. I have Paris Je t'aime, Bend It Like Beckham, and Persepolis. If anyone would like to borrow them, I have them rented until after the project is due.... 330-933-1705. I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Since 2004, France has placed a ban on head scarves in their public schools. This was part of a larger movement to outlaw all religious symbols and clothing from school in order to create a more secular environment. As one can imagine, This ha been a contraversial and very difficult rule for young Muslim women to deal with. On April 11, 2011, A new French law currently prohibits the wearing of burqas and any other forms of face veils. Women who are caught wearing these and men who are caught enforcing women to wear them can be arrested on the spot. The reasoning behind this law is to create more "tolerance" for all citizens of France. The government says they hope to discontinue any pressure that women face to wear these oppressive clothing. Muslim women, on the other contrary, feel very invaded by these laws. They wear the veils because they are apart of something bigger, and it is part of their identity within that group. They also see the head scarves and veils as a sign of strength and empowerment that sets them apart from the scantily clad women of society. Modesty is an important part of the Muslim traditions, and many women feel that this law is an invasion of their religious rights.

Interview2 with muslism woman - Arwa

Today I did some resourch before I met Arwa. Also just post here to give some background about Islam.

"Islam is the monotheistic religion articulated by the Qur’an, a text considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of God (Arabic: الله‎, Allah), and by the teachings and normative example (called the Sunnah composed of Hadith) of Muhammad, founder of the religion and often considered by its adherents to be the last Prophet of God. In addition to referring to the religion itself, the word Islam means 'submission to God', 'peace', and 'way to peace'. An adherent of Islam is called a Muslim.

Most Muslims belong to one of two denominations; with 80-90% being Sunni and 10-20% being Shia. About 13% of Muslims live in Indonesia, the largest Muslim country, 25% in South Asia, 20% in the Middle East, 2% in Central Asia, 4% in the remaining South East Asian countries, and 15% in Sub-saharan Africa. Sizable communities are also found in China and Russia, and parts of the Caribbean. Converts and immigrant communities are found in almost every part of the world. With about 1.41-1.57 billion Muslims, comprising about 21-23% of the world's population (see Islam by country), Islam is the second-largest religion and one of the fastest-growing religions in the world."

These are interview note

Eat habitat

She said they do not eat any kind of pork such as ham, bacon, and sausage. They do not eat animals are naturally died and killed by electricity. They do not eat things with blood, like relatively raw meet. They can eat seafood, but not shell food.

There are two special time for them about eating: Ramadan and Alms-giving.

During Ramadan, people need to do fasting. They could not drink and eat, even have sex during the day time (specifically from sun rise until sun set), and afterward, they can eat, drink and have sex. I ask her why, she said, Muslim has that is to make people think about poor people and get the feeling they have.

Right after Ramadan, they have Alms-giving which is a day at the next day of Ramadan. People dress up in the morning to go to mosque to pray and donate food to poor people. In the afternoon, people will have celebration for that.

Some tips before they pray

Muslin people will pray five times a day, and they really care about clean. They will clean most part of their body before they pray. When you see people wash their hand, face, ear, elbow and feet in the bathroom, it is time before they pray.

Some different and interesting rule

1. Women cannot drive in their countries. If the whole families are women, they need to hire drivers to drive for them.

2. In the school, women and men studying in the different building. They could not have same class together.

3. They have certain rules for their hand. They think using left hand to pass or hand in stuff is really rule.

4. If there are food dropping on the floor during eating, people must pick them and eat even it is dirty.

5. It is illegal to have dog pet there.

6. They do not have magic and think it is bad.

7. They could not allow selling pork, picture with god.

8. They must marry, and could not live by themselves in the whole life.

9. They do not allow marrying someone who does not believe Islam.

10. They do not allow lesbian, gay and this kind of stuff.

11. Women cannot talk to other men after they marry expect their family member.

12. Women cannot wear clothing which can show their body figure.

13. They do not allow men wear women clothes and women wear men’s.

14. They do not allow people to only wear one shoe.

15. They do not allow tattoo.

16. They do not allow men shave all their face hair.

17. They do not people to pull out their white hair.

18. They do not people to dye hair in black (must naturally).

19. They do not allow people talk behind and gossip others.

20. They could not drink bear or trade bear.

21. They could not smile hard and too much.

that was a very interesting interview! sadly, all of this is new to me. i know absolutely nothing about muslims. anything ive ever heard has been negative. but then again, i come from a very small town that is exposed to no diversity whatsoever. people usually dont take too well to things that are foreign and unfamiliar. i could do some research on the prevalence of muslims in areas and why they arent prevalent in other areas? do you think that would be beneficial? im worried about being able to contribute much because of my lack of exposure and knowledge, so i could do a lot of the secondary research. ill see you all tuesday!

Mulism-interview1, a woman from Saudi Arabia

I interviewed a woman from Saudi Arabia.

We basically talk about:

1. life behavior (most rule only for women)

First, veil
She said every woman in mulism need to wear veil and hide their face, even after they marry.
I ask her I have seen people with veil, but not hide face. She said because they come to America which is really open. They do not want people think them strange, so some of them take off their veils.

Second, clearly gender identity-male and female
Females cannot talk to males except family member. She also mention even for family member, they still have rules. Women can talk to their father, brothers, and grandfather, but they cannot talk to sister's husband.
She says people do not go to dinning hall, do not live in dorm. They try to avoid every public places. I ask her about discussion in class. She said they only say things unless they must to do or teachers force them.
She said last quarter, teacher asked students to take vedio and speak certain topics. Because everyone ccould see the vedio online, she asked teacher to give her a CD. Her vedio will give to teacher directly to avoid other male see her face.
She also mentions famales only hang out with famales. They do not talk to males for whatever reason. They have really clear gender identity.

2. marriage

Their marriage is quite interesting. They always marry early, around 19. She said they use arrange marriage.
Familys pick husbands for women. Familys always pick the people they familiar with because the every society is relatively small. She said family will pick boy for girl. Girl will use two or three weeks to ask how is the boy from his friends and relatives, such as his behaviors and if he is nice. Then, girl will decide that if she want to date with him or not. The girl will says yes or no after two or three weeks. If the girl says yes, they can see each other's face. However, they are not allow to talk until they engage.
Most people have three kids.
I ask about divorce, she said it was really hard to divorce and it was bad to do that. Unless it must happen, no one will do divorce.

3. religion
She said men and women go to different places to pray. Men go to mosque, and women pray in their homes.
Every mosque has a big bugle which everyone can here. They will tell people what time they need to pray. People need to pray five times a day. It is based on the sun rise and set. It changes when people go to different countrys. She says in US, they need to see the schedule online. They will post specific time online. Baced on that time, they pray. Normally, it is 6:30am when sun rise, 2:00pm, 5:00pm, 7pm when sun set, and 9:00pm.

When talking to here, she seems hurry. I ask her why, she said she need to go back and pray. Also, she could not let her husband wait too long. We will meet this Sunday again.

PARIS_JE_TAIME

Chinese Restaurant Etiquette- Group Synthesis

This or That
(Are YOU This or That)

Whether your Chinese or not you've probably eaten at a Chinese restaurant. Did you ask yourself whether your experience was authentic or whether you were just experiencing an ethnic idea catered to your own American comfort level?

When we visited Peking, a popular Chinese restaurant on campus (we chose it on the basis of taste consistency in proportion to proximity) we began to notice the different things that made experiences different for us. It's important to realize that these rules aren't meant to separate the Chinese students from the American students but to make each experience comfortable.



If you're American (we use the term loosely to describe non-Chinese native) then you should follow these rules when you enter a Chinese Restaurant:

Here's your menu! Note- dishes conveniently separated into types of meat or fish.

(you will undoubtedly be drawn to the buffet):

You will most likely add ice to your water.




----------------------------------------------------------------------






If you are Chinese this is much easier:

Here's your menu!

And here's the stuff you probably know and love:

The Bigger Picture

The rules that have been established in the Chinese restaurants around Athens serve as social boundaries that apply when visiting these establishments. Our rules have been broken down and specified to Chinese people and non-Chinese people in order to address the differences that occur within one place. The customs that the Chinese restaurants have adapted in order to cater to the American culture are necessary to maintain a big enough customer base to thrive.

These places also cater to the Chinese people because they are owned and run by Chinese people. The restaurants have become a comfort zone for the Chinese people in Athens. They can speak their native language, eat their native food and spend time with each other. Due to these factors that influence the experience of eating at a Chinese restaurant, slightly different rules apply to each group of people. These rules lead people to have different experiences from the other group.

To Americans, a Chinese restaurant is someplace where they go when they want to eat something different or have a different experience. For the Chinese it is a place that they can identify with. They feel more at home in these locations. One rule that reflects this sense of identity occurs when people first enter the restaurants. Americans follow American tradition of waiting to be seated and/or waiting in line to order food. Chinese people, however find their own seat or approach the front of the line to place their order. Chinese people are also more likely to have conversation with members of the staff, which can drastically alter one’s perception of their experience. Speaking to order food and ask about specials allows a social interaction that encourages a positive encounter. Although the workers at the restaurant can speak some English, there is no need to communicate to non-Chinese speakers due to the easy process of pointing to food and paying the set price. If someone cannot read the Chinese signs, then there is no way of knowing about the specials or that they have a full Kitchen staff on hand to make fresh made-to-order meals at some establishments. The lack of communication between the Americans and the Chinese staffs prevents relationships and perpetuates the idea of their space (from Americas) verse my place (of the Chinese people).

Meaning

The atmosphere inside of Peking drew us in- the hanging lanterns and tied knots we saw as well as the use of red as a symbol for luck and joy wasn't coincidental, it was a way of defining the space. It is similar to the way we put pictures on the wall when we move in to a new apartment. The decorations represent the ownership of a place and some kind of connections between people and particular locations. The decorations, which have very strong sense of Chinese traditions in the Chinese restaurant, give us clues about the ownership and culture meanings of these particular foreign restaurants. Even the different Chinese restaurants in Athens vary aesthetically because they represent different regions of China and different elements of Chinese culture.

Furthermore, the existence of these Chinese restaurants gives Chinese people some links and connections with their home country both physically and mentally. To Americans, they are one of the expressions of diversity happening in the United States.

Race

As we mentioned in class - the existence of Chinatown in some of the large cities in the US reflects the people’s willingness to integrate. Athens is not a large city, so there are not enough people to get together to form a Chinatown. Most of the Chinese in Athens are students, so there isn't a solid community to form an enclave . The phenomenon of the aggregation of people from foreign countries and residential segregation of people with particular nationalities, like China town, Italian town and Korean town seems like a simple natural process of social development, however it is a very complex process which a combination of all aspects of social relations. Perhaps the beginning steps in forming such communities occurs when we encourage other people to share our culture and accommodate their norms and values in that process.

Chinese restaurants 中国餐馆

I went to China King and campus garden. You guys can select pictures you need.

1. These photos are from China King which has buffet for Americans and real Chinese food for Chinese, which taste totally different.















Their menu for Americans, just buffet food.















This is some of the buffet for Americans. Sometimes Chinese eat that as well because it is faster. If you order real fresh Chinese food, it usually takes 15 min for each dish.















Those are real Chinese food my friends ordered.















China King inside. You can see the Beijing opera, dragon thing and lantern are identities for Chinese restaurants. There are several Americans and Chinese. They sit separated.















2. These photos are from campus garden: outside and their Chinese menu which is only for Chinese.





























Hope it is help. Good luck.

The Chinese Experience at a Chinese Restaurant

International Chinese Culinary Competition Introduction

Traditional Chinese Food

The American Experience at a Chinese Restaurant
Click to see the large picture!

overlap/combined: 1. enter 5 n. court street and veer to the right hand side of the building on the first floor. going to the right will send you to killer tomato, and going upstairs will take you to kinkos (right?). 2. stand in line to view items. cutting in line will probably result in an undesireable altercation, and not standing in line will make the employees of peking think you are not eating and they will noit take your order. for those who speak chinese: 3. read chinese menu on the wall (which changes according to daily specials). reading the american menu will get you pre-prepared food that is not as tasty or fresh. 4. you may order off the menu or ask for a specialized meal according to your preferences. 5. you may skip the line to place your order and pay. speak in chinese with the employee to let them know you understand the menu and food you can order. 6. pay for your meal, and if you choose to buy it you can get your soda. if you choose not to buy the soda you can get a cup of water. 7. pick up a pair of chopsticks. the forks are for those who do not know how to use chopsticks. 8. choose a seat within the restaurant to sit. sit in a chair at a table. or if you are taking your food to go, exit out the front doors. 9. sit by fellow chinese speakers and students. do not join english speakers and begin speaking chinese. this would be very awkward. 10. wait patiently for your food to be brought to you, this will take longer as it is made to order. do not eat others food, and do not not harass the employees about the status of your food as this may result in unsavory additions to your meal without your knowledge. 11. thank the deliverer and enoy your meal! for those who do not speak chinese: 3. order the buffet. speak in english so the employees know you will want the food you can see and that you wont be ordering from the menu written in chinese. 4. point to rice or noodles. if you want both, say "both". 5. point to 3 entree choices that look yummy. 6. if you dont order the buffet, you can point to a picture that us above the counter for a more fresh meal. but, if you would prefer to avoid the awkwardness of trying to explain the meal you want with a language and cultural barrier, just order the buffet with items you can just point at. 7. once you receive your meal at the counter, pay the cashier $4.50. wait for change if necessary. pay for a soda as well if you prefer this over water. 8. get a cup and a fork. you will probably embarass yourself and make a mess on your clothes if you try to use the chopsticks and dont know how. 9. put ice in your cup and fill it with soda if you paid for it, fill it with water if you didnt. dont try to trick the employees and get soda when you didnt pay for it. they know the diffent sounds associated with pouring water from a pitcher and getting soda from a fountain. trust me on this one! 10. find a seat. americans tend to take their food to go or sit in the common court area away from the restaurant. do not try to sit with and join in on chinese conversations. overlap/combined: 1. after paying you may take a fortune cookie and read your fortune after you eat your meal. eat the entire cookie before reading your fortune or it wont be true! 2. after you have finished, you are expected to clean up after yourself by taking up your tray and food. i expanded on a few of these a little bit... if you guys dont like them feel free to go with what dani wrote before. it was pretty good.

sorry guys

hey guys... im assuming you all got my email about tonight? im sorry again. i think we have the first part of the assignment covered. we may want to expand on each rule a little bit to cover #2, i can work on that. ill go from what dani posted because that looks really good. i think what dani's last post does a really good job of covering #3. i dont think we need to use any newspaper articles or youtube clips. i think us just being there and experiencing it enables us to tell a pretty good story. ill work on #2, and let me know if theres anything else i can do. im sorry again about tonight. im anytime tomorrow before 11 if i need to meet up with anyone.

some initial reactions

As an American, going into this restaurant seems to create a slight feeling of discomfort due to the language barrier. There is a much higher level of interaction and exchange between the Chinese speakers and the workers of the restaurant. Speaking to order food and ask about specials allows a social interaction that encourages a positive experience. Although the workers at the restaurant can speak some English, there is no need to communicate due to the process of pointing to food and paying the set price that has been established on the sign. If you do not know how to read the Chinese signs, then there is no way of knowing about the specials or that they have a full Kitchen staff on hand to make fresh made-to-order meals. Americans tend to eat the buffet food, which is basically the same every time you go in and which has probably been sitting out for a while.

Being aware of these differences in experience at the very same restaurant has made me think more about language barriers and how it must have a profound affect on the relationships one forms. This may not be something that affects everybody’s everyday life, but when you consider all of the students who are studying abroad in Athens, it brings to light how different their experiences might be from my own. Different cultures provide individuals with schemas, which are mental processes that help us organize and simplify our experiences. When these schemas do not work due to changes in the environment, it can cause uneasiness. I tried to go through the “Chinese process” as an American at Peking and found myself very confused and shy about what I was supposed to be doing and what I was ordering. Although it is a minimal example, and I had a lot of help from Jia who speaks Chinese, I can see how place defines space based on culture in this instance.

more rules!

I just made a new list based on the old one. It is a slightly different format, so we can decide later on how we want the final draft to be and if we could get it into a flowchart that would be ballin! Also, I am sure there are more details that we could add (for example, what not to do??).

Overlap/combined

1. Enter 5 N. Court Street and veer to the right-hand side of building on the first floor.

2. Stand in line to view menus.

For those who speak Chinese:

3. Read Chinese menu on the wall (which changes according to daily specials)

4. You may order off of the menu or ask for a specialized meal according to your preferences.

5. You may skip the line to place your order and pay.

6. Pay for your order and get a cup for a soda or water.

7. Pick up a pair of chopsticks.

8. Choose a seat within the restaurant to sit.

9. Sit by fellow Chinese speakers and students.

10. Wait patiently for your food to be brought out, this will take longer as it is made to order.

11. Thank the deliverer and enjoy your meal!

For those who do not speak Chinese:

3. Order the buffet.

4. Point to rice or noodles

5. Point to three entre choices that look yummy.

6. If you don’t order the buffet, you can point to a picture that is above the counter for a more fresh meal.

7. Once you receive your meal at the counter, pay the cashier $4.50.

8. Get a cup and a fork.

9. Get ice for your drink and fill your cup with soda or water.

10. Find a seat, Americans tend to take their food to go or sit in the common food court area away from the restaurant.

Overlap/combined

1. After paying you may take a fortune cookie, and read your fortune after you eat your meal.

2. After you have finished, you are expected to clean up after yourself by taking up your try of food.

"Rules" of Peking

When we met at Peking to discuss the pictures and come up with the "rules" of the place, we decided to categorize the rules as 1) Rules for those who speak Chinese, 2) Rules for those who don't speak Chinese, and 3) Common rules. This is what we came up with: Chinese

• The menu for those who speak and read Chinese is posted on the wall and is written in Chinese


• Those familiar with Chinese customs use the chopsticks provided


• The Chinese know that here in America, they can have a Facebook; however, they cannot in China.


• The owners of the restaurant know they can speak Chinese to Chinese customers


• Chinese diners tend to congregate together


• You must be able to speak and read Chinese to order anything that is not on the buffet


• Those who speak and read Chinese know they do not have to wait in line and can go to the front to place their order


• Chinese do not prefer ice in their drinks

Americans

• The menu for those who do not speak Chinese consists of what is on the buffet


• Those who are not familiar with Chinese culture and utensils use forks that are provided


• Owners of the restaurant know to use English with anyone that is not Chinese


• Americans tend to segregate themselves and dine away from the Chinese


• There are 2 signs that state what you can get from the buffet and for what price, and it is written in English


• You must wait in line to get your meal from the buffet

Rules that apply to everyone

• Clean your table when you are finished eating


• Pay when you are finished ordering


• If you are not getting soda, there are small water cups provided

I think a couple of us learned a lot about the Chinese culture. One thing I found interesting was that Chinese do not prefer ice in their drinks. That includes beer!! Something else I was not aware of is that In China, there is "North" food and "South" food. Most Chinese restaurants in America tend to serve "South" food. I never realized there were so many cultural "rules" associated with eating in a Chinese restaurant. Until I was told by someone who spoke Chinese and understood the other set of "rules", I never even knew that ordering food other than what was on the buffet was an option.

Feel free to edit and change what you want guys!!

Pictures in Peking. Cultural Hybridity

Those are several pictures I took in Peking. You guys can look at these before we meet up and maybe could help come up some ideas when we meet~ ^-^ This is the menu for Chinese. For Americans, only can understand the numbers which are price of the dish. They do not know how real Chinese looks like because for Americans, they have totally different menu and food.

Those are real Chinese food which my friends ordered. If you do not understand Chinese menu, you could not get them ^-^

Those are menu for Americans. It clearly says, 4.5 bucks for 3 dishes.

Also this menu, Chinese and English, but no Chinese order food from here.

Those are American-Chinese food look like. Some of them. It is different than what we eat. They change a lot for Americans.

This picture I think it is really interesting because in China, we do not have facebook. We even could not get into fb because government restricts it. I think it is good example for cultural hybridity.

This is another example. In China, people use chopstick. No one uses fork, so they put both together, but seperate them. It is kind of interesting.

*This is not our final post. Those are only show to my group members to let them see before we all meet and discuss. Also, maybe it is good way to see our process.

Welcome (test post)

Welcome to our new BLOGGGG!!!



http://t.sina.com.cn/2034072150/wr4kGJ60ux