Intercultural Communication

I chose the movie Crash. This movie is about a bunch of different stories that all tie together in one big one. This movie shows incidents that are racist, violent, and heartbreaking. It really opened my eyes to the way people talk to and treat each other in our own culture. Through intercultural communication we should communicate with other people of different cultures with respect to their culture. In this movie there is an Mexican man who has a family, he and his daughter are seen on this poster, and he is stereotyped as being a thief because of his race. Another family is from the Middle East and they are taken advantage of and stereotyped as well. This movie is a good harsh lesson that serves as a very loud wake-up call that we don;t even practice sufficient intercultural communication within our own country. I think this movie is a good lesson and I appreciate what I took from it.

What are 21st Century Skills?

The jobs that are available in today's economy are not like they were 20 years ago. There are so many more jobs available and jobs that are in high demand of workers all over the world. There a jobs like nurses, doctors, agents, as well as many others. All of the developed nations have made changes to the ways of employment, making them way more advanced and in higher demand. Another thing that influences jobs in a big way today is the amount of education you have. If someone has any type of education and high school they are more qualified to get a job than someone without more schooling. This shows that obtaining high education is very beneficial in the ling run and can aid you throughout your life in multiple ways. Computers have influenced jobs in a big way too. A lot of new jobs have been developed also in accordance to all the software capabilities that have been developed just in the past few years. There are jobs out there I have never even heard of that are new to the work force and they need qualified workers to fill them.
The way we work is very efficient in most jobs because without efficiency they would never be done correctly when they needed to be. By working with a better cultural understanding about different aspects can improve jobs so much.By learning something new about a coworker's culture can improve your work place and even provide new information for the rest of your coworkers that they did not know. Becoming enlightened about cultural awareness through work can not only improve our work life but your home life too. I think we should always go to work each day with an open mind ready to accept new ideas and information about other people's cultures that we may come across.

Cultural Lens

Cultural lenses are ways that we view our own culture as well as other cultures. We view our culture in America as strong, busy, and wonderful whereas we may view the culture of the man who made the magic teapot as poor and unsatisfactory. We go through our daily lives with our minds already made up of how we view things and we rarely change our views without much persuasion and explanation. In the second article, the write spoke of how our post 9/11 generation is terrified of other countries because we have all been told that basically f you leave America, something terrible and unforgettable will happen. And because of all the incidents that have happened in the recent years that have come to pass, most of us take heed to that warning and only travel and venture into the "safe unknown" that is usually just a few more steps past our own boring backyards. The man who made the teapot showed humility and gratitude just for that tourist's appreciation of his demonstration of a part of his culture. I understand that some scary events have happened post 9/11 but that doesn't mean we should deny ourselves the wonderful chance to explore new cultures and expand our cultural perspectives by traveling the word and experiencing news cultures for ourselves. I think traveling is beneficial in so many ways. When you experience new things you bring back those memories and then have the chance to incorporate new things into your daily life that you never would have without that new cultural experience. I can't wait to see what new cultural perspectives I bring back with me from our trip!!

Globalization

From when I was a little girl up until now, I've seen so many changes over the years. Ours ways of living have become so much more advanced. Growing up in the middle of no where, I was surrounded by nothing but cows, goats ,and trees. We weren't even to get AOL out at my house until around 2002. I never thought in just a few short years I would have access to so much more than just a lame email account and myspace.
The areas that I have seen major advancement in are automobiles, cell phones, and computers. Well I guess cell phones in these days are considered tiny computers. They're just so advanced! When I was a kid, I thought the little plastic cell phones with lipgloss in them were the coolest things ever! Just the other my 4 year old niece told me her daddy took her Ipad because she had been naughty. My mind was blown. I think these advancements in technology are beneficial in a lot of ways but can also at times be hindering.And the fact that there are cars now that can park themselves and  drive for you is so cool! I think its awesome that we have the capability to cash our checks just by taking a picture of it through an app and BAM! I think theses advancements in technology are amazing but I also think we should always remember how life was before all these nifty gadgets were around so that we may appreciate how far we have come as a culture.

Cultural Awareness

In Ireland and Scotland, the people take great pride in celebrating the holidays that tradition has taught them. I'm very excited to get to witness the celebrating of one of Irelands national holidays during our visit: The Twelfth of July which commemorates William III's victory at the Battle of the Boyne. To be able to see first hand how they celebrate their holiday in their own environment will allow us to witness and participate in another cultures tradition that is unlike our own. To be able to do that and be a part of it and accept it for another cultures way is to show great humility and respect for another country's culture. Cultural awareness can be practiced in many different ways, as explained in the Iceberg Theory, different cultural aspects are not noticed and while they may not be as "tangible or visible, they are just as essential to our understanding how other cultures work."

Scotland has a tradition on the last fortnight of July: the Glasgow Fair. We celebrate our own fairs and gatherings in our culture such as the Arkansas's Riverfest.
Once we return from our trip and we then go to our own event  or celebrate a holiday of our own such as Labor Day, we will compare our traditions to that of those in Ireland and Scotland. While we participate in our own traditions we now can be apart of the Participatory Third culture stage.

Reddie to blog!

Hi! My name is Whitney Wrae McIntyre. I'm from Avinger, Texas, and I went to Avinger High School. It's in the middle of nowhere and is very, very small. My graduating class was only fourteen kids,  and I had known five of them since kindergarten. My favorite movie of all time is The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I love it and am totally obsessed with it. I enjoy reading, watching my favorite TV shows, and hanging out with my friends in my spare time. The Harry Potter books and movies are also in my favorites category. Some of my favorite TV shows include Once Upon A Time, Vampire Diaries, The Originals, Game of Thrones, Shameless, and Dancing with the Stars. I like to go out and have a good time with friends and I like just staying in and watching movies. I can have a good time almost anywhere. I love going to concerts too!! This year on March 8th I'm going to a Billy Currington concert with my boyfriend and we get to meet him! I love Josh Groban, Celtic Woman, Patsy Cline, Boyce Avenue, Michael Buble, and Maisy and Lennon Stella. Those are just some of my favorite artists. I'm fun, sweet, crazy and energetic. My personality is very bubbly and exciting. I'll do whatever I can to help someone have a good day.
 I'm a sophomore nursing major, and I'm going to minor in psychology. I've even thought about minoring in education. I came to Henderson because I knew people from here and by the time college got here it already felt like a home away from home.Now I consider it as my real home. I love being a Reddie!!! I've always wanted to be a nurse. I would like to specialize in neonatal nursing but have recently been thinking about psych nursing. I think it would be an interesting career and I would still be able to do what I love by helping people. I know I'll enjoy whatever career I end up choosing if I'm just able to help people and make them smile.
I come from a very big family that lies to eat and watch football. I have three older brothers and through them I have six nieces, three great-nieces, one nephew, and one great nephew. My dad and step-mom are the best. I love them so much and I'm so grateful for everything they've done for me. My mom and I have a special relationship. I miss her and think about her a lot. She's a really cool mom and is very supportive of me. I know that she would do anything for me. She's a big part of the reason I want to be nurse. She has beaten breast cancer twice and she continues to fight and be one of the strongest women I know. My two favorite relatives are my Aunt Marilynn and my cousin Lecia. My Aunt Marliynn is so much fun. She's always there for me and she's the best aunt I could ever ask for. My cousin Lecia is the most amazing person I know. She's crazy, fun, gorgeous, exciting, and feisty. Any time I'm with her I know we're going to have a good time. I visit her in San Antonio whenever I get the chance.
I'm writing this blog for my Travel and Study class but I've never written a blog before so I think its going to be fun and I'm excited to read other peoples' blogs as well. I'm so excited for the Ireland/Scotland trip I can barely stand it. I can't wait to see and experience a whole new culture and see where my family is from. I  know its going to be the experience of a lifetime and I cannot wait for July!! Visiting Ireland has always been something I've wanted to do and being able to do it now is a dream come true.
Well that's all for now and I hope my blog in enjoyed by everyone who reads it!
-Whitney