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