The Treatment of Children in the Public Places

When I visited Oakwood last Saturday, I saw a US family at the Restaurants’ section. The mom was treating her child in a respectful manner. Even though he was just a child, she was asking him about what he want his meal to be before conducting the decision by her. Back in my country, the parents usually determine what their children would eat, since they believe they know what is suitable for their children more than what the child do.

Another situation was in Chicago, I saw how the parents explain for their children about Chicago at the top of the Wells tower (the Series Tower). And I was surprised how the children were interesting to learn from their parents. Back in my country, we did not pay that attention for this kind of learning moments; however, some Saudis families tack these opportunities to educate their children.

Similarities and Differences between the Arabian and the American Family

When we conducted our first survey, I noticed that the family is so important for the American. In our Arabian culture, we highly appreciate the family concept. However, we believe that the family’s members should be together in terms of cooperation, assistance and collaboration. We believe that each member has its own role, for example, we believe that the main role for the mother is to do the house's work and raising children; that does not mean she couldn’t work. Moreover, we also appreciate the extended family, which is the family that includes aunts, cousins and so on. As a result, the Arabian family is more nuclear than the American.

The Election Day

Since we, as Saudis, don’t have that experience in election, I cannot compare a country, with 243 years of political experience, with Saudi Arabia. However, I believe that election is a good way to express the public opinion. People can vote for their candidates in a safe way. When I say safe, I mean no one will have an influence on them, and you have the freedom to say what you want to say and elect what you want to elect. The process of the Election Day is so organized, every citizen knows what he expects to face, and that make the process more smother. In Saudi Arabia, we stared to have some sort of election in the commercial sector, and in the near future, we hope that we will have the election in the political sector.

Africans Americans in Eau Claire

It was one of my best classes when we host two Africans Americans students at UWEC. One of them is a master degree student who was living in a shelter for the first 18 years of his life. He described for us, how was difficult for him and his “Brothers in shelter” to survive after been dismissed from the facility. He stated that, less than two percent of them have not completed their under graduate studies and that raise a big question about wherever these shelters are effectives or not. Furthermore, he mentioned how was difficult for him to adjust in Eau Claire.
In my opinion, since the majority of Eau Claire residents are from European origins, they feel it’s somehow strange for them to accept new ethnic group like the Africans Americans. However, I believe in the coming years more Africans Americans will live in Eau Claire along with other ethnic groups, and that will make them, Eau Claire’s residents, more familiars with them.

the Ropes Course

I can describe that experience to be one of my favorite’s activities in ESL 360; I learned how to be self-reliance and how to communicate will with my partners. We, as a class, became friendlier with each other and after the course we discovered many undeclared features among us. “Can-Do spirit” is one of my best sentences from chapter 4, during our time in the ropes course we discovered that every problem has it solution which make that statement more applicable. Finally, I believe that this activity could be applied in my culture as well as the American.

Homecoming

If someone of my friends asks me about homecoming, I would describe it as follow:
Homecoming is the time when old and new UWEC generations are meeting together. During that time, a lot of activities are being conducted; for instant, Ceremonial March and Football Games.

However, people of Eau Claire developed their own way of celebrating in such a way it become a traditions or ritual; for example, drinking beer in public and wearing weird kind of clothes.So, homecoming is a great time to clear the mind from school related issues, and GET SOME FUN!

Immigrant’s Story

Each individual inside the U.S has its own Immigrant’s story. “In my case, my ancestors came from Germany” Albert said, who is a resident of Eau Claire. When I interviewed him at downtown, he didn’t know the exact date that his ancestors chose when they decided to come to America. However, he estimated the date somewhere between 1850 and 1890 to. “Danke” Albert said, “It is how we say (thank) in Germany” and he said “Even though I am originally from Germany, I know just some words in my old native language”. As a global issue, people when they start using another language, will start gradually to forget their primary language.

On the other hand, some of Albert’s relatives still live in Germany. Unfortunately, Albert’s family did lose contact with them several years ago. ”It might be not an ethical thing to do” Albert said, “but sometime, adults face challenges in their lives and they must decide what is good for them”. Even though Albert originally is from Germany, he didn’t know anything about his ancestor’s customs and traditions.

Finally, Albert raised an issue regarding how a person saves his/her origins. “My ancestors didn’t notice the important of keeping track of our origins” Albert said “As a result, we couldn’t know our origins , so we couldn’t pass this precious information to next generations”.

Putnam Memorial Chapel

Location: Forest Hill Cemetery
Date of establishment: 1908
It was built by: Jane E.Putnam
Dedicated to: The people of Eau Claire
Total Cost: $10,000

Cultures & Institutions

In my opinion, culture can affect institutions in two ways, depending on the type of the institutions:

--> When we take into consideration the local institutions, we can notice the great impact of the culture of that specific country or nation in terms of talking (communications) , writing, informal communications (gestures) and even the way or the process that the work have been conducted.

--> In terms of international institutions, every culture of the nations that forms that institution can have its impact even in a small portion in a way were these institutions have it's new culture which is fromed from different other cultures.

So, Culture have an impact on the institution and not vice versa.

Comparisons & Contrasts Between KFUPM Students & UWEC Students

Students at King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM) are quite similar to the UWEC students in terms of discipline, hardworking, participations and managing their own times. Both students, receive almost the same material and the same text books since KFUPM follow the US educational system and all the subjects have been taught in English.

On the other hand, UWEC students have more rights in terms of students unions and especially the student's senate which is something that our students really miss and I hope in the nearly future it becomes an essential part of our educational system.