Brats and Polishes

On a whim, my family decided to take a two day road trip up to Milwaukee. On our way there, we had lunch at the "Brat Stop", a fully-fledged Wisconsin dive, serving mostly brats, polishes, and cheese curds. 

While in Wisconsin, there was a clear German (Eastern European) influence peppering the town, in the cuisine, architecture, and beer. I wondered which ethnic group most heavily influenced Chicago to make it the city it is today, contrasting with the likes of Milwaukee. 

Lunching at the Brat Stop made me wonder why restaurants like that one aren't in Chicago. People still eat brats here. What was different between Wisconsin and Illinois that made them develop such different cultures?

On the New York Times website, there is an interactive map that shows where different ethnic groups lived in United States from 1880 all the way to 2000. 

From early on, it is clear the WI and IL had heavy populations of Western and Eastern Europeans but as time goes on, IL's population of these groups decreases whereas WI maintains this heavy population well into the 1900s. This could explain the heavy Eastern European influence that is evident in Milwaukee and other parts of WI. Today, the Eastern European influence is only seen in distinct neighborhoods of Chicago rather than the whole city or even the state of IL.

Another contrast is found if we look at Texas, which has a pretty consistent Latino presence and the New England states have a consistent Western European population. With a difference in not only cuisine, but accents, architecture and life style, it is clear how the different regions have developed according to the ethnic groups populating the area. 

With these different groups populating diverse climates and terrain, obvious cultural differences were abound to take root and continue to influence the development of our country. We are the country that we are today because of the different groups that have shared their cultural history with us, integrating into the American identity. 

When you look around today, what cultural differences to do you see?

Everyone is a Winner

Education is one of the most important pillars that shape a culture. In the New York Times article, "My Family's Experiment in Extreme Schooling", Clifford Levy recounts his experience in Russia and sending his three children to a Russian private school in which they were taught completely in Russian and most teachers couldn't speak English. Most of the article is about his children's experience in the school but what stuck out to me was a brief comparison to the Brooklyn public school they had previously attended.

In Russia, "children were graded and ranked, with results posted". However, as most of us are accustomed to in the U.S., his school in Brooklyn "instill[ed] an everyone's-a-winner ethos".

This "everyone's-a-winner" thinking is evident everywhere in a America. Kids on sports teams get trophies simply for showing up and we have devised a system at my high school where grades are kept as private as possible to defuse the competition around academics.

This system has its advantages, however, as Levy noted in his article, tough competition can sometimes be the best motivator. At the Russian school, the grades of all the students would be posted and ranked with categories for the best and worst students. Levy's children comment on this different system and how it pushed them to keep trying their hardest, even when they couldn't understand what their teachers were saying. By the time they left Russia, not only were they fluent in Russian but they were also at the top of the ranking.

In comparison to the system I've grown up in, posting grades seems like a crazy, unhealthy system and I honestly can't imagine how it would change my already hyper-competitive school environment. But, as frustrating and stressful as it sounds, I know that posting grades would definitely push me to work to be the best student I can be.

America is facing the new reality that we might not be #1 anymore with countries like China pumping out smart kids left and right and beating our test scores. People are baffled, wondering how it's happening, but it's all embedded in how we motivate our children and how that supports our education system.

I'm curious, what incentive would propel American students to excel academically? Do American students need intrinsic or extrinsic motivation?

Mixed Prom

Until 2008, Charleston High School of Charleston, Mississippi had two proms - one for the white kids and one for the black kids. Even though the school had been desegregated in 1970 (16 years after the U.S. Supreme Court ordered all desegregation), the white parents refused to integrate the prom. This started a long-standing tradition of separate proms.

Morgan Freeman grew up in Charleston and after gaining fame and fortune, he offered to pay for CHS's prom - as long as it was mixed. Morgan Freeman set up a film crew to follow certain kids around as they prepared for prom and interview them regarding the issue of race that continues to grip the town.

The final product, the documentary "Prom Night In Mississippi" is a glaringly honest picture into how racism still exists in the U.S. despite legislative and social changes in the fight for equality.

However, what became clear through each interviews was that all of the inter-racial hate was directly caused by how the students had been raised. Most of the kids were in support of a mixed prom, and had been even before Morgan Freeman made his offer, but it was the parents who refused to let that happen.

This gives hope to America because even in a community like Charleston where racism guides most social proceedings, there is a generation coming of age who want to enact change. They are aware of the hypocrisy of equal rights  when some students can't get jobs in Charleston because they are black or because they are white and have black friends.

It's easy to think that racism is no longer an issue where we live but even on the North Shore, if you look around, how much diversity do you see? We need to ask ourselves how we can start enacting change for a stronger, more united America where the "race card" is no longer relevant and where racial stereotypes are long forgotten.

Progress is evident in America but documentaries like "Prom Night in Mississippi" show us there are still radical cases of racism and remind us that in our own communities, racism can still be evident in significantly less obvious ways.

How can we work to eliminate racism in our own communities?

Breakfast Essentials

Breakfast is my favorite meal. I love every type of breakfast food and it's also important because it gives you the energy to start your day off just right. When I saw this "Breakfast Essentials" commercial, it struck a chord with me and my love for a classic meal of pancakes, bacon and eggs.

The kid in the commercial is depicted pulling his feet along a school hallway and stopping before the stairs because he didn't eat breakfast that morning and doesn't have the energy to bound up them like the other kids. The obvious solution is to drink their product - a protein smoothie-type concoction with all the nutrients any kid needs.

But why not just feed your kids a real breakfast?

That seems like the more obvious solution in my mind. Upon further research of the actual product, I found a blog titled "Start With the Inside" that analyzed the ingredients of "Breakfast Essentials" and whether not it was a good alternative to actual breakfast (pointed towards an audience looking to lose weight). The post found that it contains 230 mg of Sodium and the second ingredient listed is sugar. In terms of losing weight, a sugary breakfast will make you crave more later in the day which can make a diet much harder to keep.

So "Breakfast Essentials" isn't actually a healthy alternative to real food for breakfast, filling you up with carbs and sugar rather than the nutrients you might get from an egg or healthy cereal. That covers the health issue...but whatever happened to sitting down to breakfast before school, talking it up with your parents - all that good stuff?

In my mind, the real issue isn't the particular healthiness of the drink but the fact that kids simply aren't taking the time to sit down and eat breakfast. Sitting down to a meal is such an underrated activity in a fast-paced world of instant communication and stress that no one seems to make the time for it anymore.

If we all sat down, just for 15 minutes every morning, to eat our breakfast, drink our coffee, and scan the newspaper or what have you, not only would we have the energy to start off the day right but we would also have given ourselves a few minutes of peace to get ready to face whatever we might need to during the day.

Geneva Convention Quotes

American Studies,
Here are some quotes that might be helpful in writing your perilous papers!

These are brief excerpts, visit http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/INTRO/375?OpenDocument for the full articles. 

Convention (3) Treatment of Prisoners of War, Article 12:
“Prisoners of war are in the hands of the enemy Power, but not of the individuals or military units who have captured them.”

Article 13:
“Prisoners of war must at all times be protected, particularly against acts of violence or intimidation and against insults and public curiosity.”

Article 16:

all prisoners of war shall be treated alike by the Detaining Power, without any adverse distinction based on race, nationality, religious belief or political opinions, or any other distinction founded on similar criteria.

Article 17:

"No physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatever. Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be threatened, insulted, or exposed to any unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of any kind."

Miss Representation

If you ask a class of first graders how many of them want will become president one day, most of them will raise their hands. Ask a high school class and the chances of someone raising their hand are significantly lower.

Ask a girl if she hopes to become president one day and the chances of her saying yes are even smaller still. 

This idea of women in leadership positions and power is one of many gender issues explored in the documentary Miss Representation. It addresses how women are portrayed in the media and I'll be analyzing specifically women of political power. 

According to the documentary, women represent only 17% of the U.S. Congress. By that statistic alone, it is clear that there is a lack of a female presence and voice in terms of who is being heard when decisions are made. 

In the documentary, Condoleezza Rice (former Secretary of State under the Bush Administration) recalls the time when changes were being considered for Title 9*. Rice remembers going up to Bush with other female members of congress and basically telling him, "You don't know what it was like before Title 9, having to do bake sales just to get enough money to take your team to a basketball tournament". 

The obvious problem with a male dominant society, in terms of who is holding office and high positions in places of business, is that the female perspective and rationale is lacking. 

However, female representation in such positions cannot change until young girls witness other women in power. A point made in the documentary is that what someone aspires to do is inspired by something else. Only men have ever been president, so how can young women aspire to hold that same position when no other woman before them has done it?

Before the next generation of young women can begin aspiring to lead in powerful positions, whether that be of our government or business establishments, they need to see strong women in similar positions making effective change. 

The United States has made leaps and bounds in terms of giving women a voice and affording them equal rights. We can see, with strong female political leaders like Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton, that there is a future for women in politics. 


Considering how far we have come as a nation, it's sometimes hard to see how much more progress still needs to be made for women's rights. How do you see the role of women changing in our country? What progress needs to made or has been made already? 

*Title 9 states that "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance..." (United States Code Section 20)
For an article published during Title 9 debates, click here.

Neapolitan Ice Cream

With our American Studies class, we took a field trip to downtown Chicago to see the Pulitzer prize winning show Clybourne Park at the Steppenwolf Theatre. The theme of racial boundaries within Chicago neighborhoods political correctness fuels the conflict of the production.

In the first act, the characters are dealing with the first black family to move into a predominantly white neighborhood. This was a precedent to what we now call the "white flight". In contrast, the characters in the second act are concerned with the gentrification of the same neighborhood fifty years later.

Within the play, there is the recurring image of neapolitan ice cream. In the opening scene, the character of Rus is eating from a box of neapolitan ice cream instead of helping his wife get the house ready for them to move out. He savors every bite but is only eating from the vanilla strip.

The concept of an ice cream with three flavors, all distinctly their own color and flavor, placed right next to each other but never mixing, is parallel to both the geographic and racial divisions of Chicago neighborhoods.

People who enjoy neapolitan ice cream either prefer to mix the flavors or refuse to mix them, eating one flavor at a time, just as Rus would only eat the vanilla flavor. Goodness knows what would happen should he accidentally mix in some chocolate. The pure white of his creamy vanilla strip would be tarnished. In the world of the play, this was manifested in the hostility members of Clybourne Park felt towards a different "flavor" of people moving into their neighborhood.

We like to think that times have changed and that, as individuals, we would never respond to a similar situation in such a close-minded way. But how can we know for sure? In our own homogenous culture of the North Shore, how much diversity do we actually encounter on a daily basis?

How is the ice cream a metaphor for separation in our own lives?

Let's Talk What's Appropriate.

"Let's talk sex, hugs and handjobs"

This is the title of an article I recently read in The Daily Collegian. 

As I read the article, it became evident that all the author is trying to communicate is how much she likes sex and how much we should like it too.

Under the First Amendment, we have the right to free speech and the freedom of press so this author is well within her legal rights to publish the article. However, I believe she is exercising poor judgement and bad taste in not only her choice of topic but also how she presents what she wants to say. The article is poorly written and shows nothing of value to her character or skills as a writer. Personally, I would not have published the article. 

The right to free speech allows us to express our opinions on all aspects of our society and in this case, on proper decorum and behavior. Instead of lowering ourselves to the least common denominator, we should be continuously seeking to develop and create a higher standard for ourselves through our ability to debate and discuss the issues of today. 

The article is not only a poor example of a college newspaper in terms of writing ability but also a direct indictment of our society and our constant focus on sensual issues and images. Just because we have the right to say anything we please does not mean that we should lower ourselves and our speech to such a level that all we say does nothing more than titillate pubescent boys. 

Discretion is paramount when deciding what to say and when to say it. Everyone has opinions and the forum to voice them. But we need to cultivate a sense of social awareness around cultural norms to know what is appropriate and when. It's like my parents always tell me, "Just because you can say something stupid, doesn't mean you should". 

Competition

Competition can be fierce, especially in American culture where everyone wants to be number one. Auditions can sometimes be the most intense and stressful environments as people fake friendliness to size up their opponents and make sure they're still the best.

I recently went to a trumpet audition where I was auditioning with other trumpet players. It was set up so that there were four audition rooms, one for scales, one for site-reading, and two for etudes.

When one player went into a room, everyone would quiet down and listen for their mistakes, making comments to each other about what they're messing up. But when the person came out of the audition, everyone would smile, congratulate them, and comment on how wonderful they sounded.

The pressure from my peers to do well was exhausting because it was so poorly veiled. I felt like I couldn't count on any one of them for support because they were only looking out for themselves to do well. This type of competition to be the best can be applied to so many circumstances - applying for college, a job, anything.

But why do we want to bring our competitors down so much? Why do we focus on their flaws? It doesn't make ours any better. Instead of bringing down our competitors shouldn't we first focus on our own performance?

Honesty vs. Pretty Pictures

In class, we've talked about how stories can vary based on who is telling them and what they choose to include - or take out - to shape their story. A few weekends ago, I visited Tufts University and I fell in love with the campus. It was beautiful and all the students seemed to be having the best of times...but who's story of the school was I buying into?

The tour guide didn't have one bad thing to say about Tufts. Not a coincidence. Any university wants prospective students to be interested in their school and to apply. It would seem counter-intuitive to tell visiting students all the bad things about the school. So, the school only shows the best and most appealing parts of the campus to visitors.

This reminds me of a story a friend of mine once told of her uncle who sold used cars. In the newspaper ads he would post, he would write things like "Please get this piece of crap out of my garage. The breaks squeak...". Apparently, within days people would come up to his house to buy the car because they knew what they were getting into and, for whatever reason, they wanted that piece-of-crap car.

So, I wonder which strategy is best when trying to sell a story. Is it better to be completely crystal-clear honest, like the car guy? Or is it better to paint a picture of what you think the consumer wants to see, as most universities do when they cater to visiting students and try to show them the "perfect school"?

Sweeping it Under the Rug

Sweeping problems under the rug is widely accepted by Americans - we do it in our daily lives, the business world, and politics. It's a dangerous thing because instead of recognizing an issue for what it is and strategizing ways to combat it, the problem is ignored and then piles onto the mass of unresolved conflicts before it. In no time, as we've seen in our current political climate, there are too many problems to solve with limited resources to cure them all.

On a much smaller scale, we use the lives of celebrities as a form of escapism from our daily lives and problems. Magazines like "People" and "Us Weekly" and reality TV shows like "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" broadcast the lives of celebrities. The media exploits the divorce of a celebrity couple so that everyone in America knows about it - but who are we to know about such private issues? Why do we find solace and conversation in the pain of a celebrity couple?

It's as if we have a collective subconscious that believes that focusing on the problems of others, our own issues will disappear. Sometimes things get so complicated that we can't see a way out. It then seems that the only solution is to let "time heal all wounds" and then, hopefully, things will get better. We let ourselves get caught up in the gossip of others while we wait for our own issues to cure themselves.

But if we let ourselves be distracted enough, will our problems actually disappear?

Good Crying

Tonight was one of those nights when all of those bottled up emotions get released in a really good cry. When I was with a group of friends of mine, we all shared stories of what was precious to us. We cried for each other, for the pain of what someone was going through, for the joy they felt, and for the beauty of honesty and trust that we shared together.

As I was driving home, I was with one of the friends and I started to tell another story - the tears came again. After I dropped her off, I felt embarrassed for crying so much and revealing some of my darkest secrets. I thought about how she might see me differently, see my family differently, and I wondered if the words I told her would affect our relationship from here on out.

But why was I so ashamed my emotions? The image I had created about myself as being completely confident in who I was had become shattered after she knew how imperfect I could be sometimes.

In class, we discuss "personas" and whether or not we are ever completely, truly ourselves. After releasing all of my pent up emotions today, I can see the daily persona I put on for others, that I am confident in myself as a person. However, that is only one dimension of who I am. I am just as much confident in myself as I am insecure about specific things. I am just as well-adjusted as I am constantly plagued by confusion as to the situation I am in.

There is a desire to be seen as in control and confident as an American. Showing any sign of weakness is poor form and we need to be on top of things 24/7. The reason I felt ashamed of my vulnerability tonight is because I'm not used to exposing my insecurities. I'm so used to showing the side of me that is confident and well-adjusted so that when I show people my weaknesses, I fear that they'll never see me as a confident person again.

We can only be truly honest and ourselves when we are both the confident and questioning person, embracing both our strengths and insecurities as a part of who we are. By showing more sides of ourselves, we can come to understand each other on new levels.

What risk will you take today to show another side of yourself?

Brazilians and Americans: Trust

A relationship can be defined by the level of trust it merits and how that trust was earned. I've come to see that how people choose to put their trust in others can be a reflection of where they are from.

It is an integral part of the Brazilian culture to not trust someone until they have proven they can be trusted. Once this trust has been earned, it is near impossible to lose it. This trait correlates with the heavy value Brazilians place on the family unit. The family is a cohesive group of people who are trusted and loved; bonds are formed from birth that are never broken. I see the choice to initially not trust someone as an attempt to protect themselves from getting hurt. It is almost a unspoken cultural rule that when someone earns your trust, you never let them down and have faith in them from that point onward.

In contrast, Americans tend to be very quick to trust until they have a reason not to. I share this trait, telling most friends, without hesitation, secrets of my life, etc. I don't have any deep, dark secrets to hide in the first place so trusting doesn't come difficultly. However, when someone tells a secret I've shared in confidence, I am wary to tell them other things because I feel like they don't respect our relationship.

I see this kind of trust happen everywhere in America - and I don't think its necessarily a bad thing. On a national level, this difference shows itself in the business world.  In "Research on Small Businesses", it says that about 573,000 new firms open every year in the U.S. but about 470,000 open in Brazil each year. This radical difference of 100,000 more companies being opened in the U.S. shows how much more likely we are to take on risk to foster our ideas, despite failure statistics they might be facing.  On the contrary, with long trusting companies (which are present in both the U.S. and Brazil), they are more likely to trust the structure they've always had, avoiding risk and novelty. 

Everything we do involves risk but we'll never know the outcome if we don't take that leap of faith. What risk will you take today?

Brazilians and Americans: Personal Bubbles

One of the most interesting differences between Brazilians and Americans, and one that has lead to a lot of awkward moments for me, is the American concept of "personal bubbles". 

Brazilians simply don't have that. When in conversation with my friends, we would always be very close to each other and affection was expressed physically - with kisses on the cheek and hugging being the equivalent to a "hello" or handshake in the U.S. It was never uncommon for my friends to hold hands or link arms. 

On the flip side, there have been way to many moments when I would be talking to a friend and they have asked me to step away because of their "personal bubble". It took me awhile to get used to not kissing my friends on the cheek when I saw them and to know people who actually hate hugging (really, who would ever hate hugging?). 

After about two and a half years living here, I have to admit that I have developed my own designated personal space. I am now consciously aware of when a friend brushes up against my arm or leg and even hugging has gotten awkward when I hug someone I don't know too well. There are certainly many Americans who are very "touchy-feely", however there is an undeniable collective negativity towards PDA and other types of physical proximity. 

Another example of this physical distance is the teacher-student relationship. Here, teachers and students are allowed limited physical contact - like no hugging. I tried hugging a teacher once and he kindly gestured towards a handshake instead (again, awkward). There are reasons for restrictions like this because of weird occasions in which students and teachers have become involved. Even so, in Brazil and other latin cultures, it is not inappropriate within the student-teacher relationship to greet your teacher with a kiss on the cheek or hug them. 

I see this physical distance as a demonstration of the individualistic society we lead. In the U.S., the individual triumphs over the group whereas in many other cultures, especially in latin cultures, the group identity is stronger than the individual. There is a certain desire to keep your distance from others in the America - to not get too close for fear of rejection, among other reasons. I wonder if this distance hinders our society from deeper connections or if it keeps a certain societal equilibrium. To each his own personal bubble, but I personally prefer a hug. 

Brazilians and Americans: An Introduction

In an effort understand the intricacies of the American culture, I'm starting a series of posts that will compare aspects of the American culture to the Brazilian culture. From age 5 to 13, I was an expatriate in São Paulo, Brazil. I moved here during the middle of my 8th grade year and cultural aspects of the U.S. continue to surprise, amaze and sometimes disappoint me. By comparing the different cultures, I hope both myself and the reader will come to better understand the personality of our nation and how the differences between the U.S. and Brazil show our high points and low points as a people.

Stop This Train

Every morning, I turn on my little espresso maker, place my cup on its platform, and press the start button.

Bing bang boom. That's how espressos are made.

As Mr. O'Connor briefly mentioned in his post about the Kindle, modern society (specifically American) is moving towards making everything as fast and accessible as possible - just like my daily espresso (let's face it, I'm addicted). This fast-paced society, however, is at an impossibly increasing speed at a pace that no one can keep up with. To be constantly going, constantly stimulated, we have learned to find loopholes in our body's need for R&R (rest and recovery). This is where daily dosages of coffee (an addicting drug, for those who are unaware) come into play. We rely on it to keep us active and awake every day.

When thinking about the American Dream, coffee immediately comes to mind. It's what the commuter drinks during his train ride to the corporate downtown office. It's what college kids drink after a late night studying to stay awake in classes. It's what the tired stay-at-home mom tries to quench her insatiable exhaustion.

But the thirst can never be quenched.

Society keeps on moving, no matter who falls behind, and doesn't wait for someone to catch up with it

In the North Shore area specifically, we think that the Dream can only be achieved through such soul-breaking work. That's where the phrase, "I'll sleep when I'm dead" becomes so relevant. The idea that we have to work hard to get where we want to be, that nothing else matters but the eventual success, is embedded in our psyche. Personally, I think it's a dangerous road to follow because if we keep working for the next best thing, we won't have time to enjoy the moment.

My dad always sings the song "Stop This Train" by John Mayer, which speaks to the never-ending motion of life. The singer wants the 'train of life' to stop for a moment so he can enjoy it but the train never does. As a society, we grow up thinking that someday we'll arrive at the final destination (not death) that will finally bring us happiness - the picket fence or the big promotion. But once it comes, its never as good as we thought. So we work for the next thing. And the next. And the next. Until we really are dead. And we didn't have time to enjoy the moments in between.

So every time I turn my espresso machine on, place my cup on the platform and wait for it to fill, I ask myself if everything I do is worth it. Sure, I need to work hard in school to 'succeed' - but to what end? Do I succeed on my own terms or fail on the terms of the community I live in?