When I asked my dad about what he wanted/expected before I was born, I was actually pretty surprised by how simple his answer was. Other than the fact that he said that he wanted a boy (which I already knew from before), he said that he really didn't have anything specifically he wanted for me other than wanting me to be a healthy baby before I was born. When I asked him if I was more like him or my mom, he said that not only did I get a lot of my physical traits from my mom compared to my siblings, but also my personality. He said that compared to my sister, my personality and working habits were a lot more similar to my mom. And although he said that they did discuss discipline with my mom, he said it was pretty difficult when I was younger because my mom had a more "hands on" approach where she would discipline us on every little thing while he was more relaxed about it and allowed us to learn for ourselves when it came to the smaller things.

As Americans, we aren't that used to going in depth to point out and study our own values, so it was interesting to read about the accounts regarding our values. Oddly enough, it was sometimes hard to differentiate American values with other values, as some seemed so typical like efficiency, while others were easier to really see the difference (equality of opportunity as not all countries can say the same). While reading Kohl's article, though, it was interesting when I came across certain values that I didn't particularly resonate with as it either didn't follow my religion or Korean culture. For example, I can't say that I'm a very casual person with adults, especially Korean ones and ones that are particularly older as I'm used to treating adults with respect and speaking formally with them as there's a sense of hierarchy towards authority in Korean culture. And although I agree with the fact that we don't stay stagnant in times of trouble and do work hard for our improvements, religion-wise I can't completely say that I only rely on myself and my capabilities. It was also interesting to see another point of view that wasn't Korean or American in the article from the German man's account of American culture, and although it was slightly dated, it was interesting to see such a contrasting thought with what we as Americans perceive as so normal.

Culture to me seemed like such a simple topic. After all, we all grew up learning about the different components to culture, such as different customs, language, social conducts, etc. But it never occurred to me how many different components to culture there was. The importance of cultural relativism also seems like it's pretty "common sense" as it's good to be aware of other cultures, but at many times it's easier said than done. When I went to the D.R., the first car ride I experienced there was anything but ordinary here. What would be viewed as a more here (cutting people off, honking excessively, not slowing down at local areas) was viewed as the typical way to drive. Dominicans are used to driving with much lenient laws than us in the U.S., and if not for the numerous speed bumps, speed wouldn't even be regulated. You also saw other mores being broken when people even came out of one car and went into another in the middle of the street! And like I said, even though I thought I knew what it meant to be mindful of other cultures, even I was relieved when we went to the beach and saw that it was "normal" in our standards in the U.S. (as we were pre-warned that there could have been some nudity). Even in Korean culture within the U.S., there's different folkways that are broken. For example, typically when you greet someone in public, you don't bow, but for me having been grown up in a tradition Korean family, my first instinct is to bow to any Korean grown-up I meet. And it becomes awkward for me when I meet Korean adults who are more second generation and don't follow the same cultural folkway.