Service Blog #3

1. This time when I was volunteering there were not many people who needed help with homework. Instead, I played Scrabble with some of the kids. Scrabble has never really been my forte, but I thought it would be fun to sit down and be able to have a conversation with them aside from focusing mostly on their school work. We played for about half an hour before that class was over for them. It was interesting getting to know them better. It seemed like they were very much assimilated to the American culture before but after having an actual conversation with them, it is easy to see that there are still some aspects of their culture they keep with them. This was evident even in the game of Scrabble. They would sometimes use words from their native language and would then explain to me what each of those words meant. I was also able to talk to them about what they thought of our culture and how different it is from what they are used to. From this question I got mixed answers. One boy told me that he is pretty much used to it and it seems normal to him. A different girl told me she thought it was hard to get used to at first but now she's seemed to have adjusted to it. She did say that she misses some of the food they used to eat and mentioned in particular a certain kind of bread that I forgot the name to, but it seemed like it would be comparable to what we call monkey bread. Overall, I had a great time getting to know more about their culture and about them individually.

2. During this visit I felt like I was both a member of the in-group and the out-group. I felt like part of the in-group because sitting there playing a board game with them felt really natural and we were able to talk about things we had in common like how school was going, if they were interested in sports, and that type of thing. I did feel like part of the out-group though when they would talk about their culture because they all had that in common and I was pretty much clueless about what different things meant and had to ask questions about almost everything. I could also tell that they were from a collectivist culture because of how they referred to different things. For example they were not very competitive with the board game we played. In my family growing up if we played a game it usually ended in a fight because someone was mad they didn't win. I also noticed that when they talked about doing things outside of school they were always with other people. It was never, "I went grocery shopping" or "I went to the mall." Instead they would use "we" a lot and mentioned the group instead of just themselves.

3. I think what I learned here is going to be very beneficial to my future visits. Being able to learn more about their culture and some of what they're going through will help me interact better with them in the future. I will know how to better relate to them and I think it helped to break some of the remaining ice that may have been there. Once again I felt myself self-monitoring a little at the beginning but once we started playing and talking I was able to relax more interacting with each other felt natural. This will definitely help me because I don't think I will need that time to get used to being there and helping out for awhile before feeling comfortable, I will be able to jump right in and have things feel natural.

Service Blog #2

1. When I was first going in to the high school on the first day of volunteering, I was very nervous about what was going to happen. I didn't know much about the people I would be helping or if I would even be able to help them. I didn't really have much reason to be worried though because everything went really smoothly. On the first time I helped a girl with her math homework and then we played hangman together with the time we had left. The next time I went in I helped a different girl with her math and I was actually surprised at how good it felt to see her understand it and be able to finish some of the problems on her own. That day I also stayed for a longer time and helped a boy draw and diagram a picture of a cell and also read to a younger girl for a little while. I was a little surprised at how well they were able to pick up what I was saying and apply it to the work they were doing. I guess I had this idea going in that they weren't going to be able to understand what I was saying and everything would be a huge challenge.

2. I think there are a few terms and concepts that are relevant to what I experienced. The first is the Uncertainty-Reduction Theory. Before actually interacting with people from a different culture I felt very nervous because I was not sure what to expect. This is because different cultures do things in different ways and we all feel most comfortable when we know how the other person might react, this does not always happen when dealing with different cultures. The second is how I was surprised at how well the people I were tutoring were understanding what I was saying and what was going on. First, this is an example of the assumptions I made going in. I didn't think they would be able to understand me and would act totally different because they were from another part of the world. I made the mistake of mixing race and ethnicity with culture. While the two are closely related, they are not the same thing. These kids were from different areas of the world but they were accustomed to American culture and they really seemed just like any other kid. Another aspect of this is that we were able to understand each other well because we are about the same age. There are many different influences on perception and age is one of them. We are able to see the world similarly because we have had about equal time and seen similar things. Of course not everything we have seen is the same, they have experienced a different culture, as well as having to leave that culture. Their views of the world are definitely different, and probably more advanced then mine but we were still able to connect to each other because we are close in age. The last thing I noticed is that when dealing with the kids is that I was self-monitoring. I was trying to be careful to be very clear in what I was saying and not use words that were too big. I also wanted to make myself seem smart in the subject matter so they would trust me and I also tried not to seem too ignorant of their culture, even though I was.

3. What I learned can be applied to future interactions because I will know better what to expect. I know that these kids are very easy to talk to and relate to so my feelings of nervousness will not nearly be as high. I will also know more about how to communicate with them. It really isn't any different than I communicate with anyone else. I can explain the concepts they need help with in the same ways that I would think of them as and they will understand them. I will also know how to present myself. While I don't think my self-monitoring will completely stop, I know I will feel more comfortable and as a result will probably do less of it.