Food

Last night my mother and I went to the grocery store and bought fresh sushi. I wanted to go to a restaurant but I had never tried sushi before so I didn't want to risk spending a large amount of money on something I did not like. Honestly I am glad with my decision because I absolutely hated the sushi! My selection of sushi and it's flavors were very limited only because the grocery store did not have very many choices and we did not go to a restaurant that was known for its different varieties of sushi. I had a choice of choosing sushi that was spicy, sushi filled with vegetables, or sushi filled with crab meat. I had never tried sushi before but I knew that I did not like any sort of food that was spicy and the vegetables inside the rice-filled sushi did not look very appetizing so I chose the sushi with the crab meat filling. I could tell there was a huge difference between American food and Chinese food right when I glanced at the sushi. First off, it was not cooked! Just by saying something is raw to Americans will automatically make them very stereotypical of the food, which I was. The sushi came in a package of about six individual pieces of sushi. Each sushi was wrapped around with a piece of seaweed, and inside the seaweed was white rice filled with crab meat in the middle. As soon as I opened the package the overwhelming smell made me want to immediately vomit but I proceeded anyway. I took the seaweed off before biting into it because just looking at it made me sick. I normally do not like Soy Sauce but I thought trying some with the sushi might make the taste bearable. I took my first bite and started to chew. As soon as I started to taste what was in my mouth I immediately spit it out into the garbage can. I tried to swallow the sushi but the taste was unlike anything I have ever tasted before. The sushi that I tried was unlike any American food I have ever seen let alone taste. I am used to food that is cooked, such as hamburgers, hot dogs, or even Mexican food but for some reason I could not stand the taste of the sushi. My mother tried it as well and also did not like it. I think the reason I spit out the food so quickly is simply because I have never tried anything like it before and I was just not used to it. It was an interesting experience for me and it was fun to try something new. I was very skeptical about trying it only because I have seen it before or friends have told me how it tastes. I am proud of myself for trying something very new that I always said I would never try and now I do know how it tastes and I can honestly say I have tried it before. American food and Chinese food can have some similar aspects to it depending on what is being compared but when it comes to Sushi, it was unlike any American food I have ever tasted!

Diversity and Cultural Events

On Monday, March 8th, I had the opportunity to hear the world-known Winnie Mandela speak at the Alys Stephens Center. At first, I was not very sure who this woman was or what she was exactly famous for. Former wife of Nelson Mandela, Winnie was known for her acts and involvement in South Africa along with other parts of the world. To South Africa, along with other people of the world, Winnie Mandela is looked as "The motherhood of Africa". With her involvement in many government organizations and other groups such as, African NAtional Congress Women's League, African National Congress, and so forth, Winnie is seen as what some may call, a "hero" to many of South Africa. I did not know much about this woman until I did some research before attending the lecture and was also given a pamphlet of the life of Ms. Mandela during the lecture itself. Although she is known for her courageous acts towards people of South Africa, she also has a history of violence as well. I noticed just how serious Ms. Mandela's past interfered with her life by the amount of security at the lecture. I did feel uncomfortable at some times staring at the security wondering why so many of them were present but obviously, Winnie Mandela is liked by some and unfortuantely, hated by others. Attending this lecture, I noticed a great deal of speakers, other than Winnie Mandela, would refer to Ms. Mandela as "mommy" or "mother", which meant showing great gratitude and respect. This was a bit strange to me considering this type of act does not often occur in the city of Birmingham, let alone Alabama, unless that specific person being called "mommy" was indeed one's mother. Many people speaking at the lecture seemed to know a great deal of information of Ms. Mandela and her history and the life she has lived.
As Ms. Mandela spoke, she brought up how wonderful it was to be in the city of Birmingham considering she had always wanted to visit because she has heard so many things, good and bad. She spoke of her home land, South Africa, and how in some ways it was very different than Alabama. Winnie talked about the stereotypes that were brought up towards Alabama, such as racisim. She discussed how different racism was in South Africa than it was in the South. It is apparent that the South typically is viewed as rasicst, but Winnie seemed to notice it from a different perspective. During her whole life, Winnie was stereotyped, thrown in jail, and ridiculed for speaking her mind and acting out. Everyone that attended her lecture reffered to Ms. Mandela as someone with great imporatnce and owner of a wonderful heart. It almost seemed, to me, that the amount of honor and imporatance thrown at Ms. Mandela, some people were treating her as if she were a God. I had never seen such high significance and gratitude given to one person in my life. Like I mentioned earlier, I was not too sure of what Winnie Mandela was famous for but I was informed of every little aspect at the lecture. Winnie Mandela spoke of her home town and how much she loved to help children and those who were in need Her history shows certain characteristics of just that.

Global Connections

Tuesday night, I attended a food for thought dialogue based on womens' lives after prison. With information given through statistics and a short film on the lives of women after prison, I learned a great deal of knowlegdge about the struggles women are faced with when leaving prison. After being realeased from prison, women are handed only ten dollars and the clothes on thier backs and are thrown into the outside world. The purpose of the dialogue was not only to inform us of the reality taking place around us but also what we thought could be helpful suggestions to help rehabilitate the women who are released from prison. With several ideas proposed in the dialgue, one group was brought up in particular, The Lovelady House. This was a group brought up by women in order to help women who have just recently been released from prison. Although the group is also available for other women who have been victims of abuse, homeless women, and also children, the Lovelady foundation mostly houses women released from prison. With the specific workshops the women go through in order to obtain a better life outside of prison such as, getting to know one's self and boosting self-esteem, spending time with the family and loved ones, and also planning and preparing a budget, the Lovelady foundation helps women focus on themselves and enable a better chance of life outside of prison.
Watching the movie based on women who are part of the Lovelady foundation, each woman shares their experiences through being a part of the Lovelady foundation. Studies and statistics shown during the dialogue prove that a majority of the men and women who have been to prison and are later released end up returning to prison within an average of three years. With these statistics seen as a problem, we were asked to share our opinions of what we thought could possibly be a better solution in order to prevent criminals released from jail returning back to prison. With several ideas such as, opening up more rehabilitation centers for criminals, probation, job opportunities, and so forth, several people opened up to the many possibilities of ways to prevent criminals from returning to prison.
With the ideas circulating of ways to prevent released women from returning to jail, a question was asked stating, "Would you contribute a portion of your tax dollars to help rehabilitate criminals?" Although many ideas seemed similar such as openign up rehabilitation centers and higher education for those who are in need of it, I came to find my opinion was quite different than the rest. I stated I would not donate my tax dollars to criminals with reasons behind it such as, they are criminals and they did a specific action to get them placed in prison in the first place. Another question, what should be done in order to decrease the amount of criminals in jail, was brought up in the discussion with several detailing and useful suggestions. Again, finding my answer differed from the others (increasing the death penalty) many people looked at me with shock and disgust. Although I did feel guilty for speaking my mind on this particular topic, it was MY opinion. I listened to other opinions as well with an open mind and found them very useful. I had my reasons of the propositions I laid out and did not expect everyone to jump on the bandwagon with me. The purpose of this discusion was to find out what we thought should be done to better society and the lives of women after prison. I am proud I spoke my mind and learned a great deal of information through this dialogue and would definitely attend another similar session.

Economics, Different Politcal and Class Ideaologies: Safe Zone Dialouge

During the past week, students, including myself, were to attend a safe zone dialogue where students were to participate and share their ideas of human sexuality. I was a little skeptical of this discussion at first because of the household I was brought up in. We were broken up into small discussion groups and given the definition of "respectful conversations". Our main purpose of this assignment was to open up to the group and express our beliefs and opinions on what we thought of human sexuality. Two panelists from the LGBT group (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) were present in our discussions in order for the students to ask questions and become more knowledgeable in situations and questions we were unsure of. During this exercise, students were able to ask questions and state their opinions of certain topics that were brought up, such as, what is the safe zone, exactly how difficult is it to become open with the fact that someone is gay, and how should one approach this situation?
Growing up in a family where one is taught that being gay is morally wrong, I did not know what to think of the situation and was a little afraid to speak my mind. I realized through this safe zone dialogue that other students had questions as well. I learned a great deal of knowledge from this dialogue that it not only opened my eyes to what was going on around campus and other places as well but also opened my mind. It is hard to except that someone is gay, in my eyes, but gays also go through a great deal of difficulties as well. Marriage, in most states, for gays is not acceptable and is looked down upon by it's citizens. With the closed-minded citizens of most countries about whether gays should marry, this makes it that much harder to fulfill one's wishes.
With the crimes going on towards gays, safe zone is a group that allows gays and bisexuals to talk about and reveal how they truly feel without the fear of being harmed or judged. I never realized how many problems can be encountered when one decides to become public about being gay. What most people fail to accept is that gays are just like any other individual. They are automatically given the stereotype or title of being gay without given the chance to prove other significant qualities of themselves. Although I am still skeptical of the thought of someone being gay, this dialogue session allowed me to see the situation from one's perspective. I never realized the hardships in which gays must go through but it is apparent. I do think safe zone dialogues should become more abundant to students around campus, not to only learn about the gay community but to also limit stereotyping among the gay community. I, for one, do find myself stereotyping gays, but through this dialogue I have learned that the gay community is much like any other community in our culture and therefore opens my mind.

Art and Leisure

Just recently I saw a Chinese film, "Drifters". I was a little skeptical about the film at first considering I had no knowledge about China or it's culture. The movie was about a Chinese family living in China experiencing difficult times. Just recently, in the movie, a son of the family was lost due to immigration overseas in order to travel to America. Immigrating from China was very difficult because it was illegal and also very complicated to pull off. Traveling through boats, space was very limited along with air supply considering the foreigners had to cram in small spaces down below in the boat in order to prevent from getting caught. The Chinese saw America as a place of opportunity and a way for a better life. I felt that this notion of America being so grand and wonderful was a stereotypical view. The other son of the family was contemplating of immigrating to America as well in search of a better life. His plans were put on hold due to the fact that his five year old son was in China also, but he was banned from the mother's family to see his child. Both the family and the older son of the other family had signed a contract stating that the father was unable to visit his son. The contract was signed in America and to the Chinese this seemed very important and was often brought up. Through watching this film I did learn how China is very different than America, not necessarily bad, just different. I did also learn very many rituals and religious notions the Chinese take part in. The religious views of ancestors along with passed relatives was very significant to the Chinese people. In a way, I saw a little connection between the views of religion with America and China. We, as Americans, take religion to be a very important aspect in our lives along with China. Whether we go to church, pray to a religious power, or read the Bible, Americans are take religion very seriously. In China, it is obvious that religion is also very significant to it's people. Whether bowing to high religious figures, using insense as a way to show respect and powerful religious views, or praising and remebering loved ones, the Chinese have very common rituals as Americans in some sense. It was very interesting to see how religiong and faith tied into China. Overall, I did enjoy the movie and enjoyed learning the ways and views of another country.

Introduction

My name is Audra Coley and I am an 18 year old Caucasian female. I have always been known to be outspoken and humorous. During my whole life I have lived in Birmingham with both my mother and father along with my younger brother Chad of age 15. I consider my family as part of the middle-working class. My mother is a nurse at UAB and my father is a painter.
I do consider myself a very religious person. I am a Christian and have been one my whole life. Although I do not attend church anymore (no particular reason) I still consider myself a Christian and a firm believer. When it comes to my sexuality, I am straight. I do not consider myself a homophobic, but I do consider myself close-minded to the thought of having a relationship with the same sex. I love to listen to music, mainly country, rap, and R&B (weird combination). Although I am a Christian and I am striaght and believe in the things that I do, I also find it very interesting to hear opinions of others as well. I do think that everyone has a right to their own opinion and I don't mind to hear it.
Going through life seeing my parent's marriage fall apart, I always promised myself I would never let myself get to that point in my life. My mother has always been a strong woman and I respect her for everything she has done for me. My father has never really been dependable or present in my life, but for the times that he has been there, he constantly wanted me to follow the views and beliefs he was brought up knowing. I am currently in an interracial relationship that my father does not know about. I have been with this person for four years now and I have learned to keep it a secret from my father. My father has always been racist so I have learned to keep certain subjects from him. I used to consider myself close-minded, simply because that was the way I was brought up from my father, but growing up in the world that I live in now, it seems that the things that were unheard of then are accpetable now, and I do wish that people in this world could be more open-minded.
These are just a few details about my life that I do consider important to me. I do love my family very much and love my life that I have now. I do consider myself a strong-willed and determined person. I believe that the choices that I make in my life are for a purpose and I do not regret the choices that I have made for myself. Overall, I do love my life and the people in it. I consider myself a very fun and outgoing person. I love to be around other people and also learn different opinions and beliefs others have as well.