On March 12th, our Culture Course had a guest.
What do you think about Texas? What is Texas?
Oil wells, Rodeos, big cars, Country Music, Cowboys. Texas is all of that. We met a Texas State University Professor who is all of that, too. Her name is Jonna Beck and she is Texas.
But after that introduction, she made clear that she is not part of Texas culture.
American individualism is more current in Texas than in the rest of the United States. Everything in Texas is bigger and better.
Professor Jonna told us about family traditions, religion, and believes in Texas.
Texas carries on a racist tradition since American Civil War in XIX century. Professor Jonna had a brother from Ruanda, Jean Claude. He is a survivor from one of many Ruanda street disturbs, and he is not safe from the police in Texas, neither. Jean Claude lives with Jonna, and she loves and protects him. The professor explained to us about feminism, and sexual tolerance. Texas continues being a traditional state. Professor Jonna does not share that point of view. That is why she is not part of Texas’ culture.
Professor Joan is a citizen from the world. She does not accept the word: multicultural. She said that nobody’s culture is formed by little pieces. Everyone has his own culture. Hers is as Texas, influenced by many traditions: Taekwondo from Korea, traditional dresses from Germany (her ancestors’ country), literature from Ireland (James Joyce is her favorite author), and dance from Mexico.
Family is very important for Texas people and for this professor, too. Her husband and his family are very different from her tradition, but she loves them this way . They are The Palmers, and they are from Chicago.
The experience of professor Jonna talking about herself was amazing. Some classmates shared their experiences too.
She was really kind and generous. She told us that she could have a possibility for our classmates to go to Texas State University to get a PhD. She will wait for them the next twenty years. I really hope that someone could get it!! She gave us her card and pencils from her Texas State Writing Center. It was a nice experience.
A week later, on March 12 we had more nice guests. This time we met two caring girls from Germany: Regina and Kata.
They shared with us their experiences in a totally different country. Regina had been in our country for some months and Kata just spent few days. They talked about their own country: economics, car industry (I was embarrassed because I thought that Volvo cars are German, but they are Swedish), family issues, and of course, school. They revealed their concern about how people looked at them because of the Nazism tragedy. They felt proud of been from German but they try not to show it in order to not bother people from other cultures. Regina was excited about visiting beaches, volcanoes, and having telluric movements. She explained to us the difference between our tropical beaches and the Baltic Sea which is always cold. She was afraid of our way of driving and crossing the streets. She said that she already knew that in San José she had not to wait for the traffic light, but for the people who cross the street whenever they consider it will be fine.
Kata told us about the increase on education costs after the reunification in 1989.
Now Germany has to provide education to twenty million more people. The new German government is supporting a voluntary service program all over the world. Regina is part of it.
I asked them about classical music education. I wondered if German children had a very professional music education since some of the most famous classical composers are from Germany: Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, and Wagner. When Kata explained that children have music education as part of the Elementary Curriculum I realized that I had jumped to conclusions in the same way that people from other countries could expect to find in our country tropical dancers in the streets, and if they ask for that, a lot of people will answer that they do not dance salsa, merengue or reguetton.
I love to have guests in our class because it is a direct way to develop what we had been studying since February. It is too easy to prejudge and to criticize and we try not to do it consciously but it is with the real interaction that we discover our respect to other cultures.
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