Thinker
Babies essay
In order to sustain the world’s population we must have babies. This essay will compare the differences each country faces with raising babies, the countries being Mongolia, Japan, Namibia and the U.S. as these were the countries we compared in the movie “Babies.” I’ll be comparing the similarities and differences of social interactions, interactions with animals and nature, technology, standards of living and just overall lifestyle. The people, or should I say babies, we will be following will be in almost completely different environments, although we did see some similarities.
Mongolia
Mongolia is made up of mostly people who are, if you will, gypsies. These people have a life style of raising animals and traveling with them as the seasons change; they live in yurts and aren’t too social with other families and such as they travel into places where there are not many other people. Babies are born in households and under-developed hospitals; by under-developed I mean to say the babies don’t have a bunch of monitors strapped to them and the mothers don’t really lay on a bed, its more of a stretcher. Now in the movie after the mother brought the baby home she wasn’t as close and careful as most other countries mothers would be; the baby had strings tied around its blanket tightly to keep it from falling off the bed where it was placed. Later on when the baby was able to begin to crawl, the mother had a string or rope of some sort tied around its waist as to keep it from crawling into a dangerous place or situation. During this time, his brother who looked to be about three or four cared him for.
In Mongolia most of these traveling families had animals such as goats, cows, horses and dogs so the baby had a lot of interaction with animals, I would think. The baby was not taken or let out of the yurt much until it was old enough to begin to take care of itself.
One thing I did notice about the yurt is that the family had a giant dish of some sort attached to it for power or something. I didn’t notice any computers or television so I’m not quite sure what its for.
And for the record, this baby was a baby version of Travis ha ha ha.
Japan
Japan is a very diverse place when it comes to landscape; it has everything from beaches to cities, like Tokyo, to mountains and countryside. Before the baby was born, the mother attended some type of either parenting or birthing classes and did some pregnancy yoga. The baby that we followed was born in a hospital, obviously in Tokyo, where we all know the technology is just completely overwhelming. When the baby was taken home, she was cared for by her father for a while and we got to see how technology is so intense there; the whole time the father watched her, he was either on his phone or the computer. During the day, the baby was taken to a daycare of some sorts.
This family had a cat and you could see the bond between the cat and the baby girl; the cat was always around her whether it be cuddling her or just watching the parents care for her. The only time we saw her outside was when a group of mothers took their babies, in strollers, through some type of park. The parents also took the baby to the zoo and a hot spring. This baby had a lot of social interaction with other babies through daycare so when it came time to celebrate its first birthday; the baby had a nice party. Lucky baby got Asian toys…
Namibia
Namibia is located in Africa. The people we watched really reminded me of Bushmen because they basically didn’t live in a town or anything, but obviously they did live around either other families or just lived with a large family. Now, comparing Namibia to America, we see VERY obvious differences. Some people would beg to differ with me but I believe that the children growing up in Namibia have it better on some levels. Some of the thing I really do believe are better for these children is the fact that they’re growing up in an environment where self-consciousness is generally obsolete. We also see that the kids in Namibia grow up in an environment where toys are not really to access and padded mats are a thought that will never cross their minds. These kids grow up being a little less babied, if you will, and a little more tough and independent. It seems that the dogs they were around were pets but they didn’t quite seem loving or protective, like they were just there. We don’t really see the father throughout the movie either.
As we can see, each country is different yet we all seem to get by just the same. I personally think the kids in Namibia or Mongolia have it better because they aren’t raised in such a coddled environment and learn a lot of independence in their childhood. They learn to live off of the environment more and interact less with technology and all the things that our society depends on nowadays. Watching Mongolia makes me a little envious, actually, as I always wanted to be raised on a farm. But anyway, it just goes to show we all get along in our own ways and that there are so many different types of cultures across the world.
Mongolia
Mongolia is made up of mostly people who are, if you will, gypsies. These people have a life style of raising animals and traveling with them as the seasons change; they live in yurts and aren’t too social with other families and such as they travel into places where there are not many other people. Babies are born in households and under-developed hospitals; by under-developed I mean to say the babies don’t have a bunch of monitors strapped to them and the mothers don’t really lay on a bed, its more of a stretcher. Now in the movie after the mother brought the baby home she wasn’t as close and careful as most other countries mothers would be; the baby had strings tied around its blanket tightly to keep it from falling off the bed where it was placed. Later on when the baby was able to begin to crawl, the mother had a string or rope of some sort tied around its waist as to keep it from crawling into a dangerous place or situation. During this time, his brother who looked to be about three or four cared him for.
In Mongolia most of these traveling families had animals such as goats, cows, horses and dogs so the baby had a lot of interaction with animals, I would think. The baby was not taken or let out of the yurt much until it was old enough to begin to take care of itself.
One thing I did notice about the yurt is that the family had a giant dish of some sort attached to it for power or something. I didn’t notice any computers or television so I’m not quite sure what its for.
And for the record, this baby was a baby version of Travis ha ha ha.
Japan
Japan is a very diverse place when it comes to landscape; it has everything from beaches to cities, like Tokyo, to mountains and countryside. Before the baby was born, the mother attended some type of either parenting or birthing classes and did some pregnancy yoga. The baby that we followed was born in a hospital, obviously in Tokyo, where we all know the technology is just completely overwhelming. When the baby was taken home, she was cared for by her father for a while and we got to see how technology is so intense there; the whole time the father watched her, he was either on his phone or the computer. During the day, the baby was taken to a daycare of some sorts.
This family had a cat and you could see the bond between the cat and the baby girl; the cat was always around her whether it be cuddling her or just watching the parents care for her. The only time we saw her outside was when a group of mothers took their babies, in strollers, through some type of park. The parents also took the baby to the zoo and a hot spring. This baby had a lot of social interaction with other babies through daycare so when it came time to celebrate its first birthday; the baby had a nice party. Lucky baby got Asian toys…
Namibia
Namibia is located in Africa. The people we watched really reminded me of Bushmen because they basically didn’t live in a town or anything, but obviously they did live around either other families or just lived with a large family. Now, comparing Namibia to America, we see VERY obvious differences. Some people would beg to differ with me but I believe that the children growing up in Namibia have it better on some levels. Some of the thing I really do believe are better for these children is the fact that they’re growing up in an environment where self-consciousness is generally obsolete. We also see that the kids in Namibia grow up in an environment where toys are not really to access and padded mats are a thought that will never cross their minds. These kids grow up being a little less babied, if you will, and a little more tough and independent. It seems that the dogs they were around were pets but they didn’t quite seem loving or protective, like they were just there. We don’t really see the father throughout the movie either.
As we can see, each country is different yet we all seem to get by just the same. I personally think the kids in Namibia or Mongolia have it better because they aren’t raised in such a coddled environment and learn a lot of independence in their childhood. They learn to live off of the environment more and interact less with technology and all the things that our society depends on nowadays. Watching Mongolia makes me a little envious, actually, as I always wanted to be raised on a farm. But anyway, it just goes to show we all get along in our own ways and that there are so many different types of cultures across the world.
Half the sky essay
Watching “Half The Sky” in cultural geography was a very eye opening experience. Every day we know what goes on in the world but we seem to not care all that much until we watch it happen, whether it be on video, or in person. Some of the huge issues that women around the world face now are gender based violence, maternal mortality, and education. These problems are more prominent in third world countries rather than countries like the USA, Australia, Great Britain and so on.
One of the biggest problems in gender based violence. In many countries women are not considered people that can think for themselves or act on their own; they are considered property and are only around for the pleasure of men and to bare children, sons, for that matter. Along with the fact that women are not considered people, there comes violence. If she is not a person, you can do whatever you want to her, she is below you; she doesn’t have feelings and lives to serve you so you may do as you please. I imagine that’s how most men think in those situations, anyway. Rape is also common in third world countries because of the way men think of women and sexual assault is just so extremely common.
Another problem women in third world countries face is maternal mortality. Maternal mortality is generally death during or close after giving birth. For women in developed countries the average is only 14 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births. Compare this to developing countries, where the average maternal mortality rate is 290 deaths for 100,000 births. In sub-Saharan Africa it’s even worse, at 900 for every 100,000. Some of the leading causes of maternal deaths are severe bleeding, infections, eclampsia, obstructed labor and unsafe abortions. For every woman who dies in childbirth, at least 10 more suffer serious injuries such as fistulas and tearing.
Of course with poverty, education is hard to come by. In most third world countries women do not go to school typically because they can’t afford it and also because they are to keep house and watch any other children that need supervision. It just all goes back to the point that women are really just not thought of as human beings in most developing countries. But do not get me wrong, there still are women that DO get the privilege of going to school. Though in the video we saw that many of them do have to go through a lot to get to that point like the one girl in Vietnam, I think it was, who sold lottery tickets to pay for school and for her father to have money.
Over all, watching this movie has made me realize how flipping good I have it here. We all have our problems but I am so thankful to be able to go to school and have a social life and have the ability to get a job. It’s important to know how good we have it here and to see how many privileges we have here. I now really do want to take a trip somewhere and help in any way I can. This experience has really opened my eyes.
One of the biggest problems in gender based violence. In many countries women are not considered people that can think for themselves or act on their own; they are considered property and are only around for the pleasure of men and to bare children, sons, for that matter. Along with the fact that women are not considered people, there comes violence. If she is not a person, you can do whatever you want to her, she is below you; she doesn’t have feelings and lives to serve you so you may do as you please. I imagine that’s how most men think in those situations, anyway. Rape is also common in third world countries because of the way men think of women and sexual assault is just so extremely common.
Another problem women in third world countries face is maternal mortality. Maternal mortality is generally death during or close after giving birth. For women in developed countries the average is only 14 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births. Compare this to developing countries, where the average maternal mortality rate is 290 deaths for 100,000 births. In sub-Saharan Africa it’s even worse, at 900 for every 100,000. Some of the leading causes of maternal deaths are severe bleeding, infections, eclampsia, obstructed labor and unsafe abortions. For every woman who dies in childbirth, at least 10 more suffer serious injuries such as fistulas and tearing.
Of course with poverty, education is hard to come by. In most third world countries women do not go to school typically because they can’t afford it and also because they are to keep house and watch any other children that need supervision. It just all goes back to the point that women are really just not thought of as human beings in most developing countries. But do not get me wrong, there still are women that DO get the privilege of going to school. Though in the video we saw that many of them do have to go through a lot to get to that point like the one girl in Vietnam, I think it was, who sold lottery tickets to pay for school and for her father to have money.
Over all, watching this movie has made me realize how flipping good I have it here. We all have our problems but I am so thankful to be able to go to school and have a social life and have the ability to get a job. It’s important to know how good we have it here and to see how many privileges we have here. I now really do want to take a trip somewhere and help in any way I can. This experience has really opened my eyes.
"Aftershock" assignment
August 12th 2019
9:00 am
The day seamed just like every other day. It was rainy, as it usually was in Seattle, and the skies were dark, like the bottom of the ocean. I parked in the underground parking of the building and walked to the elevator, pressed the “26” button and waited as people made their way in and out of the elevator as it rose floor by floor. My desk job was monotonous and boring but I had a window to look out of; it had a beautiful view, no buildings in the way but not much to see besides the street bellow and the clouds up high. I worked on accounts and payments today, making many phone calls and sipping on a smoothie I had made at home.
11:48 am
My pen suddenly rolled off of my desk and the lamp I had behind my computer started to flicker; I picked up my pen and slapped the base of the lamp in hopes that it would fix the problem, which it did not. Suddenly it the building started shaking, nothing too out of the ordinary. The lights in the building turned off and the earthquake siren and the red lights turned on. Slowly, everyone made their way under their desks and some to the door frames. The shaking became more and more violent until things were tumbling off desks and clocks and pictures fell off of the walls.
We had been warned of a massive earthquake many times and scientists were unsure of when the tectonic plates would shift and send a massive quake and possibly a tsunami across most of the coast line and possibly farther inland. Even they weren’t sure of the damage the hazards would cause.
I looked out the window and realized the building was not only shaking, it was swaying. Pieces of the ceiling started to fall and the dividers between cubicles started to fall. Suddenly the window completely shattered all over the place, I closed my eyes in protection and curled up into the fetal position instinctively.
12:07 pm
The shaking had stopped long ago but we all sat under our desks until the sirens and red lights finally stopped. It wasn’t until then that I realized I had a shard of glass protruding form the side of my left thigh. I didn’t dare touch it. I crawled to the window and looked at the streets bellow. Cars were turned on their sides and bricks from a small bakery across the street were everywhere. To my surprise, small amounts of people were running about the streets, most likely looking for a friend or a family member.
12:22pm
I had been watching the people bellow for a couple minutes and I thought I saw the Phyllis I had seen this morning with a bright green top on bellow in the street running towards one of the overturned cars. I looked up I realized I may be the only person who had not evacuated the office, maybe the whole building. But of course my fascination was with those tiny ant looking people bellow running and screaming. I don’t know why, but my senses told me to not move an inch. I couldn’t pull myself away from the window and I watched as a giant swell of water came rushing into the streets around the building and I felt the building sway as the water hit, it creaked and groaned. I watched the wave pull the cars around the building and smash them into the building. I watched as the water receded and came back in and it repeated itself about seven or eight times.
7:53 pm
I was far too scared to leave the building. I had waited hours for another wave, but the waves stopped around 3:00 pm. I couldn’t take a chance though. I got up and tried the phone, completely dead. My cell phone had no signal, so I slowly limped around the office in hopes I’d get service at some point. I finally did close to the stairwell, but I didn’t dare go in the stairwell, as there was an obvious pool of blood the leaked under the door.
11:47 pm
I can’t sleep; I’ve been trying for hours. I just want to block it all out for now and not have to see my life for a couple hours. I want to wake up from everything. I very carefully got up, as to not upset the glass still in my thigh, and walked over to pediatrics across the hall. I realized they had a TV in the waiting room. I found it on the floor and the screen cracked but I decided to try it anyway. It turned on, but through every channel it received, there was just white noise. Nothing more, nothing less, but it was better than the silence, better than the rain. So I would sit here, I would sit here and wait for a sign of what to do next. Left with nothing but a view of the couple lights left in the city and the sound of the TV.
Me, the white noise, the lights.
9:00 am
The day seamed just like every other day. It was rainy, as it usually was in Seattle, and the skies were dark, like the bottom of the ocean. I parked in the underground parking of the building and walked to the elevator, pressed the “26” button and waited as people made their way in and out of the elevator as it rose floor by floor. My desk job was monotonous and boring but I had a window to look out of; it had a beautiful view, no buildings in the way but not much to see besides the street bellow and the clouds up high. I worked on accounts and payments today, making many phone calls and sipping on a smoothie I had made at home.
11:48 am
My pen suddenly rolled off of my desk and the lamp I had behind my computer started to flicker; I picked up my pen and slapped the base of the lamp in hopes that it would fix the problem, which it did not. Suddenly it the building started shaking, nothing too out of the ordinary. The lights in the building turned off and the earthquake siren and the red lights turned on. Slowly, everyone made their way under their desks and some to the door frames. The shaking became more and more violent until things were tumbling off desks and clocks and pictures fell off of the walls.
We had been warned of a massive earthquake many times and scientists were unsure of when the tectonic plates would shift and send a massive quake and possibly a tsunami across most of the coast line and possibly farther inland. Even they weren’t sure of the damage the hazards would cause.
I looked out the window and realized the building was not only shaking, it was swaying. Pieces of the ceiling started to fall and the dividers between cubicles started to fall. Suddenly the window completely shattered all over the place, I closed my eyes in protection and curled up into the fetal position instinctively.
12:07 pm
The shaking had stopped long ago but we all sat under our desks until the sirens and red lights finally stopped. It wasn’t until then that I realized I had a shard of glass protruding form the side of my left thigh. I didn’t dare touch it. I crawled to the window and looked at the streets bellow. Cars were turned on their sides and bricks from a small bakery across the street were everywhere. To my surprise, small amounts of people were running about the streets, most likely looking for a friend or a family member.
12:22pm
I had been watching the people bellow for a couple minutes and I thought I saw the Phyllis I had seen this morning with a bright green top on bellow in the street running towards one of the overturned cars. I looked up I realized I may be the only person who had not evacuated the office, maybe the whole building. But of course my fascination was with those tiny ant looking people bellow running and screaming. I don’t know why, but my senses told me to not move an inch. I couldn’t pull myself away from the window and I watched as a giant swell of water came rushing into the streets around the building and I felt the building sway as the water hit, it creaked and groaned. I watched the wave pull the cars around the building and smash them into the building. I watched as the water receded and came back in and it repeated itself about seven or eight times.
7:53 pm
I was far too scared to leave the building. I had waited hours for another wave, but the waves stopped around 3:00 pm. I couldn’t take a chance though. I got up and tried the phone, completely dead. My cell phone had no signal, so I slowly limped around the office in hopes I’d get service at some point. I finally did close to the stairwell, but I didn’t dare go in the stairwell, as there was an obvious pool of blood the leaked under the door.
11:47 pm
I can’t sleep; I’ve been trying for hours. I just want to block it all out for now and not have to see my life for a couple hours. I want to wake up from everything. I very carefully got up, as to not upset the glass still in my thigh, and walked over to pediatrics across the hall. I realized they had a TV in the waiting room. I found it on the floor and the screen cracked but I decided to try it anyway. It turned on, but through every channel it received, there was just white noise. Nothing more, nothing less, but it was better than the silence, better than the rain. So I would sit here, I would sit here and wait for a sign of what to do next. Left with nothing but a view of the couple lights left in the city and the sound of the TV.
Me, the white noise, the lights.
Civics brief
I took Civics: Foreign Policy this trimester and we talked about some extremely interesting topics such as the Keystone XL Pipeline Project, the use of drones in the the fight against terrorism, and the ongoing debate of whether we should have or should not have nuked Japan. I personally found all of these topics very interesting.
I really didn’t know anything at all about the Keystone XL Pipeline Project until I took the civics class. I can tell you now that it is a project to make a pipeline from Canada down to the United States to transport oil mostly through rural areas. It’s a very good alternative economically for our country because of our dependency on oil from the Middle East but it’s a bad idea when another alternative could be becoming environmentally friendly. There are so many different things we could use apposed to oil and other non-renewable substances. I actually felt so strongly for it that I wrote a letter to the president. That letter was my proudest writing.
We talked a lot about using drones in the US’s fight against terrorism. Many people had different opinions; I personally feel that it is wrong. But before I took the class I didn’t even know that we had drones, let alone we happen to be using them. I personally think that it’s a wrong thing to do. Many people made the comment that its not you actually putting a gun to someone’s head but I believe its just as bad if not worse because if we can think of it like that, then cant the people sitting there controlling the drones think the same thing? I feel like it would make people mad with power.
We also had a couple days that we talked about the Adam Bomb that we dropped on Japan. I’ve already studied it a lot so I knew most of what we talked about but it was extremely interesting to hear other people’s opinions. I have a kind of one-track mind in the sense of not realizing some things that could be valid reasons or suggestions. Many people had the set mind track that it was just wrong to do, as I did, and then other people had the opinion that if we didn’t do it, they may have taken the chance to do it to us, and that’s the part I didn’t think of.
Civics is different every time I take it and that’s what I love! I learned so much about these three topics and more in this class this trimester. It was fun and I got to give my opinion so much. Debating about the Adam Bomb was my favorite part. In all I feel so much more informed about what’s going on in the world right now.
I really didn’t know anything at all about the Keystone XL Pipeline Project until I took the civics class. I can tell you now that it is a project to make a pipeline from Canada down to the United States to transport oil mostly through rural areas. It’s a very good alternative economically for our country because of our dependency on oil from the Middle East but it’s a bad idea when another alternative could be becoming environmentally friendly. There are so many different things we could use apposed to oil and other non-renewable substances. I actually felt so strongly for it that I wrote a letter to the president. That letter was my proudest writing.
We talked a lot about using drones in the US’s fight against terrorism. Many people had different opinions; I personally feel that it is wrong. But before I took the class I didn’t even know that we had drones, let alone we happen to be using them. I personally think that it’s a wrong thing to do. Many people made the comment that its not you actually putting a gun to someone’s head but I believe its just as bad if not worse because if we can think of it like that, then cant the people sitting there controlling the drones think the same thing? I feel like it would make people mad with power.
We also had a couple days that we talked about the Adam Bomb that we dropped on Japan. I’ve already studied it a lot so I knew most of what we talked about but it was extremely interesting to hear other people’s opinions. I have a kind of one-track mind in the sense of not realizing some things that could be valid reasons or suggestions. Many people had the set mind track that it was just wrong to do, as I did, and then other people had the opinion that if we didn’t do it, they may have taken the chance to do it to us, and that’s the part I didn’t think of.
Civics is different every time I take it and that’s what I love! I learned so much about these three topics and more in this class this trimester. It was fun and I got to give my opinion so much. Debating about the Adam Bomb was my favorite part. In all I feel so much more informed about what’s going on in the world right now.
Internship review, Judgement
You will find that in this world, everyone is judgmental weather they show it or not, most of the time not. An example of this would be when you’re going in for a job interview or application. I can see why people would judge you when you go in for an interview but the difference between when you dress casually and when you dress formally isn’t as different as you would think it would be.
So I decided to test how big the difference would be with Bailey and Savannah. Our first day we dressed casually, that’s what started this all, and went to the mall. As we all know, some of the stores at the mall are very laid back and don’t mind so much what you look like, while other stores are very “fancy” and care all too much what you look like. In rue21, zumiez and Maurices everyone was EXTREMELY nice and gave out applications and that sort of stuff very nicely. On the other hand, at Christopher and Bank, JCPenny and Kmart I noticed that the people we asked not only had a rude attitude but also said the exact same thing, “well we aren’t hiring right now but you can do it online.” It was disappointing.
We planned on going back and asking for applications on Thursday wearing formal cloths but Savannah was sick, sad face. Bailey and I ended up going down town and asking for applications instead of going to the exact same places and ended up with a subtly different response. No one said anything like “we aren’t hiring right now” they just handed us applications and let us on our way. Most of those people were very nice and gave out a nice vibe except this one guy at an ice cream shop.
Over all I would say that dressing nicely and formally would be the better option when applying for a job that isn’t at Hot Topic, rue21 or Spencers. Even so, I would dress formally for an interview. People these days… So judgmental…
So I decided to test how big the difference would be with Bailey and Savannah. Our first day we dressed casually, that’s what started this all, and went to the mall. As we all know, some of the stores at the mall are very laid back and don’t mind so much what you look like, while other stores are very “fancy” and care all too much what you look like. In rue21, zumiez and Maurices everyone was EXTREMELY nice and gave out applications and that sort of stuff very nicely. On the other hand, at Christopher and Bank, JCPenny and Kmart I noticed that the people we asked not only had a rude attitude but also said the exact same thing, “well we aren’t hiring right now but you can do it online.” It was disappointing.
We planned on going back and asking for applications on Thursday wearing formal cloths but Savannah was sick, sad face. Bailey and I ended up going down town and asking for applications instead of going to the exact same places and ended up with a subtly different response. No one said anything like “we aren’t hiring right now” they just handed us applications and let us on our way. Most of those people were very nice and gave out a nice vibe except this one guy at an ice cream shop.
Over all I would say that dressing nicely and formally would be the better option when applying for a job that isn’t at Hot Topic, rue21 or Spencers. Even so, I would dress formally for an interview. People these days… So judgmental…