Heritage

I asked my mother for help on this one. Her mother, Stella Ash, is the only grandparent I have still alive. She just turned 88 on Saturday in Sidney, MT's nursing home. My mother really enjoys learning about our heritage so learning the history of our family was fairly simple. Everything else was very speculative.

My mother, Dale, has grandparents who emigrated as Germans from Russia in two waves. Her grandmother, Albina Stoebnerl, was born of such parents in the Eureka, SD area. As a young woman, she met and married Johnn Schell who came on his own from Russia in order to dodge the draft of Germans into the Russian army, just after the turn of the 20th century. Johnn bought farm land just south of Underwood, ND so he and Albina could raise my grandmother, Stella and her 8 siblings.

Both spoke only German, but Johnn strove to learn the new land’s language at every opportunity, for he believed in the promise of America, and wanted to be a good citizen for it. 

He sought the best education for his children and about half the girls became teachers. My grandmother, however, graduated from high school just before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and attended secretarial school in Fargo, ND. She worked in Washington, DC and Kodiak, Alaska during the war. Afterward, she worked in Minneapolis, and then returned to the farm. She met and married Ralph Howard Ash of Coleharbor, ND in 1952. In 1954, my mother was born.

Ralph’s parents were Pearle S. Stoll who married Elmer Ash in the early years of the 20th century and they farmed near Riverdale and Coleharbor on the river bottom lands of the Missouri River. Pearle was from a small town (Sanborn?) near Valley City, ND and spoke English all her life. Elmer was from Pennsylvania, and spoke English all his life. His mother had died in childbirth and he was raised in the family of one of her sister’s. He came to ND to farm. Ralph related that he was Irish, Dutch (possibly Pennsylvania Dutch) and Welsh (from England). Ralph had fought in World War II in the European theater, came home to the farm after a later discharge.

He worked on the construction of Garrison Dam, very near to his parental farmland. That land was bought up by imminent domain, with not enough capital to buy other land. He met Stella and they married and lived in Underwood, where he worked construction and she worked as a secretary for the Corps of Engineers. These people were farmers for the most part, although the Ash family preferred to run cattle when they had the river bottom. After the farm was gone, Elmer and Pearle moved into Underwood, and Elmer died shortly after.

My father, Tim, is adopted by a farm couple named Carroll and Betty Swenson. Betty was English from Mason City, Iowa; Carroll was Norwegian, and he was second-generation born on the homestead in western ND, near a town called Keene. His first language was Norwegian, until first grade, where English was taught as the language for all classes. He then taught what he learned to his parents by reading the school books to them, pointing to words and repeating.

One correlation between what seem to be the values of my ancestors and I would be education. Learning and teaching. Working with information. My grandmother was clearly a very strong role model for my mother who, even now in her mid-50's, wants to re-attend college! My father was also encouraged into education by his parents. Even today he continues his education and continues to educate others. I suppose this is why I feel called to be a teacher in some capacity.

Week Three

This week was not my favorite. I felt very out of place in class for some reason and nothing has truly come to the surface for me to blog about yet. So I will just begin:

Our guest speaker, Mary Thurlkill, did an amazing job presenting the foundations of Islam to us. For example, when she lectured about purity and brought up shaking hands between men and women she gave a personal example of interaction with her students. I greatly appreciated this because, as I think about it, if any man declined to shake my hand I would most likely be offended. But now I have a cultural perspective on a possible situation that may arise in the future and I will be able to consider it as a propriety and not an offense.

The class discussion was very difficult for me to engage in. Being the daughter of a Lutheran pastor, I have been surrounded by political and theological discussions and debates my entire life. So, although I have no formal education in the matters of my faith, I like to think I know enough to be informed and make decisions regarding the status of my church and how I should practice my beliefs. This makes me fairly comfortable discussing almost anything you could think of in relation to my perspective of God.

But class discussions on religion are different for me. I want to jump in and just "educate" people on what I know is the truth about God. I want to give them better facts than what they currently know. (Realize, I'm speaking in general and this is by no means aimed at anyone in particular in any way.) I want to introduce new perspectives. I want to give information! Mostly, I don't want to listen to a bunch of people who have absolutely no idea what is going on in my church (or my faith) discuss it. I don't mind speculation, I just prefer that it is conducted under an informed perspective rather than an ignorant one.

So... I just sit there with my mouth shut wondering if this is a time for me to "evangelize!" (Since, as a Christian, that is what I am called to do.) But I know better than that. I continue to sit there and listen to ignorant speculation and, in a way, I begin to feel a certain solidarity with Muslims in their current situation in the world. I feel very misunderstood and misinterpreted based on events I had no part in.

Although I appreciated the introduction to more "outside" cultures and religions, I honestly was disappointed that we didn't receive more education on the culture we live in. I would like to be more educated on objective differences between Lutherans and Catholics. I would like to know the historical differences between Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic. Why is there a rift in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America? These are the problems surrounding us right now. Affecting the people who live next door or that work with us. Why doesn't everyone know about them?

Because no one wants to. It's as simple as that. Honestly, sometimes, I don't want to. But when I tell people that I'm a PK (pastor's kid), I don't want them to write me off as a "Bible-thumper". I want them to understand that my philosophies on life will be grounded in my faith. I want them to understand that faith is as subjective as.. what kind of car you drive or the shoes you wear. But no one wants to know. If they did, they would know. They wouldn't take an Intercultural Communications class to learn about how their neighbor or co-worker or classmate feels about God. They would just ask.

So, yes, I was uncomfortable Tuesday night. Furthermore, it is really difficult for me to take in so much objective information about religions, faiths, and philosophies other than my own. I can't figure my own faith out at times, and there is so much controversy within my church that finding the truth is difficult! I can't begin to form opinions about or regarding other practices when my own are so controversial even to their own practitioners. For all I know, the same happens for them, as well. And if I feel isolated when uneducated people speculate about my faith, I wouldn't want to put someone else in my place by doing the same to them.

Anyway, this is my honest reflection from class Tuesday night the 25th. Again, I just want to state that these are general "blanket statement" feelings, and I'm certainly not holding grudges or anything. I hope by reading this post you've possibly gained new perspectives.

--

Coming Soon:
Family History Discussion

Week Two

Wow! So much to think about! First, I want to post up some comments I just made on some of my classmates' blogs. I love reading them because they always make me think about such different things. I find it hard to objectify myself and my opinions and my culture. Reading the thoughts that others have really helps me do that.

Tony's Blog

"Tony, I often ask myself that same question, I think. "Why can't we instantly understand?" The answer I think I've come to is education. Not necessarily classroom education but just our learning over-all. (I'm trying not to delve into my educational views.) However, generally, why aren't we encouraged to act more tactfully in day-to-day life? In other words, we should be more confident when dealing with other cultures because we feel we have the tools (respect, acceptance, tolerance, and tact) to be able to amicably work through trying situations.

So, in answer to instant understanding, I think the solution to the problem lies in early education and continuing education. As such advanced people, why aren't we given the skills and confidence to gracefully survive social situations? (But maybe my thinking is a bit old-fashioned here...)"

Vinny's Blog

"You brought up an interesting point that hadn't occurred to me before, really. A lot of us focus on respecting, accepting, and tolerating other cultures so much that we forget we need to learn how to be respected, accepted, and tolerated ourselves. Much food for thought. Thanks!"

Scott's Blog

"I find it interesting that you highlight the first-name preference. This is something that has almost always plagued me. For example, someone I work with has a culturally traditional name and I'm not sure how to pronounce it. Asking them for guidance about something as simple as a name can be very daunting to many people. Sometimes I feel like we get so hung up over handling a culturally diverse individual that we forget to include them in our own "Western" culture. "Western" being what I would describe as an open, honest, and direct culture. Maybe by thinking of tactful and friendly inquiry as an inclusion into our culture, the task of "handling with care" wouldn't seem so scary."

So, as you can see, I have a lot of thoughts that I want to share with other people! I have a very dominant personality and this often leads to me feeling like I've just trampled all over everyone else's opinions. In our discussion last night I was appreciative of Kim's ability to keep us organized in our feedback. I had a great time in discussion with my classmates. Talking and listening are two of my favorite pass-times! I'm just so thankful that we have a teacher who is willing to let us do that and I'm grateful to all my fellow students who are willing to share their cultures and experiences with me so I can have a greater understanding of different lifestyles.

Well, class started off with me sharing a cultural snack. I brought homemade krumkake for my classmates and I don't think anyone spit it out so that was good! Next we had Anastasiya from the Ukraine come talk with us about her experiences in both Ukrainian and American cultures. She is a fellow student of ours and was very open and personable; I appreciated her candidness with us. She taught us many things about her culture like Ukrainians are often mistaken for Russians and therefore assumed to be part of the Mafia (since that is a false stereotype of Russians.)

There are many differences between traditional Ukrainian culture and my own. For example, Ukrainians' culture is influenced mostly by their religion, which is mainly Catholic (both Eastern Orthodox [I believe she referred to it as "Greek Orthodox"] and Roman Catholic). But they celebrate Christmas according to an older calendar which puts it on January 7th -- AFTER the New Year celebrations. Their wedding celebrations last for a minimum of two days and usually only family is invited. As part of the ceremonial tradition, a specific type of bread is baked and then there is salt to go along with the bread. I would say this is similar, perhaps, to our "western" wedding cake with the bride and groom on top. Also, at Easter there is a traditional bread baked, as well, and maybe us "westerners" incorporated their egg-decorating into our traditional activities around that time!

There are so many things to think about just from the short presentation Anastasiya gave us. Her culture focuses on education, so they don't get to choose classes like we do, they are assigned by their board of education. Politically, the people do get to vote, however, what they vote for isn't necessarily the outcome. Socially, she thinks people are more outspoken about their opinions in the Ukraine, but she definitely views Americans as being much friendlier. Overall the way of life in the Ukraine is much more European than it is here in the states. (My experience with European culture is that it is less modest about issues like sex, sexuality, personal growth, and it is a more "extreme" culture where people are simultaneously more likely to conform to a fanatic movement and less likely to conform to a social contract of appropriate behavior. Again, that's just how I have experienced a European attitude.)

I hope you're beginning to get a clear idea of just how different our nations' cultures are! Two more things to think about and then I will move on. Here's a possible reason for America being the most obese country: in the Ukraine (and I'm going out on a limb with assuming you could reasonably say the same for the rest of Europe) fast food is less prevalent and portion sizes at restaurants are much smaller. Imagine that. Also, imagine driving your car down a street not made for cars. Being one of the youngest and most modern countries in the world, I think sometimes we forget how tailored our world is to technology. In other countries the technology is available, it's just difficult to make it work. --Actually, on a side tangent, we have that happening in our own country! For example I heard about New York having problems getting its citizens at-home access to high speed internet. Why? Because a lot of the "old" city wasn't built to be updated! Anyway, that's something to think about.

Next, we moved on to watching videos! Despite terrible fashion and a (I think it was 80's) super-progressive approach, a lot of its messages are still very applicable 30 years later. Here's a run-down of what I got out of the first video:

The Mosaic Workplace

This video mainly focused on the conduction of focus groups containing culturally diverse individuals to answer some difficult questions that we have as a majority attempting to help them feel comfortable and welcome in our society.

What should we call members of different minority groups? How can we refer to you?

• Treat them as individuals, call them by name, refer to their profession
• Anxiety diffuses when you get to know someone personally
• Ask directly for a nationality or culture (don't guess)
• Labels are used to organize and manage, but they can also be uniting

The video also mentioned briefly that in reference to individuals with disabilities the acceptable reference is "people with disabilities". They also said it is important to remember the "people" part, just because they have a disability doesn't mean everything about them is different from us.

Next, the video delved into general concepts regarding different cultures.

Overcoming fallacies about cultures:

• Not every member of a minority fits a stereotype
• If you don't want to see the true culture, they won't show it to you
• They feel uncomfortable if you feel uncomfortable
• Difficulty communicating with the majority does not mean intellectual deficiency
• People with disabilities are PEOPLE
• People of minorities often fight to combat the negative image that others from their culture portray
• People of minorities are often very loyal to those who treat them as individuals
• Understanding the historical culture can give a different perspective

Kim then stopped the video and we discussed the art of tact and the concepts of Respect, Acceptance, and Tolerance.

Second Video

This video was pretty short but it had a few clear points.

• Communication is how we exchange information necessary to survival.
• Even members of different animal species communicate differently with each other.
• Language is a highly sophisticated communication system.

At this point, Kim began lecture and discussion. We were meant to discuss our assigned reading but we were caught up in discussing our lecture (which was fine with Kim, thankfully, because I had been so preoccupied thinking about my intercultural snack that I completely spaced out the reading!) I have already touched on our class discussion so I won't return to the topic. I look forward to reading what more of my classmates have to say about it in their blogs, though.

I see in Kim's Blog that she has a short list of things she would like us to think about so I will try to wrap up my blog with respect to those topics. Some of them are regarding next week's class (which I'm not allowed to start blogging about yet) and some we covered last night so I will just take the ones from last night (since I've skimmed through the assigned reading now).

"What do you think of the classification of Indian Young people that the Coconuts and Cappuccinos article discussed?"

I think that it is difficult to break stereotypical and judgmental barriers between other cultures and your own if you are so willing to begin placing labels on yourself. However, that isn't to say that these kinds of observations are irrelevant! Culture needs to be held accountable for its development. As was mentioned earlier, labels are used for organizing and managing, but also for uniting.

Another approach I take to this article is one that I have mentioned earlier. It is difficult to objectively assess your culture. I once wrote about walking the fine line between social tradition and social growth in subjective development. As a Christian living in America I occasionally find it difficult to agree with certain laws being passed when my faith tells me the opposite. However, my faith also tells me that I cannot serve two masters (which I would see as the divine laws of Christian scripture and the secular laws of the American nation) but then turns around and says I should obey my government. So I find it hard to draw conclusions about other cultures and their struggles to choose paths as individuals when I'm aware that I struggle within my own cultures.

One more thought and then I'm moving on! I brought up at some point the question of why a culture or individual would desire "westernization" AND why a culture or individual would cling to its traditions AND why both happen simultaneously. ...I'll just leave that there as food for thought.

"Which do you think is more accurate? Melting Pot or Tossed Salad"

Well, the idea of a "melting pot of society", as I have heard it referred to in previous educational experiences, has always sort of grossed me out. I think of this huge cast-iron kettle set over flames with every ingredient in the universe thrown in there and then I see it bubbling and boiling over and spilling all over the place and I just go "Yuck, no wonder we all have issues!" It just seems somewhat unnatural to me.

So, my vote is for Tossed Salad. You can put anything in a salad and mix it up and it's delicious. Different people like different things. Ingredients range from all-natural to just-processed-yesterday-fresh! And now I'm hungry. See? The thought is more appetizing.

"What defines "American"?"

I stated in class that I believe anyone who is a legal citizen of the USA can call themselves an American. I stand by that.

"What skills are most important to I.C.?"

What we discussed in class: Respect, Acceptance, and Tolerance. But I would suggest throwing in a liberal education in the art of tact.

Finally, we also received a short hand-out Kim made for us with some basic concepts of "culture" explained. We didn't have time to get to it in class, but we are capable of going over it on our own. Very informative.

Since I am just now realizing I have been reading my classmates' blogs and working on my own blog post for over two hours now I am going to call it a night.

Until next week,
Kara

Intercultural Snack: Krumkake

I'm bringing a snack to class tonight. My dad was adopted into a Norwegian family so a large tradition around Christmas time is krumkake!

Krumkake is a thin Norwegian cookie cooked by pressing batter between two decorated irons (like a waffle iron) and then rolling the fresh cookie around a cone.

Krumkake can be dusted with powdered sugar to make it extra sweet, or filled with whipped cream.

Traditional irons are heated on the stove top but I used a more modern one which is electric. Since there is no timer, though, you have to eye-ball it and just figure out when it's done.

I just started making Krumake with my mother this past Christmas and when I was questioning whether or not I was over or under cooking my krumkake my dad offered the advice that "most Norwegian food is white and blond, like Norwegians."

So I chose krumkake because it is fairly easy to make, butter, sugar, flour, etc. Also, it has been one of my favorite cultural treats ever since I was little.

Week One

Well, this class is going to be great. Yay, learning!

I'm excited about taking this class for a number of reasons. First, it is taught by (seriously) one of my favorite teachers. Second, some of my friends are in it with me. Third, the rest of the people in class seem pretty awesome and I can't wait to get to know them all

Fourth and fifth are my goals that I want to reach through this class: Fourth, I want to learn to communicate effectively with everyone. My ideal career goal has variety of perspectives in which communicating with people from other cultures will be of great value. So, one of my goals for this class is to soak up as much information as possible and learn to apply it appropriately.

Fifth, I have two WONDERFUL nephews ages 8 and 3. They are both autistic to a degree so communication with them is difficult at times. Actually, I find it challenging to converse with children in general so being with my nephews can especially tax me not just intellectually but emotionally as well. In every day functioning I am confident in my communication skills. But when I interact with my nephews I realize just how limited I truly am. I'm limited to communicating with people who are my peers, or who share my level of intelligence, or my religion or economic background, educational level, etc. I'm LIMITED! And that is incredibly emotionally frustrating. Therefore, my second goal of this class is to expand my communicational skills to people not like myself. I want to spend time with my nephews and make them smile. I want to give them what they need to feel loved and accepted. Most importantly, I want to enable their success as they grow within the world.

In class last night we watched a video which introduced us to general ideas and concepts relating to communication between cultures. I liked the video because it showed just how easy it is to have an assuming manner towards others or make quick judgments about them based on appearance alone. It showed that members of society whose cultures recognizably differ from someone else's can be tolerant of others' mistakes and accepting of their questions regarding that which is unknown to them. It also showed that, even though it can be difficult, communication is the key to understanding and until understanding is achieved, people mostly just walk around either confused or hurt and usually both.

So, I'm intrigued by the introduction and am ready to dive in to the rest of the course! You can't be successful without other people and the more people you have, the more successful you can be.

Until next week!
Kara