A Thanksgiving Thought

This year for Thanksgiving I went to the family I stayed with last year. It was a quiet Thanksgiving comparing to last year’s twenty people; this year we had a small nice dinner with only five people. The food was easier to prepare and conversations just came out more naturally. Of course since college is new to me this year the conversation consisted elements of my college life, roommate, friends, and major. I just read Enich’s blog about his Thanksgiving dinner and his conversation with his parents about his new religion/theology major. I believe that for all of us, the conversation on the dinner table for sure had something to do with college and majors. I enjoyed talking about my life at St. Olaf a lot as if all the hard work were worth it when I could proudly show them my achievement and all my future plans for success. I had to explain what American Conversation was when I was telling them about my classes, and they were particularly interested in it because unlike other class like biology and Spanish I have right now that is self-explanatory. Then blog showing was unavoidable after talking about blogs. They enjoyed reading them and made some really interesting comments. It was not until then that I realized that people appreciate the work I have done. Today when I was talking to Will and Enich, I realized that they have been reading my blogs, which really made me feel good.

Another thing that was new to me and to the family was that the dad is taking some classes at St. Thomas this year. It really surprised me when I found out about it. For such a privilege family and a successful businessman, I didn’t expect him to go back to college and take more classes. When I asked him why he did it, he said something that I had probably heard a million times but hadn’t really got it until that moment: “ It’s never too old to learn”. I once told myself that after I graduate I would burn all my textbooks and never study ever again, and I would like to be someone like my host dad, who is wise, successful and generous.

It is such a coincidence that one of the assignments for tomorrow is about good conversation, and the conversation we had over Thanksgiving was definitely a good one.  

A good conversation

I believe that a good conversation is very similar to what we have done in our ORC groups in the beginning of the semester. First of all, everyone has to engage and participate in the conversation either by voicing the opinion or listening carefully. The conversation has to have a topic that all members of the conversation agree to be significant to talk about. Every member should be involved in the conversation by contributing his or her own thoughts, and at the same time be a good listener and pay attention to others’ opinions. Disagreements are welcome, but the conversation should be a friendly discussion not a quarrel. The conversation should develop in the process; the points should be reiterated but not just simply repeated over times. Questions are brought up and comments should be made during the discussion. In the end the conversation should stay on topic and a conclusion or summary would end well.

Slavery

I meant to write this blog a long time ago but just did not have enough time to get to it. Last Thursday night I read Morgan’s chapter “Slavery and Freedom: The American Paradox”. However it was Harry Potter night so everything got kind of chaotic later. It was a good discussion the next day in class, talking about house elves and slavery. Morgan stated a paradox in America history showed slavery and freedom co-existed in colonial America. To eliminate the paradox we have to assume that the founding fathers were hypocrites. They believed in freedom and self-government but many of them were slaveholders themselves. Jefferson, who wrote “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence, owned more than 100 slaves. More and more indentured servants became free and these freemen were mostly unable to afford land. And these freemen threatened the colonialists’ property rights after the Bacon’s rebellion. African Americans replaced the indentured servants because they were unable to claim rights to the English and they could not carry arms. And when the number of slaves was more than the indentured servants, the freemen were less threatening. These freemen were later aspired to become slaveholders, and sought for more “freedom” by showing others that they owned slaves. “The rights of Englishmen were preserved by destroying the rights of Africans” as Morgan wrote in his chapter. American slavery is the foundation of America freedom and democracy.

Above is what I gained from the reading and in-class discussion about some logistics knowledge. I wonder what were the founding fathers and the slaveholders thinking when they seemed just to automatically divide the human race to two separate categories. I don’t believe that color was the only issue. If we don’t have African Americans as slaves, we would still have White slaves in our history. The Africans just happened to unluckily step on the land that was deprived of cheap or free labor. All men are created equal; however, how do we justify and define equal? The equality of having the same opportunity to pursue freedom? The same financial background and the same chances to reach a financial state? Or everyone should just have the same of everything- much like communism or socialism? We all use others to gain something we would like, both consciously and unconsciously in different ways. It is impossible for one man to claim that he is free without having people who are not free to compare with him. Once someone asked me weather I considered that I had freedoms or not. I answered immediately without even thinking that of course I had freedoms. “But you lived in a country that is totally manipulated by the government and has no human rights.” He considered himself free by comparing the situation in China to the situation in the United States, and came in conclusion that Chinese are enslaved by the government and the socialist/ communist party and the United States is a free and ideal country. I do not agree with him but at the same time I don’t disagree completely. I compared myself too, with other people around the world. For me, freedom is a term that can go further and further into definition depends on the person who defining it and using it.   

Tsinghua Xue Tang

What a coincidence: After reading David Orr's chapter "Architecture and Education" not that long ago, I was told by parents over the phone last night over the ocean that the oldest building in Tsinghua University was damaged by a big fire. Tsinghua University, one of the top rated university in China, has a special relation with me and my family. I went the middle school attached to Tsinghua University, which is in(or at least right next to) the University. Going to school every day, I walked across the campus, hoping that one day I will be able to go there. I knew that Tsinghua was the place for me since middle school until my whole life path changed when I came here to the US.

The building, "Tsinghua Xue Tang" (Tsinghua College) was one the first architectures on campus. It was built in 1911 by the education directers in Qing Dynasty. It was originally built for the use if offices similar to the "study aboard office" here at St. Olaf. Since then this building has become a symbolic architecture not only in Tsinghua but also in all colleges and university in China. I find it surprising at first because when I think of an iconic architecture in China a picture of old tradition Chinese building with red paint and stuck out roof like this.

Tsinghua Xue Tang is a classic German style building, contrasting the "Chinese old" college environment. It was later used for classrooms and dorms for the science department after the Qing dynasty. This reminds me of Holland Hall here, where it was also home of the science building, and it was also the sort of different style building. Technology and science in old China represent the western continents. It seems reasonable that the science department was set here.The building was also used for the architecture department. If I were the executive decision maker I would make it the architecture department too because its architectural structure is so distinct, special, and innovative. Just before the fire, the building served as the administration building, especially when first year students arrive on campus on their first day of college, they come to Xue Tang as their first stop.

It was heart breaking when I heard the news that it was mostly ruined by the fire. It is soon going to be the 100 year anniversary of the university. As one of the major and important symbolic building, there exists so much history, stories, and for me, a lot of good memories.

Tea Party Dense Fact

After talking to Matt on Friday, I realized that sometimes talking about what you do know and speak it well might be more effective than trying to haul massive information and just pile them together. I went back to some of my earlier blogs, and just like Matt said, my earlier ones about home, about my own experiences are way more rich than the ones I did recently. One of the reasons might be that I did those later blogs just to complete the assignments.At the same time, I do not just want to rely on things and knowledge I already know. I'd like to learn new things too. Maybe I will find better methods and probably spend more time thinking and writing.

Today when I was writing my editorial I found a video on Youtube. I was worried about my dense fact for the paper but after I saw the video I decided to make it my dense fact.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx7fNQcJAjs

I showed it to Enich, Mike and Will, and they all had really different reaction, which make sense because different people have different opinions regarding the Tea Party. Enich, after seeing video, told me that it was really intense. Will said that it was a good dense fact and it was a good claim. Mike told me a word that I did not understand and later I discovered that it was not a word at all. I noticed that China has become sort of a punching bag in terms of economic issues and political issues. In relation to the Election, they threw a bomb to the audience saying that China is taking over the United States of America and everyone should vote for them so that it is not going to happen.

Takaki

Just like the front cover of Takaki's history book convey: A History of Multicultural America, he focuses a lot on the immigrants, cross cultural events and the significance of America being a multicultural nation. From the previous discussion about Tea Party, Benjamin Franklin, Takaki just bring ups these important figures/events in order to support the points he is making about the Irish, immigrants, and Native Americans. The Declaration of Independence is mentioned a couple times in the book: all in relation to immigrants, except one has something to do with Jefferson- his reaction towards the Indians. The document itself is not presented in the book, nor is any of the analysis and context and background. However, I did find a passage particularly interesting after reading The Declaration of Independence and Takaki’s reference. “Students were learning about freedom and equality as they recite the Gettysburg Address and the Declaration of Independence… But they “saw that it wasn’t so much on the plantation.” They saw whites on top and Asians on the bottom. Returning from school to their camps, students noticed the wide “disparity between theory and practice.” “(250-251, Takaki) It is very ironic that everyone can quote from the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal”, and this equality only exists in a part of whole population. At the same time I know that it is very hard to really spread the idea to everyone.

Choir

I participated in the St. Olaf Choral Festival last year as one of the many high schoolers who admire the wonderful musicians at St. Olaf.This year I finally became a part of the St. Olaf choral ensemble, singing proudly. Dr. Armstrong, our director, made a speech at the end of rehearsal that really struck me. He said that he had friends who lived in South America got injured because of their intention and efforts to vote. And we, as Americans, who have the right and privilege to vote, should feel blessed, and therefore should cherish the opportunity to vote and to care about our country. Everyone matters in this nation. He also said that having lived through the civil right movement, he wouldn’t stand over here conducting fifty years ago. Choral day is when choirs from high schools, churches, and communities all came to St. Olaf to experience the greatness of music. I am proud and thankful that I can sing in one of nation’s finest choirs, but I also know from Dr. Armstrong that there were small choirs with only twelve people participating in this festival. Even though it seems impossible to run a choir with these few people, they came and sang with a full heart and they were happy to have what they have. This really made me think: we all have passions, and sometimes even though it takes a lot of hard work to pursue, there is great joy from little things that we’ve done.

???

I can still recall some of my knowledge from US history class two years ago about The Declaration of Independence but I have to admit that everything I learned went in my right ear and came out my left ear since it was my first year in the United States and at that time speaking English was still considered to be a big struggle to me. I guess without the general knowledge and background, or simply just not having been living here make everything difficult to comprehend. After reading Cullen's chapter about the Declaration, I was very confused: nothing really makes sense. It was not that I didn't read the chapter carefully- I did read it word by word, and even reread a couple paragraphs that I thought were somehow crucial,judging from the word "freedom" and "independence". Last night Enich, Mike, and Gina spent a good chunk of time explaining how American politic work because we were just talking about the election - obviously I didn't contribute much because I didn't know anything about it. I wish I can have a magic book that contains everything I have to know and just read it through.

Tea and My Life

My family is not in to tea as much as Chinese people should be. I had been asked multiple times by friends if I drank tea all the time in China. I drink tea, sometimes, but not often, only on special occasion like having guests and formal dinner. However, we do own a very nice set of teapot and teacups, sitting on the top shelf where it will catch your eyeballs as soon as you walk into the living room. It is rarely used because when we did make some tea, we put the leaves directly in to a mug and pour in boiling water – much easier to clean and to carry around. We also have tea – different kinds of tea, lot of them, also stored on the top shelf, in beautiful and delicate containers. Paradoxically we hardly ever drink the tea. After a while when they go bad, we throw them away and bought new ones. Every family in China has tea, and it doesn’t matter the family drinks it or not.

I agree with Macfarlen's Chapters that tea often times serves as a symbol representing some kind of status. Whether consciously or unconsciously, owning china and tea shows off your class and taste. But I don't think that we have tea only because we are materialist and try to show it off to other people. It is the culture. Tea embodies the great Chinese culture that can be discuss over thousands years ago. We have tea because it is an important part of the culture and our lives that shouldn;t be forgotten.

Tea Party

I knew nothing about the Tea Party, or let's say, nothing about American politics. By reading some of the forums posted by my classmate, I got some gist about who they are and what they do. Friday in class, we spent a lot of time clarifying the definition of the term "dense fact", and how the dense facts presented in the posts convey the essential idea of the Tea Party Movement. Our group talked about a cartoon that Shelby found.
http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/politicalcartoons/ig/Tea-Party-Cartoons/Republicans--Tea-Party-Problem.htm
Jake, Megan, Shelby and I talked about how the members of the Tea Party think that they are helping the Republicans and the country to stay on the right track but they are actually not doing any good. Surprisingly a lot of the forums about the Tea Party are negative aspects. Personally I don't think I have enough knowledge to judge or agree or disagree their principles. In Enich's blog, he said that "However, there's a trend in America right now claiming that all the tea partiers are crazies going around shooting guns calling everyone socialist Hitlers. Now, there are people that do that. And believing all of them are like that makes the tea party even easier to hate than it already is."Back to the point about them being hated, I do think that nowadays people don't have to the reason to dislike the party just because they feel like it or other people don't like it.

Ben Franklin Continue

Apparently Benjamin Franklin's autobiography wasn't very appreciated in class Monday. People were bothered by his arrogance and self-contradiction. My previous post about the first part of the autobiography was about what I think the wisdom was from his life, which is obviously a positive attitude towards him. However, I did just skim those chapters. As I keep reading the rest the book, I have a mix feeling right now. Franklin's scientific contribution and his idea of writing and reading are crucial are certainly to be praised. Also, his intention of showing humility and his ethical point of view of virtue and utilitarian are something that I can defend him with. Some paradox came to mind after reading the book. First of all, I got the feeling that he uses a extremely arrogance tone through out the book, contradicting himself by not being humble, yet being condescending all the time. He seems to only want to bring up himself: everything he has done and all the achievement he had had. There's one part where his son died, he just briefly wrote a couple sentences and went on his writing about his printer shop. For me this is considered to be something that really effects one's life and therefore should be recorded with more details and personal feelings. However, Benjamin Franklin does symbolize the American dream. From a middle class, or even lower class family, he worked his way up and became who he had become, which should be praised greatly. Related to Cullen's chapter on The American Dream: the Upward Mobility, he pointed out that everyone can become who he or she wants to become through hard work. This is the American dream: to be able to use hard work to change be successful.

Benjamin Franklin's Wisdom

I have always enjoyed reading autobiography. Just like in the second letter from Part II of his autobiography, Benjamin Vaughan encouraged Franklin to publish the book so that it could serve as a model for people who want a better life. I like autobiographies because reading other people's life stories and reflections of their life makes me think about my life. Even though I have still not experienced much, I like to reflect on what I have done and what I hope to do in the future. It is a pity that I did not start my Pocahontas paper early enough to have enough time to carefully read the first half of the book. However, just by skimming quickly over I have got the gist. Along with professor Rohn's questions about what Franklin has taught us his wisdom, I realized how powerful reading and writing are, and how knowledge helps a person become someone with morality, skepticism and a critical mind.

The First question Professor Rohn asked was that if I perceive myself helping to write the equivalent of the world's next Declaration of Independence or lead the world's next social and political revolution. I have to say that I would love to write a political concern or lead a revolution, but I do think that I would be a good writer or leader, especially right now. To be honest, I know nothing about politics, American politics to be exact, and my writing skills have not reached the level. I am not being humble or modest like Franklin states in his autobiography that people started to complain his arrogance, so he began to really think about how to be a humble yet aggressive person/leader in a way that his ideas and success are still being recognized. However, according to Franklin, he said that everyone should be able to do this. He argues that based on his experiences of first a deliver boy and then a printer, had his own printer house, own newspaper, a library and finally achieved what he had had, everyone should be able to do these things with he knowledge of supreme writing skill, wisdom from vast number of books, and development of his or her own thought on concerns and issues rather than relying on others. I agree as well. I do hope that one day in the future I could somehow make a different in this world.

Things?

For some reason I am still a little puzzled about why we are learning about materials and things. In class Wednesday we went back and talked about the relations of the things we have learned (Puritans, Landscapes, and Pocahontas)and four freedoms. After reading Butler's chapter on Things Material and Cullen's American Dream: Dream of the Good Life: Upward Mobility. I Still couldn't see how materials are related to freedom, especially the freedom from want, as we discussed in class.

Butler talked about how different groups, the Europeans, the African Americans, and the Native Americans ate, wore, and live differently. One of the example that was brought up in the chapter was that how the clothes that was made locally are very expensive even though it was badly made and had bad quality. Owning clothes locally gives you a better status. Now go back to Cullen's point that one of the essential part of American dream is how we can work hard to achieve a goal. The things we own shows the quality of life, which indirectly shows the achievement. A connection is somewhere made here, I guess?? There are definitely more to expand, and hopefully I will have something more tomorrow after class.

Room Inventory

Two beds bunked together
Two dressers
Two closets
Two desks with bookshelves on top
Window seat
Refrigerator
Bed table
TV Cart
Printer
Standing lamp
Two desk lamps
Fan
Flowers
Wall Decorations (Pictures, Wall Décor stickers, Frames)
Telephone
Baskets/boxes for storage
Lot of pillows
Blankets
Bags
Lots of food
Printer
Computers
Carpet
Guitar
Cleaning supplies
Toiletries
Towels
Clothes
Shoes
Two laundry baskets

Pocahontas In Poetry

I was meant to write this post after the wonderful discussion we had on Friday about what we talked in class and how Pocahontas was depicted in the form of poetry. Fall break was way too exciting so this post waited until today to be published. However, when I went back and read the poems again today, new thoughts and feelings in addition to those I had in class on Friday came to mind. I have shared my blog with my host mom and dad Alan and Dorene Wernke over the weekend and I received some very useful and great comments about it. Right now writing posts on this blog has changed from an obligation for doing well in class to a platform that I can freely express my thoughts towards the reading assignments or anythings that is somehow related to class, which I begin to enjoy.

In the poem Pocahontas to her English husband, John Rolfe, by Paula Gunn Allen, the author uses first person narrative and expresses through the mouth of Pocahontas herself. Below the title, there is a short paragraph by Charles Larson. Larson said that "In a way then, Pocahontas was a kind of traitor to her people" because "once she was free to do what she wanted, she avoided her own people like the plague".  I don't agree with him completely, but it brings another point of view towards Pocahontas, who usually was praised among people. In this poem Pocahontas seems to be somewhat arrogant and controllable.
            
"Had I not cradle you in my arms/oh beloved perfidious one/ you would have died...Had I not set you tasks/ your masters far across the sea/would have abandoned you..And indeed I rescue you..I spoke little, you said/And you listen less..."     

Larson also said that" Pocahontas was a white dream -- a dream of cultural superiority."
   
This brings back to one of the comments/ questions Alan said to me: What about exploring the racial boundary’s, and love. Is it true that " True love sees no color”?

Clearly from this poem there is no affection between Pocahontas and John Rolfe. And no evidence from historical record saying that she had once loved John Rolfe. According to Larson, she married him in order to seek "superiority", and clearly she succeeded. Whether she married Rolfe with affection or not, she gained her status by entering the English royal family. I still believe that she did it partially because that wanted to establish a peaceful relationship between her culture and the western English culture. Of course there is so much more to elaborate and explore. I will come back to his later when I have more time. 

Colors of the Wind

Today in class we discussed some artworks that were created to revive Pocahontas. There are definitely a lot of differences between each painting or statue; however, like we have talked in class, there are two categories: 1. Pocahontas dressed as English loyalty ( In class we also brought up the point that was she actually transforming to an English or she was just pretending it). 2. Pocahontas as the "savage", wild, native princess. The differences are obvious. I was impressed at how many different perspectives we have brought up about the painting and how the small but specific details convey something deeper -- another reason I enjoy having 40 great minds together. In this case, Iconclude that the difference was the of liveliness that were depicted through the arts.

Back to the point in parenthesis. that we are curious about her real thought. But there are no evidence of whether she was completely and truthfully converted into Christianity or not. When I was thinking about this question after class I wished that there were some historical records about it and that she really did not enjoyed her life living in England. I would thought so much high about her this way. However, I then gradually realized that it really did not matter. It was possible that she was faking in believing in God just so she could live her loyal life comfortably, instead her heart still belonged to the nature land where there was no doctrine restriction. Or let's assume that Pocahontas was a sincere Christian. She had the freedom to do so, and especially in England, the Christian society, made the conformation so much easier. Her ideal of being free was tied with her faith, and was expressed spiritually. She was still considered the peace maker between two cultures, and we can't judge which culture is the "right" culture and the superior one.

"He juxtaposes English and Indian figures to suggest the bringing together of cultures that was Pocahontas's accomplishment."
                          William Rasmussen
                         Pocahontas: Her Life and Legend
I agree that integrating the two cultures together was her biggest accomplishment she achieved, God did not involve in it.

I have to say the Disney version looks better.

Lovely Disney Princess

"the Pocahontas perplex emerged as a controlling metaphor in the American experience"
"Both her nobility as a princes and her savagery as a Squaw are defined in terms of her relationship with male figures."
Rayna Green: The Pocahontas Perplex

Green opens her essay by telling an interesting, yet evidently true and representative story of the romance between an Indian princess and a white man. The Europeans viewed the native people unjustly, and falsely categorized into unrealistic stereotypes. The Native American women, as Green states in her essay, has been unfairly classified and stereotyped. They are either being portrayed as a loving, pure, and romantic princess, or as an evil, filthy, and lustful squaw.

The Europeans described the Natives as barbarous and uncivilized, somewhat relates to "squaw". Until Miss Liberty rose above the misconceptualised ideas, "Indian woman began her symbolic, many-faceted life as a Mother figure-exotic, powerful, dangerous, and beautiful- and as a representative of American liberty and European classical virtue translated into New World terms" (Green pp 19).This is when Pocahontas and princess figure starts to appear. The Indians are no longer just savages(even though they were still considered to be barbarous in some ways by the Europeans). A slightly positive female appearance came into site.

The princess, who saves the young handsome white man against her tribe's will and tradition, is depicted often by literature and music as the innocent virgins who sacrifice themselves for their lovers, who, unsurprisingly, is usually a White Christan man. However, the seemingly noble recognition is not actually a positive transformation. As I quoted above in the first paragraph, the female identity does not independently exist without a somewhat attractive, yet heroic man figure. "But acting as a real female, she must be a partner and lover of Indian men, a mother to Indian children, and an object of lust for white men" (Green pp19). It is demeaning to think that it is because of the sexual desire that men have towards them give them a better reputation.

Playing Indians? Playing Whites?

"An unparalleled national identity crisis swirled around two related dilemmas: First, Americans had an awkward tendency to define themselves by what they were not.. Second, Americans (and he did not hesitate to generalize) had been continually haunted by the fatal dilemma of “ wanting to have their cake and eat it too,” of wanting to savor both civilized order and savage freedom at the same time."
Philip J. Deloria Introduction Playing Indian (pp5)

Deloria explores the Indian identity by examining the "white American's" desire his book "Playing Indian." The quote above is D.H.Lawrence's definition and criticism of the American identity.I found it interesting because the way Deloria describe how we play the Indians using their lifestyles, clothing and customs has changed the original images of the Native Americans and thus redefines the national identity. I wrote a blog at the beginning of the semester saying that I think the American identity is that we don't have an identity. I still agree with my preview thought but now after my reading I realized how hard is it to find an identity for a country, a group of people. Imagining Indians has helped us define and evade paradox raising from "playing Indians". And in Deloria's book, he made a point that the Native Americans believed that the English were the colonist, and for the Europeans, the Indians are the Americans.I think this it summarizes the idea that not only the Europeans had a mistaken concepts on the Indians. Maybe they are "playing Whites" too.

Pretty View

The landscape served as a catechist, carefully drilling the catechumen in lessons of the holy.
Belden Lane. Puritan Reading of the New England Landscape. pp132
I have to confess that I didn’t really digest all the material I have read for class today. It might have been a lack of concentration or just simply overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I have to do; I can’t figure out the connection between the four readings or even the connection between the first page and the last page of the passage. However, I do like this metaphor/personification of landscape as Lane delineates. Landscape for Puritans is the gist of their freedoms, their imagination and their love towards God. The environment is the backbone of their believes, structuring the fundamental idea of Puritanism- reshaping the spiritual world. “God is not to be understood but to be adored.” What a strange way to describe God. I was brought up without any religious affiliation, and I was taken in to the spiritual world not long ago. I can never truly understand the relationship, but at least I could adore his creation- the scenery on earth.

Oh College

“The educational community today makes relatively clear distinctions between colleges, universities, academies, and other kinds of schools, but their definitions carried widely in different times and places. In order to avoid repeating “college and university” with awkward frequency, the term college is sometimes used in this work in a broad sense, as including most schools of higher education in America-although merely framing a definition of “higher education” is difficult, given the changes, over time, in the ages of students, types of curricula, and academic degree.”
Campus by Paul Venable Turner
College is not just a school. According to Turner, college is a community and a tiny version of society. There is so much more than just classes. There is library, dorms, places to eat, and athletic facilities for students to have another life outside of academics. “Americans departed from tradition by creating individual colleges in separate locations rather than clustering them at a university, and thus intensified the autonomous nature of each college as a community in itself.” I have visited many colleges in the United States before I decided to come to St. Olaf. Every school I saw was similar: somewhat rural and away from the cities, small liberal arts college, and gorgeous campus. My parents strongly opposed the idea of choosing a school based on things other than academic ranking and reputation, since they believed that nothing was more important and studying in college, which I totally agree that it is the truth. They made a list of all the colleges I got into, and told me to go the one that was ranked the best colleges on the US. News website. However, I was searching for a place where I can thrive. “The American university is a world in itself.” I am glad that I have found my world.

On the Hill

I can't believe that I have already spent nearly a month here.
I can still remember the first day, August 31th, that my dream of stepping in college finally came true. The campus was quiet, but it was filled with excitement, ready to burst out screaming with joy. No parents, no friends, just by myself, I carried my suitcases up the top floor of Hoyme, towards the end of the hallway, where I belong for the rest of the year. My stuff unpacked quickly, I stared in the empty room, wondering what my roommate was like, who would be my friends, what classes would I take. It was a complex emotion, mixed with both excitement and sadness, the same feeling that everyone else had. But I could feel something more. My limited writing ability probably won't allow me to express my true feeling, but every time I think about my parents, whose daughters are so far away from home, who spend Thanksgiving and Christmas alone, who can only see me once a year, tears are swimming. I guess that two years ago when I left China for going to high school in Minnesota, we had already made a pact. I am here for a reason. The international student orientation was fun. People all over the world, people like me gathered on campus, sharing our stories, and of course, our expectations and joyous for the upcoming semester. Soon all the first year student poured into St. Olaf. Parents were crying, and grandparents were crying, and even the puppy was sobbing.
"When do you think he is going to go home?" my friend from Ecuador asked me.
"I don't know, fall break?"
And we both just laughed.
I was not trying to make fun of anyone, and I am never going to. It was a bitter laugh, the laugh you have to make when you don't want to cry.
Like the Puritan sailing across the ocean, we all came to pursue our dreams. The puritans were after the spiritual purification of their church, and I am after the freedom of allowing myself to fly and sour.
This is now my home the other side of the world.

Learning to Love St. Olaf

Learning to Love St. Olaf

because it has stories

because the Midwest breeze blows across the hill
because the winter gust is cold
and because Oles are better than the knights

because we give rather than ask

because we are international
we sailed from east and west
and across the Pacific

because the air is filled with Malt-O-Meal
my sense melts in my mind
my hunger with my mouth

because we sing Um Ya Ya

because everyone loves the Caff
because we check the P.O three times a day
because the purple dragon smiles in the lib
because the wind chime rings

because the Norwegian folks float
because the Vikings hum
because we are who we are

because home is far away
because it is time

Anne Hutchinson

I have to confess that tonight's reading assignment is the only one that I have truly enjoyed for a long time. I didn't know anything about Anne Hutchinson prior to the reading, and I believe what fascinates me the most is Anne Hutchinson's courage and wisdom to fight for her freedom, and the freedom of all women: the freedom of believing in what you believe and the freedom for women to have their rights. She realized the Puritan injustice among the community and wanted to voice her opinion to improve the situation by developing her own theological ideas and giving sermons. Many people, both men and women, were impressed by her intellectual ability and followed her. Westerkamp states that " (Anne Hutchinson is) the pioneer for civil and religious liberty, crusading against Puritan." I agree that later in her career she did seemed to fight against Puritanism by challenging Winthrop and expressing her belief in direct revelation and communication with God; however she did support Cotton's idea of Puritanism when she moved from England to Massachusetts. I think it was very brave of her to say what she believed in in front of public. We are who we are and we should act the same way as our minds do even though it means challenging the authority.
"In presenting an alternative to Winthrop's society, an alternative that was outside human control, she was offering the freedom from law and structure that revelation gave her." (P12)
She realized the importance of communication personally with God, even the situation is "outside of human control". It is because of this revelation from God, individualism, all people are equal before God and people, especially women, have the right to speak, to vote, and express their mind freely. However, her identity of a woman put her in jeopardy. "In attacking Hutchinson's femaleness Winthrop was attacking her spirituality." This is a very interesting point that is brought up by Westerkamp. In a society that was deeply influenced by man's hierarchy, being a woman was a disadvantage for practicing the freedom of speech, in this case, developing her theological thoughts. What if Anne Hutchinson was a man and everything she had done was still the same. What would have happened?

Of Plymouth Plantation

In the handout of Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford, I have read about four stages of the Pilgrims settling in the United States. The description by Bradford of the Pilgrims is very different than Cullen’s Puritans. And of course Pilgrims are very different than Puritans. If the freedom the Puritans are after is considered to be a negative freedom, the freedom of pursuing no boundary of their religion believes, and then the pilgrims’ freedom should be a positive one. They wanted to achieve the kind of reformation that brings them the most self-realization of spiritual awakening. From first arriving to the new land to signing the Mayflower Compact, they stayed loyal to their faith. Freedom appears both explicitly and implicitly in the passage, especially the freedom of worship.

Puritans

I first encountered the vocabulary “Puritans” when I was reading The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Puritans community to me was this indifference clan of cold-blooded people who wanted to purify the whole nation. However Cullen states at the beginning of the chapter that Puritans could be not as bad as we thought despite the fact that they have their notorious reputation. They came here with a dream of living in an ideal world, looking for a fresh start. Whether they had succeed or not, Puritanism is an essential block of our history.

Learning to Love America

The poem starts with no capitalization. It shows a lack of confidence and the struggle of language, which are usually the two challenges new comers face when they come to America. This poem depicts a mix identity: a woman who migrates to the America. America “has no pure product” because people here are all like her, coming from different parts of the world.
because I have nursed my son at my breast
because he is a strong American boy
because I have seen his eyes redden when he is asked who he is
because he answers I don’t know
This part really strikes me when I am reading the poem. The son says that he doesn’t know who he is. I think this is a problem among all the immigrants: people’s identities start to fade because of the multicultural background of each individual. I once read an article about the life of a Chinese immigrant in the United States, and she said that when she went back to China, She felt like a foreigner, and when she finally got back to the United States, she again felt like a foreigner. It is hard to find a place where you truly belong. However, America is the only place on earth that emerges everyone all over the world in its generous heart, and with people from different background, we all together build a thriving world.

When it comes together

I feel left out sometimes when my friends are discussing their favorite bands and their favorite childhood TV shows and stories. “I am foreign,” I would respond with a smile, shrugging my shoulders, “never heard of them before.” Then the conversation moves along its original path, with me stopping in the middle of the road, eager to catch up. I would care less about those TV shows, but I can’t stand the fact that I am a mute when people start to talk about democracy, the Constitution, politics, human rights, and in general, the United States. I did some reading and research but realized that a couple nights of reading do not even come close to eighteen years of living here.
The first week of American Conversation class reaffirms my choice of enrolling in this program. I have always believed that the best way to involve in a culture is to become an expert of it, and I think I am traveling towards the right direction. On Monday we talked about FDR’s speech on Four Freedoms and its relations between Rockwell’s posters. I had never thought about freedom until last weekend when I read the speech. I had never felt that my freedom was in jeopardize, or that I ad never really thought about what freedom I did have and what I did not. Freedom is not doing whatever you want to do with no boundaries or limitations. Freedom is a complex concept. It has different meanings for different people. For some, freedom could be the freedom of choosing a spouse. For others, it might be the freedom of getting education. For the rest, freedom stands for speaking their mind freely. There aren’t any rankings of freedom: no one specific freedom is considered to be better than the other. Freedom comes in need of the person who is using it, and everyone should have any freedom no matter his or her nationality, gender, race, and social class; therefore we are creating a greater good of the society. Just like T.T Williams mentioned in The Open Space of Democracy, we should all work together to dissolve of polarization and divergence of the community and figure out how to solve the problems of the environment that currently threatening our democracy. This is definitely a positive freedom: it requires all of our self-determination, self-realization, and an active and logical mind, to achieve this greater goal.

Time of Our life

I am walking inside of a dark tunnel, eyes wide open, searching for little pieces of light that can drag me out of this torturous path. This was how I felt when I had no time to devote to myself to think, speak, or act. The path symbolizes the bondage that traditional ideas have on our mind, and the rays of light stand for the sparkles of personal awakening of realizing what we really want to do. Freedom to me is not the minimum constraint on things we do, but the maximum amount of time we can use to pursue our own values and goals of life, which in my word is the premise of FDR’s four freedoms: the freedom of controlling time. We are all born with equal distribution of hours per day, and how to make use of it depends on not only others but also ourselves. A person with no freedom of controlling his time could be influenced by family, friends, and society, as he dedicates his precious time to blindly follow what other people do. On the other hand, the same person could be influenced by himself. The lack of general education and active thinking put him into a coma that both consciously and unconsciously he no longer reacts to stimuli like new ideas. Thus, the freedom of speech and religion, the freedom from want and fear cannot be practiced without a dynamic mind that knows how to devote and can devote one’s time to achievements.

The American Dream

“Athena is going to college in the United States to fulfill the American dream.” - my parents’ favorite line to say when people asked about where I was going to college. To them, a couple who have never been to college, who have never been out of China, and who believe that gold and money are all over the streets in the United States, the American dream simply means that I am stepping on the land of opportunities. Even though people talk about it all the time, I didn’t know that the “American dream” has another deeper meaning than what it literally means until I read the introduction of the book The American Dream by Jim Cullen. I typed “The American dream” in Google, hoping that I could find some definition and more information on the terminology. After I finished reading Wikipedia, I was confused: What exactly is the American dream? I started to read the introduction, puzzled, but eager to find the answer.

James Truslow Adams states “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man.” I agree on Cullen’s opinion that “better and richer and fuller” has a lot of meaning, and it changes over time, so there isn’t one specific definition. However Cullen does mentions four categories:  the upward mobility, such as economics and social advancement, the quest for equality, home ownership, and personal fulfillment. I can easily relate to the first one. I have to say that one of the reasons my parents sent me to a private college in the United States is that they know with this kind of education, the best education they could find in the world, I will be successful no matter what. Their money is going to be paid off years later when I become a doctor or a scientist. Although the economy has experience some downhill recently, America is still indeed the “land full of gold.” Cullen also made the point that

The term seems like the most lofty as well as the most immediate component of an American identity, a birthright far more meaningful and compelling than terms like “democracy,” “ Constitution,” or even “ the United States.”

We treasure the American dream more than democracy, Constitution, and even the United States because the identity we have is that we do not have an identity. The American dream symbolizes the prosperous variation of different identities.