Hey there, so today I'm going to be discussing a few concepts we focused on in class, starting with one seen more on the controversial side of the spectrum: death.

I think, in our society, we fear death. We fear the loss of the ones we love, the loss of time, and the loss of experience. Because of our emphasis and the importance we place upon "things" and "stuff", we fear the physical loss of those we care about; to have someone die is to lose the conversations we get from them, the moments we experience with them, and the feedback we receive from them. In our case, death is seen as sad and undesirable (no one truly wishes to die for the most part, but you get my point--we seriously don't value death). However, like Morrie stated, even though we die and those we love die, our relationships with them never die with them. We'll still love them or hate them or feel what we felt during their life. To die is simply to lose their physical manifestation,  not their spiritual impact or influence upon how we've lived, live, and will live.

On a different note, love, too, is seen as controversial and has a different context in our culture. For us, love can be viewed on several levels; I'll just speak from my experience. I've found that loving your family and friends tends to be the norm. It's not strange, but it isn't highly valued either--people are not jealous of love for one's family: it simply is. However, to be romantically linked to another is seen as frightening, to fully commit to another and wholeheartedly love another is a terrifying concept in our culture. We're afraid to love another and give up a part of our selves. We have been raised in a truly individualistic society in which dependence is frowned upon, we have been raised to embrace our singular identities. We are not used to association with another--being "someone's something" isn't something that many of us are innately comfortable with because we become a part of another's life. We are into the fleeting, initial stance of love--butterflies in our stomach, rapid pulsations, and high-powered emotions. However, many of us fear the commitment that real love requires and the effort and maintenance that goes into that "real love". I, personally, am not one looking to be in a relationship at this point in my life--I'm barely my own person, I barely know what I'm doing with my life, and I've only had 17 years of being "Lianne". I know that I'm too independently driven to give a part of my identity to another--when people talk about me, I don't want to be "his girlfriend". I'm not ready to commit to that because I know that I can't become dependent on another before I've even become fully dependent on myself.

Rather than spouting out definitions, I'd rather this blog discuss my time in Amman, Jordan. My family and I go to Jordan ~every other summer to visit our extended family, and for the most part, I have failed to overcome my culture shock. Culture shock describes the literal "shock" that one encounters when being exposed to a new culture or way of life, which typically results from ethnocentrism, which is an adherence to one's own rules and lifestyle, based upon the culture in which one is apart. 

Personally, as I have traveled to Jordan (3 summers total), I've been astonished by the manner in which people there behave and interact. Like in India, in reference to the video clip we watched in class, drivers in Jordan drive with reckless abandon--"traffic laws" are a myth. Everyone makes their own lanes, traffic lights are disregarded, and pedestrians fend for themselves. It's treacherous, from my perspective, at least. Car horns, also in high contrast to America, are the best friends of all drivers at all times; the longer the horn, the more right one becomes (in Amman, at least). My ethnocentrism has made me accustomed to linear order in driving, but in Jordan, it has been a continuous shock to me to realize that this truly is not the case. 

Furthermore, material and non-material culture, which target the things we can see that are unique to a culture and those that are not as visually apparent. Materialistically, Jordan maintains a sort of "European flair" when it comes to fashion: logos everywhere. In Jordan, the bigger the A&F logo or Polo pony, the better dressed one becomes. In my experience, here in America, I've noticed that style is valued over brand names--typically ugly designer clothing is still considered ugly here, while in Jordan, ugly BRAND name clothing is all the rage. 

Also, in terms of language, Arabic is predominantly spoken, but recently, unique to Jordan, there has been a development in "popular" language. Sprinkling in English words here and there in typically Arabic-heavy sentences is considered sophisticated and high-class. This is one way in which Amman is distinct from the cultures around it, especially ours. In reference to the article we discussed in class about the Arabic word for a "win-win" situation, in recent days, phrases such as those are being made negligent in favor of distinct English phrases, which are known to boost status and increase your apparent level of intelligence to those around you

For the most part, being in Jordan has allowed me to leave the bubble that encompasses SHS and learn about my original culture and heritage--culture shock doesn't necessarily need to have a negative connotation to it, for it can lead to better understanding, empathy, and appreciation for those we share the world with.