Welcoming Families From Around the World-Germany

Germany.

-I will study the different cultures of Germany: their languages, the types of food they eat, and their hobbies.

-I will study the countries dialects, so I can at least understand a little of what they are saying.

-I will buy the different types of foods that they are accustom to eating.  I found that pork is their top meat and Germans also like: cabbage, beets, cold cuts, cheese, and salads.  The favorite alcoholic beverages are:  beer, brandy, and schnapps.

-I will assist the family with finding employment.  I would discuss with them about their educational and vocational goals and skills.

-I will make sure that the family is comfortable and their needs are being met to the best of my ability.

            I hope that I receive enough time in order to make sure I am at least partially prepared for the group.  I know that I like to be feel comfortable and wanted, so I would do my best to make sure that the visiting group is also.  It would be so exciting to learn about another culture other than my own.

  

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

I have experienced prejudice on several occasions, but the most memorable and frequent occurrences have been at a little hometown diner.  It is owned by a Caucasian couple, and it has all Caucasian employees. The prejudice is very prevalent when the diner has a lot of Caucasian customers, mostly Caucasian men.  My co-workers and I frequent the diner at least twice a week.  The employees are very familiar with us and they know our usual orders and everything.  It is one of the employees who is a lot friendlier than the others.  She usually acts the same way all of the time.

In one particular case, we had pre-ordered our food and when we arrived it was already sitting on the table not covered.  We asked, how long had it been out. The waitress replied that they had just sat it out.  The diner was packed, so people were walking by the table and our meal was exposed to all of the elements. We all felt that it was inappropriate.  We wanted to know why the food couldn’t be held in the kitchen area until we arrived.  After several questions, the restaurant would not admit any wrong doing. Keep in mind at the time, the restaurant was filled with Caucasian’s.  We just sat down and ate our food.  That was the icing on the cake.  We do not frequent the diner much now, because that situation was beyond rude and disrespectful.

I feel in this day and time, we should all be treated equal if we all are paying customers.  Racism and prejudice is still very prevalent in American today.

           

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

This week I recalled a situation of microagression that I encountered about different economic/educational class.  I was having a conversation with this guy and he was discussing the difference of our salaries, jobs, and educational backgrounds. 

He asked me how long I attended college.  I told him and then we discussed my profession.  He then told me how much he made per year and about his job. He said, “I make almost double your salary and I have not went to college for one day.” We went into a deep debate about our jobs and our different working conditions.

His job is quite different from mine.  He is only home two weeks out of the month, so he usually misses most all of the major holidays.  I reminded him that I am able to come home every day after 8 hours of working and I am off on weekends.  Money is important, but I would rather have my job and schedule.  I enjoy having my evenings with my family and having weekends off.  His job is more strenuous than mine, so he is basically getting paid for the time and work that he is doing.

I did become a little offended and he tried to tell me that he did not mean to be offensive. He was only trying to make a point.