The Road to Refugee Resettlement

Eric Thai
May 7 2009
ANT 1001/TV24A
The Road to Refugee Resettlement

Being an American born citizen, we don't face the many hardships refugees had to face. My mother who was a refugee told me about the many hardships she faced leaving Vietnam. Many of the struggles she faced were similar to those of Thok Ding had to face coming to America from Sudan.

My mother was the youngest of six, born in Cambodia very close to Vietnam where my grandfather worked. I turns out my mother's family was wealthy, living the high class life some of us only dream of. At the time when the war started many of my aunts and uncles were off to colleges continuing their education. My grandfather knew the war would be disastrous if they stayed so my mother and grandfather tried to leave the country. Many people at that time were not allow to leave but because my family was wealthy, the government gave them two hundred dollars but they had to leave the rest of their wealth behind. They went to Hong Kong where they moved around much like Thok Ding and tried to rebuild their lives. My mother had to take jobs that had manual labor, something she wasn't familiar with. After my grandfather passed away my mother decide to come to America. Here she face the language barrier as well as much racism. She struggled to learn English, to get a decent job, and to keep in touch with her family.

When I asked my mother about how she came to America I didn't expect to hear a story that gave me new appreciation for her struggles. She faced such sudden changes to her life and I am really amazed she was able to adapt. Now she owns a small jewelry store in Chinatown that had been pretty successful. She has even learn to speak English very well with few accents. Having someone experience being a refugee helps me picture how it felt to be in their shoes.

Shandy, Dianna. "The Road to Refugee Resettlement." In Conformity and Conflict: Readings in Cultural Anthropology, 12 ed. Spraley and McCurdy. Allyn & Bacon. 2006. 151-160 .

Mixed Blood

Eric Thai
April 29 2009
ANT 1001 / TV24A
Mixed Blood

Race is a social construct developed to divide people with similar physical features into categories. As a way to categorize people by physical characteristics it creates some false stereotypes used to generalize the all the people in each group. Jeffery M. Fish's ethnography discusses the term race as a myth, as a bad form of classification of human beings.

What I found most interesting in this ethnography was the way we humans classify everything in two opposites. Black or white, hot or cold, and lanky or rounded are just a few examples of the categories we form. In forming theses categories we then place things in one of the opposites without creating new categories for then one in between. This is much like the American term blood which we believe is passed down from our parents. If a child is a mix of two groups he or she is categories in the lower of the two groups. I understand it is within our culture to divide people into races but it is unfortunate how we have no control over what race we fall into. Even if someone is one millionth percent black, in our culture they are considered black.

Ever since I toke my first breath theses categories have been created. Male or female, black or white, there is no gray area in our culture. America has been enculturated in believing in the social construct of race, and this brings forth the ideas of racism and superiority. It may be difficult but maybe someday hopefully we can break free of the

Fish, Jeffery M. "Mixed Blood." In Conformity and Conflict: Readings in Cultural Anthropology, 12 ed. Spraley and McCurdy. Allyn & Bacon. 2006. 84-94 .

Baseball Magic

Eric Thai
March 25 2009
ANT 1001 / TV24A

Baseball Magic

Major League Baseball players have always been admired for their great skill. Whether they hit an outrageous amount of hits or pitch no hitter games, fans hope they can repeat their success each season. In George Gmelch's ethnography "Baseball Magic", he describes the many rituals each player goes through in attempt to maintain their success on the field. So even the players many admire, put their faith on rituals and magic.

Although I'm not a fan of Baseball, I am an athlete that hopes to maintain my success in Handball. This ethnography describes the many attempt to take control their success. Some examples include wearing the same clothes or not washing clothes which takes theses rituals to the extreme (Gmelch 132). George Gmelch also reminded me of some rituals and magic I have attempted but did not notice. During regular games of practice if I win intense matches with a certain pair of shoes, I would wear the same pair to a tournament. If I do a certain routine before a serve, I maintain that routine until it fails. I have found that eating healthy a week before my matches brings me more stamina during a game. I've also developed a taboo of not playing big ball when I'm about to play in an ace ball tournament. (Big ball and Ace ball are two types of handballs with different weight and bounce)

Overall I have learned in this ethnography to not let these rituals take over your life. I'm sure any athlete has some sort of routine that brings them success. The main point of theses rituals is they bring players confidence and focus which is the most important in a game (Gmelch 135). Like Gmelch says, if you believe in theses rituals and magics, most likely they will work.
Gmelch, George. "Baseball Magic." In Conformity and Conflict: Readings in Cultural Anthropology, 12 ed. Spraley and McCurdy. Allyn & Bacon. 2006. 126-135 .

Mother's Love Death Without Weeping

Eric Thai

March 25 2009

ANT 1001 / TV24A

Mother's Love Death Without Weeping

When one hears the two words mother and child one often thinks of a mother's love for their child. Growing up in a more fortunate childhood I would never have thought such neglect for they own flesh and blood could occur. In "Mother's Love: Death Without Weeping", Nancy Hughes explains why some babies are often left to die by their parents who leave them on the floor without feeding them. The most shocking fact is how they could do this without shedding a tear and how it is frowned upon.

I understand the situation of Alto do Cruzerio being full of poverty and lack of hygiene. What I don't understand and what is not mentioned in the chapter is why do so many women bring the babies into the world without the ability to take care of them. The chapter doesn't mention anything about the male population only that birth control is frowned upon on. What also intrigues me is how they are devoted catholics and believe that the babies that died were destined to become angels.

The mothers of Alto do Cruzerio who often try not to become attached to their babies, reminds me of how some relationships go on. Some relationships I have seen have a case where one partner stays distant in order to avoid the heartbreak of a failed relationship. This is an unhealthy relationship between a couple because no growth in the relationship can occur. Overall I understand that the mothers must remain distant because so many deaths do often occur without any warning.

Hughes, Nancy Scheper. "Mother's Love Death Without Weeping." In Conformity and Conflict: Readings in Cultural Anthropology, 12 ed. Spraley and McCurdy. Allyn & Bacon. 2006. 45 - 54 .

Life Without Fathers or Husbands

Eric Thai
March 21 2009
ANT 1001 TV24A / Gaunt

"Life Without Fathers or Husbands" by Clifford Geertz

"Life Without Fathers or Husbands" by Clifford Geertz described the Na a tribal society in southern China that has a completely different structure than any group I have ever studied. The Na being a matrilineal society was unusual, but on top of that in their society marriage does not exist and no child has knowledge of their birth fathers. Men and women developed no relations with one another. Sexual intercourse occurred through last night "visits" from men that was on impulse and occured frequently (Geetrtz 78). Men and women would have multiple partners without any strong relation (Geetrtz 78). The Na society's lifestyle had me experience culture shock upon reading this chapter.

Looking through the "lens" I have develop from living in New York for the past eighteen year, there isn't much surprise that one would experience culture shock from this reading. Through enculturalization I was taught that sexual intercourse must be something saved untill after marriage. Though I disagree with these teachings from my parent, I have develop the idea that sex should occur only between two people who have developed a relationship between each other. As a Chinese American I had never heard of such a society before nor ever dream such a society existed. The first questions that came to my mind were how could such a society function without knowledge of their fathers or decent.

Now putting down my own "len's", looking at the Na society I see how their society could function the way it does. A society that has no fathers or husbands, the mother is the one who nurtures the children. The male children grow up and do the arduous labor and go on "visits" to produce children. The female children grow up and in turn have children and also nurture their children. In such a society it was important to have a female to continue reproduction and if there were no females, one would be adopted.

Although different the Na was a society that function in their own way though completely different from ours. One at first would be shock to discover such a society and their way of life. It is important to put down our "lens" and not judge their society through our opinions. The Na's society is another example of a society we must suspend our judgement in order to understand their way of life and how they had prospered.

Bibliography

Geertz, Clifford . "Life Without Fathers or Husbands" In Conformity and Conflict: Readings in Cultural Anthropology, 12 ed. Spraley and McCurdy. Allyn & Bacon. 2006. 75-83.

The Sapir - Whorf Hypothesis: Worlds Shaped by Words

Eric Thai

February 18 2009

ANT 1001 TV24A / Gaunt

David S. Thomson. "The Sapir - Whorf Hypothesis: Worlds Shaped by Words"

"The Sapir - Whorf Hypothesis: Worlds Shaped by Words" by David S. Thomson brought to attention the many effects of communication and language. The Sapir - Whorf Hypothesis stated that "each language is not merely a reproducing instrument for voicing ideas but rather itself the shaper of ideas" (Thomson 115). Whorf based his hypothesis on the Hopi who's language did not contain the past present and future we have in our Indo-European languages.Unfortunately Whorf died a young age of forty-four and this hypothesis has been debated constantly (Thomson 115).

The Sapir - Whorf Hypothesis makes complete sense in the fact that many words or phrases from another language cannot be translated. The book has a few example of German and French words that cannot be exactly translated into English without at least three words combined. As a speaker of Chinese there are a few phrases we cannot translate to English as well. We have a phrase in Chinese that if directly translated to English is "hot air". This phrase is used to describe various kinds of foods such as deep fried food, greasy food, and certain fruits, that the Chinese believe if over eaten will cause sore throat, or coughing. Although I can related that there are certain elements in languages that are unique to their own, it is hard to believe that different languages cause different ways of thinking. Like in the case of the speakers in Shona who only have three divisions for color, it is hard to take a step back and imagine our life with the absents of a name for blue or green. Thus although I don't dispute The Sapir - Whorf Hypothesis nor do I support it, I accept it as another hypothesis that describes our human thinking.

I was extremely interested in the discussion on euphemism, where they show how humans manipulate language to make something bad seem good. Everyday terms we use are examples of euphemism such as bathroom or restroom that we use to replace the vulgar word toilet or the extremes such as naming missiles peacekeepers to make a dangerous weapon sound less destructive (Thomson 122). Though sometimes misused language can be a powerful weapon because of how it affects human thinking. Language and communication is important for humans to get our thinking across to one another and share our ideas.

Bibliography

Thomson, David S. "The Sapir - Whorf Hypothesis: Worlds Shaped by Words" In Conformity and Conflict: Readings in Cultural Anthropology, 12 ed. Spraley and McCurdy. Allyn & Bacon. 2006. 113-125.

Review of Eatting Christmas in the Kalahari

Eric Thai

February 23 2009

ANT 1001 TV24A / Gaunt

Richard Borshay Lee. "Eatting Christmas in the Kalahari"

"Eating Christmas in the Kalahari "by Richard Lee took a unique approach in describing the lifestyle of the Bushman. Richard Lee explains that the Bushman slaughters an ox in celebration for Christmas and he decided to thank them for their cooperation in his ethnography by slaughtering a huge ox (12). After finding a huge ox, he is ridiculed with remarks such as "do you expect us to eat that bag of bones?" (Lee 12) And "do you honestly think you can serve that meat like that and avoid a fight?" (Lee 14). Mr. Lee later learns it is their custom to criticize the kill (16). He learns an important lesson from this experience about his culture.

When you get down the core, humans are selfish creatures that only care for themselves. Thus we do not engage in act of generosity without intentions of self gain. We donate to charities not just to help the less fortunate but also to raise our self image. We help tutor a fellow student not just to help them improve but as well make ourselves feel superior. Although we might not show our selfish intentions we become arrogant and full of ourselves. The Bushman’s custom of bad mouthing is an attempt of enforcing humility that was successful on Mr. Lee.

"Eating Christmas in the Kalahari"was successful not only in teaching us about our culture but also vividly describing the way the Bushman think. They are a society that strongly holds onto humility. Even though they are thankful for Mr. Lee’s generosity they strive to hide their appreciation in order to keep him from feeling superior. They believe boasting leads to pride that lead to killing thus their badmouthing can "cool his heart and make him gentle" (Lee 17). "Eating Christmas in the Kalahari"proved to be a unique and successful attempt in teaching us about the Bushman’s culture and a little about our own.

Lee, Richard Borshay. "Eatting Christmas in the Kalahari." In Conformity and Conflict: Readings in Cultural Anthropology, 12 ed. Spraley and McCurdy. Allyn & Bacon. 2006. 11 - 18