Category Archives: Reflections on Final Group Project

Healthy life style

One of my dream is living in a farm and establishing a small ecological  system with lots of interactions between animals and plants. In that system I would act as a facilitator and let the spirit of life to be spread around me. I like watching growth of living organisms and progress of ecological sequences. Going to farmers market was like a reminder for my old dream. I saw some people that make their own business by managing organic farms. I can’t live like Amish people but I can imagine myself moderating a modern sustainable farm by respecting to mother nature.

It was my first time to do an interview with American farmers. I enjoyed chatting with them since all of them were enthusiastic about their business and liked speaking with people about necessity of their healthy organic products. But as you can see in the interview, that Amish guy has a special accent representing a different accent in the farmers community of Pennsylvania. I asked questions from farmers (vendors) about their products, establishing their own business and their revenue.

I think with a common knowledge about a topic you can start chatting with people and make a proper dialogue with them. Having a plan for such interactions could help you to ask suitable questions and enhance your listening efficiency. Thoughtful questions could enhance your confidence in the dialogues.

Finally I should thank Xin for the suggestion of the activity and making such professional videos.

ESL114G Final Group Project PPT

Brunch

 

Having brunch was something that I experienced before in NYC. In State College, the brunch was different in the sense of the number of people that have it. I enjoyed the activity, it is constitute by different factors such as painting, music, friends, and food. All these factors make this activity interesting.

We learnt about the origin of brunch, I mean about how people thought in how there would be able to drink more alcoholic drinks at night, and the perfect solution was eating more during the afternoon. A combination of breakfast and lunch that is the brunch. The word comes from “breakfast” and “lunch (eon)”. It had its origin in United Kingdom in the late 19th century. The meal was intended to allow people stays up later and get drunker on Saturday night and not be required to wake up early for breakfast. In 1930, brunch became popular in Chicago; where people used to take transcontinental train rides off in Chicago between trains for a late morning meal. Sunday brunch, only became popular after World War II.

The menu in State College involves elemental ingredients, but the differences between restaurants were organic and non-organic, or local brands. The activities were basically the same in the three visited restaurants.

About other activities, I would like to attend a music festival and sport meetings; I found them very interesting.

Final Project Reflection

When  Firdevs Ilci and I decided to do survey about different cultural food , we found that there are too many choices, and this is a international place, so it is easily for us to find various food. I think Ben gives us a nice topic and direction, best wishes to Ben. During the project, i found lots of things i missed even in my cultural, like for lucky cat, i do not know what is the raised paw means, and different color means different wishes. And for Turkey and Indian, i am so happy to learn something from them, and try to find those stories of their food.

I think the most important thing i learned is that do not be so shy to communicate with each other, open your mind, share your experiences, tell stories, etc. Chinese guys are so shy to being in public, that is the problem i need to face, feel comfortable to speak.

And by made some contrast of those cases, we can quickly find those common things we sharing, like Tea cultural, bread or something, and their music. And Chinese culture effects a lot in this little town, so every cultural can remain their own special things and it will change into the same direction. However, i think this is also the trend of the world.

Here, i want to appreciate my teammate, , she makes our PPT more colorful, and she always open to accept new things. That is very impressive, because we have a strong consciousness of protecting.

Actually, there is a long way for us to take, Penn state had been existed since 1855, that is 159 years, there must be lots of interesting things, and those interest things are filled with the 159 years history! So, don’t stop, try to find those amazing part of our life!

At last, as a engineer student, i feel comfortable to express my idea in this class, and everyone in this class are very friendly, and it is a amazing experiences to learn with you. Thank you!

 

REFLECTION ON FINAL GROUP PROJECT BY FIRDEVS ILCI — CULTURAL INTERACTION THROUGH CUISINES

Presentation of our group project: Cultural Interaction Through Cuisines

Presentation by Firdevs Ilci and Xi Chen 

An interview with some Turkish students about missing own culture

When I thought about what we should do for our group project; firstly, I tried to find something common, but it was not easy because of being from different part of the world and having different cultures. Thus, we thought we could show this cultural difference. We are all foreign students here, and I know it is inevitable to miss our own culture. Depending on development of the world, technology and countries, nowadays it is easy to feel and maintain your own culture in different country. For instance, we have lots of different countries’ restaurant to feel our own culture and to show it other people. When we bring these two things together, the first idea that we came up with was introducing our cultural foods at our cultural restaurant in here.

We chose two restaurants according to our nationalities, Turkish and Chinese, and we decided to choose one restaurant that is different from ours, which is Indian. Firstly, we went to Turkish restaurant. Because of its my culture, I knew everthing, and I really enjoyed to introduce them to my group partner, Xi Chen. I felt proud of my culture. We made an interview with the owner of restaurant in English. This interview was also interesting for me two aspects of it: It was the first time to make an interview with somebody for me; actually I did not know how I should do it, but I realised that Xi Chen was relax, then I felt also relax, and the second thing, I felt little weird for speaking in English with a Turkish man. In addition, I also made some video interviews with my Turkish friends to ask whether they are missing Turkish foods and going to Turkish restaurant, and if it is yer how often. Secondly, we we went to Chinese restaurant. This time, it was my turn to learn new culture. Xi Chen introduced me all things in the restaurant, there are lots of fortune things and they have meanings. Then he tried to teach me how I can use chopsticks, this was the first time that I was teached by a Chinese person, but I think I am not good at it. At Chinese restaurant, actually only Xi Chen could make an interview, because the woman who is owner of the restaurant did not know English and she was very shy. In addition, Xi Chen would have made some video interviews with his Chinese friends, but he could not because they are shy. So I learned something new from this, Chinese people are very shy. Finally, we went to Indian restaurant. For me it was the first time to be in an Indian restaurant, but I had already tried foods. We ate our dishes, and we had a chance to try many kinds of Indian food. I liked tastes of food; they are similar to Turkish food. In the restaurant there were lots of Indian clultural stuffs. We made an interview with the owner of restaurant, but it was short because he was busy.

To sum up, I learned lots of new things about different cultures as I mentioned above thanks to this activity. Now, I know Chines foods, Indian foods, how I can use chopsticks, and believes of I experienced making an interview with somebody in English. This was a good experience, because I made it with a Turkish man and the other thing, I made it with a strange Indian man. It was good to see both side of the situation. As I had really good experience in this cultural activity, I also want to join different activities in the future. That time, it might be about religions or daily-life stuffs. It is really good thing to learn new things and enjoy it.

 

FIRDEVS ILCI

 

Happiness within you

 

When Samita and I first discussed which kind of activity we would like to attend, we both thought of Arts.  We finally chose belly dance which interested us and matched our schedule as well. In a word, this experience is amazing. Samita has described what we have learned and how we felt about Belly dancing. I totally agree with her.  what we have learned are not only the skill of belly dancing, also the social skill which is so important in our lives. We met friends sharing same interests, exchanging our thought and feeling after class.  This activity provides me an opportunity to be involved into American culture. I would recommend everyone to attend similar activity on campus. Learning American culture will give you confidence when Meeting new friends.

The other point I would like to mention is team work and cooperation. Actually picking the topic for final project is similar as the situation when you are in a conversation with somebody you just meet. You two should quickly find out something in common to continue the conversation.   When preparing final PowerPoint, we sat together discussing our experience, our feeling. We spent a lot of time brainstorming discussing how to design the activity after presentation. Then we thought about the power of dancing. By playing video, we will enjoy beautiful and impressive dance. At the same time,  we learn the story dancers would like to express. The dancers can use their body language conveying message, so do we!I am so glad that Samita and I have a good time during this project.  Thank you.

As we have suggested in class,  attending activities beyond your research help you study more efficiently.  Just investing one hour every day, learning something new and having fun,  havING a happy life is what we two would share with you after attending belly dancing class.  I also plan to attend other courses offered by Art School.  hopefully we all have a happy life.

GUIDELINES FOR BLOG POST #4: REFLECTIONS ON FINAL GROUP PROJECT

This blog post consists of two components. First, post the materials that demonstrate your involvement in the selected cultural activity. The materials can include the pictures and handouts you’ve collected during your participation as well as the videos and slides you’ve made for the final group project presentation. 

Second, post a reflection on your participation in this cultural activity based on the following questions:

1.      How would you describe your experience in participating in the cultural activity?

2.      What have you learned about American/local culture and/or use of American English through the participation of the activity?

3.      What other local cultural activities would you consider to be part of in the future?