I believe in taking my shoes off at the door.
-talk about the things that my grandparents always told me to do/ bothered me about
-mention how this happened all the time
-these things may have been annoying in the moment, but have built my character over time
-manners, being polite, respectful, these things have been ingrained in me now
-I have only realized this when reflecting upon the past
-mention how hardworking, stubborn, motivated by success my grandparents are
-their work did not end within the house (grandma cooked everyday, yard work, helped the neighbors, never asked for help themselves)
-never complained about their current situations, only strived to create the best for me and our family by doing whatever they could
-traditions are necessary for one’s identity and honoring them makes me feel closer to my grandparents, as well as respecting where they came from and how they became the people they are now
Themes:
-Respecting traditions/customs from your culture (even if you don’t like them/or think that they are annoying or outdated it is important to show respect towards the past and the things that made your family who they are)
-Appreciating your elders and the path that they paved (Use this as motivation to succeed in your life! Your life has been made possible and created for you, don’t let this opportunity slip away from you!)
-Recognizing the hardships that they went through in order to allow you to have the opportunities that you have today (We don’t always take time to look back and truly be mindful of what we have and have been given.)
-You have to step into someone elses shoes in order to fully understand what they have been through and appreciate everything that they have done.
Traditions:
-cleaning house every saturday
-going to church sunday morning
-making pierogies/ kotlety
-picking mushrooms
-planting flowers, keeping nice appearance of the house
-grandma making food for the sick/alone elderly neighbors
-mowing lawns/ doing yard work for elderly with my grandpa
-don’t wear hats in the house
-take shoes off at the door
-never buying/eating food outside of the house (there is always food at home!)
-always having leftover polish food for school lunches
-grandma making packages for relatives in Poland
As a child I remember the constant nagging I endured from my grandparents merely seconds after I stepped foot through the front door. Why isn’t your jacket zipped up? Where is your hat? You’re going to get sick! Come eat some soup. Take off your shoes, I just cleaned the house! This is the comforting, yet quite annoying ritual which awaited me every afternoon, a ritual that nestled in the spaces separating the squished couch cushions, deflated from years of use.
My grandparents are the type of people that have been handcrafted from the thickest and most durable piece of granite.They are ridiculously stubborn in their ways and refuse to let any distractions get in the way of their daily routines. Every morning I arose to the click of the kettle and the tinkling of a metal spoon against the sides of a mug as my grandma prepared my grandpa’s cup of instant coffee. Soonafter they would both drive to the nearby nursing home where they cleaned grime, changed dirty diapers, and delivered meals in order to make a meager wage.
I remember my grandma’s firm hands folding pierogies and pressing perfect creases among the edges……
The idea and themes are really good and relatable. This could be even better than it already is if you organize it in the right way. Making it into a story or an experience could help listeners feel the moment.
I think this is a great start! You organized everything really well and it is clear that you know what you want to talk about, so all you have to do now is organize your information into a cohesive story that flows well. Make sure to incorporate some of your vividly phrased sentences like “…handcrafted from the thickest and most durable piece of granite” because they are very powerful and will make your podcast sound very intriguing.
(Forget structure needed to be draft workshop questions.)
1. The conflict is between you and your grandparents’ obscure, random rules that all grandparents seem to have. They nag about small things that seem to have little to no significance but as you have gotten older you have realized that they were very motivated by success and hard work, so those attitudes were exemplified in your daily interactions with them.
2. As I said in my previous blog comment, I think the information you included is great and just about everything you need is there, it just needs to be organized into the structure of the podcast rather than a flowing chart of ideas.
3. I think it would be more clear if you explained what made your grandparents as hard-working and as dedicated to customs (both big and small) as they are. That way, the audience can better understand who your grandparents are and ultimately, why you appreciate their nagging to this day.
4. I think there is a slight disconnect between your grandparents’ customs/nagging over menial things and why you value their hard work ethic. I like the idea/theme of your podcast, you just need to find a cohesive way to relate you grandparents’ stress on culture and customs to their hard work ethic to your appreciation for adhering to your culture.
5. As I said in the initial post, your imagery is vivid and you have some really beautiful sentences so I would try to incorporate as many of those into your actual podcast as possible.
6. I think you should make an effort to include your thought that “we don’t always take the time to appreciate what we have been given” to be your grand takeaway at the end — I think it will bring your whole piece together and it will make sense of why you care so deeply about your grandparents’ beliefs and customs.
Good luck — it’s great!