A Different Foreigner
We have talked about the typical foreigner: Someone living in a country other than their own, having a different culture and different beliefs than everyone else around them. But can one be a foreigner in their own country, their own city, or their own town? If one has different beliefs than those of his/her friends and/or family, can we call that person a ‘foreigner’ if they are going through the same things that Julia Kristeva describes in her book? In today’s culture, the same aspects that apply to foreigners, such as loneliness, separation, and the need to fit in, apply to many teenagers, whether they grow up in a town they have lived in all their lives, or if they move to a foreign place. In Strangers to Ourselves, Kristeva writes, “Who is a foreigner? The one who does not belong to the group, who is not “one of them,” the other” (Kristeva, 95). If I were to discuss beliefs with my parents, such as political or moral beliefs, and agreed with everything my parents said, what happens when all of my friends at school believe in completely different things? To them, my beliefs would be very different, almost foreign. To them, I would be the other.
If, over time, I were to change my beliefs to mirror the beliefs of my friends, one day I would come home and realize how different I was from my family. My beliefs would be the opposite of theirs. Like many foreigners living in a country different than the one they were born in, going home would not be the same as it was when I was still the same as my family.
If a typical teenager goes through the same scenario that I have described above, how different is it if a teenager becomes a foreign exchange student. One immediately thinks of the obvious…the teenager is, of course, in a foreign country, away from home. But, that particular teen is still trying to fit in, and is growing in ways that are changing the person that he/she used to be.
During the transition from believing what my family believes to what my friends believe in, there would be a time in which I would fit in neither world. My views would have changed enough for me to be different from my parents, but not enough for me to be the same as my friends.
Early on in the race, the USSR was very successful. In 1957, the Soviets launched Sputnik, which triggered the start of the space race (John F. Kennedy). The United States began to scramble, trying to catch up with the Soviets. However, soon after, the Soviet Union completed another huge success. They sent the first man to orbit Earth (John F. Kennedy). In 1961 the USSR’s Yuri Gagarin became the first human to ever orbit the Earth (John F. Kennedy). The United States was still unsuccessful and beginning to look weak. After that, America got serious. On May 25, 1961, President Kennedy asked Congress for around eight billion dollars to build up the space program over the next five years (John F. Kennedy). The president declared, “This nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth” (John F. Kennedy).
One thing that helped build a space rocket was a V-2 rocket built by the Germans during WWII. Throughout the years the V-2 rocket turned into the Saturn V rocket. The Saturn V was a rocket NASA built to send people to the moon. The Saturn V rocket was 363 feet tall and about the height of a 36-story-tall building. The Saturn V that launched the Skylab space station only had two stages. The Saturn V rockets used for the Apollo missions had three stages. Each stage would burn its engines until it was out of fuel and would then separate from the rocket and then the next one will start. If it wasn’t for the V-2 and German scientist, von Braun the USA would probably have not traveled to space. The USA sent astronaut John Glent to circle the Earth in 1962 to retaliate the launching of Sputnik. In 1969, a milestone was reached when the USA sent astronaut Neil Armstrong to the moon. The technology on the ship that took Neil to space was equivalent to a basic calculator built in 1980. They took a 64Kb computer (the moon lander) with them to space. It had approximately 64...
Similar to the author of “Sonnet, With Bird” Sherman Alexie felt when he traveled to England. Mr.Alexie quoted “” I am the only Indian in this country right now. I’m the only Indian within a five-thousand-mile circle.””(pg.214) which shows how he feels like he doesn’t belong. This may be the case for people who have moved to a new part of the world that is unknown to them or to someone visiting another area that they do not know. As for the people who have lived in a certain area who see newcomers, may see them as outsiders because technically they are coming into a new place which would make them outsiders. Another example would be Dre Parker from the movie “the Karate Kid”(2010 version) how in a part of the movie he expresses how much he dislikes living in China and how he doesn’t belong there. Dre Parker is treated badly by the other younglings that have lived their beforehand by beating him up and excluding him from their
Lingis (1994) indicates that “One exposes oneself to the other-the stranger, the destitute one, the judge-not only with one’s insights and one’s ideas, that they may be contested, but one also exposes the nakedness of one’s eyes, one’s voice, and one’s silence, one’s empty hands” (p. 11). This “other community” comes into being when the stranger is exposed, having no common rational discourse with us. This stranger or intruder disrupts or intentions and makes us question our own cultural coding, “arresting one’s own intentions” during their encounter.
The Space Race was a competition between the Soviet Union and the United States of America for technology on space that happened from 1955-1972. This competition caused many amazing things: The first object in space, the first man in space, and the first man on the moon. The Space Race had started in the Cold War, an Arms’ Race between the U. S and the USSR.
Firstly, inclusion and exclusion of different communities happens in specific locations, where identities are viewed as either marked or unmarked. A marked identity signifies something unfamiliar, and thus abnormal, connected to a particular place and history. These identities can be determined by race, ethnicity, class, family, education, or an idea of 'us' and 'them'. Hence, typically, the Western identity is unmarked and normal, whereas other identities from other places are viewed as strangers with strange habits, conventions and social structures (Taylor, 2009). Moreover, everyday practices also propagate certai...
The space race began with the launch of Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957 as Roy Silver and other reporters announced the next day reported that "Radio signals from the first satellite launched yesterday by the Russians were broadcast to radio and television audiences here last night."The competition was to be the first to loft a satellite into space and had begun way before Sputnik launched. After the end of World War II, research on rockets for upper-atmosphere research and military missiles was extensive. Engineers knew they would be able to launch a satellite to orbit Earth sooner or later. The first United States proposal to place a satellite in orbit was made in 1954 by the U.S. Army. It was not until January 31, 1958, that the United States joined the Soviets in space. The Space Age began for the world's superpowers when the Soviets put Sputnik I, the first man made satellite, into a shallow Earth orbit. Sputnik carried a battery-operator radio transmitter that beeped as it circled the globe every 95 minutes. The 185-pound Sputnik became a symbol of Soviet success, for the first time...
Proper nutrition is important in maintaining a long and healthy life. Most Americans are rushed due to their busy work schedules, and do not take the time to plan their diets properly. Like me, most Americans are unaware of the importance of eating a healthy diet and consume too many foods without the proper nutrients. Throughout my life I have been fortunate. I have not had any major health problems, and have been able to consume most foods without having to worry about gaining weight. These last two years, however, I started to gain weight and have become concerned with my diet. Changing my poor eating habits has been difficult for me, however, having this assignment has taught me that it is not as difficult as I previously imagined.
Sputnik 1 wasn’t the first man-made technological creation in space. Toward the end of World War II, the Germans had used the V-2 rocket as a desperate attempt against the Allied powers. The V-2 was a ballistic missile with a supersonic speed and, when the war ended, the United States and Soviet Union took the scientists that created it to use them for their own developments. By August 1957, the U.S.S.R. had effectively tested the R-7 Semyorka, the first ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile). The R-7 was used two months later to launch the Sputnik 1 in space.
Standing out of the crowd is a great way to get attention for a good job or acceptance into a university. Taking a gap year to study abroad can open many doors and help teens become better equipped to identify and interact with people from other cultures. “With so many international experiences available, more than 80% of gap year students say their experiences make them more globally aware” (Salisbury). In an expanding business world, increased cultural awareness and even language skills will help future teens of the workforce be more successful in their careers.
My semester of study abroad is best described as an intense learning experience, without which I feel that my education would have been incomplete. The lessons learned were far different from those I encountered in high school, but of equal or greater importance. I gained new perspective about international affairs and also found I was challenged as an individual to grow intellectually, socially, and emotionally. There is no doubt that this experience has changed me, and I am certainly better for it.
I will continue to learn about my faith and other religions and learn about what others do with their faith. I will continue to be respectful of others’ faiths and to always be a good upstanding Christian.
The poem “Minority” written by Imtiaz Dharker uses contrasts in imagery and a change in point of view in order to convey the “foreigner” (1) and the message to “you” (44). The opening line of the poem introduces its theme of separation and otherness. The poem begins “I was born a foreigner” (1) using the 1st person point of view to present a personal feeling that is internal. The first line of the poem leads to the fact that the speaker was born in a country different from their origin. After the first line the speaker in the poem seems to belong nowhere – “even in the place/planted with my relatives” (4-5) leading to believe that the speaker is “a foreigner everywhere” (3). The speaker’s choice of words makes us feel that no matter where the speaker goes she always seems to be separated. The speaker returns to the country of her parents and still continues to feel like a foreigner. The speaker in this situation feels displaced and victimized because she find themselves facing prejudice from the country she was born in as well as the country of her relatives and family. This stanza solely serves to single the speaker who can be concluded as the “foreigner” (1) out as a lone individual rather than a representation of an entire group. The speaker’s repetition of “foreigner” (3) throughout the poem emphasizes her isolation from her own family as well as “All kinds of places and groups” (9). The speaker tells us “I don’t fit” (13) where she is comparing herself to “food cooked in milk of coconut/where you expected ghee or cream” (15-16) or an “unexpected aftertaste/ of cardamom or neem” (17-18). The use of taste to describe a feeling of being foreign is evocative because a countries cuisine is a compliment of its culture so it is inte...
People is always asking: “Why is important to have a balanced diet? Why is necessary to have a balanced diet on a daily basis? And why do professionals tend to recommend a balanced diet?” The human being has essential needs to its existence: breathing, feeding, and keeping the body in constant movement. The majority of the people are aware of this, but they do not have a balance among these things and even more important they do not eat the adequate food to keep their body healthy. Food is one of the most important factors because it gives the energy the body needs daily. In other words, few words food is the fuel that provides glucose, which is carried to each cell of the body through the bloodstream. This process is extremely important and this is influenced by the type of food that each person consumes. A balanced diet is important for human beings, and makes reference to a good nutrition with regard to the food they eat; which contains macro nutrients that are carbohydrates, fats, and proteins; these provide energy and basic materials that the body uses to grow and stay healthy.
The beginning of one’s college career is always stressful and exciting whether it is a person that decides to go to college in a different state or commute from home-it is a change to one’s whole life that must be adapted to. The transition from high school to college is easier for some people than it is for others, depending on where one decides to go to school. Studying abroad is another brief transition from one’s home to a college in another part of the world. There are many different times that a student can study abroad; it can be in the student’s firs...