People Watching

Observations of children and adults

I have been staying in the United States for approximately 5 months, I found out that American children are expose to the American culture very much. They have an early sex education which they learn by themselves from the mass media (TV, Magazine, Newspapers, and the Internet.) In addition, they are the spectators who watch adults interact. Those adult did not act as good models to guide the children.

Let me abridge what I have seem in American family.

Last few week, my friend invited me to Twin Cities for a weekend stay. I lived at her sister's house. Her sister is 23 years old and she has a 6 years old son. They started to drink alcohol in the house and the kid was watching TV. He was so concentrated to the Cartoon show and I was sitting beside him. From my conversation with him, he told me they always like to drink and he was kind of got used to all of this. He would rather to do his own thing, and not to interrupt us. Sometime, he will turn on the volume because they talked really loud. At the end, he faced the music.

The American elderly

The questions for American elderly are so crucial and meaningful. It is kind of a personal legend or a future plan for everyone. From my survey conducted to American friends and elderly, American elderly wish to live at a retirement community.

In Sacramento California and Hot Spring Arkansas, there are many famous retirement community and Americans plan to go there when they reached their retirement age. (My friend's grandparent is in Sacremento). The reason they choose to go to retirement community is because they want to enjoy their life and make more friends. They do not want to rely on their children or stay with their children when they are old.

In Chinese culture, children must be respectful and thankful to their parents and they have to take good care of their parents when they are old. This is to appreciate them as growing us up since we were young.

The American Family vs my family and my way

The best way to know more about American Family is to go for a homestay at American house or ask Americans about their family. From my observation and conversations with Americans, they love their family members. Yet, they are independent when they reach the age of 18.

Throughout their school year (elementary to high school), they live with their parents. When going to college or university, they will choose to move out from their house and stay in University dorm or a rented house which is close to campus. For me, I did the same thing as Americans do. I am kind of following American's ways. When I graduated from high school, I picked up a college which provides me scholarships and not too far from my home. It was TAR College, Penang which is 2hours drive from my hometown. I rented a house off campus and I knew that I was going to be independent when my parents sent me to college.

A majority of American students will try to earn tuition fees themselves, so do I. I went in to a college which provides me 75% discount on tuition fees when I graduated from High School. I was trying to be independent and not going to rely on my parents. Although they are more than afford to send me to private college, I did not go for it! This is because I just want to be independent! I was influenced by my sisters who are more independent than I do.

My American friends will talk to their mother more than their father on cell phone. This is exactly the same situation as mine. Some of them will write letter to their grandmother. However, I would never write letter to my grandmothers because they are illiterate. I will follow my mother whenever she is going to visit my grandmother.

A majority of Americans have a big family and they will organize family reunion party once a year in summer. Besides, they will gather together during Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Wedding. For me, my family and relatives will gather together during Chinese New Year, Wedding, Ching Ming Festival (Festival for Tending Graves), and Elderly’s (Grandfather or Grandmother) birthday party.

The only difference that I found is the equality in the family. Husband and wife are equal partners. They share the household duties together if both of them go to work and earn some earnings for the family. This is so much different as in my family. My father is a businessman and he is the key person in the family. He is the only one who earns money and supports the whole family. When my father comes home from work, my mother is a good housewife who is obedient to my father. She takes good care of my father and us (her children) when we were young. We have a happy family though. Anyway, parts of the household duties are done by my house maid and it is to minimize the workload of my mom. Sometimes, my mother is responsible for household duties whereas my father is responsible for the maintenance of cars, electricity and furniture. It is very rare to see my daddy taking a broom and clean the floor.

As a teenager, we need to learn how to be independent in order to strive for success with our bare hands. For me, I would not expect anything from my parents unless they were willing to give me. I would try my best to do the best to achieve my dreams.

Having a multicultural society in the twenty-first century, good or bad?

The United States of America, a developed country, brings the world the belief of everything is possible in the soil in America. As a result, it becomes a melting pot with ethnic and racial diversities. As a Chinese-Malaysian who lives in a multicultural country, Malaysia, which has 3 main races, Malay, Chinese and Indian, I would say multiculturalism brings no harm to the society.

Malaysia is a democratic country which every one has their civil rights. In economic point of view, a multicultural society will boost up the economic growth in one country. A new supply will subsequently be created by different ethnic groups and it will increase the GDP and GNP rates in one country. In Malaysia, Chinese and Indian play an important role in the country's economic growth. A majority of public listed companies is owned by non-Malay. The companies pay taxes to the government and bring benefit to the nation as a whole.

Malaysia has more than 10 public holidays. This is because the federal government takes into account of the interest of everybody. In order to minimize the issue of discrimination and bias, the government makes it fair to every races. Recently, the Prime Minister of Malaysia implemented the campaign "1Malaysia" as to combine all the ethnic groups in order to live in a more peaceful and harmonious way. For example, Chinese New Year and Deepavali (Indian New Year) have been categorized as public holidays. During these periods, all of the nation will celebrate the red letter day together.

Due to the ethnic and racial diversity in Malaysia, the achievements that were obtained by non-Malay act as a mean in inspiring Malays to work harder and to strive for success. It bring advantages to to nation. In addition, multicultural society will be a special characteristic of one country as the various ethnic groups can be mingled and lived together in peace. It becomes a good factor in attracting tourists in visiting the country.

Would you have a gun in your own home? Why or why not?

No. I wouldn't get a gun in my home. This is because having a gun does not mean that you can prevent any kind of crimes from happening. It would be a dangerous thing to have at home. There would be a high risk of harming your family members rather than protect them. A gunfight would kill more people than they save. Children who witnessed a gunfight would have nightmare after the tragedy. It would badly affect their future. In addition, I don't know how to use a gun, nor would I ever want to use a gun. So, there is no reason to have one.

Alternatively, I would install a home alarm system and 24-hours surveillance in my house rather than having a gun. It would be safer and more effective than having a gun. It is able to prevent from robbery even there is no one in the house. The alarm will trigger if someone breaks into my house. Subsequently I will receive a phone call from my home alarm and I can call 999 wherever I am. Furthermore, I can view my house surveillance recording online.

Wealth and Possessions

Americans are often stereotyped as believing wealth and possessions make them important. In my opinion, money and possessions are indeed important for everyone. However, health and happy life do play a crucial role in our lives.

It's undeniable that money is an assurance which will make our lives better. With money, we can get whatever we want. In this materialistic society, people tend to show off with their belongings. With wealth and possession, it makes you become respectful. Some people become more confident when they have money and possessions. However, we need to have a good health to have all these materialistic things belong to us.

Besides that, most of the rich people do not have a happy life. Their lives are not secured. They are afraid of their belongings from being stolen or their life being threatened. They trust no one and only trust on themselves.

I believe everyone wants to be rich so that their dreams will become true. Having a desire to be rich is good, but we shouldn't be too greedy. We should satisfy with what we are having right now. For me, both health and wealth are equally crucial to make myself to have a happy life.

Talk about it

Do you think people all over the world are basically the same or basically very different?

In my opinion, i think people from all over the world are basically the same. Why? This is because we are human and we are from the same planet, called the Earth. We have to eat to survive, we go to school, we go to work, we love sports, we are concerned about each other and we are striving for success in our lives.

Based on Maslow's Hierarchical of Needs, we are the same and we do need physiological needs, safety needs, love or belonging, self-esteem and self actualization. I would say there are no different between human. We need to breathe to survive, we need food, water, sex, sleep, security, family, friendship, achievement and respect.

As far as I am concerned, people from all around the world are basically the same. I have been to many countries and I am studying abroad in USA right now. In my opinion, there is only one difference, which is human characteristic. Personal characteristic is greatly affected by the culture and the environment surrounding oneself. You may be curious that why some people act this way while other not. This is the main difference between people. However, it cannot distinguish that people are totally different as we are a big mankind family as a whole. All in all, people from all around the world are basically the same.

Historic Buildings in Eau Claire (Walking Tour)

Every place in the world has its history. I could not believe myself that I didn't know much about Eau Claire even though I arrived at the United States earlier than others did. Thanks for the Walking Tour Assignment, you make me know more about the historical buildings around Eau Claire.

Yesterday, I did this assignment together with Hooda and Saintsan. We focused on West Side on Eau Claire which is close to Water Street as we are more familiar with it. Furthermore, we can get more than 5 historic buildings at West Side. So we decided to go there instead of going to Downtown.


Below are all the pictures that I took for my Walking Tour Assignment. Just so you know, a majority of the Historic Buildings will have a information board in front of it. Read it whenever you see a building with a wooden sign board around Eau Claire.

1. The First Baptist Church in Eau Claire
Although I am not Christian, I like the building of churches because of its architectural design. The first Baptist Church in Eau Claire looks like a Dome-like structure.

2. Coghlan-Foote Building

Could you believe your eyes? This picture looks like Disneyland!! And I found it at Eau Claire!! Light Blue triangle roofs.. 70% like Disneyland.

3. Adin Randall Statue

Once again, I could not believe my eyes!! We do have statue in Eau Claire!! What are the differences between these two pictures? The first one was taken in Eau Claire Randall Park. The statue is Adin Randall, a person who gave this park to the city of Eau Claire. Whereas the other picture was taken in UW-Madison. It is statue of Lincoln.

4. First Congregation United Church of Christ

This is another tall building in Eau Claire. It makes me recalled my sweet memory in Chicago. This is because Chicago has the tallest skyscraper - SEARS Tower. For this picture, it is the First Congregation United Church of Christ in Eau Claire. For more information and updates regarding the church, please visit HERE .

5. Charles Ingram House

This is one of the Historic Buildings. It is Charles Ingram House, which is built in 1899. It is a significant Colonial Revival style. Why is it called Charles Ingram? Charles Ingram was the son of one of Eau Claire's prominent lumbermen, O.H. Ingram. He held a number of positions in his father's Empire Lumber Company.

To put it in a nutshell, Eau Claire is indeed a nice place to live in. All the historic buildings play a real significant role for the city of Eau Claire. It could be one of the attractions for tourists to visit in Eau Claire. It should be protected and well kept. I am glad to see the historical part of Eau Claire. For sure, I will try to visit the rest sides of the historic locations. This walking tour reminds me that we should have visited Eau Claire first before visiting to other cities or other states in USA.

Similarities and Differences between UWEC Students and Students in Malaysia

Just so you guys know, I am in the States for approximately two months. Fall semester has started last week. I am now officially entered into my courses with American classmates. It is slightly different with summer program that I had last two months. The classroom atmosphere now is more serious as compared to the summer program. For instance, Professor will close the door when the class begins. It is a signal to get attention of all the students in order to pay attention and get ready for the class.

After my first week in the class, I found some similarities and differences between UWEC Students and Malaysian Students. I am glad that I had experienced two different College lives in Penang and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Now, I am in the States as an exchange student.

The other similarity is both of the students can give respond or answer questions with just sitting on their seats. During high school, students need to stand up to answer questions. In University, we do not practice so. Unless they are requested by Professor to stand up and share their points of view.

I believe differences are more than the similarities. For the differences, majority of American students like to ride their bicycle to their class. There is a lot of bicycle parking racks around the campus. In contrast, students in Malaysia do not like to ride bicycle. They prefer to go to college by car. Even they have to go from one place to another place which is within the campus, they get there by car too. This is because the weather in Malaysia is extremely hot.

On top of that, majority American students are more active in outdoor activities, whereas Malaysian students are more passive. They will not put much commitment on co-curricular. This is because Malaysian education system is more exams oriented.

In Malaysia, we pay for tuition fees and we expect to be "spoon feeding" by lecturers. We go to class unprepared and get lecture's notes in the lecture. Now, I need to print out lecture notes, and go to class with preparation. But the best thing is the longest class duration is only 1hour and 15minutes. In Malaysia, we have 3hours lecture (twice a week), and 2hours tutorial for 5 credits subject.

To sum up, these are all the similarities and differences that I noticed during my first week of class in the United States. As the saying goes, when in Rome, do as the Romans do, I will try my best to get myself adapted to their styles and culture.