practice acceptance

it is from relationship advice website. how to make people to practice accepting other culture.

5 Points to remember about acceptance:

1. The most important step is to cultivate a mindset of openness. You cannot move forward unless you make a daily, conscious effort to open your heart to all of your partner--even the parts of him/her that you wish didn't exist.

2. There are as many pathways to intimacy as there are people walking the earth. Differences between how you and your partner achieve intimacy are just that, differences. They do not imply right versus wrong--so suspend your judgement.

3. Acceptance is not submissive complacency. In essence, you are allowing yourself to co-exist peacefully with all that you cannot control in your relationship.

4. Working toward acceptance doesn't mean you have to blindly accept everything about your partner that you find troubling and never challenge your partner to improve. Relationships are about compromise and change. If there is something your partner can change that would improve the relationship (i.e., quitting smoking), you should encourage that.

5. Acceptance and appreciation go hand-in-hand. When you begin to accept all the different ways in which you and your partner experience and express love, you have taken the vital step toward appreciating your partner's uniqueness.

Developing a mindset of acceptance is a process--with starts and stops. The solution to moving forward is to become mindful each time you fall into a judgmental mindset. With practice, you will embrace the inherent differences that make you and your partner unique.

possibilities

Some people say that Vancouver is a retirement city or Vancouver is boring to live. Why can't we make it fun and dynamic through multicultural experiences. There are so much to enjoy. I think if I give them good reasons and directions to experience other cultures in creative ways it will motivate people to give it a try and gain something: at least an experience.

The most important step is to cultivate a mindset of openness. You cannot move forward unless you make a daily, conscious effort to open your heart to all other cultures.
-personal
-preparing
-daily/conscious effort

lack of experience
difference
superiority

1. a diary:
we cannot live a day without any cultural experience in Vancouver. Describe one's observations, questions, findings, and thoughts through writing and images. This diary help people to pay more attention to the small part of their life; something they did not notice or ignore before.

2.cooking multiculturalism:
I assume that multiculturalism is a food. The ingredients are the different ethnic cultures we have in BC. In order to make a healthy and delicious multiculturalism, we need to understand each ingredient well, put effort to make the ingredients harmonious with each other, and finally enjoy having it.

3.daily drawing cards:
Design cards that the audience can draw randomly everyday or whenever they
feel like to. The random msg will ask the audience to do something specifically that relates to
cultural experiences. ex) go to a Korean supermarket and find a product that you don't know
where/how to use. Ask the staff or customers to find out.

4.recipe
Through food, you can learn a lot about the culture. Nowadays, we are becoming increasingly aware of healthy eating. Introduce healthy ingredients that are good for your body from around the world. Introduce how to use/cook. This recipe help reader to understand the variety and also learn that accepting other culture can benefit your life.

5.treasure hunt game
It is an outdoor activity that can have several players with different backgrounds who try to find hidden articles, locations or places by using a series of clues. While understanding the clues, the player can gain cultural knowledge/experience and realize the value of it at the end when he/she finds the treasure.

6.menu design
design a cultural menu that stimulate one's appetite/interest. make them want to try something new, know more about the culture. The menu can be separated into appetizer, main, and dessert sections.
-Appetizer section : introduction to cultures. light information
-main : deeper meaning (maybe religiously or politically)
-dessert : entertaining

7.call for postcards/art work
inspired by "A Lifetime of Secrets" by Frank Warren (For the past three years Frank Warren has invited people of all backgrounds and nationalities to send him creatively decorated postcards bearing secrets they have never before revealed.)
Instead of "secrets," cultural experiences will be the inspiration for their creative work.
It can be negative or positive experiences; the goal is to understand the up and down of multiculturalism in Vancouver and motivate people to solve the problems.

8.branding neighbourhood using food
-logo
-brochure : explain culture through food
-promotion : inviting to experience the culture

9.fear of the unknown (illustrative story book)
a story of someone who has fear of the unknown culture but tries to discover the unknown. funny + mysterious way

10. cultural friendship system(buddy program)
the system help two individuals to meet to learn about each other's culture. The program matches two people according to their interest, gender, age, religion, etc. By helping building friendship specifically for cultural learning, I can create interaction between cultures.

some quotations

"Seize the moment of excited curiosity on any subject to solve your doubts; for if you let it pass, the desire may never return, and you may remain in ignorance." - William Wirt

"By far the best proof is experience." - Francis Bacon

"Acceptance. It is the true thing everyone longs for. The one thing everyone craves. To walk in a room and to be greeted by everyone with hugs and smiles. And in that small passing moment, you truly know you're loved, needed, and accepted." - Rena Harmon

"Truly loving another means letting go of all expectations. It means full acceptance, even celebration of another's personhood." Karen Casey

"Food is our common ground, a universal experience." James Beard

"Laws alone can not secure freedom of expression; in order that every man present his views without penalty there must be spirit of tolerance in the entire" -Albert Einstein

"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less." -Marie Curie

"Fear is that little darkroom where negatives are developed." -Michael Pritchard

"It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences" -Audre Lorde

possible ideas

I believe, many people are already aware of the multicultural culture and enjoy benefits from it. But still there are some individuals

1. who are not used to multiculturalism,
2. who may believe they are superior to other ethnic groups,
3. who sticks to one's own culture and isolate oneself from the other cultures
4. who have fears/assumptions of other cultures
5. who have lack of understanding/interest of other's culture

step back and avoid interacting with other cultures(fail to accept,respect, and celebrate) which result

1. racism
2. disunion/solitudes
3. misunderstanding

My goal is to encourage my audience to be open and acceptive of other cultures through personal learning and experiencing. By doing that, I hope we can reduce the cultural gap/problem and unite as one.



ideas

- wall paintings around the neighbourhood
- cultural friendship building system (sharing/learning and interactive)
- cooking delicious multiculturalism (cultures as ingredients, introduce ingredients)
- branding neighbourhoods
- finding/traveling neighbourhoods (story of personal experiences)
- design a map (where to go to experience real multicultural life style) ex) Chinatown(traditional + for tourists' sightseeing) vs T&T supermarket(real living style?)
- creating fusion festivals
- collection of inspirational cultural characteristics in order to solve individual or social problems : we have much to gain from each other
- recipe (healthy eating, cultural experience/learning, learning commonness)
- creating dialogues on multiculturalism (comment,question,reply) : web, book, street campaign
- signage design around each neighbourhoods describing the characteristics, events, what to do, etc.
- treasure hunt game

feel lost again

I guess I can't define what my position is.
I feel like I am digging a hole. The deeper I get in, the more I panic.
The reason is I guess I am not so sure what I am doing.
I will try to define my problem/position again..to make myself clear..

Through my observation and research, I can see so many benefits we can get from having the multiculturalism in Vancouver.

1. economy, cultures(food,music,dance,movies,art), languages, learning/experiencing opportunities, religions, values, etc
2. we can learn and adopt some good aspects of other cultures.
3. enhance the quality of lives (interesting, dynamic, experienced)
4. unite cultures
   

However, for some people

1. who are not used to multiculturalism,
2. who believe they are superior to other ethnic groups,
3. who sticks to one's own culture and isolate oneself from the other cultures
4. who have fears/assumptions of other cultures

especially in Vancouver, I think new commers (immigrants, workers, students, travellers) belong to 1-4.

fail to experience, understand, and celebrate the benefits of the multiculturalism.

1. ignorance/misunderstanding
2. lack of interest
3. fear
4. unfamiliarity
5. cultural barrier

result in

1. racism
2. disunion
3. solitudes
4. cultural gap
   

I want to invite the people to understand and appreciate the multiculturalism and to create interaction between cultures in order to develop the quality of lives in Vancouver.

Picky Eater

- automatically say "NO" when you offer him/her a new food
- generally percieved to be stubborn, inflexible, obstinate, and unadventurous.
- no pressure but need to be familiar with certain menu items.
- show how other people eat it. (why don't you?)
- give your dishes kid-friendly names (beautiful butterfly cheese sandwich. Some kids prefer names like Eyeball Soup or Greasy Hair Spaghetti)


Picky Eaters | Toddlers & Preschoolers


should I treat my audience like toddlers?

Food and Culture

Food is a cultural product that shaped by climate, geography, or religion, etc.
By experiencing the food, you can experience and understand the culture.

Food = Culture

Since food is
-enjoyable
-delicious/tasteful
-nutritious (energy)
-our life
-reason to live/heavily depend on
-various
-reperesent who we are

culture also is
-enjoyable
-delicious/tasteful
-nutritious (energy)
-our life
-reason to live/heavily depend on
-various
-reperesent who we are


blah blah blah

Fear of the Unknown / Culture Shock

• is quite a common phenomenon with human beings, when they do not with to accept or meet with anything unfamiliar in terms of any situation or individual.

• It is a fear that keeps us average, keeps us doing all the same things everybody else is doing, simply because it is the familiar thing to do.

• if allowed to persist, the fear can ultimately lead to a very restricted life stlye, devorid of the various essences in life.

• reason? there is a certain safety center in our body that keeps us alarmed of the various dangers that come into our way of life. "if it is unfamiliar, it could be dangerous. Only trust the things you know.'
  

• symptoms? rapid heart rate, dry mouth, constant perspiration, lack of clear thought and speech, trembling in fear, breathing trouble

• Though this type of fear is not that fatal to an individual, yet it should definitely be remedied in order to enjoy a healthy carefree life bereft of any fear. We have to turn the unfamilial into familiar. (meditation, playing upon our imagination)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Culture Shock seems to similar to Racism/Division

there are some ways to overcome

Remember, the key to getting over your culture shock is understanding the new culture and finding a way to live comfortably within it while keeping true to the parts of your culture that you value.

Educate people about your culture. Just because you're the one entering the new culture doesn't mean you should be the one doing all the learning. Take the opportunity to teach classmates and new friends about your culture; they may know little about it. It will also help them to learn more about you in the process. Invite them over for traditional dishes from your culture, or show them how you celebrate your holidays.

Study Up

A lot of the anxiety that comes with moving to a new place has to do with not knowing what to expect in your new environment. Learning things about your new environment will help you become more comfortable.

School is a great place to do this. Watch and learn from the people around you — see how the students interact with teachers and each other. Find out what your classmates do for fun and what kinds of things are important to them.

You can also get some insight from television and movies, but be careful — not everything you see on the screen is meant to be realistic. But these media do help if you're still trying to learn the language or catch up on some slang, and at the very least, give you something to talk about when you're trying to make a new friend.

You don't have to love everything you find out about the culture, or start acting the way that others do, but when you gain knowledge of what people mean when they say certain phrases or why they dress a certain way, you do begin to feel better.

Learn the Language

Depending on where you come from and where you are now, you may or may not have trouble with the native language. It's a good idea to become comfortable with the language as soon as you can. Not being able to understand what people are saying is almost as frustrating as not knowing how to make people understand what you are saying.

Lots of good resources are around to help you practice. Many schools with a good number of students new to the country have language classes. If your school doesn't offer one, check out some of the community centers and libraries in your area. In addition, books make good resources too, and even some websites.

Whatever method you choose, practice is really important. A lot of people are worried about speaking a language they aren't completely comfortable with and think that people who speak the language well will tease them when they stumble over words. This might tempt you to practice the language with someone who is at the same comfort level as you, but it's also important to practice with people who have mastered the language, so that you know when you make a mistake and learn from it.

It might make you uncomfortable when it takes you twice as long to say the same thing as a native speaker, or use the wrong word, but remember that you have nothing to be ashamed of.

Even if you're familiar with the new language spoken around you, chances are you don't know a lot of the slang — casual speech that doesn't make it into translation dictionaries (or most dictionaries, for that matter). This is one of the many reasons why it's a good idea to do some studying on the culture you are immersed in.

Culture Shock

Commercial Drive

caffe
soccer
pizza
fashion
~la ~no


I will go to china town, main + 49th ave, powell st, etc.
anywhere known with a certain culture

Commercial Drive used to be predominately an Italian part of Vancouver
(pronounced Vancoover or Vankoover) up until the early 1980’s,
but now a days, like the rest of Vancouver, it’s very much a mixed community where people of all ethnic backgrounds live work and visit.

Multiculturalism

What is Multiculturalism?

Canadian multiculturalism is fundamental to our belief that all citizens are equal. Multiculturalism ensures that all citizens can keep their identities, can take pride in their ancestry and have a sense of belonging. Acceptance gives Canadians a feeling of security and self-confidence, making them more open to, and accepting of, diverse cultures. The Canadian experience has shown that multiculturalism encourages racial and ethnic harmony and cross-cultural understanding, and discourages ghettoization, hatred, discrimination and violence.

Through multiculturalism, Canada recognizes the potential of all Canadians, encouraging them to integrate into their society and take an active part in its social, cultural, economic and political affairs.

from Department of Canadian Heritage webpage

gonna eat that?

Gonna eat that?


we all eat something "gross"

Sometimes, when I go to the superstore to shop,
I find myself staring at some food and wordering
'what is this for? who would eat this? how? how does it taste like?'

Durian, the spiky fruit
Century egg, also known as preserved egg
make me curious all the time.

One time, when I went to buy a pack of cow tail bone for my soup
someone asked me what it is and how do I cook it.
For me, the cow tail bone is so common ingridient to cook with,
but I guess for her, it might be strange.


at this point, I think I should go to some ethnic glocery stores
to see what they sell. There must be something more interesting + shocking!!

one block

Western, Korean, Thai, Chinese, Mexico, African

problem + solution

I am working at a Japanese restaurant; it has been about 4 years.
From my observation, I have seen many people tend to order some food that they only know of or they always eat. Some people who are usually long-term customer, they do not even look at the menu at all. Some people who are totally new to or not used to Japanese food mostly order the “safe and boring” rolls such as dynamite roll or califonia roll. I think that people tend to stay in a comfort/safe zone when they order food especially at ethnic restaurants.

From this observation, I was thinking how to make ppl to try new food, to make the process
of ordering more interesting and dynamic. However, after I talked with Don, I realized that
my problem and goal could go further.

okay, here is my problem + solution

Problem : In Vancouver, the most multicultural city in the world, I believe that people failed to
experience, accept and celebrate other cultures because of the fear and assumption of
the unknown.
-fear
-assumption
-passive
-ignorance

Solution : I'll explore how to make people to celebrate and accept other cultures and break
barriers through the celebration of food.
-interaction
-friendly / approachable
-understanding