Week #3

So, sorry about the late post. I normally do my post and work on Saturday, but I was tied down with Gameday stuff all yesterday (ESPN Gameday was hosting from Littlejohn for those of you who somehow missed that memo) and while I know it is not an excuse, that is the reason for my late posting. (I thought that I would have time to post but it turned out that I didn't. If you want to see some pictures from it all and from the game you can check out my other blog sometime tomorrow when pictures from that should be up.)

Anyway, on to being culturally literate. I really liked the material in this week's assignment, and thought that those five areas are a pretty good list of areas that one can study to gain an intimate understanding of a different culture. As I was watching the videos I was thinking of things that I already know about the Jewish culture that falls into those categories as well as areas that I need to do more research on. Hopefully starting this coming up Saturday I will be able to start blogging about my experiences with the Jewish culture as I have found the Temple that I am going to be attending for this semester and I will be going to Minyan (which is what the Jewish service is called) this Shabbat (which is what they call the Sabbath) and starting my cultural investigation.

As far as being culturally in the cultures that I am in currently, I would like to think that I am pretty culturally literate. The two main cultures that I identify as being a part of are that of gamer-nerd and photographer/artist. I have had a lot more time being a part of the gamer-nerd culture as that is something that I have identified with since I was in middle school and something that I still enjoy today, while I have only thought of myself as a photographer/artist since I have been in college. However there are a few things that both have in common. The main one being that introduction and reception into each culture is a very individualist based thing. You kinda have to find your own way into the culture and learn how to adapt and survive in the culture and teach yourself until the other members of the culture recognize you as one of their own and accept you. This is very different from the Jewish culture which I am studying because it is a very ethnos and mythos centered culture while the cultures that I am part of are very archon and techne centered. However, I am very eager to learn more about the Jewish culture and see if there are any overlaps in that and the cultures I find myself in now.

Until next week,

-joshua