Ricardo Espinoza November 11 2013 ANTH 210 501 6 2 The way my way of thinking has changed about culture is that of possession as though I have culture and it belongs to me but now I think of it in an inexplicable way I could say I belong to it but it s far from a simple object I would say I look at culture differently now in many ways a person s very way of living can change from this book I say from personal experience as now I walk the corridors and streets as a quiet and observant person Many details that I would have overlooked before I notice and directly connect it to this book for example the interaction between people whether in conversation over the regular doings of their days or the nonverbal cues given across the street to another pedestrian or between cars It s a completely healthy OCD feeling in that I notice almost every little thing It is still however difficult to work outside the roots given by my parents but I see everything as more of a challenge How can we continue to expand our culture comforts over the course of our lives I think the best way to do that is as explained in the book to never dare to stop confronting your cultural discomforts in a way to always interact with people from other backgrounds we can t possibly say that we don t belong to any one culture not objective and therefore can fit into any but we can however say that we are part of an ever expanding culture or multicultural that as we interact with strange faces our own comforts get to expand not just within yourself but pass onto the those new faces as a kid would meet and be friends with other kids and become new friends you could say that the adventurous spirit that youth brings is the answer Growing as a person that looks at those others as an opportunity not as a hinder on anybody s progress and your own advancement of knowledge Growing the wings of comfort for the adventure is a great way to respond to the thesis of the book I personally think that a great way to do that is to never grow up to keep that part of our childhood which just wants Espinoza 1 Ricardo Espinoza November 11 2013 ANTH 210 501 to explore more and more every time you encounter a new thing like my baby niece who no matter what place we re at she always ask what is that what is this what is that no it is not annoying it s in all honesty beautiful She is a 2 0 immigrant as the book would suggest she didn t have to assimilate the way that I did she was raised hearing both Spanish and English and now she can communicate with both No matter what type of question she has she can express it even to her teachers at school Being such a good little sponge can be cumbersome but it definitely has its perks anything that enthralls her she soaks up but not necessarily implements in her life style believe it or not she can make great decisions as to what is right and wrong because of the roots our family has sprout in her Another great way to grow your comforts is I believe a great way to approach anything in life with the old saying never judge a book by its cover without knowing the content of the person which you are judging is just a bad way to look at life American society as well as many others just has that process of thinking in mind at all times Every person I encounter I judge you may say you don t but when I ask What was the first impression of someone the first thing that comes to mind is the way that person looks his or her physical features If we could just change that But it is wired in our brains since birth but we could change the settings of that program we will never the less judge people by the way they look but I say what if we did judge but instead of jumping the gun we kept those expectations to ourselves as a way of proving ourselves wrong or right like a personal experiment not as something we actually believed and followed religiously but a way to improve our physical judgment until it disappears That is the area I need to grow in the prejudice that I ve acquired over the last three quarters of my life since I was able to identify people with a color if I didn t have a name I could say that the blame rest on my mom and grandparents but I can t blame anyone for the way Espinoza 2 Ricardo Espinoza November 11 2013 ANTH 210 501 I live anymore Since I started this class I ve changed so much the way that I see people on a daily basis everyone has a story but the story isn t confined by a color or even a name as a matter of fact My grandparents have always had a spiteful way of looking at anyone with a darker skin color than their own and that heritage has followed through to my mom and from there it has largely begin to dye out but no matter what it is still there I am not racist I do however have a prejudgment of people not with their skin color the way I judge is through what I believe to be frightful physical features mainly facial a big nose big lips thick eyebrows ugly features Those physical features that my mom would always express about a person mainly black people have actually stuck with me I have improved though there are always ugly people and never the less I can approach them and start a conversation with them It is something that I have to overcome because I have to interact with people that I may or may not think particularly pretty and if I don t change the way I look at people I may suffer a loss in my life whether in my career or even in my personal life Since a little later after class started I ve been changing my actions to help expand my comforts a great first step is to learn about it it being culture culture being everything that composes the lifestyle of a people and even an individual person The first step will be a never ending one because I try to learn about the ways of living of the people I interact with as well as the ones I could never dream of meeting prehistoric people as well as isolated people across the glove of course I don t do it religiously as I may be giving the illusion of but I do read about it whatever chance I get The second step is to not be a bookworm although that is the way I learn about the other …