1 Arthur Left

This week I did the Un-TV experiment and through out the time, I kept wondering what the purpose of this exercise was, but after this week I've come to realize the trance that TV puts us in. And as Sal said, it tricks us into thinking we are being entertained. At first, I was a little skeptical about this idea, but today at track practice today, everything clicked. We went out for a long distance run and at one point I look at my watch to see that we still had 30 minutes left. I thought, "Oh man, I don't really feel like doing this today" but then I told myself, "30 minutes is nothing, when I watch TV, 30 minutes can pass so quickly, its just one episode of a TV show." Then I became appalled at myself because I thought about what we had been talking about in class. We get so engulfed in a TV show that we lose all sense of time; and that is what I thought about to get  through a difficult run! Its embarrassing.

My parents even used to do this to us when we were younger. When we were on long car trips to Iowa, we would ask our parents how much longer, and they would answer us in a number of Arthur shows that would take up the amount of time left. They would say for 15 minutes left, "1 Arthur left," 30 would be "2 Arthurs left" and 45 would be three. Relating the time we had left to our favorite TV show made the wait seem less torturous, but now I have realized that it is actually negative and has effected the way I think today.

The Nurture and Nature of Twins

In class we talked about nature v. nurture. In regard to this subject, we also discussed the relationship between my twin sister and I. We now clearly have different personalities. Sarah is more dominant than I am, but I don't mind. I like it better that way. She is a lot more girly than I am as well. I talked to my parents and they said that they even from when we were infants, they felt that we just looked differently. The only reason that they dressed us in different colors was to help other people tell us apart. After we read articles in class about identical twins being separated after birth and raised apart, we saw the effect that the environment has on someone after birth. Oskar and Jack were identical twins that once separated grew up to develop very different social and religious views, but interestingly enough they both became very passionate about what they believed. From birth they could have had an "aptitude"to be passionate, but their environment caused them to be passionate about different things. Sarah and I are not identical, so our DNA is truly only as common as any other pair of sisters, so the differences we see between us could be a combination of genetic and environmental influences. It very clear on a physiological level. I have inherited asthma, allergies, and acid reflux disease from my dad, but Sarah managed to bypass all of those issues. We have the same group of friends, but we also each encounter separate people through out the day, and it is very possible that after thirteen years of schooling, those people have had different influences on each of, which could have effected the differences in our personalities.

Serve #1 Feed My Starving Children

Last Monday I did my first serve at Feed My Starving Children. I have done it a couple times with my church and I have always had a good time. When I signed up for the serve I reserved spots for my family and two extra for my friends also in sociology classes. For weeks in advance I tried to describe what it would be like, but it was very difficult. When we got to the site, it was exciting because I knew that this was FMSC's newest location and I was anxious to see what it was like. We started out by watching a video that showed stories of children that have been helped by the food and clips of previous volunteers serving.  Next we moved on to the tables where a women explained the process. My family moved to table #2 and another family joined us. The mom was pregnant, so she went to sit down and help put labels on the bags the groups would be filling with food. My sister and my friend were in charge on putting the vegetarian chicken flavored powder, dehydrated vegetables, soy, and rice into the bags that I held under the funnel. Next, we weighed the food to make sure it was between 380 and 400grams. Then my mom sealed the bags and handed them off to the other family. The dad was so kind and energetic the entire time, he was joking around and making us laugh. It was really sweet to see him go walk across the room to check on his wife three or four times during the serve. The kids were adorable, they were jumping up and down. At one point, I was looking over and I saw one of the kids turn to my mom and say, "I am having so much fun" Half way through we switched up the jobs and i was in charge of chicken and veggies. I guess we had gotten used to the previous positions and were all now off because I dumped a big scoop of chicken down the funnel only to see it hit the table. No one had a bag ready and I hadn't even noticed.  We all laughed, but I still felt bad because It was wasted food some one is depending on. Every time we finished a box of food, we had to shout something creative. The father of the other family had us shout "OLE!" through out the hour and a half were worked it was great to hear my friends who hadn't been there before say to me "This is so much fun, we should really do this again" or "I"m going to go home and check out the website to see what days are open." A worker told us that recently they had lost a shipment of meals. It was devastating. So, my favorite part of this experience came at the end when they placed of of the boxes the tables had made onto a pallet and all of the kids went up and placed our hands on the boxes. A little girl prayed over the food and It was moving to hear her just continually thanking God for the food, for the volunteers, and for the children that this food is going to. I opened my eyes and looked to the back of the warehouse and pallets and pallets just lines the wall. It made me think about all of the times I was hungry and said "I am starving!" or was picky about where I went out to eat. How selfish of me. Who am I that I deserve a choice in my food, while there are kids across the globe that depend on one meal a day that comes from a plastic bag in a cardboard box just to survive.

This is the video they showed us!

 

A Change In Work

In Tuesdays with Morrie, we see Mitch's addiction to his work. He is always striving to pick up another job, find another story, or get to the higher position. Mitch reminded a little of me of my dad. I'm not exactly sure what his specific job is, but it has something to do with engineering, business, and computers. He has to travel often and is on the phone a lot. When involved in a job in the business world, it is common for all Americans to want to get a promotion, get a raise, and strive to be the best. This has been what we have been trained to view as "success" since we were little. My dad works hard and has never turned down a raise or promotion, but the significant difference between he and Mitch is that my dad understands healthy limits. My dad used to commute to the office, which meant coming home between seven and eight, and still having some work to do when, but a couple of years ago (I'm not exactly sure of the reason why) he decided to make a lot of changes. He chose to set up a home office, where he could still access his work computer from his office building, but on the desktop in our home. This has allowed him to significantly impact his lifestyle. Since he is always at home, if one of us kids needs something at school, or gets sick he is close by. Also, if he wants, he can take breaks when not on a call to exercise, work on the car he is building, or just relax. It is also nice because our family is together more because when we get home, he is here and we no longer wait for him. He also used to do some work on Saturdays, but he chose to log off his computer and volunteer at the C.A.R.S. ministry at our church on the weekends. Here he works to repair cars cost-free for people who can't afford to go to a commercial garage. Some cars are fixed, then sold to buy supplies and tools, while others are fixed and just given away. He is still involved in the business world, travels a lot, and must always have his phone with him, but he has found a healthy balance that is contrary to the work habits of most Americans. Ideas of what success is have been instilled in us since we were in elementary school, but in talking to other seniors, I have found that many students are choosing to take the opposite rout of their parents. Many can't stand the idea of working in a cubical or office. It is possible that this strong work effort, competition, and drive can be positive. Students that have grown up in this environment, now have choices of colleges to go to and the opportunity to make our lives what we want. Students that I have talked to have chosen unique majors in Psychology, meteorology, geology, art history, environmental science, and veterinary medicine, among others. Students say they want to work with their hands and enjoy going to work everyday.

Is This Heaven? Its Iowa.

Being from Iowa is such an important subculture that I am a part of. My family used to live their, but because of my dad's job, we moved here in august of '98. All of our extended family still lives out there so we make the drive five or six times a year. It feels like once we cross the Mississippi river, everything changes. If you look around, about 30% of people are wearing hunting camouflage. Around here, that would be odd if someone was walking around walmart in camouflage overalls, but in Iowa, its normal and even encouraged. There are places and restaurants that people recognize like, "Casey's General Stores", "Carlos 'O Kelly's". and "Papa Murphy's." Cities like "Waterloo," "Boone," and "Dyersville" are part of the common language as well.  Even in the suburban areas, many people have a slight country accent. When we stay for two long I start to notice in on my family and on myself. When driving around town it is a more that you wave to someone in the other car if you cross at an intersection. Around here people would be put off and wonder "Why are you waving at me?," but out in the country, no one thinks about it. Going to church in a more as well; my grandparents live in a town that is smaller than our student population, but there is still a church on every corner in the middle of town and even multiple of the same denomination. Around here, everything is so fast-paced, that when I'm in Iowa, everything seems so extremely calm. I've tried to explain what life is like out there, but it truly indescribable. Iowa's uniqueness has caused such a strong subculture, that if we meet someone around here that is from Iowa, it is an instant conversation starter and we automatically bond over experiences we've had.