Hunting Laughter

Hunting Laughter

I encountered this group of people laughing at the Hulen Mall.  Since I was trying to be inconspicuous, I do not know exactly why they were laughing, but the two men appear to be laughing at something the woman in the white shirt said or did.  This scene appears to support the theory that laughter is contagious in that one person started laughing and then the others joined in.  They also stopped laughing and then started again several times showing that the event was so funny to them that just thinking about it brought on new rounds of laughter.  Lastly, the people involved probably had to have some inside information in order for it to be funny since the man standing at the front of the picture was right next to them, but was not laughing.    

Extra Blog 2: A time when you felt especially happy

The Happiest Place on Earth

Many people describe Disney World as “the happiest place on earth,” and this statement is definitely true for me.  When I am at Disney, I forget about all of the problems in the world and my life and enter the world of Disney where everyone is friendly and happy all the time.  One experience in particular that gives me this magical feeling is the nighttime events at Magic Kingdom.  The night begins with the Main Street Electrical Parade, which is filled with bright and colorful floats and dancers.  But for me, this is just the beginning, an introduction to what is to come.

            The parade is followed Celebrate the Magic, a spectacular show that is projected right onto the castle walls.  As I watch the castle light up with artfully compiled clips from many of my favorite Disney movies, the detail and creativity of this show never ceases to amaze me.  At this point of the night, I begin to feel a rare sense of contentment.  As I sit on the ground with my family and enjoy the music, sounds, and laughter filling the air around me, I feel like nothing can go wrong.  I am normally a high-strung person who always focuses on my future goals and future plans.  In a world filled with hate, crime, and sadness, it is extremely relieving to, even for a short time, experience the peace of living in the moment and not worry about anything that happened in the past or what will come next.

            Following this show, the final event of the night is the Wishes Nighttime Spectacular.  This is Disney’s signature fireworks show that fills the sky with bursts of light that are perfectly timed to classic Disney music.  Even at the end of an exhausting day of walking around the parks and riding rides (we often arrive at the parks before sunrise so as not to miss one moment of the magic), this show fills me with energy.  As Jiminy Cricket’s voice is projected over the loud speakers and Tinker Bell comes flying through the air, I know that I am about to be taken on a journey through some of Disney’s greatest moments.  This show takes me back to my childhood when I was smaller and my worries were too.  In this moment, I am not a college student with deadlines to meet, grades to achieve, and the stress of getting into grad school; I am just a kid enjoying the magic of Disney.

Extra Blog 1: Where you were when you first heard . . .

My Experience on September 11, 2001

On the morning of September 11, 2001, three days before my eighth birthday, I sat in my second grade classroom just like every other morning.  Several students’ parents came to pick them up early, but this was not that unusual.  I just assumed they had doctors’ appointments to be at or something.  It was not until I was picked up from school that I realized something was wrong.  When I got in to car, my mom was listening to the news instead of music on the radio.  She seemed quite upset and angry for no reason that was apparent to me.  We then took my younger sister to her art class where only two people showed up.  I thought this was extremely odd, but I still did not understand what was going on.  I also remember my dad talking later at home about how he had been listening to the radio when the reporters still thought this was an accident, before the second plane crashed and they realized it was a coordinated attack, but I was too young to understand what that meant.

            It was not until years later that I was old enough to fully understand what happened that day and could comprehend the magnitude of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.  As an eight year old, I was too young to understand why everyone was angry and I was not old enough to have anyone explain to me what had happened.  However, I still believe it is important for me to remember where I was that day and how I found out about these horrible occurrences.  The events of that day had a huge impact on the world and have affected my life in many tangible ways.  I have heard countless stories of people who lost loved ones or were in New York on 9/11.  Having no significant personal connection to the event, I feel that it is the least I can do to always remember where I was when it happened and how I felt about it that day.  The events of September 11, 2001 will forever be remembered by people throughout the world both as a day of tragedy and a day of American solidarity.  It is my goal, by remembering my experience on the day of the attacks, to always remember how our country stood together as one and never let the people who were lost be forgotten.

Conversation Partner Blog 4

This morning I met with Carol for my fourth conversation partner breakfast.  Since it has been two weeks since we last saw each other, we started out by discussing how much colder the weather has gotten, something that neither of us likes very much.  Carol especially does not like the cold since it never snows or gets very cold in Brazil where she is from.

            After this, Carol and I spent most of the rest of our breakfast discussing college and how the American system differs from the Brazilian system.  Carol is interested in going into psychology to work as a counselor with teenagers.  She explained to me that the process is different there than the four years of undergraduate followed by two years of master that we do here.  In Brazil, students go straight into a five-year program for psychology and then can do additional years to get a masters degree, which is needed in order to specialize, as Carol wants to do.  Unlike here where it is quite easy to change your major as often as you want during the first couple years of college, in Brazil it is not common for people to change their minds because they would have to start over from the beginning in a different degree program.  Carol was interested to hear that the Brazilian college process was somewhat familiar to me because I have a friend who goes to medical school in England where the process sounds extremely similar.

            I think there are advantages and disadvantages to having a set-up like that of Brazil and England.  For students like me who have always known what career path they want to pursue, this is a good process because it cuts down on the amount of time students have to spend in college (eight years for a medical degree there vs. five years for a medical degree there).  However, a huge percentage of American college students change their majors several times before deciding what they want to do.  For these people, the American system is more effective because it allows for this indecision.  Another advantage I see in the American college system is that our education is more well rounded.  In Brazil and many other countries, college students only study material directly related to their majors.  Contrastingly, most American colleges have a core curriculum, which requires students to take classes in a variety of subject areas better preparing them for a multitude of situations and interactions with many types of people.  Overall, I see the advantages and disadvantages to both systems.  It is interesting to here about the different processes we use to achieve the same end result of education. 

Conversation Partner Blog 3

This morning, I met Carol for our third breakfast.  She noticed that there were many more people in the BLUU than there had been during our previous get-togethers and expressed that she thought this was because of the time change and people being more willing to get up early now that it is light outside.  I asked Carol if they have a time change in Brazil and she explained that they do, but it does not line up with ours since it is currently summer there.  As a result, the time difference between here and Sal Paulo can range anywhere from two to four hours making it difficult for her to keep up.

            Carol and I spent much of this meeting discussing sports.  Last Thursday, Carol attended her first TCU football game.  I asked her whether she had enjoyed it, and she said that she enjoyed the exciting experience, but did not understand much of the game and was surprised how long it lasted since each quarter is only fifteen minutes on the clock.  I was glad she made it to a game because I feel like her time at TCU and in the United States would not have been complete without getting to experience an American football game.  We also talked about the Olympics since the summer games will be held in Sal Paulo next year.  I was surprised to hear that Carol was not that excited about this and did not even have a good idea which sports are played at the Olympics.  My family enjoys watching a variety of sports during both the summer and the winter Olympics, so I would have thought it would be exciting for Carol to have the Olympics in her home town.  However, she expressed that, for her family, it was much more exciting to have the world cup there last year, an event that most Americans pay little attention to.

            Something that Carol does seem to find quite interesting is the idea of winter and the cold.  In Brazil, they never get snow, and it does not get nearly as cold as it gets in the United States.  She also, understandably, struggles to comprehend what the temperature will be like day to day since she is not familiar with the Fahrenheit system.  I explained to Carol that the weather varies a lot here during November and December and can be anywhere from the comfortable temperatures we are getting right now to below freezing with ice on the ground.  She seems apprehensive about the colder weather since she thought it was quite cold just over the past weekend when it was in the fifties.  This will be a new experience for her.

            I am really enjoying learning about Carol’s life in Brazil and the cultural differences between there and the United States.  Carol often surprises me when I assume that things like the Olympics are viewed the same way everywhere and then discover that Carol and I have vastly different outlooks on this event.  This goes to show that, while we are similar in many ways, we may also be different in several ways that I have not even yet realized.