CLASS 9

So this is my last post! I am not going to deny that writing a blog have been a new interesting experience but I’m glad is over!

So in the last class we talked about the American culture, what do people think about American culture? And how they see Americans?

When I think on American culture the first thing that go into mind is Coca- Cola, McDonalds, and series and movies. The picture of friends (series) is for non American people and example of the American life.

In my opinion most of the people have a picture of American which is not always correct, they believe they are all white, with blue eyes and tall but in fact America is a very diverse country, with different traditions, weather and their people is different too. As in any part of the world people in the US is unique and different, not everyone like the same music, art or fashion.

The US has a lot to choose from, they have great singers like Pink, Adele, MJ, writers like Christine Fenahn, Jennifer Meyer and so on. But in my opinion what really make them unique is that they have the liberty to do and become whatever they want because America give them that liberty.

So I find this course really interesting! It was my favorite this cycle and I have the opportunity to learn about American and now thanks to that I can gave my opinion in different topics with a strong base.

CLASS 8

So today we talked about the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and we saw Fahrenheit a Michael Moore documental about what really happened that day. I enjoy the documental because Michael has a really interesting way to tell the truth.

With the information provided by the documental and my own I realized that Bush administration did a catastrophic job for their people and for the world. I cannot deny that American had the right to protect their people from the terrorist but President Bush had the opportunity to avoid the attacks and save a lot of lives! But he didn’t do anything, he spent the first months of his government on vacation what kind of president does that? He knew that terrorists were planning to attack by planes; his counterterrorism department gave him the information months before the attack so why did he not stop it?

And when he reacted he started a war but instead to send a lot of soldiers to Afghanistan where it was supposedly Osama Bin Laden, he send massive forces to Iraq that had nothing to do with the attack! The US alleged that they had mass destruction weapons but they didn’t, even when they realized about that he did not withdraw the US forces. Many innocents both Americans and Iraqis were kill in a war without any logical reason. But Bush saw the opportunity with the oil and went crazy! But it justified the death of those people? I don’t think so!

Up until now Americans are there helping those countries’ reconstructions but if it wasn’t for Americans those person wouldn’t have to reconstruct anything.

CLASS 7

So this class we talked about the American dream! But the magical question was: have the American dream become a nightmare?

There are several definitions of the American dream, for some person it was the dream of having the typical house, with a big backyard and the white fence in a residential zone and having the perfect family! Well nowadays these dreams have a different meaning for each person, for some it’s having a great job and having money, for others is having a family or just be happy but as humans the moment we obtain something we want something else immediately so our dream is always changing.

But in these days of recession for some the American dream has become a nightmare! Some people don’t have jobs anymore, the house market is a nightmare, and people cannot pay their mortgage; all these have created a lot of tension in Americans.

But is the American dream really over? In my opinion the dream never existed! The idea of having something better and expect something better is universal! Is not just an American dream is a worldwide dream so in my opinion this “dream” can be fulfill in each part of the world.

CLASS 6

I’m back! So today we talked about a very complicate subject EDUCATION, we talked about the program no child left behind and bilingual education.

The program no child left behind was install by Bush and it require that each state test kids from age 3-8. This program has been highly debated because one sector believe that is good that the capacities of children be tested, because it helps them to study instead of just memorize but on the other hand some people believe that is not ok to have just one type of test because education varies on each state so some kids have advantages over others. In my opinion this program does not work because in the US children don’t have the same education so instead of helping them and reinforce their education the government just confuse them without a logical reason.

We talked about bilingual education which is the right of every kid to study in his or her mother tongue. I do believe that this help immigrant kids to adapt to the US education system but this kind of education is just for a few years because the universities only teach in English. There have been a controversy about this because some persons believe that if this kids are going to live in the US they are supposed to adapt and enroll to regular schools, but other specially the parents of this kids just want their kid to learn in his or her native language but here is the problem because the parents want the best for their kids but if they don’t let them mixed with Americans or study how they study how do these kids will be able to work or get a job or just mix with American if they don’t even understand their cultures?

I do believe that parents should teach their kids their cultures and let the kids study in their native language as a way to adapt to the American schools system but they should give them the opportunity to know more of the people and the country their live in.

CLASS 5

So I’m back again!!! Today I talked about the role of big companies in the United States and I realized that the US economy is control by these companies so if one of them makes a mistake it could prejudice the entire economy of the country! I believed that this kind of responsibility cannot be trusted just on a few companies it is just not right.

 I cannot deny that these companies are important to the overall economy because they tend to have more financial resources than small companies to conduct research and develop new goods, can supply goods and service to a greater number of people, they can often sell products at lower prices because of the large volume and small cost per unit sold, they can offer more job opportunities, higher wages, better health and retirement benefits and they have the advantage in the market place because costumers are attracted to well-known brand names.

On the other hand, on these times of recession, American people questioned severely these big corporations because the big companies not hire a lot of people anymore, they are moving abroad to decrease the production cost leaving American people without job stability. This is causing a wage of terror in the US.

But overall we can deny that these companies, like Coca Cola, Apple, etc, are the ones that promote the US helping it economy to grow.