Stereotypes
As I’m getting older (especially as
I’m making my way through college life), I’ve noticed
the stereotypes I formed growing up are vastly untrue. I hail from a
very small, homogenous town in eastern Ohio, which has a 98.7% white
American population — the rest being of mixed-race descent. Not unlike a farm kid on the Wild West, the only things I knew about any of
the other races I received from movies, stories and racial
stereotypes. My roommate and best friend down for the past two years is
black. I had no idea how to react to the news that I would have a black
roommate when I found out, so I decided to be excited. Near the end
of last year, we finally talked about it. Not that it was a moot
point, but neither of us had any interest in talking about the
apparent unique racial opportunity we had. He asked how many stereotypes
he fulfilled, and I truthfully told him none of mine, and he said he was
glad. He wanted to be his own person. Ever since I’ve consciously
second-guessed every stereotype I’ve ever formed.
Looking
through my initial stereotypes paper I see my goal was to curtail stereotypes
before they happen. I suppose I've learned that it's best to make judgements based
on facts I know, though sometimes it's just as good to have assumptions going
into situations (i.e. taxistas are generally friendly people while
bus drivers aren't). Throughout this trip I've come to realize that one can't
stereotype based on ethnicity or gender, but one certainly can and should make
assumptions to make life easier.
Expectations
It’s hard to come up with
expectations for a trip like next quarter’s one to Mexico. I’d
like to be as open as I can to new things, which I guess is an
expectation or goal in itself. Of course
I’d like to improve my Spanish to
the point where I can talk well with native speakers in almost all
situations, especially since an oral test is required for all graduating
Spanish majors. As far as specifics, I’d like to learn some
kind of Latin dance and get down some Latin American recipes. Most of
all, I think, I want to make lasting relationships with real,
live Latin Americans and see my world shrink.
I believe in my original
expectations paper, I said I expected to come back with a stronger sense of
spoken Spanish and a budding interest in daily Latin American life. With some
reluctance to admit it, my speaking skills in Spanish have indeed improved. I
say that because, due to having a roommate in the 200-level and a host brother
who readily wants to keep his English, my spoken Spanish has improved only
minimally. I think my OPI results concludes that well — sufficient but not
spectacular. Expectation met? You betcha. Still disappointed? You betcha.