KW Exercise 4.1

1. The first thing that I would teach my classmate who is new to United States would be manners and how to speak. It's important to know how to address someone. You will want to talk to different people in different ways. Example, you will want to know the slang we use in America but you do not want to call your professor "Homie". You want to know that when someone says. "what's good" you know they mean, what's up or how you're doing. For clothing you can wear anything you would like as long as it’s covering your privates although, for girls it seems to be a trend to make nipples visible through tops, simply going braless. There are trends in America that we tend to follow and for the most part, if you are not dressed in the trend you stand out and look like an odd ball and are made fun of. We mainly try to fit in by wearing what the majority is wearing especially if we want to belong to an individual group not necessarily a gang. I would then tell them of the variety of food and cuisines we have such as; sushi, pizza, burgers, hot dogs, ice cream and Mexican, Italian, Chinese, and Thai cuisine. In addition, how we Americans love fast food chain restaurants, I would tell them of the hot places to go out to, so that they can see where all the people our age tend to eat out. Explain to them how it is socially unacceptable to not love hot dogs, burgers, pizza and sweets in America. As for music I would introduce them to the variety of music we have dating from oldies, to R&B, Hip-Hop, Rap both main stream and underground. I would advise them to go out to music festivals to experience the energy from crowds and the lively night. I would explain to them how all of our music has an underlying message that can be decrypted from the lyrics of said songs. However, really tell them not to worry about what they listen to. Television would be extremely helpful to someone new in the United States because they become exposed to real world news and reality T.V and can have a basic understanding of what we Americans like to watch. I would explain to the real world problems along with worldwide problems being broadcasted through T.V on the news. Then on the other hand, you have reality shows where you can see the life of others and see drama filled lives. I would tell them of places they will like to go to for fun and hanging out to socialize such as popular coffee shops, smoke shops, movies, shopping centers, and places out of town and within the town itself. Speaking of places that they would like to visit I would tell them of places to stay away, cities, and towns to visit such as Fresno and Oakland in our case.
2. 
   One of the norms in our society is to say hello and smile at people. As well as asking how they are doing. In our society if you don't like fast food you aren't normal. Another norm and value is to show respect to elders. We value modesty that can be expressed through clothing but it may seem conflicting depending upon trends. The major norm and value is fitting in. Music is also a norm we tend to listen to more rap and Hip-Hop, in a sense we identify through our music and are influenced by it. We also value diversity.
3. As I look at the list of norms and values of our American society, I realize that it is mostly focused on the norms. What is the “normal” thing to do? What do I do to fit in? It is almost never about the values we have. We listen to the music we hear others listening to or music of our preference but never get influenced by a value we have. We do not dress a certain way to represent our values, most of the time we dress according to what other people are wearing; again, to what the “norm” is. We do, however some values in our society that we are have expected to have. For example, equality, we are expected to be open-minded and be free and equal to one another. We also value change. Change is a major value to have as an American because the United States is so diverse, that you need to get used to change in food, clothes, music, etc. As well as the big changes, that go on in our world like the LGBT community rights. Something we also value a lot is work. We are expected to work hard in school as kids so that when we graduate we can continue working hard for our employers. I believe that our American norms and values vary from person to person but that tells us that we are a diverse society as a whole.
4. I would first get to know the transfer student to have a better understanding of where they are coming from and to try to help them adapt better to the subculture that is found on our campus, Delta. I would show them around the different buildings and get them acquainted with the staff. We also have many clubs here at Delta so I would show them around when they set up all the booths for the clubs and have them talk to someone who is already involved in the club. This way they can hopefully find a club that they like and be able to make friends that share the sane interests as them. I would also show them nearby places to grab a bite at and some good places to meet up to study at.