Blog 3- During Service

1.  The technology in the home of our Burmese family is scarce. Between the four family members, there is one cell phone and one landline.  They also have an iPad that the father uses for his job.  This is more than enough technology in their opinion.  While teaching and conversing with the mother about food, we found out that she has never even used an oven.  This gave us the idea to teach her how to bake a cake during our next visit.  I bought cake mix and the ingredients to go along with it.  I even bought a disposable 9"x13" pan to bake the cake in.  However, the baking process did not go as smoothly as I anticipated.  The oven took over a half hour to preheat because it hadn't been turned on in a few years.  I did not even think to bring measuring cups or a mixing bowl.  It was hard to ask the Burmese mother if she had those things.  I had to explain what a measuring cup was because she has never actually used one.  Luckily, the family is very close with their neighbors and we were able to borrow measuring tools and a big mixing bowl.  In the end, our hard work and confusion resulted in a delicious cake for our Burmese family to enjoy.

2. Technology is highly valued in America.  It is our ethnocentric belief that all people should have many sources of technology such as cell phones, computers, televisions, etc... Our Burmese family did not value technology as highly as most Americans.  They only needed two phones in order or contact each other if something happened at home while the father was at work.  They hardly knew how to use their iPad because it was so technologically advanced for them.  They did not care to use it very much.  The mother was excited to bake with the oven though.  When we ran into conflict, we had to find ways to resolve it using interpersonal communication.  When coming up with the idea to bake a cake, I used very low future orientation.  It was an "in the moment" decision. Since I forgot a few key tools to baking a cake, we had to use descriptive words to explain to the mother what we needed.  She did not have the vocabulary equivalence of a measuring cup because that was never a word she needed to know in her native language.  Luckily, she lives in a collectivistic community and her neighbors were happy to lend her some bowls and measuring cups.

3.  Baking a cake was a great experience for the family.  However, in the future we need to plan more before doing such complex activities.  The mother enjoyed learning how to cook rather than the typical reading, writing and math that we normally do.  In the future I will incorporate more activities related to American culture while I teach the family.  We could start using their iPad to get apps that teach vocabulary, math, and writing skills. That way they can make use if their iPad and learn English at the same time.  We will try to make leaning English more enjoyable for our family.  

Blog 2- During Service

1.  When we first arrived at the Ko family's home, I was a bit taken back.  It was a very small home with no chairs, couches, TV or computer.  Walking up to the door, we noticed that all of their shoes were outside on the porch.  I felt very odd taking my shoes off outside, but I did it as a sign of respect.  When we got inside the house, the mother offered us to sit on the floor next to her.  She made sure to give us a pillow to sit on for comfort.  The language barrier was a huge struggle, but communication was not as challenging as I expected.  We learned that the mother is very smart. She had good math skills such as addition, subtraction, and multiplication.  She learned the alphabet and how to spell her name and address.  She has two children, ages one and two.  They were very energetic and their mother yelled at them in their native language when they misbehaved.

2.  The Burmese family that we teach has very different cultural norms and practices than what I am used to.  I have never taken my shoes off outside before, but for them it was a very common practice.  It is also a social norm to sit on the ground in their culture.  At first I just assumed that they did not have the money to buy a couch or chairs.  However, when I learned more about their culture and background, I realized that they were most comfortable sitting and eating on the ground, rather than at a table.   Being a culturally ignorant American, I first perceived the family as unintelligent because they did not speak English.  However, when we began math skills, my perception of the refugee family completely changed.  The mother was very smart and could do complicated multiplication in her head faster than I could.  Even though she did not speak English very well, she found many ways to communicate with me.  She used hand motions and pointing at objects to explain herself.  When she first started yelling at her kids in Burmese, I was a bit startled.  However, I realize now that their culture is very strict.  Elders are much more respected in Asian cultures.  Burmese parents must maintain a strong control face in order to gain respect from their young children.

3.  I learned that the Burmese mother is much smarter than I expected.  In the future I will be able to bring more challenging lesson plans and books for her to read.   Since she knows basic math skills, we will move on to more complex math and money counting skills.  I have learned to be more culturally sensitive and flexible for future interactions with them.  I have realized that they do some things much differently than us which is not necessarily wrong or bad.  Diana and I learned that it is much more difficult for the mother to learn when her kids are a distraction.  We have made an agreement that when we go to their home, one of us will teach the mother while the other keeps the children occupied.  We switch off each week.  With careful planning and openness to culture, we will make the most of our future experiences with the family.