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Education and Intercultural Communication

Education and Intercultural Communication

Megan Smith

“I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.” – Mahatma Gandhi

 For a town like Iowa City, Iowa, which has a major University and lots of diversity, it was surprising to find the statistics of culture differences throughout the city.  On the Iowa Cities Demographics Data and Community Statistics, on Areavibe website, they shows a break down of the population by race:

            Caucasian                    85.20%

            African American        3.66%

            Asian                           5.60%

            American Indian          0.20%

            Native Hawaiian         0.08%

            Hispanic                      2.9%

Mixed Race                 2.02%

Other Races                1.23%

            As an alumni of the University of Iowa, and as a current member of the community, I was surprised because of all the people of different races that I run into on a regular basis.  When I had lived in Des Moines, Iowa, it seemed more accurate statistically with the experiences that I have had.  In Iowa City, I have had the opportunity to become friends with many different types of people with amazing varieties of different backgrounds. As an aspiring teacher with future hopes to teach high school classrooms, and later college classrooms, preferable within the liberal arts subjects, I have to consider culture difference of adolescences that are soon to enter adulthood   

The first person in my community with a diverse background and original story is Amara Darboh, and he is in his junior year of high school.  He is currently playing football, and is quite the star for his school, and he is already preparing considerations of different college pathways, particularly to play college football as the future become nearer.  If fact, there are already several colleges considering recruiting him because of his athletic skills on the football fields and in the basketball courts Amara Darboh was raised in Sierra Leone by his biological mother with his brothers and sisters. During the Civil War, his village and tribe where raided when he was 9 years old, and the rebels slaughtered his mother and father wright in front of him.  In addition to this horrific scene, he has also told me of different murders he witnessed, including babies and local animals.  There homes were raided and they were left there, him and one of his brothers and his aunt, (that was quite a bit younger), with nothing else left of their family and belongings; no hope, no food, no parents, no shelter.  While no help was around, his aunt took care of him and his little brother, and managed time find just enough food for them to survive.   Luckily, within a few days a rescue crew came in, it was the United States Catholic Relief Services, and they took them and care for them, and within a few days they where in a plane to Iowa.  He was joined of course with his brother and young aunt, and where supplied with food and shelter.  They were given a home at the Catholic Relief Housing, and assigned schools to attend.  Within about one year, my cousin had become best friend with Amara, and they would hang out and play ball together.  My aunt and uncle took a liking to him and after a while he was sleeping at their house regularly, while his brother was making different friends of his own.  When Amara turned 14 years old, he was still sleeping over with my uncle and aunt quite a bit; in the meanwhile his brother had become a gang member and had begun to get into a lot of different trouble.  My aunt and uncle had tried hard to have a second child, with no success, and they offered Amara the option to live with them permanently with them on the account that he stay out of trouble and stay away from the gangs, still allowing him to be with him brother though.  By the time Amara turned 15, they had legally adopted him, and he was doing great in both sports and school.  Long story, but as an educator when teaching a student like him, it is important to be aware of his sensitivities and to consider what he observed in childhood and the severe separations that came to him as he became a refugee.  There are many students that may be refugees from different countries with different stories, and instead of assuming things, as an educator I strive to get to know my students through different activities and discussions.  Each and every student should not be judged, and this blank slate conception helps to open individuals up to expressing their story and themselves.  Also, as a high school teacher it will be vital to give support for college ambitions and prepare them for realities that come during college years and later in adulthood.

            Another culturally diverse girl with an interesting story that in my community is named Poula Lopez, and she is 16 years old, and a junior in high school.  Poula was raised in poverty in Mexico City, Mexico.  Her parents had divorced very earlier, and her father left to come to America.  She stayed with her mother until she was 10, when her mother entered a cycle of drug addiction, which caused them to lose everything.  Her father insisted that her brother and her come to America and live with him and attend school there, and although they knew no English, their father took measures to assure they would.  Their father had married a woman from Persia and they lived in a nice town with a great school system near their home.  Their new stepmother spoke primarily Farsi, and new very little Spanish.  Poula took several English Language course and her father helped her a ton, but by the time school started she still new very little English and had a hard time following sentences and understanding speaking and conversations.  She struggled with school, but after years has learned enough English to prosper in school, besides the fact that Spanish is still her first language, and how she spoke with her brother and father.  In cases like this educators have to really learn to understand background for language purposes and social purposes.  Again, like Amara, she was separated from her native country and her mother and her native language.  As a teacher I would try to simplify the words used in lectures or assignment, avoid getting two fancy and avoid huge words that not necessary for the material.  Also when considering classroom materials, this would also need to be simplified.  I could also work with Poula privately before or after school to help her with lessons and to guide her on her English language transition.  I would discuss with her how she feels about our language and her language and engage her challenge along side her with support and guidance.  In the textbook it states, “Learning to affirm the culture of students in their education can make the difference between failure or academic achievement in many schools, especially where parents are expected to provide help in ways they may be unable to do. Some parents are unaware of how to give their children concrete support in areas such as homework, but this lack of support, in itself, does not necessarily produce school failure,” (Bode 259).  Teachers need to give heart and care and support, in which nourish relationships and encourage growth and a successful education journey.  If we also students to feel themselves, we can gain their trust, and liberate them from blockages or differences in language and culture.

Last but no least, the culturally diverse local that I have met and talked with about his upbringing and transition to the States, is Chien Pei.  Chien had grown up in China, but because of the repression and communism that had permeated, his father fled to South Korea when he was three years old.  During his ten years in Korea, he became fluent in Korean, while still maintaining his native Chinese Mandarin tongue.  He had a younger brother and younger sister, and was always to leader for them and would take care of them and feed them when his parents were both working long and exhausting hours.  His father had worked for the International Embassy and had made a good reputation for himself and his family’s name.  He was given an opportunity to come to the United States and was giving an opportunity for a position in Iowa City, where he could relocate the entire family and allow everyone opportunities for better lives and better education for the children.  When Chien was 13 years old they made the move to America, and while their father had been studying English for sometime, the mother and all three of the children knew nothing about the English language, though they were aware of what lied ahead and had prepared to beginning learning the language and learning it quickly.  Chien began school in the 8^th grade, and had a tough transition both scholastically and socially.  Because he was one of the few Asians and because of his language barrier, his troubles got overwhelming.  As a teacher, with a student whom is fluent in two entirely different languages, and a student knowing very little English and having very little social skill, it would be wise to create different sorts of group activities, both in school and out of the walls of the classroom, such as field trip or outdoor group activities, where interactions could change atmospheres and possibly liberate the student from social blockages and clicks and groups of friends.   Also, perhaps, give assignments where the students can explain the story of their lives and present it to the classroom, and in this case students could get to know each other and understand the depths and differences of their stories, and learn to identify with each other.  I could also show different documentaries and different films from the different cultures within the classroom and help to educate the students about different countries and different ways of life, equally showing all types and even additional.  For a student that is struggling it also good to seat them closer to the front, or even change the seating arrangements so that they can have the most focus and changes to sit by different students.  In the textbook it states, “Reorganizing the social structure of classrooms can facilitate significant improvements in prosocial development, academic achievement, and interethnic relations. Even students’ attitudes and behaviors toward one another can be influenced in a positive way. Providing alternative means for learning is an essentially equitable endeavor, and it strengthens the democratic purposes of schooling.”(Bode 384). Perhaps, also, working with a student individually before or after school, where you can discuss issues with them and find out what they need to feel comfortable and what they need to help or assist with the learning process.   Allow the students to feel comfortable discussing their feeling and discussing academia, and find ways that students can engage material and learn how to enjoy the education process. 

            Teachers have to facilitate many students and the resources and funding to meet different needs for different students can be a tough part of the process.  Having a multicultural classroom means having multiple sources of resources available in order to be able to cater to each of the different situations and different students needs.  When researching Iowa’s education resources, I was pleased to find a couple great different options.   The first sources that I found was available because of Iowa Public Television and is called Iowa Pathways.  On the website it states, “Iowa Pathways teacher resources support a wide variety of educational needs. Printable downloads assist students as they develop research skills with the Quests. Strategies for reading in the content area, vocabulary acquisition and content fluency help students learn. Lessons and activities are classroom ready. Other resources include connections to standards and curricular areas, online archives, primary sources and local history links,”(Iowa Pathways Website: Retrieved from:http://www.iptv.org/iowapathways/teacherresources/default.cfm).  There are a multitude of available resources and it is up to the teacher to navigate and discover different possibilities.   Teachers can find access to different workbooks, different testing strategies, and different examples of other experiences from other educators.  The possibilities are up to what a person puts into the resources and the searching that they give time towards.  This site also offers different reading and vocabulary options, and for institutional barriers of language and culture, for instance if a school only offers options for English documents or resources, this site offers and provides different assistances in different languages.  This would work for an instance that a student of different language might need a text translated into their language, or some additional assistance in interpreting texts or projects they are not explained in their native language.  The teacher, or in my case, me, would need to research all the available sources available that are not available through the schools, and find the inexpensive opportunities or alternatives for the student to be able to succeed.  For example, there could be a student that does not respond well to a certain lesson, and it may be that there is another option for educating them successfully without becoming frustrated or discouraged by their inability to listen or understand to some sort of lesson. 

            Another amazing resource I was able to discover was the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Website.  On the Department of Natural Resources Website, there were several resources available for Teachers to research and find activities to fit different class activity varieties.  This list below is what I found and what amazed me:

Iowa's Natural Resources - background information about Iowa's waters, forests and wildlife; this information comes from the Iowa Supplements to Projects WILD, WILD Aquatic, and PLT

Classroom Resources - downloadable activity guides; audiovisual resources; 400 factsheets about Iowa's aquatic plants & animals; correlations to Iowa and National standards organized by grade level; sample lesson plans organized by grade level; conservation education course outlines; activity/coloring sheets; suggested natural resources children's books 

Education Competitions - skills competitions (casting, archery, clay target shooting); audiovisual contest; poster contests; environmental high school team competition

Demonstration Models - kits/models for interactive, hands-on science experiences; available by loan 

Education Training Programs - comprehensive activity guides and additional resources/support to help you incorporate Iowa's natural resources into your current curriculum/teaching situation

Educational Grants - funding available to Iowa schools to support a variety of environmental education opportunities including fishing field experiences, establishing local angling education programs, implementing a place-based approach to learn about local aquatic resources/issues, planting trees on school grounds, and starting a High School Scholastic Clay Target Program

Citizen Science Programs - resources that encourage students to investigate natural resource concerns and learn how to conduct scientific field investigations and analyze the data collected

              Educator Workshops - gain valuable knowledge about Iowa's natural resources; interact with other educators; learn more about local environmental education professionals/resources

Field Trip Locations - rich in history and natural resources, Iowa is abundant with areas you and your students can explore; visit a fish hatchery, nature center, or State Park close to you

Retrieve:http://www.iowadnr.gov/Education/ForTeachers/FieldTripLocations.asp

The Department of Natural Resources in Iowa help to overcome many of the institutional barriers that teacber’s may be up against.  One of the biggest barriers in education are financial, the schools often do not provide enough funding to do what is necessary to reach all children and give them the fullest potential to learn and succeed.  There is often a limited amount of textbook and workbook varieties provided by schools and often times materials can be a big problem.  For instance there may be a certain things in nature that I may want students to learn about such as types of trees or local plants, and it may not be in the interest of the school board to provide such documents or field trips.   With a resources such and here they offer different education grants for different group activities, whether it be field trip or group nature walk daytrip.  I could simply send a request to the DNR, explaining my position and stance of my education purposes, and apply for grants or other day adventures they have available, and get my kids outside into the environment where they can learn about what surrounds them and how it came to be and give them chances to engage each other with different types of activities.  If the school has in institutional barrier that does not fund nature conservation lessons, there would be ways to present the situation to the DNR and to request materials or time slots where kids can learn why it is important to conserve and how it applies to nature and their futures.  This would allow students to become more involved with the community and with the resources provided by nature and their surroundings.  It would be up to me to push for the materials or funds or space to excavate different tasks or field trips, and it would take perseverance.  The school board may not think that it is necessary for learning, and this would require me to petition and explain why it was vital for students, and how it could help them succeed. In the textbook it states, “Teachers can do nothing to change the conditions in which their students may live today, but they can work to change their own biases and the institutional structures that act as obstacles to student learning and to the possibilities for their students’ futures. Although some teachers and other educators might prefer to think that students’ lack of academic achievement is due solely to conditions inside their homes or inherent in their cultures, racism and other forms of institutional discrimination clearly play a central role in educational failure, as does the related phenomenon of low expectations,”(Bode 83-84).  I will have to care enough to put the efforts in to make the chances in my classrooms to bring about the best in my students.  In order to achieve success, teachers may need to persuade and prove different beliefs, but it is in the best interest for them kids and it will help them become better students and learn the love and importance of education.

            Intercultural communication strategies are vital for schools and educators and are becoming more and more important as schools continue to evolve in diversity and mix with different cultures.  There are current people researching and developing different methods of intercultural communication, but it is up to the educator to give the care and energy and attention, and to learn different approaches and methods on a continual basis changing them year from year if not even more often.  From an article Building Blocks:  The First Step of Creating a Multicultural Classroom, the author states:

 “Teachers who own literature by authors form different backgrounds is great but it is not enough. True multicultural activities must be ongoing and integrated daily in both informal and formal activities. Gloria Boutte and Christine McCormick suggest six basic principles for teachers to use when evaluating their culturally diverse classroom, these are, "1) building multicultural programs, 2) showing appreciation of differences, 3) avoiding stereotypes, 4) acknowledging differences in children, 5) discovering the diversity within the classroom, 6) avoiding pseudo multiculturalism" (140). Showing appreciation of differences is very important because a teacher who does not show appreciation of all the differences in their class will not get the chance to attempt any of the other five principles.”

Getting to know the students is one thing, but the proficiency of understanding the different students, and what to be sensitive to, is a process that is continual and never ending.  The first technique I would use in my classroom would be a project where my students would present a presentation of the story of their background and their life.  Each student would present their story openly to the classroom and the class would be required to respond to them and ask questions about curiosities they may have about their cultural differences or different backgrounds. They, of course, would receive credit for this project but also gain a better understanding of the classroom by glancing into their individualities. Next would be different projects regarding different countries of origin within the class where a text or film would be provided and where the students would be required to report about something significant and interesting about each different country or culture. We would have food days where students would bring cultural food they practiced making at home and they would explain how it was made and why the food was specific to a region they have chosen to explore. They would explain the nutritional experience and the cost of the supplies needed to make the food dish. Here students can engage other students life styles and learn more about nutrition and diversify what they eat and are aware of. Another change I would make on a weekly basis would be to re-arrange the seating charts, giving all students chances to intermingle with each other and work with each other. This might mean breaking into small groups based on seating arrangements and working closely with fellow students on assignments for research projects.  In the textbook it states, “Reorganizing the social structure of classrooms can facilitate significant improvements in prosocial development, academic achievement, and interethnic relations. Even students’ attitudes and behaviors toward one another can be influenced in a positive way. Providing alternative means for learning is an essentially equitable endeavor, and it strengthens the democratic purposes of schooling.” (Bode 384). When students are seated in the same spot for a long period of time they become stagnant, and this is also true with doing the same lesson processes or lecturing techniques repetitively. In addition to changing seating charts I would plan different styles of lecture or different projects to engage where the teaching strategy can be diversified and each student can have an opportunity to shine. Some students might do better with group activities while others may do great with presentations. By changing the dynamic of the lessons on a continual basis, the different spectrums of the learning mind can be exercised and explored.

 Another plan would be to schedule field trips, both indoors and outdoors. We could go to a nature reserve or a state park to explore the wilderness and different museums or archeology buildings where they can see things instead of just read about them, while also getting out of the classroom walls and the restrictions that come with being stuck in a building all day.   From an article titled, Teaching Intercultural Communications, authors state, “Discussion of basic conceptual frameworks in teaching intercultural communication and examination of lecture modules on selected intercultural communication topics, consideration and experience of different instructional modes such as lectures/discussions, self-assessment tests, critical incident analyses, small group discussions, video analyses, intercultural simulations, and effective debriefing

Active dialogue on successful instructional strategies and appropriate communication skills for managing classroom diversity,”(Leeva Chung and Stella Ting-Toomey).  The success of the classroom depends a lot of the implication of these different process and procedures and requires teachers to be innovative and creative.  One way that might cause a downfall in the learning would be a teacher losing the passion or desire to make a difference in their students’ lives and to want to take the easy road of education that does not require innovation and compassion. If a school board were to restrict activities this could be an institutional barrier and downfall to the plans of intercultural communication. 

Most importantly, teachers must engage each group of students each year with fresh perspectives and see them as new faces, it could be easy to fall into a repetitive method where it becomes mundane and overdone.  Researching new and unfamiliar cultures as groups of students change will allow the teacher to continue the evolution of their own mind and also the evolution of new and different students in education.   The teacher must have the ‘will’ to bring the students together and the drive to research methods and options available.  The passion and compassion for students and the love and fierceness to educate and key components to continual success, but maintaining the patience and creativity and innovation that is requires to master is equally vital and detrimental to the students year after year. 

Reference

Iowa Pathways Website supported by Iowa Public Television: Retrieved from:

http://www.iptv.org/iowapathways/teacherresources/default.cfm

DNR Department of Natural Website: Environmental Education Resources for Teachers and Youth Leadership; Retrieve From: http://www.iowadnr.gov/Education/ForTeachers/FieldTripLocations.aspx

Area Vibes Website:  Iowa City, Iowa Demographics: Retrieved from:  http://www.areavibes.com/iowa+city-ia/demographics/

Nieto, S., & Bode, P. (2012). Affirming Diversity: The Sociopolitical Context of Multicultural Education (Sixth Edition). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Fish, L.  (n.d.). Building Blocks:  The First Steps of Creating a Multicultural Classroom.  Retrieved January 8, 2007, from EdChange Multicultural Pavilion, http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/papers/buildingblocks.html

Summer Institute of Intercultural Communication: Session III a: July 23-27, 2012:

Register Online

28. Teaching Intercultural Communication Leeva Chung and Stella Ting-Toomey Retrieved from: http://www.intercultural.org/28.php

EHow.com Website; Institutional Barriers to Learning, article by Dr. Samuel Hem; Retrieved from:http://www.ehow.com/info_8210062_institutional-barriers-learning.html

                        



Diversity Immersion

                                                   Latino Immersion to American Schools

Megan Smith

EDU 639 Human Relations & Learning in the Multiple Environments

Professor Stephens

January 2013

Hoover High School is located in Des Moines, IA, near the north side of town. Currently, I am a 10^th grade English Teacher for the school.  The school Hoover is full of diversity and many different students from many different parts of the world.  In Des Moines this high school is located next to poor high school regions, and in addition the school has taken in many refugees from Bosnia, Sierra Leone, Madagascar, and many other impoverished countries.  It is a safe school, although there can be certain gangs in the parking lot gathering, but there had never been violent activity.

For my first day of class I am reminded of the diversity, my class has all types of students, but it seems this year the majority are Latino, and in particular one girl stands out to me, she is Latino, beautiful, but shy and sullen, and her name is Angelica.  I asked the children to each stand and introduce themselves; this is what Angelica had to say:

“My name is Angelica, and I have been in the United States for three years, my family has come from Peru, and that is in South America, I have fours sisters and three brothers and we live in an apartment near the school.  My mom and dad said they brought us here for better education, but I miss my home country and I miss speaking my native language with my friends back home and I miss my grandparents.  I like English classes, but I wish at sometime we could read a book from where my people come from,” she explained, breaking her sullen silence.  Since I visited Peru, I told her and the classroom briefly about my experience with the jungles and the tribes.  I explained to them how the Amazon River runs through Peru, and how it is one of the most preserved landscapes in the world.

            A vibe always enters me from the students the first day of class, and in Angelica’s case, I can tell she is weary and used to normal school structures.  I hope by explaining to her and the classroom of one of my travel experiences, that they will open up and feel free to tell stories of their own experience.  Angelica most likely notices how well I am dressed and decorated, and in many ways probably assumes that I have lots of money.  Because of how quickly high school students can be judgmental, and decide that if I allow her to share her story, then I need to allow everyone else to share their story and their culture.  I assign Angelica to go first next week, in presenting her country and culture and the story of her life.   However, the presentation should teach us something about a culture, so as a class we can share stories that we are familiar with.  In an article titled, Schools adapt to growing Latino population: Ethnic-specific classes can give students a boost, the author states, “For example, programs in the district that teach students about traditional Mexican culture have become more meaningful, Pedicone said. Also, as the district's arts program evolved, an after-school mariachi program has been integrated into schools.  Teachers and counselors started visiting students' homes more frequently, due to social differences and differing cultural expectations of schools, establishing relationships with students and parents,” (Sanchez, George B; Nicole Santa Cruz).  Therefore, by initially having the students come forth with pride of their country or culture, there may be a way as an educator that I am able to reach them further, and also by having them explain a bit about themselves, they can feel as though they have a voice.  Since this is an English course, I will diversify the novels we will be reading to cater to the different cultures, and I will find an author from Peru, even if it is non-fiction, so that Angelica can feel that as she studies she is relating to something of her background, and perhaps find the love of books and reading and writing.  There will also be creative pieces worked on by each students in the middle of the school year, where they can take what they have learn through reading and discussing and create something of their own that gives them a voice and helps them find meaning in English class.

            For a girl like Angelica, she can’t learn to have to listen to me, she can only come to want to listen to me as the teacher, and she helped inspire in my new ideas even now for the classroom, where we can become closer and more interactive, and also learn about literature from all these different parts of the world.  As the teacher, I will creative my own creative piece of my story and present my culture and history to the classroom as well.  Also, I will arrange for a field trip to the Historical Building, and a one day field trip to an Native American Reservation, where the students can see where my people can from, at least half of my bloodline.  These trips will get everyone out of the same old type of activities, and give students a change to learn and view more about different cultures that they might already have heard about.  For a child like Angelica, with a huge family and not a lot of money, these activities could give much opportunities, and not just to her but to the entire classroom.  I have arrange for a Native American tour guide of the reservation, and have asked they prepare us a meal and show some of the original outfits and headdresses that have been worn.  This might help the students also feel more comfortable with me, knowing of my different background, and I hope that this empowers them to feel themselves and write creatively.

            Parent and Teacher conferences are done twice through the Fall and Winter, and I will plan on having all of the parents and students gather in the auditorium and also those hours for the children to present what they have done to the adults, and their parents.  After each presentation there will be a ten minute space, which at that time I will approach the parents with a written description of their child’s progress, and offer them additional time if necessary to meet in private.  This would bring all the students together with all of the parents as one total group.  In an article, Culturally Responsive School Counseling for Hispanic/Latino Students and Families: The Need for Bilingual School Counselors, the author states, “First, to effectively assist students and parents, schools must set as a priority reaching out to Hispanic/Latino families and communities. Many Hispanic/Latino parents report wanting to be a part of their child's education but feel they are not listened to or welcomed by the school system (Ramirez, 2003). Thus, providing direct contact with Hispanic/Latino families is crucial to enlisting their commitment to their children's schooling (Fracasso & Busch-Rossnagel, 1992). Effective outreach services must extend beyond the Hispanic/ Latino student and family to include the Hispanic/ Latino community (Koss-Chioino & Vargas, 1999).”  By parents coming together to watch a fun and creative presentation of their child, I will be able to reach the parents, get to know them, and potentially learn more about my students.  For situations that are struggling, I will work with parent personally to help make changes at home that might lead to better changes in school.

            Students like Angelina, might not get to use to using their creative voices very much, and by diving into her stories of her history as well as other students stories they can given themselves that creative voice and the chance to explain their individuality.  As an educator, I will always diversify the literature read through the year and work to meet the different cultures that may enter the classroom different years.  When students are empower to use their voice and when they are encourage to share the culture of the country they are from, they can become more involved with the class and make meaning

of different stories and learn the tools for reading and writing, that can last a lifetime.

References:

Culturally Responsive School Counseling for Hispanic/Latino Students and Families: The Need for Bilingual School Counselors; Smith-Adcock, Sondra; Daniels, M Harry; Lee, Sang Min; Villalba, Jose Arley; Natalie Arce Indelicato. Professional School Counseling10. 1 (Oct 2006): 92-101.

Schools adapt to growing Latino population: Ethnic-specific classes can give students a boost.  Sanchez, George B; Nicole Santa Cruz. McClatchy - Tribune Business News; Washington, 09 Dec 2007.

A Friend of Mine

Journal 3

For this week’s Cultural Immersion Activity, I decided to contact a lady that my friend knew well, and her name was Mori Constantino, I was told she was eccentric and interesting, and had been born in Japan.  She replied quickly to me and so we made plans to have lunch and to go to shopping places.  She gave me instructions to her house and nervously I went to meet her. 

A very short and stern woman asked the door, and with a bit of a raspy voice she said, “You must be Megan”.  She invited me in, my friend had explained to me that she was somewhere in her eighties, so I pictured someone much more feeble and weak, and I was amazed by her stagger and her manners.  Her hair was long and beautiful and tied partially in a traditional Japanese bun, with the bottom have of her hair let down.  Her home was very plain and very well kept, with just a few Japanese scrolls hanging.  She asked me politely if I minded if she smoked, and I had no problem.  As she lit her cigarette and inhaled she explained to me that she did not start smoking until she was 50 years old and that way she knew she would be able to continue smoking into her older years.  She started talking to me about her late husband, who had been 18 years older than her and an Italian man.  She continued to tell me about their two children and how they lived in California, and how they did not like her smoking.  At this point I was more relaxed and felt that this activity was going to be a lot of fun with her.  Her face was very luminous and bright and I remember thinking that I hope that I can be this cool into my eighties.  Mori continued on to explain how she had never worked full time, but rather was a stay home mother for her children and wife for her husband.  She told me how hard her husband, Anthony Constantino, had worked to make sure that she would be taken care of after he had passed.  She explained that she never worries about money, but she also never frivolously went out on spending sprees.  I told her I was fine if instead of shopping, we could hang out and talk and grab a bite to eat.  I was getting a lot of stimulation just hearing the main parts of her life and I was curious to know more about it. 

The more that I sat to talk with Mori the more enchanted I became of her life and what she had gone through.  She explained how she was born outside of Tokyo, Japan, and had lived in a small house with her three siblings.  She told me how tight the quarters were, and how that was one of the main reasons that she could not handle clutter.  She said they were not poor, just very tight and very strict.  One strict rule that she had and still had for her children was to not waste any food at all, this was forbidden in her eyes.  When she was about 8 years old, her father had found opportunity in American, and her whole family then moved together to the states and started in California.  She explained that she was indifferent at the time because she was so young, but remembers saying goodbye to close friends and family in Japan.  She said she looked up to her father and felt that he knew what he was doing with their family.  When settling in that states, she explained that there were prejudices that she had never before experienced, and that because she was so short and Japanese, that school had been awkward for her as she was learning the English language.  She had known a small amount of English prior, but now that she was living in the states she had to become fluent. 

She was so inspiring already in our conversation and it was interesting to continue to hear of her endlessly positive nature and her perseverance.  She said there were some dark moments that followed the coming to American, and that when she was about 12 years old, in 1942, her family was taken to a Japanese Concentration Camp near the mountainous regions.  She told me how her family had to pack and leave in one night as they were taken to what was called their new home.  At the camp, they were given a tight quarters, even tighter than she could remember in Japan, and she recalls being very frightened and homesick.  They were given plain clothing to wear, and her father and mother were given work, while she was expected to continue school with her siblings.  She said it was nothing like the freedom of California, and she could not understand how Americans could do this to her father and mother.  This is something that I could not imagine going through, and it made me re-evaluate my mellow upbringing, and to reconsider the things that I had grown to dislike or even hate.   To think of having to leave home one day with just a suitcase was unfathomable to me.  She explained how her days were long, and how their home space was cramped, and there was no stove, no heat, and no plumbing.  Her and her siblings where given odd jobs, while both of her parents would be working long days.  She said every night there family all arrived home together, how they cherished ever minutes, there were no needs, no complaints, no whining, just love and connection to each other in hopes of a brighter futures, and in hopes of normal living spaces.  It was a dark and dismal time for her family, and she could not understand what the Japanese had done to be taken off to these different camps.  In 1945, when she was 15 years of age, her family was suddenly released one afternoon.  She recalls being thrilled and joyful, not realizing at the time, how this experience of three years would come back to haunt her in adulthood.  She did, however, emerge with a better grasp of the English language.  Personally, I have never been so moved by a story, and I realize more and more how every human has a story, and how their story was one of exile and prejudice.  I realized that our lifestyles have been in our own hands, our own control, but to learn of how quickly a group or person could lose that freedom, all because of race. 

Mori explained to me that she has remained a kind person, and although through those times, she could not hold any grudges on the white man or any grudges inside herself.  She explained that she made that decision when she was 18 years, to not be angry about what had happened.  She explained though, how the memories of the experience did haunt her now and then.  Especially when it came to food and shelter, and inevitably there were scars, but she refused to let those scars define her.  She went to college in California, where she met her husband, from a family of great and kind people.  She explains how she was not interested in dating, but Anthony had won not only her love, but also the love of her families.  To me this is amazing, to still allow their daughter to marry outside of the Japanese, especially after what the family had been put through.

This is the types of perseverance I had learned from Mori, to see through it all and find the positive, to forgive and forget what you can, and focus on making a good life.  I have learned or figured there must be millions of stories of tragedy and hardship similar to hers, but how race could predetermine characters and their stories.  I felt sort of ashamed to be American, knowing how simple my life had been and how I had never had to worry about such things.  On top of this, I admired the family’s intimacy and love for one another.  In America it is easy to love touch with family values and it is easy to grow distant with all the different elements of daily life, but here is a story of a family and their love for one another that kept them strong and positive and got them through one of the greatest trials of a lifetime.  Material possessions lost all value, possessions lost importance, and this is something I truly admire and wish I would be able to handle if similar situations happened to me. 

Mori and I talked for hours, and we are staying in touch, and I have made a new friend with a powerful inspiring story that puts to shame our modern material lifestyles.  She showed me the eyes and soul of a spirit so wise and forgiving that she could skill show respect for other cultures.  The value of material objects seems like clutter and waste and I try to think of all of those things that I had often needed, or clothes that I have fret over, and I am reminded and learning through her essences that the important aspects of life come down to family and safely and I am forever changed as a young woman and hope that I can aspire to be as bold and positive a person as Mori Constatino in her 86^th year of life.  She has moved my heart and made me question judgments I have made and she has helped me to heal my own scars and wounds, and to find the grace and peace in forgiveness and forgetting.