It's funny how people's attitude changes depending on the type of people they are surrounded by. This is just something I was thinking about earlier this weekend while I was visiting my grandparents that live in St. Pete.

I usually visit my grandparents every few weeks and spend a weekend with them at their apartment downtown. I actually really enjoy spending time with them. They're my home away from home (since my home is back in CT)... plus I get to do free laundry and get home-cooked meals =] My grandparents are pretty young too... only just crossing the threshold into their 70's... and if you met them you'd know, they're really kids at heart.

This particular weekend, the apartment building held a party. Sort of a "meet and greet" type of thing with lots of food and drinks... and people well over 60! I attended this get-together with my grandparents and met many of their neighbors who, for the most part, are all well into their sixties, seventies, and eighties, and long retired.

While we were sitting at the table during the party eating some dinner, my grandma turned to me and said "this must be a big change for you, being surrounded by people that are all over sixty, when you're so used to only being around kids." I replied with something like "hey, we're all people," but afterward I thought about it a little more... and it's true. Being surrounded by people over 60 is much different than being surrounded by college kids.

Something I noticed while I was at the party was that everyone I talked to seemed to conform to the "rules of conversation" I guess you could say. In other words, something like:

"Hi, I'm Kayla."
"Oh hi Kayla, nice to meet you, I'm Fred and this is my wife Susan."
"Hi, nice to meet you guys."
"Nice to meet you too. Are you visiting for vacation?"
"No, I actually go to school down here in Sarasota."
"Oh really, whereabouts?"

etc etc etc....

And then we conversed about what I was majoring in, they would link it to something their son or daughter did in college, we'd share a few stories, and it would end something like this:

"Well Kayla it was great talking to you. Good luck in school and we hope to see you around!"
"Yeah definitely, great talking to you too. Enjoy the brownies!"

Or something of that sort. Everyone was very friendly and polite and had a proper entrance and exit to the conversation. I found that to be a lot different than talking to a bunch of college kids. Around here I find conversations tend to contain a lot more joking, teasing, swearing, sarcasm, etc. Maybe this difference is due to the different ways our generations were raised. Or maybe it's due to where we stand in our particular lives at this moment. Maybe it's popular culture influencing the youth. Or maybe it's just that darned rock and roll... who knows!

-kp

"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind."

-Rudyard Kipling

My Big Fat Greek Post

If anyone has not seen the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding... Go. Now. And watch it. Seriously though, it is a really great movie that explores the idea of being introduced to a totally different culture than you are used to, and how difficult it can be to communicate and relate to each other.

I had to watch this movie (and take notes) this past week for another class that I'm taking this semester called Intercultural Communications but I've been finding a lot of connections to communication in general as well. So I guess I'm kind of killing two birds with one stone here. Yay for connection making!

So, like I said, not only is My Big Fat Greek Wedding a very entertaining movie, it also relates a lot to communication and how people from different cultures intertwine. For example, in the movie, Tula who comes from a very large and boisterous Greek family falls in love and gets engaged with Ian who is everything her family could have hoped for her... except for one thing: he isn't Greek. Therefore, he is unfamiliar with Tula's family traditions and lifestyle.

For example, in Greek culture, it is the man's duty as a suitor to approach his love interest's father and ask his permission to marry his daughter. Ian is not familiar with this, and instead just asks Tula herself. This angers her father very much because as the father he is used to being the dominant male in the family who is in charge of everyone, especially his daughter and her hand in marriage.

Not only is Ian unfamiliar with the ways of the Greeks, he is also unfamiliar with the Greek language. Tula's brother and cousin have a lot of fun telling him to say common phrases in Greek and really making him say something ridiculous. Not only is there an obvious miscommunication there, but even just when conversing in English with Tula's aunt there is miscommunication. Tula's aunt wishes to cook for Ian and Ian tells her that he is a vegetarian and does not eat meat. The idea he does not consume meat is just unfathomable for Tula's aunt because as a Greek woman, one of her main jobs is to cook for the family... and meat is always the main food group. So, not comprehending, she exclaims that instead she will make lamb for him. Which obviously is indeed meat.

Eventually the family comes to accept Ian but it takes a lot of time and interactions with the Greek family to really start to understand how they work. This is a great example of how people from different backgrounds have difficulty relating to each other and how interesting, and comical, it can be.

-kp

Flammable = Inflammable?

I just read Strunk and White's The Elements of Style and guess what? I learned something new. According to Strunk and White, the word "flammable" also means "inflammable." Who woulda thunk?

Apparently, both words mean the exact same thing. The prefix -in in "inflammable" is derived from the latin preposition in and also appears in the word "enflame." However, it has apparently misled people (including me up until just yesterday) into assuming that the word "inflammable" means "not flammable."

Which is why most caution and warning signs say "flammable" instead of "inflammable" to avoid confusion. Even though both words mean the same thing.

I learned a bit more about the definition at dictionary.com.

I found The Elements of Style to be extremely packed with information, but it was short and sweet at the same time. I probably won't remember everything (of course) but this little tid-bit about the common mis-usage of the word "flammable" I found really interesting.

-kp

This feeling of "oughtness"

What is it? Why is it that in social situations, we feel we have an obligation to act a certain way?

I looked up the definition of deontic logic and it explained that the term deontic is derived from the ancient Greek déon, meaning, that which is binding or proper. But what is proper anyway? I guess this relates to my previous post about the meaning of the word professional. Both of these words are circumstantial.

However, to give an example, something we were talking about in class last week was how in America when someone sneezes, we have a need or feeling to say "bless you" afterwards. Sort of this feeling of social "oughtness." I can definitely relate (obviously) and I do feel that need to say "bless you" after someone sneezes, even if I don't know them. Sometimes I say it offhand at random places, like in a store or something when I hear a sneeze. Also, something funny, I usually find myself feeling a little insecure if I sneeze and nobody says the typical response to me.

Now I'm not really a religious person, but I still feel this need to say bless you and to be blessed after I sneeze. I just feel that it's what's proper.

Another example, it's just a social norm that if someone smiles or waves to you, you wave back. Something I found to be completely ridiculous yet kind of interesting at the same time was something that happened to me last week. I was walking on the sidewalk by the road and a car drove by me with people I didn't know and one of the guys in the back seat was staring out the window with a goofy look on his face and a hand up waving to me. I knew he was just joking around because he was definitely making a face, just trying to get a reaction out of me. Anyway, the strange thing was, even though I knew he was kidding around, I felt my hand want to go up and wave back to him. Just because his hand was up waving to me. Like this thought process happened first, and THEN I realized I did not know the person and he was kind of creeping me out. Funny huh?

-kp

Taking PCP

Well here goes the start of my new blog about the PCP class I'm taking at Ringling! (gotta love that acronym, never gets old) But what PCP really is all about is Professional Communication and Presentation and it's the first class of its kind here at Ringling College of Art and Design, being taught by Eric Engel.

And I have to say.. not only is it the first of its kind because Ringling has never offered a PCP course before, but it is also the first kind of class where I feel I have a lot of freedom to express myself in a working environment in a creative way. I guess I'm kind of starting off this blog with an evaluation of what I think of the class thus far (3.5 weeks into the semester).

So! Here goes. Like I said, I really like how Eric gives us freedom to be creative but also get work done... and learn in the process, of course. My expectations of the class at first was that it was probably going to be a little boring, since it was about giving presentations. My immediate assumption was that giving presentations meant maybe each week he would give us a topic and we would have to constantly make power-points and flash cards and what not, sit around in a big circle, and listen to each other give speeches in front of a podium. Much to my excitement, I was very wrong about what this class is all about.

PCP seems to be much more about learning how people interact with one another in a "professional" and also everyday environment and what that all means. For example, "professional" can mean a number of different things. Here's what the Miriam-Webster Dictionary defines professional as:

professional
Function: noun
: a person who is professional; especially : a person who engages in a pursuit or activity professionally

So, thank you Miriam-Webster for using the word we are looking up IN the actual definition and leading us in a big circle. Well, leading me in a big circle at least. However, after chewing on this definition and letting it marinate in my head for a bit, I combined it with what we previously discussed in class about the meaning of this word to try to make sense out of it.

To engage in a pursuit professionally means it must pertain to the profession. Therefore, depending on the profession, the meaning of professional changes as well. For example, to be a professional basketball player does not mean that one needs to dress up in a suit and tie and nice dress shoes to every professional basketball game. Rather, the complete opposite is necessary: basketball jersey and sneakers.

However, for a lawyer to appear professional, he or she must wear a suit and tie and dress up. This is because that particular outfit pertains to the environment of a court room and is necessary to appear professional in that particular work environment.

All of this I found to be really interesting. I find that this particular class makes me think differently about a lot of things. I even find myself thinking about what we talk about in class a lot outside of it. This is why I figured a blog would be my best bet for our reflexive inquiry writing assignment.

-kp