Meng - Blog 4

1) Who are the members of your host family (names, ages, professions), and how have you been able to communicate with them?

1. My host family mom is Leonor. She is 74 years old. In generally, she is a housewife, stays in the home and prepares everything for the student who lives in her house. She loves card games, which Ziling and I also like. We are going to play a card game with her tomorrow night~~
2. Leonor has two sons, they are twins. One of them lives with us. His name is Bernardo. He is 36 years old. He works for a foreign trade company and is a sales manager. He can speak very fluent Englis and always helps us to communicate with his mom.
3. There is also another Alma College students lives in the house with us. His name is Warren, 20 years old, who majors in Spanish. He is also our interpreter. 》_《

2) What examples of collectivism (vs. individualism) have you noticed so far, and what other similarities/differences between Ecuador and the U.S. have been apparent within your host family context?  

The collectivism I feel is not obvious. I just feel that in this family, the mom does the everything for other family members. For example, her daily life is mainly about taking care of her son and students who live with her. She cooks for us, does the dishes, and cleans our room every day. It makes me feel like she has been living for other people without having a lot of fun for herself. But maybe it is the most enjoyable life she chooses. It is hard to judge about it because she is old and retired. Another thing I feel with my host family is the relationship between mom and son is not very close. I cannot find some pieces of evidence, but I still have that feeling. 
Because I don't know much about American family life but compare with Chinese families, The similarities are that women take care of their families and they do almost everything. The difference is that I think Chinese children will be asked to share their mother's work. For example, after dinner, the child normally will help their moms to clean the dishes. But, today, her son didn't do that. I mean I didn't feel he wants to do that, which makes me a little bit uncomfortable because my host family mom is very old, and need someone to help her. But instead of doing that, her son chose to stay and talk to us, while her mother washed the dishes alone in the kitchen.

3）What did you do today, and what did you notice about Ecuadorian culture?

Ziling and I cooked two different kinds of Chinese noodles for our host family. We went to a market to buy the ingredients and cooked for them. They really enjoyed it and said it almost the best Food they ate. I am so happy for that. But the American boy he didn't enjoy noodles too much because he cannot eat very spicy food(One noodle is spicy). I forget that most U.S. people cannot eat hot food. 
After dinner, we had a very long and wonderful conversation with Bernardo and Warren. We talked a lot of things about Ecuadorian, Chinese and Americans. Through dialogue, I realize that Ecuadorians are very concerned about their country's development and are concerned about politics. Bernardo mentioned that in 1999, They decided to use the dollar because Ecuador's currency continued to depreciate throughout the day, which continues influences their economics. He said until now, their economics are still not very good. He said one thing that surprised me a lot. He mentioned there was a President who changed three big policies in two months during his time in office. I can fully understand the unease and concern that the Ecuadorian people feel. Every citizen wants a harmonious society and peaceful life.



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