This week in Sociology we talked about different cultures and how they are unique from what we are used to. You could tell in class whenever Mr. Salituro provided an example from each culture, every student's reaction was like, "What?! That's so weird". Well, this is normal because we just aren't used to doing that because that's not the way we view it. One example in class was when we saw what the toilets looked like in Japan. Everyone asked, "How are you supposed to use that thing?" and Mr. Salituro replied it in a baseball catcher's position. I think everyone can agree that it looked really awkward assuming the American way of going to the bathroom. This week we also read a story about time perception in different countries compared to America. In Brazil, people view time as if it's not a real thing. In Brazil, being late is usual and nobody is ever early. I view it this way, in Brazil being late is being on time no matter the time. In America, we view time as something very important to our country because we run everything based off time unlike some countries. Put it this way, if I Brazil, I wouldn't survive because I find myself always on time and I dislike it very much when people are late when I have to rely on them. You wouldn't be able to do that in Brazil. All in all, this week we learned about Culture Shock, Cultural Relativity, and Ethnocentrism.

This past week we watched a movie named, The Bronx Tale. This movie was about a kid who goes through stages of his both good and bad. Although, some were bad he also had good memories of him and his dad going to the New York Yankees baseball games to watch baseball and spend time with the old timer. The little boy's nickname is "C" and this movie is mostly about how he grows up from his childhood until about the age of 18. C changed as he grew up compared to when he was just a little boy. C saw a shooting in front of his apartment and didn't claim who it was even though he knew because that was how the society was in which he grew up in. Even though C kept a straight face and didn't verbally say who the killer was to the police when he had questions, that shows character on C's part. Growing up, C loved to ride the bus with his father and rang the bell whenever there was a bus stop. But things changed as C got older. As C got older he hung out with the wrong friends and even though he didn't think so Sonny looked out for him. C's friends died after Sonny pulled him out of the car because he knew they were bad people. C started to change once he reached his teenage years because of his bad friends and showed it emotionally towards his peers, such as his friends and family. C's neighborhood was very racist because when other ethnic groups drove or crossed town, they were going to get beat up or even killed. That was "one's territory" and you couldn't go into or else bad things were coming your way. C had changed overtime because he realized they were much alike except from their skin colors, and that they shouldn't be treated differently.

This week in Sociology class we did an activity involving Group Identity Molecule. Doing so in this activity, we were told to write our names in the middle of the page on the blank. After we were supposed to put what groups we were involved in or part of. Some popular groups that students put down were family, friends, sports teams, etc. Also, in this activity we were told to put a master status meaning what people see you as. Most students in the class put a master status of "Friend" or "Teammate" if they were on a sports team. Many people put friend because they are close within that group and associate with that set of people very often. In my case, I like to associate with my groups of friends to play sports with, hang out together, maybe go out to dinner, and just all around hang out with. Many of the people's groups treat eachother the same way, whether it's kind or selfish. These groups can also stereotype others easily and can continue to a chain reaction to other groups. Therefore, after this week in Sociology it has really brought my attention and the real world toward me and what this society has come to. This week in sociology really defined the social structure of our behaviors in life.

Recently in Sociology class we had watched the old TV show Freaks and Geeks. We watched this show because we had look for several examples of how the show showed Sociological Imagination. The show, Freaks and Geeks, is about a high school set in the 1980s about separation of groups. In class, Mr. Salituro gave out slips of paper. On the paper you had a designed question for you. I had question number two focusing on who in the show had the power, why they have power, and how they use the power. In the episode of Freaks and Geeks, the power is distributed mostly towards the bullies and leading bully, Alan. Alan had the power because he literally pushes the little, nerdy kids around. They used in it a violent way towards that one group. This type of high school is totally different because it was 20 years ago. In their society, there were distinguished groups and bullies. The distinguished groups separate the cool kids from the nerdy kids. Today, it isn't like that. Society is much different back then than it is today. Therefore, society has changed and many things that occur in the tv show will not be tolerated if it were to happen in today's society. This also relates to the spit activity in class we encountered in class. Like Mr. Salituro said, "It's okay to spit in some places because that's how us as humans accept it." Humans have accepted or have been used to spitting on a baseball field but not in a classroom. It just feels and looks wrong in the real world. I agree that it does look very strange because we aren't used to that kind of stuff going on.