There are many rather negative stereotypes of asian culture. Many westerners regard them as bad drivers, wild about westerners, and humerously bad at english. Our perception of them is so because of a massive cultural difference, we just dont have anywhere near the same roots as them or vice versa. The communication barrier that exists continues to perpetuate asain-english language complexities that are flashed all over the place in movies, tv shows, etc. When it comes to any stereotypes they hold of us, as far as I can tell our presence hasn't dwindled them at all. Having asked the opinion of chinese people on american cultural several times, its as if China is in a stage of western idolation, borrowing from our popular culture, changing the economic system, and overall way of life to model ours. Its hard to get any further than this as the languages are so different that even a chinese person who can speak decent english won't get half the inflections or concepts im trying to get across. From what I can tell, China appears to be america crazy, just as I thought before. As for bad drivers, they may just be the best drivers in the world. The streets are chaos with lights/pedestrians/road markings being ignored but in the end it all works. Fairly interesting.
The one great pseudo-stereotype I had that has almost faded away completly is Chinese art and music. Before coming here, the music was hard to listen to and the traditional art I believed, while pretty, was bland. After being here a week, I have come to appreciate chinese painting and traditional music as two of the most direct art forms I have yet to encounter. Painting a flower doesn't take hours of work, it takes ten minutes. Unlike western art where a painter would add more and more concievabling taking days/months, the chinese traditional painter preconcieves the piece over any length of time. Then they simply make it as fast as possible. Although the music is preformed by composers, it feels as if the musician is pouring themselves into the moment instantaneously, with no doubts or thoughts of "messing up the song". To find the peace from which one can make themselves flow into the world around them at a whim appears to be the cornerstone of tradtional chinese art, appears at least. I still have much to learn and 2 weeks in which to do it. Now its time for breakfast, later.

We are settled into our lodgings "Soetwater Enviro Camp" just outside Cape Town South Africa. We unfortunately do not have the internet capabilities we thought we would but hey I guess that means we'll just have to remove ourselves from the facebook drama for a while.
Needless to say, this place is incredible! This city and major port look nothing like the desolate Africa we Americans conjure up in our heads. The ebar and the enormous shopping centre I sit in now look like I could be in South California. IN fact the wheather, the merchandise, the homes (my word) all resemble any huge US city. The car on the left side of the road and steering on the right was the only noticeable difference form the get go. The road signs, the sprawl, mega-hotels, the freeway systems are vast. Granted this is the booming area of the entire African continent. Yet, it is not the Africa we had expected.
We have an incredible tour guide Roddy Bray and I suggest you all contact him if you intend to visit this gorgeous place. Beautiful blue water, fantastic mountains (we already did a great like hike) and facinating people. People with passion and love. People eager to tell their story to share with you their struggle. Rightfully, there are certain things we do that give us away as ignorant Americans however, these people could not be more happy that we are interested in their country.
We visited some incredible museums today that discussed ancient African history as well as more recent disucssions of the apartheid era. I realize this was a bunch of jumbled information and I hope I can narrow it down the next time I write. My hope today is to convey the surprises we've seen. This developed, metropolitan Cape Town is nothing like the Africa we all picture. I am in love!
We are off to dinner at 530 pm friday night as all of you on PST are about to start your day. Whether it is still snowing or not enjoy your friday because Friday has been magnificent here in South Africa.

We're only at day four of our stay here in Manhattan if you include the day we flew in and already I'm exhausted and achy. However, it's all worth it. We've experienced and learned a lot already. Apart from visiting museums and cathedrals, we have interacted with the New Yorkers and travelled by bus, taxi, subway and mostly foot. We've also tasted different cultural foods and are experiencing the dry weather (no snow yet, aside from a five minute snow globe effect I and some other girls experienced when we went out for a morning coffee at Starbucks).
We've also tested the stereotypes of the New Yorker. That being the fast-paced, get-out-of-my-way, brief-case carrying or high heal wearing people. And yes, we've seen it. I'm sure we'll see plenty more of it, too. But honestly, I haven't really experienced nearly as much as I had mentally prepared my self to. And today, we visited a photographer, Joyce Culver, who seemed to have absolutely no tie to this stereotype whatsoever. She was hospitable, out-going, very open with us and refused to wear nylons. Joyce was also very captivating and although I was very tired and exhausted, I didn't get distracted. Anyway, I'm hoping to come across some more Joyce Culver's, but I'll appreciate the meeting for what it was for now.

Bye for now,
Caitlin

I've never really experienced different cultures outside of the US. I feel grateful to have lived in a diverse area where I've been able to explore many different cultural backgrounds, but most of them have been Asian cultures. I am excited to finally gain a first hand insight into Europian culture. I've taken a semester of German to prepare for Berlin, and have talked with several friends who have spent semesters in both Germany and London, to get an idea of how the cultures will vary from what I'm used to. I have no idea what to expect in modern day Greece. Aside from a love of traditional Greek food and Aristotle, I really don't know much about the culture. This will be the area that I will most likely have the hardest time fitting in with any local residents, since I've been told that platinum blonde hair is an anomally in this region and may result in some interesting attentions. Let's hope that great food, philosophy, and friendly people are the only true stereotypes of the ones I've been informed of thus far. I'm also anxious to see if my German will be good enough to allow me to pass for more than just a tourist. (Just for the record, in Germany a "Berliner" is a type of donut, and not a resident of Berlin. A mistake once made by a former US President.)

One stereotype of Chinese people that I have heard is that they are very family oriented and look out for each other. I have also heard that they place a lot of emphasis on education as a means of success. I think that the American stereotype of Chinese people is that they are all very intelligent and determined. I think that as I travel in China and learn more about the people and their culture, I will realize more stereotypes that I have and see that they are not true of the whole Chinese population.

At our meeting I think we agreed to revise this question. While we all have our stereotypes of people from other cultures we are going to wait and discuss those stereotypes and the extent to which they are true when we get to New Zealand. I am looking forward to this experience for many different reasons. Leaving the dreary weather of Tacoma and heading to a place where it is summer will be great. I am definately looking forward to exploring the country and its many outdoor activities, however, the plane ride is a different story. While I do not really know what to expect from traveling for an extended period of time, I am very excited to have this experience.

In our final meeting prior to departure on January 6th, we decided that we have many questions about our host country and that our notions about New Zealand are formed by films we have seen and other media such as the advertisements for Travel New Zealand. We know that the country is filled with beautiful land, sea, and mountain scapes. We suspect that we won't be disappointed in the exploration of both the North and South Islands. We found that our impressions of the people of New Zealand are positive and we look forward to the friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable people we are likely to meet.