some comments about today's presentations (:

hey, you guys did a nice job. i was proud on the whole. sorry the a/v equipment was a pia-welcome to my world (but i wish i could have prevented it for your sakes.)

For equatorial guinea, affection between men was a good point we should talk about more for all the cultures and our own. smiling too much as an indication of insincerity i thought was a wonderful insight and one i want to learn more about. also the provocative 'bird fluttering' hug. . . now we need some evidence.(: since EG is so isolated and has such a motley history, i'd really like to hear how you came by this informant and how he got here and why. it seems so mysterious and interesting--i've Never met anyone from there before. which i can't say about most countries! and what was the undrunk glass of wine about???? you have got to enlighten us! i loved how polished your presentation 'speeches' (for lack of a better word) were for each of your group members-that's the advantage of the preparing the CD ahead of time and you really used it well. you also really packed your information in to the specified time restrictions and that was excellent as well.

For Bangladesh, you seem to have a mature and knowledgeable informant. and your technology as far as the video was really nice too. (: i had a terrible time understanding his accent through the sound system of the room though, so it would be helpful to have more of that in writing (or recapped by one of you in speaking on your final presentation cd). i liked his observation/admonition about calling your friend's mother "Auntie" rather than using her name. that's a really nice way to deal with the respect/intimacy dimension in relationships like that and i can see how Americans could be really abrasive by not recognizing and adopting that behavior. i wondered as he answered questions if he wasn't suffering from so much exposure to western culture that he doesn't see the differences as sharply as he might have earlier in his life. of course the influence of the British in his country too would have a great impact on his perspective which in some ways might actually distort his perspective, but i have to think some more about this. next time i'd like to see a lot more of your group members and less of your informant (just pithy poignant quotes, possible with closed captions included (: ). On the whole though, you did a great job!


Malaysia, several very helpful insights. pretend that sex does not exist. (: we've all probably got family members somewhere on the family tree who act like that. i also can't say i'm wholy opposed to the placing of the teacher right under parents and God in the food chain. :) the significance of not leaving food on your plate was really counterintuitive to me,and is the kind of thing you'd really need someone to point out to you if you're American. it was a very nice touch doing the soundbites in the powerpoint. head touching was an interesting point and might be a good one for your diagnostic. how often do we actually touch other people's heads? in what contexts? clips from TV and film might be helpful. someone you are very very close to you might touch to pull something out of their hair or brush a loose strand away, much more acceptable among girls than guys, and it would be interesting to look into how often it is done between girls and guys who are not dating and how everyone feels about that. the fact that she had to make the point about head touching means there must be stuff we do that is not coming to my mind but which has obviously emerged often enough for it to be reportable. i'll talk about what framing is and isn't in a separate posting. on the whole, fine work. (:

Zambia, your informant seems great--really astute and articulate. i'm guessing that his youth helps him to have the contrasts still fairly clear in his mind. i think the older your informant is, if their age is proportionate to their experience outside their own culture, the harder it gets to recall the time when the new customs really struck you as 'foreign' and inscrutable. i liked that you were visible in the interview video too, not just the informant.
--i was also very interested in his point about how the wealthiest brother takes care of everyone else. i had several encounters with people from other parts of Africa that seemed to be operating under this rule too and i'd like to know more about it. remind me in class and i'll tell you some of the stories. also i have a zambian outfit i should remember to wear one day. that has a good story too. i was also interested by your/his point about sarcasm and (was it Angela?) how some of us can't imagine communicating without it! but we could use more information on this. what constitutes sarcasm? is there really Never a place for it? i can't really imagine a culture that doesn't use it at all. . . there must be domains and relationships where it is normative. this might be good for your delving-deeper-diagnostic (: