Exposure to Eateries

While reading The Namesake, I've realized how similar, and how different, everyone's culture is. Since we are both children of immigrants to America, both Gogol and I have been scolded for wasting food. Even though we now often eat out at restaurants, we hold onto some of our frugality by saving all our leftovers, sometimes even using uneaten parts of the last night's dinner to cook a new meal.
While eating with my family, we usually share a lot of our food with each other, even when we all have separate dishes. However, my friends never shared their food in this way with their family, so they became annoyed at me when I stole some of their food. I quickly learned that I couldn't steal food from my friends in the same way I steal food from my sister. Another interesting difference that I've noticed between myself and some other friends is that I notice the nutritional value of my food, even though I don't consciously care about it. I realized that because both of my parents are doctors, they've instilled in me a sense of paying attention to what's healthy and what's not. I thought of this just last night, when I noticed that I have never seen my friend eat a single veggie. I've always thought of myself as a carnivore who doesn't care much about diet, but I realized that relative to some of my friends, I eat quite healthily most of the time.
Another difference I remember noticing when I was younger is that my parents used to cook most of our meals from scratch without using recipes (they still often do, in fact). I remember going to different friends' houses and realizing that many people use pre-cooked meals, or at least recipes.
I'm very glad that I live in America because I can experience all sorts of different cultures and gain a deeper understanding of the world. In just Irvine alone, there is a multitude of different restaurants from all sorts of different areas of the world.

Indifferent Ian

My full name is Ian Sean Huang in English, and it sounds basically the same in Chinese (but with accents). I've actually never thought too much about my name, so I haven't noted anything about it except for the interesting that it's in many words, and it's exactly half of my sister's name. My mom named me Ian because it's the Scottish version of John, which means "God is gracious" (my middle name, Sean, is the Irish version of John). There's no particular reason why she chose the Scottish and Irish versions of John, except that my name Ian in English is practically identical in sound and meaning to my Chinese name (I wish I could type it... edit: 奕恩). I'm mostly indifferent towards my name, but it's been growing on me because I've started to appreciate that it's a rare enough name to be somewhat interesting, but common enough that I don't have to explain it everywhere. It's also a
very convenient length. Even though I'm not a very devout Christian at this stage of life (who knows what I'll be later on...), I think my name fits me quite well. I remember a short time when I felt a little bit insecure about the somewhat strangeness of my name, but that was just because I was insecure overall. My name has never actually held me back in anything. I think the reason why Gogol hates his name so much is because he had grown up with the idea that it's inconvenient and completely meaningless, until he learns that Gogol was a sick and depressed author who died a virgin. At the end of chapter 5, his dad finally tells him the whole story, and he ends up just being confused because of the opposing viewpoints on his own name in his mind.

Idiosyncratic Integration

Both of my parents immigrated from Taiwan to finish their studies and get jobs in America before I was born, so I identify as Taiwanese even though I was born in California (in Yolo County!) My first language was Chinese/Mandarin, so I am still fluent with it, but I've been so used to using English that my vocabulary in Chinese has deteriorated. Since America, especially California, has such a wide variety of cultures, I've come to appreciate and integrate many of them into my own life. For example, whenever my whole family goes out to eat, we always (well, usually) go to a particular Korean restaurant - Korean food is great. Also, since we love Japanese things, both my sister and I have Japanese decor in our rooms.

I've come to realize, looking beyond these superficial things, that the greatest thing my parents have given me is how I see the world. My parents are both devout Christians, but they are in no way militant Christians. Instead of preaching and lecturing, my parents (usually) show me what to do with their own actions and give me a lot of freedom. Unlike the stereotypical "Asian mom" or "Tiger mom", my mom always discusses things through with me and respects me as a person. In turn, this has helped me have more respect for her. Even though I am a very skeptical person, I'm not completely agnostic or Atheist because of my family. They don't force me to believe anything, but since our personalities are very similar (they are both as skeptical as I am), the fact that both my mom and my sister are Christian gives me some faith. 

If You Judge a Fish by its Ability to Climb a Tree...

Before I had met the kids, I assumed that they would be proficient at english because my buddy from last year was very bright. Unfortunately, I overestimated their capabilities, so I ended up thinking that my kids were not very smart. Their writing was indeed subpar, but it was unfair for me to simply dismiss them as unintelligent, especially since I can be overly critical of writing. I had a single story of my buddies' intelligence based entirely on how well they could formulate a sentence, so of course it wasn't very fair. I have no idea whether English is their first or second language and I have no idea how they're doing in other subjects. Even though I was initially frustrated with my buddies' writing, I have been able to maintain a levelheaded and supportive attitude towards them, and they have really been improving. I've come to realize that if you give someone the chance, they will often rapidly improve and exceed your expectations. I think this idea has been influenced by the way my parents raised me, because they have always believed in me even when I haven't believed in myself.

The Ostrich-man

The biggest contradiction in my life is that I think too much about doing things instead of actually doing things. Basically, I am a chronic procrastinator. As Dostoevsky said, "For [the straightforward people] a wall is not an evasion, as for example for us people who think and consequently do nothing; it is an excuse for turning aside, an excuse for which our kind is always very glad, though we scarcely believe in it ourselves, usually." When I read that sentence, I was reminded of the way that I agonize over my assignments and pretend like they don't exist until the last minute, when the built-up stress bursts out from inside to make me work in a frenzy – until exhaustion. Of course, I know that this strategy is the worst way I could approach my work (besides not approaching it at all), because it forces me to rush through it with a sleep-deprived, unhealthy mind; nevertheless, I continue to do it, because I find a deep satisfaction in the moment at which I can finally take a deep breath and relax. No, I don't really relax when I do this, because I often only have a few sparing hours to sleep. In fact, I seem to even rush myself into sleep, because my exhaustion and fatigue is too much to withstand. 

Imagine a person who wants to survive in the world and make himself happy with his accomplishments, but ignores all the tasks at hand until he is weary and cannot complete them to the best of his ability. He hides from his responsibilities so much that he may well be an ostrich hiding from a predator with its head in the dirt – except not even ostriches are that stupid (that is a common misconception brought about by the birds' relatively small heads that seem to disappear when they pick at the ground). Anyhow, for the sake of this analogy, the ostrich-man ignores the predator and keeps its head in the ground until it is right next to him. When the predator is about to gobble it up, the ostrich-man finally decides that it wants to stay alive, so it runs for dear life. I am a terribly irresponsible person, putting off everything until the last minute, but at the same time, I wish to accomplish all the tasks that are expected of me. Am I a responsible person or am I an irresponsible person? I think I'm still figuring that out (hopefully I'm becoming a more responsible person), but it seems like the ostrich-man is starting to realize that it's much easier to get rid of the threat before it gets too close. 

This one contradiction has ruled my life for as long as I can remember (which isn't very long because I am only fifteen). I had been able to get through life with no significant problems for the first few years, so I never gave it much thought. I justified it as simply ADD, or an over-active imagination, because my dad also has very jumpy trains of thought; but now that high school is ramping up, I realize that I can't justify it anymore if I want to survive. This year, by trying (key word: trying) to maintain a more regular sleep schedule and eating more healthily, I've somewhat alleviated this contradiction of wanting to do well, but not working enough for it. However, I still have plenty of room to grow (I think that last sentence is my new way of justifying my problem...) 

Shaped by Circumstances

From how Katherine has been acting recently, it seems like she has given up on opposing Petruchio. Since it is in her best interest to go along with what he says, I think that she will outwardly appear to be tamed. For all intents and purposes, she'll be tamed and look like a new woman, but since she has such a strong personality, I suspect that she will covertly oppose Petruchio from time to time in ways that won't incite punishment from him. Since the strength of their personalities seem to be relatively equal, Petruchio has the advantage because he's the male in a Shakespearian marriage. Although Katherine might have a strong personality, it's much easier for her to go along with the taming so that she isn't ostracized by society or tormented by her husband.
On the other hand, since Bianca seemed to be showing some signs of independence and assertion (especially with "Cambio" and "Litio") and I think that she'll probably start to lessen the sweetness and submissiveness once she's married. I suspect that Katherine and Bianca are actually inherently not as different as they seem at first glance, it's just that Katherine had been conditioned over time to be a shrew by what people expect of her – Shakespeare wrote that she was famous throughout Padua for her scolding tongue. Similarly, Bianca had been submissive and sweet because that's what everyone expected from her – not to mention it made her life much easier than her sister's. Once she's married to a young man that she favors (she can basically get anyone she wants with her cloying attitude), she'll have more of an opportunity to drop, or at least lessen the dainty, girly facade. She seems to be the sort that would gradually stop being so sweet as she gets bored of her partner.
However, Katherine may actually end up being loyal to Petruchio over time (since he's the one who saved her from the "shrew" label) and he may gradually become less of a bossy, misogynistic rogue as they become more comfortable with each other. I think that Petruchio was just being over the top oppressive to "tame" Katherine and put on a show for the others in Padua. Once their reputation has been established, he can lessen the shrew tamer act and safely be more respectful of Katherine.

(Note:  Since I can't predict something I'd already read, I tried to remember what I thought before I'd read it, so much of this post is speculating about events past the ending of the book.)

The Power of a Name

In my opinion, your name only has as much power as you give it. In fantasy novels or movies such as Eragon or Spirited Away, names often have a sacred meaning and enable others to control you via magic, but in our culture, names don't have much real power.

While it is true that the woman losing her maiden name traditionally meant that she was being given away from one family to another, her independence doesn't rely on what her surname is. Both my mom and sister are married, and while my mom kept her maiden name (I've never actually asked her why – it's probably just because of the paperwork), my sister took her husband's surname. I know both of these women (it feels peculiar to refer to my sister as a woman...) very well and they both have a great relationship with their family while also maintaining their independence. With my sister's marriage, it didn't feel like she was being sent off to another family, it felt more like I gained an older brother. Of course, the importance of a woman's maiden name varies from person to person within our culture (in other cultures, the power of names is quite different, and I don't know enough about that to comment). Nowadays, it seems to me like the biggest problem with women changing their names is the paperwork. All that isn't to say that names are entirely meaningless, of course. A woman's surname used to basically tell who her owner was, and it still can have some of that meaning intertwined.

Personally, I wouldn't care too much about whether or not my hypothetical future wife changes her name. I definitely wouldn't change mine because my last name is perfectly normal and it's a huge hassle to do all the paperwork. I might even encourage my hypothetical wife to keep her maiden name to avoid the paperwork problems...

Feminism: Equality or Matriarchy?

Although all the feminist quotes going around the internet these days shows that patriarchy is still an issue, we have definitely made significant progress in recent years. The quotes show that an issue exists, but they also show that people are aware of the problem. What’s more, the general attitude towards what would be considered a “shrew” is much more positive now. Instead of a bossy woman just being considered an unattractive witch, she can be considered confident and ambitious today (of course, if she takes it too far, she can still be called an unattractive witch – but then that applies to everyone in society).

I think the fundamental idea behind feminism is great, but I'm not particularly fond of the word. The word feminism seems to focus more on the female side of things as opposed to the equality side of things. Because of the more radical feminists out there who seem to think building women up requires breaking men down, the feminist movement has become somewhat of a joke. This is very unfortunate, because it creates increases animosity between some people within society. Depending on how the word is defined, I might or might not consider myself a feminist. Since the term has a very negative connotation nowadays that is very skewed from the dictionary definition of it, I wouldn't consider myself a feminist at all. 

This quote is a solid example of how women are sometimes assessed entirely based on how aesthetically pleasing their body is instead of what type of person they are and what the contribute to society. The more I think about these words, the more I hope it was said in an ironic, sarcastic way.

In my opinion, it’s impossible for men and women to be completely equal because of biological differences, but we should still strive for equality in society. While we should strive for equality, I think that right now, there is far too much unnecessary drama about equality and human rights. I am of the opinion that equality can be achieved in a more efficient manner, but that may just be me being naive (humans can be rather frustrating...). A woman’s person's role inside and outside the home depends on the individual and there is no way to make a quick and easy rule that covers all cases.