Heard! on the Tequila

I was recently hired at the Shake Shack in the Theater District area, also known as Times Square. I am constantly surrounded by individuals who walk around with phones in hand, camera ready but most of the time looking upward. Most are from a different culture than mine and that is always exciting. As a Shake Shack team member, I was hired to smile a lot, listen closely and use every interaction to enrich our Shack culture.  I was immediately handed the beginners guide to Shake Shack and on my first day at work, I noticed the importance of communication especially within our open kitchen concept.

The kitchen lingo is abundant and hard to catch on. They would say things like “I need a shack burger ‘on the fly’”, meaning they needed that burger immediately. When we are out of something and it is no longer available, that item is considered to be ‘86’d’. The most common word shouted across the kitchen is the word ‘heard’. This is used as a response when someone is requesting something or communicating something to another teammate.

Last week, I was placed at the front expo position which assist guests with their questions and hand off completed orders. While waiting for food a guest named Jesus hands me his buzzer and ask me if I’m Hispanic. I say, yes, from the Dominican Republic. He grins and says “Ah, la gente del Brugal”, meaning, the people of Brugal, a popular rum from the Dominican Republic. I oddly grinned as I don’t drink really drink at all. Trying to connect with the guest, I followed up by asking him where he is from and he immediately puffed out his chest and said “de la cuidad de Guadalajara, de Jalisco, Mexico. Yo soy de la gente de tequila!”, meaning he is from the city of Guadalajara in Jalisco, Mexico and from the people of tequila. A couple of my Spanish speaking coworkers that were overhearing shouted heard!

What really shocked me was not the fact that he went on and on speaking about a couple of embarrassing stories of himself while drunk on tequila or the fact that my manager was directly behind me observing how I, the new trainee, enriched our Shack culture, but of how proud and educated he was of his Mexican culture. Tequila is rich in history and is produced from the Weber blue agave plant. The plant is fermented and distilled and has developed into an immense industry since the 17^th century. The blue agave plant is native to Mexico and its environment and tequila is considered a unique cultural product, native to Mexico.(Tequila)

WORK CITED

“Tequila is Mexico’s undisputed national drink, unique cultural symbol”. The Yucatan Times. November 4, 2015. Web. August 31, 2017.

~JOE~

I am currently going to school at a campus by the name of Bronx Community College but for short we call it “BCC”. BCC is a wonderful school filled with various types of people from all different places. Its diversity has given me the advantage in meeting and networking with people who come from all over the world. During my last semester I met a female by the name of Joe. She is a small petite woman with skin like a psoralen doll, and hair like a dark chocolate river. Joe is a very good friend of mine now. She is from Kosovo, a small disputed territory in Southeast Europe between Serbia and Macedonia. Kosovo is made up of Albanian people and Serbian people.

As our friendship has progressed I’ve had the privilege in getting to know about Joe and where she’s originated from. Becoming friends with Joe has taught me that people who come from Kosovo have various similarities and differences as the people in the US. When I first visited her home I found it quite interesting to see that she lived in an extended family just like mine.  I am from the Dominican Republic and Panama. Where we live with what people say “Our entire family” . What I mean by this is she lives with her husband, mother, father, sister, uncle, and kids in a two family home.  While staying at Joe's house there were many things that caught my attention. For example I noticed her mother wearing a “kapise”, a long white dress with embroidered red and brown flower looking designs on it. It looked as if  she were attending a wedding. While her father wore a really long shirt with all different designs as well and silk like pants. On his head sat a “Plis”. Which reminded me of the hats I see on Jews.

But one thing I found very odd was the way they went about marriage. As Joe explained to me that her parents arranged her marriage she tells me “one day my parents took me to a rich dudes house that id never met before and in about 3 weeks he was my husband, and the next three months I was moving to the united states with this man ”. She expressed to me that she is not happy with the guy she lies next to every night but in her country divorce isn't exactly an option and going against her parents choices is a sin. I grasped in disbelief while hearing about this. I could never spend the rest of my life with someone I never intended to marry. But Joe was so Cordial about marrying this guy her parents had chose for her. Having met someone that is from a completely different place then I am allowed me to realize how lucky I am to come from a place where this is not done.  

 

John R.Lamp, John B.Allcock, “Kosovo”, Britannica.com, July14,2016.web, August30,2017

Agnesa Ferizaj, Kosovar-Albanian heritage, traditional clothing of Kosovo, quora.com,August18,2017.web,August30,2017

what did I learn from this experience?

According to Paul Bloess, “The term ‘Big Apple’ was originally used in the 1920s and ‘30s by jazz musicians as a way of saying, ‘there are many apples on the success tree, but when you pick New York City, and you pick the Big Apple”(Origin the name). As you can see this, New York City is the heart of the American dream and a city where people, who live in today, want to go at least once in their lifetime. That’s why New York City is composed of many different nations which have different cultures. When I came to New York at first, September 1^st 2016, I met many people in varies background and have different experiences but It was not always good things because those give me uncomfortable that unfamiliar and unknown things for having different cultures are going to be confusion.  Sometimes, people had be embarrassed each other because they have in other cultures behavior among people.

First of all, there is different table culture. In Korea, occasionally, people used to live in a big family which consists of three generations. This is because, we have a special table cultures. When we eat bowl soup, we almost share together of the same bowl pot which is unacceptable and unfamiliar behavior for many foreigners. For instance, one of my friends, who is American, was very embarrassed when he saw Korean people sharing soup with the same bowl.

Secondly, there is different way to express emotion.  I think that a lot of Americans like to hug with their friends to express affection. However, we never like this hug each other in Korea with our friends. We think that is too much things of an expression and very rude between woman and man. In my experience, when I came abroad at first, I have no any experience about western culture ever before. Of course I had been watching movies or books to enjoy my life, I never met foreigners well until I came to New York. It has been almost three months since I came to the States from Korea. The dramatic change in my environment forced me to readjust myself. When I met my date with his old friends and when we were leaving, he hugged all the girls. At the moment, I was surprised to see that and angry to him about that situation. Later then, I realized that it was just one of way to express affection which is a part of American cultures.

Lastly, People in my neighbors walk up and say “How are you.” The first couple of times, it took me a long time to respond, because it was unfamiliar to me, and I did not know how to react to someone. Wherever I go, people keep asking, “How are you,” and it makes me thinking I have met him or her before. Because people in Korea never speak to each other on the streets or in shops unless they know each other, so even very simple and daily questions made me freeze and unable to say anything at first.

In conclusion, Living New York is faced to different cultures by the various background people while we live together and it can be embarrassing to experience other cultures. However, when we try to understand the way of people’s life, it will allow us to make our lives more successful in this globalized city.

Work Cited

Bloess, Paul.  “Origins of ‘The Big Apple’”.  ny.com  Mediabridge Infosystems Inc. ND. web. 1 Sep 2017

The reason behind my nose piercing

When I first started Middle, I remembered that I wanted a nose piercing so bad. I fell in love with how it looked on the side of the nose and how you can wear it however you want. But my parents wouldn’t let me get. They didn’t like how it looked and told me that I had no good reason in getting.

I became friends with some girl that's from India In my high school. I had to ask her about her nose piercing. I was so anxious to know the reason why she got it and at what age. I’ve seen in movies and people out in the streets with the nose piercing but with a little more bling to it. My friend and I got deep into the conversation and she had told me that she got her nose piercing due to her culture and that every girl in her family has it.

In the 16th century, the Indian culture made the nose ring a very popular accessory during the Moghul Emperors rule. (Significance of Wearing nose rings in Indian Culture). Like mentioned before, you can wear and choose the side where you want your nose ring at. There are many other designs as to what it signifies. In the indian culture, wearing your nose ring on the left of your nose will reduce the pain in giving birth and to any menstrual pain. It also signifies the reproductive organs.(Significance of Wearing nose rings in Indian Culture). The significance of the nose ring comes from the Ayurvedic belief. (Significance of Wearing nose rings in Indian Culture).

For my 19th birthday my parents finally let me get my nose pierced. It was an early birthday gift from them but it sure was the best gift. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling getting it but I was so happy that my parents finally let me get it.

Works cited

“Significance of Wearing Nose Rings in Indian Culture.” All Articles RSS, jewelry-watches.knoji.com/significance-of-nose-rings-in-indian-culture/. Aug 29,2017.

"Baby Butts" Tadition vs. Convenience

 
Li Jing and her family have lived in the Bronx for the past 12 years, after moving here from Xitang, China. Their homeland is an ancient town in Jiashan County, an hour and a half outside the city of Shanghai. "This water town is also called "nine dragon old pearl" and has many well preserved architectural groups that were constructed during the Ming and Qing dynasties"(Xitang)

  Five years ago Li Jing and her extended family decided to open a restaurant in the Northeast Bronx, where they could enjoying cooking American Chinese food as well as the specialties they love from back home.

  One day when I stopped by to order some of my family's favorite yummy foods from there, I happened to notice Li Jing's little son playing within an enclosed area in the restaurant. As I looked closer at the adorable toddler, I observed that his tiny little baby butt was peaking through his pants. It turned out that he had a slit in the back of his pants. The rather peculiar observation sparked a very interesting conversation between Li Jing and myself about our cultural differences and parenting traditions.

  Since Li Jing and I had meet before and seen one another many times before in our neighborhood, I felt comfortable inquiring further and she was more than willing to share her families different potty training ideas. She went on to explain that in many Chinese families the babies spend a lot of time with Grandma and Grandpa. Many grandparents believe that crotch free or split pants allows the baby to learn about elimination communication (Chengduliving) without the hindrances of clothing. This refers to the cues that help the baby realize when it is time to use the bathroom while also utilizing the child's natural instinct for bladder and bowel training. This type of potty training usually begins as soon as the baby can walk and is fairly common to this day in many parts of China. This idea is also based on a movement which uses this alternative to disposable diapers primarily because many people are passionate that diapers are terribly harmful to the environment and want nothing to do with them.

  This curious and amusing cultural encounter was extremely gratifying because I was able to learn something new. I was actually fascinated and intrigued because I had never heard about this before. In the end, we were able to have a friendly conversation about our cultural differences, which actually was the beginning of a beautiful and substantial friendship.

"About Xitang"ND,web,8/30/17

Matuszak,Sascha "Split crotch pants: China's environmentally friendly non-diaper" Chengduliving
5/6/14,web,8/28/17

A Cow in a Backless Blue Dress

Maria, who is a close friend of mine, and happens to be Puerto Rican like me, has always had relationship trouble. One night over dinner at Outback Steakhouse, she told me about her worst experience in the 'dating world' yet. 

It was a blind date; Maria was only informed of two things: his name, Edy, and that he was Ecuadorian. So, wanting to make a good impression but not knowing what to expect, Maria wore her favorite backless blue dress, and three-inch heels. When Edy had arrived to pick her up, she opened the door and was greeted with the reaction she wanted. Edy grinned from ear to ear, grabbed her hand, spun her around, and said "que hermoso lomo tu tienes". Her dress suddenly felt too small.

What Edy had said was, "what a beautiful back you have". While what Maria had heard was practically "you have a back like an animal". Clearly, this had come off as rude, so Maria closed the door, and ended the date sooner than planned. 

Lomo in Puerto Rico means the back of an animal- usually referred to a cows; while in Ecuador means, a back. 

Although both Ecuador and Puerto rico's languages are influenced by African dialects, Ecuador, unlike Puerto Rico's country, has many different sections within that speak different languages ("Puerto Rico's"). In Ecuador, there are over twelve different languages spoken, like, Kichwa, Secoya, Cuaiquer, and Shuar, just to name a few; this has an overall effect within their general Spanish language ("The Language"). 

In tears of laughter, I explained to Maria that lomo, in Ecuador means back. This made me think of all the other misunderstandings in the world just like this, and how many potential relationships ended because of the different type of spanish they spoke...

We had a good laugh, and Maria was delighted to find out she didn't look like a cow in her backless blue dress.  

Work Cited

"Puerto Rico's History". Welcome.topuertorico.org. ND. Web. Accessed 28 Aug. 2017

"The Languages Spoken in Ecuador". Studycountry.com. ND. Web. Accessed 31 Aug. 2017

My mom's prince charming... for me?...

   So, I woke up this morning and saw my mom stressing out due to her friend needing a couple of weeks off from work. Me being pretty curious, I asked for her friend's reason to see if I had a suggestion to relieve my mom's stress. She then proceeded to ramble about her friend's country as well as their culture. I say “ramble” because she was talking about things that I didn’t ask her about such as the food, vacations, etc. So I ignored it. One thing she did mention that caught my attention about her friend was that she’s from Islam and her parents finally decided to proceed with her arranged marriage. That was the reason her friend needed a few weeks off. I was very close-minded about it at first because all these questions popped into my head like “What if they’re not compatible?” or “What if they don’t find each other attractive?”. My mother saw my face and explained that in an arranged marriage, you’re not allowed to see or even meet your partner until the day of the wedding. Now that statement was the one that really blew my mind. I just kept thinking how I would never do it and that I feel bad for people who do have to go through that.

   As the day went by, my mind was racing about the situation because it was all so new to me. Did you know, that the percentage of divorce rates for arranged marriages is ONLY 4% while comparing to the U.S and Canada which is 40-50%! (“everything”)

   Apparently, most studies say that arranged marriages tend to last longer than regular marriages. Now, I’m not too sure about the insides of an arranged marriage but that does sound tempting… Maybe I’ll actually consider going through an arranged marriage when I get a bit older. I mean who knows, I might find my prince charming through my mom!

WORK CITED

"What do arranged marriage statistics tell us?" Everythingengagement.com. ND. Web. 31 Aug. 2017