I love learning about international culture... and love shows that allow an independent insight into other cultures too. If you're interested too, I would like to recommend a few shows:

"This Illegal American Life".  

If you have the Current TV channel  (I know Current is on DirectTV, I don't know if anyone else carries them or not).

Upcoming showings on DirectTV, on the Current TV channel:

• Thurs, January 24th at 4pm
• Sunday, January 27th at 2am.

Sorry, I don't think it's anywhere online right now and am not sure who else carries Current TV.

Another show I came across tonight:  Tribal Wives (on the Link TV channel).  Um... just as a warning: it IS somewhat NatGeo'ish in nature, with regards to nudity... I didn't feel it was sexualized, and seemed fairly tastefully done. 

Another cultural show that I used to watch - that I wish they would bring back is "Cooking in the Danger Zone".     

At my current position, I help people obtain their GED certificate.  People from all walks of life.  I enjoy being able to be a part of helping them take steps in meeting their goals & bettering their life too.

The classes are frequented also by Spanish-speaking people who want to earn their GED, but unfortunately know little English.  (People CAN take their GED exam in Spanish, however we don't really have any Spanish-speaking tutors to assist them at this time.)

The German Scenario:  

In this scenario, imagine if you will - America has become a desolate wasteland.  There are no jobs, no money.  Your family decides to pack up and move to Germany - not because you want to, but for the simple fact that you will live a life that is destitute if you don't.  You don't know a lick of German.  You are not more advanced in language-learning than others, so you know you have a challenge ahead of you in that regard.

You've found that everything is more expensive in Germany - and you must work of course.  The country provides the opportunity for each person to take an exam that would give them an educational certificate.  Those who do not have the certificate - IF they can get hired - work at minimum wage (and often below).  Those who get their certificate are able to get higher paying jobs and can move up (educationally and/or financially).

Because you're not German -- there are some who see you as a threat.  You're taking the jobs that their friends, family or they might be able to get.  People in your community aren't prone to making friends with you, nor are they willing to use their precious time to help you learn their language (not just because of the threats to their jobs, but also because of your economic status and the stories they've heard about Americans.)

You are simply trying to survive & earn your keep.  You try to make it day by day from sun-up to sun-down, staying out of trouble and even are sending some  help to family who remain back in the US when you can.  While you want to learn the language, you feel learning German is not your biggest priority while you're still in survival mode. It's easier talking to family in English, you get by at the grocery store with the little you know - and besides that, the local German people don't really want to talk to you anyhow.

You go to take the exam, and 3 choices are given to you: 

• Go take language classes in German, then come back and take your exam in German.  Class meets once a week - sometimes you miss because of work or family issues.  You don't have a lot of opportunities to study outside of the class time.
• Take the exam in German before learning the language (there is a great number of tutors to assist you in reaching your goal in German, few speak more than a few words in English).  You are learning a few phrases here and there, but it's still very difficult.  It will likely take you over a year to be up to the level needed to pass the exam (your attendance to the class is limited because you have to work a lot harder at a few part-time minimum wage jobs, in addition to taking care of your children and household responsibilities.)
• Take the exam in English -- you discover that you can finish the exam within a month, and be on to working at a slightly better paying job immediately after! 

Given the previous scenario:

1. What choice would you make, regarding the exam above?
2. How do you feel about people who take their GED exam in a different language?  
3. Has your opinion changed since you read this scenario?

I would like to recommend a good video to watch in follow-up to this blog entry, but sadly I can't find a full-length clip of it online - it's called "This Illegal American Life" by Vanguard, of Current (tv channel).  

Sorry if this blog entry ends up being a random collection of hodge podgeness... 

Yesterday, my mom watched My Girl.  I think she's seen it before, but she indulged in it last night - and at the end she started crying, of course (I didn't watch it thankfully, or I would have been boo hoo'ing right alongside her).  What was my response to hearing her crying in the other room though??  (Please don't think of me as a cold, heartless wench after reading my reaction...)  I wanted to videotape it.  I know, I know -- that sounds entirely cruel perhaps, but I'm telling you, if you heard her cry you would think that it was a fake, playful cry.  I hate that I can't feel empathy when she cries because each & every time it makes me laugh (which actually gets her to stop crying eventually).  

The 1st time I remember hearing my mom cry like she does now, I was 24 or 25 years old.  I don't know if she has always cried like that (she & I didn't have contact from the time I was age 8-18).  I think she had started crying over a sentimental issue, way back then.   I remember looking at her, thinking automatically that she was imitating Jim Carey. I thought, surely, that she couldn't be crying for real.  But, she was - her cry is like a literal "boo hoo".  

Anyhow... I couldn't get a video clip of it, so that others could see that I truly am not a evil, cold person for thinking her cry is somewhat humorous.   I kind of hope her crying style will change one day somehow, because I really don't like that it makes me chuckle.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I've been over-thinking a lot of stuff lately.  A sign of too much time on my hands...

I tried to contact a lady to see if she would meet one-to-one with me to work on some stuff in my life, but she hasn't responded to my email or text.  I'm kind of taking that as a sign that she doesn't want to, or that she's already meeting with someone else.  I know I shouldn't "assume" anything... but that's what I seem to do best.  I sit and think that it means that they know that I won't succeed, or that if I had wanted it bad enough that I would have contacted her a long time ago.  I know it's not right that I think that God and most others think I'm a hopeless, washed up piece of nothing.  But I don't know how to change my thinking on that either. 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sheesh, this blog entry is a lot less meaningful than I hoped it would be.    Sorry if you feel your time has been wasted.  Speaking of wasting time... Don't bother watching Contagion.  I rate that movie as Simply Pointless.

Lord, help me let it go
Let me ignore the spasms
Of pain and anguish and darkness

Lord, let me turn my cheek
To remember what it means
To fathom forgiveness & reconciliation

Take the evil, turn it to good
Take the emptiness, fill me up
Take the pain, mend the wounds

Lord, fill this empty soul
Replace it with your goodness
Hallow out the wickedness

Parch the poison that drenches my soul
Take the icy glares, blind me forever
Substitute with gratefulness & love

Help me give what I have not received
Cure me of the corrupted heart
Avail me of the secret burning desire