Abortion

Nowadays , I'm taking 2 course such as U.S government and Sociology. In the U.S Govt, they showed some points and theories about the controversy over abortion in the U.S. Then in my Sociology class, we discussed about the trend and the reasons why abortion is such a controversial issue and why it's suffering in the social life.

Before, whenever I heard the word "abortion", the idea that immediately occurs in my mind was about the unmarried woman who wanna gave up her child because of her selfishness. Then I recognized that there are hundreds different reasons why people wanna kill their child. The most moral principle they showed was to protect the mother's health. It's reasonable in some ways.

Well, it was the theories that were written in the book. Then, I read some stories of people who had abortions and people who are intending to have an abortion. It sucks! Maybe I'm not in their situation, so I don't know how they feel and what the true reason that forced them to do so, but it was just so horrible when I went page to page reading their stories. A 21 years old who had 4 abortion in 1 year, having sex without any protection. A woman who had sex with her boyfriend finally get married to him after had an abortion, now she would never have a chance to be a mother anymore and her husband just wanna kick her out of their house. And hundreds and hundreds stories of women who are suffering for what they did. Who's fault?

I just don't understand and don't believe in what people called love and married. Yes, they love each other, hurt each other, getting married and then it turns out to be nothing than a paper. Frankly, I keep dating and breaking up after 3 or 4 weeks, it's not because I'm changeable, I just
can't trust anyone. Guys are the same! Don't blame me, blame yourself!

Expression

Freedom.

That's all I want to say. To be honest, I love the way how American express their feeling and emotion. For the most basic thing, to say "I love you" to your Mom or Dad is also a big difference. For American children, if I wasn't wrong, I have observed that it was just very familiar and easy to say that to their parents. For me, I would be a challenge. Frankly, I have had never said "I love you" to my Mom. It always made me feel nervous and feel totally abnormal. Yet for the kids in the U.S, they just live with it. I think maybe it because of the way we were educated. In Vietnam, we were taught to keep our feeling and emotion. Even parents don't use to express their love to their children. That's how it works for the whole generation.

For the couple, the way they kiss each other in the public somehow make me really impress and admire them. When I first came to the U.S, I already prepared for those kinds of things but the first time when I saw a couple kissing on the Guadalupe street , I was blushing. In Vietnam, if a couple express their love to each other in the public, it would be seemed as a rude and impolite attitude.

For friends, they express how they feel, say what they think and somehow, I have a feeling that American talk a lot. I had a chance to hang out with 2 native speaker, one guy and one girl. They kept their conversation going on and on, even they jump into the speech to show their opinion about the topics. At that time, I didn't know how to interrupt them to show my point of view, which I thought that it would be a rude attitude.

To conclude, I love the way how American utter their feeling, emotion and mind. It's more easy to survive with this life.



*Source: image "Kiss" from deviantART.com

Coffee Time

People love coffee.

I have seen a lot of American start their days with Starbucks, and I'm also not the exception. Everyday, after getting off the bus, there is always one American girl, who also on the same bus with me, walk in front of me and heading to Starbucks. It has happened for 3 months since this semester begun. Maybe for you guys, there is nothing special about it, but for me, it's just like a movie, when you watch it again and again.

Last Tuesday, I spend the whole morning at Starbucks. I chose a seat in the corner, which is next to the window, where I can observe almost all of the store's activities. People came in and came out, standing in the line waiting for their coffee, they talked to each other in a friendly atmosphere. It made me somehow felt really relax. Besides that, I like the way people communicate to each other in the U.S, formal or informal, they are both respect the privacy of each other. For example, on that day, I spend almost 3 hours sitting at Starbucks, but nobody came to me to complain about it or even care about what I was doing. If I were in Vietnam and acted like that, I would become a whimsical one.

While talking about coffee, it reminds me about some memories. The reason why I love to spend time at Starbucks is the smells of it. Coffee smells always bring back the sweet or "salty" moments in my life.

The strong smell of black coffee reminds me of my father. He usually starts his day with a cup of black coffee. Whenever I woke up in the morning, I would love to stay in bed and enjoy the smell from his cup. He told me that by beginning the day with coffee, he feels more relaxed and ready to face any problems. He also drinks coffee to finish a day. After having dinner, he usually settles into his favorite chair and watches TV with a cup of coffee in his hand. Also I always sit next to him in silence and smelt his drink. Maybe for other people, it's just a smell, but for me, when I smelt it I could imagine how hard my father worked the whole day.

Moreover, the sweet smell of Cappuccino reminds me of my best friend. She loves Cappuccino. I still remember the first time we hang out, she ordered a cup of Cappuccino for me. She said she thinks friendship is just like a cup of Cappuccino. Its smell is sweet, also when you drink it, it would not be sweet enough at first, but after that the great taste would satisfy your tongue. Furthermore, when she broke up with her boyfriend, she also drunk Cappuccino. She said love smells like Cappuccino, but it doesn't taste like one.





Source : picture " Time for Coffee" from DeviantART.com

Animal- Humankind

Among the Vietnamese in the ESL, there is a very popular and humor phrase that we usually use to talk about the things in the U.S "Even an American dog is fatter than a Vietnamese one." Yes, I want to talk about the relationship between animal and human in the U.S.

I know that America loves animal, especially the pet such as dogs and cats. Even though, sometimes it was quite confusing to me. As I have seen, almost all the homeless in the U.S have a dog, who always sitting or lying next to them. At first, I wondered why they have a dog while they even can't support themselves and still begging for the money to survive. Then, some of my friends said that because American love animal, and maybe with a dog, their begging career could be more bright. I don't know if it's true or not, that's just what I heard from my friend. Additionally, I had seen a homeless on the Guadalupe street, after getting a bread from somewhere else, he broke it in to 2 pieces and then gave one to his dog first. It was such an unbelievable and unexplainable imagine to me.

As I have said on the previous post, I took the bus to go to school. One time, when I just got into the bus and it was extremely full of people; but I was lucky to have a sit near the driver. Then, there was a man with a big dog walked into the bus. It was little bit strange for me because in Vietnam, we aren't allowed to bring the animal to public transportation. While I was still wondering, the bus driver turned back and told me and the person next to me to leave the seat for the owner and his dog. Well, I was pleased to do it, but when I told my friends about it, it became a joke. They said "In America, you have to stand for a dog to sit."

On the other hand, the birds in the U.S also brought me a different experience. Whenever I went to Starbucks for coffee with my friends, we usually chose to sit outdoor. It happens that the birds just naturally come to us without any scare. Sometimes, they even stand on the table that we're sitting at. It would never ever happen in Vietnam, where you just rarely see a bird in a daily life. Besides that, the birds in the U.S, they are really fatty. Whenever we saw a chubby bird, we usually said "He ate too much McDonald."


*Source: photo "Take out the dogs" from deviantART.com

Social Relatioship

I don't know if this topic would cause me any problem or not, I just want to share my point of view about the relationship between people and people in America.

I usually use the bus to go to school as my main transportation. When I first came in the bus, the bus driver would say:" Hi, how are you?" with a warm welcome. It was really impressive to me because I even didn't know him. Then I recognized that it was just an polite behavior and normal attitude. Also in the bus, people talked to each other as if they had known each other for a long time even though they just met for few minutes. With just an simple sentence or question, they would talk and discuss about it for half an hour in a very friendly and humor atmosphere. It is impossible in Vietnam.

While talking about this, it reminds me about some awkward experiences. One time, when I was waiting for the bus on the corner of Guadalupe and 24th street, there was one guy who wear a very formal suit. He came to me and sat next to me. I guess he was not original American but he was a native speaker; and he was really handsome, I swear. He was on the phone and he frequently looked at me and smiled. I felt really awkward at that time. After finishing his phone call, he suddenly looked at me and said something really fast, that I just could caught one part "...I love you!" Frankly, I was almost freezing. After getting back my calm, I asked him: " Sorry, what did you said?" Then, I recognized I misunderstood him; he asked : "What do you think when a boy call a girl and said "I love you" while he was drunk ?" I was shocked again because of that spontaneous question. Out of the blue, there was another guy just came and heard that question, he answered it and they started discussing about it while I was sitting between them in silence.

In addition, I was walking to school from the Co-op, there was one guy who is making an interview on the street. I tried to avoid him by walking faster and bowing my head, but he finally chased after me and caught my hand. I knew that I had better give him few minutes. I said "no" to all the questions and suggestions that he gave me about giving money to help saving the polar bears; yet he was always smiling and even getting more exciting. Then, to finish the interview and let me walk away, he said "give me a hug" and then just hug me without waiting for my answer.


*Source: image "People" from deviantART.com

♥Halloween 09♥

It's been 2 days since the Halloween and I was still upset. It doesn't mean I don't like Halloween holiday, it just because I couldn't do what I really want to do.

I was so excited for whole month and kept wondering about my costumes and stuff. This Halloween was my first Halloween in my life because we don't have Halloween in Vietnam. We did celebrate Halloween in Vietnam but it was just for small amount of young people; also it's not a common holiday.I still remember that I knew about Halloween via some teenager American movies when people went wild and crazy on that day. Now, I did have a chance to experience it.

The thing I most like about holiday in America is the way people celebrate it together. For example, on the Independence Day, when I first came to the bus in the early morning to go downtown to meet my friends, I recognized that almost all of people wore some basic colors such as blue, white or red. That was so impressive to me.