Bob Droog

Success is a journey, not a destination.

I know, I know.. it’s a long time ago.. again .. I have been so busy though! I’ll start from my last post. I passed my drivers test with 99%. He said I did everything alright, only I took my left turn too wide. Instead of taking the inner-lane I took the outer-lane. No major problems. I also managed to get a car, I bought a Ford Explorer from a buddy of mine. I do not like Ford’s at all, but he sold it to me for a super good deal, so I kind of had to do it! Haha. Also, I have been liking it since I have a car. It’s a lot of more freedom. You can see some pictures at the right.

The weather has been really weird in Colorado. However, I guess that’s normal here. Hehe. I did made some pictures with my iPhone, which I’ll show you in a little bit. The end of this semester is already in sight! I’m excited. I can’t wait for summer, hopefully I’ll be able to do some traveling around the United States. I’m going to see my sister in Ohio for sure already, right after school is over. It’ll be great to see her graduate from BGSU. I have no other traveling plans yet, although, I would love to visit Debbie and Chris in Arizona, and Richie in California. I guess I just have to wait and see what happens.

Biking, is what I have been trying to do lots of. Every time it was nice out, or even when it was raining.. well, let’s say when I had time, I was on my bike.. doing rounds from 12 to 30 miles. I try to do every time longer trips. And hopefully I’ll be able to go up to the Rocky Mountains to bike. I think that would be a blast!

The Escapist – The Streets

Unit Three Assessment using G.S.S.O.A. by Monica

Written by Monica – April 14, 2010.

Bob Droog, a spontaneous, honest person who loves exploring and experiencing new thing; was born nineteen years ago in Schagen, Netherlands to Bob Sr. and M. Droog. Having an interest in America culture, Bob moved to the United States as an exchange student in 2007. A year later, he moved back to Holland for a year and a half. He returned as an exchange student in January 2010. The only family member that Bob has in the United States is his sister Arisca. She attends Bowling Green University in Ohio. Moving to the United States was a different experience for Bob. He had to adjust and assimilate some of his traditions and learn how to live in the United States. Following Gordon’s seven stages of assimilation, the changes that had been taking place in Bob’s life and in other people from Netherlands can be recognized.

Gordon’s seven stages can be divided in to two groups: The immigrant group; assimilation made by immigrants coming to the new culture, and Host group; assimilation made by people than live in the culture.  Culture assimilation, the first stage; was the most important and hardest adjustment for Bob. Almost everything is different between Netherlands and the United States, including language, food, sports, education, housing, religious, and more. For example soccer (voetbal) is the most important sport in Holland, but it is not in the United States; therefore; Bob doesn’t have the opportunity to enjoy his favorite sport like he used to. The second stage is the structural assimilation; this category has not affected Bob at all. He is not a member of any kind of institution or societal structure. For example, Bob said that he doesn’t follow politics at all but he wants to change that, learn more, and maybe become part of a group or institution. Next, marital assimilation, for people in Netherlands marriage is very important, serious, and they see it as a connection between two people who are in love. Bob is single but he said that he won’t have any problem marrying someone from a different country or cultural beliefs. One of the examples Bob gave me that sounds very interesting is that in his country education comes first, people go to school and after between the age of twenty four and thirty they get married. It is very strange for Bob seeing how high school graduates get married when they are eighteen or nineteen years old here in the United States. Lastly; Identificational assimilation; Bob won’t consider himself an American in identity, he will always think of himself as a Dutch man, but he will consider himself an American citizen, because like he said; America is a bunch of people from different countries together that live here and consider themselves American citizens. If Bob decides to stay in the United States for the rest of his life he will adjust to it regulations and add traditions as part of his life but he will still conserve his culture as much as he can.

The second group has three stages. To start, civic assimilation, it refers to the power given to immigrants in the host culture. Bob’s mom told him that President Obama’s ancestors had some Dutch in them. The remaining stages are very similar; attitude and behavior receptional assimilation; they refer to the prejudice and discrimination that immigrants suffer when they move to a different culture. In Bob’s case he has never experience any kind of discrimination; on the other hand; people love to know about his culture and he has a lot of friends.

In Holland, it is not common to move to the United States; but for the ones that move here it is not hard to assimilate and be part of this new culture. In my opinion Gordon’s seven stages of assimilations is not a good model because it generalizes without considering that every person is different as well as every culture. Adapting to a new culture and its traditions can be a traumatic experience for some people and a great experience for others; like Bob. People just have to take their chances and start their way to a new life full of changes.

Unit Three Assessment using Gordon’s Seven Stages of Assimilation

Monica Marcela C. is 23 years old and was born in Bucaramanga, Colombia. She lived there all her live until she moved to the United States. Monica was 16 years old when her mother found the love of her life. By the time her mother decided to move to the United States, Monica was still under 18, which is underage in Colombia, so she was forced to move to the United States with her mother and brother. Monica, her brother, and mother had to assimilate to the American culture. This will be explained using Gordon’s seven stages of assimilation.

First of all, cultural assimilation applied when Monica and her family arrived to the United States. They had given up quite a lot of their culture, such as tropical fruits, soccer, their language and more. Secondly, structural assimilation occurs because they gave up church even though they were Catholic. Monica’s brother joined the U.S. Navy, which shows a dedication to the United States. Then they had to assimilate by marriage; they had to give up marrying Colombians to marry others. Monica’s mother had no problem with this because she was about to marry a German. Monica herself had no problems with marrying someone from another culture or country either. The next stage, identificational assimilation, is one of the most difficult ones for most immigrants. This is something Monica could never give up. She says, she could never call herself an American even if she is a US citizen. She is proud of her roots and ancestors, and she will always be Colombian.

In civic assimilation, Monica and her family were allowed to become citizens and were considered naturalized. Monica and her mother are participating in America’s society, and Monica’s brother was allowed to join the U.S. Navy. There are not Colombians with political powers where we know of, but there are people who come from Hispanic nature with political powers; for example, the mayor of Colorado Springs. Attitude receptional assimilation and behavior receptional assimilation apply to Monica’s family because they felt discriminated against by some Americans when they moved to the United States. She said, when she met someone new, all they knew or remember about Colombia was about the cartel and drugs in Colombia, which was two decades ago.

What I’ve learned from using Gordon’s model is that it’s a great way to show if people are assimilating or not, and in my opinion it’s a perfect example to show what people are going through. These seven stages of assimilation are the big major steps that immigrants could go through. It’s not always the immigrant who has to assimilate; also, the host society or country has to change things around to accept the immigrant.

Paragraph on a Folk Object; Wooden Shoes

Wooden shoes symbolizes the Dutch culture. This folk object is completely hand made and has been carried for centuries. It reflects shared and community experience. Wooden shoes are always made by the old fashion traditional way. Creating wooden shoes is extremely tricky; its taught to children by their parents or great parents. Back in the day it was worn by everyone. Nowadays, it’s only worn by the old fashion farmers; it has become an Dutch culture symbol to the Netherlands. The wooden shoes connect individuals to the environment because almost everybody is interested and wondering how it’s made. People all around the world come visit the Netherlands and walk around the famous markets where they show you the Dutch culture. They also show how they make the wooden shoes in the old fashion traditional way.

Sources:

“Wooden shoes.” LetsGoMobile.org. Web. 23 Apr 2010. <http://www.letsgomobile.org/en/review/0055/sony-ericsson-k850i/page4/>.

How To Rebuild Your Computer and Reinstall Windows from Scratch

Your computer is slow and not doing what you want it to do. It’s driving you insane, and you just want to throw the computer out the window. Every time you get pop-ups, viruses, and more stuff on your computer which is not supposed to be there. Now you can make the difference by fresh installing your computer from scratch in 5 steps.

First of all, you need to be sure that you have a Windows CD. Without this, we can’t really do anything. If you do not have a Windows CD, you can get one at any computer shop near you. This is not cheap, so double check your cabinets before buying. After that, look at both sides of your computer case; there should be a Windows sticker with a serial number. This number is your personal ID to register your Windows version with Microsoft. They do this to confirm you paid for your Windows operation system. Now double check if you have a CD/DVD reader or writer. If you don’t know how to check this, look at the front of your CD/DVD reader or writer, and it will show you what it is. As soon as you have all the information and hardware together, we may start.

These are the steps to rebuild and reinstall your computer. First, make sure you have made the proper backups you need of your personal documents, such as word documents, pictures, and your music. Secondly, put your Windows CD in the CD/DVD reader and restart your computer. The computer will ask if you want to boot the CD. Press the space bar to boot the Windows CD. Don’t be scared now; it may look difficult to go through this menu, but it is not that hard. What we are going to do next is formatting the C: drive. This will sweep everything off your hard drive and prepare your computer for a fresh install of Windows. When that is done, you have to select the C: drive and press enter to start the Windows wizard, which will do a fresh install of your Windows system. Next, follow the steps of the Windows wizard. The wizard will help you through the process of installing Windows the way you like it. This process will take about an hour to finish. As soon as the installation is complete, you will see the speed difference already. Immediately, the computer will restart itself after the installation. When Windows is fully started, all you have to do next is install all the hardware drivers. These can be found at the website of the computer company you bought it from. For example, if you have a Sony computer, you may visit Sony.com for the drivers needed. They provide these drivers for free.

Finally, you can enjoy your fast and fresh installed personal computer. You now have no more frustrations, but for how long all depends on how you treat your computer.

Education in the Netherlands

Education is really important to the Netherlands. The Dutch believe you have to start education as young as possible. When you are young, you learn faster and are more open to things than when you are older. That’s why everyone has to attend school when they turn four years old. This way, the Dutch people believe they will be higher educated, get better jobs, and get a higher salary.

When you think about higher education, you may think about better rated schools, such as colleges where you can earn a degree and transfer from.  Most likely, these are the bigger schools with more programs available, such as schools we have in Amsterdam or Leiden, for example. Also, online school may be a good option if you are working and want to improve your knowledge of your job. This can make you a professional when earning a higher educational degree involving job related skills and improvements. If you are not planning on going to a college, which has full classes, you may have to consider going to a private school.

By improving your knowledge of your job, you will be able to get a better job or get a higher job status. Becoming a professional can be really important, but it is not easy to become one. Before you become a professional, you have to be sure that you have the right degree or diplomas. Also, it would be a good thing that you like what you are doing for a living, so choosing the right education is necessary. Don’t forget, experience is also really important in becoming a professional.

Improvements and specialization in your job can bring you a better and higher salary. If you are not satisfied with your regular salary and want to earn more, but you also want to learn more about your job, you could always do more schooling to become a professional and become specialized in your job. Your salary is based on what you do and what you know. Improving your knowledge is mainly the way to earn more money with any job. When you do not have the proper diplomas, certifications, or degrees, it’s hard to make more money than you are doing right now.

In conclusion, to get a high salary and a good job you like, you are always going to have to think about education. In the Netherlands, all the company’s that hire want your knowledge and skills on paper before they can hire you. Therefore, the best way to do well in life is by going to school and getting all the certifications, diploma’s, and degrees you can get.

Comparing Dutch and U.S. Food Cultures

People find other cultures strange as it can be. Take food, for example; some cultures believe not to eat some kind of animal, while it is a delicacy in another culture. There are a lot of differences between cultures in the United States and the Netherlands as well.

The United States, on the other hand, has a lot of similarity to the Dutch culture. For example, the Dutch eat supper between 5 and 7 PM, just like the American citizens. The old fashioned Dutch farmers eat supper a little earlier because they get up early in the morning and work until late at night. The Dutch loves healthy food, but sometimes it’s ok to eat a greasy, fat hamburger. Dutch citizens love their friends to come over for supper when it’s a sunny day. That way they can fire up the barbeque and eat all together. Food brings people together, whether it’s in the Netherlands or in the United States.

When there are similarities between cultures, there are also things completely different between both of them. One of them is the way people eat in the United States. For breakfast, they eat unhealthy food, such as a hamburger, from McDonald’s. This is unacceptable in the Netherlands. The Dutch always eat something like a sandwich or cereal and milk for breakfast. In the Netherlands, most families eat two cold meals a day and one warm meal for dinner. When you take a look at the eating style of the United States, it seems very different. One family eats whatever, the other eats healthy, and the family around the corner eats Burger King every day. The Dutch take more time to cook for their family than most families in the United States do. Going out to dinner is too expensive in the Netherlands. That’s why they eat six days out of seven at home. Some families don’t even bother going out for dinner and cook every meal themselves. They like to cook with fresh vegetables and other items used in their food from the local market.

Finally, most people don’t even see how many differences there are between certain cultures. It’s really interesting to find out that something abnormal is considered normal in another culture.