A Day of Thanks in Our Busy Lives

It is nice to know that in our busy work oriented culture we actually have an holiday to spend time with family. American culture is usually busy and work oriented but amazingly Thanksgiving is the day that everyone puts their stress aside and spends their time with their family and friends. This is the one day where we all come together and be thankful for what we have. Thanksgiving is not only celebrated in American but is also celebrated is many other places with a slightly different tradition. Every autumn, the ancient Greeks enjoyed a three-day festival to honor Demeter, the goddess of corn and grains. The Romans had a similar celebration in which they honored­ Ceres, the goddess of corn. The Roman celebration included music, parades, games, sports and a feast, much like modern Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is an holiday that is almost in every culture with slightly different traditions and meanings but no matter what culture it is in, we can definitely say it is one of the few holidays that relieves an individual from their cultural stress and lets them spend wonderful time with their family and friends.

Volunteering at the Veterans Hospital!

Not every old person is a fountain of wisdom but, as a society, western countries generally don't have a lot of respect for older people. I volunteered at the Veterans Hosptial yesterday at around 6 and it was really fun! I started volunteering there since an experience from Red Cross and I must say that everyone ( old and young ) are so sweet and kind. While on my way back from the hospital I started to wonder why USA or any developing country has the need to send their parents or any old member of their family to a nursing/retire home? I mean I know most of the patients at the hospital and most of the time their family doesn't even come to visit! This is very different from the culture in India; in India it is the children's responsibility to take care of their parents, even after they are married, but in some parts of the world some children just put their parents in retire homes! I know that they might be busy doing their job and etc but still! I mean their parents worked so hard to take care of their children but their children don't return the favor when they grow up but instead they send them to nursing homes! This might be the result of different cultural values : India values family a lot and I know that developed nations like the USA are very work oriented but still..I don't understand how a person can do that, I mean I feel horrible if I don't visit the hospital at least once every 2 weeks while some of the patient's family members don't even take care of them. :(

Time takes over our lives!

I tried the day without time project that we were assigned in clsss and I am still doing it now and I must say.. it's pretty hard. I mean everywhere I look there is time- on the phones,microwave,tv,computer,etc.- it seems like you can NEVER get away from it. Currently I don't know what time it is but my daily activities like eating dinner at a specific 'time' are giving me a sense of idea. Not only that but even though I covered all of the appliances that show time, my family still has the urgency to check their phones every 30 mins to see what 'time' it is and what they should be doing by then. I never knew how much time influenced our lives before this. I feel so weird to not know what time it is or how much of the day has gone by. You can never get away from time no matter how much you try because sooner or later you will look at what time it is and let it control you again.

Nation of Givers

America is known as the Nation of Givers and I have to agree with that. More then any other country in the world, America is known to give to many other countries and people. A large majority of U.S. citizens donate money each year to houses of worship and charitable organizations. Most estimates place the percentage of American households that make monetary contributions each year at 70 to 80 percent, and the average American household contributes more than $1,000 annually. We are known to develop many foundations such as Red Cross, PETA , etc. but what is ironic about this is that we are also the nation is fighting the longest war in the American history : The Iraq War. Some aspect of our culture is teaching us to care for others while our patriotic side is propelling us to fight.