In The Gutter

"You should go on television and win a fortune!" Pg. 14

This shows that some foreigners probably think that Americans make their livings by going on game shows and doing stupid things. A major part of our lives is watching TV and stupid gameshows. They are part of the American culture. It is interesting to think that its as easy as just "going on TV and winning a fortune!"

"Make Sure you Win" Pg. 15

This shows that people are put under a lot of pressure by everyone around them. Kids are put under pressure by their parents, adults are put under pressure by their job or bills, etc. Pressure just seems to be pat of the American culture.

I-Raynians Need Not Apply

" Iranian Robs Grocery Store" Pg.117

It surprised me that, even though there was a fairly hostile situation going on with Iran at the time, that they would specify the persons race. If it were a Russian, Brazilian or even American that robbed the store then it would have just been deemed a robbery. It would not have been a major headline story, it was a headline story because of the fact that an Iranian robbed the store. It was interesting that because of a current situation something could get so much more press and acknowledgment.

"Wanted:Iranians for target practice." Pg.117

This seems like something that would never be said. But it was on a t-shirt and it was out there for the world to see. This shows that the actions of a few people can affect a whole population in a very negative way.

I Ran and I Ran and I Ran

" In case anybody attacks you, Please try and take his picture. This would be most useful." Pg.112

This shows how much hatred there was for immigrants, specifically iranians at the time. It is horrible to think that someone would viscously attack you because of your religion, race, etc. I don't believe that their is ever a reason to be violent towards others unless it is defending yourself. I just can't imagine being an Iranian and being in that situation, it must have been horrifying.

"We're afraid we are going to get beaten up. Could you please help us get back to our hotel? Pg.113

I feel like this is something that a kid or teenager might say, minus the hotel part. We hear about kids being threatened, bullied and beaten up. But there should never be a situation where a family has to ask for protection, especially to a place where they were invited to welcome the someone significant from their country. Just because someone has a different religion or race than you does not make you better then them and it doesn't give you the right to discriminate against them and violently threaten them. It was just surprising to me that a family would have to ask for protection when they were supposed to be their for a happy occasion.

Me and Bob Hope

"Then what do you celebrate?" Pg. 108

This shows how unaware Americans are of other cultures and their holidays. We only know of Christmas and Hanukah, we don;t acknowledge and other holidays because they were never brought to our attention. This shows that we need to be more aware of the people and cultures that surround us and that we should show respect for them by knowing the holidays they celebrate.

" How can Santa not bring toys for some kids when, Mommy, you told us that all kids are good inside?" Pg. 109

I think that this would probably be one of the hardest questions for a parent to answer. It is fairly simple, that some people don't celebrate christmas so santa doesn't go to their house. But kids don't understand much about religion, they just know that good kids get toys so it must be very hard for them to comprehend why some kids don't. If every kid is good inside why wouldn't they get toys no matter what their religion? It just seems like it would be something that is hard for a child to understand and that is hard for a parent to explain.

It's All Relatives

"When the computer aks, 'Are you sure you want to delete this file?, 'Just say no." Pg.99

I thought this was interesting because it is just something that Americans know to do. If it asks you are you sure you want to delete something and you don't want to delete it generally you know to say no. It seems kind of ridiculous in a way that someone doesn't understand that but at the same time it seems like it makes sense because he had never used computers before.

"What an injustice to deny a mind like that an education" Pg. 101

I thought this was interesting because that is happening a lot in America today. Many people can't afford a good education and this means that many smart people are going uneducated. I think that if everyone was educated in America and in the world then we would be better off. Even if someone is homeless or very poor that doesn't mean that they do not have a mind. I think everyone has potential and there are probably some genius's out there who could contribute to the world in a positive but don't get the chance because they can not afford to be further educated and then become an extremely successful and influential person.

America, Land of the Free

"Turkeys have no flavor. She trimmings are worse. Do Americans like turkey? I don't think they do." Pg.74

This shows how different food is in America compared to countries in the middle east. In the middle east the food is generally very spicy and it is very tasteful. In America there is some food like that but the majority of our food has practically no taste compared to the spicy foods of Iran. It is interesting to see what people coming from other countries might think of our food and how we eat.

"I'm recording all the shows we are missing on my VCR!" Pg. 80

I thought this was funny because it shows how Americanized they had become. In Iran they probably did not have a VCR to record things on. In America it is normal to just record the shows that you miss while you are doing some other activity that does not have to be done. TV is something that we can not miss, we can't miss our favorite shows, ever. So it surprised me that they fell into the American way of recording the shows they were missing while doing something as useless as going to a time-share seminar.

Waterloo

"Your head goes like this, thus creating buoyancy; your feet go like this, thus propelling you forward; your arms go like this to steer you. You put it all together and you've got it!" Pg.69

This interested me because while learning to swim we don't look at every detail and mechanical aspect. We just know that we have to move our arms in a certain way and then kick our feet and then we will swim. We don't think about the reasons why that makes us swim. So it is interesting to see how foreigners might learn.

"There was nobody yelling at me in the sea." Pg. 73

This shows how much worse yelling can make a situation. It also shows how much pressure is put on kids and how it influences the outcome of whether they succeed or not. Sometimes being yelled at just makes the activity become boring and that makes you not want to try it again. That is was happened to Firoozeh, she was so nervous because of ehr fathers yelling that she couldn't focus on accomplishing the task at hand.

The "F Word"

" I am not going to talk to you because I can not possibly learn your name and I just don't want to have to ask you again and again because you'll think i'm dumb or you might get upset or something." Pg.63

This surprised me, if I meet someone with a name that is hard to pronounce i keep asking them until I get it right. Even if it offends them a little that i couldn't get their name right in the first place at least i wouldn't always be guessing and calling them by the wrong name. I didn't think many people thought this way and I also didn't think that the people whose names are ssaid wrong noticed. It is one thing to have someone not be able to remember or pronounce your name. But then to realize that they are only not talking to you because of it must be very frustrating.

"Fritzy, Fritzy!" Pg.66

I think that this is very offensive. I'm sure in doctors offices, schools, the dentist, etc. all over the united states receptionists and anyone that has to call a persons name puts no effort into trying to sound it out. I think that those people need to try harder so that people with tough names are not offended. Most people that have hard names to pronounce are always being called something different. It probably gets extremely annoying and if just one person can figure it out, or at least get close to the pronunciation then maybe that would make people with hard names to pronounce feel better.

A Dozen Key Chains

"Well your nose points downward so I figured that's because you are always looking down at the ground or something." Pg.46

This made me think about how off judgment some people can be, especially kids. Most kids don't realize that they are being judgmental or might be offending a person. Adults do realize but most still decide to say what is on their mind which often leads to very hurt feelings. I don't quite understand why even a child would make the assumption that because your nose points down, you look down a lot. It seems like it was a question that was just meant to make the person asked feel bad about themselves.

"Yous stink! Didn't you bathe at all?" Pg.48

This just interested me because she didn't bathe only because she had grown up in her culture where it was rude to have anyone see you naked. She truly made a gross sacrifice because she knew, based on her culture, that it was wrong to bathe and be seen.

Save Me, Mickey

"See how people just wait in patiently in these long lines? In other countries, you'd have a fight! But not here, this is America." Pg. 18

It is very interesting to get a look at American culture from the point of view of a foreigner. It is interesting that something that is so small to us, that is such a minute part of our lives, can be a big deal to someone who isn't accustomed to our way of life. To us waiting in lines is just an inconvenience but there are not often fights that break out just at the thought of standing in line like there may be in other countries. I think that Americans have, as a community, decided that waiting for things is the way life is. We wait, we are constantly waiting. We stand in lines for hours to get on rides that will overall have no important impact on our lives. We wait in lines for hours to buy things, to eat, to get medical help, to be serviced in any way. Waiting in long lines used to be something that was not tolerated very well. Now it is something we expect.

"A name tag, huh? Very clever." Pg. 23

I thought it was very interesting how something like a name tag can be considered "clever". In the American culture it is only proper to call people by their real names. We call most people their first names, then there are teachers who we call by their last names, and then there are strangers who we generally call nothing. We don't talk to strangers because that is dangerous. But if you are at a store most of the time the people servicing you are strangers. We just dont necessarily recognize them as strangers because, they have name tags. For some reason Americans have this assumption that if someone you don't know is wearing a name tag displaying their name then they aren't technically strangers. We know their names so we can call them by their first names, which is how we adress our friends. Isn't it? So we put our trust in people with name tags who direct us to a certain item in a store or help us if we are lost in a a hopelessly confusing and huge amusement park. In other countries trust is not put into anyones hands who you do not personally know. If you have not always known the person or had them to your house then no trust is put in them. Strangers are feared more in other countries then they are here. Students in school in America learn about "stranger danger" while students in foreign countries don't. They just know strangers are not to be trusted. That is common sense for them while some people in America have to be taught. So I think maybe her father thought it was clever because he started to identify with the Americans because something good came out of a stranger, with a name tag of course, and he thought maybe if i know someones name, he can have some trust in them.