Talking to Linh

Today, Linh and I went to the Barnes & Noble on University together. We started at Starbucks so I could sip a Peppermint Mocha while we browsed. We talked a little bit about Christmas presents. She plans on making most of her presents or cards for people. She's also not giving as many people presents. The only person Linh was really concerned with getting a present for was her sister.  I've spent a few weeks stressing over papers, tests, and what presents to give my friends and family.  Sometimes, I forget how simple presents can be. I enjoyed Linh's enthusiasm about making simple cards. We didn't see anything at Barnes & Noble that would help her, but I did give her some suggestions for other places to visit.

Once we moved out of the gift sections, we started looking at books together. Linh was excited to try to find a set of Christmas stories that she used to read, but we couldn't find it. Instead, she found a display of several collections of stories such as Aesop's Fables, Jane Austen's works, and other large volumes. Linh started picking each one up and asking me if I had read them. I'd tell her which ones I had read and she'd ask me to describe them. She wanted to find a collection of Grimm's fairy tales, because she had read several of them as a child. Many of us have also read Grimm's fairy tales, but in different forms from the ones Linh read in Vietnam. She has a childlike excitement about everything. It's refreshing. Most of the people I know are fairly jaded and sarcastic. Most of them aren't so happy about everything, but Linh is.

Linh also told me about how she wound up as a student in the United States. She came to New York as an exchange student at first. It wasn't easy for her. Her first  host family was excited to have her- as a maid and babysitter. They had two younger children and wanted Linh to spend a lot of time taking care of them. Living there wasn't working out for her, so Linh found another host family. She said they were a sweet couple, and always nice to her. Unfortunately, they had a tough time financially. When winter arrived, the family struggled to even pay for heating in their home. They decided that they couldn't afford to keep Linh. She had to move to yet another home. After her third home in New York, Linh moved to San Antonio to go to a private military school with her sister. After graduating, Linh came to TCU because her sister is also here. Her parents want her to study business and then come back to Vietnam. Linh's dream is to study business and entertainment- to appease her parents and herself.

I hope that Linh and I will still be able to hang out during the next semester. She's a nice girl and it's interesting to compare our cultures.

Get a Seeing-Eyed Dog

This story was easier to comprehend and relate to than "Under the Ridge". All of Hemingway's stories leave me with an odd feeling; sometimes, it's almost sad but I can't quite tell.

This couple seems to be more in love than most of Hemingway's couples. There's still a conflict and the couple is still unhappy, but I think they're unhappy due to circumstance and not by a lack of love for one another. The husband is blind, and I'd like to know what made him blind. It's clear that he wasn't always blind, but it's not clear when he went blind or why. The iceberg effect can be obnoxious in this aspect because I want all the details, but they're not always there. The husband is extremely worried about his wife's welfare. He thinks that if she has to keep taking care of him, it will wear her out and "destroy her life." Maybe he doesn't realize how much she loves him, or maybe he is underestimating her strength. I think this couple has been put into a bad situation and they aren't sure how to handle it yet. The blindness must be somewhat new because they seem to still be grieving the loss of his sight and their old lifestyle.

The comments about the dark were interesting. "This isn't like the real dark. I can see very well inside." The husband tries to be more optimistic about his condition and his fate, while the wife is more distressed by it. I think it distresses her because she can tell that her husband is only trying to appear strong. She even tells him "You don't have to be so bloody noble." She knows he wants to be brave, but she doesn't expect him to be.

The way that this couple interacts is indicative of a strong, long-term relationship. I think it's sweet that they have "barred" phrases. It's like they've been together for so long that they have gotten tired of certain terms and made it a game not to use them.

I think I like this couple. They aren't arguing over an abortion, or having a hard break-up. They're hurt and it's sad, but I think they can get through it. I have hope for the couple in this story.

Cat in the Rain: another husband and wife story

A lot of the Ernest Hemingway stories we have read have been about a couple. It is always an American couple and there are usually somewhere other than America. I suppose that this is familiar to Hemingway since he did go through more than one wife.

I think "Cat in the Rain" has an air of loneliness. It opens with a description of the hotel and makes the distinction that this man and woman are the only two Americans in the hotel. Then, Hemingway adds a sentence that I think truly sets up the lonely, isolated scene: "They did not know any of the people they passed on the stairs on their way to and from their room." This couple is alone. They only have each other for companionship. This may not be a bad thing, but the wife's dialogue indicates that she wants more than she is getting. She seems discontent. The way that she stares at herself in the mirror and analyzes her appearance tells me that she is seeking attention. Also, it seems that she is seeking substance. She wants to grow her hair out for two reasons: 1, so she doesn't look like a boy anymore and 2, so she can "make a big knot at the back that [she] can feel." Her current haircut is not substantial enough for her. She goes on to say she wants a cat that will "sit on [her] lap and purr." She seeks attention and love. She wants something that is small and can sit with her and love her for everything she does.

It's possible that what she is also seeking is motherhood. The couple seems to be childless-like many of Hemingway's other couples. In that case, the wife's hairstyle making her look like a boy would be more distressing to her. It's possible that she wants longer hair and a bun because she considers those to be more matronly styles. The cat could be a substitution for a baby. She also says she wants to sit "at a table with [her] own silver." This indicates a want for a more settled lifestyle. I think she is tired of traveling and being in strange places and hotels. She feels it's time to go home again.

Even though the wife seems discontent, this couple appears to have a better relationship than the others we have read about. Although the husband does tell her to shut up once, he spends the rest of the story paying attention to her and trying to be good to her. He offers to go get the cat for her. When she speaks, he doesn't take his eyes off of her. When she comments on her haircut, he tells her that she looks "darn nice" and disagrees that she needs to grow it out. He pays attention to her until she starts to go on about what she wants, particularly the cat. The two seem to want different lifestyles. I think George is fine with living in different hotels, while the wife wants a home.

I think that Hemingway's use of names is interesting. Although the wife does the majority of the talking and action, she is only named as "the American wife." Her husband, however, gets to be named. Why is this?

An Afternoon with Linh

Yesterday, I took Linh to smashburger. She had never been there before. My boyfriend tagged along. He thinks Linh is funny and likes to hang out with us.

Linh told us that she doesn't like hamburgers too often, but she is always willing to try one from a new place. At smashburger, she ordered her burger with a chipotle bun. When we sat down and our food arrived, Linh thought the set-up was so interesting that she wanted to take a picture of it. She said she had never seen a burger served like that. It reminded her of how people in Vietnam treat McDonald's and other fast food places. She told us that in Vietnam, people will have their birthday parties and dates at McDonald's. She said that they dress up and treat it more formally than we do here. Andrew and I thought this was weird, but Linh explained that it is because fast food restaurants in Vietnam are expensive. It is much less expensive to go to a regular, Vietnamese restaraunt than it is to eat fast-food. Linh told us that seafood is also a lot cheaper in Vietnam. I wish that our restaraunts were cheaper than fast food.

When we started eating, Linh realized that something on her burger was too spicy. She thinks it was probably the bun and she doesn't want to order that type next time. Linh used mustard on her french fries, which I thought was interesting because I do that too. Linh uses mustard because she says ketchup is boring and she's tired of it. I use mustard because I don't like ketchup.

When we were at smashburger, two girls from Nolan Catholic walked in. Linh asked me if they were high school students and got excited. She used to go to a private military school in San Antonio. The girls' uniforms reminded her of the one she used to wear. She said that at the time, she thought the uniforms were ugly and she didn't like having to wear one. Now, Linh misses how easy it was to just put on the same uniform every day.

Later this week, we're going to get coffee and go to Barnes & Noble together. Next time we go out to eat, we're going to Chipotle. Linh is always so cheerful. She's always grateful that I'm spending time with her. I think it's a good experience for both of us.

Halloween Costume Shopping with Linh

Yesterday, I met with Linh and took her to the mall to buy a costume for Halloween. She was so excited. She told me during our last meeting that she was going to be the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland, but she didn't want to buy a pre-made costume because it's so expensive. I usually make my costumes myself or buy them in pieces, so I offered to help her.

We went to Ridgmar Mall because that's where I work both of my jobs. Linh asked me to take her to Hot Topic because sometimes the store scares her and she didn't want to go in alone. I thought this was funny. A lot of people have the misconception that Hot Topic is a scary store. The walls are painted black, but there's more light in a Hot Topic than in a Hollister. The movie is sometimes loud, sometimes screaming, but there's also much calmer music on the playlist. The employees are tattooed, pierced, and/or wearing strange clothes, but they are all nice people who care about helping customers. Honestly, Hot Topic employees are the same people that one might see working at any other store or restaraunt. One might not notice this because in those situations, the employees are encouraged to cover up their tattooes, remove their piercings, and wear a uniform or conform to a more rigid dress code. Anyways, Linh was surprised when she came into Hot Topic with me and the music was soft. She saw several things that she liked and enjoyed being in the store. We picked out some blue eyeshadow and red lip liner for her costume.

Then we tried all the girly stores: Wet Seal, Charlotte Russe, and Forever 21. We were looking for a black corset, preferably with some embellishment or something to make it look more royal. We were also on the lookout for a black skirt that wasn't too short. Linh wanted to ensure that her costume was not "slutty" like a lot of other women's costumes that are avaliable in stores. This is another reason why she and I are making her costume. We found everything that she needed pretty easily- and Linh only spent $18. After Linh bought all her pieces, we sketched her costume together. I gave her a short list of the things that she still needed to complete her costume and instructions on how to do it.

It was interesting to see how people treated Linh and how she interacted with salespeople in the stores. She isn't always aware of the customs, so sometimes she looks a little lost or asks unusual questions. People noticed her slightly unusual behavior and seemed off-put by it or they thought she was funny. I wanted to explain to everyone that she's a sweet girl and she's only been living in the United States for three years. It seemed as if people didn't know what to say to Linh, so they would say nothing. When I go into a store, I usually have minimal interaction with the salespeople as well. However, that's because I choose not to talk to salespeople unless I truly need something. I am a sales associate at two stores so I know what it's like on both sides. I mostly don't want to bother anyone. I don't mind when customers talk to me, and I make an effort to respond to them- no matter how unusual their conversation may be. The cashier at Charlotte Russe didn't even attempt interaction. She rang Linh up and if Linh asked a question, the cashier would give a quick, monotone response. She was somewhat rude to us. I couldn't tell if she was being rude because Linh asked questions and phrased things in weird manners, or if she was just tired and didn't want to be at work. The associates at other stores made an effort to talk to us and answered Linh's questions honestly and casually. The cashier at Forever 21 made conversation with us about Halloween costumes. I think people are unsure of how to react to people they're unfamiliar with, so they become stand-offish or laugh.

A Few Words on Feminism

Dear classmates in Literature and Civilizations II,
This post is not about our reading, but I think it's important. This post is inspired by a question posed by Professor Williams in class today. He asked for a show of hands from those who consider themselves feminists. I was almost afraid to look around the room, so I only saw about half. As far as I saw, I was the only one to raise a hand. And I did so without doubt, or qualifying statements or questions, or hesitation. There is a problem with this.

I want to start with the dictionary definition of feminism: "support of social, political, and economic rights for women equal to those of men". This definition was taken from the dictionary.com application on my phone, so it is not perfect nor is it the sole definition. However, it is a good one. Please, for at least a few minutes, focus on the definition and throw out all negative connotations that you may have ever attached to feminism.

Feminism is not about: bra-burning, not shaving, not wearing makeup, refusing to be a mother, thinking women are superior to men, insulting or demeaning men, being a lesbian, or any other silly thing that someone told you feminism was. It's true that some of these characteristics pertain to some feminists. Every movement will have its radicals. Radicals can be found in politics and religion, and certainly in feminism. However, radicals are not the sole definition of a movement or group. As with any movement, there have been different waves of feminism and the goals of each wave differ. Still, the core goal of each wave and feminism as a whole is to obtain equality.

Feminism is for any person who has ever thought that women deserved to be treated equally to men by the law and society. It is for any woman who has ever wanted to be paid as much as a man for the same job. It is for people who believe in what is right and just. It is for women who want to be more than just bodies, but be real people. It is about embracing femininity and masculinity in every person- regardless of their sex. It is about being whatever type of woman one would like to be. It is about freedom. It is about allowing women to have equal opportunities. Feminism allows an entire world of possibilities to be open to women and men.

Being a feminist is not shameful. It should be natural to any woman who just wants the chance to succeed in life. I encourage people to take a Women's Studies class or read a feminist book. If you don't want to read a dense text on feminism, try something from Jessica Valenti. She's young and easy to understand. Her writing style is casual, but informative. Even if you don't want to read or study anything about feminism, please give the idea a chance and don't condemn feminists.

Sincerely,
Your forever-a-feminist classmate,
Libby

Conversations with Linh

I met with my conversation partner Linh for the second time yesterday. She's Vietnamese and one of the sweetest people I have ever met. She speaks a lot of English, so we get along great and can talk about a plethora of topics. Occassionally, we stumble over a couple of words and we have to try to explain what we mean.
I knew from our first meeting that I would like Linh and probably look forward to our conversation times. Our first meeting, we paid attention to the time because we were both busy bees and we left right on time. During this second meeting, we went past our hour and didn't even notice. Linh had a packed schedule again but a girl has to stop and eat, so she asked me to take her to one of my favorite places in town. I assured Linh that I'm a safe driver, so I picked a frozen yogurt place on Hulen street instead of the typical places around campus and drove us there in my old mini-van. The frozen yogurt shop is called Yogurt Zone. It's a little place with 10-14 flavors lined up on a wall, and then a toppings bar. Everything is self-serve and priced by weight. I had already been there often enough to know what flavors I wanted, but Linh had no clue. I got some sample cups for her and she tried as many as she wanted before settling on kiwi-strawberry and peanut butter. When we started putting on our toppings, I found out that Linh and I have the same favorite fruit- kiwis!
Linh and I sat down with our frozen treats and talked about our days since our last visit. I told her about the rough week I've been having and she sympathized. We talked openly about personal matters. I even told her about my younger sister being admitted to a psychiatric hospital this week so she would understand why I seemed so drained. She was sweet about it- mostly curious and sympathetic. We moved on to a light-hearted subject and talked about Halloween. Linh loves Halloween and gets just as excited as I do. In America, Halloween is just something that most of us celebrate and love. For Linh, it's a new experience. She's lived in Texas for 2 years and had never celebrated Halloween before that. Linh thinks that buying an entirely new Halloween costume is wasteful and too expensive, so we talked about all the ways she could make her own costume this year. We made plans to go shopping together next week so she can meet some of the people I work with at the mall and maybe find a costume. I think we'll have fun.
It's amazing to me how openly Linh and I talk to each other even though we've only met twice. We've spent a little over 2 hours with each other and we're from two different countries with different cultures and ideas. Her family has different traditions than mine, but we value so many of the same things. She and I enjoy a lot of the same things. We talk about the same things that I would talk about with any of my friends- hair, guys, relationships, food, clothes, etc. We have completely different backgrounds, but we want a lot of the same things. I'm excited about getting to know her better and I'm glad we're doing this.

Poetry vs Prose, and "The Miracle"

After reading "The Miracle" and "Tea with an Artist", I thought maybe I'd like to go back to poetry. Poetry, typically, has so many less words yet packs the same amount of meaning into itself. Prose is so full of words and pages. The reader has to discern what is valuable in these words and what is just there. If all the words have meaning, then the prose is even more difficult to understand. Poetry can be cryptic but there are usually so many less words to examine. "The Miracle" is full of dialogue and thoughts and actions to glean meaning from. One must consider word choice and a character's behavior and so many other things in order to try to interpret the story. "Tea with an Artist" was just generally odd and I'm still not sure what it meant. Let's have another poem.

The couple in "The Miracle" is such an odd couple. They are two scientists who are also newlyweds. Their behavior doesn't seem like that of  newlyweds. The story says that they were engaged for four years and married for one, yet the two have never discussed religion? And she doesn't know the stories of his past? And they don't speak to each other before breakfast? Not even casually? I'm not buying it. They don't behave like newlyweds or people in love. I want to know why they married each other. The wife thinks that he is ugly and she has to be careful not to injure his ego. She doesn't seem to think her husband is brilliant. She mostly enjoys observing his actions, but I don't know why. The only time during this story that they seem to display love is in the very last line, when the husband "with an ecstatic face...tiptoed to the head of the bed and now, bending down, he folded her in his arms." Even then, it sounds methodical rather than passionate.

I wonder how this story would change if the wife became the narrator. I would be interested to see how she would tell the story and how the details might be different. She is observing her husband, so the reader would probably still get the same level of detail about the husband. I think there would be more of her own thoughts expressed, and it would be more natural in that regard. However, the reader would lose the viewpoint and distance from the characters. As the story is, the reader looks in on a scene between husband and wife. If the wife narrated, the reader would be in the story, listening to the wife observe the husband. The story currently contains a lot of the wife's thoughts but they are filtered through the narrator first. I don't know which I would like better: being immersed in the story, or remaining the fly on the wall.

Leda

After reading Yeats' "Leda and the Swan" and H.D.'s "Leda", I was struck by how different the two were. Yeats' poem disturbed me. "Leda and the Swawn" portrayed the story as a rape, while "Leda" made the story into a beautiful thing.
Yeats' "Leda and the Swan" centered around what was done to Leda and how Zeus victimized her. This story of Leda is harsh and painful. Yeats focused on how "helpless" Leda was and how little Zeus cared. I was bothered by the images of rape in the poem. It's short, but it's clear. Yeats' poem leaves no room for doubt: Leda was raped by the swan. The swan trapped her with "her nape caught in his bill" and continued although her "terrified" fingers pushed him away. Then, Yeats goes on to mention the aftermath of this rape- "the broken wall, the burning roof and tower, and Agamemnon dead." This poem made me sad. This side of Leda's story almost breaks my heart because she's been made so helpless. Zeus is a cruel predator in "Leda and the Swan". I cannot even begin to fathom how awful it is to be raped, but I think that this poem touches on most of the aspects of rape. There is violence, a victim, a predator who is "indifferent" about the victim, fear, and then the pain that continues long after the rape. Maybe, I'm one of the conservative readers that was going to misunderstand the poem, but I cannot help but be disturbed by "Leda and the Swan".
H.D.'s "Leda" is representative of her imagist background, and chooses beautiful imagery. It is in stark contrast to Yeat's poem. In "Leda", all the harshness is gone. It is replaced with warmth and color. H.D. focuses on the beauty of the swan and the scene while making Leda nothing but a flower. This poem still takes away Leda's consent because she is a flower, not a person, and how would a flower consent? H.D. says the flower "rests beneath" the swan, which implies consent. Either way, H.D. has turned "Leda" into a pretty picture as opposed to Yeats' disturbing rape. There is no turmoil in H.D.'s poem. The poem is all softness and beauty. It is an amalgamation of colors: "red", "coral", "deep purple", "richer gold". The color choices seem royal to me, especially the red, purple, and gold. The story told through H.D.'s poem is lovely. It is like a seduction rather than an assault.
I like the imagery in H.D.'s "Leda" more than the imagery in Yeats' "Leda and the Swan". H.D.'s poem is blissful and warm. However, I like Yeats' poem more because I think he shows a more realistic view of the story. Yeats focuses just as much on Leda as he does on Zeus' actions as the swan. He gives Leda a role in her own story. She has actions and emotions despite the swan's indifference to them. Yeats reminds the reader of what is to come of Leda's rape, while H.D. allows one to linger in a happy picture. I do not mind being disturbed or upset by Yeats' poem because it seems more honest than H.D.'s image of the story. It is my emotional response to Yeats' poem that makes it stick in my thoughts. Even with the harshness, Yeats' poem is captivating.