Tobias Essuah-Mensah

AMST 100

Dr. Nicole King

12/6/2012

                                                     What did you learn in AMST 100?

            The most important thing that I learned from the American Studies class 100 is that this class has taught me how to do a blog. I had heard of blogs but actually not done one before and secondly it has taught me about the historical context of places which I never knew before and an example is Liberty square in New York where people go to voice out their opinions in peaceful protest. In addition to that it has enabled me to learn the American culture from a different perspective and the society in which they dwell in.

Tobias Essuah-Mensah

AMST 100     
Dr. Nicole King
November 15^th 2012
                                                             Culture Shock
        Like most kids in Ghana, I grew up watching movies such as ‘Twins’ and ‘Last Action Hero’ both starring the one and never dying hero Arnold Schwarzenegger. Many rumors and stories were constantly being told by those who visited the USA on a regular basis about walking up to celebrities such as Arnold and Stallone and sharing an ice cream cone whilst recounting past movies and discussing future movie productions. A lot of rumors abounded about how you could walk into a store and have all the candy you wanted without paying a cent. I dream't daily of the wonders of the USA.  Imagine my excitement when my parents decided to relocate to the USA. However, my excitement was short-lived and gave way to utter shock.Walking out of JFK was an experience in itself: I watched vapor rise from nostrils and lips of New-Yorkers as they filed past us with a stare that said ‘get the hell out of my way you or get knocked down”. Everything moved ten times faster than normal and was rude and unfriendly.  I knew certainly that i was in for a rude awakening.
         High School presented its own culture shock. First day of school began with the dreaded introduction: name, and birth place. When it was my turn I hesitantly stood up and said “Hi, ‘my name is Tobias Essuah-Mensah and I am from Ghana’.” Aside from their difficulty comprehending my accent, it took a whole year for my teachers and classmates to pronounce my name correctly. Shockingly, some of my teachers hadn't heard of Ghana and called it Guyana. Students asked whether I had a pet monkey named bobo, if people lived in huts, climbed trees like Tarzan and wore loin clothes. I still wanted to know “where were Arnold, Sly, the free candy, soda, and ice cream I always saw in the movies?”
        I realized that assimilating meant sharing my culture and learning the culture of my classmates. I realized they weren't being hostile, they were simply curious about my world. My shock decreased as i worked to understand this new society. 

               

                                                             Starbucks Life

“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” Jane Jacobs. Mostly when people hear of public space what comes to mind is a place where people meet and socialize which is true to some extent but that is not always the point. The Starbucks in Columbia mall tells a different story because it’s a place where people come and go. A place where couples meet and dine or just shop around but for the Starbucks itself it’s a place where people meet to talk about business and family issues, others to just come there to surf the web and there are other instances where people come to just sit around to read a story book or text on their phone. Therefore Starbucks is a place for everyone. 

Word Count: 152

                                                                This I believe

                                                          What are my beliefs?

          During my early childhood, each time an adult gave me money to divide it between my little brother and myself, I would divide the money by tearing it up literally into two and giving the other half to my junior brother. As always, he would eventually complain about having the lesser half and I would respond by giving him a bit more of my half. This always made my mother upset but she understood how innocent and naive we were at that age. The reason why I gave this particular example above is that its moments such as the one mentioned above helped shape my belief.

          I believe in sharing and caring for humanity, family, and the less fortunate of society. I believe in accommodating older and younger ‘annoying’ siblings and their constant nagging for more. I quite remember my mom always mentioning ‘for the sake of peace, always accommodate family, friends and even your enemies if the opportunity arises’. By learning to care for my younger brother and accommodating his needs, it helped shape my belief of caring and accommodating the people most important in my life. By realizing the patience and the love my mom showed each time we acted this way, it instilled the seed of patience and love in my heart. She could have easily reached for the whip and spanked the melanin off our skins but each time she just smiled and explained to us the right way of sharing the money given to us. My believe is that sometimes people act differently and away from what we consider normal because like young Tobias they are just naive  innocent and not privy to information or whatever the need may be. It is during these times that I believe that as a society we must learn to care, accommodate, love their differences and teach them when the need arises.
Word count: 300

                                                     

                                                            
                                                       BOTI MATTERS TO ME

 Boti falls  which serves as a place for tourist attraction has a high altitude and thin air as you begin to ascend the top of the hills where as the spring water that flows at the top could be used to quench ones thirst. With the cool breeze and the rustling of leaves to cool of the body from sweat during the walking trail and the umbrella rock which provides shade for relaxation makes it an ideal place to visit. Therefore my place matters because all over the world tourism is known to have been a promoter of major foreign exchange earner for a lot of nations. Although Ghana does not place much emphasis to gain maximum benefit to the nation from this industry the site has great scenery and a great atmosphere which each and everyone should experience and this is why boti matters to you and me. 

                      
   THE NEED FOR CRUISING

 Nothing is more fun when you are cruising in a car that runs good getting you to a point where you feel the need for speed. I’ve driven a few cars from ford escort, ford contour, Chrysler, Volvo and just to name a few. They say you are what you wear but the car makes the man. For instance, my 1999 Nissan Maxima does not even come close to others cars on the road as far as cruising is concerned. Yet, I am still content with the little cruising my maxima offers, because it gives me confidence whenever I am on the road. 

Mirage of the future

                                                           
                                                               Mirage of Life

Growing up as a kid planes really fascinated me and wanted to become a pilot but due to an incident it changed my perspective. The point came where naming planes came naturally and even knew the times they flew and passed by my house and even knew to the minute, the second when one off my family members were travelling and even coming. The incident that chanced my perspective was a plane crash but besides that there are other things in mind for my future and that is one day I dream of becoming a media mogul both here and in Ghana.  

word count: 100