Section BEG2B

I went to the Blood Drive after my last class at 4:30 though it took place from 11 am to 4 pm on the second of December. At first, I didn’t feel like it was a good thing to give blood, but after I found out that it’s only going to the New York State area I felt like I was really saving lives. The blood goes to five regions (one of which is New Jersey) and serves millions of patients. As a plus, I also found out that I am healthy with a Hemoglobin level of 14.5, a temperature of 96.8, a pulse of 60, and a Blood Pressure of 106/70. I was a little surprised that two of the 50 or so questions that they have donors fill out are (if female) have you ever slept with a guy that did with another guy and (if male) have you ever done it with another guy. I don’t object so much because I am actually kind of scared/hateful of homosexuals, but I just found it funny. I would recommend it to others. Lastly, I got a razor, girl shampoo (for my future girlfriend I suppose lol), toothpaste, axe, and, of course, plenty of food to replenish my liquids and sugar afterward.

So, the room was very closed; no windows, but food and drinks were provided 🙂 The speakers introduced themselves and reminded us that this was going to be about the gay, lesbian awareness thing; which I didn’t know of when i first went in. They all looked normal compared to how I first portrayed homosexuals. I guess I was just exposed to the radial gays that made their preferences obvious. So then after that, they introduced the main speaker that has prepared a speech about his own experience as a gay. I for one was never really around many homosexuals so I judge based on what I have seen. Being told that the speakers were all homosexuals was somewhat awkward for me.  As weird as it seemed, their lives were not much different from ours.

The main speaker’s speech was quite inspirational; as a gay, he has worked in the White House, ran for some elections, and many other jobs that were beyond average. Even for a straight person, it inspires one to aim high no matter what pulls you down. I would highly recommend this to another student because it allows them to see the other side of gays, there is a chance that their perspective of homosexuals will change so this workshop is worth the time to attend.

Today I went to the Global Village event held by AIESEC.

Once inside the multipurpose room I discovered that the Global Village consisted of lots of tables representing different countries. There was also a DJ in the middle of the room playing music from different cultures. When we entered we received “passports” with blank pages, and as we went to each country’s table they gave us a sticker of their flag. Many people at the tables were dressed up in regional clothing–one girl at the Japanese table, for example, was wearing a pink kimono. Some tables asked us to answer questions before we got stickers, while others told us facts. It was very relaxed and I enjoyed myself because it was a fun way to learn about other cultures. Many tables had free food that represented their countries, so I got to try Indian sweets, Colombian cookies, and a lot of other interesting snacks. It definitely took me out of my comfort zone because I knew little about most of the countries and had to guess many questions to get my sticker.

This event only happens once a year, but I recommend it to anyone who is interested in other countries and global culture. It was a good experience because it reminded me that American culture is not ubiquitous, and other countries have very different cultures.