March 27, 2020
Yaying Zhao
Period 7
Modern Mythology 2020, Blog #2
How is what you’re learning applied to any other classes/
the world around you?
Mythologies, folklores, and legends are a reflection of a culture’s history.
The creation stories reflect their beliefs and each story after that reflects their
principles. Any changes to these stories tells us that something happened in
their history that suddenly changed their beliefs. For example, Norse Mythology
saw an increase in references in baptism and additions of certain deities after they
converted to Christianity around the 11th and 12th centuries. We also see this
happen when Alexander the Great conquered the Middle-East, Central Asia,
and India. His empire eventually led to the creation of Hellenism, which refers to
the study of imitation of Greek Culture.
Gods, Monsters, and the Apocalypse teaches us to analyze certain parts of
the global past that no amount of AP history courses could touch upon.
What is it like working from home?
While I miss seeing my friends and my daily routine, I’ve come to realize that
I enjoy this experience of working from home. This setting allows me to work
at my own pace and set my own schedule. I am also more motivated to get things
done because there is simply nothing else to do. The school’s new 3 cycle
schedule with 75 minute blocks significantly lightens the workload. The 45
minute breaks in between each block allows the students to take a breather and
refocus their attention for when the next class is in session. Another plus to
remote learning is being able to work from bed, in your pajamas. However, being able to set my own schedule has its determinants as well. On days where I start late or have classes that don’t require zoom, I only wake up to do my attendance. I’ve grown accustomed to a daily schedule that might not be the best for me. On a typical day, I go to bed when I hear birds outside my window and coffee or milk-tea holds me over until I eat breakfast after my classes are over for the day. When I’m not doing my assignments or talking to my friends, I’m napping. I also only leave my room to get food, so I see my family once a day. Which, honestly might be better for everyone because there’s already more people in the house than usual.
What are you learning about your world / community
based on the reactions?
Even before the first case of the COVID-19 was discovered outside China,
the media had begun to report an increase in numbers of hate crimes against
people of Chinese or East-Asian descent. (https://mothership.sg/2020/03/new-york-city-asian-man-coronavirus/ ) This situation has taught me that racial discrimination is still, very much, a part of our global society. From San Francisco, an elderly chinese man who collects plastic bottles for a living was mocked and chased out of a fellow minority neighborhood ( https://abc7news.com/calls-for-hate-crime-investigation-after-sf-elderly-man-attacked/5967782/ ). It’s shocking because people claim that minorities should
always stick together. Some of the other crimes from the same root include the
attack on a Burmese family in Texas ( https://www.cbs7.com/content/news/FIRST-ON-CBS7-Suspect-admitted-to-trying-to-kill-family-at-Midland-Sams-Club-affidavit-says-568837371.html ), the assault of a Singaporean man currently studying in London (https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/teenagers-arrested-singaporean-assault-london-covid19-12510662 ), and the Chinese man who had a bucket of water thrown on him in our own City ( https://nextshark.com/man-fights-back-after-getting-water-thrown-at-him-because-he-has-coronavirus-in-nyc/ ).
These hate crimes, however, are not the only thing on the rise. All over
social media, I’ve been seeing alot of well known actors, comedians, writers,
influencers (etc…) step up to give their thoughts on this situation and encourage
unity during this global pandemic. Even more recent, a video of a man defending a Chinese woman on the NYC subway floated around the internet (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/video-shows-passenger-defending-asian-woman-facing-racism-new-york-n1162296 ). Emily Chen, the victim, had been mindful of social distancing when a man approached her to begin his verbal assault. Witnessing this, a fellow subway rider stepped in to fend the attacker off. From this I’ve learned that there are still some good people in the world who would willingly step up and help even if the rest of the world has gone blind by paranoia.
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