University Open House
Mar. 4th, 2006 10:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebToday I went to Explore UT, the university's annual open house where they have demonstrations, lectures and activities for the public. It's almost a festival atmosphere, but with more interesting stuff.
Except that half of the things are a bust. The most popular activities have long lines, and some items are hyped up well beyond reality.
Film. My favorite thing today was a short student film about a seven-year-old boy ("Test Day," by David Fabelo). At school someone asks him what he is. He looks white, but does he speak Spanish? His parents do. His friend tells him that means he's Mexican. So he goes home and asks his parents if he's Mexican. No. One parent is Puerto Rican, the other, Cuban.
You know how you sometimes are asked to check a race box? Well, his parents say they don't like "Hispanic," so never choose that. One likes Latino, but the other says it's too broad.
The next day he passes on this information at school, and a black girl says that if he's Puerto Rican, then he's black, or at least part black. He looks at his hands in surprise and tries to find evidence of being black.
Back at home, his parents explain that he is not black. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
The whole movie is really explaining how he responded to the race box on a standardized test. That box must have had thirty choices! One person said people originally came from Africa. One person said never check "other," because you're not some kind of alien species.
Finally, he decides what to check, and he's very pleased with himself. He very carefully fills in the circles for every single race. Everyone is telling him he can't do that, and that it's against the rules, but he has a big smile on his face. Then the bell rings, and time is up for the test. He has spent so much time on the race question that he didn't get to any of the test questions. The expression on his face is priceless.
I also saw "Milton is a Shit Bag," about a cat who hates his owner, so she hates him back. Things escalate. Hilarity ensues. It actually was kind of fun.
"K-Town, Texas," about Korean wives of US military men living in Killeen (adjacent to a military base between Austin and Dallas) taught me that even in Killeen, which has many such couples, they mix mostly with each other and do not mix with the single-race couples of either race. So sad.
Business Wear. I also went to "Dress for Success," a fashion show put on by students in the School of Business. Now, normally I think Business topics are down at the bottom of the list of things I find interesting, but I ended up getting distracted at some of the Business presentations in the past, and the students doing them are so enthusiastic, that I thought this would be fun.
I learned that it is in fact true that in business situations women can wear t-shirts in solid colors with their jackets and skirts. No more shirts with big bows! But the most formal outfit they showed still had a collared shirt, open, with the collar over the collar of the jacket. And with pearls, of course. For the most formal business occasions, your jacket and skirt should be from one suit, not mix and match.
Same thing for the men, really. They get to wear polo shirts with khakis or slacks for more casual occasions.
Italian. Then I went to a presentation called "How to Order Food without Offending Italians," although the instructor was quick to explain that Italians are not easily offended.
I learned that there are two sounds for the Italian letters c and g. The "sweet" c, has the same sound as ch in English. You can tell it should be sweet if it is followed by the letters i or e. If you want a sweet c to be followed by another vowel, you have to add an i first, as in ciao. Which means ciabatta bread is pronounced cha-BAH-tah. And focaccia is fo-KAH-chah.
Same with the g; the sweet g is pronounced like j in English, as with gelato. Again, if you want that sound with a vowel other than i or e, add an i, as in parmigiano (cheese).
The hard c has the same sound as k in English, as in calzone and calamari. If you want a hard c to be followed by an i or e, you have to put an h first, as in gnocchi (so that's pronounced NYOH-key).
The hard g sounds like the English hard g (granita), and again you must add an h if you want that sound before an i or an e (spaghetti).
And finally, if you put an s before a sweet c, you get a the sh sound from English. Thus prosciutto is pronounced pro-SHOO-toe. However, there is no change if you put an s before a hard c. Thus bruschetta is brew-SKEH-tah.
In vowel land, the most likely mistake English speakers make is to not pronounce a vowel at the end of the word. I knew to do this, but I've been pronouncing all of the following as if they end in i. The i sounds something like our long e (as in pizza), but the e sounds more like our long a or short e (pesto). So be careful with spumone, linguine, lasasgne (the plural of lasagna), and fettuccine.
Another thing I learned is that any restaurant offering spaghetti bolognese is not authentic. That's because bolognese sauce is made with meat, usually a lot of pork, and it is served over fresh pasta, such as egg noodles or ravioli. The hard wheats used to make dried pastas such as spaghetti do not grow in northern Italy. They are used in southern Italy, where they combine it with vegetables and maybe fish. There's no mix-and-match!
But I have to say that I love, love, love the Frankenstein food that is spaghetti bolognese. It was always a reliable thing to order in Belgium, where they even have it in bars, and where they call a giant bowl of it a "snack." Just don't make that mistake in Italy. Also, don't make the mistake of ordering cappuccino, a breakfast drink, after 11 am.
Nutrition. I also went to Bone Appetit, a display about calcium and osteoporosis, which turned out to be mostly an ad for Cabot light cheeses. We got to taste the light cheddar, and it was good. We also got samples of Viactiv calcium chews that are full of horrible ingredients like partially hydrogenated oils. The fruit flavored ones remind me of taffy.
Geology. My last activity was to see three educational films shown by the school of geology. The one that most interested me was one about Mount Saint Helens. I don't think I'd ever seen pictures. The mountain shrank to about half its height in about one second in a giant landslide. (The person who filmed this died; I don't know how the film was saved.) This released pressure which led to an explosion of lava out one side which, in turn, melted all the snow that had been up there and led to a mudslide. The eruption pulled out all the trees closest to the mountain and carried them away. It knocked down trees a bit further away. Further than that, trees were left standing, but were killed by the heat.
We like to forget, but it's good to remember just how powerful natural forces can be.
More. Immediately edited to add: see chikuru's experience at Explore UT to see inflated lungs and learn a little about other things that are not on my list. I did not see him there.
Music. I am remembering that I saw a group performing African music, or at least percussion music using African instruments. The band was made up completely of middle-aged white women. I think that's so cool, and not because I'm a middle-aged white woman myself. It's just that that's how I fantasize my country to be: we have access to so many cultural traditions, and we can participate in the ones we like the best. The first song I heard was great. The second one not so much (because I have a bias against audience participation). Then it was time for learning to order in Italian.
One of the drums was made from a hollow log, with no need for stretched animal hides (or whatever is on regular drums). Then you use drum sticks on the side of it.
Except that half of the things are a bust. The most popular activities have long lines, and some items are hyped up well beyond reality.
Film. My favorite thing today was a short student film about a seven-year-old boy ("Test Day," by David Fabelo). At school someone asks him what he is. He looks white, but does he speak Spanish? His parents do. His friend tells him that means he's Mexican. So he goes home and asks his parents if he's Mexican. No. One parent is Puerto Rican, the other, Cuban.
You know how you sometimes are asked to check a race box? Well, his parents say they don't like "Hispanic," so never choose that. One likes Latino, but the other says it's too broad.
The next day he passes on this information at school, and a black girl says that if he's Puerto Rican, then he's black, or at least part black. He looks at his hands in surprise and tries to find evidence of being black.
Back at home, his parents explain that he is not black. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
The whole movie is really explaining how he responded to the race box on a standardized test. That box must have had thirty choices! One person said people originally came from Africa. One person said never check "other," because you're not some kind of alien species.
Finally, he decides what to check, and he's very pleased with himself. He very carefully fills in the circles for every single race. Everyone is telling him he can't do that, and that it's against the rules, but he has a big smile on his face. Then the bell rings, and time is up for the test. He has spent so much time on the race question that he didn't get to any of the test questions. The expression on his face is priceless.
I also saw "Milton is a Shit Bag," about a cat who hates his owner, so she hates him back. Things escalate. Hilarity ensues. It actually was kind of fun.
"K-Town, Texas," about Korean wives of US military men living in Killeen (adjacent to a military base between Austin and Dallas) taught me that even in Killeen, which has many such couples, they mix mostly with each other and do not mix with the single-race couples of either race. So sad.
Business Wear. I also went to "Dress for Success," a fashion show put on by students in the School of Business. Now, normally I think Business topics are down at the bottom of the list of things I find interesting, but I ended up getting distracted at some of the Business presentations in the past, and the students doing them are so enthusiastic, that I thought this would be fun.
I learned that it is in fact true that in business situations women can wear t-shirts in solid colors with their jackets and skirts. No more shirts with big bows! But the most formal outfit they showed still had a collared shirt, open, with the collar over the collar of the jacket. And with pearls, of course. For the most formal business occasions, your jacket and skirt should be from one suit, not mix and match.
Same thing for the men, really. They get to wear polo shirts with khakis or slacks for more casual occasions.
Italian. Then I went to a presentation called "How to Order Food without Offending Italians," although the instructor was quick to explain that Italians are not easily offended.
I learned that there are two sounds for the Italian letters c and g. The "sweet" c, has the same sound as ch in English. You can tell it should be sweet if it is followed by the letters i or e. If you want a sweet c to be followed by another vowel, you have to add an i first, as in ciao. Which means ciabatta bread is pronounced cha-BAH-tah. And focaccia is fo-KAH-chah.
Same with the g; the sweet g is pronounced like j in English, as with gelato. Again, if you want that sound with a vowel other than i or e, add an i, as in parmigiano (cheese).
The hard c has the same sound as k in English, as in calzone and calamari. If you want a hard c to be followed by an i or e, you have to put an h first, as in gnocchi (so that's pronounced NYOH-key).
The hard g sounds like the English hard g (granita), and again you must add an h if you want that sound before an i or an e (spaghetti).
And finally, if you put an s before a sweet c, you get a the sh sound from English. Thus prosciutto is pronounced pro-SHOO-toe. However, there is no change if you put an s before a hard c. Thus bruschetta is brew-SKEH-tah.
In vowel land, the most likely mistake English speakers make is to not pronounce a vowel at the end of the word. I knew to do this, but I've been pronouncing all of the following as if they end in i. The i sounds something like our long e (as in pizza), but the e sounds more like our long a or short e (pesto). So be careful with spumone, linguine, lasasgne (the plural of lasagna), and fettuccine.
Another thing I learned is that any restaurant offering spaghetti bolognese is not authentic. That's because bolognese sauce is made with meat, usually a lot of pork, and it is served over fresh pasta, such as egg noodles or ravioli. The hard wheats used to make dried pastas such as spaghetti do not grow in northern Italy. They are used in southern Italy, where they combine it with vegetables and maybe fish. There's no mix-and-match!
But I have to say that I love, love, love the Frankenstein food that is spaghetti bolognese. It was always a reliable thing to order in Belgium, where they even have it in bars, and where they call a giant bowl of it a "snack." Just don't make that mistake in Italy. Also, don't make the mistake of ordering cappuccino, a breakfast drink, after 11 am.
Nutrition. I also went to Bone Appetit, a display about calcium and osteoporosis, which turned out to be mostly an ad for Cabot light cheeses. We got to taste the light cheddar, and it was good. We also got samples of Viactiv calcium chews that are full of horrible ingredients like partially hydrogenated oils. The fruit flavored ones remind me of taffy.
Geology. My last activity was to see three educational films shown by the school of geology. The one that most interested me was one about Mount Saint Helens. I don't think I'd ever seen pictures. The mountain shrank to about half its height in about one second in a giant landslide. (The person who filmed this died; I don't know how the film was saved.) This released pressure which led to an explosion of lava out one side which, in turn, melted all the snow that had been up there and led to a mudslide. The eruption pulled out all the trees closest to the mountain and carried them away. It knocked down trees a bit further away. Further than that, trees were left standing, but were killed by the heat.
We like to forget, but it's good to remember just how powerful natural forces can be.
More. Immediately edited to add: see chikuru's experience at Explore UT to see inflated lungs and learn a little about other things that are not on my list. I did not see him there.
Music. I am remembering that I saw a group performing African music, or at least percussion music using African instruments. The band was made up completely of middle-aged white women. I think that's so cool, and not because I'm a middle-aged white woman myself. It's just that that's how I fantasize my country to be: we have access to so many cultural traditions, and we can participate in the ones we like the best. The first song I heard was great. The second one not so much (because I have a bias against audience participation). Then it was time for learning to order in Italian.
One of the drums was made from a hollow log, with no need for stretched animal hides (or whatever is on regular drums). Then you use drum sticks on the side of it.