Posted by H on August 20, 2009
I guess that I don’t look all that American to Americans. On my second day here in Abu Dhabi I was waiting in the lobby of my residence building with a couple dozen teachers who are in my program. I wasn’t feeling particularly social, so I sat alone on the side of the lobby. Regardless, the lobby was densely packed and one couldn’t avoid being more than a couple feet away from another person. I think anyone who entered and observed the language and demeanor of the people would assume that all in the lobby were part of the same group: Americans.
At this point, I’ve previously spoken to a few of my new colleagues, but I hadn’t met everyone. As I sat there, a group of four women in the program stepped out of the elevator and began making their rounds greeting all the teachers in the lobby. Interestingly, I was excluded from these kind formalities. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in culture, observations, perspective, travel | Tagged: American, greeting, group dynamics, race, sterotypes, teachers | 13 Comments »
Posted by H on August 4, 2009
OK, this post isn’t along the lines of most of my content; yet, it aligns with one of my initial objectives for conditional cognition: getting a perspective from others, who know little or nothing about me (this doesn’t mean that I do not value hearing from those that do, but I get that on a regular basis).
I’ve been nominated for the Best WordPress Design 2009 Contest! How cool is 
that? There’s a chance of winning great prizes, getting exposure for this blog and receiving feedback from other bloggers. The contest is open to anyone with a WordPress powered blog, regardless of the theme being free or premium. The submissions will be taken from now though August 31, 2009, and the voting period is from September 1 to October 2, 2009. The winner and finalists will be announced on October 6, 2009.
Check it out! Maybe I’ll get a vote from you next month? 
Posted in art, blog, how to | Tagged: Best WordPress Design 2009 Contest, blog design, bloggers, blogging, contest, WordPress | Leave a Comment »
Posted by H on August 3, 2009
We all have five senses (some say we have a sixth sense); yet, we don’t all have the same 
level of capability when it comes to our use of sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. Everyone has some level of heightened sensory perception with one or more of his or her senses and some diminished level of ability with others.
I clearly know my strengths and weaknesses regarding my means of perception. Ever since the sixth grade, I knew that perfect vision was something I couldn’t have without corrective lenses (or, the relatively recent development of LASIK). I’ve managed with glasses and contact lenses over the years, but I’ve always been envious of those with 20/20 vision, like my wife, cultural junkie.
I knew my vision was terrible, but I was taken aback during my last visit to the optometrist. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in life, me, observations, science, thoughts | Tagged: blind, echolocation, five senses, perception, superhuman, superpower, supertaster | 8 Comments »
