Music

My favorite song is "Candle in the wind 1997"

My favorite artist is Elton John

My favorite type of music is Pop music

On August 31st, 1997, a very famous women dead in a car crash in Paris. She was Prince William and Prince Harry’s mother, Diana, Princess of Wales. So Elton John wrote a song called “Candle In The wind 1997” in honor of Diana. I chose this song because this song is very famous in the world. The first time I heard the song was on YouTube. And I was attracted by the beautiful melody and the impressive lyrics.

Elton John is an English singer-songwriter, composer. He is one of the best-selling music artists in the world. And he received six Grammy Awards, five Brit Awards, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award and the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004. His song, ”Can you feel the love tonight ”, is also very famous in the world. It is a song from Disney's 1994 animated film “The Lion King”.

Actually，there have another version of this song, it called Candle In The wind, its different with Candle In The wind 1997, they have same melody, but their lyrics are different. It was written in 1973，in honor of a very famous American actress, Marilyn Monroe. The Diana’s death shocked Elton John, as they had been very good friends for many years. So Elton John re-written and re-recoded the “Candle in the wind ” in honor of Diana.

Reading

There was a reading named Globalization vs. Americanization. I learned a lot in this reading. And the most important thing that I learned was the trend of globalization is irreversible.

In now days, we can eat Thailand food, Japanese food，Chinese food near our apartment. We make friends with many people from different countries. The globalization is very important to our life. No one can stop it. It is around us in everywhere. It can make our life more and more better. We can easily learn the culture of the other countries. We can know a lot what we never heard before. Also, globalization is very important for the economy of countries.  It offers a lot of new methods and technology. So I think globalization is irreversible.

Cultural Identity

As most of you have already known a lot of culture about China. In my poster, I want to talk about my hometown. My hometown Qingdao is in the north side of China. And it's not far from Beijing. My poster shows a lot of architectures including traditional architecture and modern architecture, and they are very different with Chinese traditional architecture. It also shows our living habits. Such as some special dietary habits. And in my poster, it also shows some famous enterprises that founded in my hometown.

Pop Culture

How myself have changed since I have been in the U.S？

I have some revelations about popular culture. Popular culture can easily influence people’s behavior, and sometimes it can change the cultural identity of an area. I am not immune to American popular culture. I can be influenced easily. I have enjoyed rap music more and more since I came to America.  And I have attended a lot of parties which I barely did in my hometown since I lived in Chicago. In America, people usually half-naked when they are jogging or walking. That is what I couldn’t accept. Because I might feel uncomfortable if I half-naked in the public (except when I am swimming).

What I have become aware of since taking this class?

Popular culture is very different with high culture. For example, McDonald’s is a popular culture. Because it may disappear in the future. It just a popular culture in a period of time. Shakespeare plays are high culture because hundreds of years have passed, it still very important in our society. People can hardly forget it. It can last forever.

Nowadays, it is very important to study popular culture for all the people. Because if you are a student, it can help you to learn a lot of latest trends when you studying popular culture. It can expand your knowledge. It can help you become more popular in the school. And the most important thing is that it can inspire your creation. Maybe you can find out some new ideas when you studying popular culture.