America and China Globalization and Culture

POP QUIZ! Who is the president of the USA? What is A & F stand for? What sport does Kobe Bryant play? Who is Taylor Swift? What movies did Ang Lee direct? Which restaurant serves Big Macs? Which TV show has the character Sheldon? Which state is Los Angeles in?

Today’s Topics  Daily Culture: Relationships & Values  Popular Culture: Sports & Entertainment

Family  Average Size: 2-3 children  Divorce: by age 45, 1 in 3 Americans born in the 1950 have been divorced once  Average Length of Marriage: 11 years  Poverty: 2 in 5 single-mother families are poor  First Marriage: Median age for men is 29, women is 26  Race and Marriage: 40 % of black adult Americans are unmarried

Love  Living Together: Nearly 12 % of all couples living together are unmarried  Speed Dating: Speed dating, invented by a rabbi from Los Angeles in 1999, is based on a Jewish tradition of chaperoned gatherings of young Jewish singles.  Internet Dating: Match.com reports that 44% of its members in the United States have children.

Love, Continued Meeting: Researchers at the University of Chicago found that people were twice as likely to find a date through friends and family than through the bar scene. Workplace Relationships: Four out of 10 workplace dating relationships result in marriage Breakup: The most common time for breakups is around three to five months.

Career  Economy: capital mixed  GDP: rank 9 th in nominal GDP per capita  Recession: more than half of Americans think the US is still in recession  Unemployment Rate: 7.7%  Average Income: the pretax median household income in 2010 was $49,445

Education  High School: nearly 9 in 10 adults have a high school education  High School Dropouts: Since the early 1970s, the percentage of high school dropouts has declined by nearly 50 percent  College graduation: Women are more likely than men to graduate within six years. The gender gap is more pronounced among minorities.

Other  Hobbies  Travel  Food  Health: The United States life expectancy of 78.4 years at birth ranks it 50th among 221 nations.  Religion: largest is Christianity  Traditions  Sports: The United States has won 2,301 medals at the Summer Olympic Games, more than any other countrySummer Olympic Games

18% of Americans say they have no religion

FOOD AND COOKING Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Ingredients: 2 pieces of bread (any kind), 1 tbsp of peanut butter (any kind), ½ tbsp jam (any kind) 1.Put peanut butter on both sides of bread and spread evenly with knife 2.Step 1 with the jam 3.Put bread together and cut how you like

FOOD TRADITIONS Mother makes big meals on holidays and sometimes on Sunday nights Father makes a big breakfast on Saturday and Sunday mornings Stepmother makes Lefse around Christmas Brunch is common on easter On Christmas we eat many sweet things Summertime we have BBQs

FESTIVALS AND HOLIDAYS State fairs (Minnesota State Fair, Taste of Chicago, etc) Cultural festivals Gay Pride Parade Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade New Years Eve in NYC Woodstock Burning Man Sundance Film Festival Independence Day in Washington DC Madri Gras in New Orleans

HEALTH Running Yoga Pilates Vegans Co-op stores Diets (atkins, etc.) Light beer and alcohol No smoking in most public places

Short Films /european-chinese-couples-aj-and- natalie.html /european-chinese-couples-koldo-and- kitty.html

~*Review~*  Would you ever marry someone from the USA? Why or why not?  Would you ever work for an American company? Why or why not?  Would you ever live in America? Why or why not?  Name 10 differences between Chinese and American culture

AMERICAN DREAM Big house with lawn and maybe a pool Good neighborhood with schools for your children Have a family (with more than 1 child) Pets (dogs, cat, fish) Good paying job at an office 2 cars