During our last class, Flannery and I took some time to shape our research interests into greater details. As divergent as our interests appeared in the beginning, we actually managed to find many common grounds for our research, such as the places we shall take our observations, the people who would like to interview, or the hypothesis we anticipate in every aspect of our research.
Now, let’s get down to the specific questions we need to address in this blog post:
Research Question:
How the tourists and the natives differ within the tourism industry and how would the natives differ among themselves and how would the tourists differ among themselves?
Research methods:
* Observation of the space and people
The aspects of tourists/natives we are interested in observing:
Appearances
Behaviors
Interaction with space and people
Interaction with each other/ counterparts
* Interview
The way that we approach the interviews shall be through casual conversations, because this way people are more comfortable in expressing their thoughts and experiences. There are primarily two aspects we take interests in --- the accents and misconceptions about Amsterdam.
Accents can tell a great deal about what background does the person identifies with. Not only the tourists have foreign accents when they speak Dutch or English, the Dutch might have distinct accents among themselves depending on which part of Netherlands they live in. Therefore, distinguishing the accents among people will allow us to have a clear grasp of the tourists and native’s backgrounds and later we can focus on how their backgrounds affect their experiences in A’dam.
Another interesting fact is misconceptions. By asking what the tourists or the native think about Amsterdam, we could acquire a variety of opinions on a specific subject. For example, what does the Red Light District mean to you? By receiving different or even contradictory responses, we can go on to analyze how those misconceptions are formed and whether they should be eliminated.
*Participation
Participation in the tourists and the natives’ activities might be another intimated way to connect with their experiences. For example, we are planning to take a boat cruise and try to view the surrounding from tourists’ perspectives. We could also engage in the natives’ work within the tourism industry and try to a better understanding of how the tourism business in Amsterdam is run.
Hotspots we might set out feet on J:
Canals
Red district
Museums
Art museum
Boat tours
Coffee shops
Transportation
Restaurants
Souvenir stores
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
feet feet feet
After talked to my partner Flannery, we decided that feet of the tourists and natives would a proper synecdoche for the people that we will be observing in Amsterdam. It would be interesting to look from the angle of one’ feet: What kind of shoes is he wearing? What kind of socks is he wearing? How does he walk? When and where does he stop? Then we can infer from these questions about whether they are natives or tourists, how familiar they are to the places. We could also question about their feet-y behaviors: what is the pace they walk at? Are they in a hurry or at leisure? Where do they usually stop at?
Feet are something that is often being neglected when it comes to study of people. Yet I take interest in them because they tell about people’s purpose of travelling as well as the destination and pace of their travelling. People on-the-go are the ones who bring vibrancy and liveliness to the city of Amsterdam.
Feet are something that is often being neglected when it comes to study of people. Yet I take interest in them because they tell about people’s purpose of travelling as well as the destination and pace of their travelling. People on-the-go are the ones who bring vibrancy and liveliness to the city of Amsterdam.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Tourism v. Localism
Some online manifestations of topics on “tourism v. localism”
I started off by just googling the word “Amsterdam”, and a list of websites contain tourist information appeared on the top of the search page. Just to get a sense of how prevalent tourism is in Amsterdam as to other places, I then googled “Washington” and the official state government page showed on the top of the page rather than anything else. Here are some websites that contains tremendous amount of traveling necessities for tourists in Amsterdam:
http://www.iamsterdam.com/
This is the City of Amsterdam official English portal for Amsterdam’s international visitor. The website covers from architecture to people, economy to night life, outlining a fairly comprehensive guide for probably first-time visitors to Amsterdam.
One thing that draws my attention to this website is its claim of “I amsterdam”. It sends out a welcoming gesture to tourists from all over the world as an embodiment of its provocative multiculturalism. It stands on a middle ground between tourists and the locals by not taking much of the perspectives of either side. Instead, it serves as an informative tool that tells the tourists what Amsterdam has to offer and what not to miss, so they can later go on to find out on their own.
The next term I tried googling was “Amsterdam travel jounal/blog”. My incentive was to get more personal on each individual traveler’s experience in Amsterdam, because different people might get so many dissimilar flavors out of one city, which I think is the very charm of Amsterdam. The results turned out in abundance. Such as:
http://www.igougo.com/travelcontent/JournalDestination.aspx?LocationID=502&Mode=0
http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/
They are people who just went to Amsterdam or are still there with various cultural and national backgrounds. Regardless they have something in common-they are all tourists. Their blogs/journals are flooded with photos, videos, and detailed descriptions of places in Amsterdam, yet adding their own experiences and perspectives, none of the entries are the even remotely the same.
In term of the research, I definitely think that reading those blog entries is a preview of what Amsterdam is like in tourists’ eyes. This would give me some directions and expectations when I have a chance to interview or take observations in Amsterdam.
The last piece of information I needs was local’s views on Amsterdam as well as their perception of the tourists. However, it was not easy-accessed as I have imagined. I tried different approaches such as “local’s views of Amsterdam”, “live in Amsterdam”, “Dutch in Amsterdam”, “Amsterdamer”, and etc. Most of them do not reveal much of the local lifestyle and happenings but rather are the ad-hocs for traveling suggestions.
I tried to search for “misconceptions about Amsterdam”. Although there were not a whole lot of articles focusing on such topic specifically, there are fragments of facts and opinions addressing the misconceptions about the city. Most of them seem to be very interesting by comparing and contrasting what is assumed and what is really going on. One example of the websites would be:
http://www.amsterdamhotelstours.com/
Finally, I attempted “life in Amsterdam”, from where I found some interesting stories of the new comers adjusting to the city while they explore the locals’ ways to settle down instead of just come and go. It takes more than just a map and a bike to get to know the city on the surface. What those people are going through is to make themselves as a part of Amsterdam.
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kantors_abroad/amsterdam/1050357600/tpod.html
This blog entry is written by someone who is trying to adjust life in Amsterdam for the first couple weeks. While he seems to be caught up with a ton of tasks he is supposed to accomplish for settling down, he draws out some miscellaneous distinction of how the Dutch act locally in some occasions. His writings send out a clue to me about what’s the mainstream Amsterdam culture could be like and maybe how easy or hard it is to fit in the Dutch society.
I started off by just googling the word “Amsterdam”, and a list of websites contain tourist information appeared on the top of the search page. Just to get a sense of how prevalent tourism is in Amsterdam as to other places, I then googled “Washington” and the official state government page showed on the top of the page rather than anything else. Here are some websites that contains tremendous amount of traveling necessities for tourists in Amsterdam:
http://www.iamsterdam.com/
This is the City of Amsterdam official English portal for Amsterdam’s international visitor. The website covers from architecture to people, economy to night life, outlining a fairly comprehensive guide for probably first-time visitors to Amsterdam.
One thing that draws my attention to this website is its claim of “I amsterdam”. It sends out a welcoming gesture to tourists from all over the world as an embodiment of its provocative multiculturalism. It stands on a middle ground between tourists and the locals by not taking much of the perspectives of either side. Instead, it serves as an informative tool that tells the tourists what Amsterdam has to offer and what not to miss, so they can later go on to find out on their own.
The next term I tried googling was “Amsterdam travel jounal/blog”. My incentive was to get more personal on each individual traveler’s experience in Amsterdam, because different people might get so many dissimilar flavors out of one city, which I think is the very charm of Amsterdam. The results turned out in abundance. Such as:
http://www.igougo.com/travelcontent/JournalDestination.aspx?LocationID=502&Mode=0
http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/
They are people who just went to Amsterdam or are still there with various cultural and national backgrounds. Regardless they have something in common-they are all tourists. Their blogs/journals are flooded with photos, videos, and detailed descriptions of places in Amsterdam, yet adding their own experiences and perspectives, none of the entries are the even remotely the same.
In term of the research, I definitely think that reading those blog entries is a preview of what Amsterdam is like in tourists’ eyes. This would give me some directions and expectations when I have a chance to interview or take observations in Amsterdam.
The last piece of information I needs was local’s views on Amsterdam as well as their perception of the tourists. However, it was not easy-accessed as I have imagined. I tried different approaches such as “local’s views of Amsterdam”, “live in Amsterdam”, “Dutch in Amsterdam”, “Amsterdamer”, and etc. Most of them do not reveal much of the local lifestyle and happenings but rather are the ad-hocs for traveling suggestions.
I tried to search for “misconceptions about Amsterdam”. Although there were not a whole lot of articles focusing on such topic specifically, there are fragments of facts and opinions addressing the misconceptions about the city. Most of them seem to be very interesting by comparing and contrasting what is assumed and what is really going on. One example of the websites would be:
http://www.amsterdamhotelstours.com/
Finally, I attempted “life in Amsterdam”, from where I found some interesting stories of the new comers adjusting to the city while they explore the locals’ ways to settle down instead of just come and go. It takes more than just a map and a bike to get to know the city on the surface. What those people are going through is to make themselves as a part of Amsterdam.
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kantors_abroad/amsterdam/1050357600/tpod.html
This blog entry is written by someone who is trying to adjust life in Amsterdam for the first couple weeks. While he seems to be caught up with a ton of tasks he is supposed to accomplish for settling down, he draws out some miscellaneous distinction of how the Dutch act locally in some occasions. His writings send out a clue to me about what’s the mainstream Amsterdam culture could be like and maybe how easy or hard it is to fit in the Dutch society.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Kids on the Playground
Field side setting: Playground, Greenlake Park
There are various playing facilities, such as swings, slides, sand, climbers, playhouses, and etc. all the facilities are in fairly close distance to each other in one open area. The ground is paved with beach sand to prevent the kids from hurting themselves when falling or tripping.
Around the playground, there are all kinds of trees forming shades on the edge of the playing area. People who might be the kids’ parents are barbecuing under the shades near the picnic tables. Some young couples are resting on the grass hills under the sun. They are farther away from the playground.
The weather is warm with slight morning breeze. The Cherry trees around the playground are in full blossom. Overall, the playground appears to be a little overcrowded yet not overwhelming, conveying a sense of liveliness in the spring.
Research question:
What gender roles do young children portray in appearance/social action?
Researching method:
By employing Zelisal’s physical traces and environmental behavior, we sat on the bench near the playground and took observations of Merry-go-around, swings, and other playing facilities. We watched the kids play and their interaction with the people around them for approximately for about half hour and had discovered several appearance traces as well as social traces that would help us how gender role apply in such setting.
The results of analysis
One of the first things came to my eyes was that the boys, especially the older ones, tend to push the merry-go-around way more that the girls so. Although most time the job is still done by the adults dutifully, the boys try to push around just for fun. They also enjoy themselves by pushing while standing on the edge and the merry-go-around, seeming to challenge themselves with such tasks and fewer girls are seen attempting doing.
Another thing we observed was the clothing. I noticed that, despite all types of clothes the children wore at the playground, the typical color trend for boys and girls still prevail. For boys, almost all of them wore blue and something resembling that; whereas girls were dressed up with more and brighter colors with pink or red as the base color. Such phenomenon led us to believe that the gender roles are portrayed by children in many ways and certainly in the way of dressing. Dressing in two major different colors according their genders is definitely an important factor that builds up their self-image in later future, their gender roles are therefore constructed and confirmed at such an early stage.
Yet children themselves are less realization in such distinction in their gender roles than their parents are. One of major influences on roles of genders comes from the parents. At the playground, we observed that fathers outnumbered mothers greatly when pushing the swings for their kids. Also, father or male adults tend to push the merry-go-around, whereas the mothers or females adults stand by and watch the kids. This distribution of duties at the playground reflects the gender roles in adult society. Growing up with their parents’ gender role and learning from their behaviors, the young children will be aware of their gender roles and learn to fulfill them according the society’s needs and perceptions.
In conclusion, through our observations of the kids and their parents at the playground, I feel it is justify saying that the gender roles play a significant part in everyday life of young children, and they learn to portray the roles from the influences of both social and appearance actions.
Amsterdam research interests/preliminary questions:
For now, as vibrant and liberal as the city appears to be, I am leaning towards finding more about how the city functions with so many different perspectives and how are the people able to tolerate (more like enjoy though) the dissimilarities in every corner of the city. Who benefits from such liberalism and who suffers from it? What needs to be changed or kept to maintain the city in a harmonic tone if not the same?
There are various playing facilities, such as swings, slides, sand, climbers, playhouses, and etc. all the facilities are in fairly close distance to each other in one open area. The ground is paved with beach sand to prevent the kids from hurting themselves when falling or tripping.
Around the playground, there are all kinds of trees forming shades on the edge of the playing area. People who might be the kids’ parents are barbecuing under the shades near the picnic tables. Some young couples are resting on the grass hills under the sun. They are farther away from the playground.
The weather is warm with slight morning breeze. The Cherry trees around the playground are in full blossom. Overall, the playground appears to be a little overcrowded yet not overwhelming, conveying a sense of liveliness in the spring.
Research question:
What gender roles do young children portray in appearance/social action?
Researching method:
By employing Zelisal’s physical traces and environmental behavior, we sat on the bench near the playground and took observations of Merry-go-around, swings, and other playing facilities. We watched the kids play and their interaction with the people around them for approximately for about half hour and had discovered several appearance traces as well as social traces that would help us how gender role apply in such setting.
The results of analysis
One of the first things came to my eyes was that the boys, especially the older ones, tend to push the merry-go-around way more that the girls so. Although most time the job is still done by the adults dutifully, the boys try to push around just for fun. They also enjoy themselves by pushing while standing on the edge and the merry-go-around, seeming to challenge themselves with such tasks and fewer girls are seen attempting doing.
Another thing we observed was the clothing. I noticed that, despite all types of clothes the children wore at the playground, the typical color trend for boys and girls still prevail. For boys, almost all of them wore blue and something resembling that; whereas girls were dressed up with more and brighter colors with pink or red as the base color. Such phenomenon led us to believe that the gender roles are portrayed by children in many ways and certainly in the way of dressing. Dressing in two major different colors according their genders is definitely an important factor that builds up their self-image in later future, their gender roles are therefore constructed and confirmed at such an early stage.
Yet children themselves are less realization in such distinction in their gender roles than their parents are. One of major influences on roles of genders comes from the parents. At the playground, we observed that fathers outnumbered mothers greatly when pushing the swings for their kids. Also, father or male adults tend to push the merry-go-around, whereas the mothers or females adults stand by and watch the kids. This distribution of duties at the playground reflects the gender roles in adult society. Growing up with their parents’ gender role and learning from their behaviors, the young children will be aware of their gender roles and learn to fulfill them according the society’s needs and perceptions.
In conclusion, through our observations of the kids and their parents at the playground, I feel it is justify saying that the gender roles play a significant part in everyday life of young children, and they learn to portray the roles from the influences of both social and appearance actions.
Amsterdam research interests/preliminary questions:
For now, as vibrant and liberal as the city appears to be, I am leaning towards finding more about how the city functions with so many different perspectives and how are the people able to tolerate (more like enjoy though) the dissimilarities in every corner of the city. Who benefits from such liberalism and who suffers from it? What needs to be changed or kept to maintain the city in a harmonic tone if not the same?
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