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After talking to Dinara about the Kazakhstani society and her norm breaking assignment, the United States and Kazakhstan have similar, yet also different societies at the same time. Dinara and a group sang in the library to see what peoples reaction would be, yet they only gave them a look and put their headphones back in. Then they tried it in another public place, KFC, and that is where they got some very upset people. Some other norms that are important in Kazakhstan that are totally different is that there is no smiling at strangers in the street, and also do not stare at people in public, or they will feel uncomfortable. Also, they do not tip waiters because it is already included in the check.
A few similarities are respect your elders, and from what I can tell, normally you give up your seat for elders or females on the bus. This is just a sign of respect and knowing your place, yet I do not think all Americans abide by this norm. After doing this assignment, I now see that we are not so different from different cultures, yet each society does have there own special norms and unspoken rules.

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While talking to my partner about the different group Kazakhstanian had and about the different ethnic and racial groups. I’ve learned that there is less of a divided country as America due to previously being divided in the 18th and 19th century.  There were 3 different tribes at one point which divided them up based on minority and majority. Now, anyone can live where they want and work where they desire to without race, ethnic or minority and majority getting in the way.

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When talking to our Kazakhstan  partner, it was hard to think of norms that would be out of place for them but are normal for the US. The norms I pointed out was that people in the US enjoy their personal space. We don't stand close to others and we often listen to music or get wrapped up in our own lives we don't notice those around us. Aisha told me that a few norms in Kazakhstan would be to respect older people. When an older person gets on the bus people move and offer them a seat, if they don't then they are stared down and seem rude. Also men shake hands whenever they meet, otherwise things get uncomfortable. That they might think that there is a problem between them.

Talking about the norms in the US versus the norms in Kazakhstan made me realize that our norms in the US can come off as very rude. I feel as though compared to Kazakhstan the US has a lack of respect for it's elders.  Young people don't always obey and listen to their parents, grandparents, or adults. People in the US are also very wrapped up in their own lives and don't care as much about other's. Although it is seen as professional to shake another person's hand when meeting them for the first time or doing business with them, it isn't as common.

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Minority groups in Kazakhstan were differentiated mostly by nationality, not race. In the United States, most groups are differentiated by ethnicity or race, which can be more broad. People in Kazakhstan are apparently treated equally regardless of minority status, while in the United States people may be treated better or worse depending on their status. Kazakhstan seems to be more diverse in terms of widely accepted cultures.

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Aigerim said that your nationality defines the minority group. She told us that the Russians are the biggest minority group in Kazakhstan, yet still have the same social powers are others. Kazakhstan's second official language is Russian, so most people can speak Russian and Kazakh. Aigerim says that Kazakhstan doesn't have many immigrants, but the people who do come there are not viewed as a racial group, but as an ethnic group. There aren't many disputes between the people because most speak the same language, and carry the same views and backgrounds than extent. It is nice that Aigerim is open to explain how her country is to us. The minority groups in her country are from neighboring countries, like Central Asian ones. The opportunities are the same, and they have the same high positions like the people in the majority groups!

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From talking to Dinara I learned a little more about Kazakhstan. I learned about the differences and similarities in our cultures about minority and majority groups. I learned that both of our societies have minority groups in the LGBT community, but we both realized that our communities are becoming more open to the group of people. In Kazakhstan race is not thought as being a minority group and that all races are treated equal .

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My partner Aigerim says that there are different minority groups in Kazakhstan in term of nationalities. She says the term applies to them only because of the population size of these groups but not because they have fewer privileges or are subject to discrimination. Aigerim gives the example of Russians, who consist of the biggest minority group in Kazakhstan, but hold the same amount of social power in society, Russian is the second official language in Kazakhstan and most people can speak both Kazakh and Russian. The same attitude goes towards Uzbeks, Koreans, Uighurs and other nationalities she says. She also explains how they don't have a lot of immigrants in her country, and these people who come into her country are viewed as not as a racial group but ethnic group. She also says that there are not many discrepancies between Kazakhs and these others because their languages are similar their backgrounds/ culture is somewhat similar as well. It was very cool for me to talk to her and see what some differences and similarities are between our countries according to race and ethnicity.

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 After I had discussion with my partner from Kazakhstan, I found out that minority groups in Kazakhstan are considered to be the ones that are linked to sexual orientation and gender inequality. In Kazakhstan's society, it is alright t to discriminate woman because of  their gender or people who have non-traditional sexual orientation.  My partner Kimpilya, explained that women bear the burden of being discriminated and only a few of them would stand for themselves. suppressing majority. In Kazakhstan, they do not have an as much diverse society as we do in the US, but still, they  have stereotyped mindset regarding residential patterns. People in Kazakhstan tend to differentiate other people according to their origins, for example, they  have a huge  prejudice about people who live in  southern part of the country. Most people in Kazakhstan are from different countries, such as Uzbekistan or India and that sometimes causes misunderstandings. There's no diverse racial  in Kazakhstan's society , but rather an ethnic one.  For example,  immigrants are viewed as ethnic. there are  over 120 ethnicity  living there and few people experienced racism. 

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 After I had discussion with my partner from Kazakhstan, I found out that minority groups in Kazakhstan are considered to be the ones that are linked to sexual orientation and gender inequality. In Kazakhstan's society, it is alright t to discriminate woman because of  their gender or people who have non-traditional sexual orientation.  My partner Kimpilya, explained that women bear the burden of being discriminated and only a few of them would stand for themselves. suppressing majority. In Kazakhstan, they do not have an as much diverse society as we do in the US, but still, they  have stereotyped mindset regarding residential patterns. People in Kazakhstan tend to differentiate other people according to their origins, for example, they  have a huge  prejudice about people who live in  southern part of the country. Most people in Kazakhstan are from different countries, such as Uzbekistan or India and that sometimes causes misunderstandings. There's no diverse racial  in Kazakhstan's society , but rather an ethnic one.  For example,  immigrants are viewed as ethnic. there are  over 120 ethnicity  living there and few people experienced racism. 

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Almas Yespolov
What is a minority group? Can you describe the relations between majority and minority groups in your country?

Minority group it is the group of people that which differ from the main mass by some indication such as nationality or race. America is the multinational country there are a lot of representatives of different nationalities with a population of 325 million. Since earlier in the USA people were divided into nations and minorities, so now this trend is still. Therefore the USA also like other countries has minorities, but those minorities are different in the various regions. As for me, American society is more inclined in divisions into the race rather than ethnic. Therefore racial discrimination still exists in US society.

What can you say about residential patterns and occupational representation by race/ethnicity in your country?

The high concentration of various ethnicities causes different characters in regions. For example places or regions with the high population of black or Mexican population lead special features in those regions for the particular group. As I know the majority of the Mexican population in the US works in a low position and implicated in crime more than the common population in the US, while indigenous population mostly white people often find a good job and are less involved in crimes.

And Are immigrants viewed as an ethnic or racial group? And please explain.
Throughout history, USA people always had problems with racial discrimination. Therefore racial discrimination in the USA still exists. It can be seen that US society tends to segregate more by racial identities that ethnic. Because as for me, for US society I will be in one group with Chinese or Korean society as Asian people, despite the fact that we are of different nationalities. However, within these racial groups people, all the same, are divided into ethnic groups, but the majority population of US will consider you as a racial group.

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After the discussion I came to opinion that there are more differences than similarities between Kazakh and US societies in social context. Well first of all, there are minorities in both societies, but in US there is less attention put on the ethnicity and more on skin color, that is why the racism is more developed. However, the difference is that in KZ there is not so significant skin color, but the ethnicity matters. Because there is much more significant segregation of Kazakhs and Russians. That is why we do not have such critical level of racism. However the similarity is, that in most cases there are tensions between major and minor groups in both societies. In US there even could be occurred the offence based on the racial tensions. Moreover, in both societies there are highly obvious prejudices towards opposite groups. Those prejudices are mostly based on usual occupational and residential patterns of certain racial and ethnic groups. For example, in US it is more common that African Americans are living in some peripheral areas like Brooklyn or even in so-called Ghettos and having usually heavy work, than intellectual work, that implies the good high level of education. Even though in KZ, such patterns are not so clear, they still exist. Because it is clear that nine out of ten high chairs are occupied by the Kazakhs and only one can be occupied by the Russian. That is why there are more Kazakhs in governmental structures and more Russians are choosing the personal entrepreneurship or non-governmental organizations to work.

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From my discussion with my US partners I have noticed some similarities and differences regarding people's attitudes towards majority and minority groups.

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From my discussion with my US partners I have noticed some similarities and differences regarding people's attitudes towards majority and minority groups.

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First of all, in both countries minority groups are viewed as "people who are somehow different from most of the population and who can be discriminated in various ways. US and Kazakhstani society treat minority groups almost similar. In both countries ther are prejudices and discrimination towards some races and ethnicities.
In US majority of population is black and some other races and ethnicities such as African American, Mexican and so on are considered to be minorities. People in US still divide people to "white" and "black" even if rights equality was established long time ago. However, in US all people have equal opportunities for jobs. It means, if you are educated and really hardworking, you will get what you deserve.
Talking about Kazakhstani society, in KZ majority is considered to be Kazakhs and Russians. In KZ there are about 130 different nationalities, but people live in peace. I didn't notice any sort of strong discrimination. However, people from minority groups may have some difficulties to get job because they have less opportunities for education and limited power. In KZ, most of low-paid job is done by immigrants such as Uzbeks, Tajiks and so on. While in US there is no strong division of labor.
In US they have residential divisions. People of one minority groups tend to live in one area, while in KZ it is not the case.
To sum up, Kazakhstani and US societies are different due to historical events. However, nowadays people from both societies are learning to be more tolerant to minority groups and I think that in the future there will be no discrimination at all.

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Race and Ethnicity discussion by Zhanel Ibrayeva.                            1.	From my discussion with Ali Ghamlouch from NDSU I have learnt that American citizenship is a powerful thing which gives you the equal rights no matter what colour your skin is. The majority groups of US are white American and black African Americans. In the case of the minorities, they are international people and Latinas. Also, the spread of racism towards different skin colour mostly depends to the state.  For instance, he lives in the Midwest where the patterns of racism exist, but as I’ve mentioned before, it does not make any sense unless you are an American citizen. In Kazakhstan, I think the racism and discrimination of other ethnicities are not that big. Firstly, because there is no large  diversity in culture, language, ethnicity, and even religion. Most of the ethnic minorities are Asians, and even people from minority groups with European patterns are familiar with Asians,  and Asians with them. The reason could be the common history and territory. Here, also most of the people are Kazakhstani citizens who were born, grew up in Kazakhstan.      2.	In place where Ali lives, Midwest, the majority of the population are farmers and cattle owners. Those people are white and a bit racist. In the case of the big cities or urban places, people less pay attention to someone’s skin colour. Such places are New York, and even Atlanta and Chicago, where there is a big population of African American. In Kazakhstan, due to some historical events such as deportations and exiles, and the Virgin Lands campaign, different ethnic groups placed in different regions of our country. For instance, there is a big population of Russians in the northern and eastern parts, and a big community of Koreans in the southern regions of Kazakhstan. In terms of the occupational representation by race/ethnicity, there are no any patterns. It mostly depends on a person her/himself.                                                          3.	As in Kazakhstan, in the US, immigrants are considered as the racial groups because it is quite easy for people to distinguish and categorize them. Immigrants in both of the countries do not have the same rights as those who are citizens. 

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Race and Ethnicity discussion by Zhanel Ibrayeva.                            1.	From my discussion with Ali Ghamlouch from NDSU I have learnt that American citizenship is a powerful thing which gives you the equal rights no matter what colour your skin is. The majority groups of US are white American and black African Americans. In the case of the minorities, they are international people and Latinas. Also, the spread of racism towards different skin colour mostly depends to the state.  For instance, he lives in the Midwest where the patterns of racism exist, but as I’ve mentioned before, it does not make any sense unless you are an American citizen. In Kazakhstan, I think the racism and discrimination of other ethnicities are not that big. Firstly, because there is no large  diversity in culture, language, ethnicity, and even religion. Most of the ethnic minorities are Asians, and even people from minority groups with European patterns are familiar with Asians,  and Asians with them. The reason could be the common history and territory. Here, also most of the people are Kazakhstani citizens who were born, grew up in Kazakhstan.      2.	In place where Ali lives, Midwest, the majority of the population are farmers and cattle owners. Those people are white and a bit racist. In the case of the big cities or urban places, people less pay attention to someone’s skin colour. Such places are New York, and even Atlanta and Chicago, where there is a big population of African American. In Kazakhstan, due to some historical events such as deportations and exiles, and the Virgin Lands campaign, different ethnic groups placed in different regions of our country. For instance, there is a big population of Russians in the northern and eastern parts, and a big community of Koreans in the southern regions of Kazakhstan. In terms of the occupational representation by race/ethnicity, there are no any patterns. It mostly depends on a person her/himself.                                                          3.	As in Kazakhstan, in the US, immigrants are considered as the racial groups because it is quite easy for people to distinguish and categorize them. Immigrants in both of the countries do not have the same rights as those who are citizens. 

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In my opinion the understanding of majority and minority is not clearly stressed in Kazakhstan. It may seem that in a country where over 130 nationalities live within the same borders division for majority and minority, and conflicts are inevitable. The most of Kazakhstani population are Kazakhs around 65%. However, the Russians are also comprise the significant part of the population (around 22%). I my personal opinion, the Kazakhs view themselves and Russians as being representatives of majority group, especially in northern regions, the historical background should be the reason. Even so, I do not see any clear division between majority and minority groups, with exception to immigrants. If we compare the living condition of the majority group and immigrants, there are many differences like gaps in income, access to education and power are also restricted. These are the basic criteria for the division. Therefore, I would like to conclude that there is the division between minority and majority groups in Kazakhstan but it is not obviously noticeable.

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From discussion with my US partner Morgan Saukko I learnt that US and Kazakhstani societies are different in regards of race and ethnicity.First of all, although in both societies minority group is defined as “a group in population that differs from others and therefore is more discriminated and has less power” and LGBTQ is currently a main minority group, there is no as much tension in Kazakhstan regarding immigrants as in the USA. US society is slowly starting to accept more people, but there is discrimination of Somalian immigrants or anyone who just came into the USA. While in Kazakhstani society, I do not think there is obvious minority group except for the LGBTQ. There are 130 different nationalities in Kazakhstan and, in my opinion, none of them are discriminated on the basis of ethnicity. Secondly, Morgan thinks it is not just African American groups who are the minority in US. There are minorities of every race. The majority groups (such as college graduates with successful career) usually live in nicer houses in tight knit neighbor hoods. As for Kazakhstan, probably, there is no segregation of minority groups. All people live in mixed neighborhoods. Thirdly, there is a big difference between images of immigrants in Kazakhstan and US. The USA has a harder time accepting outside people now. Immigrants are seen by most of America as a racial group. There have even been instances where people who have worked and lived in the USA for years were sent back to their homes like Mexico. Meanwhile in Kazakhstan there are immigrants from different countries. Some of them came a while ago and have already assimilated, some arrived recently, and I think they are not viewed as a single ethnic or racial group.To sum up, the issue of race and ethnicity in our countries is very different. People in US pay more attention to nationalities than in Kazakhstan. Although there is an obvious majority of Kazakh people, minority groups of other ethnicities are not as discriminated as in the US.

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From discussion with my US partner Morgan Saukko I learnt that US and Kazakhstani societies are different in regards of race and ethnicity.First of all, although in both societies minority group is defined as “a group in population that differs from others and therefore is more discriminated and has less power” and LGBTQ is currently a main minority group, there is no as much tension in Kazakhstan regarding immigrants as in the USA. US society is slowly starting to accept more people, but there is discrimination of Somalian immigrants or anyone who just came into the USA. While in Kazakhstani society, I do not think there is obvious minority group except for the LGBTQ. There are 130 different nationalities in Kazakhstan and, in my opinion, none of them are discriminated on the basis of ethnicity. Secondly, Morgan thinks it is not just African American groups who are the minority in US. There are minorities of every race. The majority groups (such as college graduates with successful career) usually live in nicer houses in tight knit neighbor hoods. As for Kazakhstan, probably, there is no segregation of minority groups. All people live in mixed neighborhoods. Thirdly, there is a big difference between images of immigrants in Kazakhstan and US. The USA has a harder time accepting outside people now. Immigrants are seen by most of America as a racial group. There have even been instances where people who have worked and lived in the USA for years were sent back to their homes like Mexico. Meanwhile in Kazakhstan there are immigrants from different countries. Some of them came a while ago and have already assimilated, some arrived recently, and I think they are not viewed as a single ethnic or racial group.To sum up, the issue of race and ethnicity in our countries is very different. People in US pay more attention to nationalities than in Kazakhstan. Although there is an obvious majority of Kazakh people, minority groups of other ethnicities are not as discriminated as in the US.

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During the discussion with my partners I realized that our societies differ significantly in terms of attitude towards minorities. My partner told me that in USA minority group is a group of people who have different physical and cultural characteristics. The majority groups treat minority groups very poorly and there is a place for discrimination and racism. In contrast, in Kazakhstan the relation between majority and minority groups is equal. One possible explanation to this difference might be the fact that Kazakhstani society is diverse because of consequences of second world war in which diverse ethnic and racial groups were forced to Kazakhstan. All people respected each other and cooperated to survive and friendly relations between different groups remained from that time. Minority groups are not formed because of slavery or immigration as in case of USA.

Regarding residential patterns and occupational representation by race/ethnicity in USA usually certain races live in the same general area. Especially in the big, densely populated cities. This is similar to Kazakhstan where you can meet any minority group member anywhere in big cities. In rural areas in Kazakhstan, however, minority groups prefer to live where their ancestors were forced to live - Koreans, Uighurs, Uzbeks live in Southern Kazakhstan, Germans, Ukrainians, Russians live more in northern Kazakhstan.

Considering immigrants both in US and in Kazakhstani society immigrant community is viewed as ethnic groups. In USA, immigrants from Cuba, Brazil, Mexico are grouped together in a category named latinos. In Kazakhstan, there is an increase in number of immigrants from neighbouring countries who are ethnically Kazakhs. They are from different cultures, with different beliefs, norms but they all are united by government to a category of oralmans.

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The controversial topic of minority groups is widely contested and varies among nations and countries. Minority to my point of view should be considered only through the proportional representation of one group in relation to the other, that is considered to be dominant, since having a larger amount of population. Minority groups are also different from the majority regarding their culture, traditions, norms,  origin, and physical appearance consequently. The main feature of minorities that differs among countries is the relationship that exists between minority and majority groups.

In Kazakhstan there are certainly several minority groups. Regarding their occupations there is the main difference when considering low and high payed jobs. It is common to see people from Central Asian counties in construction works, that is usually very difficult and low-payed job. While, those involved in jobs that require some special training, do not face any certain patterns and discrimination. Instead, sometimes occupational discrimination usually face those (including Kazakstani population) who do not have connections and useful relationships and acquaintances.

Considering residential patterns, to my knowledge, minority groups are divided into two major parts. Those in the northern part of Kazakhstan and those in the southern. With having way more Russian people in the north, and Uzbek, Uygur, Dungan, and Turkish people in the south.

It is hard enough to talk about immigrants in Kazakhstan, since they are not so common in Kazakhstan. But I guess, Kazakhstani attitude towards them mostly forms with the benefits they bring to the society, and if there is none, they might be viewed very negatively.

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It was really interesting to talk to Karley and discuss issues concerning Race and Ethnicity in two different countries. We had an opportunity to talk about Kazakhstani and US society and compare both countries. Before talking to Karley I set my expectations about US society by following the news about immigrants’ issue in US and had general knowledge about racial issues. After talking to Karley some expectations were justified, but some were not.

As I expected, the minority groups in US are immigrants, which face problems due to the changes in migration policies. Furthermore, Mexican people face hard challenges to live in US as they are treated as minority group too. I am not surprised that Muslim and Indian people are treated as a minority too, due to the fact that there is an islamophobia. People in minority groups can be treated differently by law in US. The reason for this is that people in US have some stereotypes, when they can easily relate minority group people to criminals.

It was surprising for me to know that US still face problems with racial discrimination even though it is discrimination is thought to be amoral. One more thing that surprised me is that despite the presence of racial and ethnic discrimination, residential patterns and occupational representation are almost the same for all social groups.

It was a bit difficult to identify whether immigrant community can be viewed as ethnic or racial group, because they are interconnected. However, according to Karley, within the US society immigrant community is more viewed as ethnic group rather than racial group.

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After the conversation with my partners, I understood that there are more differences between the USA and Kazakhstan rather than similarities. It can be due to the different historical events that occurred in both countries.

I found out that in the USA the minority groups are the people who are not white, and white people relate to majority one. But in Kazakhstan it is different. In our country Kazakhs and Russians are considered as a majority group, because of their overweighting number and other nationalities such as Uzbeks, Tatars, Germans are in minority groups. America is described as a "melting pot" of different cultures and ethnicities, however, due to different political situations recently there even the national leaders are less tolerant to minorities. People in America may face a discrimination because of their race, ethnicity, or nationality, and in Kazakhstan, it is not so. For example, the President of the USA Donald Trump is against the immigration of Muslims and Hispanics and he keeps bringing up legislation to make their access to the US extremely limited. And in our country people despite their race or ethnicity live in peace.

Regarding the residential and occupational opportunities, according to my partners, in the smaller cities, there are no particular places where minorities live. However, in larger cities such as New York City people divide the places for major and minor groups, for instance, China Town. Minorities can struggle with a low income and biases, but there are organizations that are created to help people to find jobs and to make better the situations of minors. In Kazakhstan person’s nationality and ethnicity does not affect his or her life. Your place of living or working depends on your abilities and hard work. Lastly, immigrants in the USA are viewed as racial groups due to the past US history involving slavery and white supremacy movements.

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For the second discussion with my partner from the US, we got an opportunity to know more about their ethnic groups, racial division, and immigrants. We could compare our societies which are on the surface may be completely different, but actually, have some similarities.

My partner told me about the situation in Fargo, North Dakota which is considered a small compared to other cities in the US. The majority group there is Caucasian, whereas the minority one is Muslim. I was quite surprised that majority group is identified as a racial group, while the minority group is determined based on religion. Unfortunately, Muslims sometimes are discriminated in their society, since people may not accept others whom they do not know well and it may create fear in a society. She told me that when she was in high school, everyone was sitting at lunch tables divided based on ethnic groups. This was because it was more comfortable to talk to people similar to them. However, now at University, she can observe people from different racial/ethnic groups interacting with each other.

Generally, the majority and minority groups communicate pretty well. Regarding immigrants and minority ethnic groups, people are treated the same way as majority group except for some cases as Muslims. The same situation can be observed in Kazakhstan, as multicultural society people from different ethnicities interact with each other sharing their cultures. There are Kazakhs as a major group, and Russians as the biggest minority group, however, they interact quite well.

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Aidanak Tokkazy- Race and Ethnicity discussion 

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Aidanak Tokkazy- Race and Ethnicity discussion 

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After dicussion with my partners from North Dakota University Matthew and Steven about race and ethnicity, I found some interesting informaton.
1) They describe minority group as a group that is clearly outnumbered in terms of quantity of another group of people. And where they stand they try to get the groups together the best they can, but they just naturally separate due to preferences and money.

2)When it comes to residential it comes down to money overall, when there is less money then the groups get more divided and when there is more people start to blend more together. As for occupations, as long as someone goes to college there is almost no stop for them being into any career field as long as they have the proper training making people come together to work together.

3)To the question whether immigrant community can be viewed as an ethnic or racial group. They answered that this is a bit hard since it can be both. People will split up into races to feel more comfortable from where they may be immigrating from and many times will still live life mostly the way that people have before. Leading it to be a separation of both. It all just depends on the choices people make when coming into the country but more times than not end up a bit more separated based on race and ethnic backgrounds.

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It was really nice to have a video chat with Taylor and Tanner for the second time, since it was a chance to obtain more information about American culture and find out the truth behind the stereotypes about ethnic and racial issues in American society.

Before the conversation, I deeply believed that racial inequality is a wide-spread issue across the U.S. However, according to our conversation, I have found out that it is not as common as I believed, and usually the news that we hear about racism in the U.S. is actually mixed with many political issues. For example, Taylor and Tanner told me that in their university, racial minorities are treated equally as white students and that white students do make friends with them. Moreover, since globalization and modernization is taking place everywhere, those stereotypes about racial minorities are becoming old fashioned.

Regarding the issue of ethnic minorities and immigrants, the situation in the U.S. is quite similar as in Kazakhstani society. It is, that due to the multinational environment and historical context, local people of both countries treat those groups equally. Moreover, it is unlikely in both societies that those groups will be discriminated in workplace just because they are immigrants or a representative of ethnic minority.

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During the second discussion with my partners, I had an opportunity to learn more about many different races and ethnic groups that find home in The United States. As a result of such diversity, race is something that has been behind many recent controversies within their country. Especially, one group of people that has been in the media for being discriminated against is black, or African American people. Although America has come a long way from slavery and has passed equal rights laws, their country still has a long way to go to mend the ties to no longer seeing black or white but seeing each other as equals. Unlike US, Kazakhstan is not diverse coming to races and ethnic groups. Generally, minority groups are all people who are not Kazakhs, however they’re treated the same way as majority group. Another group that would be considered a minority in US are people that are lesbian, gay, or bisexual. This is because they are in lesser number and have not become universally accepted in society. Final minority group is considered to be women and although they legally have equal rights, it does not necessarily mean that they receive equal treatment. The last two minority groups are the same for Kazakh society and usually in both countries the group that is in the majority is considered much more "powerful." Moving further to the issue of residential patterns and occupational representation by race or ethnicity in both countries, I learned that in the United States people of the same race/ethnicity tend to populate the same areas. My partners provided examples of Fargo, North Dakota and New York City, where there are areas of town that are known to be populated by minority groups. The areas of town that you live in often reflect the level of income that the person receives. In both Kazakhstan and the United States, most income levels are determined by the level of education one has completed. If someone moves from another country who hasn't completed a higher level of education or who does not speak English well, it can often be difficult to compete for jobs against someone who can speak English well and who has completed a higher level of education. Finally, we came to conclusion that in both countries immigrants are viewed as both racial or ethnic groups. Now the term race tends to be based on superficial physical characteristics such as skin color. Ethnicity, on the other hand, discusses someone's cultural beliefs, practices or values. My partners shared their thoughts that labeling someone just based on the color of their skin would be wrong because it takes away the appreciation of each unique culture/ethnicity. On the other hand, one thing about America that is appealing to many is that it is known as the "melting pot" of cultures and races. We also think it would be unfortunate to label someone with just their ethnicity because part of the culture of America is being able to choose what people’s beliefs are in terms of culture and values.

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During the second discussion with my partners, I had an opportunity to learn more about many different races and ethnic groups that find home in The United States. As a result of such diversity, race is something that has been behind many recent controversies within their country. Especially, one group of people that has been in the media for being discriminated against is black, or African American people. Although America has come a long way from slavery and has passed equal rights laws, their country still has a long way to go to mend the ties to no longer seeing black or white but seeing each other as equals. Unlike US, Kazakhstan is not diverse coming to races and ethnic groups. Generally, minority groups are all people who are not Kazakhs, however they’re treated the same way as majority group. Another group that would be considered a minority in US are people that are lesbian, gay, or bisexual. This is because they are in lesser number and have not become universally accepted in society. Final minority group is considered to be women and although they legally have equal rights, it does not necessarily mean that they receive equal treatment. The last two minority groups are the same for Kazakh society and usually in both countries the group that is in the majority is considered much more "powerful." Moving further to the issue of residential patterns and occupational representation by race or ethnicity in both countries, I learned that in the United States people of the same race/ethnicity tend to populate the same areas. My partners provided examples of Fargo, North Dakota and New York City, where there are areas of town that are known to be populated by minority groups. The areas of town that you live in often reflect the level of income that the person receives. In both Kazakhstan and the United States, most income levels are determined by the level of education one has completed. If someone moves from another country who hasn't completed a higher level of education or who does not speak English well, it can often be difficult to compete for jobs against someone who can speak English well and who has completed a higher level of education. Finally, we came to conclusion that in both countries immigrants are viewed as both racial or ethnic groups. Now the term race tends to be based on superficial physical characteristics such as skin color. Ethnicity, on the other hand, discusses someone's cultural beliefs, practices or values. My partners shared their thoughts that labeling someone just based on the color of their skin would be wrong because it takes away the appreciation of each unique culture/ethnicity. On the other hand, one thing about America that is appealing to many is that it is known as the "melting pot" of cultures and races. We also think it would be unfortunate to label someone with just their ethnicity because part of the culture of America is being able to choose what people’s beliefs are in terms of culture and values.

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I had a good discussion with Trevor and Spenser about race and ethnicity, minority groups and people’s perception of immigrants in our countries.

During this discussion, I found out some differences and similarities that our cultures have regarding race. Majority groups have higher positions in the government structure. If in the U.S., the majority is white/Caucasian people, in Kazakhstan it is Kazakhs. However, here we have clear obstacle for people of other ethnicities is a knowledge of the Kazakh language.  In addition, we mentioned live facilities of minority groups. Minorities in the USA are represented by African, Latino and Asian Americans, who live in same nice houses or apartments as white people. However, there is a bigger percentage of African American who live in apartments than in big houses. Also, there are both representatives of majority and minorities constitute a middle class in America. At the same time, in Kazakhstan people of all ethnic background have same life facilities, as Kazakhstan is a multinational country.

Immigrants in both our countries are viewed as an ethnic community. In Kazakhstan, there are lots of immigrants who work on building construction from Uzbekistan, Turkey and India, whereas in the U.S. they are Central Asians and Mexicans.

(Dinara Tokisheva)

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I had a great discussion with Amber and want to thank our professors for cooperation and giving us an opportunity to communicate with people from different culture and use our knowledge in practice. What I have noticed is that, first of all, causes of discrimination totally differ. Historically, Americans always dealt with racism while for our society this aspect is unknown just because almost everyone is white skinned. Moreover, differences between majority and minoruty groups in the United States is much more tangible than in Kazakhstan. Americans can see those differences not only in salaries, but places of living, education and food choice. Another interesting thing to mention is that this discrimination exists even in subconscious level. So that, as Amber says, when she starts to think about white people the image of a happy family with a large house appears. However, it is expected that black people have lower salary and lower standarts of living as well.

On the other hand, I believe that it was suprising for my American partner that in Kazakhstan we have social tensions based on ethnicity regardless the status of multicultural country. Despite this fact, there is still no open discrimination but there are some stereotypes about people of Caucasian nationality for example.

The only point we agree with is that immigrants can be considered both ethnic or racial group (depends on outer conditions and causes)

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I had a good discussion with Matthew and Alex about majority/minority, racial and ethnic groups.

During my discussion with Matthew and Alex, I found out that our cultures have both similarities and difference in various aspects. Such as they view anyone of a different race or a culture as a minority group and 2nd and 3rd generation white Americans as the majority group. This is the case in Kazakhstan as well since we consider ethnically Kazakhs as majority group and all others as minorities. 

As for the residential pattern, they say that America is mainly occupied by whites and African Americans. Drawing a parallel between Kazakhstan, it could be seen that Kazakhstan also is occupied by Kazakhs and Russians mainly. 

The difference is that we usually consider not the racial background, but rather ethnic. So that we call Russians as Russians, not as Europeans, while they name people not according to their ethnicity, but according to their race such as “white” and “black”. 

In general, I think that existing difference between our cultures is shaped due to historical events which occurred both in the US and Kazakhstan. Whereas in past there were many African-American inhabitants in the US whose separate ethnicity was difficult to identify, we were mostly inhabited by one racial group (Asians) or by Russians (Slavic people) with whom we have a lifelong history of interactions. Therefore, there is a difference in that we call immigrants by their ethnicity, not by the race. 

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Discussion 2
I had a good discussion with Julia and Isaac about race and ethnicity, majority and minority groups in our countries.

Majority groups in the US are the White/Caucasian people, mostly people of Norwegian, Sweden, or even Scottish decent. Minority groups include people with darker skin: African American, Mexican, Native American, and even Asian Americans. Some relations between these groups are good, others can be seen as bad. One big issue is the police (mostly white males) brutality against other races (typically African American).  American residents have good relations through business, education, and just basic every day living. In the country there are laws set in place in order to avoid discrimination against anyone whether they are minority or majority. In the US there is a noticeable difference between "white" neighborhood or a "black" neighborhood. This country is very divided in that way and it can cause safety and well-being issues. Bad neighborhoods are typically called the "ghetto" part of town, and a lot of minorities live in that area, as well as a few majority groups. There is not much difference in occupational work with minority and majority groups here. Even if there is a surplus of white men holding the higher positions, but America is slowly making that change with their first African American president, strong empowering women, and even minorities holding office in the political setting. Here in America what you put into your occupation is what you get out of it and it doesn't matter if you are a minority or a majority, if you work hard and make your way up the ladder you can get to the very top. American society is pushing to make it more equal for everyone no matter the situation. As for the Kazakhstan, its residents in spite of different race and ethnicity live together in friendship and peace, and tolerantly treat each others’ traditions.  I have never noticed any mistreating of minorities in the society. Thus, it seems that there is no major problem with racism and cultural collisions.

The different immigrants in the US are viewed as ethnic or racial groups. Everyone in America aside from Native Americans can technically be considered an immigrant which means there are many different ethnic groups here. Most people chunk all European (White) people together as well as African-American people. There are also many other ethnic groups in the United States like middle eastern and Asian people. As far as new immigrants to the United States they are viewed as a group and are all kind of mixed together as one group by a lot of people. As for Kazakhstan, our country is commonly welcome immigrants. Residents of Kazakhstan are used to live with different races and nationalities, that is why they view immigrants respectfully.

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Race and Ethnicity discussion I had a great conversation with American students: Bailey and Chase. We have discussed race and ethnicity in our countries. As I expected, that was very entertaining, since I had a chance to expand my knowledge of another country’s culture and social situation, and share information about my country.  I’ve figured out that the minority group in America are African Americans and Hispanics. I understood that in the U.S. the residential patterns with many minority groups/races are the same. For example, in a large U.S. city, many people in a minority group/ethnicity will congregate and live in the same neighborhood.  In addition, occupational representation by race/ethnicity in the U.S. is a very real thing. People of certain races/ethnicity are usually expected to have certain jobs or be working in a certain field, which is quite judgmental. The majority of white have more opportunities in life and have been able to attend schools that have given them the opportunities to get a higher paying job. The pattern in America is that, the white American families have a higher percentage of going to school and getting a job that they want. Versus a Hispanic or African American who aren’t majority and have to work harder for what they want. In Kazakhstan, any person from other ethnic group or other nation can be a majority group and everything depends on individual’s actions and own efforts in our country.  Moreover, regarding residential patterns and occupational representation, in Kazakhstan, as any individual of any race can live where he/she wants and work where desires. Furthermore, in comparison with US cities, there are no ethnic enclaves in Kazakhstan such as Chinatown or Little Italy In the USA, immigrants in are viewed as a racial group, because in the U.S., specific races have limits and it is very hard for immigrants to become U.S. citizens. They are considered as racial, because of how the congregate and form their own communities. While in Kazakhstani society, immigrants are considered as an ethnical group, they share own culture and do not assimilate with Kazakhs.

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Race and Ethnicity discussion I had a great conversation with American students: Bailey and Chase. We have discussed race and ethnicity in our countries. As I expected, that was very entertaining, since I had a chance to expand my knowledge of another country’s culture and social situation, and share information about my country.  I’ve figured out that the minority group in America are African Americans and Hispanics. I understood that in the U.S. the residential patterns with many minority groups/races are the same. For example, in a large U.S. city, many people in a minority group/ethnicity will congregate and live in the same neighborhood.  In addition, occupational representation by race/ethnicity in the U.S. is a very real thing. People of certain races/ethnicity are usually expected to have certain jobs or be working in a certain field, which is quite judgmental. The majority of white have more opportunities in life and have been able to attend schools that have given them the opportunities to get a higher paying job. The pattern in America is that, the white American families have a higher percentage of going to school and getting a job that they want. Versus a Hispanic or African American who aren’t majority and have to work harder for what they want. In Kazakhstan, any person from other ethnic group or other nation can be a majority group and everything depends on individual’s actions and own efforts in our country.  Moreover, regarding residential patterns and occupational representation, in Kazakhstan, as any individual of any race can live where he/she wants and work where desires. Furthermore, in comparison with US cities, there are no ethnic enclaves in Kazakhstan such as Chinatown or Little Italy In the USA, immigrants in are viewed as a racial group, because in the U.S., specific races have limits and it is very hard for immigrants to become U.S. citizens. They are considered as racial, because of how the congregate and form their own communities. While in Kazakhstani society, immigrants are considered as an ethnical group, they share own culture and do not assimilate with Kazakhs.

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My Kazakhstanian partener, Aziza, explained to me that they’ve never felt any real discrimination towards minority groups in Kazakhstan. Although there are minority groups of some cultures, there isn’t any noticable tension created with them. Any residential differences between the mixed cultures would be due to the geographical locations. For example, in the North there are typically more Russians, in the East there are typically more Chinese, and in the South more Uzbeks. Aziza also told me that it’s hard to differentiate between immigrants and native born people in Kazakhstan due to the soviet period.

Compared to the U.S. I think that Kazakhstan is very diverse. Whereas I grew up in a rural town in Minnesota, there was never an extent of diversity. Although there are no rules about segregation anymore, it always seemed that everyone prefered to socialize with people in their same race. I’ve also met a few people who aren’t very welcome of people of different races and culture. Residential in the U.S. I haven’t noticed anything specific about differences in residential living between minority groups, I also haven’t traveled or paid attention enough to notice. I think once again I have learned that compared to the U.S, many countries are a lot more open-minded

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I had a good conversation with Botagoz about immigrants, race and ethnicity, and the ways people in our countries view minorities. What I discovered from my conversation with Botagoz, was that Kazakhstan is not like the United States in terms of immigration. Kazakhstan does not have large amounts of immigrants like we do in the United States. They do still experience some immigration from neighboring countries such as Uzbekistan, Tadjikistan, and Mongolia. Botagoz told me people in her country do not really view these immigrants as a separate racial group because they share the same roots making them much the same. She said that they do look at these people more as workers since they come to Kazakhstan often to perform blue collar jobs.

When speaking about where people of other nationalities and races lived when they come to live in Kazakhstan, Botagoz told me there are a lot of multinational cities. She said the big cities are where you see the largest mix of people, and I would say that is the same in the United States. She also said that within those cities, groups of people of the same nationality tend to live in the same areas of the city. This can be compared in the US to how we looked at the population of African-Americans in the Minneapolis area in class and how areas of the city have a higher population of African-Americans in particular areas. Botagoz did not have much to say about minorities in Kazakhstan, but from what I gathered they do not really see people of another race or nationality as minority groups.

(Mackenzie Koenig)

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According to my partner Daulet Valishayev, they do not have tensions between races in his country simply because the majority of the country is white. He said when black people visit, the locals usually greet them with kindness and respect, they want to take photos with them and make them feel welcome on their visit to a new country. Daulet said the real tension is between the ethnic groups because Kazakhstan contains about 130 different nationalities and it’s very difficult to keep all of them without conflict. There’s a lot of prejudice and stereotypes surrounding these different groups. For example, Daulet said the Uzbekistani people come to Kazakhstan and earn a living mostly through being builders. Being a builder doesn’t get you much money over there according to Daulet so the Uzbekistani people are viewed as builders in an offensive manner because of how low income they make. Daulet also said the government over there does a good job of keeping the conflict to a minimum but prejudice still exists but isn’t accepted morally by their society. He also said the local people discuss other ethnic groups all the time but that kind of chatter is mostly done in secret. On an end note, my partner also mentioned some of his peers were judging some of our classmates through their WhatsApp group they have over there because apparently they received poor communication from us and some of us were being rude to them. I’m not exactly sure what happened, hopefully it was nothing but miscommunication. I learned from Daulet that our societies are a lot more alike than I thought. There’s stereotypes and prejudice over there as well as in America. The locals still gossip about others just like we do here. I was surprised to see all the similarities between the two societies.

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Firstly, I want to thank you everyone for the open communication. So, thank you!
I had an interesting discussion with Angelica, Ana, Brock and Anthony. We have talked about minorities groups in our countries. I learnt that our societies are similar in some ways and different in others. The main difference is that in US, minority group is African American. They live in less wealthy districts and mostly in the same ethnic groups. People have some prejudice towards this minority group because of the past discrimination. In Kazakhstan, we don’t discriminate people of different ethnicities because of our common multinational past.

Another minority group that is discriminated in both countries is LGBT community. Unfortunately, people have some strong prejudices toward that minority group because of the lack of knowledge and fear of unknown. However, in both countries, society becoming more tolerate towards each other and possibly, in the future, we would have no minority group.

Also, I learnt that currently Minneapolis, Minnesota is accepting refugees from the Middle East, so the city is becoming more ethnic and, possibly, more tolerant. Minorities tend to live closer to the bigger cities because of the number of the available workplaces. However, they are discriminated in terms of money they are paid for the work. We have the similar things with low-educated working immigrants but not with people who live permanently in Kazakhstan.

In addition, I learnt that Americans have serious attitude towards the US Constitution. They do not discriminate people because of their religion or physical features. I am glad for them. I would be happy if our politicians did the same.

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This last weekend, I finished my discussion with my Kazakhstan partner about race and ethnicity.  First, we spoke about minority groups in Kazakhstan and in the US.  I learned from her that minority groups in Kazakhstan are slightly non-existent in terms of race.  But this is not true in terms of sexuality, as she spoke about how the LGBT community is greatly ignored due to lasting traditions.  I told her a lot about how in the US, especially North Dakota, we are greatly separated by race and the discrimination that comes with everything that race entails.  I found it very interesting that they as a community do not experience as much discrimination as people in the United States.

In speaking about all of these differences, I realized that in the US, people are much more judgemental and rude towards others simply due to the color of their skin.  In Kazakhstan, most people are of Asian decent and they don’t really have that much of a mixing bowl of cultures, other than the land they border with Russia, so it’s not super surprising that there isn’t very much discrimination.  Especially because of the fact that they mostly all share one culture, while in the US, we are a giant hodge-podge of cultures and ethnicities that bring more color and vibrancy to our communities.

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While discussing American society with Grace and Jenna, I realized that there are many differences rather than similarities in two societies in terms of racism and ethnicity.
In America, Africans and Hispanics are considered to be minority groups. According to them, their country is “run by white men”. In our country, we do not see such kind of racial discrimination as there are no so many racial identities in our society. Furthermore, LGBTQ people and women are considered to be in this group. They are often ignored and have fewer rights than majority groups, therefore the minority groups protest to earn more rights and respect. For example, Black Lives Matter and women’s rights protest. In our society, LGBTQ people also considered as minorities. Some people are not tolerant to them. The relationship between minority and majority groups differ in both societies, it depends on person.
Regarding the residential patterns and occupational representations, I was surprised about my partner’s society because white people “tend to live in rich areas” and it “seems” that they held richest and highest jobs, whereas black people live in poor areas. But according to my partners, not all black people have lower position in terms of occupational and residential patterns. Everyone can choose any job they want. In our country, individual’s residence and job are not determined by his/her racial and ethnical identity.
I think that in our society, immigrants are not viewed as ethnic groups. Many people do not care about others’ origin of living. But I was informed that in US, people do not like immigrants even they are “legal” citizens.
In conclusion, I have learned many interesting facts about American society in terms of race and ethnicity. I found many differences, but also some similarities with our society during our discussion.

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I just recently finished my second discussion with my partner from Kazakhstan. I have learned that there are many similarities between our two countries as far as how we view race and ethnicity. For the most part everyone is treated fair and equal. My partner asked if I had ever noticed anyone getting treated differently on campus just because they are a different race or even a minority race, and I haven’t ever noticed any mistreating of minority groups. This is the same as in Kazakhstan. Our views as far as immigration go is much different. Immigrants in Kazakhstan are commonly welcomed and may even be envied because they are able to get jobs and even get land once they enter the country, I thought this was quite strange because I have always known immigrants to struggle to find work. Most immigrants in the United States work very low paying jobs and struggle to find housing once they enter the United States. I also told my partner about the types of class systems we have in the United States. There is the upper class, middle class, and lower class, and there is mainly two extremes; one is the very rich, the other is the very poor, and everyone is middle class for the most part. This is also similar to how the class system works in Kazakhstan.

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Recently I had a discussion with my US partners about race and ethnicity. We discussed the main differences that we have in the society. Thus, comparing with Kazakhstan, the US society is more diverse based on racial and ethnic characteristics. There are all sorts of different ethnicities and people. But definitely the larger the population of the area the more diverse the population. Considering residential patterns, most of the smaller towns especially in places like North Dakota where my partners live the rural areas are mainly Caucasian but the larger cities you go into the more diverse the community becomes. Kazakhstan is not so diverse country as the USA. The largest part of our population is Kazakh people.
As in Kazakhstan, there are a lot of immigrants in the US. People often refer to it as a melting pot of all different people. Most immigrants are considered to be ethnic as they are from so many different places and so many ethnicities are represented by those people.
It was a great pleasure to discuss about race ad ethnicity directly with the representatives of one of the most diverse countries in the world.

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Couple of days ago, I had another discussion with American students: Romero and Daniel, and Sydney and Jamie. This time we’ve discussed race and ethnicity in our countries. As always, it was interesting. I managed to get to know more than I knew, even though I thought I had already known the answers to my questions. I also like the fact that I make people get to know Kazakhstan better.

Now, more about what I’ve figured out. Even though I knew about existence of some prejudice and discrimination towards minority groups in America, I did not know that roots of the problem were in American history. It seems like a much more complicated issue than I thought. I believe that here, in Kazakhstan we have less ethnic and racial conflicts. It may be due to our past as a part of the USSR.

Another difference that I saw between our countries is residential patterns. In Kazakhstan we do not have such things as Chinatowns, and people of different races and ethnicities are mixed in neighborhoods. As my partners stated, in America minorities (in America people who are not white are looked at as a minority) are known to live in “older, less expensive neighborhoods”, whereas majority group generally live in “newer busier neighborhoods”. Still, neighborhoods are somewhat diverse.

Also, both in America and Kazakhstan, immigrants are viewed as an ethnic group. Still, looking at countries in general, Kazakhstani people tend to pay attention to the ethnicity of a person, when Americans seem to pay more attention to the race.

Overall, I can say that I’m grateful for being able to participate in discussions with people from the other side of the planet. It was extremely informative and helped me get to know their culture better.

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The main goal of my conversation with partners from America was to identify the situation surrounding racial minorities. Even though both societies seem to be somehow similar because they are highly multicultural, the profound difference is that Kazakhstani society represents pluralism and American society demonstrates an example of assimilation.
According to my partner, everyone who is not white is considered to be a minority group in the American society. For example, Hispanics and African American. The relationship between minority and majority groups cannot be depicted as friendly because there is an unequal treatment. My partner thinks that the minority groups may feel inferior to the majority groups, in most cases because, the minority group is of lower income. Regarding Kazakhstani society, the majority group is Kazakh, but the relationship between Kazakhs and other ethnicities is friendly and somehow equal.
Regarding the residential patterns, American prefer to live with someone who is of the same ethnicity. There are definitely some towns were mainly African Americans can live and some people considered them to be from the ghetto. Also in the USA, my partner says that you will definitely come across some rich white towns. Referring to the Kazakhstani society, I think that there is not clear residential patterns of different ethnicities as far as I know. Race and ethnicity discussion
The main goal of my conversation with partners from America was to identify the situation surrounding racial minorities. Even though both societies seem to be somehow similar because they are highly multicultural, the profound difference is that Kazakhstani society represents pluralism and American society demonstrates an example of assimilation.
According to my partner, everyone who is not white is considered to be a minority group in the American society. For example, Hispanics and African American. The relationship between minority and majority groups cannot be depicted as friendly because there is an unequal treatment. My partner thinks that the minority groups may feel inferior to the majority groups, in most cases because, the minority group is of lower income. Regarding Kazakhstani society, the majority group is Kazakh, but the relationship between Kazakhs and other ethnicities is friendly and somehow equal.
Regarding the residential patterns, American prefer to live with someone who is of the same ethnicity. There are definitely some towns were mainly African Americans can live and some people considered them to be from the ghetto. Also in the USA, my partner says that you will definitely come across some rich white towns. Referring to the Kazakhstani society, I think that there is not clear residential patterns of different ethnicities as far as I know.

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As we are now focusing on race and ethnicity issues, we have been discussing the notion of term ‘minority group’ from that perspective – subject to fewer privileges and discrimination because of the racial/ethnic identity. Examining such groups, my US partner emphasized two important minority groups in the US – African Americans and Latin American population. The relationship between these minority groups and the major population is constantly changing, becoming softer and more rational, but still, there is a tension. For example, the Black Lives Matter movement against the police brutality towards African American people, the illegal immigration issues. One of the main reasons may be different political beliefs, as almost all the minority groups support the democratic movement, there is a large portion of white population supporting republicans(the election of Donald Trump as a salient example) From this point further originate different social and economic issues. But still, such various tendencies are also declining now(for example, there are no more prejudices in application for housing, etc.).

Discussing with my US partners I have learned a great deal about the racial/ethnic arrangement in the US. I can say that between Kazakhstani and American societies there are as many differences as similarities. For example, we both concluded that our societies hold to the concept something in between the melting pot and pluralism. Each state tries to create a distinct original nation identity – Kazakhstanis and Americans(the US is already highly successful in this); the societies are highly multicultural with numerous ethnicities living together. Still, in the US with its significantly larger population, the ethnic minorities are also larger in number and diversity, so the issues concerning minorities are also more notable; There are large groups of African American and Latin American population with their intrinsic traits(in Kazakhstan we have a very little of that, as almost all the ethnic groups either Mongoloid or Caucasian). The past issues of slavery and the ongoing illegal immigration makes the cases of ethnic minorities more complicated.

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Discussing with Luke and Ben I learned new information about their society in terms of race and ethnicity. They say in US there are number of minority groups, and one of them is Kurds. Majority of population as they say are Caucasians. Luke says he has several Kurdish friends and he gets along fine with them and never saw any kind of discrimination or disrespect to this minority. The experience of Luke is based on his small town; however, he says situation is quite similar in large cities too. So, the relation of majorities to minority is quite okay and fine.

Regarding the residential patterns there is not much ethnical diversity in majority of neighborhoods. People of same race end up living near each other, this is probably because they feel comfortable with their own ethnicity. However, in school friend groups and lunch tables are very diverse.

In their society what is different is that occupational is determined by financial status and ethnicity of the residents. Most people who live in almost poorer neighborhoods are the minorities and the upscale houses and gated communities are Caucasian.

Also, they view immigrants as racial groups. Americans don’t much care about them and rarely get to know about culture and background of people who come from different parts of the world. Luke says they are not treated the way they should be.

I also asked whether it still feels the discrimination by race in some situations and do people feel that their race is disliked or liked most. It was interesting to know that eventhough there are laws against discrimination, there are some stereotypes back in people’s minds. And most people are open-minded and at the end no race is viewed as “bad race”.

In conclusion, what is different in their society from ours is that there is more resonance between races than in our country. In US, residential and occupational patterns show that minority races live near each other and mostly in poorer areas. I think they feel that Americans kind of ignore them by not showing interest in their culture. In our country all races are spread and work in wide range of job types, their financial status is not determined by race and residence also. I was an interesting  and vibrant discussion.

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I have two discussion partners. They told me that in America a minority group is any group of people that have less power whether that be politically, financially and have less people than the majority  group. The major difference between these groups is that majority controls the major institutions (government, economy, education, science, and medicine), runs important groups and organizations, and owns or controls most of the important resources (money, information, media, and formal social control.) Concerning residential patterns and occupational representation, they are made up by race because, according to my partners' explanation, typically people like to live by people that are similar to them or because historically that's how things were and it has not changed. Immigrants are viewed as racial group and not as an ethnicity.

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a norm in Kazakhstani society is their respect to elders. This norm is extremely important to almost everyone in the kazakhstani society. The people in kazakhstan people take this very seriously and get very angry if you break this norm and disrespect elders. There are also norms around nationalities. For example there are norms around who you can marry, there are a few different minority groups in kazakhstan and it is frowned upon for these groups to date and marry. this is in contrast with in the US where it really isn't much of a big deal to have some interracial marriages.

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My discussion partner told me that the minority group is a group which does not necessarily have fewer number of people, but the one that holds less power. Concerning the nationalities associated with jobs, white people are still a dominating group, which holds the majority. But the tendency shows that now this phenomenon is less than ever before. As always, there is tension between those two groups, especially highlighted by the social media. As for the minorities, they are usually discriminated by majority groups.
As for the associative part, Mexican people mostly do farming (especially in North Dakota region) and they are also construction workers.
Concerning residential patterns, minority groups for the most part live in poorer regions, unless there is a vertical mobility due to high education.
For the last question, the immigrant community can be viewed as ethnic group due to the fact that minorities of different races share the same experience.

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One of the big norms in Kazakhstani society is their tremendous respect to elders. Another norm in their society is marrying people within their own nationality. This is the norm that our partner Botagoz broke. Her and her boyfriend are from different backgrounds, one Kazakh and one Uighur. Her parents are against their union and refuse to let them get married. When they are out in public, they are often times judged and stared at for their norm-breaking relationship. I learned that the US is much more accepting of different races/cultures marrying each other.

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After my talk to Mackenzie Koenig, i found out that her norm breaking assignment was the thing that we (me and my friend) did couple of years ago just for fun: we were walking inside the supermarket for about 2 hours and ate some food before paying for it. In case of Mackenzie, they are the bag of chips before reaching the counter and people around them just gave them judgemental and strange views. However in our case it happened that the security guy stopped us and took us to the counter in order to make sure that we pay (along with catching the strange views from other buyers ). After I shared my experience of having international relationships so to say and receiving judgemental feedback on the issue, she said that they have the same experience that people still prefer their children (or whoever) getting married or dating to the people of their own nationality. This is similar to Kazakhstan, but maybe this is the feature depending not on the country, but rather type of people.

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After I finally got in touch with my partner Botagoz, I learned some information from her about Kazakhstani culture and how the norms in their society are similar and different to those in the United States. For her norm breaking assignment, she decided to do something she does on a regular basis – go out in public with her boyfriend. The part of this situation that is norm breaking is that her boyfriend is Uighur while she is Kazakh. Many people, including Botagoz’s parents disapprove of this relationship and believe people should only date and marry people of their own nationality/race. She observed this by seeing people’s reactions to them holding hands, etc. in public, and many of the reactions were judgmental and disapproving looks. This is similar in the United States unfortunately as some people carry a racist attitude and believe black people belong with black people and white people belong with whites, and so on. This is not the majority’s attitude, but it still occurs. When I shared with her what I did for my norm breaking assignment (eating food before paying for it at the checkout), she expressed that she had done a similar thing before. Botagoz had spent two hours in a grocery store with a friend eating food before reaching the counter, and a security guard actually spoke to them and made sure that they paid for the items they were eating. This differed from the people in the United States’ reactions as they only gave us looks with out verbal accusation or repercussions.

(Mackenzie Koenig)

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After talking to Dinara about the Kazakhstani society and her norm breaking assignment, the United States and Kazakhstan have similar, yet also different societies at the same time. Dinara and a group sang in the library to see what peoples reaction would be, yet they only gave them a look and put their headphones back in. Then they tried it in another public place, KFC, and that is where they got some very upset people. Some other norms that are important in Kazakhstan that are totally different is that there is no smiling at strangers in the street, and also do not stare at people in public, or they will feel uncomfortable. Also, they do not tip waiters because it is already included in the check.

A few similarities are respect your elders, and from what I can tell, normally you give up your seat for elders or females on the bus. This is just a sign of respect and knowing your place, yet I do not think all Americans abide by this norm. After doing this assignment, I now see that we are not so different from different cultures, yet each society does have there own special norms and unspoken rules.

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My discussion partner was Aigerim Kenzhebekova and the norm she decided to break was violating someone's personal space. She went to the mall and sat next to someone on a bench. She would slowly get closer to them violating there personal space. The reactions she got were looks of confusion. She also violated this norm in different places in the mall. What I learned from her society is that it is much like ours. If you were to violate that norm here, you would get a similar reaction. Another thing I learned from her society is that if she violated an older person's personal space, they would be more angrier than if she was to violate a younger person's personal space. This is the same as older people would react in our society. I just feel like older people have less patience with the youth

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The way my Kazakhstan partner Anara Zhanseitova decided to break the norms of her country was by entering the mens bathroom. When she got in there, she was yelled at by other men who were also in there. She decided to try one more time in a different location, where an elderly man would yell at her while she tried to tell him it was jut for an assignment.

She said that a big norm of her country was respecting your elders. Another thing that was common was helping other people. She said they all each other as family. I think the U.S. should really try to follow Kazakhstani norms more often.

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Unfortunately, i had an oppopportunity to talk With only one of my two partners, Nicholas Porozinski. The discussion with him was not only informative but also fascinating, because of the differences between our societies.

The most notable thing I’ve realized while talking with Nicholas is that US society is so diverse and thus we cannot just take and describe it with one word.

His norm breaking was snotting loudly in the mall so that he could be annoying and disgusting for some people. US society showed that even if most people just walked by him despite his snivels, some are kind and attentive enough to ask about his health status and to suggest a help. This is the proof to the US society’s diversity.

Overall, even though respect is one of the most important part of behavior, there is no such huge honor given to elders as in Kazakhstan.

To talk about my norm breaking, i went to the men’s toilet and mostly people were just staring at me, but i’ve got one rude reaction from old man. He started telling me that “teenagers are bad nowadays, you don’t think about anything “ and so on. Nicholas predicts that if this norm breaking was done in US, the difference will be in the more kind reactions due to the more neutral attitude towards homosexuality and thus my actions would have some explanations in their minds.

Shortly talking, the differences between US and Kazakhstan society are not so huge, but are notable enough.
Anara

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My parter from Kazakhstan, Dinara, was a part of the group of students that was that went to the library an San Giovanni some aongs while other students were quietly reading. However she mentioned that they didn't get much of a reaction so thwy instead went to the local KFC an drew broke the "queue rules" there. This provoked a very angry response from the others cutomers in the KFC.

The norms that Dinara shared about Kazakhstan seem to be very similar to a majority of the norms that we have here in the US. They respect the older people in their culture and show it in instances like when an older person gets on the bus they give up their seat for them. They respect people's personal space and also avoid staring at strangers. She shared that they only topcoat 1-5% at a restraints if possible. That's a little lower than most people in the US, but I personally tip a small little and possibles at the moment because I am broke. I find it interesting that norms can be so similar in a country that's across the world from us!

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Kazakhstani Group Discussion: Steven Renner

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Kazakhstani Group Discussion: Steven Renner

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My discussion partner, Aidanak Tokkazy, informed me about some of the roles that different people take in Kazakhstani society. Aidanak described very conservative gender roles in Kazakhstan to me. Men are expected to take the first steps in a relationship, and they are expected to be the leader in any relationship. Men are also expected to be strong and emotionless, while women are expected to be kind and caring.

The other Kazakhstani role Aidanak described to me was the role the elderly play in Kazakhstani society. The elderly are expected to be treated with respect, and from Aidanak's norm breaking activity, it seems clear to me that the elderly also hold a good amont of power in social situations.

The activity I'm referring to is that Aidanak and his partners cut in line at a mall, and some older women yelled at them. Aidanak says that if there had only been younger people in line, it's not likely that any of them would have confronted them in that way.

The other activity Aidanak participated in is similar to the activity I performed. Both involved making noise in public spaces. Aidanak and I both found that people generally didn't react to this noise, so Kazakhstani and American society appear to be similar in that way.

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My discussion partner was Aigerim Kenzhebekova and the norm she decided to violate was disturbing someone’s personal space.  Aigerim would go to the mall and sit next to someone on a bench and gradually violate their personal space. The reactions she got were looks of confusion and wonderment as to why this girl kept scooting over. She violated this norm in numerous places around the mall in a variety of ways.  For example, if someone was looking at a shirt on a hanger she would go up right next to them on the same rack about a foot away and acted casual. The reaction to that one was the person gave them an angry look and walked away.  What I learned about their society is that it is much similar to ours. The reactions they received is close to exactly how societies in the U.S. would react.  Another thing I learned about their society is that typically the older people they tried the norm break on were angrier than the younger ones.  What I learned about the U.S. society is that even if your a tick out of the “acceptable” norms, people will look at you in bewilderment and wonder what is wrong.

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My discussion partner was Aigerim Kenzhebekova and the norm she decided to violate was disturbing someone’s personal space.  Aigerim would go to the mall and sit next to someone on a bench and gradually violate their personal space. The reactions she got were looks of confusion and wonderment as to why this girl kept scooting over. She violated this norm in numerous places around the mall in a variety of ways.  For example, if someone was looking at a shirt on a hanger she would go up right next to them on the same rack about a foot away and acted casual. The reaction to that one was the person gave them an angry look and walked away.  What I learned about their society is that it is much similar to ours. The reactions they received is close to exactly how societies in the U.S. would react.  Another thing I learned about their society is that typically the older people they tried the norm break on were angrier than the younger ones.  What I learned about the U.S. society is that even if your a tick out of the “acceptable” norms, people will look at you in bewilderment and wonder what is wrong.

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My partner in Kazakhstan, Daulet Valishayev, norm breaking project was very interesting to say the least. He and his partner went into a lecture during class with a paper bag over his head. He said he had some funny reactions and a handful of laughs. His partner then proceeded to do the same act but in the canteen with similar reactions. The reactions they received were very similar to the reactions I had during my norm breaking project. Daulet and I agreed that in both of our societies most people don’t think too much about someone breaking a social norm as long as it isn’t causing harm. It is interesting to see that in his society as well as ours, that doing something, though it may draw looks or appear odd, is commonly overlooked and individuals allow others to live there life as they see fit.

Overall I learned the Kazakhstan and the U.S. share a lot of similarities in their respective societies. One of the differences I did learn though is that in Kazakhstan they respect their elders more. While we still respect elders in the U.S., in Kazakhstan if an elder scolded you in public it would be much more embarrassing and meaningful, while in the U.S. if an elder scolded you, you would probably not think of it much and just assume they are a grumpy old person.

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Discussion Summary: Anthony Verdoljak

When people think of a society in a different country, they think it is totally different from how society work where they live. This is not true. From my discussion with my Kazakhstani partner, our societies are very similar. In Kazakhstan, the social norms are close to the same as here in the United States. For both of our norm breaking experiments, the reaction would have been the same in both places. That really shows how similar we are even though we live across the globe. One difference the way they are with guests. Every time someone visits someone’s home, they take a little gift when they leave, such as pastries or chocolate. This is not as common in the United States. One other difference is the dress code in all schools. Every pupil should wear a school uniform and the teachers are also expected to wear classic clothes. Here, there are some schools with school uniforms, but they are not as common. Overall, our societies are not that different. We both think family is important, as long as having some of the same norms and values. Even though we live halfway across the world from each other, we are more similar than I ever thought.

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Norm breaking assignment discussion with Ali Ghamlouch and Luis Cabrera (by Zhanel Ibrayeva)

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Norm breaking assignment discussion with Ali Ghamlouch and Luis Cabrera (by Zhanel Ibrayeva)

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Today I had the pleasure to speak to Anara from Kazakhstan. What I learned from Anara was a couple key things about their society is people always try to help each other and they almost see everyone as family, and the role of elders are huge. What my partner did to break her norm was to go into the mens bathroom, she said she did it twice and an elderly man started yelling at her even though she was trying to explain to him that she was do an assignment. What I learned from talking with her is Kazakhstan's elderly play a bigger role in their society than in Americas. I also thought it was interesting to learn about how everyone tries to help each other out when people in America would probably just walk by homeless people.

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for the norm breaking that my partner did in kazakhstan, they went to the mall at a fairly uncrowded day and went up to random people and started talking to them. The people who they talked to seemed pretty comfortable and unaffected by the ordeal, and didn't care. Some things I learned about Kazakhstan culture from this is that it is slightly different, but really is not as different as i would expect from living halfway across the world. There is a bigger emphasis on respecting elders in Kazakhstan, much like in the US when my grandparents and parents were kids, and as it should be now in my opinion. Some things i learned about US culture that i din't know/ didnt expect was that people are a lot more accepting and patient thatn i expected. there was only a single incindent of someone getting mad for my norm breaking out of many people who i did it to and countless people watching.

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For our partners norm breaking assignment she went to an area in her school a sat next to people to try to get a reaction. She explained that many of the people that she sat by we’re worried that she was trying to stealing something because she wasn’t sitting so close and one girl even put away her bag because she’s was sitting next to I it. She also added that some people realized it was a joke or experiment so they just laughed it off when she sat next to them. Fro me what she said the people in her country react similar to the way I would expect people in the United States to react to. I would expect many people here to just realize it’s a prank or social experiment and laugh instead of getting defensive. The thing that was strange is that’s that people in her country were defensive over their possessions and thought hay an international union in the heirs personal space was an attempt to to steal from them.

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For our partners norm breaking assignment she went to an area in her school a sat next to people to try to get a reaction. She explained that many of the people that she sat by we’re worried that she was trying to stealing something because she wasn’t sitting so close and one girl even put away her bag because she’s was sitting next to I it. She also added that some people realized it was a joke or experiment so they just laughed it off when she sat next to them. Fro me what she said the people in her country react similar to the way I would expect people in the United States to react to. I would expect many people here to just realize it’s a prank or social experiment and laugh instead of getting defensive. The thing that was strange is that’s that people in her country were defensive over their possessions and thought hay an international union in the heirs personal space was an attempt to to steal from them.

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Discussion with Mirza Kosovac and Max Russell (by Daulet Valishayev)

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Discussion with Mirza Kosovac and Max Russell (by Daulet Valishayev)

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For their norm they went into university library without a shirt on. According to them, in the U.S. there is a common understanding that "no shirt, no shoes, no service". Though it is not illegal or is something everybody follows. So one of them went into the lower level of their library and studied with his shirt off. Most people just laughed or took pictures. Nobody reported him or asked him to put his shirt on, mainly because no workers saw me. He says in U.S. society if what you are doing in public is legal and doesn't affect anybody most people don't care about what you are doing. This was the thing very similar that we have in Kazakhstan, and probably it is the same for most parts of the world.

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Discussion with Anthony  and Brock (by Aruna Kanat)

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Discussion with Anthony  and Brock (by Aruna Kanat)

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Yesterday I have discussed with my partners Anthony and Brock, who chose the same location for norm-breaking assignment as I did: the shopping mall. We both chose a place with most diverse type of audience and huge amount of people. Anthony broke the norm of wearing clothes properly. He walked around the local mall with his jacket on backwards and my shoes on my hands. As I expected, the reaction of people were pretty much the same as in my assignment:  people either stare at him weirdly,  or laugh at his behavior. Brock, in his experiment,

broke the norm of having your own shopping cart. He went around the local Target, and just walked off with random people’s carts. People were just kind of confused at first then starting chasing after him.  I was surprised by how brave he is, because this kind of abnormal behavior which has issues related to personal space. In general, it can be seen that in both countries, as long as you do not act weirdly in someone's personal space, the reaction of majority will be just strange looks. In addition, our projects went smoothly in both cases, the only issue was how embarrassed we felt during our experiment

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My U.S. Discussion Partners were Emily and Molly, students from North Dakota State University. We talked about the social norms we broke in our communities.

For the assignment, they each broke a norm in an elevator. Emily pressed all the buttons and went to every floor of the building in her dormitory and didn't get off the elevator.She says that  everyone was really confused and bothered by what she was doing. In general, she found the assignment fun and interesting. Molly faced the back of the elevator. Molly said that people were confused and some thought it was funny. She notes that some even asked what class it was for.

I also asked them why they chose the assignment with an elevator. Molly replied that she wanted to do it because it was not something normal that happens everyday, while Emily chose it for its perfect combination: it is not weird or uncomfortable to do and at the same time it is still something different.

2 key norms in the U.S. due to their responses are  that people do not talk to each other on elevators, it is always pretty quiet and most of the people use social media (twitter, Instagram, facebook, etc.) all the time. “We are on technology constantly which can be both good and bad,” notes Emily.

In general, I enjoyed the conversation with American students. I think that if we did the same thing with elevators in Kazakhstan we would get the same reactions. While doing our social norm breaking project, we too got questions like what class it was for and people laughed to themselves as well.

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US discussion

For the norm-breaking assignment, my US partners ended up walking around two different places on campus (inside and outside the building) while looking at the sky. The reaction was predictable: most of the people looked at what they were doing, while some people ignored them entirely. A couple of people also looked up trying to see what they were looking at. The reason why I think its predictable (and if such action take place in our society, the reaction of surroundings would be almost the same I guess) is that watching to the sky while walking is not considered as breaking any cultural norms or someone’s private space. Therefore, most of the observable people were gave a weird look and avoided interacting with them. The most curious, however, tried to find out, what they were looking at.

As the second part of our discussion, they told me key norms in their society (as they think). The first one is showing true feeling only to family and good friends. In other words, people in American society usually keeps their true feeling hidden while interacting with people that they do not know well. They try to present themselves as being better off than you may or may not be. Our societies are similar in this way. We also hide our true feelings and try to show ourselves better than we are. Second norm is concerning reaching the adulthood. For them, despite it isn’t required, it’s okay to leave home when you are 18 and this considered as something normal. In our society, on the other hand, it’s not always the case. For example, in our culture, youngest son has to stay with parents. Don’t ask me why. I am the youngest son. I don’t know.

P.S. Through this assignment, I realized that are not that different, as it may seem at first glance.

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First of all, I think the conversation with foreign students is quite interesting job, basically when you try to know each other, compare the lives from different perspectives. So, I talked with 2 guys, Morgan and Logan. For their project, they went into a coffee shop and paid for coffee in all dimes and pennies instead of dollar bills. In their society, it's considered normal to pay with bills even though money is money. The worker who collected their money really didn't react in any way so that was disappointing. Some other social norms that their classmates broke were walking through a building without shoes on, sitting right next to a stranger when there are plenty of open seats, men wore pink shirts when it is classified pink as a female color.
In my opinion, in this cases, the norms are similar to ours and I said about 2 social norms in our country.  One of which is people are always supposed to give the sit to elder people in public transports. It shows the respect to elder people. This is one of the differences possibly between our societies

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I had an opportunity to talk with two students from North Dakota Universty about common norms in our societies and our expqrience regrding norm-breaking assignment.

Both of my partners: Spenser and Trevor, broke norm at the public places as a shopping center or a gym and get lots of verid looks, but nobody commented their actions or said something directly to them.

It was surprising haw many immilar norm ouc cultures have, that if ws hrd then to find some major differences. However we have found some of them. First is that in U.S. people tend to leave big tips to weiters ( above 15%), whereas we leave belove this sum. Also, my partner said that it is possible, in their society to find a good job even without higher education, that is why some people go to work directly after shool. Tha was uncommon for us, as in Kazakhstan you had to finish at least college to find a good job.

To sum up, I can say that our cultures have not that much differences in norms, and that appear are connected with economical and our cultural history aspects.

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Yesterday I got an opportunity to talk to the students that are living in the USA and were brought up in the society that differs from mine. We shared a conversation on social norms of our societies and discussed the norm breaking we did for the assignment.

I had 2 conversations: with Katerina and Melanie, and with Romero and Daniel.

As norms of society, both boys and girls mentioned not invading personal space. Seems like people in the USA do not like touching people or being too close to strangers (That is what I also heard from our professors… They don’t really like our queues in the canteen).

Second norms were different. Girls were talking about not communicating a lot, especially with people wearing headphones. Also, they told that holding the door open for someone is not a thing there. In contrast, I think that in Kazakhstan for men to hold doors for women, or for younger people to open the door to elders is considered normal.

As the second norm, boys mentioned not staring at people. They explained that it is considered rude. People that are being stared at start feeling insecure and feel judged.

Considering norm breaking, students did different things. Melanie was walking backwards in Starbucks. What she got were some weird looks, but nothing more. I think in Kazakhstan the reaction would be the same.

Katerina was ordering fancy dishes in a local café (that has simple foods). Stuff there dealt with problems as professionals, explaining everything to the customer, whereas hardly any people in Kazakhstan have enough patience for that.

Romero and Daniel were violating one of the key norms, they invaded people’s personal space. In the hall of the university, they sat on the couches near people, even though there were other free places. Those whom they sat with tried to distance themselves for as much as it was possible; or intentionally ignored them, hoping that, eventually, they would go away. People around them did not interfere.

Overall, I can say that maybe I wanted to be a little more surprised with what my partners would say. Instead, what I realized is that we are not much different from other societies. The difference is not big at all, from what I heard, we have kind of the same social norms, its just that we perceive these norms with different level of intensity.

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Discussion with Nicholas Nolting (Aliya Tlegenova)

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Discussion with Nicholas Nolting (Aliya Tlegenova)

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I would like to start with that this assignment was quite interesting for me, because of not discovering, but rather admitting the differences in norms in American and Kazakh societies. Since one of my partners in the discussion broke the norm of standing in a line to get into the restaurant and sit down at a table. Although, I often noticed that people in Western societies tend to wait to get into the restaurant, I did not assume it as a norm, since such practice is simply not present here. So Nicholas, my discussion partner, went to a restaurant and sat himself down at a table without waiting for the staff to seat him. So, he basically didn’t stand in the line as other people did and sat at a table without any help from the restaurant staff. The most of reaction came from the staff, some people sitting at tables looked at him strangely, and he also noticed that those standing in a line while he passed were really annoyed. He later told them that it was for his sociology class, and understood that, saying that actually many people today break that norm, which is really frustrating.

Nicholas also told about two key norms in their society, and they are holding doors and being polite. It is really common in their society, and people are always expected to say thank you, please, or I’m sorry.

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Unfortunately, I was able to have conversation only with one of two students, who I was assigned to: Elizabeth Nielson. During the course of our discussion about norm-breaking assignment, to our surprise, we found out that we broke the same norm of personal space! However, while Elizabeth observed the reaction of one person, me and my group mates made an observation of 10 people.
The key difference between our experiments was the fact that we talked to strangers, whereas Elizabeth sat in silence near to her subject in the library. Elizabeth said that she felt uncomfortable and awkward, because she is a quiet and reserved person. I was quite amused and shocked by this observation, since I was prejudiced about Americans' openness and positivity.
In contrast, we came across people we didn't know, and started talking to them. We didn't dare to disturb them from studying or any other important stuff, that's why they didn't act rude or shocked as they could act. We made an observation of 10 people, 5 of which were really nice and continued our conversation, 3 of which stared at us for 10 sec, stood up and went away, and 2 of which asked if everything was okay (I guess they thought of us as if we were mad, but that was okay). Overall, results were quite satisfying.
I told Elizabeth about 2 key norms in Kazakhstan:
1. Speaking rudely or impolitely to the elders would be harshly blamed by the society.

2. Appreciate personal space of other people.

OverallIt was really interesting that the second key norm I mentioned was common to both societies: Western and Central Asian.

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I had a conversation with two students, Logan Madison, from North Dakota University. The main goal of the conversion was to discuss and compare the key norms of our society and norm-breaking assignments.

All of us broke norms in the shopping, walking with shoes off, walking like a soldier and sniffing the cereal box. The reaction for all norm-breaking was pretty the same: people just ignored, gave some looks or just did not notice. People here in Kazakhstan and in the USA tend to react the same way to the minor norm violations which are surprising because I expected local people to have the judgmental attitude as Kazakhstani society is more conservative compared to American.  However, as the reaction was the same ignoring minor norm violation may appear to be common for all people worldwide.

Another interesting point to be mentioned is that my friend Logan said that leaving your parent’s home at 18 is considered to be normal in their society. In contrast, in our society, it is not the usual thing. Adolescent in our society typically leaves their home after they get the undergraduate degree and find a job or when they get married. This is the significant difference between our society. It may be considered to be shameful to leave with parents when you are above 18 in the American society, which is absolutely fine in our society.

One key norm that I mentioned about our society is to respect elderly people. For example, give your seat on the public buses. Logan and Madison commented that youth in their society are pretty stubborn and do not show such respect. This is the other key difference between our societies.

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My partner was Max Russell for the norm breaking project and our partner for the Kazakhstan discussion was Daulet Valishayev. For his experiment, him and his partner put bags on their heads and went out to walk in the public and record the reactions. The bags had holes in them for the eyes, mouth and nose according to Daulet. They had one person come up to them and ask them what they were doing but besides that, most people just starred or laughed at them. Daulet did mention no one took photos of them wearing the bags and that was kind of surprising to him. Overall though, he got the reactions he had expected from the general public.

One thing I learned from talking to Daulet is the similarities in society we have here in America compared to Kazakhstan. He got the same reactions I would get here if I put a bag on my head and went out to the public. One difference was I believe they respect their elders a lot more than we do here in America. If an elder would yell at me here, I would just shake it off compared to over there, it’d be more serious and you would have to handle the situation more carefully. So, overall I was surprised to find out that our societies were a lot alike according to what I got from Daulet.

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Kazakhstan Discussion 1

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During the conversation with the students from North Dakota State University I have revealed that our cultures do not differ too much. For example, disturbing a personal space can be considered rude both in American and Kazakh societies. So it depends not only on culture, but also treatment and manners play an important role in establishing norms.

My partners did their norm breaking in the main part of the university (North Dakota State University). They sat directly across from strangers that were sitting alone studying, and stared at them for ten seconds. They didn't say anything to the strangers as they were staring at them. One girl kept glancing at one of them, and asked "Hey can I help you?".  Most people just felt uncomfortable and kind of ignored them. No one was angry. After, they explained to everyone that what it was a class experiment, and everyone was very understanding.

During the conversation I have revealed that our cultures do not differ too much. We did the same experiment sitting closer to the strangers. So the reactions were similar. It was a great pleasure to find out new things about norms directly from the members of American society.

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I discussed with my Kazakhstan norm breaking partner about our respective home and norms that come with them, after a while of talking we both came to the realization that our home and norms that go with them are virtually the same in every way except in only a few ways. The major difference that we discussed is that in America it is a norm that boys and girls leave the house at about eighteen either to go to college or just move out and my partner was surprised by this, my partner said that people do go to college but girls especial aren’t aloud to leave the house until they are arranged in a marriage and are basically like property in that way that they don’t really have a choice. I was surprised by this and we both had an equal fascination on how similar our norms are but also how the few differences are so drastically different. Both of our cultures do two big things the same we both have huge respect for our elders as well as treat them with kindness and the other is that kids are supposed to be obedient and are supposed to be seen and not heard.

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I discussed with my Kazakhstan norm breaking partner about our respective home and norms that come with them, after a while of talking we both came to the realization that our home and norms that go with them are virtually the same in every way except in only a few ways. The major difference that we discussed is that in America it is a norm that boys and girls leave the house at about eighteen either to go to college or just move out and my partner was surprised by this, my partner said that people do go to college but girls especial aren’t aloud to leave the house until they are arranged in a marriage and are basically like property in that way that they don’t really have a choice. I was surprised by this and we both had an equal fascination on how similar our norms are but also how the few differences are so drastically different. Both of our cultures do two big things the same we both have huge respect for our elders as well as treat them with kindness and the other is that kids are supposed to be obedient and are supposed to be seen and not heard.

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After my partner and I talked to Aigerim, we came to the conclusion that there are some differences within our societies, but there are a lot of similar qualities as well. We were talking about what are some norms between our society and her society and we found out that we both respect our elders. From not arguing with them, to giving up our seat so they can sit down etc. We talked about the norms we broke and the norm she broke was that she went to the mall and went up to people and asked them questions such as, "do I have anything in my teeth?" or "do you have tomato seeds?". Very random questions to throw people off, and their reactions ranged from getting ignored to quick running away, or a short answer and then leaving. I honestly think that if I did this in Fargo, I would get the same reactions. It is very cool to think that if I broke the same norm she did, we would probably get the same reaction even though we are on the different side of the world. Overall, looking at my society and her society, we share some of the same qualities and we also differ in some.

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Conducting the discussion of our norm-breaking assignments with my partners Logan and Morgan I found out that, the norm they broke was wearing clothes backwards. The reaction was generally neutral, as they got only stares. As for me, I walked around the shopping mall and did leg splits in random places recording people’s reactions. As our society is rather conservative, I expected people to be judging, commenting or paying more attention, but I also got just stares and nothing else.

From this assignment I have learnt that the highly conservative views in Kazakh mentality are overrated. And I suppose, I expected more emotional reaction due to the reason that in our society from very childhood the overwhelming majority of parents tell their kids “you should not do this or that, because it is shameful and people will be judging”, making us ashamed of what we want to do just because of what other people might think, doing everything to blend in and not stand out. In regards of the US society I can say that generally, people are more lenient towards the people who act in an unusual manner. Therefore, US people feel free to be expressive and do or wear what they actually want, whilst I Kazakhstan most people are afraid of other people’s reactions.

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I learned a lot from my Kazakhstani partner Aisha about their society over in Kazakhstan. They talked about how over there, there is a great respect for their elders. This was a very interesting one because over here we have the same thing about respect, but it doesn't seem to be as influential and enforced as over there. Another thing is that men must shake hands when they meet other men. The norm that Aisha broke was sleeping in a main court yard area on her campus. There are palm trees and fake grass in this area and no one sits in this area so she decided to lye down and take a nap there. People either ignored her, smiled at her, or joined her; like her friends.

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I learned a lot about Kazakhstani society from my Kazakhstani partner Diana. Diana goes to Nazarbayev University. Her group broke two norms. For their first norm they sat very close next to strangers and waited for a reaction. Most of the strangers kept looking suspiciously at them, almost as if they were going to steal something. One of the strangers even put away her bag once they sat next to her like she was afraid of it being stolen. The second norm breaking was blocking the canteen door.They did this around lunch time, so there was a lot of people. They got a mix of reactions. Some of the people got angry, while others just politely asked them to move. Diana also spoke about what it's like in Kazakhstan. There is a big respect for elders in her country. Also she mentioned that there is a big test that everyone needs to take in order to further their education. I thought that these things were very similar to the U.S. We are also suppose to respect and help elders whenever possible. And that big test reminded me of the ACT and SAT that we have here in the U.S.

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One thing I learned about Kazakhstani society is how conservative they are, relating to gay or lesbian orientation. He did say they are starting to become slightly more liberal, but is not uncommon to be beaten or even killed for being gay. I found that surprising because I
did not expect it to be so extreme and public opinion is very powerful. They also said religion isn't that big of a deal and can believe in almost anything. He also mentioned how much there are concerned with material goods. and their status. They like to show to society that they are important and wealthy with the things they buy or the car they drive. This is similar to Americas culture, but I think Kazakhstani society is even more extreme. He also said if you get into trouble and go to jail, if you know someone who is important in society, they can just bail you out with little effort. Their justice system is not nearly as strong as ours and it causes problems with discipline within the society and economy. Overall this was fun and interesting to learn about a society and how it functions across the globe.

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While talking with my partner from North Dakota State University, I have learned a lot of things. The US is pretty individualistic, so one key norm in their society he told me is that they generally leave each other alone in public. They give each other space, try to remain quiet, and generally don't start up conversations with people they don't know except for in very specific social settings. Kazakhstani society don’t actually care about that, it cannot be counted as a social norm.Another key norm is that they expect professionals in certain industries to dress a certain way. We expect people like lawyers, politicians, and business leaders to wear specific attire.For the assignment, they decided to play music loudly in public spaces in order to break the first norm I mentioned. They actually received less confrontation than they expected. Most people glanced at them and moved on. A lot of people put their heads down as they walked past us, probably to avoid confrontation. I think if we did so in Kazakhstan, the people would have been reacted the same way.

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Our partner broke two different norms in Kazakhstan that would also be norms here. The first norm they broke was, they went to the library and sang loudly. They said that the reaction was basically non-existent. Everyone that was in the library just kept studying hard and acted like they did not impact them. I was surprised no one said anything to them you would assume that it would make people angry and they would say something. The other norm that they broke was, they went to KFC and they cut in line. This they said got a reaction from the people in the line already waiting. They said that the other people waiting in line were very displeased with them and said something, but that's as far as anyone took it. From our discussion I realized that the United States and Kazakhstan have fairly similar norms.

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My Kazakhstani partner and I actually broke the same social norm of invading personal space. She talked about how she and her partners went up to people they didn't know and started talking to them. They observed that most people spoke to them. I believe that the reaction of people would be the same in the US as it was there. Overall I learned that US and Kazakhstani societies have very similar social norms.

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I was surprised at how similar the cultures were in Kazakhstan. My partner Aibat described how it is strange for a woman not to be married by 24 and a man not to be married with a family of his own by 28. Here in American people are slowing down the rush to have children and get married. Now most people are waiting to have kids until around 30/35. Another thing I've learned is that in Kazakhstan they are a little more sensitive to gender roles so it was interesting because Aibat's norm breaking went against the male norms there.

Aibat's norm breaking assignment was at the mall. He decided it would be interesting if he bought a woman's underwear for himself. He said the person working laughed at him with his co-workers after he left.

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As I emailed my partner from Kazakhstan, I found out a lot about how their society functions. They have many similar social norms that US society has. My Kazakhstani partner broke a couple social norms. They started singing in the middle of the library and unfortunately nobody really reacted like one would think. The second norm they broke was they took the cleaning machine away from the cleaning lady. As expected, the cleaning lady was not happy. Personally, I don’t think of that as a social norm that was broken. That just seemed like a prank that was recorded as a social norm breaking experiment.  Here in the US some social norms are wearing clothing in public places and how men typically don’t wear pink because its considered a female color. As society gets more used to gender issues the clothing type/color/style for a gender is becoming more and more irrelevant. I asked my partner about different norms in their society. They shared similar ones about the gender norms and wearing clothes in public. I was very surprised by that answer because they are halfway across the world and share similar values as us. It was really cool to talk with them about this assignment.

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Madison WaltersTwo norms in Kazakhstanis' are respecting the elderly and also being on time. My partner thought it would be strange to walk around straight like a soldier, but all people did was stare and looked act him like he was suspicious. I also learned that If you are 18 and a female you live with your parents until you're married and then you move in with whoever you married parents. Which is strange compared to the US. 

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Madison WaltersTwo norms in Kazakhstanis' are respecting the elderly and also being on time. My partner thought it would be strange to walk around straight like a soldier, but all people did was stare and looked act him like he was suspicious. I also learned that If you are 18 and a female you live with your parents until you're married and then you move in with whoever you married parents. Which is strange compared to the US. 

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In our discussion with Abigail Fikter, I one more time become sure of the basic similarities in our societies. As in our society, in America the personal space is also playing a big role for people. And again, staying friendly, they tending to be more closed to the strangers. In her experiment, they went to the restaurant and asked to get her drink in a sippy cup which she took with her. For her request, she got the partially expected reaction like questions “is it for baby?”, strange looks and embarrassment. Yet, she expected the waitress to “gossip” with other workers, so that she will kind of point on her and so on, but the waitress did not do so (which was unexpected for me too, cause I think in our society she would do so). In general, I think that in Kazakhstan the reaction to Abigail’s experiment would be the same. Also, she said that the reaction towards my experiment in the USA would be the same too.

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Discussion  about norm-breaking assignment 

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Discussion  about norm-breaking assignment 

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My US discussion partners were Ana Ray and Angelica Van Heel. We talked through WhatsApp. We both had the same norm-breaking assignment. We pressed all buttons on the dormitory’s elevator and waited for the reaction. Reactions of observable people were similar in both countries. Nobody said anything, just gave weird looks. Some people reacted with confusion, irritability, and humor. However, in the Fargo, one girl asked norm-breaker partner if she was okay and told her when to get off on the right floor. In Kazakhstan, nobody showed concern, probably because of my faulty face, that could give a reason for suspicion anything.
What did I learn about US society? Our societies both values politeness and respect for other people. However, in the USA people especially value personal space and always leave it enough for another person and for yourself to feel comfortable. I have asked my partners how would they react in the usual morning situation in my dormitory. For instance, a person from our society will enter the crowded elevator in a rush or even without it. However, in the NDSU dormitories or in the whole city, people would usually wait for another one and will enter to it only if they in the rush. Also, my partners told me that they are surprised for our deep respect for elders and that in the US society it depends on person to show respect for elders and that not all families are depended on the “word of elders” to decide some important questions.
Thus, our societies have some similarities and differences.

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After talking with my partner Emily, and the student we were assigned from Kazakhstan. Her name was Aidana. I learned a lot about their country and their kinds of norms. She informed the both of us that they worked in groups of four instead of two. They broke a few different norms. The first norm that she talked about was how they held the doors open for guys. It is very normal for guys to hold open the door for girls. During this norm breaking, guys would take the door and hold it for them to walk in. There were only a few guys that would let the girls hold the door open for them. This shows that they country is very polite.  The other norm that her group broke was flirting with the same gender. She said that this norm is very brave of them because their society is less liberal than the united states and even other countries. Aidana said that she was interested in the norms that we broke. She would not have thought about doing something in an elevator. I enjoyed learning about a different country and how it was different.

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While talking to my partner from US, I realized that basically our social norms are similar to each other. They wanted to do the same violation as we did (strike up a conversation with strangers). They’ve guessed that mostly people would have continuing to talk nicely since they always can help in need. Also I was interested in social norms regarding clothing; since our society seems to be more formal in this term following rules for dressing appropriately in public places. My partner told about wide range of clothing styles in their society and that people do not care if someone is dressed strangely.

They chose to do their norm breaking assignment at parents’ house. The main idea was to ask permission for whatever they do including if they can watch TV, go to the bathroom, to have some food and so on, because mostly children choose to do whatever they would want to do. Their parents were confused and asked questions to find out if everything was okay. This norm breaking seemed to be interesting to me and probably the same thing could be held in our society as well.