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This piece represents me because it is a piece about farm life and I live during the summer.  On my mug the colors are red and white.  On the white there are two polish chickens next to flowers.  This design represents Poland because the there are many chickens in Poland and plants like flower because there is a lot of farming in Poland.  On my plate there is a field with rows of plants and a little animal barn with all sorts of animals which also represents my polish heritage.

My grandmother while in Poland as a child would wake up every morning really early to get a jumpstart to her long day of farming.  She would usually work a minimum of eight hours, hoeing the fields of green beans and sometimes working in the barn (milking the cows and shoveling up manure).  She needed to make enough money to help out her poor family.  Her dad was sick and her mom worked her butt off to make ends meet. My grandmother’s very strong brother would always help her in the field, my grandmother said that he drank a lot of milk.  She was the hardest working nine year old there ever was.

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My mug and plate set represents chinese immigrants on a boat. The plate is a blue ocean with an red trail. The mug is a chinese flag with water on the bottom that leaves the trail. The red is like my parents on the boat, they brought their chinese heritage that is now part of my living and is also shared with others (which signals the trail on the plate). It also represents who or what they left behind as they came here and a connection between them. Also, it shows the sacrifices and willingness of their/my family members that sacrificed their hard work or school for this. The carvings of the ocean represent the long and disgusting trip they had to take on the world's greatest ocean. My father is very easily seasick so this trip was especially painful to him.

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Jeremiah Mathieu

D block

Part II: Reflection on Your Process

The most challenging experiences that I experienced was attaching my cow shaped handle. My solution was adding supports under the the cow to keep it from falling over. I think my piece was successful because everything came out the way I had wanted it to.

I think I would have made my handle more usable than for looks,but overal I don’t think I would chage things to much.

My mug and plate are a set because they both have one main image  that they both have as one. That Image was the image that show the independence of Haiti.

Nothing really surprised me but one thing that stood out was my cow shaped handle and how much it look like a cow.One Thing that would have been helpful is to know that the glaze

The way my mug represent me is because the man drinking the coconut on my plate and mug show haiti’s freedom and independence. The cow handle shows my love of animals and also show that my famliy has a farm which is very important to me.

My father and his brothers gathered in the street with all the neighborhood children to do as they usually do every night after dinner.  The street is sandy, dark but loud.  They gathered to play “football” which is in  american soccer.  There are no cars driving through.  The weather is very warm.  The salty sea air feels great to the skin.   The dogs are walking around on the sidewalk, but not barking.  These dogs somehow know to behave and stay off the street as the young boys play soccer.  The boys used crates as the goal net and my father knows he is an important part of the team.  He owned the soccer ball.  Without him, there is no after dinner night game.  The air of excitement is all around.  My father placed down the ball and they did what they did every night play ball.

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My mug represents me because it incorporates hispanic symbols (Colombia & El Salvadorian). Since I lived in Colombia, I decided to use a Colombian hat design. I made this the center of my mug, and the sides of my plate. I also added a pattern from an El Salvadoran church, because my grandmother is originally from there. I added the blue crosses on my mug and blue stripes on the corners of my plate. I wanted to use repetition, so I focused on symmetry one each side. I only had one Colombian hat design, so that was the emphasis of my mug.

A story that my grandmother once told me is about her life as a little girl. She was born in El Salvador and lived there with her family. However, her father was not happy with the politics in their area, he decided to move to America for more opportunities. He took her father, mother and brother with him, and left my grandmother alone. The reason for this is that there was a low supply of houses in California where my grandmother, Olga’s parents were moving.

My grandmother was left alone in El Salvador with her grandmother and sister. She missed her family dearly as she spent around four years without her parents. When she finally got the opportunity to join her parents in California, she was overjoyed. She moved to California from El Salvador and had to accommodate to all the changes. She had to make new friends, learn a new language and go do different schools, but the great thing is that she was with her family. Eventually, my grandmother got used her new life, but we will never forget where she comes from and her heritage.

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My mug represents me in many ways. It does because first, it has a Syrian pattern on the front of it that shows the culture that I am from. Also, I used colors that were in the original pattern because that is what I thought would be the colors. I think that it also represents me because nothing or nobody is perfect, like my mug. I think that it represents me and I am happy about my final mug.

On my dad’s side, I am Scottish and German, and on my mom’s side, I am Italian and Syrian. My grandmother was telling me about my grandfather’s mom, who was Syrian, on my mom’s side. My great-grandmother Mary immigrated from Syria. She immigrated from Damascus, the capital of Syria, to here, in the United States of America. Her family was from there, and I am not sure if they immigrated with her or not. She most likely migrated by boat. She was not a kid, but young, when she came over. Then in America, she met my great-grandfather, and they had my grandfather. Being Syrian is important to me, because even if we do not practice Syrian traditions, it is still a big part of me.

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My mug and plate represents where I’m from. Many people don’t know where I’m from and when I say that I’m from Taiwan, not many people know where that is either. I have faced racism many times in my life, but I’m still proud about where I’m from. People always say that Taiwan is a part of China but it isn’t. I am very proud to say that Taiwan isn’t a part of China because my grandfather fought in the war to make Taiwan independent. Even though Taiwan might only be a tiny island on the map of the world, to me, it is bigger than then the sun in my heart.

My grandfather from my mom’s side was a 2 star general for Taiwan and served in the many war. He worked so hard for my mom and her brothers and sisters to have a safe and relaxing environment. He helped so many people financially and didn’t take money back from the people that he helped when they were financially able to give money to him. In the war between Vietnam and Taiwan, his ear was blown up by a Vietnamese bomb. He lost basically all his hearing in that ear but after he was healed, he continued serving for the army and helping people. My mom always tells me that we should always love our country and help others like my grandfather. Sometimes at basketball tournaments, I would be called a chink and even though I get very offended, I know that like my grandfather, I should avoid any distractions and continue to love where I came from.

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My mug and plate represents me because my cultural heritage is Taiwanese, my religion is Christian, and something that has been a family tradition for a long time was music and singing. For Taiwan, I did a scatter of blue suns because that’s the symbol on the Taiwan flag. I did a cross in the middle because being Christian is a huge part of my family. The music notes were put on as the border because ever since I was a little girl, I remember my family karaoke on Chinese New year.

My heritage story was about how every Chinese New year, we would fly to Taiwan and spend the time with our family. We always go to church together. We worship by singing songs, praying, and listening to sermons. My mom told me that our whole family has loved singing and music in general. She told me that ever since she was a little girl, she has also had family gatherings where their family would just sing. I remember when I was still a little girl and would sit on my grandma’s lap and play mahjong. Every time we played, my grandfather would win and he looked so happy. After our many rounds of mahjong, we would have a huge feast with my grandma’s amazing food. We had foods of all kind: noodles, vegetables, meat, and dessert such as nian gao (sticky rice with red bean) and Bao Bing (shaved ice with toppings).  We would huddle around each other near Taipei 101 and watch the fireworks. To this day I still remember the smiles on their face and their comforting hugs.

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My mug represents my family’s love for boats and rowing. My family is from Greece and we always boat there and it is really important to me. I used a pictures of rowing boats in water to show my love for rowing. Blue is my favorite color because it reminds me of the ocean which is another reason why I chose rowing.
Heritage Story:

My grandfather loved boats as a kid and always wanted one. He wanted a yacht that he could drive around in Greece with his family. The problem was, yachts are very hard to take care of and they are very expensive. When my grandfather was an adult, he bought a yacht from England named the Actaia. He keeps the boat on Porós and every single year, I help with the boat. My mom, grandmother, and aunt all rowed which is why rowing is so important to me. My grandfather says I am a big help to him with the boat which is why it is so important to me, as well.

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My mug represents my Japanese heritage as well as my parents heritage. I used Hokkaido, Japan as my inspiration for the mug and a story about my Mom’s visit to Hokkaido University. My plate represents the Japanese waters and the water surrounding Hokkaido. I used a wave pattern similar to the famous Hokusai painting to show that. For my mug I used a traditional Japanese pattern to further emphasize my Japanese heritage. On the mug is the quote  少女よ、大志を抱け (Girls, be ambitious) which was my Grandma’s household quote. I made my plate and mug circular to represent Japan’s flag with the red circle in the middle. To match my mug better to my Japanese heritage I did not put a handle on it. In traditional Japanese “mugs” you will see that they don't have handles but instead an indent so it is easier to hold the mug.

Both my parents grew up in Hokkaido, Japan and when my mom was in about Kindergarten and her brother was in 3rd grade their Mom (my Grandma) took them to visit Hokkaido University in Sapporo. She took them to Hokkaido University because it was, and is the top University in Hokkaido.  The University’s motto is 少年よ、大志を抱け (Boys, be ambitious) by William Smith Clark and that stuck with my Grandma ever since. It became the household motto but changed to 少女よ、大志を抱け (Girls, be ambitious) for my mom. My Grandma believed that anything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and that quote perfectly captured it. My Dad later attended Hokkaido University and coincidently Mr. Clark is from Massachusetts.

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My mug and plate represent me because I am Indian and the mandala is one of the usual patterns in Indian heritage. My mom lived in India and she had a beehive in her house, which is why I put a honeycomb on the plate. I made the plate yellow because of the bees and the mug blue because blue is my favorite color. I also did not know but my mom’s house was actually blue and yellow. This is the significance of my mug and plate.

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My great grandfather, David did a lot for people in poverty, even when he was poor, so my family now uses that name commonly. My brother is named David, cousin is named David, and my great uncle is named David. This is why I have the word, David on my cup. My great grandfather was also Jewish as is my entire family on my dad’s side. This is why I made my plate in the shape of the Jewish star and carved a Jewish star on my cup.

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My mug represents me because I used celtic knots and the common, Claddagh symbol, front and center on the mug. My plate also represents me because like the mug, it is using the colors of the Irish flag and it has a celtic knot on the front. I used the Claddagh symbol instead of the clover that I originally wanted because the clover is the most common and I wanted to do something original. My heritage is extremely important to me because my family hasn’t been in the United States too long… I am the third generation to be here. I have family in Ireland that I am in contact with and I visited them last year. I love the Irish culture and Ireland itself.

I stood at the back of the boat waving to my family. I didn’t know when I would see them again, if ever. Honkkkkkkk. Off I went from the port in Abruzzi, Italy to a new land in order to help my family. I was fifteen and immigrating to the U.S. to find a job and help my family. My childhood friend had immigrated to Boston and worked at a small masonry company… I figured that I would be able to have a job there, but the issue was getting from New York City to Boston once I arrived.

I finally arrived at Ellis Island with fifty dollars in my pocket and hope for the future. After being cleared by the immigration officers, I found the railroad tracks that lead to Boston. With now, only a little less than fifty dollars in my pocket, this was my only option. I decided to walk from New York City to Boston stopping along the way to work and make some money. It was long and strenuous, but I knew I had to get there.

After quite a while walking down the railroad tracks making pit stops along the way, I finally reached the city of Boston and, luckily, got hired right away. We were just a small construction company but did good work and made a low but steady income. I enjoyed my job and enjoyed seeing my friend for the first time in a long time, but I missed my family and Italy dearly. After about one year of hard working and homesickness, I finally made enough money to send for my wife to immigrate to the U.S.

Many years later, our construction company became much bigger and was honored the job of building the brick buildings on the Boston University campus. Years later I had children and was raising a family with my wife. I still missed Italy but enjoyed time with my family, especially my grandchildren. My granddaughter, Lisa, and I used to walk from Boston to Revere Beach. On those walks I think back to when I was fifteen years old and on a boat heading to a new land with nothing besides a little money. If it wasn’t for walking I probably wouldn’t have the life that I had.

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My mug represents me because it represents Spain and the Spanish culture and I am Spanish. Being Spanish is important to me because my whole family is from Spain. I used the Spanish flag on my mug. I also put on a bull which is the national animal and is used in many places. I also used Spanish patterns.

My mom was born and raised in Spain. She went to Madrid University and she was the first of her family to go to college. She wanted to move to the U.S but she didn’t have any money to fly and pay for and education. So she went to England to make money and learn English. After a while she finally got enough money to fly to the U.S, but still not enough for a Masters degree or PHD. So Michigan University offered her a deal. To teach Spanish for a while and in return she gets a scholarship. In the end she graduated from Michigan.

My dad was born in Puerto Rico. He went to MIT and graduated. He then did a master's degree in engineering. He moved to Detroit to work for Ford. He met my mom and they moved to Cambridge where my dad got his Master’s at Harvard Business School.

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My mug represents me because I am Indian and French Canadian. My elephant that I had represented my family “clan”. We are the Ganeshi and Lal Clan and the elephant ties our group together. My maple leaf that I used represents that I am Canadian. My dad is Canadian and my mom is Indian. My cultural heritage is important to me because it makes me feel that I am a part of a special group, and I represent a certain culture.

Heritage Story:
A story my grandparents have told me is about how they crossed from India to America. They didn’t have much money, but two kids. They were going to leave a lot of family back there and have to start a new life. It was a major struggle to buy everything and get ready. After a long, torturous journey, they made it to America. They successfully made a new life and expanded their family.

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My mug and plate represent me because my only two major heritages are from France and Italy. I chose France because at the moment, for the past four generations, my entire family has lived in France. To represent my French cultural heritage, I put traditional fancy designs and both sides of the mug, and then I put a big Eiffel tower towards the center as in general, it is the first thing that comes to mind when people think about France. And lastly, I designed my plate as a revolutionary symbol which is considered very important in the history of the country.

My heritage story is about my great, great, great, grandfather. Him and his family were very poor and decided to move someplace else. The plan was to move to France to later find tickets on the transatlantic trip to New York City. Too poor to even buy one ticket in third class, he had to leave by himself as a worker in the engine room with hope that the rest of the family would join him once he makes a little money. Sadly, once arrived to Ellis Island, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis, which got him sent back home. That is how my family has become French instead of American.

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My mug and plate represent me and my family though color, pattern, and design. The colors represent me because it is white with inlays of blue, and my favorite color is blue. I chose a darker blue because I feel like it’s more regal and down to earth. The colors and patterns are simple wedgwood, a design that originated in England, from where half of my family has lived (most have been born there too). My cup is simplistic, having only two emphasized sections on either side, so I did my best to smooth down the sides. I also made a braided handle to give my cup some flair, and because I wanted to know how to make the more complex handle.

Story:
My grandmother was one of the 1.5 million people (Wikipedia), including many children, who were evacuated from London during the blitz in World War II. She was only a few years old and was sent away from her home without her mother. She was slightly higher social class than my grandfather, even though they grew up a few doors down from each other. My grandfather had to stay in London while buildings collapsed all around him during the Nazi bombing raids. When he grew up, he joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) and worked his way up to being a non-commissioned officer and squadron leader flying tankers. My grandparents married in England in 1959, had four children, and moved to Canada in 1975 after my grandfather retired from the RAF.  They now live in Calgary.

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My mug and plate represent me because, I am mainly Italian so I carved in red tomatoes on green vines because tomatoes are italian food and when my grandfather came to the states, he grew a tomato garden. Also, white, green, and red, the colors I used for my pot,  are on the Italian flag.  My cultural heritage is important to me because it gives me a glimpse of how my ancestors were and their way of living.