AshezOne

Morality refers to an ideal code of conduct, one which would be espoused in preference to alternatives by all rational people, under specified conditions. In this “prescriptive” sense of morality as opposed to the above described “descriptive” sense, moral value judgments such as “murder is immoral” are made. To deny ‘morality’ in this sense is a position known as moral skepticism, in which the existence of objective moral “truths” is rejected. Read the rest of this entry »

Culture is only one category of human behavior and it is important to see it in its relation to the other categories which are universal and personal. Universal behavior refers to ways in which everyone in every group are the same. The examples of universal behavior are running away from a dangerous animal, eating regularly, sleeping at night, and feeling sad at the death of one’s mother. All of the examples are common behaviors found in all human societies. Read the rest of this entry »

Padhang mBulan
Yo prakanca, dolanan ning njaba
Padhang mbulan, padhange kaya rina
Rembulane sing ngawe-awe
Ngelingake aja padha turu sore

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On Friday, October 17, 2008 an event was held in Auditorium, FIB, UGM. This event was entitled Cross-Cultural Exchange Program 2008 and was a result of a cooperative work of Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Malaysia and English Department Faculty of Cultural Sciences, UGM also Oberlin Shansi, U.S.A. The event began in the morning, when several students from the three institutes were trained in a workshop because later on the afternoon the result will be Read the rest of this entry »

In Indonesia, when a host invites a guest to have a meal at their house, there are several ways of serving the food. Compared to the American style of serving guests in a meal, the Indonesian style is a little different. In American style, napkins are generally provided and available at every meal and should be placed in one’s lap and used during the meal to clean one’s fingers and lips. In Indonesia, most of the times, Read the rest of this entry »

In Indonesia, during the first meeting, giving small gifts is a way to show our interest and sincerity in establishing a long-term relationship. We are also expected to give gifts to celebrate an occasion like a returning from a trip, a birthday party, or when you are invited to an Indonesian home and to thank someone. The exchanging of gifts is common an expected in Indonesia but there’s one thing to remember, personal gifts from a man to a woman can be misunderstood as having a romantic intent. That’s why, when a businessman gives a gift, he will say that his wife sent the gift. Read the rest of this entry »

It was humid and dark as I walked my way to Prawirotaman Street. However, as I got near to the area, I could see that the area wasn’t going to sleep that night. There were a lot of foreign tourists enjoying the nights at cafés, laughing and talking to each other. I knew I need to approach one of them to get an interview in order to fulfill my assignment but I didn’t feel comfortable to rushed in to the crowds and ask one of them for an interview. Read the rest of this entry »

Alexandru Popescu is a Romanian student who studies at INCULS, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Gadjah Mada University. When I talked to him about his name, he said Alexandru is a Greek name which means ‘a friend of men’ or ‘defender of mankind’. As for his last name, he doesn’t know what Popescu means, but that’s a common name in Romania just like surname Johnson is very common in the U.S. His name was given by his godfather and he never changed it. He is happy with his name. Read the rest of this entry »