13, 14, & 57

    Chapter 13 explored the international expansion of McDonald's to Hong Kong and how it has influenced Chinese culture. More importantly, the chapter questioned whether or not the globalization of McDonald's has threatened the local culture of Hong Kong overtime. To me, it does not seem like McDonald's has completely eliminated the local culture of Hong Kong, but rather it has become integrated into their daily lives. Instead of conforming to American fast food culture, residents of Hong Kong simply adapted the rise in fast food to their own cultural practices, turning McDonald's into a place for socialization similar to teahouses or coffee shops. Additionally, McDonald's became integrated into different food categories in Hong Kong compared to here in America. Whereas here, getting a hamburger and fries is considered a meal, those things are considered to be snacks or "small eats" in Hong Kong. Overtime, younger generations seemed to embrace the idea of the fast food items being a "meal," but nonetheless, McDonald's became a staple of the midmorning snack and socialization culture in Hong Kong, and adapted accordingly. 

    Chapter 14 introduced the concept of the "transnational village" by showing how communities in Miraflores in the Dominican Republic bridge with communities in Jamaica Bay in Boston. Regardless if one is a migrant, the participation of migrants' in their own communities influences the "sending community" (Miraflores), leading to non-migrants adopting a lot of the practices of those who live in Jamaica Bay. I find it interesting how the migrants, or Mirafloreños still keep a lot of their cultural practices such as leaving the apartment doors open and hanging curtains in the doorframe. Rather than assimilate to American culture, these communities remain connected to where they came from. Furthermore, by maintain a connection with non-migrants through the transnational village, both the migrants in Jamaica Bay and the non-migrants in Miraflores are able to still share a global culture of their own. 

    Chapter 57 discusses the globalization of religious practices like yoga and meditation and how they have lost their religious significance when expanding to a global audience. I for one had forgotten that yoga was linked to Hinduism because, as mentioned in the article, it had become more centered around health and wellness and decontextualized from much to do with religion except maybe for the spirituality aspect. Although I think yoga and meditation are perfectly acceptable as secular activities for health and wellness, I do think it is important to acknowledge their origins as a religious practice in the East and give due respect to it as such.