The Greenwood of the Round Table

My family is fairly informal with our dinners, but we do however sit down every night for a home cooked meal together, without our phones or devices. We like to have a few bites of our food before saying grace. Now we are not a religious family but we are thankful, so we say a few words that my grandfather always used to say. When other people come to our dinner they are often surprised by how open we are with our parents.

In contrast, when I was younger, my best friend was Chinese. She and her parents both spoke English, but their grandparents that lived with them did not so when we would sit down for dinner, they would begin talking in this foreign language. They would all have chopsticks and even though I knew how to use them, I always got a fork. I always felt very out of place because I never understood anything they were saying and felt like everything I did was wrong.

I think dinner is one of those things that you get very used to in your own house because it literally happens every night. Because of this regularity, when you go to someone else’s house, the change is confusing.

~Sahale

The Birth of Their Girl & The Family

Sahale is a very unusual name followed by an unfitting last name. On paper my name often confuses people because my first name sounds ethnic but Greenwood sounds pretty anglo-saxon. My mismatched name has never held me back, but instead helped me.

Having my unique name sets me apart, and honestly is a great conversation starter. When people meet me and figure out how to pronounce my name the most common response is "that is beautiful, where is it from". Then I get to tell the story of how my dad proposed on top of Sahale Mountain and how is means high, holy ground. I love my name because it has meaning. And the meaning isn't that my parents just really liked the Native American word for high, holy ground, but because it was the start of my family. It is perfect that this was the origin of my family because we are a a family that loves the outdoors and my name tied me back to all that.I was also very excited when my whole family got the chance to mountaineer Sahale Mountain this summer.

My name has never held me back but instead stowed me how to be confident and different. 

~Sahale

The Coastal War
My family is from all over. We are basically from every European country with no real ties to any of them. We love to celebrate St. Patricks Day but just to have a good meal and party, but there is no real meaning behind it.
I think more than just my heritage, where I have lived describes me the most. I have lived on the East Coast/ South, LA area and orange County. The only place in the United States that I have not lived is the middle of the country, which personally, I am okay with. After living all over the place I can officially say  "WEST COAST IS BEST COAST".

I think that each of the places I have lived has showed me different lifestyles and people allowing me to see more of the world and develop more as a individual. Living in Virginia we were still considered an East Coast State and I had some very preppy friends who were always at the country club. But it was also southern enough that at my brothers school, the boys were divided into two teams for sports and pep rallies. The teams were called "Lee's" and "Jackson's" after two famous Civil War generals. In LA I was exposed to diversity, California wilderness, and the LA/ Hollywood scene. In the OC I have been exposed to the super rich, the over sheltered, and the surfer dude.
Every place that I have lived, I think is very beautify and I am very fortunate to be living there but LA has resonated the most with who I am and who I think I want to be. Which is why I was very happy that since my dad's new job was going to take us out of Newport and Sage, that it was back to LA.
~Sahale

I think that people act using their rational and irrational thinking. I think over the course of time we come to be known them by a combination of both, but for those who know very little about us, the irrational tends to stick more often. I think this is because the crazy, irrational, fun things we do, are far more memorable than going to bed on time and getting all your work done. Yet a close friend or family member would recognize that you are studies and well rested.
One small thing that I do that acts against my own self interest is mountain unicycling. I do not do this often but when I do, there are no breaks on the unicycle and I am going down hill on a bumpy path. It would be so easy to hit a rock wrong, fall, and at the speed I would be going down these hills, break an arm. I don't consider myself a impulse actor, but I do love adrenaline. One example of this is that I love scaring myself. I took Exploring the Paranormal for Spring at Sage last year even though I am terrified of the super natural and I love watching scary movies. Liking these things does not make sense because they make me uncomfortable and scarred yet I continual do them because I get some sort of joy out of my own discomfort.
~Sahale

Teenage Angst

One of my biggest contradictions is that everything in my life, day, year, minute, afternoon can be going well yet I am in a terrible mood. I have a good life and we won our soccer game yet I am really irked that the person driving in front of me wont turn off their left blinker. In this case my mood contradicts my current surrounds and state. Even when everything is bright a cheery, I can be annoyed and sad. I can feel like this grump cat:

I normally try not to beat myself up about it and sum it up to teenage angst. And I have become pretty good at it but only when the recipient is that stranger who wont turn off his freaking turn signal. When I lash out against my friends or parents I am pretty hard on myself. They don't deserve to be yelled at and they do nothing but make my life pretty close to perfect. Getting mad for no apparent reason is my biggest and most often contradiction.

~Sahale

Taking a Stance or Just a Last Name?

I believe that taking the males name implies that you are becoming part of their family and any children you will spawn will also carry out the husband's family name. This I believe was a practice founded in a patriarchal society which may be the reason feminist are bring it up now.

However, I agree with the idea of giving up your name. Not to sound anti-feminist, but the idea that you are now starting a new family and you want to have your family under the same united name makes total sense. To switch that to all the men changing their names could be just as offensive as women having to change their names. This is an issue that is specific to the situation however. If a family decides that they want their names to all be the same then one of you must change it and more often then not it is the women out of habit. I also totally understand when women want to keep their name because their name is known or they want to help carry on their family name when no other options are present.

In conclusion, I think that this issue is as individual as picking a car, house or school. I believe that everyone has and should continue to have the choice of what to do with their last name after marriage. I think calling it a anti feminist act is going to an extreme that is not necessary. If you personally have a problem with it, then don't change your name, but otherwise, let those who want to do the traditional thing do the traditional thing.

Be Who You Want No Matter What You Are

Emma Watson, the new United Nations Women Goodwill Ambassador has spoken a lot recently about the stereotypes of women. She speaks to how young girls are taught to want to be princesses and fairies. This general assumption does not always coincide with gender. More and more we see guys liking girls toys and movies and girls wanting to be worriers from a young age. Or at least I do when I babysit.

What I am saying here is that just because of what gender we were born into doesn't mean that we choose all the same interests as our given gender. If we stopped categorizing work as "a mans job" or "women's work" and let people work in the field that interests them we could capitalize on everyone's strengths.

I do not particularly call myself a feminist because the effects of this have not had impact on my life. Very rarely, if ever, does being a girl impact my opportunities. However I do notice the stereotypes in the adult/ working world. Also this is no longer confided to just females. Recently a movement of males who believe that they receive judgement for being more sensitive or "girly" makes them inferior have risen up. This group has materialized partially being called "bronies" which is specifically a group a grown men who like My Little Pony because it has good family values and a positive message. I think that we as a society need to stop thinking of people as defined by these predetermined gender and instead let people redefine what it means to be a man or a women.

~Sahale