My Family

My Family is very unique to myself and others that may know them. Most of my family if not all of them live in the hills of Kentucky. So just by learning where they are from Kentucky many can get a fast first impression. My dad's family live on a hill surrounding all of their other relatives. They call the hill Anderson Hill. At the bottom of the hill is a little white house that all seven of the siblings grew up in when they were little. Now that times have passed there are six house on this one hill. All of the siblings built house and live now on the hill. Every time we visit the hill it is like having a family reunion. Now that many of the siblings are old most of them have left there houses to their children or even other relatives. What is so unique about this hill is that it has been in the family for almost one hundred years. Now there are subdivisions and other buildings growing around this farm and land. But when we arrive at the hill we can always tell that there is a well felt family atmosphere everytime.
I also have a crazy relative that used to live on the side of the hill. He is no longer living there so I don't get to see him much but he was the most talked about relative on my fathers side of the family. He is known for doing crazy things. One summer day he was having a yard sale. He set out the items and stayed there for most of the day. When he left in the afternoon he would set a straw dummy that looked like him in his place. The dummy had a shotgun in his hand and one of my relatives came up to the dummy and started talking because they thought it was him. Definitely a funny story that my relatives tell when they need a good laugh.

My mini-ethnography

     Preparing for my mini-ethnography I have not yet decided the best way to organize my information . I have a general idea. I would like to inform the audience of the subculture I have done. I would also like to example why I chose this particular culture and how I am very much an insider. I would like to share part of my experiences because I am so embedded in this culture. I will then start off with an account from my interviewees. The interviewee will probably be my twin sister. I would like to inform the audience of her account of being a twin. I think that throughout the piece I would like to put the sections together. For example, I would like to put the interviewee information together. Then give my knowledge of research information on the subject. I think the best way is to put the information together and have a theme throughout the body of information.  I would like to conclude with more of my own opinion and how this subculture could influence other people. I am not sure at this point if I am choosing the right way to set up my mini-ethnography. I do believe that there is no wrong or right way to put the information together. I think that the way I have chosen is good for me and I believe that it will help me to better explain my subculture. 

Glossary of Terms

In my subculture there are many words that we use to talk to eachother that many other people may not understand or know. For example, my sister and I have nicknames for eachother that mean something. They are fun little nicknames that are just between us. We as have like a hand shake it is not really secret but it is just between us. Also since we have grown up in the same house together we use alot of the same words. Right now, I cannot think of any off the top of my head. An example of us communicating without anyone knowing would be to look eachother in the eyes and we know exactly what the other is thinking. Also to get eachothers attention we kind of do a little head nod to each other. So far not one time have we not known what the other is thinking. Doublement is meaning like double trouble. People say doublement when we are together.

Reflections

     As I look back now on my research, this project has definitely been one of the most challenging, and interesting at the same time. The hardest part of this research process has been coming up with enough information to use. There has definitely been helpful information from twins that I have located on the internet and will be useful. On the other hand the information has been small but insightful. The easiest part has been writing what I want to say. Because I am an insider I already know a lot of information, so knowing more about the subculture helps me to start the flow of information onto the page. If I could start over from the very beginning I think that I would change my subculture. I would not write about twins because I already know about them. I choose a subculture more interesting and unknown because I would learn more in the process. I think that when I started I didn't know what I was getting into, so I chose a subculture that I know very well. Looking back I should have made the decision not just in a split second, but thought out the reason why twins is a good subculture to explore and just taken more time to choose the right one for me. I think that this blog has helped me keep my thoughts straight, other than just on paper. If all my thoughts were on paper they would be unorganized and definitely no ready for use. This blog has really brought all my thoughts together overtime. I think that this blog will be overall helpful in my mini ethnography because I will have the information at hand all laid out for me. I think this way I am organized and will be ready to start the paper with all my information. My blog that I have kept will make that process much easier and now that I am organized the process will be more enjoyable. 

My Readers

My readers care about this issue because they may want to know more about the subculture of twins. They may find this issue to be interesting and of valuable knowledge. My readers may want to know more about twins. For example, what they are like, how they act or if they are different from every other person. I think that the readers already know that there are twins. They know that twins do share a special bond. I want my readers to know how twins are treated differently and how they feel. Because having a twin is not like just having a sibling. The bond is much different. I just want to show and tell people how different our bond really is. I think that people will find us to be very interesting. Not many people think about having another person that looks exactly like them. Everyday I think about being a twin and what it means to me if I wasn't. I have never known another way. So it is hard for me to imagine what it would mean not to be a twin. I just want people to see and feel for themselve what it would be like if they had a twin. Most people that I have talked to say they wish they were a twin. I am trying to give my reader this feeling. I think that it will be easy to persuade my readers because most of them are not on the inside of this subculture and never can be. The insiders must be born into this subculture. They also can be persuaded because they may not know about this culture. What is told to them is probably the only thing that they know so that's how they learn more about it. The readers could use my writing just to find out more information on the subculture. They may be interested and possibly have to research the subject and I think that I could be a valuable source when it comes to my subculture.

Research

Well as you have already noticed my subculture is twins. I have found throughout researching this subculture that most of the twins have the same feelings. The main feedback that I have been given is twins want other people who are not twins to understand the closeness and the bond that they share. For example, in some of the blogs that I have annotated refer twins as being like a married couple. Now, to some this might sound weird but to twins the metaphor is dead on. This theme definitely runs through the fieldsite because they are all twins and most of them think the same way. I have not found a person or found research that proves the bond and the closeness to be wrong. The feelings that they share are different than normal single people without a twin and this is why the closeness of twins is the main theme. 

In this subculture at the beginning I was definitely and insider. Now, eight weeks have passed and I am still very much an insider. My position has not changed at all. I don't expect my position to change because I can not undo being a twin.