Time with the Family
The sun was rising. A woman got up from a straw mat on the floor of her simple two- room family cottage. Her husband and their four children were still asleep on the mat. There vere five other children: the couple gave two of them to a family with too few workers; the other three died long ago. The woman pushed aside the family goats. When she started the fire for cooking the man and the children got up. While the daughter helped with the housework. the sons went outside to work in the fields with their father. They could see a castle, not far away. The family lived under the protection of the master of the castle. They weren't his slaves, but they paid him taxes. There was no schooling, so they couldn't read or write or get jobs in cities. During the long workday, they took breaks only for meals. Occasionally, they went to the village center, where they laughed and talked and played games. At night people of the community got together around big fires; they told stories about the past. Most families used to live this way in England over 800 years ago
In the first half of the 20th century. the Japanese family was much more traditional than the typical American family. Young people didn even use to date in other words. they didn't go out together as couples. Instead. they had arranged marriage their parents chose their husband or Maybe the couple tell in love after they got married and maybe they wife. didn't. Either way. the wife had children and stayed home with them while the husband supported the family financially. Often the husband and wife and their children lived in an extended family situation generations in one crowded house. Today, life in Japan is similar to that of many other industrialized countries in that many women work outside the home and young people choose their own mates.
In the past. and in part today, much of Saudi culture has been different from Western culture. Under lslam, women should behave modestly in public, where they are often separated from men Women play an important role in the home and are generally expected to focus on the family. In the 1960s, the government began a national education program for girls. and soon after that, education was available to all females. Today, there are many more interesting job opportunities for women
A few years ago, a sad thing happened. A young American woman left her family for carrer reasons: she moved far away. For this reason, a 36-year-old divorced father has custody of his two children, eleven and eight years old. He works long hours as a waiter, including weekends. On his days off from work, he goes to a local community college. He's studying to improve his job skills, so he can make more money for his family. At night he does his homework at the same table as the children. But who takes care of the kids in the evenings when their father is working or going to school? His"extended his mother, other relatives, and his new girlfriend-help out as much as they can. He thinks his girlfriend, who is from Mexico, his home country is good for his family. He doesn't want to date"Anglos' or Anglicized" women because he thinks they value their independence over motherhood. He wants a wife with traditional, religious values like his mother.