Citations

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I am Hutterite by Mary- Ann Kirkby

Response Questions

1. My book really pulled  and helped me a lot on this blog. It conveyed their many different ways of living and culture. This book was not just a story, it is an eye opener for me.There are people around  that I can learn from . For example, their clothing, their food, their culture, their religion, and their language.
2. I was not very interested in this book because it talked more of culture and tradition rather than   expeditions and traveling.
3. The place in the book that was  most intriguing was their clothing. They have a dress code. It is not like the regular clothing we wear today. They were very restricted.
4. I think  the author was trying to explore unconditional love as a family because in every chapter of the book, she explains how they are always together and just being a family.
5. I feel that I have learned a lot from this project. Reading the book made me think and embrace the fact that we are all different. I learned a new culture and a new way of life. Technology taught me how to make a blog and how to post things like videos and pictures on a blog. By making this blog, I can now encourage  people to go to new placesand experience various culture and traditions.
6. The most enjoyable part of the project was making the blog. I was amazed on how technology can be a means of invitation for people to share opinion and  give their own reactions through a blog. 
7. The most difficult part of this project was probably reading the book because I was not very interested in it.

Hutterite Wedding Song

Jesus Remember Me- A Hutterite Hymn

Education and Work

The Hutterites start school around the age of three. Education is very important to the Hutterites. At the age of 15 they are finsihed with their education. Instead of English, they learn German. After they graduate when they are 15, most do not go to college. Instead, they help out with the community and to the works of an adult. The children are not ready to work yet. There are many jobs that need to be done in the Hutterite colony. For example, farming, teaching, butchering, and cleaning the house. During my stay, Jake and I had to take the hard tasks. But it was all worth it. Jake taught me how to harvest crops, butcher, and read the bible. I am so glad he took time to show me how to do the tasks. When I go back to America I will grow my own  crops and  harvest them.  I will practice what I have gained from this visit. 

History and Religion

Jacob Hutter

On my last night while we were sitting out in the porch Jake talked to me about the history of the Hutterite colony. He told me that it started way back in the 1500's. The first leader was Jacob Hutter.Around the 1530's a lot of people started persecuting the Hutterites. I was shocked when Jake told be this. It's hard to believe that their colony had to be persecuted just for their beliefs.The Hutterites still kept their faith strong.When some Hutterites were in jail, they wrote all kinds of music, and stories. There are about 28,000 Hutterites today.Education and religion is very important to the Hutterites. It is needed to endure the hard tasks that will be taken during adulthood. Religion is very important because they  have to learn to read the Bible everyday. Jake said that his parents had taught him how to read the Bible since he was four. Even though it's not a subject at school, it should be taken seriously.

Culture

The culture of the Hutterites is associated  with hard work. They have to work everyday and go to school. They are also very religious. They have to read the Bible everyday and they go to church every Sunday. They are not the type of people who go out of the village. They stay in the colony and they usually only see people from their colony. Many Hutterite have big families because they say that life is a gift. They are very close and they will stay with each other for life. I asked Jake if he ever regreted being born a Hutterites and he strongly said no." I love my family and I will never give it up for anything."

Music

Hutterite Music is basically hymns sung at Church. When I went to church, the choir was singing acapella and it was a very pleasant  to the ear. In these hymns they sing about their life in the colony. They also sing about how great God is. I didn't really hear any music during my trip. I only heard music at Church. Many songs are sung by choirs. There is not many music that is sung solo. (On the top of the blog there are two Hutterite hymns)

Day 7 and After the Trip

Today is my last day to cherish this culture that I am now  use to.  Today is the "sabbath" day as Jake says. We went to church and just thank the Lord for all the things He has done for us. When I entered the Church I saw everybody wearing the same thing. The Hutterite clothing that I had to wear too.. The suspenders were so uncomfortable. I heared angelic music from the choir. Three of Jakes sisters are in the choir. I see everyone bowing their heads while they are praying and thanking the Lord. So I followed them. I thank the Lord for sending me to this colony and to experience what they go through. After Church nobody works. I ask "why isn't anybody work ing today?" Someone responded, "we keep the sabbath day holy and we don't work." So when there is no work what do we do? We just get together out in the colony and read the Bible. At the end of the day I had to say my last goodbyes to the people. I was devastated that I had to leave . I learned so much from thiswonderful experience that I do  want to stay a little longer. I was driven to the train station to go back to Calgary and fly back to to Dallas . This experience really changed my life. I will truly miss the family especially Jake. I will now have to go back to reality and start over a new life.
         Now that I am back in Dallas, I have lost ten pounds! I miss everybody deeply. I now got to sleep in since my first day in the colony. Many of my friends in Dallas asks  me "how can you have endured all that?" I responded "It is very easy once you get use to it." I am very greatful I got to have this experience. I know for a fact that I will be back soon!

Day 6

It's hard just seeing the same people everyday. And also staying in the same place everyday. Today I am just going to see how it is like to  be in a regular Hutterite household. I started my day by waking up at 7: 30 and eating breakfast. I just stay in the house doing nothing for thirty minutes. I ask someone if I could do anything. Everyone just works as much as they can. Jake is out to buy supper for tonight. If not working, they are reading the Bible. I grab a bible and start to read. I am very interested and keep on reading more. I ask someone if they read the bible everyday. She says that they have to. The Hutterite colony is very religious. They always have to pray and learn about God everyday. After I read some of the bible, I ask someone again if I could do any work. They say that I could just go and harvest some vegetables. I do this and I realized that I'm use to it. Before my hands were all cut and very sore. I can easily grapple the plant and pull it out. I can do many things the Hutterite way. It feels like I am a true Hutterite. Tomorrow will be a very sad day because it will be my last day to experience the joy and hard work I did. I will  go to Church.

Day 5

Today I had to dress  up elegantly. I will experience what it is like to see a Hutterite wedding. The bride is named Mary and the Groom is Ronald. Mary is one of the older sisters of Jake. It was a pleasure to meet Ronald and Mary. We walked into the church and it was filled with white flowers and adorned with decorations. I learned that you can marry any time when you reach adulthood. But you have to be faithful to God before you can get married. When Mary and Ronald exchanged vows, they were officially married. The Hutterites do not believe in divorce. Therefore, you have to  be respectful to your spouse and cannot commit adultery. After the marriage we had a party where there were many visitors from other colonies. There was Hutterite music playing and people were drinking and just having fun. There is a feast with many different types of food. There is lots of meat and pastries. The children played around and I got to meet new people and new cultures. I think that I am now adjusting to this Hutterite community. Tomorrow I will get to stay at the house and just see how life is in the Hutterite household. It was a very fun filled day. I have adjusted to many things especially the cold, arctic wheather.

Day 4



Hutterite Class

Today I am going with Jake's brother Michael to visit his school. Hutterite children start kindergarten at about three years old. I went with one Michael to his German class. The Hutterites has their own dialect. It is mostly German. The school was crowded with people from all ages going into different classes. The German teacher was a strict Catholic woman. Her name was Mrs. Phillipot. The class has to be very careful with her because she will strike at people with a snap. A boy was sleeping in class so the teacher got up and smacked him with a ruler. All the students tried not to laugh. Most of the students grew up with the main Hutterite dialect. So they all aced assignments. Many of the subjects are just like in the US. There is science, math, social studies, and reading. The average school time is about eight hours. I thought that the school of the Hutterites was very interesting. It is just like America. It was a good day. Tomorrow I will get to experience what it is like to see a Hutterite wedding.

Day 3

Hutterite Family

Today, one of Jakes sisters Anna came and woke me up. It was early in the morning. Before I had to work in the farm, I had to eat breakfast to nourish and sustain me throughout the day. The regular breakfast in the Hutterite colony is nothing like the breakfast I eat in the US. The breakfast in the Hutterite colony is usually bread and butter (Brot). After breakfast, I had to change into the clothes that the Hutterite  men wear. The women wear a shawl, usually with polka dots (tiechel). They also have to wear a dark dress that cascades just above their ankles (kittel). The men have to wear a shirt with pants. They have to wear suspenders to hold their pants up. After changing I followed Jake outside. We had to harvest  vegetables and  grains. The main crop in their colony are barley, oats, and canola. We also had to butcher a cow. It was  gross but we accomplished the job. It was very stressful and tiring day. I was so fatigued that I was  ready to eat dinner. I thought I really deserve a full meal for the work I had done today. The Hutterite dinner is very lavish. Everyone from the colony (about 20 people) eat together. They eat the foods that they have harvested or butchered. After dinner, I took a warm bath and went to bed. Tomorrow will be an easier day because I get to experience how it is like to go to school in the Hutterite colony.

Day 2

As I came out of the airport, a rush of cold air blew into my face. I was not prepared for the weather I would endure during this winter time. A taxi came to pick me up to a train station. I would take a train from the city of Calgary to the village where most Hutterites live. As I descended  the train, I already see people working. They are raising  cattle, cleaning, or farming. I am greeted with a warm welcome by many people. I see Jake and he introduced me to his family. They took me inside their house. It was small with only two rooms, a living room, one bathroom, and a kitchen. I was pretty confused when I entered  the house. I knew that this would  be a hard life to live. It is way different from what I expected and what I am used to. But this was only the beginning of my Hutterite expedition.



Hutterite Map



Day 1

Today I was boarding the plane to go to Calgary, Canada. It takes about four hours to get there on plane from Dallas. For a week, I will get to visit my friend Jake who is a Hutterite, and I will try to see how it is like to live in a Hutterite colony. The colony spreads all over central Canada and some parts of the United States. In Canda they mostly stay in the province of Alberta and some parts of Saskatchewan. In the U.S they are mostly in Montana and South Dakota. For men,  it's all about farming and agriculture. For women it's about cleaning and taking the responsibilities for the house. I know that this would be a major adjustment from the things we do here in the modern places in the United States.