Saturday, September 1, 2007
Lack of internet access...
So I've been having plenty of amazing experiences here in Thailand, but I haven't had internet access at either of my host families' houses (which has actually been very nice) so I haven't been able to relay my experiences onto my blog. I didn't know I'd be at a computer with internet access today, otherwise I would have brought my journal to transfer some of the entries here. I'm going to Finland in two days, though, so hopefully I'll be able to update my blog there.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Guess it's all Bad Education
8/8/07
From my Sociology journal:
We are no longer in the familiarity of Denver. We spent the last two and a half days in Gallup, New Mexico, and are currently in transit between there and Tucson, Arizona.
Even though the time spent in Gallup was exceptionally brief, it was still a very memorable experience. I stayed with a host family of immigrants from India along with three of my cast mates and our cast director. My host parents were particularly generous (not to mention phenomenal cooks), and it was great to learn about their culture. They also had two pet cats, which was very delightful for me since it reminded me of my cat back home.
While at our host family's house, I also had some very rewarding conversations with my roommates, though some of these conversations led to a bit of embarrassment on my part. One of these was when my roommates from China and the Netherlands revealed that they both knew George W. Bush's middle name, whereas neither of my American roommates nor myself knew this little snippet of information.
The other embarrassing conversation was very similar - this occurred when my Dutch and Chinese roommates once again displayed their outstanding intelligence by playing this game where one would name a country and the other would name its capitol. They were correct for nearly all of them, but Justen (from Texas) and I knew close to zero. The really embarrassing part was when they moved to our state capitols, and they knew more of those than we Americans did. It was only slightly reassuring when they both admitted that they hadn't gained all of their geographical knowledge from school, but had studied maps a lot on their free time. Either way, I was quite ashamed of my ignorance (especially since my dad teaches geography).
Last night, however, we stayed up 'til two in the morning having an existential conversation about religion, infinity, the possibility of an afterlife, and other such things. I somewhat redeemed my dignity since this was much more familiar territory for me, but nevertheless I made a vow to myself to improve my geography (which will undoubtedly start to happen on the this trip).
My education was once again put in question today during a really good conversation that I had with my "bus date" from Germany. We were discussing the differences between the German and American education systems. It turns out that she had learned about many subjects during high school that weren't even offered to me until college, such as philosophy, world religions, and ethics. She had also received a much more efficient high school education in regards to such subjects as the natural sciences as well as foreign language (which was obvious, since it's the USA we're talking about). I was a little embarrassed, but I was even more outraged that I had been deprived of such knowledge.
Why is it that our society deems it unnecessary to teach its youth about foreign cultures, languages, and religions? More and more I am becoming rather disgusted by my country's ethnocentrism. I mean, many people don't even go to college, and therefore remain in ignorance about important subjects that aren't even introduced until the college level. I think it would be a great idea for high schoolers to take a class in world religions - maybe then there would be less discrimination and misunderstanding of others' cultures. I mean, there are so many Americans who are blatantly prejudiced against Muslims these days, but I can guarantee that the majority of those people don't have a CLUE about Islam or its teachings. In fact, it is somewhat sadly humorous that many of the Christians who are prejudiced against Muslims are COMPLETELY oblivious to the fact that both Christianity and Islam (as well as Judaism) in fact share the same roots!!
It's just not fair that I had to go out of my way to learn about some of these important, relevant subjects if I didn't want to wait until college to find out about them. It is especially unfair when you consider the fact that the system could have easily provided me the opportunity to do so; similar to Germany and many of the other developed nations in the world.
Maybe I just had an incompetent high school, coming from rural Wyoming and all (I never even had the opportunity to study sociology until I cam to USD), but unfortunately, I have a feeling that this is probably the case for most schools throughout the nation. But then, maybe I should stop bitching and actually strive to make a change.
From my Sociology journal:
We are no longer in the familiarity of Denver. We spent the last two and a half days in Gallup, New Mexico, and are currently in transit between there and Tucson, Arizona.
Even though the time spent in Gallup was exceptionally brief, it was still a very memorable experience. I stayed with a host family of immigrants from India along with three of my cast mates and our cast director. My host parents were particularly generous (not to mention phenomenal cooks), and it was great to learn about their culture. They also had two pet cats, which was very delightful for me since it reminded me of my cat back home.
While at our host family's house, I also had some very rewarding conversations with my roommates, though some of these conversations led to a bit of embarrassment on my part. One of these was when my roommates from China and the Netherlands revealed that they both knew George W. Bush's middle name, whereas neither of my American roommates nor myself knew this little snippet of information.
The other embarrassing conversation was very similar - this occurred when my Dutch and Chinese roommates once again displayed their outstanding intelligence by playing this game where one would name a country and the other would name its capitol. They were correct for nearly all of them, but Justen (from Texas) and I knew close to zero. The really embarrassing part was when they moved to our state capitols, and they knew more of those than we Americans did. It was only slightly reassuring when they both admitted that they hadn't gained all of their geographical knowledge from school, but had studied maps a lot on their free time. Either way, I was quite ashamed of my ignorance (especially since my dad teaches geography).
Last night, however, we stayed up 'til two in the morning having an existential conversation about religion, infinity, the possibility of an afterlife, and other such things. I somewhat redeemed my dignity since this was much more familiar territory for me, but nevertheless I made a vow to myself to improve my geography (which will undoubtedly start to happen on the this trip).
My education was once again put in question today during a really good conversation that I had with my "bus date" from Germany. We were discussing the differences between the German and American education systems. It turns out that she had learned about many subjects during high school that weren't even offered to me until college, such as philosophy, world religions, and ethics. She had also received a much more efficient high school education in regards to such subjects as the natural sciences as well as foreign language (which was obvious, since it's the USA we're talking about). I was a little embarrassed, but I was even more outraged that I had been deprived of such knowledge.
Why is it that our society deems it unnecessary to teach its youth about foreign cultures, languages, and religions? More and more I am becoming rather disgusted by my country's ethnocentrism. I mean, many people don't even go to college, and therefore remain in ignorance about important subjects that aren't even introduced until the college level. I think it would be a great idea for high schoolers to take a class in world religions - maybe then there would be less discrimination and misunderstanding of others' cultures. I mean, there are so many Americans who are blatantly prejudiced against Muslims these days, but I can guarantee that the majority of those people don't have a CLUE about Islam or its teachings. In fact, it is somewhat sadly humorous that many of the Christians who are prejudiced against Muslims are COMPLETELY oblivious to the fact that both Christianity and Islam (as well as Judaism) in fact share the same roots!!
It's just not fair that I had to go out of my way to learn about some of these important, relevant subjects if I didn't want to wait until college to find out about them. It is especially unfair when you consider the fact that the system could have easily provided me the opportunity to do so; similar to Germany and many of the other developed nations in the world.
Maybe I just had an incompetent high school, coming from rural Wyoming and all (I never even had the opportunity to study sociology until I cam to USD), but unfortunately, I have a feeling that this is probably the case for most schools throughout the nation. But then, maybe I should stop bitching and actually strive to make a change.
My First Poem of this Trip
This is the first poem I have written since I've started my journey! It doesn't have a name yet.
This Ipod's been plugged into
electricity in Thailand
but this isn't an advertisement
because I detest capitalist philosophy
But, you know,
sometimes there's beauty
in such things as candy commercials
but it's hard to deal with
since its primary goal
is just to sell you shit
it's maker's intentions were certainly not
to create anything that's art
But then,
who am I to say
that I honestly know their intentions
maybe 'twas an artistic soul
whose only medium was in big business
and they don't care
'cause they worry not
and are only doing what they love
And then
I wish they'd just see the light
and examine their wee global grab-bag
but then again it's maybe just me
that just needs to just settle down
to realize that, yes, I do loathe that shit
but to not so promptly deny it has beauty
that everything's a mixture
even capitalism
so I'll just try to just let things be
I just won't forget still to think
This Ipod's been plugged into
electricity in Thailand
but this isn't an advertisement
because I detest capitalist philosophy
But, you know,
sometimes there's beauty
in such things as candy commercials
but it's hard to deal with
since its primary goal
is just to sell you shit
it's maker's intentions were certainly not
to create anything that's art
But then,
who am I to say
that I honestly know their intentions
maybe 'twas an artistic soul
whose only medium was in big business
and they don't care
'cause they worry not
and are only doing what they love
And then
I wish they'd just see the light
and examine their wee global grab-bag
but then again it's maybe just me
that just needs to just settle down
to realize that, yes, I do loathe that shit
but to not so promptly deny it has beauty
that everything's a mixture
even capitalism
so I'll just try to just let things be
I just won't forget still to think
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Goodbye Denver
Everything just seems so sweet.
I would say euphoric, but you see, I've cried too already, and this afternoon I actually became rather angry. It's just that everything seems so real; so pure; I feel like I'm finally getting the hang of just living in each moment and simply experiencing it with the most oomph I can muster.
Tonight was the first show of the tour, and tomorrow is, unbelievably, our last day in Denver. The show was absolutely splendid, and it was wonderful to realize that we can actually do this.
Before the show, we had our very first "green room", which is a Shakespearean concept, in which all of the "actors" meet together prior to a performance in a room adjoining the stage. We did some fun and silly things of course, such as the now-trademark dance party, but we also had a few very emotional moments in which Kristen helped us to reminisce about all the steps in our life that brought us to that very moment, and Andrew read more of his ever-exceptionally-beautiful writing in the form of the first letter in a book we'll be passing around (this one was to Faith, which I quickly realized because she had been very inspirational to me in ways similar to those that Andrew described). Needless to say, I cried during several of those moments, which is a very big thing for me since very rarely do I cry in front of people (even John and Kayla). I think this says a lot about what a wonderful program Up With People really is, and even more about what a spectacular group of people this is that I'll be spending such an important part of my life with. I truly adore these people, and already I feel that some of these friendships just might end up being some of the most important in the course of my life.
Even some of the people that I haven't gotten to know particularly well yet have already inspired me. For instance, today at lunch , one of the students in Cast B was making some very homophobic comments, which started out with "Here comes gay Grant". Now, I presume that Grant is not gay, but either way, it was very obvious that this individual was using the word in a very derogative way (I also witnessed a conversation yesterday when he said that his solution to the war in Iraq would be to go over there and shoot every person who wasn't white, or black, which he added simply as an afterthought just because Justin was there - how this individual ended up in Up With People is beyond me, but I sincerely hope that it will do him some good). Anyways, the thing that inspired me was that in response to this comment, Dave spoke up and said (in an impressively polite yet assertive way) something along the lines of "I would prefer if you didn't use that word like that". I was deeply impressed with his ability to speak up against homophobia in such a rational way (especially since Dave if one of the most masculine guys on the cast), and I really appreciated this gesture. Unfortunately, the homophobic individual proceeded to make an extremely uncalled-for direct personal attack against one of the [more obviously gay] staff members who wasn't present at the moment. At least I was happy to see that this statement was greeted with an exceptionally cold silence from all of those who were present. Needless to say, this was the aforementioned incident that made me angry.
Anyway, once again there have been too many notable things going on for me to write about in detail, but here are some of them in brief:
It was very strange and delightful to have several of my family members here with my host family for the evening of my dress rehearsal.
I had [another] very insightful conversation about cultural differences in regards to the word "love".
I finished the final installment of the Harry Potter series!
Sherlock told me I look sexy with a beard. I'm not sure how much to read into that.
Raine and I noticed that above his bed there were several plain old B's on the unfinished ceiling, whereas there were several C's above mine. Some might call it destiny.
Justin referred to me as a 'very wise person'.
I'm laying in the basement next to an empty bed because Raine left today. I didn't realize just how fond I'd grown of him, cynicism and all, but I assure you that it's a strictly platonic fondness.
I've become even more knowledged about the unreliability of first impressions.
And once again, I've probably forgotten a lot of significant things, but I think I'm getting more accustomed to the inevitability of my poor memory, so I just try to make the actual present events as worthwhile as possible.
I also wanted to write about the future (even though this experience is really helping me to just live in the present), but I'm having one last brunch with my host family tomorrow, and should therefore get a little bit of shut-eye.
I would say euphoric, but you see, I've cried too already, and this afternoon I actually became rather angry. It's just that everything seems so real; so pure; I feel like I'm finally getting the hang of just living in each moment and simply experiencing it with the most oomph I can muster.
Tonight was the first show of the tour, and tomorrow is, unbelievably, our last day in Denver. The show was absolutely splendid, and it was wonderful to realize that we can actually do this.
Before the show, we had our very first "green room", which is a Shakespearean concept, in which all of the "actors" meet together prior to a performance in a room adjoining the stage. We did some fun and silly things of course, such as the now-trademark dance party, but we also had a few very emotional moments in which Kristen helped us to reminisce about all the steps in our life that brought us to that very moment, and Andrew read more of his ever-exceptionally-beautiful writing in the form of the first letter in a book we'll be passing around (this one was to Faith, which I quickly realized because she had been very inspirational to me in ways similar to those that Andrew described). Needless to say, I cried during several of those moments, which is a very big thing for me since very rarely do I cry in front of people (even John and Kayla). I think this says a lot about what a wonderful program Up With People really is, and even more about what a spectacular group of people this is that I'll be spending such an important part of my life with. I truly adore these people, and already I feel that some of these friendships just might end up being some of the most important in the course of my life.
Even some of the people that I haven't gotten to know particularly well yet have already inspired me. For instance, today at lunch , one of the students in Cast B was making some very homophobic comments, which started out with "Here comes gay Grant". Now, I presume that Grant is not gay, but either way, it was very obvious that this individual was using the word in a very derogative way (I also witnessed a conversation yesterday when he said that his solution to the war in Iraq would be to go over there and shoot every person who wasn't white, or black, which he added simply as an afterthought just because Justin was there - how this individual ended up in Up With People is beyond me, but I sincerely hope that it will do him some good). Anyways, the thing that inspired me was that in response to this comment, Dave spoke up and said (in an impressively polite yet assertive way) something along the lines of "I would prefer if you didn't use that word like that". I was deeply impressed with his ability to speak up against homophobia in such a rational way (especially since Dave if one of the most masculine guys on the cast), and I really appreciated this gesture. Unfortunately, the homophobic individual proceeded to make an extremely uncalled-for direct personal attack against one of the [more obviously gay] staff members who wasn't present at the moment. At least I was happy to see that this statement was greeted with an exceptionally cold silence from all of those who were present. Needless to say, this was the aforementioned incident that made me angry.
Anyway, once again there have been too many notable things going on for me to write about in detail, but here are some of them in brief:
It was very strange and delightful to have several of my family members here with my host family for the evening of my dress rehearsal.
I had [another] very insightful conversation about cultural differences in regards to the word "love".
I finished the final installment of the Harry Potter series!
Sherlock told me I look sexy with a beard. I'm not sure how much to read into that.
Raine and I noticed that above his bed there were several plain old B's on the unfinished ceiling, whereas there were several C's above mine. Some might call it destiny.
Justin referred to me as a 'very wise person'.
I'm laying in the basement next to an empty bed because Raine left today. I didn't realize just how fond I'd grown of him, cynicism and all, but I assure you that it's a strictly platonic fondness.
I've become even more knowledged about the unreliability of first impressions.
And once again, I've probably forgotten a lot of significant things, but I think I'm getting more accustomed to the inevitability of my poor memory, so I just try to make the actual present events as worthwhile as possible.
I also wanted to write about the future (even though this experience is really helping me to just live in the present), but I'm having one last brunch with my host family tomorrow, and should therefore get a little bit of shut-eye.
Those Silly Americans
From my sociology journal - 7/23/07
The other day I had a really good conversation with my friend Carolin from Germany. We were walking in downtown Denver with some friends, but we had fallen behind them and were having a sort of heart-to-heart.
One thing that we had both noticed about the casts was that it sometimes seems as if most of the Americans just stuck to each other most of the time. Since approximately half of the cast is American, I suppose this is somewhat understandable, but it's still kind of disappointing. Carolin said that she sometimes has felt lonely because of this (that was one of the questions in our "cross the line" game that day). Since English is their first language, it's probably only natural that the Americans feel an affinity towards each other, and they often crack jokes that most people who aren't native English speakers wouldn't understand.
Because of this, I have been making it a point to go out of my way to get to know my international castmates, and so far I've made some incredible connections with them. It seems like most of the Asian students are often overlooked by many of the Westerners, probably because of the drastic culture differences, but I've found that most of them are actually very sociable if you just give them a chance. I'm trying to make the most of this amazing opportunity to communicate with foreign students, since who knows if I'll ever get that chance again.
The other day I had a really good conversation with my friend Carolin from Germany. We were walking in downtown Denver with some friends, but we had fallen behind them and were having a sort of heart-to-heart.
One thing that we had both noticed about the casts was that it sometimes seems as if most of the Americans just stuck to each other most of the time. Since approximately half of the cast is American, I suppose this is somewhat understandable, but it's still kind of disappointing. Carolin said that she sometimes has felt lonely because of this (that was one of the questions in our "cross the line" game that day). Since English is their first language, it's probably only natural that the Americans feel an affinity towards each other, and they often crack jokes that most people who aren't native English speakers wouldn't understand.
Because of this, I have been making it a point to go out of my way to get to know my international castmates, and so far I've made some incredible connections with them. It seems like most of the Asian students are often overlooked by many of the Westerners, probably because of the drastic culture differences, but I've found that most of them are actually very sociable if you just give them a chance. I'm trying to make the most of this amazing opportunity to communicate with foreign students, since who knows if I'll ever get that chance again.
Ani setlist
Ani DiFranco at the Botanic Gardens - 7/22/07
God's Country
Half-Assed
Fuel
You Had Time (which was a very, very, very pleasant surprise)
Lag Time
Modulation
Napoleon
Paradigm
New Song about glaring in the mirror and nothing being wrong with your face
New song with a couple lyrics about a polar bear
New song that I think was Alla This
Nicotine
Little Plastic Castle
Manhole
Untouchable Face (hooray!)
Shameless
Encore:
Evolve (which I psychically predicted she would play for the encore)
Gravel
32 Flavors
God's Country
Half-Assed
Fuel
You Had Time (which was a very, very, very pleasant surprise)
Lag Time
Modulation
Napoleon
Paradigm
New Song about glaring in the mirror and nothing being wrong with your face
New song with a couple lyrics about a polar bear
New song that I think was Alla This
Nicotine
Little Plastic Castle
Manhole
Untouchable Face (hooray!)
Shameless
Encore:
Evolve (which I psychically predicted she would play for the encore)
Gravel
32 Flavors
The 13-Year-Old Girl in Me
7/20/07 (I know, I'm getting really behind)
So today I was asked for my number. You know what kind of being asked for a number I'm talking about. It came as a bit of a surprise though, because it came from someone who I would have never guessed would have a crush on someone like me (except for this last week when he started flirting rather blatantly). Wow, and I just realized how much this is sounding like a thirteen-year-old girl's diary (except for maybe the usage of words such as 'blatantly'). So maybe I should try a different approach.
But anyways, today was our first CI (community impact) project, and we went out to the mountains to build a trail. I go hiking every now and then, but I never fully appreciated those hiking trails until I learned how they're created. It was a lot of fun though, and it was a nice change of pace from all the daily dancing, singing, and other such show-related things. About half of the day was spent traveling to and from the place on bus, and it was cool to have pretty much the whole day just to chat with castmates. I had a good conversation with Fan on the way home, and it turns out that I'm the first gay friend she's ever had (apparently people are much more introverted about such matters in China). I told her I was honored to be her first. Woohoo!
I also got to know this individual who asked for my number quite a bit better today (he'll remain anonymous here), and this boy never ceases to surprise me. I mean, he is unbelievably outgoing and, for lack of a better word, cool, but today I found out a plethora of interesting personality traits about him, such as the fact that he enjoys WOW (World of Warcraft), and the fact that he's a virgin, despite his blatant openness about sex and sexuality. Deep down he's just a hopeless romantic.
But tonight when we were leaving the event center, he asked me for my phone number (and informed me that it would be quite alright if I refused to give it to him), and then suggested that we hang out this weekend. I told him there were still tickets available to the Ani DiFranco concert on Sunday, and he said he'd give me a call.
I'm still not quite sure of what to think of all this though. I mean, I just don't see what he sees in me. And I'm not just being self-deprecating. It's just that he is so extroverted, outspoken, and well-spoken, that I just feel kind of nerdy and/or boring in comparison. The thing is, I do find him rather attractive - he has a zestily interesting personality, and he is rather physically attractive as well, but I just don't see our personality types (Type 2 and Type 7, as Sara and the enniagram would probably categorize them) blending very well in a relationship. And, there are other guys I'm attracted to on the cast as well (though in some cases it's rather frustrating because I have absolutely no idea if my Gaydar works cross-culturally). Anyways, I'm probably just being way to analytical and should just take some chances and let things happen.
So today I was asked for my number. You know what kind of being asked for a number I'm talking about. It came as a bit of a surprise though, because it came from someone who I would have never guessed would have a crush on someone like me (except for this last week when he started flirting rather blatantly). Wow, and I just realized how much this is sounding like a thirteen-year-old girl's diary (except for maybe the usage of words such as 'blatantly'). So maybe I should try a different approach.
But anyways, today was our first CI (community impact) project, and we went out to the mountains to build a trail. I go hiking every now and then, but I never fully appreciated those hiking trails until I learned how they're created. It was a lot of fun though, and it was a nice change of pace from all the daily dancing, singing, and other such show-related things. About half of the day was spent traveling to and from the place on bus, and it was cool to have pretty much the whole day just to chat with castmates. I had a good conversation with Fan on the way home, and it turns out that I'm the first gay friend she's ever had (apparently people are much more introverted about such matters in China). I told her I was honored to be her first. Woohoo!
I also got to know this individual who asked for my number quite a bit better today (he'll remain anonymous here), and this boy never ceases to surprise me. I mean, he is unbelievably outgoing and, for lack of a better word, cool, but today I found out a plethora of interesting personality traits about him, such as the fact that he enjoys WOW (World of Warcraft), and the fact that he's a virgin, despite his blatant openness about sex and sexuality. Deep down he's just a hopeless romantic.
But tonight when we were leaving the event center, he asked me for my phone number (and informed me that it would be quite alright if I refused to give it to him), and then suggested that we hang out this weekend. I told him there were still tickets available to the Ani DiFranco concert on Sunday, and he said he'd give me a call.
I'm still not quite sure of what to think of all this though. I mean, I just don't see what he sees in me. And I'm not just being self-deprecating. It's just that he is so extroverted, outspoken, and well-spoken, that I just feel kind of nerdy and/or boring in comparison. The thing is, I do find him rather attractive - he has a zestily interesting personality, and he is rather physically attractive as well, but I just don't see our personality types (Type 2 and Type 7, as Sara and the enniagram would probably categorize them) blending very well in a relationship. And, there are other guys I'm attracted to on the cast as well (though in some cases it's rather frustrating because I have absolutely no idea if my Gaydar works cross-culturally). Anyways, I'm probably just being way to analytical and should just take some chances and let things happen.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Pivotal Flashlight Lights
7/16/07
I'm in Cast C! In other words, I'll be traveling to Thailand, Finland, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, and several locations around the U.S. (including Arizona, New York, Washington D.C., and Georgia). Not to mention that we'll also be performing in none other than the Macy's Day Parade and on a cruise ship traveling from Finland to Sweden.
But even more importantly, Cast C is where most of the cast members I was hoping to be with ended up. Sure, there were some really amazing people I'd befriended who ended up in Cast B, but that was to be expected. But over all, I am very satisfied with the group of people I ended up with.
During the few hours after the casts were announced, I think I felt more emotions in such a short period of time than I ever have before. The staff threw an elaborate induction-like ceremony for both of the separate casts, and ours was such a rush of emotions: excitement for getting matched up with friends, euphoria for realizing the opportunities we'd have with the countries we'd visit, disappointment for those we were separated from, relief from the week-long anticipation, and jubilation for the fact that it finally felt like this whole thing was actually getting started. It was dark when we walked into the room after finding out our cast, except for the strobe light-esque lights dancing around from the flashlights held by the staff members. There was loud music playing, and we all rushed in accompanied by shrieks of joy and laughter. We all had a mini dance party before the Cast C staff gave a truly inspirational presentation by flashlight light. One of the staff members gave a very moving speech that brought several of us to tears (excluding myself - I was so filled with so many intense emotions that I was completely incapable of expressing just one of them at the moment).
Anyways, I'm really looking forward to making remarkable friendships with these beautiful, amazing cast members. At any rate, I have a feeling that these last several hours have been some of the most pivotal of my life thus far.
I'm in Cast C! In other words, I'll be traveling to Thailand, Finland, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, and several locations around the U.S. (including Arizona, New York, Washington D.C., and Georgia). Not to mention that we'll also be performing in none other than the Macy's Day Parade and on a cruise ship traveling from Finland to Sweden.
But even more importantly, Cast C is where most of the cast members I was hoping to be with ended up. Sure, there were some really amazing people I'd befriended who ended up in Cast B, but that was to be expected. But over all, I am very satisfied with the group of people I ended up with.
During the few hours after the casts were announced, I think I felt more emotions in such a short period of time than I ever have before. The staff threw an elaborate induction-like ceremony for both of the separate casts, and ours was such a rush of emotions: excitement for getting matched up with friends, euphoria for realizing the opportunities we'd have with the countries we'd visit, disappointment for those we were separated from, relief from the week-long anticipation, and jubilation for the fact that it finally felt like this whole thing was actually getting started. It was dark when we walked into the room after finding out our cast, except for the strobe light-esque lights dancing around from the flashlights held by the staff members. There was loud music playing, and we all rushed in accompanied by shrieks of joy and laughter. We all had a mini dance party before the Cast C staff gave a truly inspirational presentation by flashlight light. One of the staff members gave a very moving speech that brought several of us to tears (excluding myself - I was so filled with so many intense emotions that I was completely incapable of expressing just one of them at the moment).
Anyways, I'm really looking forward to making remarkable friendships with these beautiful, amazing cast members. At any rate, I have a feeling that these last several hours have been some of the most pivotal of my life thus far.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Comfort Levels and Panic! Zones
From my sociology journal: 7/15/07
My first week of Up With People is over, and so far I've pretty much had an overload of information, emotions, and new experiences. We've started learning the songs and dances, and we've sat through several educational sessions as well (including a particularly juicy one about stereotypes).
One of these educational sessions was about different comfort levels. They talked about the comfort zone, which is rather self-explanatory; the challenge zone, which is when one is in a situation in which they feel uncomfortable, yet still in control of their circumstances for the most part; and the panic zone, in which one feels completely out of control of their surroundings. The UWP staff wants us to push our comfort levels during this semester, and visit the challenge zone often.
I've been in the challenge zone during our dancing sessions, seeing as I have never had any formal dancing experience before in my life. It's been somewhat difficult for me to follow all the steps, but over all I think it's been good for me to learn something new. However, I noticed that some of the other students seemed to be in the panic zone for these same activities. One girl was literally in tears because it was so frustrating for her. I'd imagine that it would be pretty scary to be in a foreign country speaking a second language doing something you had no prior experience with. Hopefully I won't be experiencing the panic zone very much this semester.
Tomorrow we will find out which of the two casts we'll be on, and which countries we'll be visiting. Either way I'll be perfectly happy, but I'm just a little worried because either way I'll be on a different cast than some of the people I've started to befriend.
My first week of Up With People is over, and so far I've pretty much had an overload of information, emotions, and new experiences. We've started learning the songs and dances, and we've sat through several educational sessions as well (including a particularly juicy one about stereotypes).
One of these educational sessions was about different comfort levels. They talked about the comfort zone, which is rather self-explanatory; the challenge zone, which is when one is in a situation in which they feel uncomfortable, yet still in control of their circumstances for the most part; and the panic zone, in which one feels completely out of control of their surroundings. The UWP staff wants us to push our comfort levels during this semester, and visit the challenge zone often.
I've been in the challenge zone during our dancing sessions, seeing as I have never had any formal dancing experience before in my life. It's been somewhat difficult for me to follow all the steps, but over all I think it's been good for me to learn something new. However, I noticed that some of the other students seemed to be in the panic zone for these same activities. One girl was literally in tears because it was so frustrating for her. I'd imagine that it would be pretty scary to be in a foreign country speaking a second language doing something you had no prior experience with. Hopefully I won't be experiencing the panic zone very much this semester.
Tomorrow we will find out which of the two casts we'll be on, and which countries we'll be visiting. Either way I'll be perfectly happy, but I'm just a little worried because either way I'll be on a different cast than some of the people I've started to befriend.
[the lack of] American Culture
From my sociology journal: 7/9/07
Today was the first day of my Up With People training (and I realize that these aren't necessarily in chronological order, but I write them down first and then type them up just whenever I get the chance).
The most interesting aspect of my experience so far has definitely been meeting people in the cast from various locations around the world. I think there are eighteen countries being represented in our cast altogether. One especially interesting thing about this is noticing the similarities that so many of us have in common. The marks of globalization are evident in such things as simply discussing favorite movies or talking about American culture.
I was certainly surprised by the amount of knowledge so many of the international cast members possessed about American pop culture. In fact, my Canadian roommate, Raine, is more able to discuss American movies and TV shows with our host dad than I am. I mean, I knew that Canada and the U.S. have a lot in common, but I didn't realize that we are quite that similar.
Another similarity that a shocking number of cast members shared was a severe fondness for the Harry Potter series. During one of the seminars today, the speaker mentioned that the new Harry Potter movie comes out tomorrow, and nearly the whole cast started cheering and hollering (which reminds me - it was very interesting to see how enthusiastic people from various countries became during such moments - it seems that some cultures applaud for nearly everything, whereas other countries save it for things that really move them). But anyway, I think that the Harry Potter series is one of the few series of such popularity that is actually worthy of all the hype it gets, and it's amazing that one story can affect so many lives from all over the world.
I think that there are some very polar pros and cons when it comes to the issue of globalization. On the positive side, the interconnection between societies due to the internet and other such technology allows people to communicate easily with members of other cultures, and therefore leads to better understanding of those cultures, and can even create a sense of solidarity between diverse groups of people. However, on the other hand, it also causes these same cultures to blend together and therefore causes a tendency for some cultures to lose their uniqueness and diversity, and can even lead to cultures being completely submerged in the more dominant culture. I have yet to come to any stable conclusions about such matters, but I am sure that the next five and a half months will offer me an extravagant amount of food for thought on the subject.
On a somewhat different note, we also had a seminar today providing a [somewhat] objective outlook on American culture. We will be having a seminar similar to this prior to arriving in every new country we'll be visiting along the way. In this seminar, we started out with people giving their opinions on what they thought about American culture. It was very interesting to hear the opinions of those from other countries. We heard things such as:
"Americans are happy all the time".
"Americans are a very wealthy people".
and
"If there is a separation of church and state, why do so many American politicians say things such as 'God Bless America'?" which I thought was a very valid question. I strongly dislike that cliche for several reasons, the main reason being that it is such an ethnocentric statement. I mean, theological arguments aside, why is it that only America deserves to be blessed? What about the rest of the world?
Several Americans, including myself, expressed our own opinions on trying to define our culture, and we found that there were numerous points of view that were rather contradictory to each other. Many people pointed out that the U.S. is so big that it's impossible to have just one culture, and many illustrated the differences in culture throughout the different regions of the country. I pointed out that the various subcultures in our society are certainly not limited to being defined geographically, such as the Jewish, GLBT, Amish, and hip-hop subcultures, just to name a few.
Over all, there were some very good discussions that ensued, and the main conclusion we came to was that the USA offers such diversity and freedom (now that is one word that has often been misinterpreted) that it is impossible to describe just one culture to be fitting for it.
Today was the first day of my Up With People training (and I realize that these aren't necessarily in chronological order, but I write them down first and then type them up just whenever I get the chance).
The most interesting aspect of my experience so far has definitely been meeting people in the cast from various locations around the world. I think there are eighteen countries being represented in our cast altogether. One especially interesting thing about this is noticing the similarities that so many of us have in common. The marks of globalization are evident in such things as simply discussing favorite movies or talking about American culture.
I was certainly surprised by the amount of knowledge so many of the international cast members possessed about American pop culture. In fact, my Canadian roommate, Raine, is more able to discuss American movies and TV shows with our host dad than I am. I mean, I knew that Canada and the U.S. have a lot in common, but I didn't realize that we are quite that similar.
Another similarity that a shocking number of cast members shared was a severe fondness for the Harry Potter series. During one of the seminars today, the speaker mentioned that the new Harry Potter movie comes out tomorrow, and nearly the whole cast started cheering and hollering (which reminds me - it was very interesting to see how enthusiastic people from various countries became during such moments - it seems that some cultures applaud for nearly everything, whereas other countries save it for things that really move them). But anyway, I think that the Harry Potter series is one of the few series of such popularity that is actually worthy of all the hype it gets, and it's amazing that one story can affect so many lives from all over the world.
I think that there are some very polar pros and cons when it comes to the issue of globalization. On the positive side, the interconnection between societies due to the internet and other such technology allows people to communicate easily with members of other cultures, and therefore leads to better understanding of those cultures, and can even create a sense of solidarity between diverse groups of people. However, on the other hand, it also causes these same cultures to blend together and therefore causes a tendency for some cultures to lose their uniqueness and diversity, and can even lead to cultures being completely submerged in the more dominant culture. I have yet to come to any stable conclusions about such matters, but I am sure that the next five and a half months will offer me an extravagant amount of food for thought on the subject.
On a somewhat different note, we also had a seminar today providing a [somewhat] objective outlook on American culture. We will be having a seminar similar to this prior to arriving in every new country we'll be visiting along the way. In this seminar, we started out with people giving their opinions on what they thought about American culture. It was very interesting to hear the opinions of those from other countries. We heard things such as:
"Americans are happy all the time".
"Americans are a very wealthy people".
and
"If there is a separation of church and state, why do so many American politicians say things such as 'God Bless America'?" which I thought was a very valid question. I strongly dislike that cliche for several reasons, the main reason being that it is such an ethnocentric statement. I mean, theological arguments aside, why is it that only America deserves to be blessed? What about the rest of the world?
Several Americans, including myself, expressed our own opinions on trying to define our culture, and we found that there were numerous points of view that were rather contradictory to each other. Many people pointed out that the U.S. is so big that it's impossible to have just one culture, and many illustrated the differences in culture throughout the different regions of the country. I pointed out that the various subcultures in our society are certainly not limited to being defined geographically, such as the Jewish, GLBT, Amish, and hip-hop subcultures, just to name a few.
Over all, there were some very good discussions that ensued, and the main conclusion we came to was that the USA offers such diversity and freedom (now that is one word that has often been misinterpreted) that it is impossible to describe just one culture to be fitting for it.
A - a - eh?
The other day I was walking to the bus stop with Raine and Justin, and we passed a homeless guy who was shivering with a cardboard sign. Then, to my surprise, Justin stopped and said something along the lines of "You look pretty cold, man", and then proceeded to take off his own jacket (which definitely did not look cheap - Justin is very fashionable) and gave it to the homeless guy! I was immensely impressed by his generosity, especially since I'd been unsure what to think of Justin before then (I mean, earlier that day he was showing off a photo of his penis on his camera phone), but this incident definitely sent him up a few notches in my book.
This week we had two nights of "culture jams", which were sort of like talent shows, except that we weren't judged on our performances, and our acts were supposed to represent our cultures. I played a medley on my harmonica ("Angry Anymore", "Storage Unit Empire", and "Hand in my Pocket"), and the audience seemed to really enjoy it; to the point that everyone was clapping along, and later I think I was congratulated at least 27 times. I suppose the harmonica could be a good representation of Wyoming culture. I've determined that there are only four places in Wyoming that people tend to know - Cheyenne, Casper, Laramie, and Yellowstone.
There were lots of spectacular acts in the culture jam - Faith wrote an AMAZING poem earlier that day and recited it during the show; it was about getting past our differences and whatnot, and there is no way I could do it justice by summarizing it here. Perhaps I'll talk her into getting me a copy of it. Another noteworthy act was the group of Japanese students who did several different acts to represent their culture, the first of which being a highly entertaining performance of air guitar, which was particularly funny because earlier that day we had been lectured on the proper uses of microphones, and during their air guitar bit, they set their mics on the floor and accidentally stomped on them a few times because they were getting into it so much. Another act that really stood out was when Brodie and this other guy did a cover of the Umbrella song by Rihanna on acoustic guitar and beat-boxing. They even whipped out an actual umbrella toward the end of their song. I had always thought that song was rather horrid until I heard their version of it, which really kicked ass. Anyways, there were countless other great acts, and it felt like the culture jam really brought a sense of solidarity to the group.
One thing that still sticks out to me from Faith's poem was when she talked about how whenever we introduce ourselves, the first things we say are our names, and which countries we are from; therefore focusing on our differences. She said that we should just think of each other as people and not as stereotypes of where we come from. Hopefully that will be the case by the end of the semester.
So this week we started singing and dancing. I hope to really improve my singing abilities this semester. So far I really like several of the songs, although some of them are rather cheesy. The dancing bits have been particularly interesting since I've never really taken any sort of formal dance lessons before (my spastic seizure-ish dance moves just wont cut it here). It's been really exciting to learn something completely new though.
It's funny because last night I talked to Kayla on the phone, which was the first time I'd talked to anyone back home besides my mom, and I surprisingly couldn't really think of much to say about my trip so far (which is really strange if you've been reading this blog, since I've been blabbing on and on about every little detail). I think I told her a total of maybe three things that had happened so far (and we talked for almost 45 minutes), but it was more just talking about things from back home in Douglas. I suppose it was reassuring to see that some things are [comparatively] steadfast.
The only thing I've been somewhat nervous about is the revealing of the casts, which will happen tomorrow. It won't matter to me which countries I end up visiting, because either way I'll be visiting several remarkable places, but the thing I'm anxious about is parting with some of the friends I've started to make. Right now we're split up into the "red" and "green" groups, which will become the two different casts tomorrow, but might get switched around before they are finalized. The tough part is that there are such amazing people in both groups. Oh well, I guess that whoever I get put in a group with is who I'm meant to be with, and I'm sure that I'll make some great connections either way.
This week we had two nights of "culture jams", which were sort of like talent shows, except that we weren't judged on our performances, and our acts were supposed to represent our cultures. I played a medley on my harmonica ("Angry Anymore", "Storage Unit Empire", and "Hand in my Pocket"), and the audience seemed to really enjoy it; to the point that everyone was clapping along, and later I think I was congratulated at least 27 times. I suppose the harmonica could be a good representation of Wyoming culture. I've determined that there are only four places in Wyoming that people tend to know - Cheyenne, Casper, Laramie, and Yellowstone.
There were lots of spectacular acts in the culture jam - Faith wrote an AMAZING poem earlier that day and recited it during the show; it was about getting past our differences and whatnot, and there is no way I could do it justice by summarizing it here. Perhaps I'll talk her into getting me a copy of it. Another noteworthy act was the group of Japanese students who did several different acts to represent their culture, the first of which being a highly entertaining performance of air guitar, which was particularly funny because earlier that day we had been lectured on the proper uses of microphones, and during their air guitar bit, they set their mics on the floor and accidentally stomped on them a few times because they were getting into it so much. Another act that really stood out was when Brodie and this other guy did a cover of the Umbrella song by Rihanna on acoustic guitar and beat-boxing. They even whipped out an actual umbrella toward the end of their song. I had always thought that song was rather horrid until I heard their version of it, which really kicked ass. Anyways, there were countless other great acts, and it felt like the culture jam really brought a sense of solidarity to the group.
One thing that still sticks out to me from Faith's poem was when she talked about how whenever we introduce ourselves, the first things we say are our names, and which countries we are from; therefore focusing on our differences. She said that we should just think of each other as people and not as stereotypes of where we come from. Hopefully that will be the case by the end of the semester.
So this week we started singing and dancing. I hope to really improve my singing abilities this semester. So far I really like several of the songs, although some of them are rather cheesy. The dancing bits have been particularly interesting since I've never really taken any sort of formal dance lessons before (my spastic seizure-ish dance moves just wont cut it here). It's been really exciting to learn something completely new though.
It's funny because last night I talked to Kayla on the phone, which was the first time I'd talked to anyone back home besides my mom, and I surprisingly couldn't really think of much to say about my trip so far (which is really strange if you've been reading this blog, since I've been blabbing on and on about every little detail). I think I told her a total of maybe three things that had happened so far (and we talked for almost 45 minutes), but it was more just talking about things from back home in Douglas. I suppose it was reassuring to see that some things are [comparatively] steadfast.
The only thing I've been somewhat nervous about is the revealing of the casts, which will happen tomorrow. It won't matter to me which countries I end up visiting, because either way I'll be visiting several remarkable places, but the thing I'm anxious about is parting with some of the friends I've started to make. Right now we're split up into the "red" and "green" groups, which will become the two different casts tomorrow, but might get switched around before they are finalized. The tough part is that there are such amazing people in both groups. Oh well, I guess that whoever I get put in a group with is who I'm meant to be with, and I'm sure that I'll make some great connections either way.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
The Upwith People and my Pancakes
Okay, I'm used to writing down my thoughts and memories in the form of poetry, but my poetry tends to be very enigmatic, and I'm sure nobody but myself could possibly understand most of it (I don't even understand some of it myself). So, I suppose I'd better just record my epic adventure in the more coherent form of memoirs (though I'm sure I'll bust out in poetry every now and then). So, thus begins the documenting of my spectacular voyage with Up With People.
Today was the second official day of our UWP experience. So far it has been utterly amazing - especially getting to know so many great people from all over the globe (18 countries alltogether). Since I'm keeping a sociology journal for school along with this one, I'll try not to repeat myself too much. But yeah, the people here are amazing. However, I think instead of giving a generic description of each of them, I'll just let them reveal themselves through my writing.
My host family is really great - Alex and Tonya are both alumni of UWP, so they know just what we're going through. They have three little kids all under the age of four. Ian, the oldest, is very entertaining and surprisingly smart for his age. He refers to Raine (my roommate, who lives in Canada) and I as "the upwith people", as if "up with" were an adjective describing us. For instance, he will sometimes say things such as:
"Mom, can the upwith people read me my bedtime story?"
"Why aren't the upwith people coming to church with us?"
and
"Will the upwith people play Sorry with me?" (which he has so far talked us into doing twice - Raine has even showed us some of the special Canadian rules).
It's cute.
Yesterday was overwhelming, and felt more like two days than one; to the point that Raine and I were referring to events from that morning as "yesterday", when it was only later that evening. I met a LOT of people that day - some of whom I'd "met" on Facebook prior to coming here. It's so strange when that happens - "meeting" someone before actually meeting them in person; kind of like a blind date. It was extremely embarrassing though, because for some reason I had chosen to wear the tightest shirt I'd brought (my Righteous Babe "resolution" tee), and was thus pitting out like mad. Raine referred to my sweat stains as "pancakes". Gotta love the Canadians. I usually don't care about such things, but this was my first impression on most of these people, and pitting out is kind of gross... okay, I'll cut the pretense: there were plenty of hot guys running about from Sweden and Texas and other places, and I'm sure my "pancakes" didn't make too much of an attractive impression on those who just might be of my persuasion. I mean, these babies were very visible.
One of our seminar-ish things was about goals, and we wrote and sealed letters to ourselves concerning our goals for the semester. I don't really hold too much regard for making goals, seeing as I signed up for Up With People basically on a whim. But I was able to think of a few. One was to find a way to be proud of my country (it made me slightly jealous to see how patriotic some of the foreign students are to their native countries - especially those from Mexico), and to be ambitious enough to try to change the things that I still don't like about my country. I wonder if that will happen? I guess the events to happen in 2008 will probably have a little effect on that.
Today I was diagnosed as a tenor, and I did organized dance for the first time (we had audition-type things for both). We also had a lot of down time in between, so I went exploring down 16th street with several new friends. I felt proud to be seen in such a group - I mean, we were comprised of people from the USA (of course), Brazil, Sweden, Canada, and the Netherlands. It's funny, because just a couple of days ago, my Dad said that he could distinguish European guys from Americans while in a city by the way that they dressed in an almost-American sort of way, but not quite. I wonder what he would have thought of this eclectic ensemble. It was odd to think that this was the only time in my entire life that I would be in such diverse company on that particular street. It was great. I'm getting better at reveling in such moments while they are actually happening, the only time I'll ever be able to properly.
Today was the second official day of our UWP experience. So far it has been utterly amazing - especially getting to know so many great people from all over the globe (18 countries alltogether). Since I'm keeping a sociology journal for school along with this one, I'll try not to repeat myself too much. But yeah, the people here are amazing. However, I think instead of giving a generic description of each of them, I'll just let them reveal themselves through my writing.
My host family is really great - Alex and Tonya are both alumni of UWP, so they know just what we're going through. They have three little kids all under the age of four. Ian, the oldest, is very entertaining and surprisingly smart for his age. He refers to Raine (my roommate, who lives in Canada) and I as "the upwith people", as if "up with" were an adjective describing us. For instance, he will sometimes say things such as:
"Mom, can the upwith people read me my bedtime story?"
"Why aren't the upwith people coming to church with us?"
and
"Will the upwith people play Sorry with me?" (which he has so far talked us into doing twice - Raine has even showed us some of the special Canadian rules).
It's cute.
Yesterday was overwhelming, and felt more like two days than one; to the point that Raine and I were referring to events from that morning as "yesterday", when it was only later that evening. I met a LOT of people that day - some of whom I'd "met" on Facebook prior to coming here. It's so strange when that happens - "meeting" someone before actually meeting them in person; kind of like a blind date. It was extremely embarrassing though, because for some reason I had chosen to wear the tightest shirt I'd brought (my Righteous Babe "resolution" tee), and was thus pitting out like mad. Raine referred to my sweat stains as "pancakes". Gotta love the Canadians. I usually don't care about such things, but this was my first impression on most of these people, and pitting out is kind of gross... okay, I'll cut the pretense: there were plenty of hot guys running about from Sweden and Texas and other places, and I'm sure my "pancakes" didn't make too much of an attractive impression on those who just might be of my persuasion. I mean, these babies were very visible.
One of our seminar-ish things was about goals, and we wrote and sealed letters to ourselves concerning our goals for the semester. I don't really hold too much regard for making goals, seeing as I signed up for Up With People basically on a whim. But I was able to think of a few. One was to find a way to be proud of my country (it made me slightly jealous to see how patriotic some of the foreign students are to their native countries - especially those from Mexico), and to be ambitious enough to try to change the things that I still don't like about my country. I wonder if that will happen? I guess the events to happen in 2008 will probably have a little effect on that.
Today I was diagnosed as a tenor, and I did organized dance for the first time (we had audition-type things for both). We also had a lot of down time in between, so I went exploring down 16th street with several new friends. I felt proud to be seen in such a group - I mean, we were comprised of people from the USA (of course), Brazil, Sweden, Canada, and the Netherlands. It's funny, because just a couple of days ago, my Dad said that he could distinguish European guys from Americans while in a city by the way that they dressed in an almost-American sort of way, but not quite. I wonder what he would have thought of this eclectic ensemble. It was odd to think that this was the only time in my entire life that I would be in such diverse company on that particular street. It was great. I'm getting better at reveling in such moments while they are actually happening, the only time I'll ever be able to properly.
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