Food For Thought

* Unfortunately, it seems that I am unable to upload my Robin Hood's Bay pictures onto the site!. They are up on facebook if you have it- have a look there! *

I've learned today that I can be the most horrendous cook sometimes!! Aside from that, the most recent developments of the past couple of days include me being incredibly sore from belly dancing, and ironically, not from the hike. I seem to be getting used to this hill I have to walk up from Leodis to campus. It is, after all, not so bad considering I was walking up a hill that seemed to have an almost 90 degree incline on the hiking trip... As well, a bunch of us had a little meeting to discuss our winter break plans! We have a month off BEFORE exams, so we'll have to make a little study time somewhere in there. The plan is to hopefully get a eurorail pass and head to Poland to visit Ola, and then maybe ski in Austria, visit Germany, then Belgium to see Anna for X-mas, then I'm thinking of heading back here to study for a few days and head to Paris for New Years (on the Eurorail pass). I hope to do Spain, Portugal, Italy, Rome in the spring. p.s. Rhys and Mika, we are coming to Amsterdam to visit you when you are there next semester!!! Should be pretty busy, but exciting!

Today I signed myself up for a couple English literature courses next semester so I could 'officially', 'technically' have a full courseload, although I may swap them later for something else. Otherwise, I'll be well versed in Shakespeare and T.S. Eliot! It seems I also have to switch departments considering that I am not registered for a single philosophy course. They suggested I go to environmental studies, but I think English seems to be the more logical choice.

On an environmental studies note, Steph and I saw a film today shown on campus about a Himalayan village/community called the Ladakh. Opening with a portrait of their traditional, community based lifestyle, the film beautifully captures a perfectly self-sufficient community torn by government induced capitalism. Consequently, the harmonious inner workings of the tribe and their interdependent relationship with the environment have been drastically undermined by specialization and commercialization. They described how families would help eachother harvest the land and herd the sheep, and since the establishment of roadways and introduction of commercial goods, these communities have become quite dependent on imports of food, water, clothing, and other goods. What seems to be most interesting is that although the intention of specialization was to bring increased efficiency and thus more free time, people were even busier than ever- while women take care of the land and the young children all by themselves, the men work in the local economy. Not only has the institution of family and community been destroyed, but the children do not even learn about their own culture in the newly incepted educational system.

What disturbs me the most is to see how much the youth of Ladakh seem to idolize Western ideals. They listen to Michael Jackson and ride motorbikes and reject their own culture in favour of the more "modern" L.A. Gear, Baywatch culture of the 90's. The funny thing is, if we were to introduce to them our new "anti-wrinkle aging cream for men", I can't help but think that they'd laugh at us. Since we have been born into this culture, it is familiar and natural to us, but is it necessarily natural to man? Because when you think about it, we are satiating ourselves with saturated excess when other people on the otherside of the world would go to great lengths just to get a decent pair of shoes or other clothing items. When we produce more than enough milk to supply our whole country and export most of it and import the rest, it really brings the whole concept of globalization, industrialization and Western imperialism into question (are we really equipped to deal with the avian flu? - I believe it would take an entire two months at least to develop the appropriate vaccine for a specific strain) - the truth of the matter is, these small communities were already perfectly self-sufficient and probably happier than any of us may ever be.

Although our reality merits no other alternative but to accept these ideals, I believe that it is perhaps appropriate to inquire into the more underlying and abstract consequences and implications of globalization. Are we really progressing? Has our quality of life really improved in accordance with the development of modern technology? T.S. Eliot's poem, The Waste Land, is a perfect illustration of mankind out of sync with nature. In fact, his poem suggests that the only comfort mankind can offer himself is the Buddhist principle of absolving oneself of all these desires in order to restore balance into our lives. In reference to my environmental modules, is the threat of global warming perhaps an indication that we human beings are not above nature? In spite whether or not you personally believe in the validity of these claims, they raise important concerns that extend far beyond what lies at the surface, implications that I hope you will at some point take the time to explore.