1:05 PM

          Ooooops. I guess it's been a while. Since my last post, I went to Paris, I went to Italy, I went to Nice/Monaco/Cannes/Antibes; all of which were wonderful, and I am so lucky to have had the chance to see all those places, and I saw beautifully touristy things and have lots of memories and pictures to look back on. However, as of right now that is not what I would like to write about sooooo....there.
Front page of Le Monde May 3, 2011
          Since my arrival in France, I have felt much more ‘in-tune’ with the rest of the world and global events.  Three times a week as a listening comprehension exercise in my language class, we listen to the nouvelles from that morning and discuss the happenings in the world afterwards.  The class is primarily comprised of American, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean students (and one rando from Tunisia), so there are definitely interesting perspectives and opinions accompanying each day’s stories, and further, almost every great world event within the last semester has largely impacted at least one person in my class, as you can imagine.  I watched in the very beginning of the semester as the Tunisian student happily recounted his personal stories and feelings as his country underwent a revolution, opening a new chapter for their country and the world, and weeks later painfully stood by and consoled as my Japanese friends watched the television in horror of the natural destruction of their country, however I never thought that the Americans would have the next turn.  
          Just a few weeks ago in this same class we discussed in small groups a time in our country when citizens bound together, for good or for bad, suchas the manifestations that grace the streets of France far too often.  Coincidentally, I chose September 11 and the events that followed.  For me, and most of the Americans of my generation, that one simple autumn morning was all it took to forever change our generation.  Before that day I had no idea what the ‘World Trade Centers’ were (much less 'Al Qaida’ or our relations with them…) and had absolutely no clue in my adolesecent 11-year-old mind how much those events would forever impact my life from then until now.  For the first time in my generation's history we have seen a world-altering event from start to finish (let's hope).  I literally cannot remember a time when the phrase 'terrorist attacks' didn't conjure up images of massive buildings crumbling and wreaking havoc in the streets of New York City; a time when our country wasn't at war; I can't even remember back to a time when you could simply throw lip gloss into your carry-on without having to carefully stow it in a plastic bag with it's liquid friends and not be concerned about whether or not it had reached it's federally mandated limit. To say the events of 9/11 have impacted our lives would be an absolute understatement; it has truly defined my generation.
          Thankfully, being in France and in a completely different time zone has forced me to form my own opinions about these last couple days instead of relying on what my sisters, professors, family, peers, and friends have to say.  At first, I was happy (happy? Relatively, I suppose. Isn’t this what we wanted? What we were searching for all along?), but literally moments later I was struck with a sense of fear and disgust. Is this a good thing? How can the death of someone be responded to with feelings of joy? What will happen after this? What will be the repercussions? Surely there must be some terrible wave of karma coming our way after celebrating/chanting/singing at the news of another person’s death…right?  After much internal reflection, I think I have come to terms with the way things turned out.  Yes, I still think it is wrong – dare I say indecent and inhumane – to act in this manner when another human has been brutally slaughtered, however the person we are talking about is (well...was) much more (and less) than a human.  He was a leader, a visionary to some, a symbol, a public enemy, and a murderer himself.   Although I wouldn't go as far to say that I am happy about the events of the last week, I think it is soemthing that needed to be done, and is probably for the good of our country and the world.  On verra.


ming.

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08 May 2011

          Ooooops. I guess it's been a while. Since my last post, I went to Paris, I went to Italy, I went to Nice/Monaco/Cannes/Antibes; all of which were wonderful, and I am so lucky to have had the chance to see all those places, and I saw beautifully touristy things and have lots of memories and pictures to look back on. However, as of right now that is not what I would like to write about sooooo....there.
Front page of Le Monde May 3, 2011
          Since my arrival in France, I have felt much more ‘in-tune’ with the rest of the world and global events.  Three times a week as a listening comprehension exercise in my language class, we listen to the nouvelles from that morning and discuss the happenings in the world afterwards.  The class is primarily comprised of American, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean students (and one rando from Tunisia), so there are definitely interesting perspectives and opinions accompanying each day’s stories, and further, almost every great world event within the last semester has largely impacted at least one person in my class, as you can imagine.  I watched in the very beginning of the semester as the Tunisian student happily recounted his personal stories and feelings as his country underwent a revolution, opening a new chapter for their country and the world, and weeks later painfully stood by and consoled as my Japanese friends watched the television in horror of the natural destruction of their country, however I never thought that the Americans would have the next turn.  
          Just a few weeks ago in this same class we discussed in small groups a time in our country when citizens bound together, for good or for bad, suchas the manifestations that grace the streets of France far too often.  Coincidentally, I chose September 11 and the events that followed.  For me, and most of the Americans of my generation, that one simple autumn morning was all it took to forever change our generation.  Before that day I had no idea what the ‘World Trade Centers’ were (much less 'Al Qaida’ or our relations with them…) and had absolutely no clue in my adolesecent 11-year-old mind how much those events would forever impact my life from then until now.  For the first time in my generation's history we have seen a world-altering event from start to finish (let's hope).  I literally cannot remember a time when the phrase 'terrorist attacks' didn't conjure up images of massive buildings crumbling and wreaking havoc in the streets of New York City; a time when our country wasn't at war; I can't even remember back to a time when you could simply throw lip gloss into your carry-on without having to carefully stow it in a plastic bag with it's liquid friends and not be concerned about whether or not it had reached it's federally mandated limit. To say the events of 9/11 have impacted our lives would be an absolute understatement; it has truly defined my generation.
          Thankfully, being in France and in a completely different time zone has forced me to form my own opinions about these last couple days instead of relying on what my sisters, professors, family, peers, and friends have to say.  At first, I was happy (happy? Relatively, I suppose. Isn’t this what we wanted? What we were searching for all along?), but literally moments later I was struck with a sense of fear and disgust. Is this a good thing? How can the death of someone be responded to with feelings of joy? What will happen after this? What will be the repercussions? Surely there must be some terrible wave of karma coming our way after celebrating/chanting/singing at the news of another person’s death…right?  After much internal reflection, I think I have come to terms with the way things turned out.  Yes, I still think it is wrong – dare I say indecent and inhumane – to act in this manner when another human has been brutally slaughtered, however the person we are talking about is (well...was) much more (and less) than a human.  He was a leader, a visionary to some, a symbol, a public enemy, and a murderer himself.   Although I wouldn't go as far to say that I am happy about the events of the last week, I think it is soemthing that needed to be done, and is probably for the good of our country and the world.  On verra.


ming.
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