Consumersim

Consumerism is the word that has repeatedly crossed my mind in the past months of travel, especially the past few weeks. It is a sensation that has been sweeping the world, spreading through a phenomenon now characterized by the word globalization. At the end of the 20th century it was hailed as "the end of [economic] history," free-market capitalism seemed to be the predominate political-economical theory. At the center of capitalism is consumerism. As a country that has had great historical and economic ties with the western world, especially the United States, the heart of the South Korean culture today seems to be consumerism. It has been the primary factor of Korean society, and all of the other countries that I have traveled to, that I personally have felt most at home with. But I ask myself, am I comfortable that I identify myself in this way? Is this who I want to be or where my values lay? Consumerism, the one concept that has surpassed boundaries and homogenized everywhere I have been. There are times where I have sat in a coffee shop, a McDonalds, a department store, a market, or a large shining mall and have forgotten where I was. I could have been basically anywhere: home, a major US city, Europe. I would not have been able to tell the difference. How can I identify these places now? Should I think of a coffee shop (Caribou, I guiltily eat breakfast there most mornings...) in South Korea as a western experience? Or is it now defined as a global experience? On a similar thread, if I went to Caribou in the states, am I just going to Caribou, or becoming a part of a global experience?
In order to try to understand some of these concepts can you define these terms? Consumerism, capitalism, socialism, globalization, homogenization.

Merry Christmas

Dear Mrs A's Class,
A Happy Holidays from the city of Hong Kong! I wish I could be in the US with you to celebrate, but I will be in Hong Kong for that time. Though it is a completely different culture here in the city, it has some unnerving similarities that makes much of the time here seem like home, yet still very foreign. Hong Kong, a unique globalized city that is a part of China, has embraced capitalism. Because it has been heavily influenced by Europe, the city has a large population of Christians. So whenever you walk into one of the numerous large shopping malls, you see Christmas sales, decorations, and even a bedazzled Christmas tree (in Sha Tin New Plaza Mall). Everywhere shops play Christmas music that I have heard since I was a child, but I am surrounded by food that I had never eaten before and a culture completely foreign to my own. Do you celebrate Christmas? If you do then what do you associate Christmas with? If not what do you do during the holiday season? What is your favorite part of Christmas? For some more academic questions, what is the percentage of Christians in Hong Kong? What do you think might be the differences between Eastern and Western Christians?
Merry Christmas! and I hope you have an amazing holiday season!
Chase

The Post American World

I felt a real sense of irony as I scrunched in front of a small TV with all of my friends and classmates. I was sitting in a small room in a christian compound in the middle of Whitefield (a suburb of Bangalore, the tech capital of India). But I wasn't watching anything remotely Indian. I was watching the President of the United States give a speech to the Indian people, awaiting what he would say, and trying to judge what it meant. It is ironic to me that I gained more understanding by reading and seeing India's perspective on the speech then I would have ever while listening to a speech that Obama gave at any other time. The reality is that we are moving towards a Post-American World with other powers than just the USA. The East is rising, and America needs to find a way to deal with upcoming countries, such as India and China. What is the first thing that you think of when you think of both of these countries? What are the general stereotypes of these two countries? Can you find what kind of government rules both China and India? What is the G-20? and can you find any articles about it? A tougher question, how are both of these countries viewed by the US government? and what is the general foreign policies that the US takes?
Sorry for the delay in postings... India is a country with very little access to the internet with computers. I will try to make up for it with a few posts the next few days... I am currently in Chiang Mai, Thailand!
Chase

Mrs. A's Class - Religious Pluralism

Sorry for being so late on my blog posts. This is the first time that I have internet since I have arrived in India over a week ago. We started out in Mumbai, known in India as Bombay, and spent 3 or so days touring the area, visiting a college and spending a night out with our new Indian friends. Mumbai is home to the largest slum in the world, and I have spent a large amount of time in poverty beyond my imaginings. I am presently staying at the ECC (Ecumenical Christian Center) that is in Whitefield, India. It is about 30 min outside of Bangalore, a major city that has been hailed as the Silicon Valley of India. On Wednesday October 22nd, a historic event took place at the ECC that had significance to all of the ECC residents, but did not receive the significance it deserved worldwide. That day, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, visited the ECC. He is the first since 1985 to make the visit to the center, but he wasn’t there on a visit to talk with only the people at the ECC. The Archbishop headed an interfaith dialogue between himself and 6 prominent Swamis, heads of the Hindu religion in India. It was a visually stunning event, with the archbishop in his flowing white gown leading the discussion with a deep powerful voice. The Swamis followed suit all in orange colored robes, all showing their personality and beliefs with tattoos, decorations, hats, and 2 of the Swamis carried staffs draped with fabric. They all sat together on a stage adorned with giant chairs covered with white cloth, and floral decorations everywhere. They made a commanding image, a symbol of religious unity. This is an event that never happens. Historically the world religions have been awful at having dialogues within their faith. A great example would be discussions between the Catholic Church and Lutheran Church in Christianity. The first fruitful theological discussion between the Lutheran protestant sect of Christianity and the Roman Catholic Church occurred in the 1980’s and 1990’s, hundreds of years after the split between the two. This is true of all religions. There has not been a universal movement towards ecumenicalism, especially interfaith movements. Archbishop Williams has organized and created something extremely powerful by discussing the similarities between Christianity and Hinduism. There was a private dialogue to which none of my group was invited to, but there was a public question answer dialogue afterwards that I was luckily able to attend with my classmates. In order to keep this post shorter, I will sum up 2 major points that were given in the public dialogue. First was made by the Archbishop; we will never be able to pretend that there are not differences in religions. We should instead embrace and recognize these differences, while understanding that most of our spiritual and moral beliefs are the same. As a people we should welcome each other as brothers. One of the Swamis later made an observation that has stuck with me, and for myself was the most powerful moment in the hour and a half of dialogue. To paraphrase his words: In this day and age there has been a large discussion about the world and how it is shrinking. As everybody becomes more connected the world will become what has been hailed as the Global Village. This is not good enough, we cannot stop there. We must instead become a Global Family. For only a family will be able to live and flourish with one another in our world.
Do you know what the position of Archbishop of Canterbury is? And can you give a quick synopsis on Rowan Williams? What does ecumenical mean? What is the role and position of a Swami in the Hindu faith? And lastly what is your opinion on the idea of a Global Family?
If you would like to research more, research the Christian Ecumenical Movement and give a quick summary of it. Also research the question: Why do all Hindu Swamis wear the color orange?
I hope you are having a wonderful time with Mrs. A! You are lucky to have such an awesome teacher. Have an awesome few days before I write to you again!
Chase

Pictures!

(1) Aqueduct Istanbul
(2) Hagia Sophia Istanbul
(3) Me and Ingrid in front of the Great Pyramids of Giza
(4) A camel
(5) Me and Julia Riding a camel near the pyramids
(6)Columns in Karnak Temple
(7) A coral reef in Hourgada, Egypt
Photos 1,2,3,4,6 credited to Ingrid Olson

Mrs. Andrzejewski's Class - Sustainable Tourism

Sorry for such a long gap in between blogs, I did not have access to the internet for about a week. I hope everyone is enjoying their time so far this school year!
I have been seeing a lot of ancient sites lately, the Great Pyramids of Giza, The Valley of the Kings (tombs of pharaohs from a few thousand years ago), the Egyptian Museum in Cairo (worlds largest collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts), and Karnak Temple (the largest enclosed worship center in the world). All of these places have been packed with tourists. People have flocked from everywhere in the world to visit these places and check another item off of their bucket list. Tourism is one of Egypt’s four largest industries; with thousands of people migrating to the ancient remains of an amazing civilization. What are the other three major industries in Egypt? How many tourists do you think go to Egypt every year? And where are they mostly from do you think? Can you find the actual numbers?
There are some major problems that the Egyptian government and the ancient relics are facing though. First off, the tourism industry will never see very much increase in the revenue for the government. Most people will not travel to see the same ancient wonders more than once. So the industry does not have the same return of customers as a beach resort would receive. Another major problem the government is facing is no enthusiasm when it comes to the preservation of many of the ancient sites. In the general populace, people don’t care as much anymore about their monuments. They would rather see them replaced by new futuristic buildings. This general feeling in the Egyptian communities could be the downfall of these great monuments. The monuments are also in trouble of falling to pieces because of the exposure to tourism. The flash of cameras can make many preserved drawings fade and fall apart. And many tourists enjoy touching everything, which also is very bad for the monuments. So how can the great monuments survive if they aren’t wanted and are falling apart? Luckily there are still many people who have dedicated their lives to learning about and preserving the Ancient Egyptian culture. Hopefully these people can stand fast and keep discovering, restoring and loving this amazing area! Brainstorm as a class or in small groups what you think the pros and cons of tourism to ancient sites might be!

Mrs. A's Class - City of the Dead?

Cairo, even after a few days have been a hard experience for me. It faces so many problems, and has no way of fixing them. My program has brought a really unique view to the city. We aren’t just seeing the tourist sites; we are living in the Cairo downtown for a month. We are studying politics, economy and history in order to see how the city has become what it is today. I think there isn’t one word that can possibly describe this to me; it has to be many: frustrating, heartbreaking, and insane. The city today has become so overpopulated that there are possibly 30 million people living in the same size area as the twin cities. This population has been so out of control that they are “illegally” building houses on the most fertile soil in the world. These houses join what is known as the slum ring, a massive grouping of houses that encloses the entire city, and has extended along the ring road towards the great Pyramids of Giza. It is predicted that within the next 20 years or so, the Pyramids will not be mostly encircled with desert, but will be ancient monuments surrounded by housing. What makes this worse is the state of trash and pollution in the city. Cairo is one of the most polluted cities in the world. There is so much smog that staying one day in Cairo is the equivalent of smoking one pack of cigarettes. The air currents above the Nile Valley don’t reach the Nile floor, so any pollution released into the air just sits there, forcing the Egyptians to sit in their own exhaust. To make matters worse, the Egyptian government recently privatized the garbage collecting industry. Once Cairo had one of the top programs in the world, collecting the waste of the city and recycling more than 80 percent of the materials gathered; now it is one of the worse and there are piles of garbage on every corner of the street. This includes the wealthy neighborhoods. The worst example of this is what is called the City of the Dead. Not only is it extremely ironic thinking of the Egyptian history, but it is really sad, as it literally is a city built on a land fill that is flowing with trash. The City of the Dead extends to the great graveyard of the city. The need of housing is so great that people will live in the small huts built on family graveyards.
It is hard to watch, because there is not much effort being done to stop this. Instead of trying to improve the city, the rich and powerful of Cairo are moving away. In the Sahara desert, there are miles of mansions being built, water pipes being brought in and plants, trees, and grass being imported. In the desert, the air is clear and there is room to spread out. Meanwhile there is a giant wall being built between the Egyptian upper-class and middle and lower classes as the inner city and the rest of the Nile Valley falls further into chaos and disrepair. These gaps will continue to grow as the city becomes worse.
What can I do? A outsider. A westerner. A student without power or influence. How do you help them help themselves? This are questions I don’t have a definite answer to. So I am going to ask you a couple of questions…
What do you think you Cairo could do to solve their housing crisis?
What do you think that can be done to solve the trash or pollution problems in Cairo and around the world?
What do you think that you as an individual can do to help people with issues like these?
Also can you figure out what kind of government the Egypt has? and who is its president? What are 2 more major cities of Egypt other than Cairo?
I also have a challenge for you if you are up to it. Can you find the URL for an article about the trash collecting industry in Cairo?
I hope you are all having a great start to your year!
Chase