Culture shocked

The other day I watched a wonderful animated movie called Sita Sings the Blues(2008). It is an Indian tale of a jazz singer called Sita. There was one particular scene in the movie, which I found to be a great example of relatable Diaspora. Because I’ve lived in Australia my entire life I can’t completely empathize with those who suffer from Diaspora, but what I can relate to is culture shock while on holidays. “Being plopped down in the middle of an unfamiliar and markedly different culture can be overwhelming, lonely and often even depressing.”(Culture shock 2012). In the film a wife(Nina) travels to India to be with her husband(Dave) after he gets a job over there. When she lands in India she runs up to her husband to hug and kiss him. He pulls away and says, “we’re in India” as this is not something allowed in public. Later that night she tries to seduce him in her underpants and he just says “goodnight” and goes to sleep. Nina then roles up into a ball. Pureness is a very important trait in Indian.

I’ve experienced this form of culture shock myself when travelling through Asia for several months. For me these were things like not being able to show any affection, having to remove shoes before going into a store, the differences in road laws, not understanding communication, feeling ripped off as from not understanding the custom of bartering etc. The homesickness we get and lack of confidence from not understanding the foreign customs is the closest thing to Diaspora for migrants.

Bibliography

http://www.cultureshock.com.au/

Sita Sings the Blues(2008) 

Blogging in the public sphere

Blogging along with twitter are two of the latest fads. So much so that my autocorrect doesn’t even recognise the word “blogging”. These things are new right? New concepts and new ways for us to share information that have completely revolutionised the world?

Pfffft. Hardly. These are old old old. It is purely putting your thoughts out there into what is known as the “public sphere”.

The public sphere is “a realm of our social life in which something approaching public opinion can be formed”(Habermas et al 1964, p1). It is something that can be accessed by everyone and is someone what of a conversation.

The real innovation of a blog is that it’s easier for anyone to do it. The Internet has been booming since the late nineties and anyway with a computer and half a brain had the ability to create a website. Matter of fact I had my own web page when I was about 12(I’m 20 now). Things take a while to catch on and now anyone can have a blog and you don’t even have to be a functioning human being to share you thoughts. Isn’t this a great world we live in.

All this said, its easier than ever to get lost out there in the sea of information and rubbish, but I do commend those who have managed to use these tools effectively and have a positive impact on the life’s of others. J

Reference

Habermas J, Lennox S, Lennox F, 1964, The Public Sphere: An Encyclopaedia Article, Germany, New German Critique 

image from - http://hahafunnylol.com/post/26762916938/im-amazing-too#.UDItoNConoN

Who's going to help you?

War has broken out in Australia. The government has fallen apart and the economy has sunk. Goods and supplies are scarce and the majority of your time is spent wondering how your family is going to make it and who is going to die first. You grab all your money and you give it to a man you’ve never met before who promises he’ll take you to a better land, one not torn by war and where a new beginning will enrich the lives of your loved ones. You travel for weeks on a beat down boat with sick people and you give up proper nutrition and hygiene until you get to safe land. After all of this you are labelled a criminal in the eyes of the government who’s land you arrive at and then you are sent back.

“There has been no compensating commitment to refugee resettlement or even a ‘refugee visa’ that would provide a legal migratory option for those in need of protection. Instead refugees have had to run the gauntlet of illegal migration” (Morrison 2003, p475). So many people who we treat like this we don’t understand the sacrifice that it is they are making. We label them as selfish and evil. Not to mention the loss of their culture that they will suffer trying to fit into a new foreign land in which they don’t speak the language and they have left their friends and relatives and will struggle to find work. This isn’t a selfish choice that these people are making but rather a desperate last resort. 

References:

Morrison, J 2003, “The dark side of globalisation”: the criminalisation of refugees’, in R Robertson & KE White (eds), Globalization: critical concepts in sociology, Routledge, London, pp.474-7

The Olympics – Sportsmanship on the world stage

Today’s hot topic is the Olympics and whether you’ve noticed or not the reason for this is the coverage that is enabled because of globalization. “Many millions more people than ever before now have access to news and information, especially in such countries as China and India” (Hachten et al 2002, p4). It is being broadcasted in close to 150 countries including for the first time ever 3D broadcasting….hasn’t technology come a long way.

Sure we watch it because we are patriotic and we love to support our country in a global event but it’s the personal battles that we see these athletes face and they do what we perceive to be humanly impossible that we celebrate. But what happens when the two greatest super powers are in the battles for the top place. At this present time USA has 21 gold medals and 43 medals in total while China has 20 Gold medals and 42 medals in total. So what happens when a 16 year old girl from China beats the world record of an American male swimmer. It can’t be true can it? She must have been doping right? This surprised me so much when I saw this reported on the news. But what surprised me even more was that I too was jumping on the she must be on drugs bandwagon. Despite how far we’ve come the West is awfully afraid of not being the dominant power.

Reference: Hatchen, WA & Scotton, JF 2002, The worl news prism: global media in an era of terrorism, 6^th edn, Iowa State Press, Ames, pp.3-14