It's no secret that I love to travel.
Any travel will do.
Be it, across the country, a small local road-trip, or even overseas.
It really doesn't matter, I love it all.
I love to explore, see & experience new things, and view something different outside of my everyday routine.
When I was younger, it was viewed (especially by my mother), that I was running.
She would always ask me, with that concerned parent look in her eyes "What are you running from sweetie?"
Most of the time, I would shrug, and secretly wonder - Is this not normal??
As I grew older, I realized, that yes, sometimes I was running. Most of the time, however, I was just curious, and wanted to explore.
These days, I no longer see it as running at all. I'm past the point of constantly needing to define myself and "who I am".
Things like 'who am i' don't intrigue me as much as: "Who are they? How do they live? What is their daily life like? and... Why?"
Living and growing up in Canada, I feel lucky. It's a first world country, I never knew real poverty, hunger, war, etc. Those things were always "over there, or somewhere else".
I am truly grateful for the safety I had growing up, and try not to ever take it for granted. Its true. ...As I say this, however, I do have a disappointment about Canada...(albeit minor - and I'm not being ungrateful)... This disappointment came over me while living in Japan.
While living overseas, I was overwhelmed with the history. Canada being such a young country, we don't have the opportunity to see something that is over 500 years or that has been practiced for centuries.
I would get lost in the sheer fact that a temple that was in front of me, was there perhaps anywhere from 200-300 years ago, and sometimes much longer.
I guess it always baffles me when I am met with someone who has no desire to see the world, or travel outside of their little bubbles. Recently I met someone, who -to my surprise (and admitted -horror) said to me - "I have no interest or desire to learn about other cultures or races".
I stood there, mouth agape, eyes wide, mind completely reeling. *blink*blink*
I'm sorry... Pardon?
Needless to say the conversation didn't go really well between us, and to be honest, I think my shock and horror actually embarrassed her. (Which frankly, I'm a bit pleased with myself about!)
I really don't understand these people. But, I did remind myself, that I do try to respect other people's point of view, and try not to be judgmental. After all, no one died and left my opinion as gospel. Although I still don't get it.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
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I too find it very shocking when people I know have no interest in traveling (which less face it, usually leads to learning about new cultures, etc).
ReplyDeleteI have a very dear friend who is open-minded, caring, intelligent, etc, etc. He has no desire to travel at all. WTF? He learns about different cultures in his reading and passion for punk rock, but that's it.
I wasn't there so I would have no way of knowing, but my reaction to this girl's comment would have been different. I might have told ther that I put a lot of effort into learning about new people and their cultures. I would quickly follow with an inquiry into what exactly I said that struct her as arrogant or ignorant to other cultures. He answer couldl tell me nothing and her perception was off, or I could learn something about myself or maybe even the english language if its a bit obscure. I wouldn't want other people to get the same impression that she did (it it really is preventable, she could have just misread you completely or been crazy.
ReplyDeleteI would of course be looking for if I said something that might have been racist without knowing. the english language is full of racism as it reflects the ideas and institutions of the dominant group. When we say anything that supports the power of the dominant culture, some people might perceive this as racism. Racism are acts and beliefs that solidifies society into the way it it and my god we all know its bloody racist. Seeing that you are white I would say it is possible that you may have said something a certain way that was taken as offensive. Or maybe not. Who knows.