There was a moment in time, no… actually it was when our papers were due that we couldn’t wait for the semester to be over. However, now that I am settling down to write this blog post, I can’t believe that the end that we’ve been waiting for is right around the corner (2 more days of lectures). It’s kind of like running a marathon but in this case an academic one. Luckily, in my opinion there isn’t a better way to end a first -year university experience than an event as insightful as the CAP conference. It was at the CAP conference that I felt that everything we have learned throughout the year came together (tying loose ends). At the same time, the CAP conference also open new doors (ideas, concepts, issues, etc.) that evoke further thought or interest to be taken up in the future (university career or perhaps the rest of our lives). Therefore, in this last blog post for ASTU, I will be responding to my experience at the conference, and provide a quick reflection on ASTU and the rest of the Global Citizens (GC) stream of courses.

First of all, many of us started in the beginning of the year unsure of what the definition of Global Citizens was, and may still like myself, quite unsure. This is totally fine because as much as we’re unsure of a solid definition, we have nonetheless unconsciously embody what it means to be a Global Citizen. That being said, it was what happens in the other streams that I was most curious about, knowing that Global Citizens was just one of the many options in the CAP program that I could have chose. However, this curiosity came to an end at the CAP conference. At first the panel on Race and Globalization (and then throughout the entire conference), I was extremely surprised and pleased at how the issues we have learned and discussed in the Global Citizen stream overlapped with the other CAP Streams. Sure enough, each stream applies a different lens/scope into dissecting the same issues (e.g. concern about the problems of globalization), but by simply looking at the abstractions, connections are literally everywhere . This proves that even though the CAP streams are categorical  in name, they are actually dimensional in the nature of academic learning.

Referring back to the panel on Race and Globalization, presenters were from different CAP streams: PPE, Law and Society, and Global Citizens. Yet, topics explored by presenters in PPE & Law and Society were very familiar (even the perspective they took on), such as the interest and problem of humanitarian aid – Kiran Kazani; people’s perception of sex workers – Suzanne Ross; Western commodification/consumption of indigenous people – Helen Wagner. These were all topics that we touched briefly upon in ASTU and/or other GC courses. However, when our own CAP stream member, Colin Kulstad presented on “Critical Analysis of English as a ‘Global’ Language, with an Emphasis on Post-Secondary Institutions”, I realized one specific  overlap, which was the prominence of Western influence . No matter what perspective we seem to adopt or think critically of, we can hardly escape the wrath of Western influence because as Colin points out that the English language dictates the most important systems in the world (e.g. capitalism, modernization, education). Likewise, these presenters were able to successfully present their topic because of the English language, which allow for communication of knowledge. Therefore, as problematic as it is, I think the significance is that at least we are aware of it. Perhaps, this in turn encourages us to seek to differentiate ourselves by learning a new language or in maintaining an existing one.

On the other hand, the global citizens’ panel on Power Dynamics and Representation in Archive relates to that of a more diverse group of presenters (from GC, individual and society and PPE) on the panel Canadian Voices & Social Space. Both panel of presenters speak to a certain degree about the marginalized challenging dominance. This idea was seen in different contexts: from the evidence of silence or exclusion highlighted in preserved archives, to the recording of historical injustices in literature, and to mass participation of people in social movements displayed in physical and/or online public spaces. As strong as each presentation was on its own in exploring this idea in the different contexts listed above (or in more specific research sites), it was when they were put together and understood as a whole that it became more informative. The significance that I got from this was how studying archives, literature texts, and social movements may at first be an educational need, but through the process of studying, they ultimately become a part of how we think. This is specifically true in the example of archives, where now we emerge from just studying it to thinking about the kind of archives we create, and remove in our daily lives (e.g. receipts, photos, facebook status, etc.)

Overall, critical thinking is a trend that we continue to revisit and is arguably a mindset for our generation. Nonetheless, as important as critical thinking is, it should only be seen as the first phase (encourages recognition, awareness, and understanding). We should not limit ourselves in this phase since the goal is to translate the knowledge derived from critical thinking into “real” action!

In summary, the presenters at the CAP conference in my opinion took a very ethical scholarly approach in terms of giving credit to where it was due, and most importantly said and recognized that they are speaking from a more or less “privileged position”. This I believe was the underlying goal of ASTU. Likewise, as an audience I was grateful that it was through ASTU class that I was able to identify what scholarly moves (e.g. modal/limiting expressions & the now famous “So What”) were used by the presenters and the meaning of what & why such moves were used have become crystal clear. Funny that I say this because I can’t imagine being at the CAP conference as an audience without taking ASTU. In terms of the course materials explored in ASTU and other GC courses, these were quite prominent in its presence in the blogosphere (past blog posts). Besides that, it was evident in lectures, discussions, and talking with peers that information learned in ASTU was applied to other courses, and vice versa.  Furthermore, I think that everything I have learned from my courses went through my “mental desktop”, and has now been sorted and stored properly to allow for further accumulation of knowledge and to be redistributed/applied somewhere else in the future.

How many times a day do you complain about something?

For me, it is an infinite number of times because it happens unconsciously and many of us would call these complaints as “first-world problems“(tumblr site). But thinking about it, are they even problems worth complaining about? Depending on the context, complaints are important for implementing some sort of change in society, and an example of this would be in the service-sector that works towards enhancing the quality of customer service. Otherwise, can you imagine spending a lifetime critiquing and complaining about the all the miserable aspects of your life? I certainly can’t because a simple gesture of glancing around the environment I’m in (safety under a roof), it already a privilege that many don’t necessarily have; a blessing that I often take for granted. The exposure to life narratives that we take in each day, allow us to make comparisons about the lifestyle we have and the lifestyle that we aspire to have or create for ourselves. In contrast, there are also life narrative that expose us to a lifestyle that we are glad that we don’t have, making our life seem so much better. But just like the definition for what it means to be successful, the quality of life is up should be self-defined (noting here that it is relationships we have with one another that makes it most valuable).

The feeling of pity towards marginalized individuals  may strike across as automatic but should not be encouraged. They don’t need pitying. This was the message I got from reading Ryan Knighton’s memoir Cockeyed. As a disability memoir, Cockeyed fits into the many types of rhetoric (emancipation, triumph, and gothic horror)  explained by Thomas G. Couser in Rhetoric and Self Representation in Disability Memoir. Yet, Knighton’s memoir is unique because he speaks truth to the reality of facing blindness as a normal person. Similar to grief, denial was a phase that Knighton had work through to adjusting to his loss of sight. But often times because he was able “to pass for sighted” (112), it reinforces the idea that he can still be normal.  The fact that he describes typical-everyday normal activities (e.g. taking the bus or crossing the street), and how those activities became experiences that he has to adjust to because of his blindness really encourages readers  to think about how they would confront blindness if they were in his position. Personally, this makes me appreciate my ability to see, and to know it works in closely in relation to my other senses. Knighton remarks that “my eyes won’t disclose the meaning and cause of the noise, so I just stay put” (230) explaining the difficulty of confronting sound when “you don’t have the eyes to go with it” (230).

In looking at the senses of sight and sound, the comparison where Knighton states that: “the deaf, unlike the blind, have their own culture”, which is through a shared language  (192) points to strengths and weaknesses of both disability. Although, it is interesting to look at the kind of normal activities the deaf and blind are able to do, they nonetheless  enjoy these activities (e.g. sports) through means of accommodation or have to go to a greater extent to do so.  But the outcome is that the experience is more valuable because they realize that their disability should not constantly be the constant barrier or restriction to enjoying a desirable life.

And so, is disability a deviance that can never be normalized? Can disabled individuals escape the social stigmas that condemn them as deviant (ranked lower as human beings)?

It may seem that one’s disability defines them as a whole, but I believe that disability should only be seen as one part of a person’s identity. Similarly, for drug addicts, their addiction although takes up much of their lives, it is only one of the many sides to know them as people. This can then be said about deviance, which is socially constructed, and there ( I would assume) is at least one aspect of our lives (so called “ordinary people”) that is considered as deviant.  I like to believe that we as individuals have control towards countering social stigmas that label us or our action as deviant. However, that would at the very least require us to be comfortable in our own skin (an immune system of some sort).

So live life according to your own measure of expectations! (I must admit, that this is easier said than done but we might as well try)

This week in ASTU class we watched the film Through a Blue Lens and connected to Jiwani and Young’s article Missing and Murdered Women: Reproducing Marginality in News Discourse to conduct a thorough discussion thread on Connect. As well as a very useful UBC Library Research Workshop that provided us with valuable research skills that will be beneficial for the rest of our university career.

To a certain extent, the topic of study among my courses (within global citizen core courses and electives) this week seems to directly and/or indirectly link back to ASTU class, almost as if I never even left the classroom. In Sociology, the term “intersectionality, or the idea that members of any given minority group are affected by the nature of their position in other arrangements of social inequality” (Ritzer and Guppy 335-6) is very relevant towards our study of vulnerable subjects (sex workers and drug addicts of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside). More or less, it is the socially constructed stereotypes often associated with these vulnerable subjects that makes them more criticized and judged by outsiders who don’t understand the realities of their lives. Therefore, when the concept of “parallel lives” came up in Geography class, an immediate connection was sparked as I thought about it in terms of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES) and felt the urge to declare it as my topic worth discussing right here right now!

First of all, the concept of “parallel lives” in the context of Geography class was used in  the discussion of global tourism. In thinking of tourism there are tourist attractions or beach resorts that are often constructed on the ideal of pure perfection and is made to be a desirable location to go to. However, the idea of parallel lives is that tourism promote to tourists a singular representation of the city (usually the perfect/valuable aspect). In a sense the tourism part is segregated from the rest of the city, creating an illusion that attracts tourists. But it does not accurately display the reality of life for the majority of people living there especially the tourism industry in developing nations.

At the same time, one does not need to look far to find the existence of parallel lives when it exists right here in Vancouver. For example, by looking at Vancouver as a tourist destination there are certain locations and parts of the city that would attract tourists. For them their memory of Vancouver will be based on these tourist attractions and limits them to see only the “perfections” of the city. From a new perspective, tourism from seems to play a role in marginalizing areas of a city while promoting what is deemed as “valuable”. It may not be necessarily problematic that segregation of certain areas exists within Vancouver (and other cities) but rather it is what the impact of segregation has on the people living in marginalized areas that is problematic. Within Vancouver, the marginalized area of DTES is further emphasized by media and news coverage as ” ‘mean streets’ and the women working in those streets [are] drug-addicted sex workers” (Jiwani and Young 897). This stereotypical image cast upon DTES and the people that lives there further enforces segregation and marginalization from the rest of the city. Furthermore, a simple Google image search between “Downtown Vancouver” and “Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside” displays this concept of parallel lives that differentiates the reality of Vancouverites.

Yet, it came as a surprise,  when I came across newspaper articles today that featured a proposed city development plan for Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Although, there is great emphasis on the positive aspects that this development plan has for DTES (the area and the people who reside there) in the article, I personally have mixed-feeling towards this plan. Perhaps, since it is still in a planning phase there is a sense of uncertainty of whether or not it can be achieved without several eruption of conflicts between interest groups. Also, with any kind of city development (construction wise), the process would most likely disrupt and affect the everyday lives of those who live there. This is especially true for the homeless population who depend on the streets to make a living and for shelter. Hopefully, along with the city development plan, there will also be certain plans arranged for the welfare of individuals during the course of development. Nonetheless, it is definitely one ideal way to change the stereotypical view of DTES. An ideal worth paying attention to through news coverage (be critical when doing so), and more importantly worth seeing in terms of it becoming a reality for the folks living there.

The cliché saying of  “the truth shall set you free”, settled in my mind throughout this week as we revisited the Indian Residential School TRC events, the exhibitions at MOA and Belkin. As well as the introduction to testimonies, in which I drew this connection of telling the truth and the empowerment of an individual once the truth is revealed. But there is a difference between telling the truth and testifying about a truth; especially since Whitlock defines testimony as “a speech act that demands recognition and a response in terms of social action and social justice” (77), and so it seems that the genre is more exclusive for dealing with injustices such as the Indian Residential School system.

 This discussion of truth telling and speaking up then led me to interviews of Demi Lovato (access here for the video clips)  as a form of life narrative. In the  interview, Demi spoke about  personal problems such as drug and alcohol addiction, and eating disorder. These problems are very real in terms their connection to one’s mental health, which is relatable to the general public, where ordinary people suffer from these problems as well. But considering that Demi went through that as a celebrity, the pressure of fame, the entertainment industry, and media further complicates it. Therefore, speaking about it after receiving treatment in forms of interviews to direct to the public, she is able to put perhaps clarify her situation (especially if the media had made up assumptions about her condition to the public). This kind of truth telling may not fit Whitlock definition of a testimony but it certainly fit under the genre of life narratives. As well as the fact that her status as a celebrity puts her is a more “privileged” position to speak about to a much broader audience and allows for perhaps better awareness. 

Telling the truth of about a difficult personal experience is not easy at all.  There are many questions worth considering, such as who should I tell? When is the right time? Where is the right place? These seem like considerations that the TRC in putting together the testimonial events had to think about, prior to the events. However, the act of testifying and truth telling is never an easy thing to do. If we as ordinary people find it hard to tell the truth about personal problems to our family members, or secrets to a close friend then imagine how hard it really is for a celebrity to come forward and reveal personal information (information that should exist only in their private sphere) to the public. Ultimately, blurring the lines between the two spheres. From a different perspective we can argue that “oh, celebrities live under the spotlight all the time anyways, why does it matter?” or “they are just saying that, to seek more attention” and the list goes on. I must say, that I for one probably said that once or twice. However, such an ignorant comment that I made is most likely because I don’t and never would understand what it’s like to live under the constant pressure of the media, public attention and most importantly FAME.

In the aftermath of Demi’s  treatment, she is able to recognize the need to control her workload, and that others around her recognize that she is a human being and not a product. This links to the commodification of celebrities and their life, a concept mentioned previously by Margot in her post Everyone seems to have the Bieber Fever these days. The attachment of fame to idolize celebrities, and to a certain extent perceive them as “perfect” human beings objectifies them. If there is anything to be proved through Demi’s case, it’s  that she and many celebrities out there are not close to being perfect because as humans we should be allowed to make mistakes. The importance of making mistakes is that we are able to learn from it.

In relation to Demi’s interview clips,  the Witnesses catalogue also featured  Chief Robert Joseph’s interview, in which he speaks about his experience in the IRS system, the problems he faced coming out from it (an alcoholic), and most importantly overcoming it all as a true survivor (recognize a change needs to occur). The similarity between these two life narratives taking the form of interviews, shows that these experience are meant to be shared and through this process of speaking out, they are self discovering (reflecting upon their experience), healing themselves through the dialogue, and most importantly becoming role models for people. In another interview (with Ellen Degeneres), Demi talks about being a role model for young girls especially in terms of eating disorders. While Chief Robert Joseph remarks that: “I think having learned about the human condition and conflict and harm, that I have a duty and a responsibility to include all of us, not just Aboriginals[…]all of the harm we suffer is similar, it doesn’t matter what race or creed or colour[…] So we have to nurture all our our people wherever they live”

Lastly, consideration about the sites in which the interviews were produced is significant, those being Access Hollywood, BBC Radio 1, The Ellen Show (via YouTube as well) for Demi’s interviews, and the Witnesses catalogue for Chief Robert Joseph. It raises the question of  who are the interviews targeted to in relation to the location of the site?

Having came across the documentary, Starsucker, I would suggest that this video is worth watching in terms of wanting to perhaps further understand our addiction to celebrities, the concept of FAME, and how the media exploits us to consume and contribute to the commodification of celebrity news, despite the news being mostly rumours and gossips that misrepresent the TRUTH. If there is one thing I learned from this documentary, it’s that fame is exploitive and harmful

Returning back from Winter Break to enter the new year of 2014, we immediately dived right back into the discovery of life narratives. Starting with the film we watched in class Between: Living on the Hyphen, where various speakers spoke about their racial identity as mixed race people living in Canada where it is suppose to be a place that celebrates multiculturalism. Yet, in their everyday lives the question of authenticity hovers over them as a burden, knowing that being mixed they will always be living “in between” different ethnicities. As an individual continuously progress throughout life, change is inevitable whether that be personality, beliefs, values, and other factors towards building one’s identity. But at the end of the day, one thing that doesn’t change is our  biological identity- DNA. Just because we look a certain way, we are automatically perceived a particular way and sometimes these perception or meaning we attach to the way one looks, their ethnicity, race, and other labels can be hurtful  More or less, it’s a generalization made not only against that individual but an entire group. However, that is not to say that first impressions don’t count, I would think that it’s important and despite the fact that we may occasionally and unconsciously assume something about someone due to the way they look; there should be a voice to remind us that there shouldn’t be a leap to a conclusion without knowing the life narratives of that particular individual.

The film raises all sorts of abstractions but I extracted in my opinion the most interesting ones which are ethnicity and nationality. Referring back to the film again, the speakers spoke of their multiple ethnicities, only goes further to prove that the world is becoming more globalized where racial and ethnic boundaries are being crossed. This in turn, creates diversity in the people we meet. The world we live seems to be constantly dependent and craving for creativity,innovation, and modernization through the means of technology. Pop culture is an example whether it be the latest songs exploring new genres in combining sounds and words, creativity in music videos, fresh storylines in movies and tv shows, etc. However, what this all means is that we are trying to seek differences instead of the same things over and over again. If by mixing ethnicities we can become more understanding and accepting towards different cultures then perhaps one day multiculturalism will be a global value.

On the other hand, nationality helps to build a sense of belonging and acceptance into society.  Even if racial and ethnic differences keep us separate, there is always something like a nation that keeps us together. On a smaller scale of society, the UBC campus (any sort of community or local environment works as well) serves like a nation to link us together. Students locally, nationally and globally come onto the campus to form  a community. From one stranger to the next, it just feels good to know that at least we have one thing in common and that is we are students of UBC.

We are also in the process of studying Diamond Grill by Fred Wah, who was one of the featured speaker in the film as well. In Wah’s “biotext” he describes instances of both his ethnicities and nationality. Although, Fred Wah is a mixture of different ethnicities (Swedish, Irish, Scottish), he relates most prominently to his Chinese ethnicity through mentioning food recipes and the delights of having a Chinese influence culture while growing up. At the same time his racial appearance was a privilege to be considered as more Canadian, whilst his other relatives who look more Chinese would be marginalized and discriminated against.Therefore, Wah’s emphasis that Diamond Grill fits under the genre of biotext justifies his position and take on what it was like to be a Chinese Canadian since it is from his perspective and may not necessarily apply to others who in comparison may not have been as privileged to create their own personal story.

Lastly, whether it was in the film Between: Living on the Hyphen or Diamond Grill, the question of what it means to be Canadian and to have a Canadian citizenship seems to be a different definition for everyone who considers themselves to be Canadian (including me). However, I think that for immigrants it is definitely much more complicated and this instance was evident in Diamond Grill for Fred Wah’s father who went through phases of relocation, dislocation in China and when he comes back he is no longer recognized as a Canadian citizen despite being born in Canada (p. 10). Also, the feeling of languageless and lacking the power to communicate in English added to the burden of having to rediscover an identity for himself in the new context. This can be related to the conditions that immigrants experience in present day where the lack of the English or French language (depending on which part of Canada the immigrants settle in) gives them an economic disadvantage in terms of employment. Furthermore, the importance of language as a factor in having a sense of belong to a nation “plays a critical role in the social integration of immigrants and their young children”.

To end this discussion, it is also interesting to look at how some people abuse Canadian citizenship and that once again the question of what it means to be a Canadian citizen is put up for debate. Is it enough proof to say hey look I have a Canadian passport or as Immigration Minister Chris Alexander say that the “only one way of truly understanding what it means to be Canadian, what it means to participate in Canadian life, and that is by living here.” In my opinion, the question of Canadian citizenship is similar to what it means to be a global citizen, where the is no definite meaning but should be interpreted by the way you see yourself as a human responding to the environment around you whether that be to local, national or global issues. I for one, as a Canadian and Global citizen, find myself still in the midst of discovering a position that I can take to be able to fully utilize my skills to make a difference in society.

Six-Word Memoirs, Five days a week taking the transit, Four courses, Three months, Two phases, and one semester.This is not a summary of what happened throughout my first semester at UBC (just for fun).

The first semester at UBC is the starting point, the transition from high school to university. In terms of adjusting to University life, everything seems to fall into place at ease. The choice to do the Coordinated Arts  Program (CAP) under the stream of Global Citizens further helped the transition (as I was told that it would). However, the expectations I had in terms of academics differed, and the transition of the first semester helped provide a basic foundation of what to expect for the next term.

In ASTU class we read scholarly articles and  extracted the “gist” of it out, summarized it, learned to research and use it to orchestrate voices to conduct literature reviews. Explored different types of life narratives: Persepolis, a graphic narrative, God Grew Tired of Us, a film documentary, What is the What, a novel and autobiography. Contemporary online forms of life narratives as well from blogs (Salam Pax and Riverbend) to Six-Word Memoirs to PostSecret. The style of life narrative was only one aspect that we looked at in each individual texts, it was for me, the content that mattered. I felt that through each piece of text I got the chance to time travel to places that I never though I would be able to go to; see life through the eyes of each individual of the texts. To say that I went through the first semester of ASTU or any of my other courses without being changed physically and mentally would be a TOTAL LIE. University, for all us is life changing, we are all in our mind writing our own life narrative while we live through it.

At the beginning of the semester, reading the scholarly articles, there was a particular style of writing that I thought at that time I would not be able to possibly do. But through ASTU class, we acquired the scholarly method of using reporting expressions, abstraction, big issues, levels of detail, etc. to construct introductions and conclusions that fit the scholarly method. All of these techniques not only help with university writing in the long-run but it makes me a better writer. First semester though in acquiring the scholarly method felt like trial and error. But one particular goal that I was able to somewhat achieve was refining my topic, ideas, claims and coming up with a definite argument. It was through aspects of the scholarly method (reminding myself what is the SO WHAT?), constructive criticism from my peers, T.A`s and professors that enabled the progress I have made in writing papers. I am glad that the first semester was where I realized and progressed so that in the future years to come of my university career, I will be able to focus on other aspects of writing. So in the next term, I`ll continue to tackle papers with specificity; being concise, coherent and relevant (all because of ASTU).

Lastly, I constantly remind myself that everything happens for a reason and that I will not take everything for granted. I believe that everything I learn in the past, the first semester of university, and what there is to learn in the future shapes who I will eventually become. Therefore, even though the first semester is over (almost, after the exams), I cannot wait until what next semester has to offer! For now, we must study hard for exams then relax and chill out through the holiday season, so that in the new year of 2014 we`ll be refreshed to tackle everything that has yet to come.

We live in this realm of consumption that continuously progress overtime and perhaps one day in the future consumption will based entirely online. Although, I don’t think that it will be anytime soon since I for one enjoy the physical act of shopping compared to online shopping. Even though we consume at least something  everyday of our lives, it doesn’t become apparent until the designated days for shopping  comes trailing in.  A time where sales and deals offering some sort of bargain  jump right into our faces. The fact that Black Friday and Boxing Day are follow ups to holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas respectively. This idea of consumption right after such meaningful holidays  somewhat confuses me, especially right after Thanksgiving day. I know that shoppers tend to use Black Day deals for early Christmas gift shopping (not necessary for every shopper), which is great. But going from a day of being thankful for what we have to the next day of shopping spree looking for what we don’t, contradicts the mood of the holiday with the two actions on opposing sides of a scale.

Besides looking at the consumer aspect of these two holidays, it is also interesting to analyze the intentions behind retail/department stores  of large corporations. Up to Black Friday and Boxing Day, the amount of marketing that companies spend to promote their products and deals to potential customers is massive in quantity, especially in the realm of media (print and online: websites). All this hype about Black Friday and later on Boxing Day, shows the culture embodied by our society. Without specifically doing research on these days, to see thoroughly what goes on and the extent people would do just to get a bargain, it is hard to see that these significant shopping days are nothing but unglamorous. We must critically see these phenomenon past the fact that it provides great deals and sales, instead it makes us feel powerless under the realm of consumption.

The competition between retail stores in Canada and the U.S. on Black Friday deals shows that consumers have choice. Canadian consumers through comparing deals make the decision of whether or not to stay and shop locally or go South, across the border to the U.S. for better deals. I truly believe that these competition is great for the consumers to purchase at great bargains, and the economy but because Canada and the U.S. are developed nations, it is no longer about consumption. It is more of us entering the stage of overconsumption, which in the long-turn will severely damage the global economy. The disparity between rich and poor nations will continue to increase because of our so-called consumption culture. For retail corporations, bargains attract customers, the price they make off each product does not necessarily matter since it is the amount of sales they can make, to clear inventory before the year ends. Starting early can guarantee retail store the advantage to do so, while for Canadian customers in particular, the chances of encountering great deals are now doubled with Black Friday (end of November) and Boxing Day (end of December).

From a cultural perspective, Americanization continues to become a reality, whether it is on a continental basis or on the international level, American culture dominates. However, we can ask the question of whether the idea of Black Friday, a new consumer culture sensation a positive or negative influence in the relationship between Canadians and Americans? The conflict seems to exist in terms of the economy, and as well as space, the overcrowding that occurs on Black Fridays in the retail stores of the U.S. and with the additional flow of Canadian into the U.S., conflicts seem inevitable. Thus, basic ideas of Black Friday (promising bargains) has extended farther as issues such as overconsumption and nation-state conflicts are at stake as well.

Before physically seeing the headlines of newspapers, social networks has already alerted the received news of the Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. On facebook and twitter, people had updated their status to “praying for those in the Philippines”. These statuses acknowledge that people are still struggling to survive despite the horrors that they have no place to live, lack of food and water, but most importantly the loss of family members- GRIEF.

“Typhoon Haiyan death toll tops 10,000: police”

When newspaper headlines or articles use numbers (like above and within the article) to represent the harm caused by the disaster as reality of what happened is a misrepresentation of the actual event. The article itself repetitively throw around numbers trying to translate some sort of meaning to the audience trying to imagine the situation:

“there were about 10,000 deaths on the island, mostly by drowning and from collapsed buildings.”; “The national government and disaster agency have not confirmed the figure, a sharp increase from initial estimates on Saturday of at least 1,000 deaths”; “We had a meeting last night with the governor and the other officials. The governor said based on their estimate, 10,000 died,” Soria told Reuters.

By simply attaching a number to explain the consequences of a disaster somewhat dehumanizes those who lost their lives. Each of the dead are associated to several friends and family members, yet from a worldwide audience`s perspective they are nothing but a number contributing to the amount of deaths. This current disaster happening right now as Filipino survivors struggle to recover and more importantly survive resemble the attitude “The Boys of Sudan” had during their walks, as outlined by Valentino Achak Deng in What is the What. Though the situation differs, it nonetheless shows how defeated the human race can be when faced with life threatening disasters. When family and friends are lost or dead, homes are destroyed, and memorable possession are gone, the only thing worth having is life, another day, hour, minute, or second to exist.

Nevertheless, numbers or quantitative facts can be helpful in terms of highlighting the severe  consequences that affect the general population; it garners attention and awareness if the numbers do indeed mean something to the audience it is being directed to. Sure enough the numbers captured my attention, but what mattered the most was what people are going through at this very moment and to be honest it could happen to anywhere at anytime. Most importantly  it is an environmental factor and not directly caused by the human race (although with climate change) but the real emphasis is that natural disaster are unpredictable, especially in terms of the damage it can have on people. That is why the disaster caused by the typhoon is not only the concern of the Philippines but the global community because we never know when it will be our turn to be the helpless survivors depending on global  humanitarian aid from other nations.

In addition to quantitative  types of reporting disasters, there were also particular Individuals who got the opportunity to speak or be reported. I found this article: Typhoon Haiyan survivor: ‘I was not prepared for the devastation’. The survivor Lynette Lim, was a survivor that fits under the category of privileged survivor being the “Asia Communication Manager of Save the Children”. Her account of the experience may not have been as severe as many of the other survivors because of her position in the global society and associated with a NGO. However her privilege background makes her experience more realistic to the privileged audience. Nonetheless, she is a survivor and a witness to the disaster, as she describes how “people were taking flat-screen TVs. People were looting fashion outlets and taking high-heeled shoes – anything they could get. It was hard to tell whether it was opportunistic or desperate” after the storm. In the end, the world and life that they use to know is no longer the same one; so it makes sense that the process to recovery will be a constant struggle. From situations like this, I can`t help but ask: What would I do if this happens here in my own backyard?

On the other hand, I found a local news article about a Vancouver couple‘s decision to provide humanitarian help in the Philippines. The “couple took it upon themselves to help the victims in the Philippines. Jenn and Nils planned a vacation to the Philippines months ago. However, in light of the recent disaster, they decided to go anyways; except as volunteers”. This not only makes me proud to be a Canadian but to quote Valentino Achak Deng:”belief in humanity” (What is the What “Preface” xv) is empowering. From this, I imagine that they are not the only ones who have decided to take action from their awareness of the disaster. Although, they are featured in the media, it does not mean that people have to be in the spotlight to help people out. I bet that there are people who rather go in quietly on their own without being under the spotlight of media. Therefore, contribution to the cause big or small does not necessarily matter, it is the effort that goes in that really matter.

How does it feel like to wake up every morning and know exactly everything that’s going to happen? At times, I feel that my fate is pre-determined, that no matter what I do, there is already a planned agenda or destination waiting for me to get to. Yet, there are so many other factors to consider and can affect the course of what happens next. That is why I have no idea what’s going to happen next and I don’t plan to because every day is a new adventure. Television shows, films and novels have that kind of affect on audiences, ending with a cliff-hanger or the phrase ” to be continued “; this kind of anticipation and unpredictability motivates us to continue. When reading What is the What, the autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng, and the novel by Dave Eggers, anticipation was at the flip of each page. Sure enough, the fact that he survives is made pretty clear but the experience and journey that he took was not. As well as the people he meets and interact with, there fates are unpredictable and unknown to the readers unless we continue to flip through the pages, for example: Maria

“It was from one fot the new arrivals that I heard about Maria. Shortly after I saw her that night, when she urged me not to leave, she had attempted to take her own life. She swallowed a mixture of cleaning solution and aspirin, and would have died had it not been for her caretaker…her story ends well” (Eggers p.527)

When I read the part about how Maria chose to suicide, I, as the empathetic reader understood it through the first-world teenager’s idea of suicide (situational,depending on the person). Through this idea of suicide, I made connections to what I know, relating it teenagers` who decide to suicide because of they are under situations such as bullying. One particular example was the Amanda Todd incident, which went viral and was discussed intensely online (in particular facebook). In the case of Maria, Valentino continues by explaining that the fate of Maria’s was depended on her decision to suicide. She ended up at the hospital and “met a Ugandan doctor, a woman who listened to her story and took it upon herself to guarantee that Maria would not return to the man who wanted to gain from her the best bride price” (527). Instead, Maria was presented with the opportunity to leave Kakuma for education in Kenya and eventually London (527). This unpredictable success to not only leave Kakuma but to also receive education, is perhaps, one can argue luck. However, from a reader’s perspective, I like to interpret it differently and say that Maria’s good deed of helping Valentino deserves to get a chance to turn her life around. The fictional aspect of What is the What, definitely helped with the contextualization and visualization of situations that Valentino experiece and the people he encountered throughout his journey. As a reader, I felt that because Valentino`s story was written as a novel it helped with my imagination to feel empathetic towards the situation faced by the “Lost Boys and Girls of Sudan” and acknowledge their existence as humans instead of characters in a typical fictional novel.

Furthermore success (meaning varies in context) seem to be in the hands of audiences if applied to life narratives as noted by Schaffer and Smith that “stories are received and interpreted in unpredictable ways by the audiences” (Conjunctions: Life Narratives in the Field of Human Rights 15). Relating back to “The Lost Boys of Sudan”  and their walk for survival to a better location was probably unintentional to garner global awareness (Western attention primarily) since their prime intention was based on survival. However, it is arguable to say that how is it possible that thousands of boys (unaccompanied minors) who walked in order to get to Ethiopia and later on Kenya to avoid the Sudanese Civil War would not attract the attention of the global community. Yet, at the same time this more or less depended on the so-called Western audience and their response/action to this issue.

A simple and everyday gesture of holding the door for someone behind or an expression of smiling to acknowledge someone’s existence can have its impact on you and that individual. Communities are formed by our willingness to interact with one another. By simply living in isolation, survival is questionable, more importantly, progress within communities can’t be made. Student-run clubs are an example made possible because individuals are willing to contribute their efforts to give others a space to feel a part of. Clubs were prominent in high school, each representing a specific type of community and this is no different here at the UBC campus, with its variety of clubs available to students. I remember walking through the Student Union Building during clubs week, where each club had representatives and posters encouraging students to become a member of their specific community. As a first-year student, I felt it was crucial to get to know what clubs are out there, each one holds the possibility of meeting new people and opportunities. The first step however was to interact with these friendly strangers and ask questions. In a sense, we meet and interact with these friendly strangers everyday, and we ourselves are also friendly strangers trying to make an impression, to show prove our existence in the eyes of strangers. It’s also amazing that the speed of interaction with a stranger can quickly lead into an unpredictable friendship.

In class we watched God Grew Tired of Us, a documentary film that followed the journey of three Lost Boys of Sudan, from their experience during their walk to living in the refugee camp in Kakuma to establishing their lives in the United States. The cultural differences made the adjustment to their new lives difficult, especially in terms of interaction. They reflected that there was more freedom to interact with one another in Sudan/Kakuma compared to the U.S. Growing up and living in a Western society, I was pretty sure that “freedom” was the many benefits that we get in Canada. But after watching the documentary film, I realized how restricted we feel around strangers and how any form of interaction with the person standing beside you at the bus stop would some be offensive. At the same time, I remember that as a child my parents told me not to talk to strangers, but eventually we reach a certain age where we are encouraged to step out of our comfort zones and meet new people. In a sense, we can`t get to one another if we don`t get past the stage of being complete strangers.

Another scenario of being friendly strangers occurs when we volunteer. Throughout high school, I volunteered from several organizations either one-time events or long-term/weekly activities. It was at those one-time volunteering events that I felt the need to be a friendly stranger when interacting with the people there. In a broader perspective, I believe that we are all friendly strangers with no other intention, except to garner the acceptance of others, which is needed to form communities in this social-oriented world. However, throughout my volunteer experiences I am not always sure what my intentions are because the purpose behind the act of volunteering is questionable, particularly for high school students who need volunteer hours as a requirement for graduation. In that aspect, the true act of volunteering seems to disappear because it was for our own purposes and this can be applied to humanitarian aid as well. The positivity of having these experience seem to be very useful in terms of self-interest, especially if these experiences are used or featured on one`s resume. Contrastingly, we can argue that we all do good things because it has a feel-good factor to it.Yet, it almost seems that no matter what the good things we do are, it may be entirely based on our selfish nature as human beings. However, even though this may be true, it is always great to know that the person or stranger you helped would see in the near future to take on that role of a friendly stranger and help someone else.

Lastly, with the invention of social networks (facebook, twitter, etc.) we are further encouraged to be friendly strangers on either sides of a piece of technology to help each other out. One popular example of this is in terms of education, were students create course/class groups online on facebook to communicate with each other about homework, tests, and even the formation of study groups, organized online but meet up physically. This however, it more friendly classmates based, but certain organizations set up a twitter or facebook account to receive questions that customers may have in terms service or product and would reply via tweet or post (example: Canada`s TD Bank). However, this type of interaction can occur offline as well such as reading What is the What or any type of life narrative (it can be done online via ebooks), we are simply friendly strangers that are willing to spend time to read about the life of a particular stranger. But it is through the act of reading that we get to know Valentino Achak Deng as a person. His experiences as described in the novel makes his existence more of a reality to us even though there was no physical interaction, which further creates this disconnection of how we are physically distant from one another but through the bond of the book we are connected together as strangers with shared knowledge. In the book`s preface, Valentino writes “I want the world to know the truth of my existence… I wanted to reach out to a wider audience by telling the story of my life in book form”. To him we are friendly stranger because of our contribution as readers to acknowledge his existence and seek truth in his story. However, in the context of the novel, to simply acknowledge or gain awareness is no longer enough, what matters is what we do with this knowledge and whether physical action is one of them?