When I first walked into Forum this morning I was afraid the discussion would once again feel like a roundabout where we talk about really interesting ideas but never really see much in the way of progression. I may be wrong, but today I felt like maybe we did make some headway. The topic was national identity, French identity, global identity, and how and why this needs to fit into the contemporary world. France has historically been centralized around one language, culture, and ancestry. They termed this universalism, but this is not to be mistaken with globalism or multiculturalism. France has always been a country of assimilation not integration. Immigration is not a new thing to France, they have been an open door to immigrants for decades now, but never before have they faced such a large percentage of minority immigrants wishing to be French while maintaining their former lives, cultures, and ethnicities. As was discussed today, France has not dealt with this issue for many years and the conditions for these immigrants have been so severely neglected that we are now seeing a retaliation in thinking and even action due to their neglect. The neglect has not come from self-infliction but rather a sub-conscious or maybe even conscious racism towards these immigrant populations living in the suburbs of Paris. The immigrants came to France in search of a new national identity under France, seeking the rich history and even prosperity that came along with French life, yet did not expect to sacrifice their ethnic identity in the process. Jobs are refused, discrimination from the police forces is common, and there is a severe under representation of minority populations in the government. These immigrants are not even necessarily new, but rather second and even third generation immigrants to France who have little or no ties to their original familial origins. Yet, they face a battle currently, centered in Paris, between the old French national identity and a new globalized idea of who France is and who her people are as well. They have for too long been looked at as the "others" as if by neglect they would leave (as Chirac hoped for ten years ago), and now they are calling for change. I do not think (after considering this morning's discussion) that they are calling for radical change to French culture or systems, but rather a place for them amid the system. The people of France must make this change though. Historically only when a severe crisis occurred was a top down approach to cultural change necessary and here I believe once again the best start to make is at the level of the people. The government can be involved and probably should be to restore trust among the people, but the change must first happen in the minds of the people before any legal changes will be worth while. I think this can be achieved, and with much of Europe facing similar problems I think the EU as a body may be able to institute that change if each nation was to help the others. Problems will obviously come up, but I think that the end goal is well worth the struggle.

French Immigration

Honors Forum has been interesting so far. If not for the wealth of information on French immigration and racism, then simply for the intense recognition of the many worldviews that have together in one classroom. The dynamics of the class itself demonstrate an unusual mixture of the internationally born, locals, and those that fall somewhere in between. As a senior International Studies major it is far more interesting to watch the students interact and draw conclusions on world events then to actually learn the information; as interesting as I really do find our Forum topic. The interests, world experiences, and influences of classmates are vividly expressed in discussion.

On the topic of racism and immigration: Many ideas have been expressed in class and I feel it is far too early and too important of a topic to draw conclusions rashly, but I do feel a few ideas have come up that are important in how I will frame my conclusions.

First: In an increasingly globalized society, where does the responsibility of the international community fall in relation to how human rights are ensured? If nationals of many countries are moving into other nations with new and foreign traditions how do we as an international community working towards global human rights and freedoms ensure that they receive those freedoms? I believe that the international community has not only as its obligation/responsibility but its privilege to ensure the rights of immigrants, refugees, and even nationals in the face of discrimination, stratification, and hate. When in world history has a community ever had such an opportunity as now to impact so many lives for the better? We have the technology, freedom, and international bodies to carry out a mass revolution of how we treat human rights violations and injustice. I am not calling for someone like the USA to become international police as they have done, but rather citizens of all nations to recognize that we are increasingly citizen's of the world rather than an individual nation, with the freedoms we have of travel, economy, and service in a global community we also have a responsibility to that community to ensure its just development and the safety of its other citizens.

Second: No one should have to leave anywhere because they cannot make a living or express their traditions freely due to unjust laws. We need to stop trying to remove the people from an unjust situation and start remedying the unjust situation. There are a few radical ideas that have become the tradition of certain groups that are infringements on human rights, such as suicide bombings, but these are few and far between. The majority of the traditions of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and other religions are completely harmless and individualistic. France may want a complete separation of church and state, but by passing laws such as those against head scarves they are not preventing church and state from intermixing they are robbing individuals of their dignity. Laws do not change the people's faith; if anything resistance makes their faith stronger in many cases. This is not a situation of worrying that the church will overtake the state, but rather that new traditions will overtake or challenge old ones. Where would France or any nation be now if these exact situations had not occurred all throughout history?

How will France react to the increase in immigration and new traditions? I have no idea, but if the international community sits back and not only allows this kind of discrimination in France but within many other national borders, including the US, I think that the principles that have for so long driven globalism will be compromised and a new era will be begin. What that era looks like I have ideas, but I think I will save those for a different day...

This is me re-orienting myself to the blogs

Here I am one year later, back on the blog. A year ago I was learning in Oxford what it meant to have an identity of your own and crossing the bridge of procedural knowledge into constructed knowledge (props to Dr. Kluthe and Dr. Martinek). Now here I sit today with this new found knowledge of who I am, how I got here, and why I am going where I am going, and a whole new lesson has developed. This past year away from the blog I have learned an entirely interrelated and yet very different lesson on community. Now I could weasel my way out of my lack of blogging by saying that this lesson on community kept me away from the computer and in an intricate web of social event after social event, and though it would not be far from the truth, it would leave out the many other factors including no internet access, lack of inspiration, and, plainly, sheer laziness that also played into it.

So here I am on what I consider the down hill part of my lesson in community ready to share. I moved out of the dorms last January and into a one bedroom apartment with a friend, Kate, while three of our best guy friends moved in four doors down. After three years in a private room in McCormick, I was in for a huge rollercoaster ride. First you need to know who the players are, hence the picture. We have (from the top in clockwise order)Timmy, Eddie, me, Kate, and Josh. First Sunday in the new apartments everyone agrees to carpooling for church. Before Kate and I are even awake, we hear banging on the door, it opens and there is Eddie bringing us breakfast in exchange for hair gel. From this point on a series of events unfolded that would challenge us and bring us far too close together. Our community operates on a few principles:

1. The Lord gives and He takes away, this has led to a no complaining or guilting policy.

2. What is mine is yours. We have communal cars, money, food, and every everything found in the living room or kitchen.

3. Love others and treat them as you would want to be treated. This policy has had its up and downs. The boys tend to take people in from the streets, no questions asked. Let's just say this hasn't always worked out, but we have learned a lot from it.

So those are the guiding principles of what we have been working towards. I have to say, I am pretty impressed where we have come though. When I came into this living arrangement, I thought that we would surely help each other out and have fun, but now it has become something far greater than that. When cars are broke (which they have all been at some point so far) we all chip in to fix them, when there is no food we pool our resources (and if that doesn't work we call Mrs. Udell our Joplin mom), if someone is in trouble everyone drops everything to help. Sure there are times when we all fall short of what someone expected from us, but the five of us have a bond now that is not only centered on our faith but a true love for each other.

Now our community is growing! We have nine new community members that moved in this year and six that lived there already and joined the ranks. Last night we had an option of four meals for dinner and were able to not only take of each other but other friends that were just visiting. I am so impressed with the way that this has turned out. It started out as a small group and has grown to a larger group and now that group has the resources and connections to reach out to others. It has taught me so much on the value of community and how important it is to the growth of an individual. Not only must we have an awareness of who we are and how we developed into that person, but we must know how to use that within our communities and to build communities. Each person within the community I live in now has a special talent that they have discovered while working together and we have learned to accept each others gifts and each of us use them to accomplish our goals. Working together to develop your talents brings a far greater richness than sitting at home trying to figure out what you are good at. When you fail, people are there to pick you up and encourage you and even point you in a direction they see you excel in that you may never have noticed. So as I step down from my soap box, I have this to say about community. Get into one. Do not sit through college without finding a group which you identify with and can grown in. We are all scholars and therefore have academic goals and priorities, but do not wait until graduation to begin to use the things you have and will learn. Jump in now and test the waters. You might be nervous what you are jumping into, you might get exhausted treading, and heck you might even drown ( I have done it all). BUT if you let the fear of any of these things hold you back you will never learn to swim.

Home Again!

I am here back in Arkansas now after a very eventful month and a half. I must say that up until the flight home things could not have gone better. Sure there were minor mishaps but it all led to new and more interesting discoveries. The flight home though is no time for mishaps and new discoveries though and therefore when sitting in the gate for my flight i see flashon the screen "Chaos at Heathrow" I kind of freaked. Turned out it was only British Airways food service and baggae service people going on strike. No biggie right, I was flying American Airlines and was in a totally different terminal. WRONG! So I get to Chicago after a very very cold flight in which there were literally ice crystals falling on me from the ceiling only to find that I have made it to the USA, but my luggage has not. I wait patiently wondering how in the world, having checked in four hours early for my flight, they could possibly have not gotten it on the plane. Then to my great dismay my already late flight at 9:24 would be postponed, and then postponed again. I finally left the run way around 11 Thursday night and back to Little Rock around 12:15. There,I also found no sign of my luggage as well and lost all hope that it would return home with me that night. So I filed a missing bag report and went home to sleep. It is now Saturday night and still no sign of my luggage. I have become great at the automated baggage phone service,talked to many representatives, and still am no closer to knowing where in the world my bag may be. They cannot tell me if it has even left London. I must say that in the current day and age I find this to be shocking. I mean I have been given every possible excuseon the planet for why my bag might be delayed, all before informing me that to my great dismay the chaos at Heathrow was a problem for me as British Airways personnel handle all luggage for the planes. So now I ponder whether my poor little bag is sitting alone in a corner of Heathrow forgotten in the masses, stuck in customs at O Hare or even worse sitting in some punks apartment who picked it up by mistake or even worse on purpose. I must say that the joys of travel do diminish slightly when such incompetency among the people you are trusting with 75% of your total belongings begins to show. So for now all I can do is keep my fingers crossed, say a few prayers, and try not to think of the troubles that will follow if my luggage never agains surfaces.

P.S. - After tonight I am now on a first name basis with one of the luggage people :)

Waiting...

So here I am in Burger King (no not to eat though fries become more and mroe tempting as time passes by). I am back in London in the last leg of my Eurotrip. Lindsey and I are supposed to meet back up here in this spot for our flights out tomorrow! I must say that it is good to be in London. I was honestly dreading it because two out three times here I was not impressed, but today is a pleasant day. Sunny and decently warm. The subways are packed so apparently things are most definately moving on from the last time I was here. I must say toteing luggage around London is no fun. So many people, most of whom seem to be oblivious to my suitcase and then wonder why their foot gets run over. On the upside though, everything is in English which is a nice change from the last two weeks. I spent most of the day yesterday in Nyoping, Sweden alone. Now it was a pleasant experience for the most part, but it is a small town so nothing was in English and there really were not a lot of tourists. So I came up with the brilliant idea of spending my night at the movies (it is becoming a trend on my last night in a country I must admit). I chose the 9:00 showinf of War of the Worlds and went for Kebab Pizza. It was not until I was well into the movie that I began to think of what a STUPID idea it really was. #1 I was supposed to get up at 4:30 teh next morning and probably should have been spending that time sleeping. #2 The movie let out at 11 and I was all alone in a place that was a good 10 minute walk from the hostel down dark roads by the river! Not the safest move ever I must say. So I consider that the stupidest thing I have done on this trip and assuming its really the only majorly stupid thing I consider this a good trip! So i fly out at 4:30 tomorrow and am back on US soil at 11:30 at night. Then I return to Joplin on Monday probably around 4. See you guys soon!

The Moose Park

Ever since I arrived in Sweden I have secretly and sometimes not so secretly been searching for moose. Up until today I had been sorely dissappointed. Even out in the middle of nowhere where a moose could enjoy his days with virtually no interuptions I found no moose. So today as Anna and I left the glass world outside of Vaxjo (famous for its glass works) I was more than eager to jump at the idea when Anna discovered a sign for a moose park. We decided to give it a shot, especially since Robert (Anna's boyfriend back in Joplin who had just been in Sweden over Spring Break) had told me that there was no way I would see a moose because they hide from foreigners. So we went in to the moose shop (Ålg-shop) and found every assortment of moose paraphenalia you could dream of. After being assured that we would definately see a moose in the park we decided to pay the $5 to get into the park (hey I am almost broke 5 dollars is like the lottery right now). We were soon greeted by pigs, goats, and some very strange birds, but no moose. Then over the horizon what to my wandering eyes should appear, but a moose and not only a moose but FOUR moose!!! My trip in Sweden is now complete. We walked all over the park and saw six moose (or five and half if you want to be technical). We had a blast and probably took more pictures of the adorable baby goats then of the moose in the end but it was definately worth it. Some of you may be getting some very interesting souvenirs from the moose shop just so you know...

Crayfishing Timeline...

OK GuysFor the last four days Anna Nilsson and I have been preparing for the crayfish season here in sweden. So after two days of fishing for Mert (the bait fish) we were ready for the hunt. Now you cut up fish parts to attach to the hooks inside the trap. Then once all the traps are closed and the flotation devices secured, they are taken out in the boat to be dropped in along the lake. We put ours along the plant line. Then we waited. Anna Gradeen came up from her hometown in Varnamo and Anna Nilsson's best friend Lisa came up and the four of us barbequed and chatted the night away. At about 11:30 we went out in the pitch black to the boat to row out. We slowly made our way from one trap to another collecting our crayfish. Now Anna was expecting maybe 5 total because in present years the crayfish population has dwindled alot, but we got 22 in the night!!! We then threw the traps back out to collect more in the morning. We took our catch back in, excited because the neighbors with whom we had a competition goign had only collected 18 (the prize: 3 beers). After some hilarious pictures and posing with our crayfish we went to bed around 2:30. At 5:30 Anna came in to awake us and so began our second outting for crayfish. This time we only got four though :( When all was said and done though we had 26 crayfish and 18 were of the size large enoguh for us to keep! Not bad at all.

Fisk, Fisk, Fisk

I have been fishing now for two days straight here in Sweden in the heat, in the cold, and in the rain (sometimes a mixture of two elements). I have caught 5 fish (fisk). Now that may not sound too bad, but these are small bait fish for the upcoming crayfish hunting tomorrow night and we needed about 10 more than we got. Now I have been fishing before, but to be quite honest despite growing up in Arkansas in the country for 10 years with a father who constantly had me around animals, I had succesfully managed not to have to hold a fish for the past 20 years of my life. I was quite fine with this fact and not eager to change it for the one animal I cannot stand the idea of holding is a fish! Today my world was shattered. After successfully convincing Anna to take off the last four fish I had caught, we had two quite defining events. First, Anna caught a fish that had swallowed the hook pretty far down and she was going to have to pull it out which she did not want to have to do but did because I was far too chicken! Second, I caught a fish 5 minutes later that had managed to not only swallow the worm far enough down that I could not get the hook out, but the hook was also wrapped around the gill. Having just pulled out her own hook which brought up half the fish's stomach in the process, Anna was not eager to pull mine out for me. So here I was, stuck in a serious dilemna. SO I grabbed the fish and began to pull. Soon we decided this would not work without pulling the whole fish's head off since the hook was securely fastened in his gill. So I did the only thing left to do. I stuck my finger down the fish's mouth to maneuver the hook around until it would come out. Ten to fifteen minutes and a lot of blood later, the hook was out with the worm still on it. Though it was in the end a very empowering experience, you know overcoming my fears and all, I must say it is quite possibly the most disgusting thing I have ever had to do and I was very relieved we caught no more fish this evening.

Is the World really so small...

So for a very quick post before heading out to the next site in Germany, I just had to tell a short story. While in Rome with Lindsey Holt we toured teh Vatican Museum and as we were admiring the beautiful works of the Sistine Chapel we look up and see a sight we could not believe. There in front of us was our fellow Oxfordite Lauren Oxendine!!! We could not believe that one week here we were all three in the same country again! How weird is that??