Figuring out how to write a blog like a semi-adult

The irony of me writing this blog entry today is not lost on me. I spent the majority of the day reliving my two previous blogs (from 2004 and 2005) with my old Fordham roommate, Erin, over G-chat. This primarily was comprised of us sending each other the parts that made us laugh and/or cringe the most. Mine, at least, have now been "deleted" from the greater internet, but still saved as a word document, for posterity. In case I ever want to look back at what I thought the world needed to know when I was 19. This included such gems as a glowing recommendation that everyone run out and see Dodgeball, which I claimed was hilarious. Sorry, 19 year old me, it kind of wasn't. It also served as a reminder of what happens when two relatively crazy people (who both love being right) are picked to live in a room together, and given computers through which they can have conversations in addition to the one they are probably having out loud. We found out what happened when we stopped being polite, and started looking up old state license plate images on the internet. If only our lives had been taped. 

ANYWAY, later I had a conversation about these blogs with Jake, which made me realize that I'm no longer 19/20. I'm now... older than that, and I'm witty and funny (his words, not mine) so I could write something that I might not hate reading five years from now. The biggest problem with my previous blogs was that I generally focussed on my daily happenings more than anything else. So for once I'm going to try to write about something that I spent some time thinking about and talking to people about, and what conclusions I came to. 

My topic of choice is also the trendy disaster of choice (I mean that in a completely respectful way, of course): Japan

Now, I've never been as on top of the news as I should be, and not having a TV for the past few months has made my knowledge of news events even more shameful. I have been kept in the loop on the key events (Egypt, Libya, Japan, Sheen) by Facebook, Bill Maher, Russell Howard and Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! It's not a combination of news sources I'm proud of, but it gets the job done for the time being. I'm also doing my best to keep up on select American programming while away, which includes my precious American Idol. In light of the Japan tragedy, I noticed that suddenly every episode of Idol included information for the average American to text a donation to the Red Cross. I realize this is a convenient and effective way to get large masses of people to give money to one central organization. However I think this is a lazy solution, which psychologically removes some of the gratification associated with giving (like it or not, lots of people give because of what their giving says to others). If you send a text, and get some response which I'm sure thanks you for your $10 while telling you that you'll see it on your next bill, that's really not much. And then by the time you get that bill, if it's $10 more than usual, most people will likely forget that they've even donated. They're more likely to think they went over their minute or text limits. They might have even forgotten there ever was an earthquake in Japan, thanks to the 24 hour news media.

I also don't think that asking middle America to give is as effective, nor would it produce as much money as incentivizing donations from larger corporations. Yes, I'm aware they all have a percentage of their budget set aside for charitable donations, and I'm also aware that I don't know the ins and outs of the process, but with more coverage I think that companies might be motivated to give more. They always want to do things that will make middle America like them more, and that would be a great opportunity. 

This being said, I do understand it allows people without the means to physically offer aid, or who can't give in large sums, or don't know where to send their money, an easy solution to that problem. Hey, just send a text! We'll take care of the rest for you! I have to imagine the wireless providers get some massive kickback for that though. 

Lastly I think it's a shame that more coverage isn't given to the results of these massive donations. We just give and give for a month or so, and then we move on to a new disaster or fabricated disaster. People rarely say hey, what did you do with our ten dollars?? Did you feed people? Build homes? Buy some fancy machine that helps pour water on that nuclear reactor? What?? We don't care. Because again, everyone has already moved on. Charity: done.

Ok, so I've spoken to my parents about this, and we had a nice little chat where they convinced me that being allowed an accessible way to "help" is important to the American people. Fine. Then I spoke with Erin who has also since moved on from her younger blog days, and is now my source for anything I want to know about the workings of international aid. She also disagreed with me on some things, but sent me some stuff as a follow up (because she's awesome like that). What she found was this guy who agrees with me, for the most part. I particularly enjoyed his suggestion that America doesn't always listen to what other countries actually want and actually ask for. But then, even better, she sent me some helpful aid facts. And I do love me some facts. 

My conclusion? I guess I don't know. Erin says the texted money could at least go into an emergency fund for the future. So maybe I'm of the mindset that we should be planning for disasters, at least a little bit. Like so many things in the world, we only worry about the result once it happens, but don't plan for it or look at the root of the problem. Maybe next time. Besides, do we really want to help them get their country together again so quickly? Not really. I mean, only the ways in which it directly affects the US. But where is that line, between looking out for number 1 (we are), and thinking of a global greater good? I certainly have no idea.

Ok, in memory of my older blogs, and how kind of great it was to be 20 in the Bronx: 

Went out this past weekend to a party that one of Erin's friends was throwing, and that was pretty fun, and then of course we hit up Tinkers afterwards like always and due to some uh... "donations" on behalf of Dan the bartender... we got "free" Pugsley's.

2011 explanation of unremembered "donations" from Erin: 

I do kind of remember this now

we sat there for like, an hour

and he never picked up the tip

so we just took it

That hour was probably more like five minutes, in a very busy bar. So... we stole. 

Waiting...

The UK has given me more opportunities to learn the meaning of patience than I can count. Probably more than the rest of my life up until this point. I find myself constantly waiting for something, without any option to speed up the process. At home, if I had to wait more than two minutes to get my coffee in the Caribou drive-thru line, I was furious (and usually late for work). But here, waiting a month and a half to finally use my student loan money? Why not? Everything is a multi step process that ultimately rests in someone else's hands. All I can do is sit in my room and try to do other things, and not think about what I'm currently waiting on. Although I would love to get my debit card. Especially since it is now two days outside of the 7-10 day waiting period. So I'm nearing the point where I can be justifiably annoyed. Here are some things I'm now willing to wait for (often because I don't have a choice). As long as it takes:

The bus. Sometimes it takes an extra half hour to show up, but if I have my iPod, I can take it. I could never stand sitting in traffic, so one would think I would just start walking. But if you don't have a deadline to get back for, sometimes it's actually sort of nice to sit at a bus stop for 45 minutes (when there are open seats, of course). You might even meet some teens who ask you what made you come to "this shithole".

As mentioned, my money. That one has been a little harder to deal with, but I don't have any dire need for it at the moment.

Ethical approval. I have to conduct a questionnaire this term, and for any studies we do on campus, ethical approval is required. The results of the questionnaire don't even matter (in the usual sense) because the point is to develop the questionnaire, not to find meaning in the answers the participants give. Nevertheless, for this approval I waited two weeks.

Wifi. We have a router and our internet is included in the rent (which is awesome, do NOT misunderstand me). But it frequently disconnects and times out. So here I sit, waiting for it to reconnect. And waiting... and debating going out to buy an ethernet cord so I don't have this problem. Until finally resolving not to buy it until I get my debit card. Ha.

ios 4.2. The update itself isn't what I'm after, but the people who develop unlocking software won't unlock 4.1 until 4.2 is released. Which will finally allow me to unshackle myself from AT&T. And use my O2 sim card in my iPhone. And use all my apps, and even text people at home. I have been waiting for this for 2 months now. But it's another thing that keeps getting delayed, to my endless disappointment. It was originally slated to "drop" on Nov. 8th. At this point, "they" say it should be released by Thanksgiving. Fingers crossed.

Everyone in the grocery store to get out of the way. This is probably my biggest challenge. Again, I'm never in a hurry, I just can't believe how two people can blatantly take up the entire grocery aisle, along with their sideways turned cart, and they treat me as if I'm the annoying one because I want to get past them. The solution here would be to find a time when the store isn't as busy, but from what I can tell that time doesn't exist.

Oh yeah, Diwali was a bust (rain), and Guy Fawkes night was fun, but nothing to write about here. Except that I got to see this group live:

"The ZingZillas are four musical primate friends who live on a tropical island paradise pulsating with rhythm. " 

I think that pretty well sums it up for you.


Until next time.

I can admit, I was not prepared

I don't know if this is going to be any good, but I'll have a go, as they say. "They" also say that to start a blog you should have a purpose, an outline, some plan of what you're going to talk about. Me being in a different country probably isn't going to cut it. Especially if I want anyone to read it. So let's start with all of the ways in which I was not prepared to move to this country:

1. I had nowhere to live.
Sorted that out after a week and a half, but still.

2. I did not bring the correct attire.
As Beth would put it, I packed for a tropical vacation. Lots of tshirts, didn't leave out the swimming suit, but nothing more than light hoodies and ONE sweater. Lucky for me, I was slightly more prepared for the trend that is present in America, but running rampant here: tights and boots. See below:

But please don't think this is a dresses only situation. Nor is it limited to boots such as these. Any form of Uggs or Ugg impostors is also acceptable. And for tops, anything that probably covers your ass is considered good enough.

3. I was not ready for the food.
I mean, I knew what I was getting into, and I could be infinitely further from my comfort zone so I won't complain, but it has taken some getting used to. This country is not familiar with Mexican anything, so it's best not to even try because I've already discovered approximations are more disappointing than the absence itself.

4. I had no idea how the banking system worked.
In this country I've discovered that they won't give you money from a check on the spot, they actually make you wait until the check clears before you can access the funds. It's like they don't trust people or something. One of my classmates says it's so that they can invest the money and make a quick profit in that 5 day clearing period, and that sounds reasonable, but I still hate it.

5. Some things cost a lot, and some don't. 
In the city centre market you can get a grocery bag of carrots for £1! Even at home that's only $1.60. And that is a lot of carrots. Pretty much all produce comes in amounts too large for one person, but at an unbelievable bargain that this one person can't pass up. However I can't justify a £29 sweater because in my mind I can't stop thinking about how it's really $45. Can't win them all.

6. There is not one united city transport system.
Most cities that I've been to have a bus system. Just one, and it covers the entire city. You can get transfers, and you can get bus passes that work everywhere. Not Leicester. This city has three or four bus companies.

ARRIVA!!

Centrebus

First

Thurmaston

And most buses go to the same exact places and have routes with the exact same number. So I have yet to figure out if it's preference based, or if they each serve different outlying corners of the city, but I've chosen to be loyal to Arriva. So far they have had stops going everywhere that I've wanted to go, and I couldn't ask for more. But a lot of times it's easier to just walk.

So while I've been here for officially a month tomorrow, I'm still figuring out how this city works. And if I run across any more startling revelations, I will let you know. I have a feeling that with both Diwali and Guy Fawkes nights this weekend, I will have more than enough to report next week.

Cheers!