Who Needs Geography?!

A lot of you are probably busy studying for their midterms right now (or some lucky people might have already finished them). Either way, I think it is time for a more humorous post :) On Friday, we had an English exam for which we also had to study the names and locations of the 50 American states. Last week I came across a survey in which Americans were asked to fill in countries’ names on a blank European political map.  Since I (like most Austrians) had to start memorizing these countries in primary school, I found some of the responses hilarious:

"affordable vacation"

Austria is as big as Germany!! Nice try...

However, to be fair, I have to show the other side of the coin as well… because let’s face it – how many Europeans would succeed in correctly locating all the American states? If I had not had to study them for our recent exam, I would not have been able to do so. So let’s take a look at a survey that tested the Brits' knowledge of US geography:

I hope all of you had a good laugh at one or the other picture. However, I would like to finish this post by thinking about what the gaps in the survey-takers’ knowledge actually tell us. They mirror part of our economical and political reality. While most people, for example, were able to identify powerful and geographically large countries like Germany or France, only few could tell apart the former Soviet satellite states. On the other hand, many British people could locate California or Florida correctly (states that gained a lot of fame through movies) while the Midwest, or “flyover country“ as it is called, remained a complete mystery to them. However, I do not think the smaller countries are any less important.

Come to think of it, I bet neither a lot of Europeans, nor Americans would succeed in identifying African states. Doesn’t it strike you as odd that most high school graduates know the Pythagoras’ theorem by heart but don’t know a lot about the location of countries on other continents? I mean, those who have to deal with countries on other continents because of their jobs or for personal reasons, will have to extend their geographical knowledge sooner or later anyway. Still, I think it would not hurt to be a little more attentive to what the world actually looks like ;)

In Memoriam - Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela. I am sure all of you have heard this name a few times this week. When I heard of his death on December 5^th, I was thinking “I know this name, I know this man had something to do with South Africa and the Apartheid” but to be honest, I did not really know what he was famous for, or why he was referred to as a great man. For this reason, I would like to briefly summarize his life and efforts:

Nelson Mandela is known for having made a “free South Africa” possible. But free from what?

I would like to start with the political situation of South Africa in the first half of the 20^th century, which was marked by racial segregation. Racial segregation in South Africa began in colonial times under Dutch rule. In 1948 Apartheid was introduced as an official policy. It was a system of racial segregation enforced by the National Party (NP) governments.  Whites, who were a minority in South Africa were privileged, while the rights of the majority black inhabitants were reduced. Residential areas were segregated, sometimes by forced removals. The government segregated education, medical care, beaches, and other public services, and provided black people with services inferior to those of white people.

(There is definitely a parallel to the Jim Crow Laws which were enforced in Southern states of the US between 1876 and 1965).

Nelson Mandela was born in 1918. As young man he became involved in anti-apartheid politics and joined the ANC (African National Congress). His central goal was a South Africa led by South Africans. As a result, he was passionately involved in politics and, for instance, led a sabotage campaign against the apartheid government.

In 1962 he was arrested, convicted of conspiracy to overthrow the state, and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Rivonia Trial. This is an impressive quote from his court room speech:

 “I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

Mandela became the personification of opposition to South Africa’s apartheid regime. People demanded his release, but only after serving 28 years in prison, this finally happened. He was released in 1990 and faced a social mess: People protested, violence was common and the established order crumbled, but nobody really knew what the future would bring.

During his final years in prison, Mandela had secretly negotiated with the white government. The white leaders knew that they would not be able to keep up their power, so they tried to find a way to legalize opposition parties and democratize South Africa, but at the same time be able to retreat in an orderly way.

Mandela’s negotiations with President F.W. de Klerk to abolish apartheid were successful. Finally, in 1994 the first multiracial elections were established, in which Mandela led the ANC to victory and became South Africa's first black president. However, in order to govern the country he also had to win over a significant percentage of white people. He had to reassure them that there was a place for them and that it was their government too.

And even though he had been imprisoned by whites for almost 30 years, he managed to rule without bitterness or hate towards them. On the contrary, his dream was a democratic, non-racial, non-sexist South Africa and he did not intend to fight racism with racism.

He won many white people over by appearing at the Rugby World Cup, which was hosted by South Africa in 1995. Until then, rugby was seen as “all-white sport” and therefore had become symbol of the oppressor’s culture. Even so, Mandela presented the trophy to the South African rugby team, wearing a rugby shirt. Mandela won the hearts of millions of white rugby fans and their chanting his name, on the other hand, sent a message to the black people – a message of goodwill and desire for reconciliation.

During his presidency, Mandela worked on renewing the young, free country. True to his promise, he stepped down from presidency in 1999 and in doing so he set another example for his view of democracy. In the subsequent years, he continued to work with the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, focused on charity work and fought poverty.

In my opinion, what is so fascinating about this man is his humility and his sense of what is right. As Obama put it in his speech at Nelson Mandela’s funeral, he was a “profoundly good” person. He went to prison because of having fought for the freedom of others, had an unbending will and always stood up for his beliefs. He had an amazing sense of justice, which helped him to negotiate with the “enemy” instead of fighting him. He set an inspiring example of how patience, a strong will, courage, dignity, persistence, discipline and compromise can bring about change in a peaceful way.

The whole world responded to the news of Nelson Mandela’s death and I think a reason for this is, that he embodies all the values we are looking for in a “good person”. He is a role model to many and definitely is an example of how much difference a single person can make.

All in all, I think his words represent his ideas the best, and therefore I would just like you to look at some of his most inspiring quotes and maybe let them influence your own attitude. 

- Because we all can make a difference!

Thanksgiving

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYBODY!!!

Today, on the 4th Thursday of November, Americans are celebrating Thanksgiving. To Austrians, this is not a very well known holiday, so I decided to briefly tell you about its history.

HISTORY

The first Thanksgiving Day was celebrated in 1621.  In 1620, the Pilgrims, a group of people who had left England mainly for religious reasons, had come to America on the Mayflower. Initially, they had intended to sail to the Colony of Virginia, where they had already obtained permission to settle. However, they were put off course and anchored in today’s Massachusetts. There, they founded the Colony of Plymouth.

Unfortunately, the Pilgrims did not have an easy start in this new land where they hoped to find freedom and a new, prosperous life. About half of the settlers died within the first winter. The other half would probably have died as well if it had not been for the local Native Americans, who gave them food and taught them how to hunt, fish and grow food.

So let’s fast forward to 1621. In honor of their fist successful harvest, the pilgrims invited the Native Americans to share a meal. This meal probably consisted of birds, seafood, fruits, grains and vegetables, but the key elements of todays Thanksgiving Day meal (e.g. turkey, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes) were missing.

After this feast Thanksgiving was not celebrated for a long time. In 1777, after winning a battle in the Revolutionary War, George Washington announced November 26^th a “holiday of sincere humble and thanks”.  Especially the American Puritans liked this idea of a holiday on which people give thanks to God for all kinds of blessings. However, the date on which Thanksgiving Day was celebrated varied from state to state.

In 1827 Sarah Josepha Hale (the author of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”) started a campaign, promoting a nationwide Thanksgiving holiday. In 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln realized the unifying potential of such a holiday and declared Thanksgiving Day a national holiday on the 4^th Thursday of November.

NOW

Parades
Nowadays, Thanksgiving is an extremely popular holiday in the US. Some famous traditions that have developed throughout the past centuries are the Thanksgiving Day football games and the Thanksgiving Day parades. The most popular parade is probably “Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade" in New York City. It involves fleets and giant balloons and is even broadcast on TV and radio. 

Turkey Pardon

Another tradition I found particularly interesting is the Presidential Turkey Pardon. President Kennedy was the first to keep a turkey he was given for Thanksgiving Day, instead of having it cooked. President Bush senior officially started the tradition of pardoning a turkey and sending it to a farm where it can live happily ever after. Yesterday, president Obama pardoned the turkey Popcorn:

 Family

Apart from traditions and entertainment, Thanksgiving Day is most of all about FAMILY. People reconnect with their loved ones and share a celebratory meal with them. Thanksgiving is one of the busiest travel holidays, since people drive home to visit their families. The meal are enormous and consists of the staples roast turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie.

Saying "Thank You"

From my point of view, the concept of Thanksgiving Day is great. I think we all have so much to be thankful for and especially in today’s hectic world, we often forget about this. We rush through our daily lives and keep complaining about the stress, our problems and everything that goes wrong in our society. But since today is Thanksgiving Day, I would say we should – to coin a phrase – count our blessings.

In 2011 Austria was ranked 19^th in the world for its Human Development Index. Most people in Austria are wealthier than most people in the world. We should be thankful for having a safe place to live, not having to worry about how to provide food for the next day, having the freedom to travel and basically do whatever we want to do. We have the chance to life our dreams, work for our goals and to actively pursue what makes us happy. We have access to good education, which is the first step to a wealthy future life. We are healthy and have access to good healthcare. 

And what I am thankful for the most are the people I love. I am blessed to have met so many great people and I do not know what I would do without my family and friends.

In my view, consciously thinking of these blessings and giving thanks for our lives is what Thanksgiving Day is all about. Or - as President Obama mentioned in his speech - 

"We have more to be thankful for than we can ever say 

and more to be hopeful for than we can ever imagine!" 

So once again, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

The Power of Language

Language has power! This video will probably be of particular interest to all the language students out there. It certainly is to me, because it points out how important our choice of words actually is and how language can even influence our attitude.

The point Stephen Fry makes in this video is that the way we refer to issues or people can change our attitude towards them. Throughout history, we can find a lot of negative proof for this. Language was often used to dehumanize a certain group of people. And sadly, it worked. Germans called Jews "ape men", "subhuman", and "rats" and by this made people think that Jews are "not human" or "less worthy than others". And only with this attitude it is possible for "ordinary people" to do horrible things to others. As Stephen Fry mentions in the video, the same tactic was used in the Rwandan Genocide in 1994.

The examples given above are, of course, very extreme cases and  these words would not be used under normal circumstances. However, also in our everyday language there are terms that can be misleading, offending or distorting our awareness of reality, even though we might not mean to do that. For example, talking about “discovering America” implies the idea that Europeans came to America, tried to find out more about it like curious scientists, and eventually had the right to take what they found, because they “discovered” it. However, this ignores the fact that Europeans invaded land that was already occupied by Native Americans and took it from them.

Another example is how black people are referred to in the US. The term “negro” was mainly used before the Civil Rights movement in 1650s and 1960s. Nowadays it is associated with the long history of slavery, segregation, and discrimination, when African Americans were treated as second class citizens or worse. The same applies for the word “colored”, since in times of segregation, black people had to sit in the “colored” sections of busses or restaurants, for example. In essence, the term stirs up painful memories. Nowadays, accepted terms are “people of color”, “African American” or simply “black”.  

Another issue is the use of exclusionary language in terms of gender. It is not such a prominent issue in English, since many occupations only have one term (like teacher, lawyer, dentist…). In other languages, however, male and female versions exist, for instance for occupations. In German, a male teacher is called “Lehrer”, whereas to indicate that the teacher is female the suffix –in is added, therefore it would be “Lehrerin”. Nevertheless, often only the male version is used when talking about a group of people in general. Nowadays, many people oppose to this and try to promote the use of both male and female titles. When I first heard of this concept I was thinking “isn’t this kind of fussy? I’m not offended if somebody uses the male form, I know women are meant as well.” However, I have slowly come to realize that using a universal title or both titles does make a difference. When I hear “stewardess” I automatically think of a woman, although I know men are practicing this profession as well. The term “flight attendant”, however, evokes a much more neutral concept in my mind.

So basically what I am trying to show is that language reflects as well as influences our attitudes. Language not only expresses ideas and concepts, but actually shapes our thoughts and therefore its power should not be underestimated. With this in mind, I think we can become a lot more sensitive and detect manipulations more easily. And, even more importantly, we can reflect on our own choice of words, because they do have an impact on the world around us.

Exploring North America

Since American Culture is a big part of my English course at university, I was encouraged to look for “facts about America that foreigners find hard to believe” on this website: 

How Americans Are Different

I have been to America in summer 2012 (I visited distant relatives in Michigan, Chicago (IL), Las Vegas (NV) and Toronto and travelled along the West Coast). As a result, I decided to pick five points that were mentioned a lot on this website and that I personally can relate to and summarize them for you.

1.       CARS (nobody walks)

People go everywhere by car. This claim was made by many people who commented on the website I mentioned before. Personally, I noticed too that many people use their cars for long as well as really short distances and even to get to a nearby gym (kind of ironic, don’t you think?).

However, what amazed me even more, were drive-thru pharmacies and banks. Concerning drive-thru banks, for example, I could not believe that people actually drive to a pillar (often they cannot even see the teller but can be watched by him through a camera), have their deposit slips or cheques sucked up through a tube and get their money or receipt a few seconds later through the same tube!

In this funny videoclip Nancy shows you how it's done: 

2.       INTEREST IN GUNS AND MILITARY

People in the US can buy guns without much of a background check. Many American citizens are kind of obsessed with their guns and carry them around, because it makes them feel safe. However, some people also don’t hesitate to use them and I think this is where the big problem lies. Every now and then we hear stories about shootings on the news. Recently, such events triggered some serious discussions concerning the NRA (National Rifle Association), a nonprofit organization that is based on the idea that firearm ownership is a civil right and concerning owning firearms in general.

Also, what surprised me when I visited the US was the public interest in military. In Austria, military personnel are not treated differently than anybody else, but in the US they are. When I went to a baseball game, after playing the national anthem all veterans and people who currently serve at the army were asked to stand up and were given a flag as a sign of respect. Furthermore, I once watched a TV show called “Stars Earn Stripes”, in which celebrities accompanied real soldiers on a simulated fight, in order to show how dangerous and exhausting the job as a soldier really is.

       3.       HUGE AMOUNTS OF EVERYTHING

Everything is just bigger than in Austria – the stores (e.g. Walmart), the sizes of products sold there (even the cereal packages ;) ), the cars, the food portions served in restaurants,…

However, this is somehow understandable, since the US is much bigger than Austria. AND I have to admit that usually there are smaller sizes and amounts of things available as well, you just need to know where to find them.

4.       FRIENDLINESS

People are super friendly. No matter where you are or what you are doing, you can be pretty sure you will interact with at least one nice person a day (at least that was my impression). Americans like to make small talk and usually their first question is “How are you?”, followed by a welcoming smile. If, for example, you are wandering through a city, having a lost expression on your face, there will almost certainly be somebody who approaches you and offers to help you. Let’s face it – how often does this happen in Austria?

5.       DIVERSITY

One of the things that fascinate me the most about the US (and Canada for that matter) is the diversity of cultures, climate, landscape, people, beliefs, … basically everything.
I met a 70-year old man who loves to travel but has never been outside the US, because he thinks that there is enough to see and experience in all the different parts of the US. Even though I think every part of the world is worth visiting, I am sure he will never get bored.