So, I just thought I'd update you guys on some things happening in my life. A good old fashioned social commentary blog entry should come pretty soon.
Leaving Chile
I left South America less than two short weeks ago. A long flight route which I was dreading was actually much smoother than I had anticipated, especially considering the problems I encountered at the last minute about my ticket! To make a long story short, the folks at TACA had two tickets for me to go one way from LAX to SCL (Santiago de Chile). Obviously I only went on one of the itineraries, making me a "no show" for the other, which told TACA to cancel automatically the rest of my itinerary (ie, my flight back to Montreal). After several aggrevating phone calls (and one trip to the airline's office) I restored my flight. At first, they only decided to restore half the itinerary, but at the end, it all worked out well. I left Santiago at the ungodly hour of 6 am, with a short layover in Lima, Peru, and then a very long layover in San Jose, Costa Rica.
Not lacking the energy and optimism I had during my layover in San Salvador (and not willing to pay any entrance fees and departure taxes, and not sure if there was anything worth seeing in San Jose, or if it was even safe to walk around!), I decided to wait out the 6 hours in San Jose's airport. Unfortunately, San Jose's airport is most certainly not the best to kill a long layover - even San Salvador had a nicer airport. I would even go so far as to say San Jose has the worst airport I've ever seen (well.... maybe with the exceptions of Vientiane and Rangoon). It wasnt even so bad because it was dinky and third world (although it was- to some extent). I hated it because it seemed like a run-down American airport. In other words, it both lacked the charm found in many non-North American airports, and the vastness of many American airports. To give an example, the food court (and ONLY food options) consisted of three watered down American chains, with prices even higher than one would find in most American airports!
Fortunately though, it only cost $30 for the VIP lounge. While paying this fee might make me a sinner in the eyes of the backpacker gods, for a 6 hour layover in an otherwise depressing airport (while running on a dire shortage of sleep) seemed like a worthwile investment. I was, sadly, unable to get the sleep I so badly wanted (mostly because of my own inability to sleep in non conventional places), but, I had complimentary snacks, juice, coffee, and internet access. In the end it wasn't all bad.
This was followed by another long layover at JFK, which I was dreading even more. The plane landed at about 2:30 am, and my next flight was at 8. But by the time I got off the plane, went through passport control, got my baggage (which came quite late), it was already 3:30. To my hapiness, I discovered that there is life at JFK overnight... I even found arcade games I could kill some time (and a little bit of money) at. By the time I changed terminals and got my next boarding pass, it was already almost 5, and I slept an hour on the floor of a surpisingly nice American Airlines Terminal. By 10, I had arrived in Montreal, where, for the first time (ever!), I was greeted and welcomed at the airpot (by some really cool people).
Graduation Week
By Tuesday the first of my coterie of relatives (my mother and stepfather) had arrived. By Saturday, I didn't want to see a lot of them for a long time. I guess that's exaggerating a bit.
Thursday was the graduation ceremony. I was looking forward to a graduation similar to what the folks experienced last year. Well, the ceremony itself was fine, but shortly thereafter it became cold and rainy, and the reception was awkardly moved to the lobby of Leacock. Not really the lasting image I wanted for myself or my family. TO make matters worse, I come from a family of perpetual complainers, who wanted to make sure I understood very clearly how miserable they were in the inclimate weather.
That night, I was allowed to pick a restaurant. After all, it was my special day. This restaurant selection, of course, came with a large restriction: it couldn't be anything exotic (which, anyone who knows me well enough might know that these are my favourite restaurants) - since certain members of my family won't eat anything not traditionally eaten by white people. This left me to book a French/Italian restaurant in Montreal. Couldn't go wrong right? What I didn't count on was the worst transit crisis in 7 years. Three lines of the metro were shut down, and there weren't any taxi cabs available. The utterly miserable weather made it a pretty unviable walk, especially for most members of my family for whom mobility is limited. After an hour of having to listen to bickering and complaining, and faced with the possibility of having my graduation dinner in the hotel restaurant, we were all finally able to find a cab. Happily, the restaurant itself was actually quite nice, and I think everyone there enjoyed themselves (we also had the whole restaurant - and pretty much all of Old Montreal - to ourselves). I also had a special someone with me, making the experience exponentially more variable.
The following day was perhaps the most anticlimatic birthday I ever had. Waking up, it was actually easy to forget that it even was my birthday! That night, for some reason or another, my relatives which were still in Montreal (my grand-parents had left, leaving my mom, stepfather, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew), decided it would be appropriate to have dinner. There was a long ordeal of finding a restaurant suitable for everyone... which involed the older (ie, over 30) folks bickering about restaurants, walking out of two of them, probably forgetting that it was someone's birthday at all! Despite all this complaining and unpleasantness, the restaurant we ultimately found was pretty good.... and the complaining itself aside, I (ironically) had nothing to complain about!
My departure from Montreal was rather awkward. Saturday was moving day. I had only started packing on Friday night. I attribute this partially to my own irresponsibility, but also partially to the constant juggling of high-maintanance relatives and the emotional difficulty of packing up my Montreal life. This left me in a panic on Saturday morning, exacerbated by certain irritable members of my family, and the fact that not everything I wanted to keep even fit in the car! (Luckilly, I had a Montreal friend come and pick up what remainted)... I even had to trash things I might have considered keeping.
To make matters worse, I got a rather mean and emotionally unsettling email from my previous landlord, whom I had gotten to know as a friend over the last two years. I will not go over the details in the email (which was probably about 50% unreasonable ... he even started to blame me for the potential break up of his current marriage!), but let's just say he's never going to want to see - or hear from me again. Objectively speaking, I shouldn't be so upset- since I was never going to see him again anyway. It's just sad to have what I considered a nice relationship end on such a horrible note, and most of it be my fault.... it's a humbling thing I hope to learn a bit from.
Happily, this will not be my last experience with Montreal, because....
Dep't of State Fiasco
Those keeping track of my prior entries might remember that I was planning to intern with the department of state this summer. This of course was pending an extensive security clearance process, which commenced back in early February. I was told it would take about 90 days, but as of today, I have not yet heard the results from it. In mid May (while in Easter Island), I emailed them, and they responded telling me that they do not know when (or if for that matter) I will be cleared. Of course, at this point, even if I found out tomorrow that I was cleared, it would be too late, as I have less than two months left in the summer.
So, what happened? It seems unlikely that I actually failed the security clearance.... after all, I don't think there is any evidence that I pose a threat to the US. More likely, this was just a low priority for them (especially with all the other issues going on), and they haven't gotten around to clearing me yet.
This is not the end of the world.... it was tight as it was, and I could always just try for it again after I finish grad school.
Rest of the Summer
Where does that leave me for the summer? Well, it's June 4th now. I actually HAVE to be at NUS by July 29th to register in person (apparantly they don't do these things online). I thought I would give myself a couple of days to recuperate from Jet Lag. So, I leave the US on July 21st and arrive in Singapore on the 23rd. This actually leaves me about 6 weeks - enough time to be bored, but not quite enough time to undertake anything seriously.
Fortunately, I have friends in Montreal this summer, and although I no longer have my appartment, I have people who will set me up. I have nothing to do there except see people, but I suppose being bored in Montreal is always better than being bored in old Robbinsville.
So my plan is to split up my time. Next week (mid or late week) I will head up to Montreal for a couple of weeks, come down here for a week or so, head back up there, and come down here by the 17th of July (I have a wedding to go to on the 18th). Actually, I'll probably have to make two trips just to take the remainder of my stuff back down.
Grad school and beyond(?)
Which leaves us at end-summer and grad school. Although I have long been looking forward to this, the imminence of going to grad school leaves me with a lot of doubts. AM I cut out for grad school? WIll I manage my thesis? Will I enjoy my time in Singpaore / at NUS? Was NUS the right school? Will people respect my NUS degree? And, given the awkwardness I experienced in moving this past week.... where will I go after that?
I of course have an answer to all (or at least some) of these questions. Singapore is not the most fantastic city I've ever seen, and I don't expect to utterly fall in love with it. It is, however, a nice enough city which I expect to make an adequete base for the next two years. As for whether going to grad school (or, specifically, doing my masters in social science) is the right decision, I can't think of a viable alternative. Getting a job (with a BA, no real experience and a shitty economy) is almost a laughable idea. Law school could have been an interesting alternative, but I would probably have had to go to a university which did not appeal to me so much- and pay them lots and lots of money.
So, is NUS the best place to go? Well, it is ultimately the only place that took me (even though I only applied to one other school), and I'm not sure if there are many (or any) univeristies which seem so much more appealing to me. When push comes to shove, I'm not paying them anything, and it's enough to buy some time until the job market gets better (hopefully getting some legitimate qualifications at the same time!).
Conclusion
No, I did not intentionally structure this like a term paper. It's just that right now this is a very awkward time and I have some awkward thoughts in my head. The transient life path that I have chosen is one that comes with its own set of ups and downs. I get to see things and experience things (and meet interesting people) that many people, especially Americans and especially in my own family, have no clue about. For this I am utterly thankful. I, however, have to deal with such unpleasant things as moving periodically, reducing the stuff (valueable, sentimental, and otherwise) that I accumulate, losing friends, and dealing with logistical annoyances.
I am in a strange phase right now. I have no place I really consider home... in other worse, no place I can see myself living in for more than a few years. I have a family with whom I feel mostly out of touch. I have a few friends with whom contact is greatly restricted by geography. And I have a future career path which is far from certain- not only in the economy, but in my head- as I do not have as clear of an idea of my future as I would like to at this point.
So I write this not to complain or to evoke sympathy... I write this so that I can let people know what's been going on with me, and so that I can think aloud and help myself figure things out.
Thanks for reading and take care!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Greetings from Santiago (de Chile)!
Hello readers,
I am currently at my hostel in Santiago taking advantage of the free internet offered here (and the fact that apparnalty im the ONLY Person in the hostel.)
Just to update you since my last entry.
I left Easter Island on Saturday. THe flight was somewhat unpleasant since they arbitrarily decided only to give some passengers headphones and not others. Clearly, I was not among the privileged.
Arrived at Santiago, but only briefly. Spent the night there, but I didnt really get to see anything becuase it was already dark (by 7 pm), and I had left the next morning to Valparaiso.
Valparaiso is a smallish (about 250 k) city 90 minutes outside of Santiago. IT was a pretty cheap bus ride.... and Chilean buses happen to be exceptional. Valpo (as it is commonly called) is a UNESCO port city, well known for its steep hills, its colourful houses, and its quirky funiculars. These things were of course all there, and were in fact the highlight of my time in Valpo. Basically, Valpo can be divided into the downtown area (El Plan) and the many hills surrounding it. El Plan is nothing special.... reasonably modern, pretty EUropean looking, a little bit dirty..... but nothing worthy of note for the visitor, excepting a few museums and some pretty buildings. THe hills are mostly residential..... a few of them are touristy, but most of them are just residential (read: low income.... and kinda sketch). THe touristy hills (such as Cerro Allegre) are REALLY touristy.... to be fair, they almost succeed in their mediterranean feel. But as interesting an atmosphere as it is, I found it rather boring..... certainly didnt justify the 3 days I spent there. Perhaps it was made worse by being the ONLY Person in the hostel on the 3rd day (on the first two days there werre these two american guys I could talk to). Oh and on the first day, I met this American guy in a cafe. HE used to work with Lehman Brothers in New York... and ever since, hes been living in Buenos Aires. Kinda cliche, eh?
ON my 2nd day in Valpo, I did a day trip to Vina del Mar. Vina, is about the same size as Valpo, and is literally 10 minuts away. It is a upmarket touristy beachside place.... with a ritzy casino and stuff like that. Interestingly, it caters more to Chilean tourists than to Westerners.
Today I returned to Santiago (otherwise known as Santiago de Chile.... in order to differentiate it from other Santiagos out there). THe people I have talked to all told me to avoid spending much time in Santiago.... that it was boring and not meant for tourists. I have found it to be a pleasant change of pace from Valpo. True, its still pretty depressing being alone. And there arent that many tourists around here. There were more in Valpo, even though its low season (half the touristy restaurants were closed there!). But so far I have quite enjoyed my time here.... Santiago is a very nice city. I have only seen the main downtown neighbourhood (called El Centro), so maybe I shouldnt generalise. After all, the city has its not so good areas, some shantytowns, and more than its fair share of stray dogs. But at least the centro is quite nice.... I certainly dont feel like Im in the third world (if I am at all). Its full of shopping arcades, malls, haute shopping, and, best of all, is mostly confined to pedestrians! Its full of people watching opportunities.
I really have to pinch myself to remind myself that Im in SOuth America, and not Europe. That is, of course, until I see the prices for everything!
I have tomorrow and Friday to see some of the sites and the other neighbourhoods. Saturday (very early) I start back up to MOntreal, with a dreadfuly long itinerary (stops in Lima, San JOse, and New York).
I am currently at my hostel in Santiago taking advantage of the free internet offered here (and the fact that apparnalty im the ONLY Person in the hostel.)
Just to update you since my last entry.
I left Easter Island on Saturday. THe flight was somewhat unpleasant since they arbitrarily decided only to give some passengers headphones and not others. Clearly, I was not among the privileged.
Arrived at Santiago, but only briefly. Spent the night there, but I didnt really get to see anything becuase it was already dark (by 7 pm), and I had left the next morning to Valparaiso.
Valparaiso is a smallish (about 250 k) city 90 minutes outside of Santiago. IT was a pretty cheap bus ride.... and Chilean buses happen to be exceptional. Valpo (as it is commonly called) is a UNESCO port city, well known for its steep hills, its colourful houses, and its quirky funiculars. These things were of course all there, and were in fact the highlight of my time in Valpo. Basically, Valpo can be divided into the downtown area (El Plan) and the many hills surrounding it. El Plan is nothing special.... reasonably modern, pretty EUropean looking, a little bit dirty..... but nothing worthy of note for the visitor, excepting a few museums and some pretty buildings. THe hills are mostly residential..... a few of them are touristy, but most of them are just residential (read: low income.... and kinda sketch). THe touristy hills (such as Cerro Allegre) are REALLY touristy.... to be fair, they almost succeed in their mediterranean feel. But as interesting an atmosphere as it is, I found it rather boring..... certainly didnt justify the 3 days I spent there. Perhaps it was made worse by being the ONLY Person in the hostel on the 3rd day (on the first two days there werre these two american guys I could talk to). Oh and on the first day, I met this American guy in a cafe. HE used to work with Lehman Brothers in New York... and ever since, hes been living in Buenos Aires. Kinda cliche, eh?
ON my 2nd day in Valpo, I did a day trip to Vina del Mar. Vina, is about the same size as Valpo, and is literally 10 minuts away. It is a upmarket touristy beachside place.... with a ritzy casino and stuff like that. Interestingly, it caters more to Chilean tourists than to Westerners.
Today I returned to Santiago (otherwise known as Santiago de Chile.... in order to differentiate it from other Santiagos out there). THe people I have talked to all told me to avoid spending much time in Santiago.... that it was boring and not meant for tourists. I have found it to be a pleasant change of pace from Valpo. True, its still pretty depressing being alone. And there arent that many tourists around here. There were more in Valpo, even though its low season (half the touristy restaurants were closed there!). But so far I have quite enjoyed my time here.... Santiago is a very nice city. I have only seen the main downtown neighbourhood (called El Centro), so maybe I shouldnt generalise. After all, the city has its not so good areas, some shantytowns, and more than its fair share of stray dogs. But at least the centro is quite nice.... I certainly dont feel like Im in the third world (if I am at all). Its full of shopping arcades, malls, haute shopping, and, best of all, is mostly confined to pedestrians! Its full of people watching opportunities.
I really have to pinch myself to remind myself that Im in SOuth America, and not Europe. That is, of course, until I see the prices for everything!
I have tomorrow and Friday to see some of the sites and the other neighbourhoods. Saturday (very early) I start back up to MOntreal, with a dreadfuly long itinerary (stops in Lima, San JOse, and New York).
Friday, May 15, 2009
´Lana = ¡Greetings from Easter Island!
Hello everyone. I am in (or on... dont know which is correct) Easter Island. They say that it is geographically the most isolated place on earth. The nearest inhabited island is some 2000 km away. The nearest city (Santiago) is some 4000 km away.
This geographic isolation makes it an appealing destination for many tourists. Add to this the fact that Easter Island has probably more archaeological sites per sq. km than most other locations in the world, let alone islands.... and it is quite stunning geographically.
This of course makes it a great destination for almost anyone.... but as much as Ive enjoyed all of this, its something else that intrigues me the most about this place. Given the how geographically isoalted it is, it is astonishingly connected to the rest of the world, particularly to Chile. There are (cheap) internet cafes everywhere.... the stores are well stocked with pharmaceutical items, potato chips, and beer - all of which must clearly be imported quite often. My Canadian cell phone even gets service here! The people here.... on paper and in brochures they have a polynesian culture. Geographically, it is part of the polynesian triangle, and its polynesian heritage is a big part of its tourist drawl. In fact, in early February there is a crazy traditional festival that traces its roots back to ancient times. This aside, you feel much more like youre in Latin America. It is Spanish, not Rapa Nui (the indigenous langauge) which is heard most often. Signs are almost exclusively in Spanish, with more English than Rapa Nui. Food is more influenced by Chile than by Polynesia.
Anyway, I have found it to be an incredible destination.... possibly my favourite ever. The downsides include a dearth of available food (I´ve lived on white bread, cheese, and empanadas - a variation of white bread and cheese, with shrimp mixed in). The restaurants that exist are VERY expensive. My first night here I ate in one.... had a (admittedy reasonably nice) shrimp dinner, with a Pisco Sour (official drink of Chile = AMAZING) and a glass of water.... came out to close to $30 US!!!!!!
What have I done here? Cycled around (as lonely planet says, its a two wheel playground!) and read alot... nights are pretty quiet and lonely.
Pictures from EI will be on facebook upon my return to Montreal (a week from this Sunday), along with the pictures I have from Southern California, and my 3 hours in El Salvador.
Other updates: After not hearing much about my Washington internship, I sent them an email a few days ago, asking when I might expect to start, etc. I got a reply (yay!), which told me they didn´t yet know when they would know (oi!). Given that I´m due in Singapore by 29 July, it seems more and more likely that this internship will fall through. A shame, as it would have been a great experience, but not the worst thing in the world. I can probably just go for it later.... this summer was a bit tight anyway. I will keep my loyal readers updated on that front.
For now.... goodbye from Easter Island.
This geographic isolation makes it an appealing destination for many tourists. Add to this the fact that Easter Island has probably more archaeological sites per sq. km than most other locations in the world, let alone islands.... and it is quite stunning geographically.
This of course makes it a great destination for almost anyone.... but as much as Ive enjoyed all of this, its something else that intrigues me the most about this place. Given the how geographically isoalted it is, it is astonishingly connected to the rest of the world, particularly to Chile. There are (cheap) internet cafes everywhere.... the stores are well stocked with pharmaceutical items, potato chips, and beer - all of which must clearly be imported quite often. My Canadian cell phone even gets service here! The people here.... on paper and in brochures they have a polynesian culture. Geographically, it is part of the polynesian triangle, and its polynesian heritage is a big part of its tourist drawl. In fact, in early February there is a crazy traditional festival that traces its roots back to ancient times. This aside, you feel much more like youre in Latin America. It is Spanish, not Rapa Nui (the indigenous langauge) which is heard most often. Signs are almost exclusively in Spanish, with more English than Rapa Nui. Food is more influenced by Chile than by Polynesia.
Anyway, I have found it to be an incredible destination.... possibly my favourite ever. The downsides include a dearth of available food (I´ve lived on white bread, cheese, and empanadas - a variation of white bread and cheese, with shrimp mixed in). The restaurants that exist are VERY expensive. My first night here I ate in one.... had a (admittedy reasonably nice) shrimp dinner, with a Pisco Sour (official drink of Chile = AMAZING) and a glass of water.... came out to close to $30 US!!!!!!
What have I done here? Cycled around (as lonely planet says, its a two wheel playground!) and read alot... nights are pretty quiet and lonely.
Pictures from EI will be on facebook upon my return to Montreal (a week from this Sunday), along with the pictures I have from Southern California, and my 3 hours in El Salvador.
Other updates: After not hearing much about my Washington internship, I sent them an email a few days ago, asking when I might expect to start, etc. I got a reply (yay!), which told me they didn´t yet know when they would know (oi!). Given that I´m due in Singapore by 29 July, it seems more and more likely that this internship will fall through. A shame, as it would have been a great experience, but not the worst thing in the world. I can probably just go for it later.... this summer was a bit tight anyway. I will keep my loyal readers updated on that front.
For now.... goodbye from Easter Island.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Just for fun - some McGill "top 5s"
Why not? With just one week left of classes, I thought I would come up with a couple of top 5 lists about my entire undergraduate experience at McGill.
Top 5 Courses
5. FRSL 207, 211, 321, 431: French, all 4 years! This has been the only consistent part of my time and McGill and, although I've had three different profs, I really enjoyed all of my time in French- after all, I came to McGill with virtually no ability to speak French and now I can definitely get by in the language.
4. ENGL 315: Shakespeare, Fall '06. This was a long time ago, full of pretentious English students, and a complete elective for me (grade didn't count). In fact, this was the only course I took after first year that was a complete, irrelevant, just for fun elective. And it was lots of fun! Even if the prof was wacked out, I enjoyed his lectures and I enjoyed getting to read lots of Shakespeare.... I'm not sure when I would have otherwise.
3. ANTH 401: Comparative Anthropology, Fall '08. This was a semester course I took last semester with my then-thesis supervisor. At about 15 students, it was the smallest class I took at McGill. And there were so many characters in the class, that it was hard not to be entertaining. The readings were interesting (there was this one anthropologist who wrote about nomadic entertainers in Pakistan, and as part of his research he laid crunched up in a crib for 8 hours staring at what a baby would see.... and he made a sketch of this!), as were the discussions. Then of course the prof would have his anti-postmodernist tirades every once in a while.
2. ANTH 307: Andean Prehistory, Winter '08. I normally I'm not a big fan of archeology, but this class was fantastic. South America had always been a mysterious place for me, but it's ancient civilisations were even more mysterious. I simply did not know anything about them, and taking this course opened my eyes to so many interesting mysteries obscured by history. Although the class was an awkward size (about 30-40), the prof was fantastic and kept her lectures stimulating and organised.
1. ANTH 422: Contemporary Latin American Society and Culture, Winter' 09. This was a fantastic course! I was a litttle sketched out at first becuase it was once a week for three hours.... but the three hours flew by. This was a mostly student-led seminar, so interesting discussions always ensued. The readings and other course material were fantasically well-selected.... and the prof is even having the whole class over her house for a seminar party!
Top 5 Most Disapointing Courses
5. ANTH 358: The Process of Anthropological Research, Winter '09 (ongoing). I had very high expectations for this course.... I thought to myself, finally, something concrete! To be fair, this hasn't been terrible. The prof is young and inexperienced, but she tries very hard. But the lectures are dreadfully boring and often way too abstract to be relevant. The sad thing is that I don'T feel as though this class has made me any more prepared to go into the field.
4. ANTH 337: Meditteranean Society & Culture, Fall '07. With such a promising title, I guess I really had my hopes up. This wasn't a useless course- indeed, the prof making us do group presentations at the end was an interesting way to tie up the course. And the readings were generally quite well-selected. But my god were the lectures boring. Well except the guest lecture by my future honours thesis supervisor: "How many of you have tried sheep cheese before? No one? Good! Because I have some for all of us!".
3. ANTH 355: Theories of Culture and Society, Winter '09 (ongoing). Well, to be fair, I wasn't expecting much from this course, so I'm not sure how "disappointing" it was/is. But I felt I had to put this one there because it's SUCH a dreadful course. Readings are wayy to excessive, they are in a textbook with a font size of 2, and they are excerpted from their original sources - so you don't have any idea of the context. The text book we use actually edits out the concrete examples that the writers use to illustrate their overly jargonised and abstract points. The lectures similarly are so abstract that you actually have no clue what the prof is talking about. Not to mention, the prof left for 3 weeks to meander about in Africa and spent half the class before the midterm talking about his "travel" stories (which were SO boring), before handing us the most psychotic review sheet ever: we had to prepare for 25 IDs and 20 essays in less than 2 days!!!
2. ANTH 338: Native Peoples of North America, Fall '08. This class was a fiasco. The instructor was incredibly boring and disorganised. The textbook was atrocious- each reading seemed like it was written by 3rd graders and said the same thing, "White people are bad and with their alcohol destroyed the lives of the poor natives". The exams were erratic and tested the most irrelevant meticulous details.
1. ANTH 492: Honour's Thesis. Well... of course, this had to be the biggest disappointment.
Top 5 Fixtures of the McGill landscape
When I'm in grad school and beyond, what things -other than courses- will remain in my memory when I think about McGill? What thins will I most associate with the McGill landscape?
5. Never-ending construction
4. Chaos at the bookstore in the first week of the semester / in Shatner on Activity Night
3. Long winters
2. Samosa Sales
1. Red tape (bureacracy!)
Well, those are the lists I came up. If anyone else has another suggestion for a McGill top 5, let me know. :-)
Top 5 Courses
5. FRSL 207, 211, 321, 431: French, all 4 years! This has been the only consistent part of my time and McGill and, although I've had three different profs, I really enjoyed all of my time in French- after all, I came to McGill with virtually no ability to speak French and now I can definitely get by in the language.
4. ENGL 315: Shakespeare, Fall '06. This was a long time ago, full of pretentious English students, and a complete elective for me (grade didn't count). In fact, this was the only course I took after first year that was a complete, irrelevant, just for fun elective. And it was lots of fun! Even if the prof was wacked out, I enjoyed his lectures and I enjoyed getting to read lots of Shakespeare.... I'm not sure when I would have otherwise.
3. ANTH 401: Comparative Anthropology, Fall '08. This was a semester course I took last semester with my then-thesis supervisor. At about 15 students, it was the smallest class I took at McGill. And there were so many characters in the class, that it was hard not to be entertaining. The readings were interesting (there was this one anthropologist who wrote about nomadic entertainers in Pakistan, and as part of his research he laid crunched up in a crib for 8 hours staring at what a baby would see.... and he made a sketch of this!), as were the discussions. Then of course the prof would have his anti-postmodernist tirades every once in a while.
2. ANTH 307: Andean Prehistory, Winter '08. I normally I'm not a big fan of archeology, but this class was fantastic. South America had always been a mysterious place for me, but it's ancient civilisations were even more mysterious. I simply did not know anything about them, and taking this course opened my eyes to so many interesting mysteries obscured by history. Although the class was an awkward size (about 30-40), the prof was fantastic and kept her lectures stimulating and organised.
1. ANTH 422: Contemporary Latin American Society and Culture, Winter' 09. This was a fantastic course! I was a litttle sketched out at first becuase it was once a week for three hours.... but the three hours flew by. This was a mostly student-led seminar, so interesting discussions always ensued. The readings and other course material were fantasically well-selected.... and the prof is even having the whole class over her house for a seminar party!
Top 5 Most Disapointing Courses
5. ANTH 358: The Process of Anthropological Research, Winter '09 (ongoing). I had very high expectations for this course.... I thought to myself, finally, something concrete! To be fair, this hasn't been terrible. The prof is young and inexperienced, but she tries very hard. But the lectures are dreadfully boring and often way too abstract to be relevant. The sad thing is that I don'T feel as though this class has made me any more prepared to go into the field.
4. ANTH 337: Meditteranean Society & Culture, Fall '07. With such a promising title, I guess I really had my hopes up. This wasn't a useless course- indeed, the prof making us do group presentations at the end was an interesting way to tie up the course. And the readings were generally quite well-selected. But my god were the lectures boring. Well except the guest lecture by my future honours thesis supervisor: "How many of you have tried sheep cheese before? No one? Good! Because I have some for all of us!".
3. ANTH 355: Theories of Culture and Society, Winter '09 (ongoing). Well, to be fair, I wasn't expecting much from this course, so I'm not sure how "disappointing" it was/is. But I felt I had to put this one there because it's SUCH a dreadful course. Readings are wayy to excessive, they are in a textbook with a font size of 2, and they are excerpted from their original sources - so you don't have any idea of the context. The text book we use actually edits out the concrete examples that the writers use to illustrate their overly jargonised and abstract points. The lectures similarly are so abstract that you actually have no clue what the prof is talking about. Not to mention, the prof left for 3 weeks to meander about in Africa and spent half the class before the midterm talking about his "travel" stories (which were SO boring), before handing us the most psychotic review sheet ever: we had to prepare for 25 IDs and 20 essays in less than 2 days!!!
2. ANTH 338: Native Peoples of North America, Fall '08. This class was a fiasco. The instructor was incredibly boring and disorganised. The textbook was atrocious- each reading seemed like it was written by 3rd graders and said the same thing, "White people are bad and with their alcohol destroyed the lives of the poor natives". The exams were erratic and tested the most irrelevant meticulous details.
1. ANTH 492: Honour's Thesis. Well... of course, this had to be the biggest disappointment.
Top 5 Fixtures of the McGill landscape
When I'm in grad school and beyond, what things -other than courses- will remain in my memory when I think about McGill? What thins will I most associate with the McGill landscape?
5. Never-ending construction
4. Chaos at the bookstore in the first week of the semester / in Shatner on Activity Night
3. Long winters
2. Samosa Sales
1. Red tape (bureacracy!)
Well, those are the lists I came up. If anyone else has another suggestion for a McGill top 5, let me know. :-)
Saturday, April 4, 2009
February, March and plans for April, May, June, July and August
Hello readers. You might have noticed a lack of updates on my part.... unfortunately, a combination of a lack of free time and a lack of inspiration are the culprits. I thought I would update my readers on what's coming up in my life- in case anyone was keeping track.
Late February I went to Guatemala. I encourage you, if you haven't already done so, to check out my facebook profile for pictures- this will also give you a good idea of what I did there.
As for my impressions, I found it very interesting to compare to countries like Morocco and Thailand. These three countries are all quite similar in being "developing" countries with a pretty substantial tourist trade. Guatemala, given its history of civil war and gang violence, probably has the worst reputation for violence among these countries; indeed, I was constantly told to be prudent and guarded. Remarkably, however, I had virtually no problems with touts in Guatemala. This is remarkeable indeed because in Thailand and Morocco, touts ands hustlers are a constant hastle, particularly for the unitiated and in heavily touristed places. Yet there I was, having never previously stepped foot in Latin America and confining myself mostly to the most touristy of areas and..... nothing! Well.... apart from the typical late bus or the cab driver "conveniently" not having change. This, combined with fantastic food, beautiful natural scenery, vibrant cultures (indigenous and mestizo), and, perhaps my favourite part, stunning ancient ruins makes this country, in my eyes, a fascinating destination in which I could have easily spent another month.
Touts aside, I still prefer Thailand to Guatemala. Even though this was not a problem for me, Guatemala DOES have a problem with violence that virtually does not exist in a country like Thailand. Sure, you might be equally as likely to get robbed in some way, but Guatemala has an astronomical homocide rate and guns and machetes are everywhere. Unfortunately, until statistics change, one must always keep up his guard when in Guatemala... even in villages! Guatemala was also relatively expensive..... well, certainly it was cheaper than North America, but prices were much more expensive than Thailand.
The other thing that bothered me about Guatemala was all the gringos (foreigners). Of course, I have no problems with adventerous people exploring something new.... what bothers me is the typology of people doing it. In a country like Thailand, many travellers are young, open-minded Europeans. North Americans are quite rare in Thailand, but when you do find them, they break the mould of the typical North Americans.... not only is it relatively rare for North Americans to go shoestringing, but they normally don't do it in North America. But Guatemala is in the US's backyard.... in fact, Guatemala has a palpable US influence in the landscape that one simply does not see in Morocco or Thailand. From taking shoes off in the airport, to the American fast food chains along the highway, to the petrol priced bizarrely in gallons (and quite expensive!), to the dearth of sidewalk cafés. And similarly one finds the "Ugly American" I try so hard to avoid. You either have self-righteous missionaries or air-con Sheraton tourists- neither of whom I have much connection. From people who think they are enriching the lives of the poor Guatemalans to people who won't touch them, speak to them, eat with them, or even eat their food. In fact, during my flights down, everyone except this one Dutch couple could not understand why a young Canadian/American student would want to spend a week backpacking in Guatemala. You couldn't believe how many people asked, "are you a missionary?". Of course, then I meet Dutch and Germans who understood completely what it was that I was after... (which in itself is not something tangible or even easily expressible in words). .... Then you have what I like to call "Lonely Planet Travellers" - a curious type ubiquitous in almost all of the developing countries I've seen (Burma being the one exception).... these are sloppily-dressed twenty-somethings who feel a self-moral sense of superiority in expressing "solidarity" with the locals in compromising their own personal hygeine and proudly taking the lowest-quality transport, accomodation, and food they can find..... all while, of course, finding any possible opportunity to get stoned. But please stop me before I stereotype too much. :-)
Just days after getting back from Guatemala, I received an e-mail from NUS..... I was accepted with a Research Scholarship.... that means they will completely subsidise my tuition plus give me a $1500 SGD monthly stipend. Needless to say I accepted the offer right away. They will send me an "offer information booklet" in late May, so for the moment I know very little other than that orientation is sometime in early August (around the 3rd).
From early March until now (and most likely for the final two weeks which remain in my undergrad career), I have suffered from a severe case of senioritis....
I officially finish on April 22. After about a week or two between Montreal and New Jersey I will be off to San Diego for about 4 days (7 - 11 May). From San Diego (well, LAX technically), I will fly to Easter Island.... well,with stops in San Salvador, San Jose and Santiago de Chile. I will be in Easter Island from 12 - 16 May. Then I fly back to Santiago, where I will be for one week (or until the 23rd). I will probably travel a bit around Santiago.... but I haven't planned this far yet.
On the 24th of May I will be back in Montreal for my graduation and those sorts of festivities. I will leave Montreal for good on the 30th.
Then I am (presumably) off for my internship in Washington, DC. I say presumably because I haven't heard much about this, other than that I have a background check interview next Tuesday. I will have more details about this as I learn more.
Late July I will be off to Singapore!
That's my life as it stands now. Until next time.....
Late February I went to Guatemala. I encourage you, if you haven't already done so, to check out my facebook profile for pictures- this will also give you a good idea of what I did there.
As for my impressions, I found it very interesting to compare to countries like Morocco and Thailand. These three countries are all quite similar in being "developing" countries with a pretty substantial tourist trade. Guatemala, given its history of civil war and gang violence, probably has the worst reputation for violence among these countries; indeed, I was constantly told to be prudent and guarded. Remarkably, however, I had virtually no problems with touts in Guatemala. This is remarkeable indeed because in Thailand and Morocco, touts ands hustlers are a constant hastle, particularly for the unitiated and in heavily touristed places. Yet there I was, having never previously stepped foot in Latin America and confining myself mostly to the most touristy of areas and..... nothing! Well.... apart from the typical late bus or the cab driver "conveniently" not having change. This, combined with fantastic food, beautiful natural scenery, vibrant cultures (indigenous and mestizo), and, perhaps my favourite part, stunning ancient ruins makes this country, in my eyes, a fascinating destination in which I could have easily spent another month.
Touts aside, I still prefer Thailand to Guatemala. Even though this was not a problem for me, Guatemala DOES have a problem with violence that virtually does not exist in a country like Thailand. Sure, you might be equally as likely to get robbed in some way, but Guatemala has an astronomical homocide rate and guns and machetes are everywhere. Unfortunately, until statistics change, one must always keep up his guard when in Guatemala... even in villages! Guatemala was also relatively expensive..... well, certainly it was cheaper than North America, but prices were much more expensive than Thailand.
The other thing that bothered me about Guatemala was all the gringos (foreigners). Of course, I have no problems with adventerous people exploring something new.... what bothers me is the typology of people doing it. In a country like Thailand, many travellers are young, open-minded Europeans. North Americans are quite rare in Thailand, but when you do find them, they break the mould of the typical North Americans.... not only is it relatively rare for North Americans to go shoestringing, but they normally don't do it in North America. But Guatemala is in the US's backyard.... in fact, Guatemala has a palpable US influence in the landscape that one simply does not see in Morocco or Thailand. From taking shoes off in the airport, to the American fast food chains along the highway, to the petrol priced bizarrely in gallons (and quite expensive!), to the dearth of sidewalk cafés. And similarly one finds the "Ugly American" I try so hard to avoid. You either have self-righteous missionaries or air-con Sheraton tourists- neither of whom I have much connection. From people who think they are enriching the lives of the poor Guatemalans to people who won't touch them, speak to them, eat with them, or even eat their food. In fact, during my flights down, everyone except this one Dutch couple could not understand why a young Canadian/American student would want to spend a week backpacking in Guatemala. You couldn't believe how many people asked, "are you a missionary?". Of course, then I meet Dutch and Germans who understood completely what it was that I was after... (which in itself is not something tangible or even easily expressible in words). .... Then you have what I like to call "Lonely Planet Travellers" - a curious type ubiquitous in almost all of the developing countries I've seen (Burma being the one exception).... these are sloppily-dressed twenty-somethings who feel a self-moral sense of superiority in expressing "solidarity" with the locals in compromising their own personal hygeine and proudly taking the lowest-quality transport, accomodation, and food they can find..... all while, of course, finding any possible opportunity to get stoned. But please stop me before I stereotype too much. :-)
Just days after getting back from Guatemala, I received an e-mail from NUS..... I was accepted with a Research Scholarship.... that means they will completely subsidise my tuition plus give me a $1500 SGD monthly stipend. Needless to say I accepted the offer right away. They will send me an "offer information booklet" in late May, so for the moment I know very little other than that orientation is sometime in early August (around the 3rd).
From early March until now (and most likely for the final two weeks which remain in my undergrad career), I have suffered from a severe case of senioritis....
I officially finish on April 22. After about a week or two between Montreal and New Jersey I will be off to San Diego for about 4 days (7 - 11 May). From San Diego (well, LAX technically), I will fly to Easter Island.... well,with stops in San Salvador, San Jose and Santiago de Chile. I will be in Easter Island from 12 - 16 May. Then I fly back to Santiago, where I will be for one week (or until the 23rd). I will probably travel a bit around Santiago.... but I haven't planned this far yet.
On the 24th of May I will be back in Montreal for my graduation and those sorts of festivities. I will leave Montreal for good on the 30th.
Then I am (presumably) off for my internship in Washington, DC. I say presumably because I haven't heard much about this, other than that I have a background check interview next Tuesday. I will have more details about this as I learn more.
Late July I will be off to Singapore!
That's my life as it stands now. Until next time.....
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Update on the update....
Well.... my so-called Honours Thesis is soon to be kaput. It has gone the way of the Edsol. In other words: I decided to drop it!
The decision came as the reality of completing a thesis for which I lacked a reasonable topic became less and less realistic, given a limited time frame of 2 months.
This is of course a gamble, which could have negative implications for my graduate school aspirations. However, I am banking on the fact that my transcript is otherwise quite strong and of course the alternative- actually completing the thesis- does not seem like a reasonable task, at least not if I want to have any remnants of my santé mentale in April.
This was a decision I made with great humility. I swallowed a great deal of pride in saying that I failed.... that I am incapable of completing this project. Of course, there were extraordinary circumstances which were beyond my control which, I believe, made this thesis a near-impossible task.
The more sobering implication of this decision is not wether it will prevent my admission into Grad school.... but does it reflect my lack of readiness for grad school? This is a daunting question for which I currently lack an answer. One on hand, school- especially this last year- has pretty much depressed me. I am sick and tired of reading overly theoretically and jargon-laden mumbo jumbo which authors have intentionally made excessively wordy and complicated for the sole purpose of establishing themselves as an élite class of intellectual academics. I'm also no longer looking forward to the task of having to create some brilliant project out of scratch- in other words, a thesis. Perhaps most of all, I'm not terribly fond of the life of limitless homework and readings, a life in which if I'm not actively reading something for school, I am sleeping, eating, or commuting between home and school.
Yet a part of me is still naïvely optimistic about grad school. If, as I hope, I get into NUS, it will be a complete change of environment which will hopefully eliminate some of the Canada-blues, caused primarily by the weather, but secondarily by the largely uninspiring food, people, and aesthetics. Secondly, the nature of grad school is fundamentally different to that of the undergraduate degree- no longer will I be a slave in 4-5 classes, and no longer will I have to fabricate some sort of thesis project for which I can't even do my own firsthand research. In fact, even for my Master's degree, I will be able to embark upon which is inevitably every first-year anthropology student'S pipe dream: ethnographic fieldword in an exotic locale, which, for me, means I might be able to return to Mae Sot, Thailand- a community to which I have great emotional attachments.
At the moment, grad school remains part of a distant, only possible future. For now, I have to overcome the rest of my semester, despite my unfortunate failure with the honours thesis, and finish my tenure at McGill with some dignity. It would help, of course, if I could overcome this seasonal depression...
The decision came as the reality of completing a thesis for which I lacked a reasonable topic became less and less realistic, given a limited time frame of 2 months.
This is of course a gamble, which could have negative implications for my graduate school aspirations. However, I am banking on the fact that my transcript is otherwise quite strong and of course the alternative- actually completing the thesis- does not seem like a reasonable task, at least not if I want to have any remnants of my santé mentale in April.
This was a decision I made with great humility. I swallowed a great deal of pride in saying that I failed.... that I am incapable of completing this project. Of course, there were extraordinary circumstances which were beyond my control which, I believe, made this thesis a near-impossible task.
The more sobering implication of this decision is not wether it will prevent my admission into Grad school.... but does it reflect my lack of readiness for grad school? This is a daunting question for which I currently lack an answer. One on hand, school- especially this last year- has pretty much depressed me. I am sick and tired of reading overly theoretically and jargon-laden mumbo jumbo which authors have intentionally made excessively wordy and complicated for the sole purpose of establishing themselves as an élite class of intellectual academics. I'm also no longer looking forward to the task of having to create some brilliant project out of scratch- in other words, a thesis. Perhaps most of all, I'm not terribly fond of the life of limitless homework and readings, a life in which if I'm not actively reading something for school, I am sleeping, eating, or commuting between home and school.
Yet a part of me is still naïvely optimistic about grad school. If, as I hope, I get into NUS, it will be a complete change of environment which will hopefully eliminate some of the Canada-blues, caused primarily by the weather, but secondarily by the largely uninspiring food, people, and aesthetics. Secondly, the nature of grad school is fundamentally different to that of the undergraduate degree- no longer will I be a slave in 4-5 classes, and no longer will I have to fabricate some sort of thesis project for which I can't even do my own firsthand research. In fact, even for my Master's degree, I will be able to embark upon which is inevitably every first-year anthropology student'S pipe dream: ethnographic fieldword in an exotic locale, which, for me, means I might be able to return to Mae Sot, Thailand- a community to which I have great emotional attachments.
At the moment, grad school remains part of a distant, only possible future. For now, I have to overcome the rest of my semester, despite my unfortunate failure with the honours thesis, and finish my tenure at McGill with some dignity. It would help, of course, if I could overcome this seasonal depression...
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Some (sorta) personal updates
Well, I don't like to make my blog very personal, but I thought I'd update my readers with some things going on in my life.
I. My Honours Thesis.
Well, I still believe that doing honours was a huge mistake, and for those McGill students reading this who may be considering this option, I would suggest otherwise (unless you have your thesis topic already thought out!). Of course, I was extraordinarily unlucky with personal issues which kinda destroyed my last semester (which need not be restated here), and then, when I was finally ready to get totally back into it, my Supervisor had to go on medical leave! In words of an advisor I went to see, I am swimming against a "shit stream".
This said advisor is actually one of my profs, and offered on the spot to take over as my supervisor. I guess this is a good thing, as she seems very willing to give guidance to my thesis, and to save it from utter destruction. However, it means that I am in it for the long haul, and I will likely have to completely rewrite everything I've already written. In short, I have one semester to do which is supposed to take two! It doesn't help of course that I just happen to have classes which require an exorbatant amount of readings this semester!
So this means, except for my Reading Week trip to Guatemala (in 4 weeks!), my life outside of school is virtually non-existent.... until, of course, the end of April!
II. Travels
As you could've already inferred, I am going to Guatemala over Reading Week! I am going by myself. Expect pictures on facebook!
I'm also seeing if I can work in a trip to South America / Easter Island sometime in Early May, but this may be tricky. I'll keep you posted!
III. Summer Internship
My most loyal readers may remember that I had the most difficult time finding a job last summer! Remember the big list of over 50 jobs I applied to? It took me until late July to find a job! Well, oddly enough, it's only January, and I've already found work for this upcoming summer! So... drum roll.... I'll be working with the US department of State! It's an unpaid internship of course, but should be an exciting experience. I prefer not to release more details about the job at this moment (I'll likely blog about it over the summer), but in the meantime, I am completing a rather extensive security clearance questionnaire. It would probably be quite unwise for me to mention the types of questions they are asking, but let's just sasy this has taken me quite a long time, and involves more than you might think!
IV. Beyond the summer.... grad school?
THE LIST
1) Nat'l University of Singapore (2 yr Masters): My top choice. An exotic/interesting location... great proximity for my research in Burma / travels in general.... no more winter..... quite generous with the financial Aid. These are all the reasons why I want to go to this school. I have turned in the application and everything, but I will not hear from them until at least around May. I have however had an interview with them (over the phone) back in December, during which they seemed optimistic about my chances.
2) University of Wisconsin-Madison (PhD): Probably my last choice.... but I've already completed the application. I may find out as early as March.... if I found out, it will be a good way to "bribe" the NUS people into letting me know quicker (ie, if UWM accepts me, I may have to let them know by a certain date, which actually may be before NUS would normally inform me of their decision).
3) School of Oriental and African Studies (1 yr taught masters)- University of London. I have not actually completed this application yet, but I will very soon... it's just a matter of me having the time to sit down and come up with some decent statement of purpose. Foruntatley, this application isn't actually due until June!
4) Leiden University - The Netherlands (1 yr taught masters) - See #3.
I was gonna apply to Cambridge, but I decided not to carry on with the application.
So that's where I stand now! Expect an update about all of this oh.... around March or April!
I. My Honours Thesis.
Well, I still believe that doing honours was a huge mistake, and for those McGill students reading this who may be considering this option, I would suggest otherwise (unless you have your thesis topic already thought out!). Of course, I was extraordinarily unlucky with personal issues which kinda destroyed my last semester (which need not be restated here), and then, when I was finally ready to get totally back into it, my Supervisor had to go on medical leave! In words of an advisor I went to see, I am swimming against a "shit stream".
This said advisor is actually one of my profs, and offered on the spot to take over as my supervisor. I guess this is a good thing, as she seems very willing to give guidance to my thesis, and to save it from utter destruction. However, it means that I am in it for the long haul, and I will likely have to completely rewrite everything I've already written. In short, I have one semester to do which is supposed to take two! It doesn't help of course that I just happen to have classes which require an exorbatant amount of readings this semester!
So this means, except for my Reading Week trip to Guatemala (in 4 weeks!), my life outside of school is virtually non-existent.... until, of course, the end of April!
II. Travels
As you could've already inferred, I am going to Guatemala over Reading Week! I am going by myself. Expect pictures on facebook!
I'm also seeing if I can work in a trip to South America / Easter Island sometime in Early May, but this may be tricky. I'll keep you posted!
III. Summer Internship
My most loyal readers may remember that I had the most difficult time finding a job last summer! Remember the big list of over 50 jobs I applied to? It took me until late July to find a job! Well, oddly enough, it's only January, and I've already found work for this upcoming summer! So... drum roll.... I'll be working with the US department of State! It's an unpaid internship of course, but should be an exciting experience. I prefer not to release more details about the job at this moment (I'll likely blog about it over the summer), but in the meantime, I am completing a rather extensive security clearance questionnaire. It would probably be quite unwise for me to mention the types of questions they are asking, but let's just sasy this has taken me quite a long time, and involves more than you might think!
IV. Beyond the summer.... grad school?
THE LIST
1) Nat'l University of Singapore (2 yr Masters): My top choice. An exotic/interesting location... great proximity for my research in Burma / travels in general.... no more winter..... quite generous with the financial Aid. These are all the reasons why I want to go to this school. I have turned in the application and everything, but I will not hear from them until at least around May. I have however had an interview with them (over the phone) back in December, during which they seemed optimistic about my chances.
2) University of Wisconsin-Madison (PhD): Probably my last choice.... but I've already completed the application. I may find out as early as March.... if I found out, it will be a good way to "bribe" the NUS people into letting me know quicker (ie, if UWM accepts me, I may have to let them know by a certain date, which actually may be before NUS would normally inform me of their decision).
3) School of Oriental and African Studies (1 yr taught masters)- University of London. I have not actually completed this application yet, but I will very soon... it's just a matter of me having the time to sit down and come up with some decent statement of purpose. Foruntatley, this application isn't actually due until June!
4) Leiden University - The Netherlands (1 yr taught masters) - See #3.
I was gonna apply to Cambridge, but I decided not to carry on with the application.
So that's where I stand now! Expect an update about all of this oh.... around March or April!
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