marți, 25 noiembrie 2008

Routine...(not)

Today,waking up at 5 o` clock,drinking 2 cups of coffee,(still sleepy) doing my homework at German
finally at half past seven,the bus arrived and SOMETHING really pissed me off..!! Maria with Sanziana (2 "babes" in 6th grade) were sitting in the front.I had to go in the back of the bus,me with my third cup of coffee (also kept for Ben:">) and after 10 minutes,that coffee was already on my yellow T-shirt.Anyway,I`ve told them at school that next time,I`m gonna sit in the front,ON THEM!
Anyway...today I was really sleepy and nervous...and at the end of my classes,I was actually very depressed.Cristiana ( english teacher) showed us a movie about propaganda and bias,and I was really shocked despite I was laughing at some scenes (that weren`t for laughing) about an event that I personally never heard about it: the Columbine massacre (1990).Well I`ve searched on youtube for the real movie made on this theme,but I`ve found it only in 12 parts..so I`m gonna try to put a trial over here.I was really shocked how two young boys could kill so many innocent people,in their own college after they went BOWLING.Media had an important role in this incident.Why is America the country with the biggest killing rate?Because its "history is a bloody one,full of violence?" or "because we have the RIGHT to defend ourselves"?!(the answer of an American)..YES GUYS! THIS IS THE "REAL AMERICAN" DREAM!!KILLING EVERYWHERE AND IN EVERYPLACE IN THIS WORLD !! SHAME on those bastards!
*take care*

luni, 24 noiembrie 2008

We don`t have the right to have an opinion,unless we know the answer

Well,yesterday I was talking with a friend of mine,Ruxy, and she was complaining that she had to make an essay at English with this title.I found it very interesting to discuss it,because it has all kind of interpretations.
When I first saw this title,I was thinking about this English teacher,that he`s really nuts and how the hell an Oxford graduee could invent such title to make the kids write an essay on it.After a while,I was thinking that maybe he is right..or maybe not..:-D
Usually,when we are involved in a discution with other people, we are able to create our personal opinion about that subject.We often don`t realise when we “construct” our opinion,because it is something unconscious.Everyone has a personal opinion,and its by his decision if he does or doesn`t express his opinion in public.
Many people are affraid of the answer they`ll get,so they decide to let their opinions inside themselves.Others can express their opinions just in front of a particular group of friends for example.I consider that this is a really bad thing because we live in a free world.especially a new generation full of everything “new” and I really believe that,if we will express ourselves and we`ll talk about our opinions,maybe we can manage to discover not the real answer of that particular question,but other answers that maybe are not yet discovered.
Expessing our feelings and thoughts is very important,because we have the RIGHT to express ourselves,to discover new points of view,to learn from the others.We are knowers,each and every one of us ,and sometimes,our opinions,could stand beside the real answer.
Our opinions might be the real answer of the problem or might not.Our opinions are purely subjective and they depend of the environment in which we live in.
And let`s look in the past..let`s call it…a little “history” of an answer.All kind of answers,no matter what the questions were…all kind of debates made to discover a “real” answer were made on suppositions and,of course,opinions of other people.Of course we have to have a little knowledge about that subject of discussion,but not always.As I said,we might discover answers that we never had the chance to guess them.
There`s no such thing as a “wrong” opinion.We are unique by our own thoughts and feelings,by our different points of view,and even if our opinion won`t be “the answer”,it will certaintly be an answer for other question.
From another point of view,we could say that our opinions could exist after we found the answer.Many of us,express an opinion when we have the certainty that the answer is the right one.We could say that our opinions are the “right” ones,focused on what we are looking for.But now,I`m asking you,if in this situation,are our opinions still subjective or are they influenced by the “right” answer?Where is our real contribution for solving that particular problem?

luni, 10 noiembrie 2008

Am I Romanian,without speaking Romanian?

Well...I know that many of you guys are not so intersted about languages around the world..but,I had this interesting chapter in my TOK class (Theory Of Knowledge-I`ll explain to you later on) about languages that dissapeared,or dead-languages and the teacher put some interesting questions ,like:"What will it happen if we would all talk in a single language,a global language?" or "Am I Romanian(for example) without speaking Romanian?"

I captured my attention on the second question,which seemed to be a subject that not many people think about.

So..We can look at this question,from two points of view..for example..my first answer would have been "Yes,I am Romanian if I don`t speak Romanian".Why this answer?And I think many of you thought about this answer.But think about it very deep...If I wouldn`t speak Romanian,because some reasons,like for example,everyone in my family are speaking English since I was born,but they are also Romanian,but they just like to talk in English (stupid example but let`s just pretend it)..if there was like this,I would have thought:"Ok,I was born here,I live in this country,I live by its rules and the most important thing:all my family is born in this country..so my blood is a Romanian blood,let`s say.I also know its history and its culture so.I can consider myself a Romanian.without speaking Romanian".This case is very rare,because it`s kind of impossible to live in a country without speaking the language that is in that country.But let`s pretend that I was born in America,I lived there for 15 years with my parents (which are Romanian) and we talked only in English..and they told me about Romanian history,the culture and so on.This could be a real case that maybe many of you could be in.

So now,I`m asking you:"Are you Romanian,without speaking Romanian?"Only knowing some history,some traditions and that`s all?!You can`t just say that you know its culture,beacause the language of a country,represents a main part of its culture.From another side,we all know that every nationality has its stereotypes,and when I say this,I think about the behaviour of a mass of people.In this case,I think there are many people that don`t speak that X language very good,or not at all,but during the years,they learned how to think in that country,how to behaive by its rules.As a friend of mine told me,and I`ll make a parallel with the Americans,he told me that "to speak english (birtish english) you need to think british.";so there is a big difference between USA and Great Britain,a big difference between their "thinking",even if they basically talk the same language,but with different accents.

From my second point of view,I think that when the teacher put this question,I could have answered "I`m not Romanian,without speaking the language"Because language is very important ,as I said before,it is a main part in the culture of a country.Without speaking that language,the language that all your family ,for example was raised with,you might not be able to develop yourself in a community,you may lose lots of useful information about things that are happening around you,and so on.No,I`m not Romanian,because I don`t speak Romanian.I`m not pretending that I`m Romanian,just because all my friends are Romanian,and all my relatives are Romanian,and just because I think Romanian.If I want to act like a Romanian,or like a German,or whatever,I must know the language.If not,I`m not teoretically a Romanian.
BUT it also counts how do you think and how does the language affects you or not,how does the language makes you more "powerful" in a community,or how the people around you think and behave and that might be the sollution,just to learn how they think,to learn their principles of life.

In my oppinion,you could be Romanian like with all your legal documents,and with all your Romanian family and your knowledge of the history and culture and places,BUT you should think Romanian if you consider you are one and that means that you should also speak Romanian.
So I ask you now,is it important to speak Romanian,if you are a Romanian?