iPonder

The Matrix.

Definition; Control

If the people in power are trying to maintain control of “the others,” what are the lengths that they would have to go through?

In order to gain and maintain control of human beings, you would have to brainwash them. Along with the brainwashing you would have to repeatedly enforce the principles and values you want them to obtain. How you you widely distribute information?

Human beings have consistently proven ourselves irresponsible, selfish, and careless. We’ve embraced the hole that we’ve made in the O Zone layer, Styrofoam and plastic, and we have genetically engineered everything from animals to STD’s. We are the cause of all of the pollution on this earth and most of the illnesses that we are faced with today are indeed our fault.

If every common man knew the amount of damage each human being causes in a lifetime, how would they react?

The Matrix is control. Who is controlling us? Is it the media, who have a constant influence on how we think since they are everywhere. Television is a big part of this influence. There are at least two televisions in each house hold. The programs available to us are up to us, but of all the choices we have (reality tv, cartoon network, and basic cable) are they really even choices?

Someone has made us believe that it is okay that we are causing damage to ourselves and this earth. Who, we have yet to know, but now that we know a little bit, wouldn’t it behoove us to make a change? Knowing that plastic is not good for the earth is one thing. Still buying the bottle of Pepsi is another. The wide distributors of these bottles should be to blame, but if bottles are still in high demand, why should they stop?

We are human beings, and we are flawed. Our worst flaw is our need for speed. Faster everything makes for more technology, and the easier we make things, the harder it gets for this earth to progress on its own. If we are indeed homo-sapiens, why aren’t we thinking? And if we aren’t thinking, who is thinking for us?

Me + No Meat= More Love

Vegan: a LIFESTYLE that consist of NOT consuming, wearing & using animal products in ANY way; a herbivore.

Example: vegans do not eat honey because it comes from another animal.

Vegetarian: a DIET that consist of not eating meat or fish.

I am a new VEGETARIAN and hope to become VEGAN one day. (I LOVE cheese toooo much!)

I am definitely happy but life has been a constant struggle. I love chicken& I love fish BUT I also love living. There is NO doubt about it! Eating too many of these things could cause some serious health problems like diabetes and numerous heart conditions. I have a long history in my family of diseases (diabetes etc) that can be controlled by what you eat.

A few years ago, the 16 year old me tried to become a vegetarian. I wasn’t driven nor had reasons to become a vegetarian… I just thought it was cool (ooo yeaaaa). My vegetarian lifestyle lasted 1 month! I was tempted by a dirty hot dog vendor and I gave in… as you can tell, I wasn’t serious about it.

To do ANYTHING in life you have to be driven! If you’re not driven, you will give into anything that will drive you off the path that you “think” you want to go. When facing temptation goals/morals and everything you “thought” you wanted can quickly vanish! When you know what you want and what you will do to achieve it, it’s a bit harder to give in!

My vegetarian transition began when I came to Taiwan. Long story super short, the way food is handled, prepared and displayed here disgust me. When you go into many food spots, the meat is dead hanging from a rack near the cash register. I mean like A WHOLE CHICKEN!!! PIG!!! DUCK!!! WHATEVER!!!!! With many of these places being outside in extremely hot/humid weather, the areas around these places smell HORRIBLE!

I told myself that I would not eat meat until I return to New York. Since my scary encounter with Taiwanese meat, I have been eating at local vegetarian/vegan restaurants. In many of these VV (vegetarian/ vegan) restaurants, television programs talking about the benefits of living a VV lifestyle are broadcast while you eat. Some of the obvious benefits include weight loss, better skin and better health. Some benefits that aren’t as well known include better mental health, increase in energy, HORMONE FREE FOOD and a healthier earth! I didn’t realize that meat consumption plays such a huge role in the deterioration of the earth but it does.

PLUS- Why not save animals? :]

I have always known the chicken thigh that was on my plate belonged to a body that breathed and walked. Until seeing it killed/ displayed so grossly, I probably wouldn’t have cared.

I must admit… I do sometimes miss meat. I already miss thanksgiving turkey and it is only May. Sometimes I get tempted to eat meat but think about it and realize I can’t. I can’t eat it because now it grosses me out to see it on a plate.

Any who, long blog super short, below are some resources for people who want to live a VV life but just aren’t inspired enough to give the chicken leg up! I went cold turkey(haha) but I think all who are thinking about becoming VV should go to a doctor(before starting anything!!!), take vitamins regularly and make sure you eat foods that will make up for not eating meat.

I haven’t any changes YET (health etc) but I am not looking for any. It is too soon to be expecting huge changes.

Resources!!:

Peta.org > more reason on why this lifestyle is better… incredible short films. I recommend the 1 about fur factories in China. I could barely get through it.

Vegstarterpack.com >website give you free stuff to help you start off

Eggindustry.com/pledge > make a pledge to eat egg free and you can receive free things to help start a vegan life!

climatecrisis.net > some parts of the site inform people on ways meat consumption do affect the world

Good Luck!!

The Honeymoon is Over

In my first blog I wrote about how I don’t stand out because I am black. Many people refuse to deal with me because I am black, OR, choose to deal with me to get a photo op, OR, because they want a black friend (who chooses friends based on color?).

I lied to you all and I lied to myself. One thing I have learned about myself on this trip is that I am ignorant! Until coming here, I was never judged so much. All the friends I have in life like me because of my personality, not because of my color. Before coming to Taiwan, I never thought too much about my skin or the texture of my hair.

Life is extremely lonely.

I’m guessing prejudice against people who have darker skin is extreme. For example, someone told me that in many Asian countries, if two men are linked to each other sexually, they will be executed. He also told me that many Asian people would rather live with a gay man instead of a black person… pretty extreme.

The person who told me this is another exchange student. He is from a neighboring Asian country and is also an exchange student. Like me, he is also being discriminated against. Not because he is Asian, but because he is gay. He said that gay and darker people in Asia are treated without respect, and looked at as second class citizens or not fully human.

I feel like an outsider. I DO UNDERSTAND that I am in a foreign country and there are times where I would naturally feel like an outsider, but come on!!!! For instance, I think a majority of my teachers feel some negative feelings towards me.  When I first arrived here, I needed to go to the Taiwanese Department of Immigration in order to take care of some visa stuff. When I asked a teacher how to get there, he did not want to help. He rolled his eyes, huffed his breathe and gave me a pretty hard time. Every time I ask this man a question, he gets frustrated.  He doesn’t like speaking to me. I compare the way he speaks to me with the way he interacts with other students. He is very welcoming to everyone else, questions them about their home nation and communicates with them. At first, I thought maybe it was because I am American, or because I am from the west. This isn’t true because there are some Americans & westerners in the class. I also thought that it was me… maybe I was not social enough or talkative enough. I am!!! In fact, I think I raise my hand too much sometimes. The only difference is my skin. I doubt this man even knows my name… he has never even asked me that. This has happened in other classes as well. Professors separate me by not asking me any questions about me or where I come from. I mean really, the kid from Minnesota gets more questions than me. I am def biased, but I would much rather hear about Brooklyn or the NYC area than Minnesota, BUT as said earlier, people choose to distance themselves from me.

It feels weird sometimes for people to genuinely not like me when they don’t even know me. I guess I would rather have people not like me because I am Black than people not liking me because I am a jerk. At least I know its THEM and not me. I don’t feel hate at all… sometimes it is painful and lonely, sometimes I feel humored and entertained by it but I always honestly feel sorry for people that think like this.

A student organized a going away/ end of the semester party for exchange students and did not invite me. I AM THE ONLY PERSON THAT HAS NOT BEEN INVITED!!!!

Sometimes I wonder, “Why separate yourself? I love people! I’m sure that if we talked we might have a lot in common… I drink water too!” but whatever.  I can’t change what people THINK… I love my skin!

I won’t let this trip scare me into not liking Taiwanese/ Asian people. All people aren’t jerks… just the narrow-minded ones. Sometimes I have to remind myself of this, especially when it seems like everyone around me hates me.

Everything is a learning experience & I am truly blessed to be able to learn things about life here.

I’m hopeful!!!!

My TOKYO Spaceship(=^_^=)

Sooooo, a few weeks ago I went to Tokyo, Japan!

The COOLEST thing about Japan… THE TOILETS!!! It sounds weird, but the toilets were honestly the most interesting thing that I have seen while in Asia. The toilets in Japan are known as the most sophisticated and swanky toilets on the PLANET! The toilets have heated seats, massage options, water jet adjustments, automatic lid opening, flushing after use, wireless control panels, a back light in the bowl(ew) etc etc etcccccc! The swankier toilets in fancier establishments play music while you poop! They look like mini spaceships.

It honestly took me awhile to get used to using them.  Especially since they flush on their own and shoot out water to clean your behind :p

Cool but they not for me.

Besides the spaceship toilets, Tokyo is a very cute city… resembles NYC a lot. The buildings are tall on the outside, but many of the floors inside of the building are too short for me… I’m basically 6ft(yea, I’m a big momma :]).

I wish I could have stayed longer than a weekend BUT Japan is TOO expensive. I wish I could have been immersed in the culture for at least 2 months because viewing as a weekend tourist is waaaaaaay different from viewing Tokyo from the eyes of someone who has been there for awhile. Oh well, the experience was pretty cool.

Almost forgot… the metro system was RIDIC!!!! I almost cried when I saw the map.

Overall Grade

Tokyo- A

It’s a must see!

SPACESHIP!!!

MADNESS!!!!! (in a good way) Tokyo isn’t even shaped like the map

Take your shoes off inside!

Japanese Hostel(Hostel: extremely cheap places to stay for extremely cheap travelers… some are $5usd per night! This is the cheapest in Tokyo… $17usd per night)

on my mind.

Lately.

My mind’s been goin. Tryin to focus on what to do when I reached home.

Now I’m here and I’m movin’. Kinda’ got a groove goin’

everyone around me can see how my mood showin.

And they like it..

There’s no place like home

It’s 2:00am in Taipei, Taiwan and 2:00pm in Brooklyn, NY… crazy.

So far, this trip has been an amazing experience but there is truly no place like home. I miss waking up on Sunday mornings to my mother’s music, Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah band, Miles Davis, Al Green, the disco, the blues, the jazz. I miss the noise at night, the trash on the streets, brownstones, mom’s cooking, English TV… MTV (!!!), milk (from cows), soul food, music, Ugly Betty, speaking English and, in general, everything that is familiar. I miss fitting in effortlessly. Weird thought, but I miss swiping my metro card :[

In all, I guess I’m just homesick and can’t wait to be back in Brooklyn.

I guess this feeling has been enhanced because I am currently sick and miss the affection from home and IT’S 2AM SO I’M RAMBLING.

Well, I’m off to bed. Maybe when I wake, I’ll feel better.

I’ll dream of Brooklyn, music, mom, metro cards and cow milk.

Night

Keturah

Ps

I have these! Just wanted to share .   They remind me of Dorthy’s ruby slippers

IT’S OFFICIALLY, OFFICIAL

Sooo, this is my one month anniversary of living/ studying in Taiwan! (!!!!!)

Over the next few months, I will be writing my thoughts, opinions, feelings and all that jazz in this blog. With this being my first blog (ahhhhh :]) I thought it would be cool/ necessary to write some facts & myths about East Asian culture (mainly Taiwanese and Chinese culture).

Myths!!!!

一(yi) Mmmmm Puppy & Kitty lo mein

Restaurants DO NOT serve dog and cat!!!! In fact, it is illegal to eat cats and dogs. People who do will be fined!!!!!

二 (er) 1 Child per family…

Even though Taiwan is not a direct representation of China, it is a part of the People’s Republic of China (ROC). People here are very family oriented and have large families that commonly consist of more than 1 child.

三 (san) Short & Skinny

Being 5’ 11”, I thought I would be the hugest person towering the streets of Taiwan. NOT TRUE! Taiwanese people come in many shapes and sizes… I have met people who are taller, shorter, slimmer, heavier, lighter or the same color as me.

四 (si) Geeky, nerdy, etcetera, etcetera etceteraaaaaaa

In any society, the nerdy type exists…you know, the guy/girl with the pocket protector and the too high- high- waters. Those people are here (just like anyplace else) but I’ve also met some of the trendiest and fashionable people here who are not the stereotypical nerdy Asian person.

五 (wu) People will think I am a celebrity because I am the FIRST Black person Asian people have encountered…. HUGE MYTH.

People do not think I’m Beyonce… Honestly, I am not the only black person here. While planning my trip, I thought that I would be the only or first black person that people here met. There are way more people here of African descent than I would have every imagined. So, I do not stand out too much, or feel like a celebrity and that actually feels good.

Fact!!!!!

一 (yi) Taiwan is one of the most beautiful places that I(opinion) have ever experienced :]

I’m in Taipei, attending National Taiwan University (NTU)

Brooklyn TO BEIJING

By Mahkaya Gittens

Imagine spending your summer vacation 6700 miles across the seas in Beijing, China.  Makaya Gittens did and kept a journal to tell us all about it.

Day 1- 7/1/06

We got on the plane at a little before 4pm and it was huge. There were so many people, it seemed like every seat was filled. It took 13 fi hours to get to Beijing and it felt like the longest flight ever.

The airport was really far from our hotel, so we got to see some of Beijing on our way. The biggest city in China was under so much construction on account of the 2008 Olympics.

Day 3 -  7/3/06

Today we went to a place called the Temple of Heaven. It was amazing because it was mostly for the elderly. They were doing ribbon dancing, a form of Tai Chi, ballroom dancing, playing HackySack and Badminton.

Day 5

Today we flew from Beijing to Xian. Beijing is really nice. We’ve seen the Forbidden City, where emperors lived, made speeches and did other important things. It was so big that we didn’t get to see all of it. We went to an underground tomb/palace called the Ming tombs. It was for Emperor Ming and his two empresses. We saw the Summer Palace, an unnecessarily huge palace and garden, next to a huge lake
where the royal family would spend their summers. We climbed the Great Wall, which was really hard. Remember in Mulan when the soldiers ran from tower to tower on the Great Wall and it looked flat between the towers? Well, that’s a lie! Maybe there’s a place on the wall that’s like that, but that’s not how the whole wall is.
The food is alright. I’m getting used to using chopsticks all the time. The Chinese food here is really different from the Chinese food in America. It’s just something about the way it tastes.
They are building a lot of nice new buildings in Beijing for the Olympics but I think they should have fixed up the buildings that they already have first. It makes the poverty more visible when you see nice new buildings and then the run down buildings that the citizens live in. Whenever we walk somewhere we see so many beggars that it’s heart breaking.

Day 6

Today we saw the Winter Palace, it wasn’t nearly as big as the Summer Palace, but it was big enough. The area had natural hot springs to make inside baths. We also went to see the Terracotta soldiers and went to a workshop to learn how they were made. The Terracotta soldiers are a bunch of clay soldiers that the first emperor of China had built to protect him in the after life. They are all life size and none of them have the same face. Later, we walked along the city wall of Xian. We went to a Fung Shui museum and we learned about the different symbols in front of buildings and what they meant.

Day 7

We took a flight from Xian to Shanghai. Our tour guide, Molly, took us to the Shanghai Museum. Everyone, under twenty-three, was so hungry that they didn’t really enjoy anything. Afterwards, we took a four hour bus ride to Wu Xi.   Near the end of the bus ride, Molly told us a story that went like this – A long time ago, a man and a woman had just married. They had barely been married a month before the emperor called the husband away to work on the Great Wall. The wife missed him so much that she went in search for him. She ended up crossing paths with the emperor. He thought that she was so beautiful that he just had to have her for a concubine. She said no, so he had her locked up for three days. On the third day, he asked her to be his concubine again and she still said no. He had her killed and her body chopped up into a million little pieces that were thrown into the water. A man with powers saw this and felt sorry for her. Because it was her destiny to die, he could not bring her back to life, but instead he made the pieces of her body into little fishes that exist today – By coincidence, later on that evening we had fish for dinner. After Molly told us this story, I don’t think anybody ate the fish – I know I didn’t.

Day 8

Today we went to Tai Lake which is by a turtle shaped peninsula. Then, we went to a tea pot factory and another pearl factory. At the teapot workshop we learned about different grades and styles of teapots. A member from our tour was able to stand on a teapot and it didn’t break because the pots are very strong.

Day 9

Today we went on a cruise on the West Lake in a city called Hangzhou. The scenery was nice, but it should have been longer. We took the bus back to Shanghai, but we didn’t get to there until late. Because I’m still not used to the food, I wasn’t eating that much and Molly noticed. She asked me if there was something that I would like and I said chicken, so they bought us chicken fingers. The chicken was so good that it didn’t even taste like chicken. It was really fresh and clean chicken.

That night we stayed in the first five star hotel in the world. The rooms were huge. We had bathrooms with separate bath tubs and showers, double sinks, and a scale. We even had a walk-in closet. There was also a sitting area. After we unpacked we went walking along the board walk next to a river. One side of the street was packed with so many people because the view was so beautiful. Later, me and the other teens on the tour snuck out to McDonald’s. We felt like we were going to die if we didn’t get it. It was amazing that they had different stuff. They sold corn and quadruple cheeseburgers. They didn’t have the McFlurry, though.

Day 11

Yesterday, we went to a Mausoleum and then flew to Guilin and saw the Elephant Trunk Hill. Today, we went to the Reed Flute Cave. The cave was so beautiful. It was lighted by multi-color neon lights everywhere. It had shallow, yet wide puddles of lakes in certain places. If you looked down on these puddles of water you would swear that the cave went below the floors, but it was actually just the reflection of the ceilings. There was one section of the cave that was so large that a princess from Thailand paid to use it for her birthday party. We also went to places called Fubo Hill and Seven Star Park. Tonight we ate dinner and saw a show of music and dance at the hotel. Afterwards, three other girls from the tour and I got massages at the hotel.

Day 13

Yesterday, we took a four hour cruise down the Li River. The river was lined with the most beautiful hills. It was foggy and rainy, so the clouds covered the tops of the hills and it made it look even more beautiful. The hills are featured on the country’s 20 Yuan bills. Yuan a form of money and eight Yuan equals one U.S. dollar. Before we got on the boat, our tour guide told us about people called pirates who latch on to the boat and try to sell us things that we could just buy once we got off the boat. My mom ended up buying something from them. It was funny, because when they first latched on it sounded like the boat ran them ever. While my mom and some other people were buying from one group of pirates, another group latched onto the other side and they started competing.
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Today, we went to a courtyard that held the house of the founders of the HSBC banks. In the house of the bankers there was a gift shop. They had a section devoted to writing. We had poems of our names made and put onto scrolls. The people that worked there were very nice. They had never seen people with skin or hair like ours and they were fascinated. My mom ended up showing them how to braid their hair. Next, we went to a monastery. It was mostly boring because we had already seen so many shrines and gardens. But right before we left, we saw the monks come out in a long line. It was very interesting and unusual for me. There were two lines of bald men wearing orange and red clothing. At the back were some dressed in brown, probably because they weren’t full monks yet.

Day 14 (7/14/06)

Today we took a 2-hour train ride to Hong-Kong. The train went extremely fast. When we got off the train there was this scanning system. It scanned people for any diseases without stopping us person by person. If it found somebody with even a slightly high temperature, they would pull them to the side and check them out. They pulled out Wesley, the younger of the Moy children who traveled with our group. Once we got out the train terminal we said goodbye to the Moys and got on a bus that took us to the airport. The plane ride back was better, but longer. It was 17 fi hours with a 1 hour stop in Vancouver, Canada. The food actually tasted like food and the movies were pretty good. Also, there were less people on the plane, so I got to sit somewhere other than my original seat, stretch out and sleep. We got back the same day that we left because China is a day ahead of us.

Now that I think about it, I had a really hard time keeping a journal this whole trip because there was so much to do. I know that I didn’t get everything that happened into this journal, but I feel that I got a good amount. China was a beautiful place to visit and I hope that I can go back some day.

Reflections on Bangladesh

By M.D. Ramijul Islam

After five years of living in America, I was getting ready to go to Bangladesh, the country where I was born. I was so excited that I would be seeing everyone in my family. We took the Bangladesh Bib ban Airlines to Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. When we landed, I saw my family waiting for us. I didn’t recognize some of them and others I didn’t know at all, but I hugged every one of them. We spent the first fifteen days at my grandma’s house because my dad had things to
take care of since he was buying a house. I was kind of bored there because I had to do my homework. I couldn’t go outside because during this time, people were kidnapping children and asking for ransom money or else they would kill you. When I went to Pabna Jatrapur, the village where I was born, about five hundred people came to see us.

My father was a high school teacher, so everyone knows him. The first thing that I had to do was hug all of the people that were excited to see me. After, I changed my clothes and went fishing with my cousins in our pond. I could hear the sounds from all the colorful birds, and the fresh air reminded me of the old days. I told
my cousin about how life is in America, and they told me what they did in Bangladesh.

I caught about five fish that were six inches long. Bangladesh is a beautiful place to live. It may be a poor country, but there are many
gorgeous places to see. In Bangladesh, most of the people have great ways of living. We celebrate our traditional holidays, like Eid Mubarak. Eid Mubarak is a celebration that takes place after fasting for thirty days. Also, one of the most important things that I remember about Bangladesh is that the food is delicious.

I love my religion, my country people, and the place. If I were to give a number from one to ten about my country, I would give it a ten. I am glad that my country is improving and I can’t wait to visit again.

SIL Editor spends three weeks in Ghana

Say it LOUD! Co-Editor- in- Chief, Delphine Fawundu-Buford travels to Ghana. Click on the flag and check out her blog.

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