How I feel now!

I feel very happy and light this time of the semester because at last I reached the end of my studying commetments for this year.  Yes I still have many years of studying ahead, but it does not matter, at least I have few months of rest back home. I am pretty sure that I will miss this class and ELI in general. It is my first year away from home and everything I learned here along with the people I met will remain dear to me.

Daniel Kahneman: The riddle of experience vs. memory

Daniel Kahneman gave one of the most brilliant talks about happiness in TED. He explained that, many scholars did many research about what is happiness, yet no one actually succeeded in giving it an accurate definition.  In his talk he explained that happiness is divided into two parts, which is responsible for why people have different views about happiness. One is the experiencing self (happy in your life) and the other one is remembering self (happy about your life). According to Kahneman, people are more often relying on remembering self and neglecting the experiencing self.  The interesting fact about experiencing self it is all about the ending.  People would decide if they were happy or not in accordance with how the memory ended. If it has a pleasant ending then it is a happy moment and if not then it is an unhappy memory.

Interpretation 2001: A Space Odyssey

I base my review on a site called “Kubrick 2001: The space odyssey explained.

http://www.kubrick2001.com/

First part: Begins at Down

This part represents the first man existence in the earth “apes”; over the last four million B.C years. It describes how the first mankind used to live in earth; it was a very simple life until one day a powerful force entered earth solar system near Jupiter and planted a monolith just next to where apes live.

Second part:  The Dawn of Man

In this part of the movie, it describes the morning when apes woke up and found the planted monolith and their reaction to this new strange instrument.  At the beginning they showed some fear that transformed to curiosity and later on to courage represented by touching the monolith. The emotions apes experienced were the reason to man’s revolutionary inventions over the years.  Their first invention as portrayed by the movie was the “tool”. Years went by and apes revolved to the present human kind form.   Human kind became very advanced, civilized, rational, and scientific creatures.  This advancement leads them to create space ships designed after the first “tool” invention. However, the movie also highlighted human vulnerability when he is out of his elements.  This was pictured through showing that man has no control over gravity. Here he learns how to walk, eats baby food, and has toilet training.  The purpose of this was to point out that man who is the master in earth is only a child in the space.  In this part also the movie shows that there is a secret discovery, which reveled later on to be the old “monolith”.

 

Jupiter Mission

Apparently this is the third section of the movie and the partial theme in here is to discuses one of man’s invitations. It is Hal 9000 computer, which is in the human form. Hal 9000 has studied human’s brain and central nervous system.  Therefore, Hal 9000 tried to take control over his master.  Hall 9000 made a mistake by predicting a failure in the spaceship’s antenna.  So when the crew found out about this mistake they decided to put him off. The battle started between Hal 9000 and the crew, which ended up by killing Hal 9000. 

Beyond the Infinite

He is alone now in the space without his tools; he has to face the space alone and what lies behind it “supernatural powers”.  Here man was able to see his unavoidable future; the final challenge every man has to face, death.  The hotel room scene was about the man or “Dave in future” who is having his last super.  The man accidently hit the glass of wine, so the glass fall down and broke. The glass and wine are representation of human’s body and spirit. The body dies however the spirit remains life for infinite.  The big question in this last part of the movie is questioning human being who is so weak without his tools.  His evolution made him powerful and advanced with technology, which eventually tried to take control over him and destroy him. Now without his tools, man is very weak and has to die. Yet, the spirit of the dying body is infinite has its own evolution cycle.  That was represented by the child-star in the movie.

What I think of 2001: A Space Odyssey

There is an expression says "not my cup of tea" and same thing goes for the 2001: A Space Odyssey Movie. I am fully aware that, this movie has received collectively high appraises from leading crowds in their fields and it succeeded to establish a huge fan base of its own. However, my personal drawbacks to the movie are basically: its slow pace; its reliance on the visual affects scenery more than having dialogue scenes, which I believe could helped a lot in understanding the theme of the film. Actually without reading many reviews of the movie, I would not be able to figure out what it was all about.

Darwinian's Theory of Beauty

Denis Dutton in his TED Talks presented an argument about beauty. In his speech he maintained that beauty is not subjective matter or “ in the eye of the beholder” as we used to believe. And also it is not a culturally conditioned eye of the beholder, as the academia likes to think about it.  It goes back to evolution origins of human being; our ancestors passed on the genes of what is to be considered beautiful.  According to his description of beauty it is not limited to the physical appearance or nature but it broadens to embrace music, art, and skilled human actions. Therefore, this theory is justifying the universal conformity of beauty that is shared by different nations and cultures.

Bill Reid Gallery trip

The trip to the museum that displays Bill Reid art was short, but educational.  I can’t say that I am into arts, however, after visiting this gallery I admire Bill Reid.  He is a person half white half Haida, and used to be ashamed of this fact.  Yet, he was willing to get over this hardship, change his heritage to a fine art that speaks to millions and fill them with wonder and respect. When you go to the gallery, look to the displayed arts, and listen to the explanation of what they represent, you can’t stay neutral or indifferent.  With time, you find yourself curious and want to learn more about how they have lived and how they have changed everything they touch to a wonderful art.  I was thinking about this: who would really care about a tree in a bush? those people, regardless of the simplicity of their living, they were paying attention to everything around them. They have transformed household items, trees, and nature in general to a spectacular art. I think the fascinating part of their art is that their artistic skills weren’t plain but a transmission of their legacy and culture. It was their simple, and yet effective way to keep their tradition alive for the years to come.

This trip helped me also to see how easily we structure stereotype about others, or how little we really care to know about each other. I remember when I first knew about the aboriginal and saw their pictures, the way they look like and the way they lived I just thought they are savage people with a rudimentary life. 

However, after this visit I think the indigenous are the ones who made the history of British Columbia. Their amazing crafts and rich heritage is undeniable reality; it is what they made and left is distinguishing the Northwest Coast region and set it apart. So I feel in spite of the neglecting, suffering, and disrespecting to their humanity, they have succeeded to leave great achievement that will remain a significant witness of their civilization. And just as Bill Reid described in his documentary film “Totem”, “human beings must die anyway” and in the Haida case, they might be destroyed as tribal system or communities but their heritage will stay behind marking their existence forever.

Another Bad Experience with "CIC"

This post is to support Chanida's bad experience with the Immigration & Citizenship public service (CIC). It was important for me to see someone from the Immigration to get full and proper explanation about the improper visa application payment fees reason I get every-time I mail my application.  

So I took the address from Chanida and I went to (CIC) hoping that I will talk with different person, and I will receive better treatment. I took a number from the que system, and waited for my number to come up in the que screen.  I did not wait for long, my number showed in the screen, so I went to the counter where my number was showing. Nobody was there, I stood in front of the empty counter in anticipation, and within few seconds a male employee came out looking down at his cellphone. Sharply he asked me what is your number? I said two. He did not greet me, or looked at me, he was texting or playing with his cell phone all the time I was setting in front of him. His questions were short, sharp, impatient and he was angry.  I could not understand why he was angry and disgusted.  

I assume the whole meeting took less than five minutes. I did not benefit any thing from him at all, I explained my problem to him and instead of showing empathy and explain what exactly went wrong, he was continuously pointing out that my method of payment was wrong. So I decided to leave because I knew that he is not going to help me with any thing.  I can't say this type of attitude did not upset me at that time, but later on when I gave it good thought,  I felt this person is one of many people, who do jobs they do not like.  This type of people are usually unproductive, frustrated, and superior in their actions.   I feel sorry for him. I am sure if he does something he enjoy, he will be better employee, and better person.  

My weekend between studying and eating

My weekend was divided between studying math, doing GMAT's assignment and of course having FUN! There was nothing special about Thursday and Friday I was studying all the time. However, I gave myself a big treat on Saturday, it is my rest and fun day. In the morning I had my big delicious breakfast at  De Dutch Pancake with my Canadian family friends. After that good time, I went out with another friend for shopping, she wanted to shop for summer. So I spent most of the afternoon and evening shopping at Pacific Centre, Robson and Oakridge Centre. It was great pleasure for me, I don't get board or tired of shopping it is my meditation. Still that wasn't my shopping day; I was only assisting my friend, and I am so glad that I didn't buy anything-- which is, by the way, a big accomplishment. Continuing with my weekend I had a great meal at Simba's grill the one allocated in Denman. This restaurant claims serving East African food; however, I deeply believe it serves my country food. I highly recommend this restaurant it is a business family and food there taste as home made.

Moving out to UBC campus

This time I can say I had good weekend. On Thursday evening I had a farewell dinner with my Landlord and his family. This farewell was for me, It was my last day at my old accommodation. I was very happy and honored; for the last 10 months, I'v lived with a great Canadian family who were very kind and just like a second family.  The pleasant surprise that, the dinner was "Moroccan" famous dishes "Tajin" and "Kuskos". On the following day, Friday, my ex-landlord and his wife insisted to drive me to my new accommodation which is in the UBC campus. Well, there is no words to explain how I felt they came in, carried my bags with their daughter and drove me to the new accommodation. In the new accommodation, both ex-landlord and his wife have checked every single thing to make sure that everything is going to work fine for me and I will be comfortable in the new place. And most importantly when they found out that in the new accommodation there is no appliances, they offered that I borrow the old ones I used to have.  They just drove back to their residence and collected all sort of things, towels, toilette roles, dishes, lamp, soap etc and came back to me.  I really don't have the right words to explain what that have meant to me.  I am very pleased and I am sure whatever I would do will not repay their kindness to me. 

Creation of universe according to Quran

I was very fascinated when I learned about universe creation according to the Bible. It is very similar to muslims' Holly Book "Quraan".  Of course there were many interpretations to explain Quran's context. Still there are many similrites but the order in creation is different plus there are more details.  According to interpretations, God has created the earth and the heavens in six days which I will explain later. But God has first created the "Pen" and after that the "Book"! Well, I think the "Book" here has the same reference to  the  Bible, "Tree of Knowledge".  So back to the interpretations it says God has created the Pen and the book and ordered the pen to write in great detail everything about the creation of the universe. This book is allocated in heavens it is storing universe knowledge.

Second creation was the sky and the earth. On Saturday God has created the soil, on Sunday mountains, trees on Monday, Germs on Tuesday, light on Wendsday, land and sea cratures on Thursday and on Friday the last day of cration he has created Adam. He created him from earth's mud and clay. This mud and clay was collected from different parts of earth and that is why human kind has different races and colors. Then God shaped Adam into human form, breathed into him to give him soul/life.

In Bible it says that God wanted to create a helper for Adam to help him to till the garden. While in Quran it says that God wanted Adam to be superior over the Angels and Jinn therefore, God has taught Adam all the names of his creations and asked him to name them which successfully he did. So right after this incident God ordered Angles and Jinn to bow down to Adam, Angles did but Satan who is one of the Jinn refused. He said, he is created from fire and Adam was created from clay, so he can't be superior to him. This made God angry and he cursed Satan and threatened him of Hell. Satan plead to God to keep him till the day of judgment. Satan told God that he will devote himself to mislead human kind to disobey God to join him in  Hell.

As for Eve's creation, it is the same story. God has created Eve from Adam's left rib while he was asleep. The name of Eve in Quran is "Hawwa" which comes from the root word "hay" meaning living. She was named like this because she was created from a living thing "Adam".  The interesting thing here that Hawwa is the same as "Eve" which came from old Hebrew word Havva, which also means "living".

Quran also has mentioned the first sin but it is different from the one in Bible. According to the interpretations of Quran context, Satan wanted to deceive Adam and Eve so he changed his form into snake and creep to the garden.  He whispered into their hearts that if they eat from the forbidden tree they will live forever. He was after them till they disobeyed God and ate from the tree. They became naked and tried to cover their bodies with the tree leaves. God knew about this he was very angry because Adam and Eve disobeyed him. So to punish them, God sent both of them along with Satan to earth. In earth human should keep their fight with Satan and try not to disobey God. This fight will last till the day of judgment.

My Weekend

Unlike this past weekend, I usually have good weekends where I have plenty of activities to do.  I would like to give you an idea about what I usually do in my weekends.  Other than cleaning, cooking and doing my laundry, I go to Gym, and hang out with my friend. However this weekend was all around studying math and doing GMAT's homework.  I have good deal with my friend who is also preparing for GMAT test; the deal is to meet every day in "Blenz" coffee at Broadway to study together. So far this arrangement is working well for both of us. We have selected "Blenz" at Broadway for many reasons. One reason is because it is just walking distance from the Gym, so we can study either before or after our daily routine. Second reason is that we have noticed that it is popular among students to study in coffee-shops so we thought we will give it a try. In fact, we accomplish more studying there. 

ME & the GMAT

Some challenges if not treated well can turn to major blocks for fulfilling one’s dreams.  Valid examples of such challenges might be getting over a fear of public speech, learn new language, get rid of bad habit, or pass a test. Of course, people are different; consequently, their challenges vary as well. However, for some people like myself entering new territory is a terrifying experience.  This realization just occurred to me.  It was provoked by my GMAT test preparation course, which I was putting off for so long.  Last Thursday it was my first GMAT preparation class and I was nervous beyond imagination could get!! It was difficult for me to concentrate on the class. Actually, The base of my fright is the fact that I have long bad history with math. And GMAT is mostly about high school to university math. Add to this it is an essential requirement for any business school's admission.  So there is no way for me to get around it.  While I was in the class trying hard to keep up with the instructor, I had this question in my mind: is this amount of fear is totally new for you? or is it your primary lifetime's challenge? And all of sudden effortlessly the answer was there, well no, it is not! This fear feels so familiar I went through the same frightening and disturbing feeling when I first decided to learn swimming and later on driving.  Both experiences were the most exhausting and unforgettable ones that filled my mind with doubts and discouragement. Yet, with patience, devotion, and determination I conquer them. I can’t deny this realization has given me some peace of mind and somehow boosted my spirit up.  It gives me the hope that with trying my best I would have the same happy ending. I really do not know right now I feel very much like someone who is pushed in the corner or like the old saying the sea is behind you, and the enemy in front of you.

Wish me good luck

The Clod & The Pebble Vs. Hills Like White Elephants

Ernest Hemingway in his story “ Hills Like White Elephants” describes love between the American man and Jig. Love in the story was expressed differently between the couple.  The American man loved Jig in an obsessive way, which was expressed in various parts of the narrative.  He was self-centered and did not show any consideration to her desire when he made his mind about the abortion. He wanted their relationship to go on without any commitment, while Jig dreamed of long lasting relationship and hoped that having a baby would work as an insurance and fulfill her wishes for a happy and a complete relationship.

So if we reflect on Wiliam Blake views of love in his poem “The Clod and the PEBBLE” we can see some similarity expressed by Pebble.  According to the Pebble, people fall in love just to please themselves rather than pleasing their partners. That would be accurate if we say that the American man in his love to Jig didn't really care for her feelings; not only concerning her feelings about the abortion, but as well about his way of treating her. For example, when they were outside the bar drinking beer, Jig was trying to have a conversation with him, and he was cutting her off all the time. This type of treatment shows the type of relationship they have and cast light on the American man personality.  I think he is not a pleasant person to be with; he was neither affectionate nor considerate. The girl was about going to have an operation, which she knows nothing about. She has been worried about her health, her baby and in top of that she was insecure about the future of their relationship.  Hence, Pebble’s description of love was expressed by the American man’s actions. He tried to please himself and bend his lover for his own delight.  On the other hand, I do not know if it is accurate to describe Jig’s love as the Clod’s description of love.  She was lean at the beginning and she wanted to please the American man but her attitude changed at the end of the story when she realized that he doesn’t love her the way she wanted him to.  I think I can say she was in despair and wanted him to provide her with a heaven. 

Response to "Hills Like White Elephants"

I like Ernest Hemingway's style of writing.  I think his style is beautiful because he is willing to turn normal stories to interesting experience.  He is a thought provoking writer; he gives his readers the chance to rethink and question their perspectives about those usual repetitive relationships. It is easy for us to think what if I was in this situation and how I am going to react. 

Reflection on Ernest Hemingway’s “ A Very Short Story”

The story is about a man falls in love with a nurse during wartime.  He has to say goodbye for her for a while to build good promising life when they get married. However, his love is not faithful; she finds new love and wrote a letter explaining her reasons and gives him her seiner wishes.  The story is a typical short love tail occurred during war.  Personally I did not like it, I think it represents many of us who are victims of their circumstances and fragile personality. 

Perhaps many people seek affection during hard times, and I think he has no option rather than falling in love with her during his service in the front line. But I couldn’t understand why he destroyed his life in the end.  It was very short story written beautifully and ends badly. Hemingway did not take or mislead his readers to any side.  Therefore, I guess as readers we are free to come up with our own analysis and judgments.

Hills Like White Elephants setting

Ernest Hemingway in his short story “ Hills Like White Elephants” was perfectly validating his quote “ The dignity of movement of an iceberg is due to only one eighth of it being above water”.  Hemingway employed a brilliant technique to reveal the content of his narrative; he is totally dependent on both the settings of the story and the dialog between his main characters. Through these two elements along with deliberate sprinkled hints readers are able to guess unwritten details. 

Yet, the setting of the story has played a vital role in conveying inner thoughts and emotions of the characters.  For instant, Hemingway utilizes the landscape that surrounds the train station. As he describes it, it is a valley that divided by the train rails.  One side of the valley is representing the fertility and the other side portraying the dry side.  The author by using this picture he wants to reflect on the ongoing struggle between the two characters; the girl wants life and reproduction and that is by keeping the baby. So in the story she wants to move from the dry valley to the grain fields’ valley. On the other hand, the American wants to take the train from the dry valley that ends up in Madrid where the abortion will take place. 

The writer also gives another picture when he describes the valley of grain covered by the shadow of cloud. It is also an illustration of threat of death or troubles over live or peace.

General Tien's Character in "Red Thread Maiden"

General Tien's character as portrayed by the author Yuan Chiao in "Red Thread Maiden" has changed and developed in coordination with the progression of the story’s events. Yet General Tien ‘s nature was not very different from other warlords such as General Hsueh …. both are warmongers.  They feed their egos by making constant troubles and wars. But General Tien showed different traits and behavior, which varied according to his capacity to control his surroundings.  For example at the beginning of the story General Tien was very arrogant because he has a new well-trained army. Having this in mind, he thought he could start a war against General Hsueh and invade his state. However, after the incident of the “Golden Box” General Tien thought that only a “Magical Knight” is able to sneak into his well-guarded residence and take the “Golden Box” from beneath his pillow. The Magical Knight was an illusionary character that General Tien has created in his imagination because he is a superstitious person who believes in the spirit world.  Therefore, due to his beliefs in the super natural powers his entire attitude has totally shifted from a strong fearless Governor who was all setup for a war to a warlord who willingly pointed himself as a servant. This shift in General Tien’s personality illustrates that he is a coward man who was hiding behind his soldiers to kill and destroy a city of innocent people for senseless desire.

 

Trip to Queen Elizabeth Park

I have a friend from Canada who invited me to go out with her last weekend for a scenery walking trip.  We have started our day by having lunch in a Japanese restaurant in Kitsilano and after that we went to Queen Elizabeth Park.  That was my first visit to the park, I heard about its beautiful gardens and yet I never imagined how gorgeous it is. I saw many beautiful flowers with different colors which were planted in a very artistic manner.

My friend was like a tour guide. She explained that the Park is a trendy place for weeding ceremonies.  Couples nowadays book the park to celebrate their union with family and friends.  Park visitors can easily walk by and witness the ceremony, I found this new and interesting. She also told me that the season’s restaurant which is located in the Park is very busy and needs to be reserved in advance. Another thing about this restaurant is that its recognized by people as a place to celebrate special occasions. So if you see or hear that someone was in Seasons, you can guess that it is a speacil event.

My impression abut the park that it is good place for a family picknic or small walk. It is good place for good friends, family gathering and older couple.  I enjoyed it and I was thankful for my friend to spare time to take me out for a small and lovely walk.

Reflection on "The Gold Mountain Coat"

When we first started reading The Gold Mountain Coat story in the class…. I thought the focus of the story would be in the narrator, the little girl. So as we read line after line I was anticipating that the course of events would shift any time to bring the little girl in.  Nevertheless, the little girl wasn’t the main character and the story was all about Sam Sing and his sons.  It is an interesting twist thought; perhaps the writer wanted it to be this way as a sort of a hook. And the story I think is the best description of the Chinese way of living at that particular era. So the story through its proceedings described the hard working, thrifts, and family unity in spite of the personal differences. In fact, it is an ideal reflection of the Chinese culture, which is unlike the Canadian. It is hardly to find grown men in Canadian culture who will be blindly obeying their parents never the less being so submissive and out of character. We can see this clearly when John went to visit the little girl’s mother and he was so upset and scared that his father might not allow him to buy a new coat.  Although he was aware of his rights and he mentioned in that visit “this isn’t China”, later on when he was actually in front of his father he could not get rid of his obedient nature. Therefore, the description of Chinese families was authentic and most probably this credited to the writer’s background.

What Writing Means To Me

Writing is a vehicle for contemplation for many. They claim it helps them to reflect on their life. Even more for those it is a method of recording their thoughts, emotions and most importantly it allows them to keep track of their life’s events. It is more likely as capturing memories and time.  Then again, for me it is totally different. It is not that I disagree with writing lovers but I am a poor writer. The thought of it is terrifying me.  I tired couple of times to keep a dairy where I can reflect on my daily activities, I considered it to be a way of meditation. I supposed by keeping a dairy this would help me to get outside myself and act as a neutral trusted friend who can foresee the flaws, gently point them out and advise remedies. However, I wasn’t able to write a complete beautiful thought or even worse describing a typical routine.  My writing came out as scattered words, chronically wrong. As a result, I was discouraged and I decided that writing is not my field of interest.