Getting interviewed by Lilacspecs
Lilacspecs has given me a solution to my dilemma this period: lots of time to blog since I am still at home recovering, yet less inspiration to blog as I hardly come outside. She has offered to interview me. So here it comes:
1. When you lived in Canada, what was the most difficult thing to adapt to, culturally?
The hardest thing was some black and white conservative thinking that clashed with mine. I did not know how to respond appropriately. It was hard to know where the boundary was to being critical and giving opposite arguments, to defending yourself and to criticising a different culture that you did not know well enough to judge.
I was confronted as a teenager with (young) people strongly believing in creationism when I wasn't even aware that the evolution theory wasn't accepted as a global truth. I was blamed being a bad Christian.
Coming from a school with some active Amnesty International student groups where we were all wearing badges "stop killing someone who has killed someone to show that killing people is wrong", I turned out to be the only one in a class debate willing to take the side against the death penalty.
I've heard remarks like "Oh the Swedisch are such immoral people, they go nude in unisex sauna's", I met people that homeschool their children because the public schools would be too immoral, I heard pretty nasty remarks about First Nation People etc...
Don't get me wrong, not all the Canadians that I've met share these thoughts at all! Quite on the contrary !! And some people that made some of these remarks turned out to be good friends after all. Yet each time it was a sort of shock to me to meet that many conservative people and to hear them express these thoughts. I suppose you inherit your parent's mindset as a child and it's quite likely their friends are similar-minded people. So somehow we all grow up fairly protected. Additionally you are very much sculptured by the culture you grow up in. Yet when going abroad as an exchange student you can't really choose your environment. So then sometimes the cultural differences hit harder. In most cases I avoided all discussions reminding myself to be thankfull for all opportunities and to be open-minded, but it was tough and with hindsight that might not have been always the best choice.
2. How did you become interested in diving?
Sssst I'm a mermaid but I'm incognito. Don't tell anyone.
No? you don't believe me?
Ok then, well in 2004 Jan decided he'd like to learn scuba diving on vacation. We both did a test dive but I didn't quite want to spend our week vacation on a boat. Jan totally loved it and I quickly realised that he would dive again on our next vacations. Since I didn't want to be a diving widow on the beach (and since I did enjoy that test dive)...I took my course on our next vacation. Now we could dive together.
I first had no interest to dive in Belgium as the colder water with low visibility didn't quite attract me. But when Jan joined the local dive club and often went on dives in the weekend, I thought it would be good for me to join the training sessions as well. And then in the end you don't want to be left out, you hear the other's stories and you see their pictures and I started diving in Belgium too :).
So basically it's all Jan's fault ;).
3. What is your vacation spot and why?
First of all it is a very sunny place. Temperatures around 30°C. It has a long sandy beach with palm trees and some beach shacks that offer nice cool drinks served by gorgeous tropical boys. Naturally there is a coral reef just a swim distance so you can scuba dive right from the beach.
At walking distance there's an old historic town with narrow little cobblestone streets, houses with curly iron balconies and a nice harbor full of little cafés and cosy excellent restaurants. Just outside there are still some archeological sites that you can visit and where the most spectacular mosaic floors of ancient villa's have been opened up.
Further inland there's a lovely countryside rising up into majestic mountains with spectacular sights and lovely waterfalls and little trails through the woods.
Ok if you tell me where this place is, I'll go and book it right away!
4. On your fries: mayo or stoofvlees?
Mayo!
And stoofvlees needs to be eaten with fries, but I don't throw all the stoofvlees on my fries as it makes them too soggy.
5. Imagine that historians have chosen you to leave a message that will be preserved in a time capsule for 1000 years. What would you want to say to those who will dig up the time capsule in 2109?
Never touch your eyes after you've just cut up a hot chili pepper
Do you want to get interviewed as well?
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me." (and make sure I have your e-mail address in that case)
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions).
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.
1. When you lived in Canada, what was the most difficult thing to adapt to, culturally?
The hardest thing was some black and white conservative thinking that clashed with mine. I did not know how to respond appropriately. It was hard to know where the boundary was to being critical and giving opposite arguments, to defending yourself and to criticising a different culture that you did not know well enough to judge.
I was confronted as a teenager with (young) people strongly believing in creationism when I wasn't even aware that the evolution theory wasn't accepted as a global truth. I was blamed being a bad Christian.
Coming from a school with some active Amnesty International student groups where we were all wearing badges "stop killing someone who has killed someone to show that killing people is wrong", I turned out to be the only one in a class debate willing to take the side against the death penalty.
I've heard remarks like "Oh the Swedisch are such immoral people, they go nude in unisex sauna's", I met people that homeschool their children because the public schools would be too immoral, I heard pretty nasty remarks about First Nation People etc...
Don't get me wrong, not all the Canadians that I've met share these thoughts at all! Quite on the contrary !! And some people that made some of these remarks turned out to be good friends after all. Yet each time it was a sort of shock to me to meet that many conservative people and to hear them express these thoughts. I suppose you inherit your parent's mindset as a child and it's quite likely their friends are similar-minded people. So somehow we all grow up fairly protected. Additionally you are very much sculptured by the culture you grow up in. Yet when going abroad as an exchange student you can't really choose your environment. So then sometimes the cultural differences hit harder. In most cases I avoided all discussions reminding myself to be thankfull for all opportunities and to be open-minded, but it was tough and with hindsight that might not have been always the best choice.
2. How did you become interested in diving?
Sssst I'm a mermaid but I'm incognito. Don't tell anyone.
No? you don't believe me?
Ok then, well in 2004 Jan decided he'd like to learn scuba diving on vacation. We both did a test dive but I didn't quite want to spend our week vacation on a boat. Jan totally loved it and I quickly realised that he would dive again on our next vacations. Since I didn't want to be a diving widow on the beach (and since I did enjoy that test dive)...I took my course on our next vacation. Now we could dive together.
I first had no interest to dive in Belgium as the colder water with low visibility didn't quite attract me. But when Jan joined the local dive club and often went on dives in the weekend, I thought it would be good for me to join the training sessions as well. And then in the end you don't want to be left out, you hear the other's stories and you see their pictures and I started diving in Belgium too :).
So basically it's all Jan's fault ;).
3. What is your vacation spot and why?
First of all it is a very sunny place. Temperatures around 30°C. It has a long sandy beach with palm trees and some beach shacks that offer nice cool drinks served by gorgeous tropical boys. Naturally there is a coral reef just a swim distance so you can scuba dive right from the beach.
At walking distance there's an old historic town with narrow little cobblestone streets, houses with curly iron balconies and a nice harbor full of little cafés and cosy excellent restaurants. Just outside there are still some archeological sites that you can visit and where the most spectacular mosaic floors of ancient villa's have been opened up.
Further inland there's a lovely countryside rising up into majestic mountains with spectacular sights and lovely waterfalls and little trails through the woods.
Ok if you tell me where this place is, I'll go and book it right away!
4. On your fries: mayo or stoofvlees?
Mayo!
And stoofvlees needs to be eaten with fries, but I don't throw all the stoofvlees on my fries as it makes them too soggy.
5. Imagine that historians have chosen you to leave a message that will be preserved in a time capsule for 1000 years. What would you want to say to those who will dig up the time capsule in 2109?
Never touch your eyes after you've just cut up a hot chili pepper
Do you want to get interviewed as well?
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me." (and make sure I have your e-mail address in that case)
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions).
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.
Comments
I never realized Canadians could be as scarily religious as Americans :p
Fascinating answers. I didn't realize that you did your exchange in the Canadian part of Michigan (joke).