#globalperspectives

It's been a month of being in an environment where my educational background actually matters (I mean it's always mattered but here "Tell me about yourself" really isn't about me trying to complete my language bucketlist. I'm learning every time I meet a new person to respond to the question, "What is your background?") And I've noticed a trend in reactions from Europeans when I talk about my college experience. "Oh, so you have that American liberal arts thing" (paraphrased). This is a shocking revelation, because up until now, I thought a liberal arts degree was a good thing. Well, except that one time the receptionist at the Ministry of Water in Nairobi laughed out loud when I told her what I was studying.

I don't know why I am surprised that Europeans, Germans especially, would disapprove of my American education. I mean, it's not like I've been listening to two hours of a Freakonomics podcast about whether college (implied, in the United States) is worth it.

*****

Updates: I moved to Laos for a fellowship with an environmental conservation organisation. I had to make a career move. Here's a link to my blog while I'm in Laos. I'll still maintain this one about career/growing-up angst -- which is separate from traveling to another country and experiencing a different life for a year... or is it? :)

Wow.

I had one of those moments in which you realise you can't simply talk about all the things you wanna be when you grow up, instead you actually have to take steps toward that thing. Why does this leave me feeling surprised (and maybe a little overwhelmed)?

In what you are doing right now, I am curious, at what point did you realise it was more than talking about what you wanted to do in 20 years, 10 years or 5 months and instead that there were/are other actions involved with getting you where you want to be? Has there ever been a need for that realisation?

Recycled | "You Speak Good English" and Why I Should Take it as a Compliment.

I wrote this in September of 2011. Recent events have brought it back to memory, and I decided to edit it a little and post it here.

"You speak good English!"

Someone paid me this "compliment" in the middle of a conversation earlier this week. I understand that she meant it as a good thing, something that would lead up to other good things as concerns my trying to learn other languages, so I'm not particularly holding her to fault. But at the same time, immediately she said it I could hardly wait for her to get to a pause so that I could clue her in.

"No, I don't remember the first time I heard someone speak English."
"We speak English in Kenya. No, not as a second language. Many people are bilingual (and tri-lingual, etc) and if they aren't, it's because they speak too much English."

Yes, she hit a raw nerve. There are so many times I've heard:

"You came to the US in 2008? But your English is so good!"

To be fair, it doesn't always come from the stereotypical ignorant American. That last quote was from a Peruvian cab driver.

I was watching the Hague proceedings this morning. There were all manner of nationalities represented. French, German, British and US were just the ones that stuck in my mind. These are relevant because while I was watching, I thought, "Uh, she has good English" and "Oh, his English is not so good."

How do we judge "good" English? Is it vocabulary? Diction? Fluency? Is my English "good" when I use fifteen-letter words in place of five-letter words? Is my English "good" if I don't roll my R's? Is my English "good" when, even though it has one accent or another, it's my first language? Is it fair to misjudge the German judge (ha!) by his fluency and diction when his vocabulary is bigger than I can imagine?

I once joined a Facebook group, "I judge you when you use poor grammar," because I do, or used to. My feelings toward the group changed a little when I learned that because I have an unfamiliar accent, people are inclined to immediately shut out what I am saying. It sucks when you can see it in their eyes, too. It's as if the lights went out, and there's no one home anymore. It's as though, by virtue of having an accent, no one waits to find out if my grammar is on point -- it was drummed into me for 12+ years of school, it better be! And more importantly, they immediately assume that they will not understand me. Or I'm just about to ask for something that's so culture-specific, they are sure they don't have it at their store or whatever. Basically, I am judged, and dismissed, by my accent.

Back to the point, why I should take it as a compliment. In China, in Japan, in France, in Germany, in Spain, in Mali, in Senegal, in Brazil, in Peru, and all manner of non-Anglophone countries around the globe, the economy, the school system, life, everything - or almost everything - runs without the need for English. While in Kenya, that you don't speak English implies that you didn't go to school -- because that's the language of instruction -- and hints at you being illiterate, it is hardly the case in any of the other countries I mentioned before. So when someone says, "Oh. You're English is so good!" it doesn't always mean, "Oh, you are not as dumb as I thought!" Though it might. It's more a recognition of "Oh, look at you! You have such a good grasp of this language for which I assume, aside from speaking with me right now and your school work, you have no use." Which has its own world of implications.

Next time someone tells me I speak good English, I'll take it as a compliment because they imagine -- with some valid although inapplicable evidence -- that up until 3 years ago, I had no use for the language. And consequently, they imply that I can get by (fully) on Kiswahili or Luo. They assume that I could comfortably read a book in Kiswahili, or that my mum and I converse in Luo, or that at a funeral, I don't have a 9-year old translating what the preacher is saying. All good things of which English has gotten in the way. Yes, next time someone tells me my English is good, I'll smile before I add:

"I wish I could say the same for my mother tongue other languages."

Year 5

May 12, 2013

365 days to the date since I received my college diploma.

"I confer the degree of bachelor of [Arts] and be admitted into the company of educated men and women."

I've spent the past week trying to remember what I did during my last week as an undergrad. Everything is a blur except graduation day and the day before it. Oh, and the day after graduation is surprisingly vivid given that I hadn't sleep at all between the morning of May 12, 2012 and the evening of May 13th, 2012.

I've been listening to St. Louis' Wild 104.9 because the last half of the semester has been spent getting to know the people that I call my friends, and many of those moments we shared together have been underscored by pop music. For the next few months poppy music is going to be very sentimental.

I have worked in the same office, with mostly the same people for the last five years. Everything I know about writing, and especially about revising and editing, I owe to these people. This also includes most of what I know about baking from scratch, smiling through the worst of days, being an individual part of a team, and creating a family among your colleagues. :) (PS: That means that all grammar mistakes I ever make are not because I did not have a strong team teaching me better.)

It's interesting that I have grown to love the greater St. Louis area more in the last 9 months than in the four years before it. More interesting is how much I will miss this city. I spent four years trying to get out, and now I'm all sad and mushy about it. I look forward to being back.

365 days after graduation. I have learned, and I have grown. I made a few mistakes, and built stronger relationships. I failed some, and I won some more. Here's to the hopefulness of summer, and to another year as a post-grad.

xoxo

My Happy List

I've been inspired by this video to make a happy list.



Here go a few that I can think about right now.

1. The perfect scoop of vanilla ice cream and crunchy cone on a chill Sunday afternoon
2. Pandora playing Macklemore's "Thrift shop" while I'm at Goodwill on the day that I committed to spend 20 bucks and only 20 bucks.
3. Listening to people talk about the things they love.
4. Taking a tangent on Whatsapp and ending up at a deep convo and then going back to cat video commentary.

Happy New Month/I'm Going to Be Funny

It’s new month resolution time -- albeit seven days late. This month, I am making a conscious effort to be funny. If not funny, engaging. Yes, the space in my head where I spend most of my time is all-accepting and unconditionally-loving. Everything I say up there (i.e. think) is acceptable and patiently dissected for maximum understanding. But if I’m going to share that stuff with you and expect you to engage with it, I have to make it worth your while, yes? Glad, that’s settled. :) Cheers to conscious efforts!

In unrelated news, it's been three days since the general election and Kenyans still do not have a new president. Oh, the wonders of the democratic process!

My Undergrad Regrets

Alright, now that that piece of mind-blowing advice is out of the way, I have to say that there are many things that I wish I did differently in college. I’ve found myself going over them more and more these last few weeks. And as much as I recognize that there's no good that can come out of reliving the past, I would like to note a few of these lessons in the off chance that someone who’s about to go to college will see this -- or even for my future self if ever I’m trying to repeat past mistakes.

1. I wish I dived right in.
I tend to be a cautious person, and I like to weigh my environment. Before jumping right into things, I need to study people, figure out their story, know how well we work together and what not. I don’t think this is necessarily a bad habit to have but I have a tendency to spend too much time on this part of the process and let myself be in the shadows too much -- the problem? I let too many opportunities pass me by! So anyway, for future me, it’s good to get to know the kind of people you have around you, but it’s great of you get more involved with things.

2. I wish I went on an abroad.
This is probably my biggest regret, and it kinda ties in with #1. I was so scared about how to set up an abroad (how complicated the visa process might have been for an international student, for example), that I never even tried to submit an application. During my four years, there have been abroads to New Zealand, Peru, Brazil, Japan, Nepal, India... Given how much I am dying to have someone stamp my passport right now, I think these would have been great opportunities. Additionally, they would have all been such enriching experiences -- but yeah, I let them slide. So for future reference, I’m looking for any loophole I can find to get myself onto a plane and across a border. For anyone in school, being a student is one of the best excuses that embassy officials take. I learned this too late.

3. Be less afraid.
The biggest reason behind why I didn’t do things in this list is fear. I was scared of coming across as pushy. I was scared of not being able to see my abroad plans through. I was/am scared of meeting new people, or scared of people in general. I was scared to switch to my second major sooner. There have been lots of times that fear held me back. Going forward, I'll keep that fear impulse in check.

4. Realize that I can begin anywhere.
After realizing all the chances I’d blown by being afraid I spun myself into a spiral of I wish I did this better without actually doing anything about it. But the awesome thing about life is that you can begin anywhere. There’s no set time to do something even though that’s what we are told. Want to learn a new language but you aren’t seven anymore? Who cares?! Wish you made better choices with you majors? What skills have you learned from your other majors that you can apply to a life with your new academic interests? Find them and apply them! (This is directed at me personally) Wish you were more open to people around you? Hey, are there not people around you right now??! And so on and so forth -- basically, you wanted to do it then, what can you do now to get you there? Okay, now go and do it!

5. I wish I sought more help.
Given that my undergrad transcript is set already, this final one may be a sailed ship. It might help somebody though. I wish I made more use of the resources available to me. Why? I sit at my office for four hours each day twiddling my thumbs waiting for someone to come and ask me for help with a paper or chat about ideas for a paper. And you know what? Not too many people do. Once in a while a professor will suggest that students come and see me and then they will. See, if this is how teachers/professors and writing tutors spend their days, i.e. longing to help anyone who seeks it, I should have been more willing to ask my professors questions after class or talk with tutors. Since I plan on going to grad-school, I need to remember this feeling and tap into it. For anyone still in school, seriously, people are paid to be there for you. Actually, it’s your money, make the most of it! (But also don’t be rude about it.)

I think that’s everything that covers my undergrad experience. Eventually I'll write up the things I definitely wouldn't wish to have done differently.

Do you have any regrets lessons to add to this list? Would love to hear them.

A Whole New World

I've been listening to a lot of Disney lately. Every once in a while I need to silence the outside world and focus on the task at hand and days like these I listen either to rap a la this, or to Disney sing-alongs a la this.

The thing that I am learning now, listening to music that I did when I was five, six, seven and what not, is how much the themes of cartoons match my life! As someone who's had to defend my cartoon-watching in adulthood on numerous occasions, I didn't expect to identify with cartoon characters beyond entertainment.

Let's take Pocahontas, for example.



To be safe, we lose our chance of ever knowing
What's around the river bend
Waiting for us just around the river bend
...

Why do all my dreams extend
Just around the river bend?
...

Should I chose the smoothest course,
Steady as the beating drum?
Should I marry Kocoum?
Is all my dreaming at an end?
Or do you still wait for me,
Dream Giver,
Just around the river bend?

Quarter-life crisis, anyone?

I'd argue that to fully understand Pocahontas, you need to have graduated and taken a gap year so that all your friends essentially get a head-start. Then you'll need to figure out whether to apply for a job, go try your luck getting a job in Kenya, or maybe some other country where you know no one, or take the "safer" option of applying to grad school, in which you have to figure out, which grad program matches your interests, what your interests actually are, where your best chances of being accepted lie... And so on and so forth. And this is as a single person, because if you are married you have to figure out whether or not the relocation is an option -- how good are job/grad school prospects in your vicinity? If you are in a serious relationship/heading toward marriage then you have to question if the decision will affect that... sigh.

What I have learned while watching Disney, which I'd essentially forgotten, is that these lyrics, these stories are written by grown ups, who've probably experienced this at some point in their life. They aren't written by kids, so I shouldn't be surprised at how much I identify with my favorite Disney characters. And Pocahontas was just a start.

Bonus: I think I played the song a little too loudly. I can hear my neighbour whistling it in the hallway.

On the rare occassion that my politicians make me feel proud to be Kenyan...

I figure if I'm going to whine about our politicians being useless, I definitely ought to give credit where it's due, right? This post is a follow up of this one in which I urged all my US citizen friends to go out and vote. I also called Kenyan members of parliament pigs -- this is the part that I would like to follow up today.

On February 11, 2013, Kenya held its first presidential debate. Now, I'll admit that I was not planning on watching this for a number of reasons:

a) I have felt an increasing amount of apathy since the fateful day I called the Kenyan Embassy in DC to inquire about diaspora voter registration and was directed to a Facebook page "for more information."

b) The whole presidential debate thing felt like a sham. Politically, we have a tendency to ape the United States, whether or not it is applicable in our country. This felt like it would result in a poorly-executed, half-thought-through event.

c) Six candidates were set to be on the podium! And then by the morning of, Kenyan time, two candidates who'd taken to court over being excluded were added to the line-up. Eight politicians! Yeah, I figured I had better things to do.

Thankfully, I was guilt-tripped into watching it. More like, I felt ashamed to allow such a momentous political circus pass me by.

Now, I would like to go on and on about what went on, what points were handled, and which were ignored, maybe even hand out a score card to the politicians. But I would also like to keep this short. (You can watch a video of the debates here, here's Gado's impression of the debates, and this is what The Standard had to say.)

Here is why I was happy with the production.

1. Linus Kaikai. The man was a star! He was obviously paying attention during the US presidential debates. Many of the complaints about the moderators of the US presidential debates revolved around them either not doing their job, or doing it too well in favor of one candidate. Not this man! He was strict with the timekeeping -- when time was up, time was up! He asked the right questions, kept the candidates on track, followed up with more questions when they tried to wiggle themselves out of it. He knew he had a job to do and he had come to do it.

2. The candidates were respectful to each other. With 8 politicians on stage, I was convinced that no one would be able to get two words in. No such thing! People spoke in turn and candidates were very respectful of each other. Even though she was the only female candidate, Martha Karua received the respect due to her. I am so proud of my politicians!

3. People talked issues! One of my biggest grievances about Kenyan politics is its emphasis on regional politics and party affiliations. There was some of that, but they did a better job than usual of focusing on ideology. Perhaps the pressure of national viewership and the need to impress donors (I'm sure there was a little bit of that) forced the candidates to do their homework. Everyone brought their A-Game. Even Dida, who progressively made himself the clown of the act had valid points to bring to the table.

I came out of that session feeling extremely proud of Kenya. I know I definitely was not the only one!

I thought I was the only one who felt peculiarly excited & proud of this country after the debate. I'm glad I have company. #KEDebate13
— Mugambi Nthiga (@ItsMugambi) February 11, 2013

So, do you guys think that this feeling will last us a month, and maybe beyond the elections?

For The Day I Move into My Own Apartment...

Now that I've graduated and I'm trying to figure out what next, the thing I envy most about being settled down is the ability to decorate my place as I would like it. A little paint here, a framed picture there. I find myself looking more and more lustfully at interior design magazines and tumblrs. I'm calling this part of  my life the research phase since I am internalizing all the information on the internet for future use. Yaaay!

Here's a post about a room I crave. Somewhere deep down, I'm a minimalist -- deep, deep down. I tend to be a little cluttered -- but Einstein's desk was a little cluttered too so... *shrug*. In a way, I see the appeal of minimalism as having something to do with my half-buried desire to be a better neater person. How else would you explain my being cluttered but loving that clean, free look?

Recently, I came across the very simple-looking bathroom of writer/stylist/social media manager Samantha Hutchinson. As far as I can tell, from the little that she showed, it's all monochrome with a splash of pink. Perfect! Her blog is aptly named Could I Have That. I stole some of her pictures to show them on here. I particularly adore the black and white rug.


 

Finally, happy new month! January feels like it's dragged on for ages! But I'm not particularly complaining. I tried to put the extra 60 days of January into good use.