I Guess I Have To Work Harder!

According to the University of Alberta Express News, students will be expecting a tuition hike of 4.6 percent and another 8.75 percent if you live on campus. This has all been approved by Alberta`s board of governors. So, let’s do the math here, my tuition for winter of 2010 was about 3000 dollars. Now, working 5 days a week at 10 dollars an hour for 8 hours a day during the 4 months that I get off equals about 6400 dollars. Usually, that is a perfect amount so that my tuition and spending money balance out quite evenly. Now with the tuition hikes, the article states that tuition just for general arts and science will average about 4900 dollars. I doubt that I will make exactly 6400 dollars over the summer, but being optimistic and saying that I will means that I will be left with 1500 dollars minus about 500 dollars for books which equals 1000 dollars. That leaves me with an optimistic 1000 dollars. That means I have done nothing over my break except work. Honestly, who can resist not having any fun over the break. I would like to do something fun with my spare time and let’s face it, most fun things cost money; I guess I will be working a lot harder this summer. Let’s not even consider living on campus, I do not know how those people do it. As far as loans are concerned, I’m sure my parents would help me out instead of having a loan but I would still have to pay them back and that is just another burden that I have to carry around. I understand that people need to be paid and renovations need to be done and when times change so does the value of money, but there must be something to help with our tuition problems. I just haven’t found it yet.

The Tenant: Whats With The Ending??

I believe the ending reflects what Maya made clear in the beginning of the short story. Maya says early on that “all Indian men are wife-beaters.” This can also mean that she believes Indian men are controlling as well. Ashoke Mehta may have been a controlling, persuasive individual who was able to take complete control of Maya. When Ashoke says that he was honest with Maya, she is breathless. This could mean that she is stunned or maybe there was something said that we do not know or perhaps she really does like this guy. I believe that this guy is a real control freak because he does not ask if Maya wants to go to Hartford, he almost expects that she will go. It strikes me as odd that Ashoke is not married even when his description says that he is handsome, strong and a doctor. What surprises me even more is that he uses words like, “you ARE the one I’m looking for.” The use of the word ARE in his description shows that he truly is a controlling person. We know that Ashoke has been talking about himself a lot. This shows how controlling he is because he needs to be in command and at the center of attention. Even when he tells Maya to say a little about herself, he keeps control by asking her the questions instead of letting her speak for herself. This man is everything that Maya tried to avoid in the beginning but now she cannot avoid him.

Convent by Rukmini Bhaya Nair pg. 254

After reading the poem, I had to find out what the title Convent meant. I found out that the word Convent is a house or residence where religious people, mostly nuns live. Every stanza of the poem seems to contrast two ideas; this makes the poem very interesting to read. The first stanza shows how something so simple light candle light can burn with such color and light but the nun stays colorless (black and white) and lifeless. Stanza two describes how she lies above the trap of the world that is full of sin. Stanza two puts so much emphasis on the height to show that she is on a different level and almost closer to god than the others. Stanza three shows how prayer is supposed to be pure, however, it may not be as interesting in her mind. In the fourth and fifth stanza, it shows the nun staring down at the faces having fun and in contrast, the other nuns praying. At the end she finds herself wondering if being a nun is really for her.

I believe this poem describes the sacrifices one has to make to become a nun/priest. It shows that one will sometimes have urges to be like the others but in the back of their mind, they know that they have made a commitment. Sometimes the urges may be enough to start questioning their religion and start doubting the practice of prayer.

People should read this poem because for any religion, there are sacrifices and traditions that individuals have to make and sometimes people can get fed up with these sacrifices and traditions and start to doubt them and maybe not do them.

Canada Hosting the Olympics Eh!!

Okay, so we may not be the best, but we try our hardest every time. Sure it is expensive to put on an event like this but why not? When people think of Canada, they automatically think winter, so I think Canada is a good stomping ground for the winter Olympics. With such a small population in comparison with the size of our country, it is hard to think that we will ever be on top, but I believe that all Canadians just like to see our team do the best they can and show off our pride for our country. That is what makes us different from the competitors. Although this event cost quite an extreme amount of money, at least people will know that we are not just some country that lives in igloos and rides there dog sled team to school every day. We will be more recognized, mainly by the Americans, as a country with lots of history, achievement, and pride. I think that everyone’s goal when in any competition is to be first, it just adds more excitement and intensity to the game. The Winter Olympics will come again four years from now. It will be hosted in another country and I am sure the same emphasis on winning and the same issue of money will be present. So, why worry? It should be a privilege that Canada was able to host the winter Olympics for the third time.

A Mothers Touch

http://www.idiva.com/bin/idiva/Dealing-with-a-monster-in-law

First off, I think it is very different but quite entertaining that the Times of India news paper has a section about women. We will probably never see a section like this in the Edmonton Journal or Sun, but in India they seem to be more open about the topics dealing with almost anything that has to do with women.

The article that I considered most interesting was “Dealing With a Monster-in-law!” I found myself wondering how many Indian Mother-in-laws would be offended by this; I know my mother would be. Even though my mother is not Indian, I am sure she can relate due to the fact that she is Italian. She would probably qualify as a monster-in-law if I was married because even at the age of 18 I still have the feeling that she sometimes babies me which could probably be the reason why Italian children stay at home until we are 40.

I think the article does a good job of showing how protective a mom can be of their son. I like how the Indian society, much like the Italian society, centers on food much of the time. Nobody knows a man’s favourite dish like his mother, but I think the strategies that are provided for the wife, girlfriend, or significant other are good and quite humorous ways to deal with the situation.

The humour and overall entertaining sections of the Times of India is what really lacks in Edmonton’s journals. I am glad that India can have fun with the news while still being able to relay the important information. I am also glad that the Indian society has a good attitude about all of this as well because my mother would probably be phoning the editor if she ever stumbled across an article like that. I loved how they were even able to capture some of how my mom can be in this article. The article states best that nothing is done right unless she (a son’s mother, mother-in-law) has done it, and I’m sure most mama's boys and wives would agree.

Monsoon Wedding

Monsoon Wedding really opened my eyes to Indian culture. I had no idea that Indian marriage consisted of so many customs. Lalit showed me how stressful a time like this can be with all the preparation that must be done in advance. My first time watching the film, I found the movie very fast paced, making it sometimes hard for me to keep track of what was going on. I enjoyed the fact that the movie was not a typical love at first site romance, but I do not think there was love between Aditi and Hemant in the first place. The ceremony was very beautiful, everything except the rain seemed to go as planned, but how can two individuals be forced together and be expected to love each other? I understand that it is tradition to be sent away to the groom but there is no way that I could live with a person and be separated from my family by an entire continent. It just seems like neither the bride nor groom had much say in the whole marriage. This film makes me wonder what would have gone differently if there was more freedom given to the actual couple getting married. Despite my dilemma about arranged marriages, I did enjoy all the colors that seemed so significant to the marriage. The bright orange flowers and the color orange in general stuck in my head the most and seemed to be the most important color throughout the film.

If I could have the ideal wedding, it would defiantly be colourful and massive with marching bands and more food than everyone’s stomach could possibly contain, but it would never be arranged. While it may give my parents a heart attack being that they are very strict on traditional North American weddings, I would not mind a little change.

Kumbh Mela

Although I am always willing to try new things, whatever they are, I would not be easily persuaded in taking the forty five day pilgrimage to bathe in the Ganges. According to wikipedia, in 2001 a record breaking 60 million people bathed in the river. Even though the Ganges is considered one of the holiest Indian rivers, I would not be at ease knowing that it is also one of the most polluted. It is stated on worldfocus.com that the Ganges river has been polluted with harmful chemicals, human bodily fluids, and even the dead bodies themselves. I myself would not partake in the whole adventure but I do think it would be quite an experience. I love knowing that there are so many dedicated and religious people that would be willing to take on this sacred trip, however, I am very mournful of the people that are killed or injured during the process. During 2003, 39 individuals were killed and another 57 were injured. Despite all of the evidence gearing away from the great pilgrimage, it is good to know that the Hindu people will not change their religion or tradition just because of the records. It is good to know that in a society where many individuals put aside religion, the Hindus of India still seem to keep their faith alive.

HELLO

YAA!! MY VERY FIRST BLOGG!!!