The Ever-Spinning Globe

An upper view of the Heroy Geology Building lobby featuring my favorite globe
Photo Credits: The Daily Orange

I am sitting in the atrium of Heroy Geology Building, just staring at the ginormous globe that spins over the entranceway. It keeps spinning around and around and never ceases, just as our world does. Although this building mainly holds science classes, my Intro to International Relations course was taught in this very building, and has been, as my professor stated, for 14 years. So to most entering the building, the Earth spinning above might have had some sustainability or science context, whereas every time I looked up at it, I saw international relations. I saw different countries interacting, trading, warring, and more. This globe symbolized to me what I wanted to do, even though this figure is in the context of an earth science building.

Many a time did I sit here my first semester of college reviewing for International Relations quizzes, looking over my notes frantically as I saw other members of my class doing the same in different parts of this lobby. I can see it as if it was yesterday. The globe was spinning then too.

Right now, on a Thursday evening, there is no one but myself in the lobby. The globe spinning is so much louder than I recall. It is roaring like a plane engine. It is not usually heard this prominently during the bustle of the day. The comfy chairs in the corner are unoccupied for once. There are only four, and sometimes I would close my eyes before class while sitting there to recharge. It is a victory if you can snag one of those. If not, you had to sit on one of the benches I am sitting on right now, with weird slates on them. I have a better view of the globe this way though, which truly is a mesmerizing sight.

I never noticed before the texture of the floor. The tiles look imprinted and very earthy. It looks like a plant got fossilized in these tiles many years ago. It looks intriguing and very whimsical. The tiles themselves look cool and are a shade of black that does not look uninviting, but creates an edgy vibe.

There are also displays in the lobby that are unnoticed by the general masses. There are a few cases of rocks and some fossil displays near the windows. They are tucked away in another corner, out of the line of traffic. Only if you really look or spend some time in there do you notice them. I remember glancing at the displays once and not understanding any of the words written on the labels.

One of the things I love is that the whole lobby is window walls, almost as if it is encased in. I can see the Dome, Crouse, Maxwell, Hendricks, the old law building, and more from this one lobby. This also allows for natural light. I remember when I had a different class here at night, this was always a wake-up call for how dark it became in just the span of 55 minutes. I was able to see the days getting shorter just by how every class, it was darker and darker afterwards.

Upon looking more closely at the globe, I notice it is not like a normal globe. There are no inscriptions of cities or country boundaries. This is purely a scientific globe, including clouds, topographical sights, and latitudinal and longitudinal lines. Hmm, I have never noticed that before. I wonder how many have.

It Just Takes Time

I wholeheartedly agree with Mark Twain’s ideas of societal conformity in his essay, “Corne-Pone Opinions.” There are so many facets of society that have started with much scrutiny, but with time have earned a place, which he discusses using the example of the hoopskirt. It takes time for people to accept new things, but almost always they eventually come around. I think this is because people generally do not like change.

Change is scary and unknown. Change adds a new factor into the mix that people then must deal with. Change takes extra effort and inconvenience. I believe this is why at first, a new part of society is met with opposition, but once discovered that it is here to stay, people adapt. And the more exposure, the more likely one is to jump on the bandwagon.

We could use America as an example. England did not want its colonies to separate from the motherland and was willing to fight a war to prevent this change. But this change happened despite all of the odds, and America was born. Although England was unpleased after the fact, it did eventually recognize the United States and is now its closest and most reliable ally in the world. The hard feelings went away with time and it  accepted that America was never going to be a colony again.

In more recent history, the idea of Botox and plastic surgery used to bring an overall sense of disgust. Now, these body modifications are met with little surprise, especially among celebrities, and maybe even discussed with some sort of justification as well. Even the idea of “twerking,” which initially caused horror, and I think it still does for some, nevertheless became a party staple and skill to be proud of. My point is, once something is no longer “different” or “new,” the stagnancy against it will be less forceful.

Mark Twain has not been alive for over 100 years, but his ideas of society are still relevant to this day. I think this goes to show that although people change, the ways of society often do not. It will be interesting to see in another 100 years if these ideas will continue to be true.

Pictures: An Extension of Memory

In one of my previous posts, “We’re the Kids of the Future?” I strongly dismissed Generation Y’s (aka MY generation) dependence on technology and social media. I also discussed how out-of-touch this generation is with reality and human interactions. Looking back, I may have been a little too harsh on this issue, but I have recently seen some of the good in this installment in society.

Last week, I was scrolling through Facebook on a study break when I had this urge to look through pictures from my previously-mentioned trip to Turkey and Venice. Luckily for me, I had posted over 300 pictures from my trip on Facebook! As I was looking through the pictures from Venice specifically, I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful these pictures were. The sky and water looked so blue in every picture, and this coupled with the vibrant buildings and gondolas made for incredibly pleasing photos. And to think that I had just snapped these with my phone as we wandered around!

Just beautiful

Look at that sky

I even found pictures that truly captured the scene in Venice, such as the dozens of people and pigeons gathered in Saint Mark’s Square, the magnificent bridges connecting the city, and the regal buildings on every corner. I have to admit, after coming off of Istanbul— the most amazing and cultured city I have ever been in— the more commercial and touristy Venice almost paled in comparison. But looking back at these pictures, I had a huge appreciation for the beauty of the city and couldn’t believe how lucky I was to experience this. I felt so happy and warm inside as I recounted these wonderful memories of summer that I even sent a picture to my mom (who accompanied me on the trip) so she would be reminded as well.

St. Mark's Square in its glory

  

Rialto Bridge

Although it is annoying to see people take pictures of everything, in this moment I was  overjoyed to have such easy access to these pictures. They triggered fond memories from the trip as pictures often do. I am not in agreement with documenting every moment of life, because that is what your brain is for, but it is very nice to have reminders of the memory so the experience can be recalled so vividly.     So take pictures and record history, but don’t let it get in the way of living.

All photos taken by yours truly

Different Journeys, Different Observations

In her blog post “Real Life Muggles,” Leigh discussed the order and poise of the British population that she observed while studying abroad in London, especially on the subway. The title of this post is definitely what caught my eye, seeing as I am a humongous Harry Potter fan, and the post progressed into something I was not expecting. Leigh started with the portrayal of Muggles in the Harry Potter series as having “no individuality” or “personality” and through a very intriguing journey ended with the conclusion of Great Britain being poised and dignified as a country. I want to comment on this post in particular because my experience abroad was just the opposite.

Over the summer I lived in Istanbul, Turkey as part of Syracuse University study abroad program for three weeks. Although it is not as extensive as living in another land for a whole semester, in that little time I was able to observe many different aspects of Turkish culture. And while Leigh found British life to be more poised, reserved, and efficient than American, I found Turkish life to be more lax and chaotic.

For one, the traffic is life-threatening. Cars, taxis, busses, motorcycles, mopeds, you name it, zip down streets at unbelievable speeds, barely avoiding other vehicles or curbs. And the unwritten rule of yielding to pedestrians? Nonexistent. Pedestrians better watch out for themselves. The traffic gets backed up for miles, and forget trying to get an ambulance or police car through. On multiple occasions I saw ambulances with sirens blaring completely stopped because cars cannot / will not move out of the way. This was all so bizarre to me.

Another unique aspect of Turkish lifestyle is the wild animals. There are stray cats and dogs everywhere! Anywhere I walked, there were stray animals, on the sidewalk, at the university, at restaurants. I witnessed a few waiters throw cats out of patio-type restaurants as they had snuck under the tables. These are not like unfriendly stray animals in the United States; these animals will come right up to you and let you pet them. Peculiarly enough, the cats and dogs know exactly when to cross the street, even during what seems like a free-for-all.

One thing I very much enjoyed was the people. Turks are very friendly, nice, and chill. They are in no rush, especially at restaurants or stores. They want you to feel welcome. One time whilst buying grapes I was a half of a lira short, and the owner insisted on me taking the grapes without a second thought. A similar situation also happened when the apartment vending machine would not take my coins and a worker gave me his coins. Turks do not live in the dazed, hectic way that we do and really look out for others.

Upon being back, I do not miss the unevenly crafted sidewalks or the steep spiral staircases which made a klutz such as myself have several near-death encounters. I have come to appreciate the regulated and accountable way our society works, but there are times that I do miss the uncontrolled and spontaneous way of life which is characteristic of Turkey.

What are lanes? In Istanbul, Turkey

A picture I took near the university we attended

All It Takes Is One

I am in a very interesting course this semester titled “Politics of Iran.” Why did I take this course? I took it because I know very little about Iran. The whole place seemed like a mystery to me— it is rarely in the news nowadays and is a non-Arab, Shi’ite majority, oil-wielding theocracy. I honestly wondered why I knew so little, and why what I did know were only bad things. I realized soon after taking the course that there was a very pivotal moment in Iranian-U.S. history that changed relations between the two forever— The Iranian Hostage Crisis, where 52 Americans were kidnapped and held in Iran for over a year against their will. I owe my lack of knowledge of Iran to this event. This was completely outside of the boundaries of international relations and ever since, things have not been the same between the two countries. And this whole concept leads me to wonder how one event can completely change a person’s mindset and sense of trust.

It is almost the idea of planting the seed— once an idea is in someone’s mind, it is always there, even if it is just on the backburner. We see this same idea with 9/11 in the United States. Even though radical Islamic groups make up about 1% of the world’s Muslim population, Americans are still uneasy about the Islamic religion and its people more than 10 years later. And this engrained prejudice will probably remain this way for the generations who experienced this tragedy. It is amazing to me that I can witness how one event changed the view of many Americans towards a generally peaceful people.

I just wonder why these generalizations happen. We are scared of history repeating itself and we use one instance as a premise for everything else. I do not think the media helps either— the media dictates what we are informed and how this is presented. There are a lot of different ways that our perspectives are influenced.

All I ask is to think about things logically. The same people who captured Americans over 30 years ago in Tehran are not a portrayal of a whole country. All Muslims do not hate America and are violent. Just put things into context, and think about where this bias and mindset may come from. 

A normal day outside one of Iran's bazaars

Photo Credits