One of my favourite things about FutterBucket (you know what I mean), probably because so many of my FB friends are not from or living in New Zealand, is the exposure to their different physical, social and political environments of my friends. With my interest in international and comparative politics, my love of travelling, and my interest in (if not history in) living in other countries, I love this. I learn new things, or get exposed to new ideas and different perspectives, all of which make me think, simply by picking up my iPad.
It’s probably a good thing though that I am reasonably worldly, and understand that there is a lot more to their countries than what I see on FB. Because many of the articles or news reports my friends share about their countries are mind-boggling. Often of course, the precise reason these stories are posted on FB are because they are mind-boggling, because my friends begin to despair at the political climate of their country, or because they see bigotry and irrationality begin to take hold in policy-making and all they want to do is rail against this. I get that. But every so often, I have to laugh at the impression they’re giving of their particular countries. (Probably one of them is yours!) I have to say that I feel grateful you don’t see the same number of items about New Zealand. Though I am aware that too often the things that might get reported about my country in yours are also going to be the weird and wacky more often than the wonderful. I thought I’d talk about just a few things that have struck me recently:
- A comment made in a discussion that “libraries are my favourite thing about America.” Libraries are just one of my favourite things. After all, most countries have them. So it made me curious why this person felt it was necessary to add the “about America” proviso, given that no-one in the discussion was talking about other countries’ libraries.
- A discussion about dress codes at school showed completely different opinions between those in countries who had dress codes, and those who didn’t, and a certain unwillingness to consider each other’s position. The different perspectives made me think.
- My mind boggles at the influence of religion on everyday lives in other countries … okay, if I’m honest, in one country in particular.
- A friend commented how much she wished she had democracy in her country. It made me realise that, despite all the flaws of our political systems, we are in fact very lucky. Though it also made me think about the flaws in all our versions of democracy too.
- Different experiences of food – separate discussions about tacos, mooncakes, and macaroni and cheese made for a multicultural virtual meal.
- So much snow. Who would live in such cold places? But then my niece posts about the heat in her desert in Australia, or my sister-in-law in the Middle East. A reminder we don’t all live in temperate climes with relatively easier lives.
- The wildlife photos fascinate me, perhaps because we have a lot of birds here, but not a lot of wildlife. Photographs of deer (fawns, in fact) in the back yard made me intensely jealous.
- Less so the post that read simply, “Skunk!” The discussion that followed fascinated me. I used to see skunks on US TV programmes when I was young. I forgot they could be an everyday part of life for people I know. And I still wonder what they smell like.
I find it interesting too — love being able to read articles from newspapers from all over the world, and learning a bit about the culture and politics of different places (even within my own country!).
Re: skunks — believe me, you don’t want to find out what they smell like, lol. We’ve had them a couple of times hanging around our house at night — I couldn’t see them, but boy, I could smell them, even inside with the doors & windows closed. Often, if I turn on the porch lights, they’ll go away, thankfully. There was one night a few years ago the smell actually woke me up, it was so strong. I actually got up & searched the house, in case it had somehow gotten in through the dryer vent or something! And when we got home that night, we could STILL smell it. And of course, that was the night my visiting aunts & cousin were coming over for coffee (!!). We opened all the windows & turned on the ceiling fans & thankfully it dissipated somewhat by the time they came. My cousin told some funny stories about his dog’s encounters with skunks over the years, and we actually had a good laugh about it.
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Well said!
And yes, be glad you don’t live around skunks!!!
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I love this post. And I love thinking about not knowing what skunk smells like.
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We have deer, raccoons, groundhogs, coyotes, foxes, and a whole lot of birds wandering through my suburban back yard. We also have lizards and snakes, and in sring and summer, I will generally encounter several toads on my early morning walks. Not too many skunks hhere, but you only need to smell one onxe to be satisfied that you never want to smell it again!
I thought religion was supposed to be a private thing, but lately, that is not the case here. Unfortunately, the atheists are often as bad as the believers about proselytizing, so there’s no escape. 😦
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