My First Frustrations: 12/10/08

I have to say it's been increasingly difficult to sit here during this historic time in American politics and not be able to do much. I'm a very avid Obama supporter and it pretty much sucks to be here while my friends back home are out campaigning and protesting and signing up new voters. Before I left, the advisors back home warned us to make sure we knew what was going on around the world or at least in the US because, "be assured, they'll ask you about it". I've been pretty informed with current events for quite awhile, so I just tried extra hard. But so far I'm completely disappointed. From my encounters, many Irish students are pretty unaware of any events other than catastrophic ones. They do, however, have a major interest in the American culture, from our celebrities to our healthcare system (or lack thereof). It seems that way for a few reasons: 1. Most of the students want to study or work in the US at some point in their lives and 2. They believe that the United States holds more answers than it really does. In general, they are just really interested in the US. Without a doubt, they do know their history though! That's actually a big problem here because it makes moving on from their past conflicts and just starting over very difficult when people still feel so personally involved with happenings of hundreds of years ago. Anyways, these are all generalizations so don't be offended! I just wish I could continue to be involved firsthand in the election which is hard to do here when people are either ill-informed, impartial, or feel completely unaffected by change...

Another aspect I've been incredibly frustrated with is the "island" mindset. None of the students I live near recycle. Few attempt to conserve energy. Half of the garbage is recyclables (even though I leave bags next to the garbage for them, don't worry, I dig them out); lights are constantly left on overnight. Most discussions I've had with people about climate change leads to their sarcasm ("Oh yea, we're supposed to be 'green' now, right?") or their jokes ("Wow, you're one of those hippy tree-hugger people!"). They ask why I care so much when it "really won't make a difference" and it's nearly impossible to change their minds. The city/university doesn't make it any easier. Garbage cans are plentifully found but I've yet to see a place for recyclables on a street. I also haven't found a single place that accepts paper to be recycled. I'm still searching though. The silver lining of this sort of lack of sustainable ways is that it inspires me to continually do something about it. Wish me luck.