Russia not immune to the crisis

"We are not afraid of the financial crisis, are we?" asked the showman at a club in St. Petersburg, Russia, one November night. "Ne-e-et," responded the young crowd and continued swaying to the techno music.

Although the global economic recession causes morbid consequences to the rest of the world, it prompted Russians to invent new, themed jokes and have a nice laugh over the crisis together. During my fall 2008 study abroad semester in St. Petersburg, I encountered widespread media banter about the economic recession that ridiculed investment bankers and made fun of the whole industry. Still, the majority of the Russian people remained indifferent toward news about the economic downfall. It seemed like they were immune to it.




However, Russia is impacted by the recession and to a great extent. "In the current crisis, Russia is confronting virtually all the negatives at once-sharply declining export earnings from energy and metals, over-leveraged corporate balance sheets and a chorus of bailout appeals, a credit crunch and banking failures, a bursting real-estate bubble and mortgage defaults, accelerating capital flight, and unavoidable pressures for devaluation," Stephen Sestanovich, a George F. Kennan Senior Fellow for Russian and Eurasian Studies, writes for the Council on Foreign Relations. Continue reading

The Mount Holyoke News

Where the chalk-faced children play

Tonight I was reading Charles Edward Russell's article The Tenements of Trinity Church and I encountered the wording "where the chalk-faced children play." I stopped reading, looked away from my monitor and thought about how much I miss seeing chalk-faced children play.

The first thing I do in the morning after my bathroom visit is turn on my lap top. Whether I need to check the weather forecast, play a song that has been stuck in my head or respond to an urgent e-mail, I reach for the Acer. Then, the rest of the day is almost entirely spent on Gmail. The scariest part of all, however, is that my current lifestyle serves as an example for the lives of most of my friends, fellow students and, surely, millions of young people worldwide. Where can I see chalk-faced children play?

I was happy with my childhood spent playing hide and seek in the neighborhood or domino on the beach. I have stored these memories in my mind and enjoy returning to them, idealizing them and putting them away as washed linens to be used in the future by someone dear. But what if the time comes when no one uses linens any more?

Recently I talked with a friend about the correlation between technological innovation and human happiness. I argued that my childhood wouldn't have been truly happy if I had spent it in front of a computer monitor instead of outside in the street. My friend, however, pointed out that modern social needs determine happiness in our childhood activities. So, if the society you live in holds certain values and skills as valuable, you want to capture them and you surely don't think you are missing out on other distractions. For instance, I certainly never thought I was missing out on travel opportunities because I had never left Bulgaria before the age of 18.

Even though I find my friend's argument logical, I cannot help but put away another set of clean linens in a back drawer of my memory. Tonight I am storing the image of chalk-faced children playing.

Valentine to my grandfather

When Danielle, my French-Canadian roommate from college, came to visit me in Bulgaria for the winter holidays, I took her to the countryside to visit the village where my grandfather lives. He was excited to meet "a real American." As soon as we got off my father's white van to enter the house backyard, my grandfather approached Danielle with shaking hands, hugged her with a wide smile and kept petting her on the shoulder.

This scene well epitomizes my grandfather's character. He, like many old people in Bulgaria, does not believe in personal space and life without spontaneous affection. He, unlike many old people in Bulgaria, does not understand village gossip or intrusion in the family matters of other people. I would like to think that I inherited these traits from him.

My grandfather loves talking to his domestic animals. He tends to choose hard topics, too. Born in 1923, he feels especially passionate about historical and political events during the Second World War and the Cold War. I often think that if he had the chance to receive a good education, he would have become an excellent historian. But more often than not, he will just think aloud about the pursuit of happiness in family life. Sheep and goats stare him back with their humid eyes when he pours out his soul.

I called my grandfather tonight. Every time I call him, my eyes get teary from my physical inability to be in the countryside with him, hold his shaking hands and let him pour out his soul to me.

Czech it out

If you're wondering how one piece of art can offend 27 countries simultaneously, then hire a Czech artist under the name of David Cerny, sit back and watch. He will surely take care of this task because he has the necessary background after angering the lares and penates of the European Union with his newest sculpture Entropa.



Officially launched on Jan. 15, 2009, Entropa constituted of a map of geographic symbols representing the 27 EU member states in a comic fashion intended to provoke Europe's sense of humor. The sculpture was supposed to honor the European Union member states, celebrate diversity and officially mark the Czech presidency of the EU. It was intended to artistically illustrate and complement the words of the Czech Deputy Prime Minister Alexandr Vondra spoken at the sculpture's launch ceremony, "Freedom of expression is a founding principle of democracy." Its effects, however, couldn't have strayed farther away from these goals and what it ended up provoking was mostly Europe's strong criticism. The exhibit proves that when a vision of art is placed in a highly sensitive political context, controversy can hardly be avoided.

The mosaic of European geographical shapes assigned stereotypical and prejudicial symbols to the 27 European Union members. The territory of France on the map is covered with a poster saying "GRÈVE!" that translates into "On Strike!" Romania is portrayed as a Dracula-themed amusement park with special sound effects. Spain is an empty construction site with a concrete mixer placed in the country's northern part. Luxemburg, a golden chunk, carries a For Sale tag with a telephone number to contact. The United Kingdom is the missing piece from the mosaic. Greece's territory is covered by a completely burnt forest. Worst of all, Bulgaria is depicted as a series of white squats (Turkish-style toilets).

Although Cerny saw the installation as an opportunity to learn to laugh over stereotypical images and transcend cultural boundaries, the rest of Europe was displeased with such unfavorable representations. But then again, the rest of Europe doesn't have Cerny's crude humor. Though not put on display at the European Council building in Brussels, the artist's previous works were equally controversial. In the garden of Futura Gallery in Prague, Cerny designed two nude sculptures that visitors can climb on a ladder situated between the figures' legs. They can peek into the figures' arses and watch a video showing Czech President Vaclav Klaus and the head of the National Gallery Milan Knizak feeding each other slop to the soundtrack of Queen's "We are the Champions."

"I seriously, we seriously expected that this will be taken as a joke, as a nice piece of work, as a nice installation, and nothing else," said Cerny about his latest project in a speech in Brussels. Unfortunately, the artwork was taken as something else by many who viewed it as humiliating and reinforcing negative stereotypes instead of eradicating them. Moreover, the production of this "nice piece of work" cost EUR 375,000.

After receiving complaints and widespread criticism about the exhibit, the Czech government officially apologized to the offended member states. "This is not how the Czech government or the Presidency view EU or any member state," said Czech Deputy Prime Minister Alexandr Vondra. This is, however, how the EU understood Entropa's political message masked in an inexplicable art form.

Source: The Mount Holyoke News, A&E

Brainwashed

Next week's edition of my section in the college newspaper will be on St. Valentine's Day. A relevant, time sensitive and entertaining enough topic, you would think. Still in the process of editing the articles, I get the same odd idea from most of them--my writers have been brainwashed.

When they write about love and romance, they immediately associated it with the same vision--Mr. Right who plans a romantic dinner, surprises them with a pompous bouquet of red roses, treats them to a gentle massage with lavender oil and whispers sweet nothings to them. This couldn't have gotten closer to Hollywood's teachings and marketers' goals.

Naturally and unfortunately, this scene could be every 15-year-old girl's dream. But we are not 15 any more. On the contrary, we are enrolled in a higher education institution to learn to think critically about exactly that kind of media messages. Although the younger crowd doesn't have the necessary knowledge to filter such brainwashing visions, we are equipped with the adequate skills to do so.

Then again, maybe I am exaggerating and generalizing. Maybe it was just a word, a phrase, or a sentence that threw me in that train of thoughts. Certainly, it was another realization about media's enormous influence over our mindsets.