(no subject)

[melwil]

My friend in Spain is fine. Phew.

Apparently most of my uni course considered dropping out last week. The classes already look smaller. I'm beginning to think this isn't the best way to prepare teachers.

I'm exhausted. I went to bed at midnight, which would have been fine if I wasn't woken up with cramps at 4am. Unfortunately, I must have been tossing and turning a bit, because I woke Matt up as well.

Someone just annoyed me in the comments in someone elses journal. It's not that strange, or hard to learn a little about the world around you, and you can't claim ignorance is alright just because you come from America. *Hugs the American's on my friends list, because they're smarter than this person* I mean, really, how hard it it to know that Tony Blair is the Prime Minster of the United Kingdom, not England? Or that women had the vote in Australia and New Zealand before 1910?

I'm tired and hopped up on coffee and chocolate, alcoholic biscuits. Just ignore me now.

Comments

[kannaophelia.livejournal.com]

I'm fond of her - how could I not love someone who sends me Hello kitty toys and Pokemon cards? - but this whole thing irritates me too. If the average American is so insular and uneducated about the world, then that is surely something to be ashamed of, and a little frightened about, no to treat like the natural state of things...

Much, much sympathy for your cramps, from someone who suffers to oand knows that nothing in this world will stop them... things like painkillers and hotwater bottles are only to make you *feel* you're doing something about them. ~uses Shiori icon in respect~

[sangerin.livejournal.com]

~hugs [Unknown site tag]~

I suspect your course knows that teachers are always getting thrown in at the deep end, so they decided to start now.

I know I'm not going to be popular for defending the dumb American, but when History is taught from the perspective that the American Revolution was fought against England (which it was - there was no UK until Victoria, I think), when the language is English, and when "England" is the main point of reference - is it any wonder that the distinction between England and UK gets fuzzy? And yes, it is hard to know that women had the vote in Australia and New Zealand before 1910. The number of Aussies I know who don't know that NZ was the first place to grant women's suffrage nationally... And it took both the UK and the US much longer than Australia, and this part of the world isn't usually first at doing things. So even if you've picked the fact up somewhere, it's not that illogical to dismiss it.

Of course, if this is in reference to what I think it is, then I almost want to take all that back. But I think we're too hard on other people's ignorance and pay very little attention to our own.

[sangerin.livejournal.com]

Mel, that was you I was hugging...

[melwil.livejournal.com]

I think my crankiness was aimed at people who don't take an interest in the world out there - and those examples were just on the tip of the tongue. Australians who don't look outside their own borders annoy me too *g*

[sangerin.livejournal.com]

*g*

You know me, it's a touchy subject. I just think about all the kids I went to school with, who are exactly the sort that Howard would describe as "average Australians", who wouldn't know the difference between the UK and the US if you asked them about it. Let alone when women got the vote. Not that most of them would care about that.

(On the other hand, the Anglican Cathedral in Aukland has a window commemorating women's suffrage, and my parents brought back postcards of it for me the last time the went to Aukland! And I keep meaning to tell Kanna about the old window to the main hall at Melbourne Uni (before it burnt down) that has Sappho as one of the people. *g* The window survived the fire, and it's in the fine arts museum now.)

[kannaophelia.livejournal.com]

The number of Aussies I know who don't know that NZ was the first place to grant women's suffrage nationally...

Um. Not in my circles. We tend to be aware, too, that Australia couldn't *do* anything nationally at that time because it wasn't yet a nation... and that NZ only granted the right to vote, not full democratic rights like SA did. ~grin~ We tend to be rather proud of it, in fact.

The woman in feminist_rage was claiming to be some kind of uberfeminist and making wildly inaccurate historical claims. She was asking to be pointed and laughed at.

and this part of the world isn't usually first at doing things.

~wince~ Heidi... I know you're on the defensive, but really, you should know better than to say that. Remember that I'm a South Australian, i.e. as someone from an area with a long history of being socially progressive. The US is still lagging miles behind in many areas - for an obvious example, it hasn't even outlawed the death penalty yet, which puts it decades behind the progress of civilisation in *this* part of the world. As far as I know, the US doesn't even have equal rights legislation in place yet, or universal free medical cover, or other things we take so much for granted that we're in danger of losing them.

[sangerin.livejournal.com]

I've had a particularly lousy day. For the sake of everyone concerned, I'm not answering this until I've stopped biting people's heads off.

~wry grin, tired sigh~

~also tries to avoid speaking to housemate #2~

[sangerin.livejournal.com]

Dear, yesterday was crappy beyond relief, and as I'm sure you can tell from my previous comment, I was in a very, very, very foul mood when I got home, and no good to anyone.

What I should have said was "this part of the world isn't usually seen as likely to do things first": perception rather than reality, you see. Because we're not. We get movies, TV shows, fashions, music... pop culture generally lags weeks, months and years behind the US and the UK.

(That being said, sorry hon, but I don't think of SA as being progressive until I think really hard. Because the two things that jump into my mind about SA are the fact that the SA Synod of the UCA is one of the most conservative in the country, pretty much equal with Queensland, and good old Justice Bollen from ten years ago with his "rougher than usual handling" remarks.

I know this isn't fair, but it's the way my mind works on a gut-reaction level, pardon the mixed metaphors.)

And like I said, yesterday was horrible beyond the telling of it.

I have many bridges to mend today and I'm not looking forward to it.

[melwil.livejournal.com]

*g* You used 'beyond the telling of it'! Random quotage will get you everywhere on my LJ *g*

Now that I can prop my eyes open for long enough to see the screen, I can make a point I think I was trying to debate. I disliked the way she made the excuse that she shouldn't have to know about the world because she's American. It's not a valid excuse to blame your country for your ignorance. And it's insulting to the lots of Americans who do know about the world they live in. She should have said she didn't know about the world because she was ignorant.

[sangerin.livejournal.com]

It's not a valid excuse to blame your country for your ignorance.

Amen, absolutely, and other such words.

[celandine.livejournal.com]

As an educated American, I can honestly say that neither of those things were taught in school, nor anything else along their lines.

It's only been after I left school that I learned these things. And mostly because I have access to the internet and have made friends overseas. The American media is not quite as "free" as it claims, and with all the crap education reforms, it's surprising that teachers bother to teach ANYTHING that "won't be on the test."

It is utterly ridiculous that people who can give you insight into every aspect of the latest episode of Survivor! can be so clueless about reality. :P (/end Anti-American spew)

[tangochocky.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

Love you!

And hope you got some sleep last night!!!

Oh, and I would've been one of those one who left class... trust me, hardly anyone shows up for lectures and stuff at QUT! Cos the lecturer's can't lecture, and 90% of the tutors can't tutor!!! And this *is* from personal experience, in IT, Maths, Education subjects.