This was planned to be a post about my organization, but then I began to walk on a berry trip in the thoughts/vandre på bærtur i tankene (write down what I was thinking about). Here is what I found:
My time here in Mae Sot has been spent on working on “external relations” for this organization. (What is the difference between external and public relations (PR: ER?!)?) The term external relations makes me think of important work which you need a lot of knowledge to do, and, secondly, something I would never be able to do. But I kind of have done it here. It feels a bit like when you write about your skills and experience in a job application. You do not lie, but you maybe sound a little bit more fancy and serious than you really are. It often turn out that way because you have to give the short version, like when you present your self to someone for the first time;
“So who are you, what are you doing?”
“Well, since you ask... Lately I have been working on external relations for a local organization who administrates the education system for 140 000 refugees on the Thai-Burmese border. Before that I was in India doing awareness work and patrolling a protected area on an environmental project, and before that again I taught English at a governmental school, also in India.”
Sounds quite convincing that I am a skilled, daring and adaptive person, does it not? And in the case of a job application; a person you (hopefully) would like to have as your new employee. What I just have not mentioned is that in Thailand I was sitting in front of my computer most of the time, either trying to understand things I did not understand or on Facebook. In India we managed to close down the environmental project (our part of it) because there was no project and in the governmental school I was teaching the letters A-R to eight children and they only knew the letters A-K when I left.
So what am I trying to say? When you think about your own life it usually never seems very exiting, glamorous or daring. I think that it is just because you know the whole truth about it; you know all the things you did in between the exiting, glamorous or daring things. All the time you spent on eating breakfast, sleeping, checking Facebook, watching TV or being fed up of everyone around you. No wonder that the percentage of “happenings” in your life is lower then in everybody else's; you have to divide them on every minute of you life, not just the small glimpses that you see of other peoples life. And, as if that is not enough to make your life more boring than that of the guy next door; it also seem like we tend to summarize each and everybody else's experiences and then compare it to our own. Everyone else seem to have been to every country in the world! Yes, they have in total, but not each and everyone alone. There is just no chance of winning. So what to do? Maybe change the way we think. For example make a list of your own life and then a list of each person you usually compare your selves to and check the validity of your perception of your life.
Even though I “lately have been working on external relations for a local organization who administrates the education system for 140 000 refugees and so on” I do not feel like a skilled, daring and adaptive person. I have never had a real job in my life! No children. No responsibility. But, after a second thought, I do think that I am quite adaptive. And I did dare to travel far away from home. Skilled? I do not know... That one depends on the context!
What made me think about this? The British royal wedding. So much publicity and money and cheering and crying people, and then it strikes you: this people also go to the bathroom, most probably they do it everyday too.
PS I: Let us (me) hope that no potential future employer is checking my name on the internet and read this. I am not planning to lie in my application, but maybe make my self sound a little bit more fancy and skilled than I really am.
PS II: Writing down my thoughts and publish it on the internet; What kind if external relating is that?
My time here in Mae Sot has been spent on working on “external relations” for this organization. (What is the difference between external and public relations (PR: ER?!)?) The term external relations makes me think of important work which you need a lot of knowledge to do, and, secondly, something I would never be able to do. But I kind of have done it here. It feels a bit like when you write about your skills and experience in a job application. You do not lie, but you maybe sound a little bit more fancy and serious than you really are. It often turn out that way because you have to give the short version, like when you present your self to someone for the first time;
“So who are you, what are you doing?”
“Well, since you ask... Lately I have been working on external relations for a local organization who administrates the education system for 140 000 refugees on the Thai-Burmese border. Before that I was in India doing awareness work and patrolling a protected area on an environmental project, and before that again I taught English at a governmental school, also in India.”
Sounds quite convincing that I am a skilled, daring and adaptive person, does it not? And in the case of a job application; a person you (hopefully) would like to have as your new employee. What I just have not mentioned is that in Thailand I was sitting in front of my computer most of the time, either trying to understand things I did not understand or on Facebook. In India we managed to close down the environmental project (our part of it) because there was no project and in the governmental school I was teaching the letters A-R to eight children and they only knew the letters A-K when I left.
So what am I trying to say? When you think about your own life it usually never seems very exiting, glamorous or daring. I think that it is just because you know the whole truth about it; you know all the things you did in between the exiting, glamorous or daring things. All the time you spent on eating breakfast, sleeping, checking Facebook, watching TV or being fed up of everyone around you. No wonder that the percentage of “happenings” in your life is lower then in everybody else's; you have to divide them on every minute of you life, not just the small glimpses that you see of other peoples life. And, as if that is not enough to make your life more boring than that of the guy next door; it also seem like we tend to summarize each and everybody else's experiences and then compare it to our own. Everyone else seem to have been to every country in the world! Yes, they have in total, but not each and everyone alone. There is just no chance of winning. So what to do? Maybe change the way we think. For example make a list of your own life and then a list of each person you usually compare your selves to and check the validity of your perception of your life.
Even though I “lately have been working on external relations for a local organization who administrates the education system for 140 000 refugees and so on” I do not feel like a skilled, daring and adaptive person. I have never had a real job in my life! No children. No responsibility. But, after a second thought, I do think that I am quite adaptive. And I did dare to travel far away from home. Skilled? I do not know... That one depends on the context!
What made me think about this? The British royal wedding. So much publicity and money and cheering and crying people, and then it strikes you: this people also go to the bathroom, most probably they do it everyday too.
PS I: Let us (me) hope that no potential future employer is checking my name on the internet and read this. I am not planning to lie in my application, but maybe make my self sound a little bit more fancy and skilled than I really am.
PS II: Writing down my thoughts and publish it on the internet; What kind if external relating is that?
Kjempebra Julie , nesten litt som et kåseri, uansett fin underholdning , her jeg sitter og lager 3D modeller av havbunnen mellom Troll A plattformen og Mongstad. kjenner meg veldig igjen i det du skriver, ellers håper jeg du trives og har det fint på din reise . Hilsen Petter :)
SvarSlettUtrolig interessant og lærerikt innlegg Julie! Du satte ord på det jeg har tenkt på mange ganger, men ikke helt har visst hvordan jeg skulle få ut! Det var et ordentlig AHA moment for meg! Tusen takk!
SvarSlettMen! Jeg synes ikke du skal undervurdere arbeidet du har gjort så langt;
1) Selv om du sitter foran pc'en er det nettopp målet om hjemmesiden for leiren som er drivkraften bak engasjementet.
2) Du var 100% dedikert til arbeidet med skilpaddene og du fikk prosjektansvarlige til å innse at det ikke var et ordentlig prosjekt og dermed kunne de bruke tid og energi på andre steder. Synd for prosjektet, men tenk at du sparte andre frivillige for å komme med masse forventninger til det og dra hjem uten at de ble i nærheten av innfridd.
3) Å kunne bokstavene A-K er bedre enn å ikke kunne alfabetet!
Du besitter utrolig mange ressurser Julie; kunst og håndverk, evnen til å ta fenomenale bilder, evner å se saker fra flere vinkler, padle og sykle (ser jeg et smil nå? ;) ), snill, snill, veldig snill, :-)
Kjempe stolt av deg! :-) <3
Og ja! Jeg er enig! De kongelige er også vanlige mennesker som går på do en gang om dagen! Selv om det kanskje ikke er så lett å tenke på når de kommer dansende inn til eget bryllup i himmelske kjoler til hele verdens beundring! ;-)
Enig med Sirwa!
SvarSlettJeg tror du har kommet imål med "pilgrimsreisen" din. Jeg kjenner meg utrolig mye igjen i det du skriver!!! Av og til føler jeg bare at jeg står stille og at verden flyter fort avgårde. Jeg klarer ikke å henge med. Men er det ikke bare omvendt noen ganger?
Livet er på mange måter som en karusell. Det er gøy å være med en stund. Men så blir man kvalm og vil hoppe av. Men så må man tenke på forskjellige ting som: hvor er det beste stedet å hoppe av? Hvordan er bakken der jeg lander? Blir jeg skadet da? Og hvis jeg kommer meg helskinnet av, så må man innse at det vil være vanskelig å hoppe på igjen, for karusellen stopper jo ikke å snurre, gjør den vel? Og hvis den gjør det, hvordan vil folkene på den da være? For da er jo de kvalme, mens jeg er blitt bra igjen. Vil man egentlig henge sammen med folk som bare vil kjøre karusell?
Kanskje litt vel filosofisk her jeg sitter en lørdagskveld, men dog tanker allikevel.
Gleder meg kjempemasse til å se deg igjen. Livet er en mystisk gåte -og DU utretter flotte ting uansett! Stol på deg selv og egne evner. Vær akkurat DEG -du er den du er og det er plenty nok! Ønsker deg gode og glade dager mot slutten :)
Klem
Tusen takk for fine kommentarer.
SvarSlettPetter: Ja, og nå er du vel hjemme igjen og hopper fallskjerm...
Sirwa: Du er et oppkomme av stå-på-vilje!
Siri: Likte veldig godt det du skrev om karusellen og kjente meg igjen "hvordan vil folkene på den da være? For da er jo de kvalme, mens jeg er blitt bra igjen." Jeg får mail hjemmefra der folk skriver at de har ikke så mye å fortelle fra sine kjedelige liv sammenlignet med "mine eventyr", mens jeg ikke vil annet enn å høre om hverdagslivet deres: folk har jo skiftet jobb og blitt gravide og babyer har blitt små barn mens jeg har vært borte! Gleder meg til å komme hjem og bli oppdatert. Når man reiser bort får man ikke bare perspektiv på det som skjer ute i verden, men også på hverdagslivet hjemme.
Lørdagskvelder er gode for filosofiske tanker:-)