Language

I think language is such a beautiful thing; you can put so much meaning into things so simple as just words.

And then there are things you can say in one language that don't translate to another and I just find that completely and utterly beautiful. That means that those particular words are so unique that they are strictly singular to one language. No one who doesn't speak that language will ever understand that string of words, and possibly what it means to say them.

This is why I find it baffling that people look down upon people who don't speak their language. For some reason, a lot of people, notably Americans, feel that people who don't speak their language, notably English, are dumb or ignorant. When in fact it is the complete opposite. Other languages beyond English are much more beautiful and interesting and complicated and a lot of times people are too stubborn to see that.

I don't know why people always think that THEIR language is the "right" one or the "best" one or THEIR culture is the culture that everyone should adapt to. Isn't what makes our world so amazing the fact that their are millions of different lifestyles, yet we all live in harmony on the same planet?

It annoys me when people look down on me for my culture, or look down on others for their culture. This is the way they live. This is how they grew up and their culture has meaning to them. Just because it means nothing to you does not mean it has no meaning at all. It just means you are being too stubborn and close minded to give it meaning.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when people pity me. I am proud of where I come from and I am proud of my culture. Don't pity me for something like that. This is why I find culture and language so interesting and why I want to pursue a lifestyle where I can openly explore different cultures. I love learning about them and I love trying to find their beauty and I hate that society is often so stuck up and contemptuous about other cultures. It gives people the wrong idea about other societies.

We should be living open-mindedly, not chastising others for the things that make them unique.

traveling

Traveling has its ups and its downs, like all things, but this particular trip has made me realize a couple things about people & myself.

One thing that I absolutely despise about road trips is the fact that you spend long, miserable hours in a car, in which, for me, are spent completely carsick, where the only thing to do that doesn't result in going completely insane with agony is to sleep. Then, upon arriving, you do exactly what you came to do: relax. So, in summary, these trips are lazy as hell. The most frustrating part, however, is the fact that during this downtime, I start thinking and strangely become ambitious, finding myself making all these goals about my diet, health, commitments, and priorities that I can't begin until I get home. Even if I try to start here, I have few choices in what I am going to eat, or the activities I partake in. So I spend vacation in conflict, unable to enjoy the single reason families get away from home, to relax.

Then there are the pictures. Besides the fact that in most of them, my eyes are squinted, hair greasy, face make up free, and skin burnt, looking at the pictures makes me realize how unhappy I am with my body. If only I had worked out more earlier! I keep thinking, which again leads to those useless ambitions and goals that tire me out so that when I return home, all I really want to do is relax. But... isn't that the point of vacation...

I realize this all seems extremely negative and I'm not going to lie I did have that mindset on my vacation but at the same time I had a lot of fun. I was able to get away and relax and be with nature and just not worry about anything else and it was honestly really, really nice. I want to go back now that I'm faced with all these responsibilities again and I hate it.

So I guess it's true that it takes a little stress to get something good out of an experience.