Trains

For many people, the word train brings to mind their childhood spent playing with trains, watching Thomas the Tank Engine, and that Trolley in Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Trains are an integral part of society; they transport vast amounts of shtuff that we buy and use in our daily lives. In Maus however, Art Spiegelman uses the motif of trains to represent the Jews' eventual destination in a concentration camp. The trains are drawn to look ominous and foreboding to further the motif. This is perhaps Art's way of differentiating between a survivor's mental image of trains versus the mental image of your average citizen. A survivor of the Holocaust certainly would remember the trains that took away their friends and family. They probably wouldn't think of trains as childhood icons or transporters of goods. In the mind of a Holocaust survivor, trains invoke memories of cramped spaces, and the black smoke drifting from the smokestack.

trees are REALLY hard

I've always thought that human bones are pretty strong. You see those people on TV lifting cars and stuff and you're like, "Dang, must be some pretty thicc bones." So when I hit a tree with my leg, I thought I'd be fine. The snow was really cold (I was skiing) so I wanted to stand up but my leg didn't feel quite right and it hurt like all heck when I tried to move. Turns out that I had fractured my femur and, get this, the femur is the strongest bone in the body. So, I had major surgery as a 10 year old.  After surgery, I had to spend about 4 months in a wheelchair and another 6 months with crutches. That sucked. All my friends got to go out and play during recess and I stayed cooped up in class with a teacher. Even with the large amount of opiates I was on, my leg still hurt all time. During that year of my life, I started the day with some suffering and ended the day with some more suffering.

Looking back, I'm glad I went through some hardship while young. My outlook on life is much more positive. Hardly ever am I not in a good mood. I don't take my life for granted anymore because I could have hit the tree with something other than a leg, like my head or spine. I know there are people who aren't as "lucky" as me and have to life each day "reminding [themselves], over and over: 'This is water, this is water'" (Wallace, This is Water). Thanks to a certain tree, I don't have to remind myself to be cheerful. 

I like Poutine

I've always liked toilet paper. It's just got an incredible range of uses, from cleaning spills to vandalizing trees. I also enjoy a nice chunk of chocolate on special occasions or just whenever. What's in common with these two seemingly unrelated commodities? Both of them have been hit with a 10% tariff.

Sometime in May, I was watching the news and saw that the U.S had imposed a 25% tariff on steel and aluminium imports from foreign countries. It didn't really hit me at the time because I (and my family) don't really do politics. As time passed, the media seemed to really like devoting air time to the trade war. And so, as a dutiful American citizen, I surfed the net to try and understand the trade war better. It seemed that Canada was exempt from the tariffs in the beginning, but in the end, the country America shares the longest unguarded border in the world with was also taxed. I kinda groaned inside because I really like Canadians. They've got poutine, and they're really nice (nicer than Americans).

Well, the Canadians got a little mad that they were getting taxed so they taxed America back. I definitely yelled "Yeah" out loud when I heard about that (from my grandparents in Canada). As an ABC (American Born Canadian), I have an awfully conflicted point of view. My background (living in Canada from ages 2-10) probably makes me more Canadian than American. Although I guess I'm an American now, albeit a partly cloudy one.

HE said it, Not me

"This fourth of July is yours, not mine." A paradox of the most fabulous kind. A national holiday that isn't celebrated by all it's residents. In the 1800s, slaves were the residents who didn't hold the Fourth of July in very high regard. In fact, the celebration of independence from England only served to remind the slaves that they themselves have not yet obtained freedom. Their rejection of July Fourth as a day of festivities was a result of their struggle to try and win their own independence.

It's now the 21st century. A time of heightened nationalism, Uncle Sam is working harder than ever to keep his stuff on his land and other stuff outta his land. People value their privacy and freedom more and more as technology breaks down barriers between what one person can find out about another. Fourth of July celebrations are increasing in size and becoming highly anticipated events. Even whole cities host firework shows, all to celebrate independence from England. Yet even among such widespread festivities, there are still those who don't really do a lot of celebrating (like my family).

Don't get me wrong, fireworks are fun to watch and tasty food is nice but that's about all July 4th is to me. I don't feel particularly patriotic to America. As an ABC (American Born Chinese), I'm not quite sure which world power I should be cheering for. To me, America is just that one place that I live in, not my homeland that I'll spill my blood to defend.