The Differences Between the Book Iliad and the Movie Troy Essays

The Differences Between the Book Iliad and the Movie Troy Essays The Differences Between the Book Iliad and the Movie Troy Paper The Differences Between the Book Iliad and the Movie Troy Paper Essay Topic: Iliad The Iliad verses Troy I n the movie its stated that Agamemnon brought the kings together for this war, which really isnt true. Helen had many powerful suitors and her father was too afraid to pick one of them for her husband in fear of offending the others. Odysseus convinced him to make a contract with the other suitors that made them promise that should anything happen to Helen, the other kings would assist in getting her back. When Paris kidnapped Helen from Menelaus, they were bound to honor their promise and help to return her. When Paris was born, it was predicted that he would be the downfall of Troy, so he was sent into the mountains without any knowledge of who he really was. Aphrodite was the one who promised him the most beautiful woman in the world and started the Trojan War. In the movie Patroclus is Achilless cousin but in the book he is his lover. Im glad they made the change in the movie tho, cause I just couldnt picture Brad Pitt with a male lover (not that theres anything wrong with that). In the movie Troy, Briseis is a member of Priams family which she actually wasnt. She was simply a slave girl that Achilles in fact did fall in love with and Agamemnon did steal from him. And she didnt kill Agamemnon like they said in the movie Troy. Agamemnon actually made it back home where his wife and her lover murdered him. Altho Hector was a great warrior in his time, after he killed Patroclus, he didnt actually come out to face Achilles as easily as the movie depicts it. Achilles chased him around the walls of Troy 3 times before he actually stopped to fight him. Hector never killed Menelaus either or Ajax. Ajax committed suicide after Odysseus was given Achilles armor over him. Now I understand that a movie has only a couple of hours in it and theres alot to the Trojan War than time would permit in a movie so they have to condense in down. But this war took about 20 years to finish and not the few months or so that is depicted in the movie. And Helen helped in its destruction along with Odysseus. All in all tho, I do like this movie and it is worth it to watch.

History of Mutiny on the Bounty

History of Mutiny on the Bounty In the late 1780s, noted botanist Sir Joseph Banks theorized that breadfruit plants which grew on the islands of the Pacific could be brought to the Caribbean where they could be used as a cheap food source for slaves working on British plantations. This concept received support from the Royal Society which offered a prize for attempting such an endeavor. As discussions ensued, the Royal Navy offered to provide a ship and crew to transport breadfruit to the Caribbean. To this end, the collier Bethia was purchased in May 1787 and renamed His Majestys Armed Vessel Bounty. Mounting four 4-pdr guns and ten swivel guns, command of Bounty was assigned to Lieutenant William Bligh on August 16. Recommended by Banks, Bligh was a gifted sailor and navigator who had previously distinguished himself as sailing master aboard Captain James Cooks HMS Resolution (1776-1779). Through the latter part of 1787, efforts moved forward to prepare the ship for its mission and assemble a crew. This done, Bligh departed Britain in December and set a course for Tahiti. Outbound Voyage Bligh initially attempted to enter the Pacific via Cape Horn. After a month of trying and failing due to adverse winds and weather, he turned and sailed east around the Cape of Good Hope. The voyage to Tahiti proved smooth and few punishments were given to the crew. As Bounty was rated as a cutter, Bligh was the only commissioned officer on board. To permit his men longer periods of uninterrupted sleep, he divided the crew into three watches. In addition, he raised Masters Mate Fletcher Christian to the rank of acting lieutenant in March so that he could oversee one of the watches. Life in Tahiti This decision angered Bountys sailing master, John Fryer. Reaching Tahiti on October 26, 1788, Bligh and his men collected 1,015 breadfruit plants. The delay off Cape Horn led to a five-month delay in Tahiti as they had to wait for the breadfruit trees to mature enough to transport. During this time, Bligh allowed the men to live ashore among the islanders. Enjoying Tahitis warm climate and relaxed atmosphere, some of the men, including Christian took native wives. As a result of this environment, naval discipline began to break down. Attempting to control the situation, Bligh was increasingly forced to punish his men and floggings became more routine. Unwilling to submit to this treatment after enjoying the islands warm hospitality, three sailors, John Millward, William Muspratt, and Charles Churchill deserted. They were quickly recaptured and though they were punished, it was less severe than recommended. In the course of events, a search of their belongings produced a list of names including Christian and Midshipman Peter Heywood. Lacking additional evidence, Bligh could not charge the two men as aiding in the desertion plot. Mutiny Though unable to take action against Christian, Blighs relationship with him continued to deteriorate and he began to relentlessly ride his acting lieutenant. On April 4, 1789, Bounty departed Tahiti, much to the displeasure of many of the crew. On the night of April 28, Christian and 18 of the crew surprised and bound Bligh in his cabin. Dragging him on deck, Christian bloodlessly took control of the ship despite the fact that the most of the crew (22) sided with the captain. Bligh and 18 loyalists were forced over the side into Bountys cutter and given a sextant, four cutlasses, and several days food and water. Blighs Voyage As Bounty turned to return to Tahiti, Bligh set course for the nearest European outpost at Timor. Though dangerously overloaded and lacking charts, Bligh succeeded in sailing the cutter first to Tofua for supplies, then on to Timor. After sailing 3,618 miles, Bligh arrived at Timor after a 47-day voyage. Only one man was lost during the ordeal when he was killed by natives on Tofua. Moving on to Batavia, Bligh was able to secure transport back to England. In October 1790, Bligh was honorably acquitted for the loss of Bounty and records show him to have been a compassionate commander who frequently spared the lash. Bounty Sails On Retaining four loyalists aboard, Christian steered Bounty to Tubuai where the mutineers attempted to settle. After three months of fighting with the natives, the mutineers re-embarked and sailed to Tahiti. Arriving back at the island, twelve of the mutineers and the four loyalists were put ashore. Not believing that they would be safe in Tahiti, the remaining mutineers, including Christian, embarked supplies, six Tahitian men, and eleven women in September 1789. Though they scouted the Cook and Fiji Islands, the mutineers did not feel that either offered sufficient safety from the Royal Navy. Life on Pitcairn On January 15, 1790, Christian re-discovered Pitcairn Island which had been misplaced on British charts. Landing, the party quickly established a community on Pitcairn. To reduce their chances of discovery, they burned Bounty on January 23. Though Christian attempted to maintain peace in the small community, relations between the Britons and Tahitians soon collapsed leading to fighting. The community continued to struggle for several years until Ned Young and John Adams took control in the mid-1790s. Following Youngs death in 1800, Adams continued to build the community. Aftermath of the Mutiny on the Bounty While Bligh was acquitted for the loss of his ship, the Royal Navy actively sought to capture and punish the mutineers. In November 1790, HMS Pandora (24 guns) was sent to search for Bounty. Reaching Tahiti on March 23, 1791, Captain Edward Edwards was met by four of Bountys men. A search of the island soon located ten additional members of Bountys crew. These fourteen men, a mix of mutineers and loyalists, were held in a cell on the ships deck known as Pandoras Box. Departing on May 8, Edwards searched the neighboring islands for three months before turning for home. While passing through the Torres Strait on August 29, Pandora ran aground and sank the next day. Of those on board, 31 crew and four of the prisoners were lost. The remainder embarked in Pandoras boats and reached Timor in September. Transported back to Britain, the ten surviving prisoners were court-martialed. Four of the ten were found innocent with Blighs backing while the other six were found guilty. Two, Heywood and James Morrison, were pardoned, while another escaped on a technicality. The remaining three were hung aboard HMS Brunswick (74) on October 29, 1792. A second breadfruit expedition departed Britain in August 1791. Again led by Bligh, this group successfully delivered breadfruit to the Caribbean but the experiment proved a failure when the slaves refused to eat it. On the far side of the world, Royal Navy ships relocated Pitcairn Island in 1814. Making contact with those ashore, they reported the final details of Bounty to the Admiralty. In 1825, Adams, the lone surviving mutineer, was granted amnesty.

Final exzam ( organazation theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Final exzam ( organazation theory - Essay Example Cal Lutheran University believes that individuals who are strong in character, confidence, and judgment are able to meet global standards of work (California Lutheran University, 2012). This essay looks at some of the applications of the organization theory that are evident in the Cal Lutheran University. Organization structure Cal Lutheran University falls under the classification of a complex organization. This is because the management of the organization is beyond the ability of a single individual. Complex organizations are those whose management is beyond the ability of a single administrator because of their diverse structures. A review of the structure of the organization reveals some characteristics of Weber’s bureaucratic classical organization theory. Weber believed in the identification of work and the division of work into subdivisions. Each subdivision comes with an expected level of performance among all employees and managers who are involved. A manager or an e mployee in each subdivision has distinct roles and responsibilities that the organization is supposed to define clearly. The hierarchical structure of authority in Cal Lutheran University is such that all members of the administration are aware of their roles and responsibilities. ... The vice presidents are responsible for tasks such as enrollment of new students, student affairs, administration, finance and advancement of the university among others (California Lutheran University, 2012). Cal Lutheran University has the academic branch of authority that comprises of different schools and faculties, which are under the management of different deans. For instance, there is a dean who heads the college of Arts and Sciences as well as the chair of the Faculty. Therefore, the structure of authority in Cal Lutheran University displays the characteristics Weber’s bureaucratic organization theory. The university has divided its management responsibilities into distinct categories that are under the responsibility of a manager. The managers are aware of their roles and responsibilities, which is one of the propositions of Weber’s theory. Human resources in Cal Lutheran University Human relations theories define the relationship between employees, stakeholde rs and the management. Most of these theories suggest that successful organizations are those that value their employees by considering their pleas and motivating them. Taylor’s theory suggests that successful organizations are those that take care of the welfare of all their employees, stakeholders and the society. McGregor theory of Y helps in explaining the expected relationship between senior management and the subordinate staff. The relationship should be in such a way that each party is not afraid of the other, which facilitates cooperation among members of the organization (Tompkins, 2010). Cal Lutheran University has employees as well as stakeholders. The stakeholders are individuals or parties that get services from the university

Gun Control Synthesis and Paraphrase Research Paper

Gun Control Synthesis and Paraphrase - Research Paper Example A recent Los Angeles Times article stated ‘active compliance’ is the surest way to survive a robbery. â€Å"Victims who engage in active resistance...have the best odds of hanging on to their property. Unfortunately, they also have much better odds of winding up dead." The data provided from 1979 to 1987 by the Department of Justices National Crime Victimization Survey, Lawrence Southwick of SUNY, Buffalo found that it is better to resist attack with a gun but if no gun is available, it is better to offer no resistance than to fight. (Press, 2013) It is a different issue altogether when it involves criminals with guns. This is because it is assumed that criminals shoot haphazardly. Criminals are seen to be about self preservation thus making possession of a handgun to be less than likely. Further, convicted felons are more afraid of armed victims than running into the police. In such situations where deterrence is more important to the criminal because of the fear of getting shot, the criminals prey on the weaker members of society. This is known as the ‘substitute effect.’ ‘Third party effects’ or ‘external benefits’ is the process through which people who are not directly involved in deterring the criminals through gun carrying are also protected as a result of the fearfulness of the criminals. Victims have also not been left behind with the ‘open-carry’ gun law. (Krouse, 2012) The question now arises; why would someone travel across state lines to shoot another in a different state after buying the gun in a different state? Is it the policies that are in place that are wrong? (Lott, 1998) According to The Numbers Debate and Crime, there are a lot of misconceptions that are being thrown around as causes of gun related fatalities, key among them being that most people are killed by people they know. This is a misconception because being someone’s acquaintance does

On Becoming a Leader Essay Example for Free

On Becoming a Leader Essay The book I chose to review is â€Å"On Becoming a Leader† by Warren Bennis. At the crux of this book is a search to understand how leaders are made. Throughout the book, the author tries to prove through polls and observations, that leaders are not born but are made through a combination of nature and nurture. Leaders who excel tend to have similar characteristics which have been developed by a series of experiences in their lives (these include embracing mistakes, taking risks and learning from adversity). Another idea discussed in the book is that of the role of education in making leaders. Bennis notes a number of qualities and abilities that are common amongst the leaders he interacts with. Some of those are relating well to others, trusting others and in turn being trustworthy, the ability to motivate people and to not give up, inspiration and competence in the job. However, he claims that a major problem in business leadership is the â€Å"societal disease of our time† (as said by Norman Lear to him) short term thinking. He highlights throughout the book that this form of thinking is not beneficial to organizations and that a good leader should be able to look further and not give the short term too much importance. At one point he claims that short term thinking is what kills one of the most important attributes a leader must have innovation. The author mentions that leaders are important to an organization since they are of paramount importance to the operational performance, stability and integrity of the organization. To this end, Warren Bennis presents in a systematic manner various attributes that are required of a leader to be able to perform well. The first attribute discussed is the ability to â€Å"Master the context†. In this chapter, the author discusses the fact that a leader must be able to understand the reasons and outcomes of different situations. Only once he has managed this, will he be able to act in the best possible way for his organization. This is in line with what we have learned throughout our course regarding improving one’s self-awareness as well as the 4 perspectives of organizational effectiveness. A leader must be able to understand the context of work and respond by being aware that he needs to look after different perspectives of people and systems related to the organization. The second thing discussed is â€Å"understanding the basics†, which is quite similar to mastering the context. In this, Warren Bennis explains that leaders need to understand the underlying concepts at work before making decisions. He lists a series of attributes that can be found in most leaders including self-knowledge, passion, vision and trust. He argues that most of the leaders are not born with these attributes but life experiences and a desire to lead people enables them to develop a good understanding of this. Their drive to acquire and learn are much higher than on average and they actively pursue these drives while taking risks and placing lesser importance on their drive for safety. In this he also discusses the difference between managing people and leading them. We have gone through various topics related directly to this effect in class. According to me, one of the strongest drives an individual has is the drive to safety. An individual would be much more comfortable if they can trust their leader. The ability to understand the thought process of their leader and their belief/trust in him helps shore up their drive for safety. Across cultures, people tend to avoid uncertainty and if a leader is able to, through knowledge and an understanding, provide people with an image of consistency; it goes a long way in settling people and reducing stress. The third lesson is â€Å"knowing yourself†. Warren Bennis argues that in order to lead others, one must fully understand themselves. To be able to trust your decisions/inner feelings is extremely important for leading people and making correct choices. The author goes on to highlight 4 lessons that enable an individual to understand themselves. They are â€Å"you are your own best teacher†, â€Å"accept responsibility†, â€Å"you can learn anything you want to learn† and â€Å"true understanding comes from reflecting on your own experience†. All these lessons are at the core of organizational behavior as we have learnt. These 4 lessons can apply even to organizations as well as being useful for individuals. Self-concept is an important part of an individual’s make up and to feed that we must be able to reflect on our past experiences to learn from them. Social learning, learning through reinforcement and learning through experience are discussed as important factors of learning in organizations in our course. I believe this same applies to individuals as they are able to develop their social identity and self-concept through these lessons. Next, the author discusses â€Å"Knowing the world†. This takes a similar route to the previous subject of knowing yourself, while developing a greater scope to the understanding. Cultural understanding is an extremely important attribute in a leader. In an increasingly diverse workforce coupled with increasing globalization, a leader must have the ability to and desire to understand various cultures and behaviors. Values and behavior are very different for different cultures, and a lot of organizations have failed due to the incompatible understanding of their leaders. The HP-Compaq merger was a major case where while it was beneficial financially and operationally for the companies to merge, their leaders were not able to fully adapt the two company’s cultures properly, causing the merger to have not performed anywhere near expectations. One point that I found particularly interesting and felt that was very important was the need for a person to find a mentor who can help them enhance and shape their cultural understanding. The social learning aspect discusses similar concepts, where a person learns from someone whom they aspire to be. Being able to find a mentor who has an in depth understanding of cultures, or at least has a desire to learn cultural differences can help an individual become a more complete leader. The next thought discussed by the author is â€Å"Operating on instinct†. This discussion focuses on the fact that a good leader should be able to believe in himself and should be able to take decisions from his gut feeling. More often than not a leader and even individuals will have to make decisions without knowing all the details they would like to know. The presence of incomplete information should not make the leader less likely to make a decision. A good leader will have developed enough self-awareness and through self-evaluation and verification be able to rely on his instinct to make the right choice. This enables the leader to be able to quickly and decisively contemplate and decide issues. The next discussion is based on †Deploying yourself†. In this the author talks about the fact that a successful leader is a person who is willing to take on challenges even though he might have failed in earlier challenges. The drive to learn and acquire are, I feel, major contributors to this topic. A good leader will be able to reflect on his past experiences and learn from them; and this gives them confidence to continually drive for newer challenges and tasks. Another topic discussed is â€Å"Moving through chaos†. In this chapter, Warren Bennis describes the difference between all individuals and leaders. He points out that everyone faces problems and issues in their career, but that leaders analyze these problems and tend to learn from these. Conflict resolution can take many forms through third-party conflict resolution or negotiation. Leaders reflect on their conflicts and develop an understanding of how to overcome those challenges. â€Å"Getting people on your side† is the next topic covered. The main point of this discussion, and a very important learning for me personally, is the ability of the leader to be trustworthy. To be trusted, a leader must display consistency in his actions, congruity meaning what they say, reliable to their followers and have a strong integrity. This once again gravitates towards the drive for safety individuals have. To be lead by someone, an individual must trust them to act on their behalf and be able to predict to a certain extent what their leaders will do for them. The concept of romanticizing leadership is down to this ability of leaders. If a leader is able to bring their employees/followers on their side, the leader’s ability to work through tasks and challenges is increased. Even mistakes made by them will be viewed in a positive light, enabling them to continue taking risks. â€Å"Organizations can help or hinder† is the next topic that is discussed. This focuses on the fact different organizations will have different expectations from their leaders. The culture at an organization will dictate how well a leader will be able to lead the organization. A good leader will be able to understand the context of the organization and will try to devise strategies he can implement to make changes. The author also mentions that the leader should try and develop organizational characteristics that are in line with their culture. This also transposes into the last discussion of â€Å"Forging the future†. The impediments faced by leaders in an organization can be very hard, but a good leader will be able to develop his own culture and characteristics to move the organization forward. One major issue I had with this book was that while the author continually refers to short term thinking as a â€Å"societal disease†; he himself to a certain extent subscribes to that notion. His interaction with the leaders seems comparatively very short term. Throughout the statements made in the book, it felt that the interviews were more about successful past rather than forward looking. I understand that one of the major attributes is to learn from experiences but the I’d prefer if the author also focused equally on the leader’s thoughts about the future. Secondly I felt that there was quite a bit of political commentary in the book. I knew that it was going to have some after reading the reviews while selecting the book, but the political leadership aspect seemed to be a comparatively one sided. I feel that the author could have refrained from making this political and focused instead on the corporate leadership aspect.

Roth IRAS or Traditional IRAs :: essays research papers fc

Choosing Between Roth IRAs and Traditional Deductible IRAs The decision is complicated if you're eligible for both types of IRAs. With the creation of the Roth IRA and the liberalized eligibility guidelines for the traditional IRA, the vast majority of individuals are now eligible to make some sort of IRA contribution. IRA Eligibility All but the wealthiest of workers are eligible to contribute to a Roth IRA. Eligibility to make the maximum contribution to a Roth is limited to married couples with adjusted gross incomes of less than $150,000 and single individuals with incomes under $95,000. Smaller contributions are allowed for couples with adjusted incomes up to $160,000 and singles with incomes up to $110,000. Roth IRA contributions aren't deductible, but withdrawals are tax-free once the account has been open more than five years and you're over age 59 1/2. Fewer taxpayers qualify for traditional IRAs, where contributions are deductible, but withdrawals are taxed. But Congress loosened the eligibility requirements to allow many more taxpayers to take advantage of traditional IRAs than in the past. The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 raised the income-eligibility limits for taxpayers who participate in a 401(k) or are covered by some other employer retirement plan. Before the rules were liberalized by the 1997 tax act, a married couple above the income-thresholds could make deductible IRA contributions only if neither spouse was covered by a retirement plan at work. But this restriction was eased beginning with 1998 returns. If only one spouse is covered by an employer retirement plan, the other spouse will be eligible for at least a partial IRA deduction so long as the couple's joint income is below $160,000. If neither spouse is covered by an employer retirement plan, then both spouses can make deductible contributions to a traditional IRA, no matter how high their income. Roth IRA vs. Traditional IRA The decision about which type of IRA to set up will be a simple one for most higher-income taxpayers who will only be eligible for Roth IRAs, but the decision is complicated if you're eligible for both types of IRAs. There have been numerous articles in the financial press and advertising campaigns by financial institutions extolling the virtues of the Roth IRA. All the ballyhoo has made the advent of Roth IRAs seem like the financial equivalent of the Second Coming. And indeed, many people will find that the ability to make tax-free withdrawals from a Roth IRA is a more valuable tax benefit than getting an upfront deduction for contributions to a traditional IRA.

My Cultural Identity

Defining my own cultural identity by Stefanie A–ttl Culture is one of the most difficult concepts in the human social sciences and there are many different ways of defining it. It is often argued that culture is a learned behaviour pattern shared by a specific group of people. Culture is about shared meanings, and language is the privileged medium in which meaning is produced and exchanged. People sharing one culture interpret the world in roughly the same way. Defining my own cultural identity seems to me quite difficult. I actually have to admit that I am not quite sure which culture I belong to.I was born in Austria but my father comes from South Tyrol, the northern part of Italy, where Italian and German are spoken. Therefore I have Italian nationality but I have only some basic knowledge concerning the language. Although I live in Austria, there are still some traditions and cultural aspects in my family that are not Austrian. Not only is there some Italian influence, but also Canadian due to the fact that my motheraâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s stepmother is British but emigrated to Canada. I havenaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t got Canadian nationality, but I was brought up bilingually (German/English).Furthermore I spent half a year living in Chile and therefore I was influenced by the Chilean way of life. Understandably I sometimes get quite confused about which culture I really belong to. There are several parameters for defining oneaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s culture, such as nationality, language, the country you live in, gender, social class, occupation, interests, educational levelaâ‚ ¬Ã‚ ¦. But the question is, which of these parameters is to be considered the most important. I have Italian nationality, but due to the fact that I donaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t really know the language I donaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t really feel Italian or aâ‚ ¬? Southern Tyrolianaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢.And although I am not Canadian by citizenship I sometimes feel more at home there because of the language. Still, con cerning some traditional aspects, I am more familiar with the aâ‚ ¬? South Tyrolianaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ ones but I donaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t really feel that I belong there because I donaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t know Italian nor do I really speak German with a aâ‚ ¬? South Tyrolianaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ accent. I believe that not knowing the language could be seen as a barrier keeping me from really experiencing Italian culture. I strongly believe that one can somehow adopt a culture by learning specific behaviour patterns, values, moralities or more precisely, a certain way of life.I experienced this while living in Chile and I can say for sure that it was far more difficult to adjust to a new way of living and learn how to react in certain situations than learning the foreign language. Despite all these influences of different cultures, I still feel very Austrian due to the fact of actually living in this country. The parameters which I believe to be very important in order to define your culture are first of all the is the country you live in because your culture depends very much on what is happening around you.The second important aspect is language through which thoughts, ideas and feelings of a certain culture are represented. The least important thing in my opinion is the nationality because I believe this to be a very official way of defining your culture. But, as I already mentioned, I sometimes donaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t really know which culture I really belong to. I believe I am a mixture of all of them. Understanding home by Michael Pelitz â€Å"the night is your friend, your only friend the center stage, a moonscape as you walk. alk your head is a thread; your head’s a thread the eye of the needle becomes indistinct we’re just a sadder song away we’re just a sadder song away the mountaintops, the rainbow drops the fires from the temples and palaises. hurray the hierarchy that swallows me the pavement emptied out by night we’re just a sadder son g away we’re just a sadder song away we’re off to understanding home we’re off to understanding home we’re off to understanding home we’re just a sadder song away†Just as I reached Radetzkyplatz, passing by the Hotel Garni Lind, aâ‚ ¬? Understanding Homeaâ‚ ¬? ept rotating in my disc player. aâ‚ ¬? aâ‚ ¬Ã‚ ¦The center stage, a moonscape as you walkaâ‚ ¬?. The display warns: aâ‚ ¬? BATTERY LOWaâ‚ ¬? , but Alexaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ apartment is right across the square, so I decided not to worry about it. I suddenly remembered a letter I read on the internet, written by an Austrian social worker after his return from his social service year at the Holocaust Memorial Center in Detroit: aâ‚ ¬? When being abroadaâ‚ ¬? , he wrote, aâ‚ ¬? you become a true patriotaâ‚ ¬?! He stayed in the U. S. during the international crusade against the Austrian government in 2001.I started to remember all these artists who cancelled their concerts in Austria, and every single e-mail I had to send to my American friends, explaining aâ‚ ¬? the situationaâ‚ ¬?. And I had to think about all these desperate and aggressive anti-Moslem e-mails my mum received from a friend of hers who lives in Virginia, fearing that her son might not return from Iraq safely. I glanced over my shoulder to check on the traffic lights. Red. Suddenly I was confused, even a bit aggressive. I felt terribly blank despite the music, or maybe, because of the music. The whole world (including me) seems to be talking about sending, I thought!Sending e-mails, sending troops, sending messages, sending money, sending support, sending social workers. Mobility is the keyword of our times. Nobody seems to be talking about the sense of belonging. aâ‚ ¬? You become a true patriotaâ‚ ¬? , returns to my mind. I thought of how much I detest the concept of patriotism. To me, patriotism leads to flag-waving, flag-waving gives beautiful pictures, beaut iful picture are very likely to be shown in the news, satellites enable worldwide broadcasts within milliseconds, and the media have an incredible manipulating impact.I know the concept underlying the word aâ‚ ¬? patriotismaâ‚ ¬? is not that easy, but I am sure that patriotism is a great source of misunderstandings. The next moment I pictured myself at the soccer stadium singing the national anthem. Again, it leaves me confused. I felt exhausted. It has been a long day. An estimated 750 metres, the way from the U4-metrostation LandstraAYer HauptstraAYe to here, lay behind me. Another two and a half miles to the 23 rd district, where Iaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ve parked my car, 102 kilometres to MA? zzuschlag, my hometown, an additional 87 kilometres to Graz, the city where I live, and yet another 8944 km to Portland/Oregon, the place where I spent the most wonderful year imaginable, describe my route. I think about my travels, the times I was sent, the times I mobilized. The batteries ra n out on the final lines of the song.I would have loved to listen to the outro and the repetition of the chorus. I pushed the doorbell and heard the buzzing of reality. Maybe all of this is not as contradictory as I thought. Maybe the understanding of our cultural identity needs to aâ‚ ¬? travel lightaâ‚ ¬? in order to find its way back home. And in its backpack it carries all the concepts we fear, detest or treasures so much. aâ‚ ¬? Weaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢re off to understanding homeaâ‚ ¬? , I repeated, as suddenly the front door opened and I entered the building. Cultural Identity by Ana Flac A couple of years ago I found myself wandering between cultures, customs and different traditions. At the beginning of this â€Å"cultural voyage† I was torn between contradictions which forced me to ask myself: Who am I? What makes me a Croatian? Six years ago a specific incident happened in Osijek which triggered off these thoughts .Morete mi reci da ide vlak za Cakovec? (Could you tell me when the next train goes to Cakovec? ), I asked a railway man as I was on my way home, after I had taken my entrance exam at Osijek University in 1998. The friendly man smiled and begged my pardon. He did not quite understand me. At this point I realized that I was no longer in my home town in Medjimurje and that all the competence I had in speaking my dialect which I’m so proud of could constitute a burden rather than a merit. This was the first time I perceived myself as being different from other people in Croatia.Some of my fellow students in Osijek rejected their dialect but I was proud of it and it made me somehow stand out from the crowd so I could be easily identified by it. I realized that my Medjimurian dialect was a part of my cultural identity. As time passed by I got to know many different people from the Slavonic region, their customs and their way of living. Since this region was greatly affected by the war, a very critical attitude towards Serbs h ad developed there. Most of the inhabitants often expressed their fury mostly against Serbs and emphasized Pan-Croatian nationalism.I noticed I wasn’t prepared to emphasize a Pan-Croatian position and I didn’t want to perceive the whole Serbian nation so destructively. I just couldn’t identify myself with all this Pan-Croatian nationalism and I mainly disagreed with people who had this kind of attitude. I kept my distance and withdrew into my regional cultural frames. After having spent two years in Osijek, I continued my studies in a completely different country, in Austria. I was very much excited about the new faces and new culture I was about to meet. And then one day I encountered a girl on the campus and we started talking.I found the conversation quite neat. Apart from other things, she wanted to know where I come from so I told her I was from Croatia. Ah, aus Kroatien.. those were the next words she said. They sounded strange, as if she got the whole pic ture of me when she found out about my origin. At this moment I realized there was not only no place left for my Medjimurian identity, which I am extremely proud of, but there was also hardly even any left for my Croatian identity. I was differentiated from other students by labels such as another ex-Yugoslavian or inhabitant of the Balkans.For the first time in my life I felt ashamed of my nationality. And from that moment on I was somehow torn between my Medjimurian pride and the feeling of shame for who I was in Austria. I was trapped in some generalized prejudices about myself that I did not want to have anything to do with. My identity was on the verge of being formed by some stereotypic views which I could not accept. But inspite of all these confrontations and contradictions I had to face and which scared me and disoriented me at first, they were also the one that gave me strength and motivated me to figure out who I really am.My Cultural Identity by Camilla Leimisch If someo ne asked me if I was proud to be Austrian or Finnish, I would not answer aâ‚ ¬? Yesaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ right away. Iaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ve always felt that proud was not the appropriate word to describe my feelings towards the country where I was born or the country where I grew up, because I find it hard to be proud of something that I did not decide or that I did not achieve on my own. But I do not want to be misunderstood: I am proud of my parents to whom I owe my bilingualism and who introduced me to both cultures right from the start (Finnish from my mother and Austrian from my father).I am also happy to have kept this bilingualism and I consider myself lucky to have two native countries. Although I was born in Finland and I was only two years old when my family moved to Austria, I have never considered Finland to be my second home country, in the sense of second best. This is because I have a family there, too, and I spend every summer in Finland. This is also because my mother took care that I did not forget my Finnish roots in Austria, so I could develop feelings of the same value for both of the countries, as well as an understanding of cultural awareness that is closely connected to the feeling of home.As I see it, not only my nationality is an important part of my cultural identity, but also what I have done and what I am doing in my country and in its society. Austria is the country where I live and study. As my main subject is music, and Austria is a country of great musicians, music has become a big part not only of my personal but also of my cultural identity. I also appreciate Austrian folk music which I consider a very relevant and unique cultural tradition in the country. With Finland, itaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s different. Iaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢d rather identify myself with Finnish people than with Austrian people.It is not easy to explain why. All I can say is that Finnish people are very attached to nature, and that I often share their moments of melancholy wh ich are even more intense when they are far away from their own country. Iaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ve already said that I am happy about my bilingualism. In fact, language is an important parameter for defining my cultural identity, because other people also define or identify you by the way you speak. Certainly you become most aware of your language when you find yourself in a foreign country where no-one speaks your language.What Iaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ve noticed is that if you are among people who do not only speak differently, but also behave differently and look different from you, you suddenly distinguish yourself culturally from the others, and your cultural identity becomes much more evident. The frequently asked question about whether I feel more Austrian or more Finnish is not easy to answer. I am not 100% Austrian and not 100% Finnish. But I think that this diversity which has shaped my personality is also the key to my cultural identity.