Saturday, November 26, 2016

perhaps a story

Phenomenology is the human literary experience. It is literature itself.

The cafe had a heavy tense atmosphere. It was restless, loud, and smelled of rotten expired food and cigarettes. It wasn't very polished or new, the chairs were old and the tables made of dilapidated wood. There was vague traces of brown hues on the wallpaper,  but it had aged and faded a dusty yellow with time's passing. The men around her were drinking abundantly, and the air reeked of cheap alcohol and excessive perfume.  It wasn't a typical French cafetiere,  it didn't even serve coffee or patisseries. The cafe  was in a dirty corner of Paris that only sleazy commercial men  came  to  so they could avoid their sorrows and wives. 

She thought of how truly pathetic they all were. A bunch of unappreciative disgusting men who  act like ostriches by hiding their heads and necks in a prostitutes breasts  rather than to confront any real problem in life. They thought a whiskey with their friends solved their problems, their lives; they were real men with an appetite of all of what masculinity stood for. 

''Can I get you anything? Whiskey?'' 

She turned around and stared.  Brendan finally arrived. Brendan was your typical Frenchman: glassy blue eyes,  brown hair,  a neat tailored suit, excessive cologne and  fake courtesy and manners. 

''You're late.'' She replied.

''I'm aware. Heavy traffic.'' He said, as a type of excuse. 

''Save the whiskey for later. Did you get the intel?'' 

She hated the fake politeness. The French were a living representation of Greek dramas, always bordering on acting either tragically or comically.  It was unnecessarily excessive. 

''You Americans are very impatient. You should learn from us Europeans: a little courtesy goes a long way.'' 

''Tell that to Germany.''

He bowed his head in concession of her point. There's nothing about Europe that she liked, including this man.



Thursday, November 17, 2016

Gnawing, sentimental pain that lets me die in its eyes of terror.
The shattering of a million years

None Whatsoever




I come to a point of existential dread must be had in the early 20s. What is my role in this world? What is my voice amidst the chaos of politics, amidst the millions of views expressed on the internet and social media, amidst a competitive world that may offer better alternative than me?

I consume myself in my degree. I don't know what other interests I have; I either found my passion in life with law or  a life-consuming subject that will make me regret my decisions. I hope not to regret it, I hope I will be able to find time to allow myself to fall in love with life itself and with what I can do. Perhaps a glimpse of hope may appear when I do what I love; but can life let me do so?

I wish to write and travel in summery warm beaches to freezing cold mountains. I wish to dance in filthy London clubs and also in the most elegant galas that Paris can offer. I wish to draw in the museums of Madrid and the architecture of Barcelona; to read in a quiet cafe in Prague and live the history of Berlin. I only wish my friend would be there, to stare at life, to stare at the earth with me; and feel the wonder of human kind and the beauty of knowledge and the gift of time before us.

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Hm

In the presence of such turmoil, only bad choices can be made. The world is currently in despair, over-informed, indecisive and scared.  The younger generation stairs in despair and confusion, with politics hitting extremes that it never had before. We're witnessing history's stories unfold and change and we plead ourselves guilty. We don't know how to change the river course of society's path and we don't know which path will lead us to disaster and which will save us.

No matter what people say, history is only easy in retrospect. When it is lived, it does not sink it nor is it properly absorbed by our souls and lives. We don't understand the exact point that led us wrongly, we don't understand if what we're doing is right or wrong. There is no right or wrong, there is only belief and rationality to inspire our guidance forward. Or maybe it's only hope.

The monumental Brexit vote hit home hard for many. A country that I admired so greatly has chosen a sentiment of superiority, of conflicting views and internal agony. It's strong anti-immigrant stance has left many Eastern Europeans feeling the rear  head of the ugliness that is racism. It's interesting to see how in times of crisis people result to categorisation of division. Us versus them. Us, the English, versus them, the immigrants. It's always this that appears in tense times.

This decisive referendum has caused a constitutional crisis never before seen in England.  It's causing politics to spilt itself apart and pretend it isn't. It's causing people to reflect on what politics in England means, and post-referendum, to actually research what the European Union meant as well.

America is arguably in no better situation. With Clinton and Trump as running candidates, the real question in the elections was not who's more qualified but rather who's the lesser of the two evils. For Americans, the answer was Trump.

It's both painful and interesting to me to have witnessed two grand decisions that could affect me but that I have no voice in.  I could not vote in the country that I live in, that I study in;  in a country that single-handedly shredded the history and significance of the European Union because it decided it's better off existing on it's own. I could neither vote for the American electoral candidates; I couldn't vote for the Great Power country that greatly affects foreign relations and policy; most notably, in my own country.

I felt quit amid the loud voices of opinion. I stated what I knew, and tried to form an opinion. There are always people there to counter, to say their opinion louder with more strength and knowledge. I felt powerless and a mere observer of what everyone thought. I felt like a parrot with a little mind; quoting other people who were quoting others.

I deeply believed the European Union to be a great concept of idealism that brought nations together after the struggles of a horrible war.  The history of the European Union fascinated me, and I studied the European Union law as part of my course. It felt like a unique hybrid of structural systems in the world that brought together divided states,like a dove of peace that flew from country to country.

It was my only idealism, as a half Eastern European. I've somewhat saw myself changing from left to right, and my only sense of belief in politics was the European Union. Ironically, it was shut down by the very country I chose to move in.

England was a country who's educational system I admired greatly. I was brought up in it; I was fascinated by the culture, the history, the country. It seemed the country didn't feel the same way about me. I suppose I can't blame England; it was fed garbage lies by garbage politicians, and it was given this in the right time.

Europe was suffering a crisis of terrorism it hasn't seen before. Of course, when Europe suffers, the world must too. The Middle East was always in crisis; but it wasn't until Europe was affected that the world started paying a bit more attention.

The crisis in Paris and Brussels left Europeans shocked but quickly forgetting the events. When the Syrian refugees crisis happened, it left Europeans in a moral crisis. What is the right thing to do? Nobody knew.It let to a cultural war of us versus them; of Western European thought versus the traditional Islamic world. Germany, refuting it's horrific past, accepted immigrants with open arms. This led to a lot of criticism, especially after a woman was raped by a Syrian immigrant.

It's weird to realise how all these events will shape consequences for future generations. How will the children of the future see this as? Will they think they are safer than we are, away from history's wrongly imprisonment?

Probably. That's how we see ourselves. Netanyahu, the great Israeli prime minister, always says : 'Never again'. It is of course a political subliminal message, but it's meaning is lost in reality. Perhaps never again do we make mistakes, but we always do make mistakes. Inevitably, human nature is always to be conflicted with it's own existence.