Showing posts with label videos. Show all posts
TED Talks Tuesdays: My Immigration Story
Today’s Ted
Talk Tuesday is about the immigration story of Tan Le. Tan Le’s talk grabbed my
attention because of her puzzle pieces analogy. She compared each of her family
members and her immigration adventures to a piece of a jigsaw puzzle. Her
story, she said, is not yet finished; it is a one big puzzle that is still
being put together.
What
captivated me the most from her story was how her mother worked two jobs whilst
getting a college degree. I can personally relate to this. Ever since I moved
here to Canada with my family, my mother has always protected and nurtured us. During
my first few days here, it was like being a child again; I had to rely heavily
on my parents. Looking back, I actually think it was a good thing for it strengthened my bond with my parents.
Going back
to Tan Le’s story, she shared their journey to Australia where they had to hide
in a concealed boat to escape her mother’s cruel
life. Her mother brought poison with her, which they were ready to drink
in case their boat got caught. I cannot
possibly imagine myself having the same courage that she had—the courage of
walking in a thin thread, to be ready to jump off a cliff when the situation
begs it.
Tan Le ended
her story by revealing the last piece of her puzzle. As she stabled her life and finished her law
degree, she realized that she could not get a career in law. She thought that
there had to be another piece. Soon enough, she found it. And that is, the realization that is okay to be
an outsider, a recent arrival, new on the scene. She says that it's even “something to be thankful for” because “being an insider can so
easily mean collapsing the horizons, can so easily mean accepting the
presumptions of your province”. Sometimes, it is better when we are in a strange
place. It gives us the chance to grow, be braver and be smarter.
Favourite quote from the talk: “I have stepped outside my comfort zone enough now to know that, yes,
the world does fall apart, but not in the way that you fear.”
TED Talks Tuesdays: My Escape From North Korea
Today's TED Talk is by Hyeonseo Lee, who was born in North Korea. When she was younger, she thought that her country "was the best in the world". However, when she was 14, there was a period of terrible famine in North Korea. To survive, she escaped to China to be in company of her distant relatives.
There, her life was put to danger when she was brought by the Chinese police to a station for interrogation. Since North Korean refugees are considered in China as illegal migrants, she was very close to being imprisoned or repatriated. Thankfully, she was able to answer all the questions calmly and was let go. The years that followed were spent covering her real identity from the Chinese officials. After 10 years of doing this, she decided to take another risk by going to Seoul, South Korea.
There, she greatly struggled to adjust with her new life, confessing that she even experienced identity crisis. As she was trying to cope up with her life in Seoul, she received a call saying that the North Korean authorities intercepted the money that she had sent to her family. You won't believe what happened next..
Watch Hyeonseo Lee tell her riveting story about escape that inspires hope, bravery, and persistence:
TED Talks Tuesdays: The Danger of a Single Story
Every Tuesday, we'll feature a TED Talk that we think could empower and inspire immigrant youth. Today's featured TED Talk is by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who was born and raised in Nigeria. Having written numerous critically-acclaimed books that have started to reshape African literature, she is an inspiration to many.
In this TED Talk, she tells us why paying attention to a single story may cause us harm. Our own cultural lives and the cultural backgrounds of other people influence us everyday in the way we think, feel, and act. Oftentimes, listening to a single story limits us from recognizing that people who come from similar cultural backgrounds do not possess the same exact beliefs, behaviour, and experiences. Single story causes misjudgment and misunderstanding.
As Chimamanda points out, single story can produce stereotypes. And the problem with stereotypes is not that they are false, but that they present an incomplete story.
Trust me when I say that you won't regret spending 19 minutes of your life watching this:
Favourite quote from the talk: "All these stories make me who I am. But to insist on only these negative stories is to flatten my experience and to overlook the many other stories that formed me. The single story creates stereotypes. And the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make the single story the only story."
Homemade Holiday Treats!
Hi Everyone! Christmas is fast approaching!
I found some Christmas themed videos from YouTube and I think that they're really cute and awesome, so I wanted to share one with you guys!
I know a lot of you are planning to cook or make some homemade foods over the holidays, so I'm sharing Bethany Mota's "Easy & Yummy DIY Holiday Treat Recipes"!
-Bam
I know a lot of you are planning to cook or make some homemade foods over the holidays, so I'm sharing Bethany Mota's "Easy & Yummy DIY Holiday Treat Recipes"!
-Bam
My Christmas Jam
Hello fellow Homo sapiens! I, a self-proclaimed person who has a good taste in music, want to share my Christmas playlist!
These are
the songs that I play when it’s December or at the Christmas dinner (That’s
right, I’m the DJ in the house). It is a
mixture of different genres: from up-beat to classic and of course to blues
#foreveralone
Did I just
use a hash tag? Anyways, let’s get to the playlist. In no particular order of
favoritism, here it goes:
10. Rockin’
around the Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee
No one can
resist this classic song. And thanks to the commercial of JOE, this song is
stuck in my head. It is catchy and we know what catchy songs do to us...
ROCKIN’ around the Christmas tree...the bathroom, the kitchen and even on the
sidewalk.
9. The
Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) by Nat King Cole
Aaah ... Nat
King Cole. His Christmas songs are the ones that make you want to sit on a sofa
with all lights dimmed, have a coffee and be nostalgic about life. Play this
song if you have your grandparents in the house...they’ll love it.
8. Have Yourself a Merry little Christmas by Frank Sinatra
Like fellow
Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra is one of the best crooners of not just Christmas
but of all time. Can you imagine how sad this song really sounds? Just read the
title. Anyways, there are covers of this song which I really like such as
Christina Aguilera’s and Judy Garland’s
7. All I
Want for Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey
I’m pretty
sure that this is one of the songs that never get old during Christmas. It will
be impossible not to hear this song in December, whether in the mall or in your
own house. I memorized the lyrics not
because I intended to but, because it’s ridiculously overplayed (Admit it. It goes
the same for you). Nevertheless, this up-beat song surely brings out the merry
in Christmas.
6. Silent
Night by Boyz II Men
The definition of acapella. The classic
Silent night is covered by many artists but one thing that remains is its
solemn essence. I like this song a lot because it just shuts up all the noise
in the world (Pun not intended) you know, when you play it, it lurks in the air
and turn everything into a melody to soothe your ear.
5. Baby It’s
Cold Outside by Joseph Gordon Levitt and Lady Gaga
WHAT? This
exists? Yes! I just found out today as well. I was looking for Zoey and Will’s
version but this showed up. After I played it, sorry folks, but this is now my
favourite version. It is adorable how they switching the role making the boy
who wants to go because of fear his parents might scold him!
4. Little
Drummer Boy by Harry Simeone Chorale
Let’s admit
it, we don’t really know the other lyrics to this song aside from the RA-PU-PUM-PUM
bit. No? Okay it’s just me then. This one is probably one of my favourite
Christmas songs sung by a chorale. And thanks to Peter Griffin for staining the
memory of this song (If you don’t know what I’m saying google Family Guy’s
version of this song)
3. Santa
Claus Is Coming To Town by Bruce Springsteen
OH you
better watch out you better not cry! You better not pout I’m telling you why,
Santa Claus is coming to town. 1) You sang this while reading it and 2) This is
mostly the part where you know the lyrics. I LOVE this song. It has the u-beat rhythm that makes you sing
along no matter where you are or even if you’re sad. (‘Cause Santa is coming
;))
2. Ave Maria
I did not
put any artist because there are a lot of varieties of Ave Maria (Personally, I
like Pavarotti’s) This song is played in a lot of occasions Christmas, funerals
or even weddings. Nevertheless, Hail the Holy Mother Mary.
1. O Holy
Night by Christina Aguilera
I know I
said this list is in no order of favoritism but, this one has to occupy the
first place. Fall on your knees indeed, this song gives goose bumps. Regardless of who the singer is, I love this
song or should I say poem. This truly captures the soul of Christmas. Everyone
is united and adores the Holy Night.
So that’s
it! I tried to make it even with blues, classic and up-beat! Hope you enjoyed
the list!
Happy
Holidays everybody!
-Anonymeh
“Geronimo”
- The Doctor
A Teenager Finally Finds His Voice
As youth, it is important to let the world hear our voice. Oftentimes, however, finding our voice is not that easy. Many factors may hinder us from speaking out. In the case of Musharaf "Mushy" Asghar, his impairment prevented him from speaking out. His impairment not only made the process of speaking out difficult for him, but it also gave bullies a chance to tease him. In this video, we learn how important it is to recognize that everybody experiences different types of difficulty, and that bullying will not make anyone's difficulty easier. Thankfully, Mushy's teachers never stopped supporting and encouraging him. Watch him bring his classmates to tears as he find his voice:
Because of his strong will, determination, and the support of his teachers, Mushy was able to overcome his impairment, and his classmates were able to hear him speak out for the first time. This video reminds all of us, youth immigrants, that even though there may be factors (such as language issues and/or an environment that's entirely different from our country of origin) that make it difficult for us to speak out, it is never impossible to find our voice.
- Sean
Are We Becoming Robots?
The first
thing I do when I wake up in the morning is check my phone for missed messages
and/or calls. Admit it, you do it too. However, that’s not the only thing I do.
When the world is at your fingertips, it gets harder to get up in the morning.
I’ll be honest, I check my social
media sites (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc) before I get up in the morning
(or even the afternoon). It is as if these sites are the source of news,
celebrity gossip, and our friends’ lunch. When I ride the transit, I put these
earphones that shoot out music in them in order to shut out the noise. Is there
anyone out there with the same experience? I’m sure I’m not alone. What is
happening?!
When the food comes when I eat out
with my friends, they all whip out their smartphones and go on their cameras to
take a picture of their hopefully scrumptious food. During the meal, we all
become silent not only because we’re eating, but also because we’re on our
cellular devices tweeting how good or how sucky our food is. Sometimes we go on
our phones to see how many people have “liked” or commented on our photos.
Slowly, we are being devoured by what we call the internet. Gradually, we
forget that we have friends around to enjoy times with. We turn into
metaphorical robots. WAKE UP!
Somewhere in this blog post is a
short YouTube clip
that you must watch. After seeing it, my eyes opened and I said, “what is
happening?” I then realized that I have been a victim of this, and want to stop
it.
So ride with me. Whenever you
catch yourself, remember to live in the moment. The moment is not going to be
there forever! You must cherish it. Being new to Canada, one must be exploring
the great outdoors, not the interwebs. Actually be with your friends and have a
good time. Maybe leave your electronic device at home on purpose. That way, we
all become present and alive in every moment.
The best thing you could do after
reading this post is to ask yourself, “am I being a robot?” If not, then you’re
living it right. If you said yes, then maybe you should consider the few
suggestions given above. Make the acts to seize the day.
Living in
the moment,
Jose
