Hi all!
If you've turned on your computer today and read that all of the Islamic world is in a tizzy, fear not--things here in Kuwait are the same as they were yesterday (and the day before that, and the day before that..). I wouldn't have even known there was anything going on until I read cnn.com today and saw it was their banner headline. The kids didn't mention it, the superintendent hasn't mentioned anything, so as far as I'm concerned, nothing is amiss. The most interesting thing that happened today was that we had a fire drill AND an assembly. Trying to get a group of 15-year-olds back on track after a fire drill is like herding cats. Luckily, I have been working tirelessly the past few weeks to set my expectations, so my little kitties were especially well behaved! Proud teacher right here.
I imagine that during the time we'll be living here, there will be lots of flare-ups and concerns over our safety from those who live back home. Of course I will let everyone know if there is ever anything to worry about, but I can tell you from experience that what the Western news conveys is nearly always blown out of proportion. When we were living in Korea, for example, we would hear from our friends and family back home that North Korea was making threats towards South Korea. And yes--occasionally legitimate flare-ups did occur. But if you read the news in the US, you'd think that North Korea was standing on the border, armed and ready to invade at any moment. You might also think that the people in Seoul (all 20 million of them) were staying home every other day out of fear of a nuclear attack. In my experience, there was never an issue with North Korea that warranted the media coverage we gave it in the West. Furthermore, people just didn't worry about it in South Korea. Our coworkers laughed at us when we asked if we should be concerned. Good-naturedly, but still laughed.
Similarly, while we were living in South Korea, we had planned a trip to Thailand. The week before, protests in Bangkok were headline news back in the US with photos of flames, overturned cars, and police wielding riot gear on the front page of every news website. We nearly canceled our trip. I'm so glad we didn't! While we were in Bangkok, we saw that the area where people were protesting was literally one city block--a very small area that was easily avoided. We had no trouble enjoying the city and the sights and felt very safe while we did so.
Another time that I almost canceled a trip but fortunately did not was a summer spent in southern Mexico. Before my sister and I left for an immersion trip to Oaxaca, we had read that the local teachers were rioting and protesting over their labor contracts. There was reported violence and we almost stayed home as a result. You can guess where I'm going with this--again, the violence was overstated, the protesters were sequestered to one park in the city, and we greatly enjoyed our time there.
Please don't misunderstand--I'm not trying to de-legitimize the very real struggles that people who are protesting have experienced and will continue to experience. Similarly, I am not saying that there is not legitimate strife and conflict going on in regions all over the world or that the violence that is being reported is not real and dangerous. As an American, I am very thankful to be from a country that has a free press as it is a vital piece of our democracy and I stand by our media's right to publish stories from all points of view and from all over the world. It's what freedom of speech is all about! All that I'm saying is that what you see on the news back home is not always what the reality is for most of the people living in any given place. If the news in Kuwait chose, for example, to put the Westboro Baptist Church on the front page every time they had a protest and had numerous articles devoted to the motivations of these "Christians" in America, people in the US would rightfully be offended. It's always important to remember that wherever you are, the loudest voices don't always speak for the majority.
If you've turned on your computer today and read that all of the Islamic world is in a tizzy, fear not--things here in Kuwait are the same as they were yesterday (and the day before that, and the day before that..). I wouldn't have even known there was anything going on until I read cnn.com today and saw it was their banner headline. The kids didn't mention it, the superintendent hasn't mentioned anything, so as far as I'm concerned, nothing is amiss. The most interesting thing that happened today was that we had a fire drill AND an assembly. Trying to get a group of 15-year-olds back on track after a fire drill is like herding cats. Luckily, I have been working tirelessly the past few weeks to set my expectations, so my little kitties were especially well behaved! Proud teacher right here.
I imagine that during the time we'll be living here, there will be lots of flare-ups and concerns over our safety from those who live back home. Of course I will let everyone know if there is ever anything to worry about, but I can tell you from experience that what the Western news conveys is nearly always blown out of proportion. When we were living in Korea, for example, we would hear from our friends and family back home that North Korea was making threats towards South Korea. And yes--occasionally legitimate flare-ups did occur. But if you read the news in the US, you'd think that North Korea was standing on the border, armed and ready to invade at any moment. You might also think that the people in Seoul (all 20 million of them) were staying home every other day out of fear of a nuclear attack. In my experience, there was never an issue with North Korea that warranted the media coverage we gave it in the West. Furthermore, people just didn't worry about it in South Korea. Our coworkers laughed at us when we asked if we should be concerned. Good-naturedly, but still laughed.
Similarly, while we were living in South Korea, we had planned a trip to Thailand. The week before, protests in Bangkok were headline news back in the US with photos of flames, overturned cars, and police wielding riot gear on the front page of every news website. We nearly canceled our trip. I'm so glad we didn't! While we were in Bangkok, we saw that the area where people were protesting was literally one city block--a very small area that was easily avoided. We had no trouble enjoying the city and the sights and felt very safe while we did so.
Another time that I almost canceled a trip but fortunately did not was a summer spent in southern Mexico. Before my sister and I left for an immersion trip to Oaxaca, we had read that the local teachers were rioting and protesting over their labor contracts. There was reported violence and we almost stayed home as a result. You can guess where I'm going with this--again, the violence was overstated, the protesters were sequestered to one park in the city, and we greatly enjoyed our time there.
Please don't misunderstand--I'm not trying to de-legitimize the very real struggles that people who are protesting have experienced and will continue to experience. Similarly, I am not saying that there is not legitimate strife and conflict going on in regions all over the world or that the violence that is being reported is not real and dangerous. As an American, I am very thankful to be from a country that has a free press as it is a vital piece of our democracy and I stand by our media's right to publish stories from all points of view and from all over the world. It's what freedom of speech is all about! All that I'm saying is that what you see on the news back home is not always what the reality is for most of the people living in any given place. If the news in Kuwait chose, for example, to put the Westboro Baptist Church on the front page every time they had a protest and had numerous articles devoted to the motivations of these "Christians" in America, people in the US would rightfully be offended. It's always important to remember that wherever you are, the loudest voices don't always speak for the majority.
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