A Passé Cliché

My international business class is beginning to wrap up; I believe we only have two more class meetings. The course hasn't done much for me 'cause there wasn't much to learn from it (reasons for which I outline below). The class itself has been very easy, 1/5 of my grade coming from attendance/participation and the other 4/5 from 'papers' or 1-2 pages of summarizing my notes and adding in a few personal thoughts. My professor is an older man from Germany but has taught in the US for the past several decades. He does a good job with the class and has arranged several field trips for us. Tomorrow, we have tentative plans to visit a local London brewery, and on Friday we'll visit the Anheuser-Busch brewery to make a comparison between the two. On Thursday we'll stop by Edward Jones, a financial services provider based out of St. Louis. The idea is to learn about how these businesses operate on an international level. I think it'll be neat to get to visit 'em.

But anyways, let me go off onto a little tirade about what we talk about in class. Not that it's not important, but that I've heard it all before...so many times:

Globalization. To me, the entire concept has grown so cliché I almost roll my eyes when people reference this 'new idea.' You see, I think all the people teaching current students grew up in an age where the world market was not nearly so central to economic life as it is now. Therefore, any changes, i.e. an increase in global interdependence, produces shock waves for them. But for the kids, well, we're growing up amidst all this stuff. We're raised on computers and often master technology before our parents. 'Globalness' is almost taken for granted-- we can call internationally for very cheap, web cam across oceans, and buy international products all with the click of a mouse button.

But wait Laura Beth, aren't jobs and lifestyles changing? Whatever are we to do with all these new things?

That would be an adult talking, and an adult meaning someone who grew up before the widespread use of computers. Children today are taught about all these changes. We expect them. That jobs are constantly moving between countries doesn't faze us to the extent it does our parents and grandparents (or at least me anyway). We've grown up knowing about it, so anticipating the change is not nearly so difficult. Globalization is a regular part of life for us, always has been as far as we can remember.

So that's why I role my eyes when teachers go on and on about globalization. It's new to them, sure, but it's almost passé for me. This is life! It's been new for a few decades, but I'm only just a few decades old myself. Me and globalization, we're tight. ;)

Ok, enough tirading for now. After class this morning I went to the Whole Foods store (the one with the special tea) to wander around for a while. They have so much neat stuff there! I think the neatest thing I saw was an ostrich egg. No, not just the shell, the entire egg, which could be yours for only £17 (ha!). Or you could get an emu egg for £25. Craziness. In England there's a big push for organic, fair-trade products, so that's what Whole Foods focuses on. As for me, I'll take my pesticides, pay less, and get more food. But yeah, spent about two hours in there and then went to their cafe area upstairs and enjoyed a wonderful herb scone (for only £1!).

This afternoon, Emily, one of my flatmates, and I went to London's Ikea store. Ikea is a GIANT warehouse of home furnishings. Seriously, GIANT. You have no idea unless you've been to one. I had thought about getting a bed there when I got back to the States but wanted to know about the quality of their furniture (which is quite good). Anyways, I live in Zone 1 which is basically the center of London, and Ikea is in Zone 3, which is basically the suburbs. The store has a shuttle from the tube station to the warehouse, but it only runs about every thirty minutes, so it's impossible to time. After wandering around Ikea for a few hours (seriously, GIANT), it took us over an hour of traveling to get back to the flat!

Tomorrow we're going to Parliament and Big Ben with my program. We even get to chat with an MP (member of Parliament)! I need to remember to charge my camera's batteries...Anyways, hope all is well in the States or wherever you happen to be!

G'night!