Sunday, February 9, 2014

Sochi 2014: Give the Olympics back to the Athletes


In light of the ongoing Olympics in Sochi and all the politics surrounding it, I was tasked with writing an essay for my World Issues class about what stance Canada should take on  the issues surround Russia today. I chose to focus more on the issue of politics taking over the Olympics in general. Enjoy!



Since the birth of the modern Olympics, the world has seen a number of these competitions have their focus shifted from the performance of the athletes to social and political agendas unrelated to the games themselves.  Many questions have been raised as to whether this is a positive or negative trend, and what effect this will have on the legitimacy of the Olympics as an honest international sporting event. This trend is again making an appearance at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.  The question that has been raised by many is how Canadians and our government should behave in this occasion, as a modern western democracy with some contrasting views to Russian politics. Should we boycott the Olympics completely, showcasing our disapproval for some Russia laws? Or should we be fully supportive of Russia in all they do? In my opinion, the answer to this question is neither. The athletes are being removed from the focus of the Olympics when compared to the social and political crusading of other parties. The Games have been taken over by small groups trying to advance their own principles at the expense of the athletes. Blameless people are being intimidated away from participation in the games through threats of negative association with issues entirely unrelated to them.  Canada needs to send a delegation of representatives to the Olympic Games as visible support for our athletes and as a sign of respect to the institution of the Olympics themselves, and not as a political statement of any kind.

Issues unrelated and irrelevant to the Olympic Games  can overshadow the athletes and their accomplishments. The Olympics have frequently been used as a political platform. The 1936 Berlin Olympics were infamously used by Adolph Hitler to promote his political and cultural views; the Munich Olympics resulted in Israeli athletes being murdered in their beds by Palestinian terrorists. Nelson Mandela used the event of the 1992 Barcelona games to famously draw attention to the end of apartheid in South Africa. The Olympics are meant to be an international coming-together of athletes and nations that transcend politics. Athletes spend their entire lives working towards one single performance at the Olympics, viewing them as their chance at glory on the world’s biggest stage. The athlete’s family, coaches, and community all spend significant time and resources to perform at the Olympics, yet they risk being eclipsed by social disagreements.

The purpose of these Games has been hijacked by some very vocal segments of society who are using the games to publicize their own personal opinions and biases against the laws and procedures of a foreign country. Many current government leaders, as well as influential administrators in mass media and representatives of the Canadian people, were raised during the Cold war and so have already been bombarded by anti-Russian propaganda since an early age, in a western culture already socialized to mistrust any country with a form of government not closely resembling a western democracy. In history, there has been a long and difficult relationship between the western world and Russia (formerly the USSR), resulting in Russia being portrayed almost exclusively as a dangerous enemy to western civilization (for example, resulting in the formation of NATO). Because of this background based in apprehension of all things Russian, any contrast between Russian and western culture is met with a great deal of suspicion. Political and social activists are also using the games to advance their own agendas against perceived suppression of human rights, at the expense of the athletes and the integrity of the games. The actual purpose of the games has been overshadowed by the interests of a group of people taking advantage of the world wide stage as an opportunity to promote their own beliefs.

The projection of perceived political messages through the presence or absence of countries (and the  level of prestige possessed by the delegate from each country ) at the Olympic games has led to the intimidation of governments, businesses,  and private citizens from participating in games as they seem fit without being attacked.  Worldwide Olympic partners (Such as Coca-Cola and Panasonic) are being pressured and harassed by activist groups, who draw unfounded links to the companies sponsorship of the Olympics and Olympic athletes to labelling them as homophobic and inhumane, regardless of the fact that protest leaders themselves have acknowledged that Coca Cola and several other of the companies are actually highly commendable for their protection of employees from discrimination. Representatives from countries are subjected to accusations of complete, all-encompassing support of all Russian policies (although this allegation has never been made in past Olympic games), and judged for them.  These people and businesses have been condemned as guilty of attacks on human rights without any evidence for or against this claim, excluding the party’s support of a popular, international event.  The presence of Canadian athletes or officials (both of whom are there for the purpose of representing Canada) does not signify agreement or disagreement with any of Russia’s actions or policies, and their actions should not be unfairly identified as such. People should not have to fear unjust and unfounded allegations, but be able to experience the Games in any way they wish without being pressured by outside factors.

Canada needs to send officials to Sochi to support our athletes there and demonstrate our pride in our country, and not to communicate any kind of judgement. The athletes and their sports, the alleged focus of the games, are being dwarfed in comparison to the political and social campaigns of other people. The Games themselves have been seized and recreated as a broadcasting opportunity by small groups of people for use towards their own personal intentions. Sponsors, private businesses, individuals and governments are being harassed with threats of adverse accusations made against them, due to concerns completely uninvolved with the person in question. The Olympic Games have always had their fair share of controversy. As with any event in which the best and brightest citizens of many nations around the world are set to compete against each other, countries are quick to turn their eyes upon one another. However, as to not violate the Olympic spirit of equality, all countries need to enter the Olympics with the sole intent of watching their athletes perform, and not to pass judgement on other countries in anything not directly connected to the actual sports in question. Russia’s policies and laws should not be the focus of these Games. Canadian athletes are here to compete and to bring together their entire lives efforts and sacrifices, and Canada needs to be there cheering them on.  The Olympics need to be returned to their roots as a purely athletic event and leave social and political campaigns to diplomatic platforms. Politicians need to return the Olympic podiums to the athletes.

Saturday, October 26, 2013

The Homecoming

No, this post is not about the great American tradition of celebrating the return to high school, proudly wearing your school's colours and cheering loudly at the first football game of the season. The main reason this post is not about that is, well, I live in Canada and we don't engage in such shenanigans (fun though they seem :P). No, I figured about 2 months was the longest I could get away with not bothering to write about my actual homecoming from the great adventure that was France.
Yes, early July 21st (or 22nd?? wow, maybe I did wait too long...) I grabbed my 'meagre belongings' (comprised of 2 absolutely bulging suitcases, a backpack full to bursting, and a carry-on in the same state), petted the two lovely dogs at my host family's for the very last time, waved goodbye to my home away from home, and then watched this countryside that I had come to know and love glide past the car windows. Goodbye, winding country roads i had spent many a tranquil hour wandering, goodbye old lazy river, goodbye little town where so many of my friends were and are and shall continue to be, without me. 
Eventually arriving at the airport exactly 0 minutes in advance, I was forced to quickly say goodbye to my host family, who had become so much more than that to be in the past year, and walk, rotary jacket pins shining, back into the familiar yet unknown life that waited for me.


Last views of France
On the long airplane ride how I felt strangely calm. It's weird to explain, but I guess I was ready to go back to my own home my own family my own place of belonging and that's were the plane was taking me.










The end of France.

And HELLO CANADA!


Actually stepping off the plan and into the arms of my waiting parents was fairly surreal, but honestly by the time we arrived back at my little home on our great big farm I just felt like all was normal and I had basically never left. My siblings decorated the house for me, with a great big hand-painted "WELCOME HOME!" sign and canadian flags on every conceivable surface. :)







The long road home ends here :)
I'd say the only difficulties I had readjusting were a) the sudden distance between me and all my friends :( and b) the language!  Back in France, I lived in a house with one of my best friends in the entire world, and so whenever I got bored or lonely I could just walk down a hallway and be instantly happier. But now I live on a farm in Ontario, my canadian friends are far away in town, the rest of my friends are scattered across Europe, the USA, mexico, Australia, Argentina...not exactly within arm's reach. Multiple time zones are now also a force to be reckoned with (example: my Australian friend snappchats me about breakfast when I'm going to bed, and sends pictures of herself out for the night when I'm just beginning my day :p).Time zones can also make setting up Skype chats far more complicated than they need to be.


But this little lady was happy to see me, so
I guess I do ok for friends ;)

Illogical though it may seem, language was also actualy a bit of a change for me getting, even though yes, English is indeed my native language. I guess after thinking and speaking and listening to french for such a long time I needed to...readjust. My friends and family found great amusement in my new 'accent', and I once spent 10 minutes trying to understand what my mom didnt understand about the phrase, "wow, the sky is really noire over there!" ("...Do you mean black?" "..Do I? hmm. Yeah, i remember that word now :P black it is!")

Overall though, I'm glad to be home, though I'll always miss France and the people I knew there, and the person I was there. Looking forward to living the rest of my life with these experiences behind me!

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Motocross de Huismes

Dirt biking and motocross is actually a pretty big deal in France, and my little community here's one claim to fame is it's world class motocross track.
On June 30th my host sister and a friend of ours went to watch the French Championships being held there, for the side car cross divisions. For those of you who aren't familiar with it (most of us :p)  the side car division is when the drivers ride bikes with carts strapped to the sides, where their partner (called the 'sange' or 'the monkey') hangs on to a bar, and uses his or her weight to help throw the bike around corners. The track in Huismes is famous for its steep hills, sharps turns and flying jumps, which makes the side car ra
ces particularly interesting (and dangerous) to watch.
The morning started off warm and sunny, dust from the tracks already beginning to cover everything. As a side event, all the local clubs sent their students out (about 11-15 years old) and they did a few races. Each race consisted of several laps, and 3 heats for each standings. So, everyone raced once, then lined back up twice more during the day. The overall winner was determined by the results of all the races.

It's hard to tell in these pictures,. but these 12 year old kids were flying like, 4 metres through the air just casually. Pretty sweet overall.



So, the kids did their thing, and it was all pretty sweet. Then it was time for the main event, and all the experienced riders came out to play, including the champion of France, and a world championship competer.




French Motocross champion team, 3d in the world circuit.
But no one said the sport was safe, and taking an 180 degree turn at break-neck speeds is liable to do just that....champion teams made mistakes sometimes too, and they can cost.

But in the end of the day, we all had our share of excitement. Lots of dust, lots of speed, a couple spectacular accidents. Even if I've really never been interested in the sport before, it was  great day (excpet for the sad parts...no one wants to see guys surrounded by paramedics), was an interesting day.




















Thursday, June 20, 2013

Disneyland Paris


The beginning of April left the host family and I with the opportunity to experience a bit of fun just outside of Paris...Disneyland Paris invited us to 'venez découvrir toute la magie du monde Disney', and discover the magical world of Disney we did indeed.


We set off at the crack of dawn, with my host mother, sister, brother, and a family friend in tow, merrily singing along to a cd of french disney movie songs (interesting fact : Aladdin's 'Whole New World' translates to "This Blue Dream"; "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" gives us "Love Shines in the Stars", the cultural barriers go on :P)  at the top of our lungs, to our delight, and the entertainment of passing cars.

After navigating the maze of roads that lead us to Disney, we eventually found where we were staying for the 2 nights there, a charming little bungalow park called 'Davy Crockett's Ranch`, where, I assure you, the `Canada is nothing but a big forest frontier, you`ll be right at home here`jokes did flow.

We got settled in, and then drove on over to the main attraction...
Disneyland Paris is technically 2 parks joined together; the Disney theme park and Walt Disney Studio Park.
Both feature a lot of rides, themed restaurants, shows, and exhibitions to go to.
Because I had never been there before everyone else (who had already been, and where therefore experts) guided me to the best rides and the prettiest spots.  Disney land Paris has a lot of very beautiful sights, from the pirate ships in Adventureland,





The Arabian markets,






Or Sleeping Beauty's Castle, right in the middle of the park.
me + chateau
Another really really great aspect of the experience is the little costumed characters running around the area....
Ignore the facial expression, I was in the middle of laughing and giving bisous to Eeyore/ Bouriquet en francais.

All in all, it was a great experience, and a lot of fun.  I definately hope to be back one day!