Author Archives: Selina Mullin

A third-year SSU student, ready for adventure. Hailing from East Coast Canada I bring a culture all my own to the party.

Theory of Mind/Country

July 26, 2011 – 11:35 am
By Selina Mullin | Posted in 2011 Comments (0)

Children lack something called a theory of mind, the ability to think outside of yourself and to imagine what another must be feeling. A good example of this would be  a child gifting a doll to their parents. If the doll makes me happy it must make them happy as well.

Countries, I believe, are like this too. Maybe it is because a collective has such a difficult time moving away from a group-centered focus. Put 200 selfish people together and you get a 200 people strong, selfish group. We are individuals and we are also members of community; broken members in broken communities. It makes sense that moving past our needs/wants/desires would prove even more difficult when multiplied by a couple million, and then given a government to deal with those problems.

But, what, pray tell, am I getting at? What’s the point?

Well, after the past two months of travelling extensively, visiting diverse countries, I’ve noticed something. We all think we’ve got it the worst. Even if we’re a fully developed democratic nation with an excellent subway system and semi-stable economy. There are always the oppressed, the down trodden, those whose entitlements aren’t being fulfilled. In the Czech Republic we had the envious thirst of a post-Communist state. In Italy we had the nationalists fighting against the waves of North African immigrants. In Barcelona there were the Catalunyan people. There are the Roma, all across Europe, being discriminated and isolated from main stream society.

I don’t mean to demean any of these concerns. Many of them are legitimate, yet after so many organization visits and listening/talking to people as I travelled I came to a conclusion. We all believe we are the final frontier. In Canada, I couldn’t imagine anyone had the same problems as we did. Quebec, First Nations, Veterans, healthcare…these were are complex problems unique to us. Of course, leeway was given when in discussions about the Middle East or the Third World. But, still, we had it hard.

Travel has made me realize the universal complexity and imperfections that surround all of us, no matter where we live. Travelling I kept hearing the same stories of anger, fear, repression and lamentation. It seems we are all fighting battles the other can understand, connect to. When I was hurt emotionally as a teenager I couldn’t imagine anyone would know the same pain I did, they couldn’t. I came to realize they do, and to embrace everyone’s capacity for pain and suffering.

I developed a theory of mind. And, I pray Canada might too. We have a lot to learn from the suffering of those around us, and their struggles towards the same hope we, too, are looking towards.

Selina

Canadiana

July 5, 2011 – 11:11 am
By Selina Mullin | Posted in 2011 Comments (0)

I stood on Canadian ground yesterday.

France dedicated the Vimy Ridge land to Canada to erect a monument to Canadian soldiers who fell in the Great War. The monument itself is beautiful, and how Veteran’s Affairs Canada chose to arrange the park and historical site was very tasteful.

Informative, interesting, very respectful of the events that took place there.

The rolling green grass from exploded ammunition; grazing sheep; damp errie tunnels and sun soaked trenches. The Austrian pines covered the once barren battlefield with a cool shade and brought to mind an idyllic Sunday afternoon scene. Hard to image the horrors that took place here along the 20km front.

Every part of  the experience called out to that portion of my soul that I believe makes me Canadian.

But, I’m a pacifist. And, discussing with others later I realized it wasn’t the glory for country (dulce et decorum est) but the sympathy for my neighbour that drew me into the history. Vimy defined our country. It robbed us of so many brave and determined men. We took the front and the front took our sons, our brothers, our future fathers/bankers/farmers/Prime Ministers…etc.

I don’t want a war to define my country. I don’t want to fall into the belief that it brings honour. I respect the men and boys who fought but…there is a French quote from the Protestant Museums that says when you kill a man you don’t kill an ideology you simply kill a man.

What did WWI accomplish, and even WWII? Land was gained, but to what avail? Nazism is still alive in Germany, did we truly defeat it?

In fact, what is ever truly accomplished by war? But, the words, the poetry, the names from those who went. They stir my heart with pride more than any victory. Men, who in the face of fear and death, gave so much more than they could or ever intended to give.

Our country lacks a unity of identities. We have no national name to call ourselves to. I’d challenge every Canadian to come to Vimy, to stare our dead in the eyes and ask them who they want us to be.

Selina

Speedos, locked lips and billboards

June 3, 2011 – 11:20 pm
By Selina Mullin | Posted in 2011 Comments (0)

Europe is a sexy place.

The beaches are filled with men in speedos showing off the literal fruits of God’s work and topless women enjoying the benefits of no tan lines. The commercials are sexy, the bilboards are sexier, and there are couples making out everywhere. I kid you not, there are steps in Rome (the Spanish Steps) that are famous for being a notorious makeout spot.

Walking around it isn’t uncommon to come across a couple locked in a passionate embrace. Which is difficult for a conservative Canadian like myself to see. I am of the children raised on the “hands to yourself” mantra. Europe is a funny place combining the strict dress codes of Basilicas with the near-nude beachwear of the young and not so young.

I have been asking myself where this liberal sexuality has come from, this comfort and nonchalance. I don’t yet have an answer but I am impressed and disconcerted by this way of life. There are so many things to be appreciated in the lifestyle here and I’m sure there’s a deeper message beneath the steamy billboards. Speedos, though, might be best left un-imported into the conservative Canadian lifestyle.

Selina

Breathing in Airports

December 11, 2010 – 12:57 pm
By Selina Mullin | Posted in 2010 Comments (0)

Here I am, finally home in Canada; back to the cold.

And, let me tell you that moment when I walked up to the border guard, the relief I felt as I handed him my passport.

It’s funny that, when travelling it felt as though there was no real difference between one place and the next. Now, I don’t mean any literal differences but in the feelings I had. This trip was such an epic experience, yet most of the time my brain felt as though there was no difference between Laoag and Bangkok from Halifax.

And, I do mean literal differences aside. Comparing the skyline of Kuala Lumpur with that of Laoag and Halifax, the foods, the customs…it was all a drastic change. Yet, in the midst of all this, on the surface how casual and normal it all felt. Part of me wonders if this experience was so overwhelming with the stimulation of all that was different and new that my body just decided to block it all out. That, or maybe it just filtered it so that I could process it slowly, let it trickle in so that I’d be able to take it in when I was ready. And, it wasn’t until the moment when I realized I was home, I was back to the usual, that I could give a sigh of relief at the intense and incomprehensible world I had just come out of.

I think that sigh was a sign that I’m officially ready to process everything that’s been thrown at me. Finally home, I am able to experience the wonder that was.

Selina

Candles, Lanterns and Gunpowder

November 28, 2010 – 1:56 pm
By Selina Mullin | Posted in 2010 Comments (0)

My little brother turned eighteen on the 3rd. Dad and I were talking about it a couple weeks ago when I had a chance to finally phone home. He mentioned, with glee, that he had given my brother the chance to acquire his pyrotechnicians license as a present. Once you’re eighteen you can take this safety and technical course for your pyrotechnics ticket in Nova Scotia; something a gunpowder hungry teen-aged boy would just love.

This juxtaposed my weekend of the 21st. It was Loi Katom (one way of spelling the Thai Festival of Lights) and my homestay family took me out to celebrate. This animist/Buddhist celebration is best known for floating candles and flowers down rivers, snakes of flame winding down into the pinnacle of night. It is also famous for the large tunnel like lanterns which float like sodium-light stars into the night. In brevity there’s a lot of fire during this weekend, and a lot of firecrackers too.

I was horrified by the uncontrolled sale and use of minor explosives by adults and minors. Seeing young boys shoot small fireworks at tourists’ legs. Watching pedestrians walking into misaimed crackers or the kind of sparklers you spin around like a whip.

The lights in their colorful brilliance outshone the full-moon, and reared from my throat more yelps and squeals of terror than a bucket of frogs in my bed. Yet, the vigor with which I saw the Thai people celebrate the water and the sky and the good things nature gave them, like light, was astounding. They VERY literally like to do things with a bang.

I said to my roommate in the midst of utter chaos and brilliance, we aren’t in Canada anymore!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles…the Malaysian Way of Movement

November 5, 2010 – 5:45 am
By Selina Mullin | Posted in 2010 Comments (0)

I come from what seems like, compared to Kuala Lumpur, a sleepy hollow. This hustling bustling world of around 1.6 million people (from every ethnicity you can imagine) is quite the shock to see in motion. Moving from pleasant Ilocos Norte (rice paddies and palm trees) into what feels like the architectural capital of Asia is overwhelming (there are towering skyscrapers that twist and turn and wrap themselves into the oddest shapes). And, truthfully, my senses are almost offended by the intense waves of “this” and “that” which are being sent continuously towards them. I’ve learned and seen so much in my small time here, and could rant and rave about so many things dear Malaysia has to offer…the lack of national identity, heck the lack of Malay identity!); the unrooted floating civilization tunneling towards progress while teetering on the ethnic tensions of rulers (foreign and local) who don’t understand the mosaic’s unique and VIBRANT culture; affirmative action…. Alas, no, I must pick one thing to talk on and it will be “movement”.

I will first make a couple observations:

  1. Malaysia has an award winning International Airport
  2. Their traffic is TERRIFYING but I am yet to see much gridlock, and if I do it doesn’t seem to last as long as one might expect
  3. There are more taxis here than I have ever seen in my life (albeit I have never been to NY)
  4. They have an excellent train system, and monorail system
  5. People have the keen ability to weave through this terrifying traffic
  6. Their walk lights are equipped with cues for the blind and their sidewalks have special ribbing to allow a blind person to walk down the street unaccompanied

This is my point. There is this hustling bustling city of 1.6 million, they have transportation vehicles whizzzzzing around, and I MEAN WHIZZING! As a legal blind member of Canadian society (blind in my left eye, that is) I’ve almost died more times this past two weeks than I care to reflect on. I can’t walk down the street without fear of imminent death, yet…I have seen more blind people this week walking around themselves than I have in my life…in a big city…of 1.6 million people moving about in chaos. This city, which seems like a scary and uncaring place filled with confused citizens and terrible drivers has to be one of the friendliest places for a blind person to live. I have watched the seeing assist the sightless when they get disoriented, and I’ve had the chance to talk to men who’ve found good jobs even if they have no vision.

It might be the heat, but my heart is warmed. It may be because I know, only a sliver, of what a pain in the butt being blind can be. And, Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, I stand and applaud your efforts, instilling dignity and independence into the lives of your citizens. Kuala Lumpur: a place where every grown man can go for a walk outside his home. This seems like a natural right to me, so much more important than bearing arms…. Malaysia, you seem to have at least some of your priorities straight! Take heed, Canada.

The City Without a Soul

October 18, 2010 – 11:52 pm
By Selina Mullin | Posted in 2010 Comments (0)

We were given this amazing tour of Fort Santiago by a convict last week. Yeah, that’s a good tagline, very exciting. Our friend had been imprisoned recently for protesting the church’s condemnation of the Philippine’s Reproductive Health Bill. I won’t go into much detail about that, my gist is to say he was a passionate and out spoken Filipino. Just the kind of guy to get a motley crew of university student’s attention.

So, Fort Santiago was the hub of the Philippines at one point, ground zero, the centre of it all. And, having been in Manila for a couple of days, seeing the great poverty of a corrugated tin shack juxtaposed between towering skyscrapers and Spanish inspired icons of architecture, I was shocked to learn of Manila’s progressive history. Being by the sea it was a place of international trade and culture for centuries, let alone during the Spanish and American occupations. At one point in history Manila had everything.

Let me just say, for the record, that I don’t particularly like Manila! It’s hot and crowded, the traffic is terrible, there’s tourist traps everywhere…it’s unsafe, high level of corruption, violence, crime…. You can’t breathe there; you can’t think there. And, though I enjoyed our activities, the food, the people, there was this suffocation. And, yes we’re tired, homesick and experiencing culture shock but there’s just something about Manila.

That’s what our guide said. He stared us down, humor aside, and said he knows what we think of Manila, he knows we call it the city without a soul.

Manila has been overthrown by three oppressors, experienced coups, martial law, and the destruction of wartime. It has been devastated by American bombing and raped by Japanese occupation. It has the identity crisis of the rest of the Philippines and their hodgepodge of culture.

Manila is the perfect example of the consequences of colonialism, inappropriate foreign intervention, and forced assimilation. As students travelling internationally from the West it is so important for us to see the consequences of our forebearers, to not take for granted the struggling city, and to admire the perseverant spirit of the oppressed.

Now, I still don’t like Manila, but at the very least I know why. And, hopefully as I try to live as a conscientious citizen I will he able to see and speak out against the patterns and wrongdoings we’ve learned about as a class. Knowing the consequences, like our passionate and controversial tourguide, silence doesn’t seem like an option.

Selina