June 2008 Reflection

Posted on June 1, 2008 by jsoni08

“That day, Haji Ali taught me the most important lesson I’ve ever learned in my life,” Mortenson says. “We Americans think you have to accomplish everything quickly…Haji Ali taught me to share three cups of tea, to slow down and make building relationships as important as building projects. He taught me that I had more to learn from the people I work with than I could ever hope to teach them.” – Greg Mortenson, Three Cups of Tea

I think the tendency to want to accomplish everything quickly is especially encouraged in college and university life in the United States. It is, of course, one of the most energizing aspects of an American university education, but perhaps the great blessing of this year has been the opportunity to put this gear in reverse and slow down. For Mortenson, that lesson came in the high mountains of Pakistan; for me, it has been a lesson that I have begun to absorb while studying and living in Ireland.

I think I learned over the year the same lesson that Haji Ali taught Mortensen: that the pace of our lives determines how successfully we can manage our relationships and friendships, and that these two are essential to our ability to find purpose and success in our work. I wrote about friendship in an earlier journal entry, but I can’t help but revisit the topic now, on reflection, because it has been the singular part of the Mitchell experience. Certainly my most enjoyable memories from this semester have involved the other scholars, particularly those moments when we debated public issues long into the night, making our case for this or that candidate or policy.

I understand better now why the organizers of a scholarship program would want to explicitly combine an emphasis on leadership with the opportunity to build friendships. The plain truth is that the US-Ireland Alliance could, if it had wanted, given us each a stipend for our studies and then left us to our own devices, not organizing any shared programming or experiences. But, this would seem to me, now, to be inconsistent with the mission of encouraging public leadership. In Aristotle’s Ethics, which is written as an introduction to his Politics and is divided into ten books, the only subject to receive two books is friendship. This is deliberate. On Aristotle’s view, friendship was essential to living a good life because friends encouraged what he called “mutual correction.” That is, our friends would be responsible for our growth just as we would be responsible for theirs.

We all know and recognize leaders, past and present, whose close friends and advisers have played a vital role in “correcting” them, helping them to reach the limits of their potential. We also can probably name leaders who do not have the luxury of such friendships. I can’t help but think that, by design, this year has guaranteed for each of us a set of friends who will push and provoke at just the right moments.

For that, and the other experiences, I owe the Alliance, Mary Lou, Trina, and the 11 other Mitchells a tremendous debt of gratitude.

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June 2008 Reflection

Posted on June 1, 2008 by shealy08

Sadly enough, the year is starting to wind down. The good news is that I just recently finished all my work for the 2nd semester and am beginning to focus on my thesis. I’m staying in Ireland for the summer at least, as Carolyn and I are looking forward to doing some more traveling. The puppies (Dutch and Ajax) are also excited to stay for the summer since they’re never had it this good!

On other fronts, I recently returned from the end of the year orientation with the other Mitchells. As always when I’m with the other scholars, I had a great time. It’s always fun to break bread and discuss all kinds of issues with them. Sometimes I feel like I’ve read 3 books after getting into a serious discussion with them and other times we start driving down the road of Hollywood’s hottest stars. It makes for an odd, but fun mix. Some folks are leaving soon, but I’m hoping to have several over the house early this summer to say goodbye. I’ll be sure to put out a good spread for anyone who comes over.

As for my educational experience, I couldn’t have been more impressed. DCU is a great school and the program I chose was incredible. I really feel like I’ve learned so much here and I have my lecturers to thank for that experience. They were all really great and I appreciated their professionalism and openness. The experience of studying in Ireland was also amazing. I could never really appreciate the extent of the ‘transatlantic divide’ before I came here. It’s not that we can’t get along, it’s just that we have very different ways of thinking about things. The demographic makeup of my classes certainly made for some interesting class discussions. All and all, I’m really happy I got the opportunity to study abroad. It’s been an enlightening and eye opening experience and I’m sure it will help me with whatever profession I set my sights on in the future.

In regards to the Mitchell Program, I have so many thanks to give to all those who were so generous to me this year. Mary Lou Hartman and Trina Vargo have been absolutely great to me and I couldn’t be more appreciative for the opportunity they gave me. The list of folks I have to thank for this year is far too long for this journal entry, but the time it will take for me to reach out and thank them separately says a lot about the program the US-Ireland Alliance is running. I wish I could do it all over again.

After this summer, the family and I will be returning to the States and getting back in to the swing of things in the Army. My next assignment will bring me off to Ft Leonard Wood, Missouri for 6 months of training at the Captain’s Career Course. After that’s over, I’ll return back to the deployable world and be eligible to command a company in the future. I’m hoping to join the Army’s Asymmetric Warfare Group, but we’ll see where that goes.

As for long term plans, I’m hoping I can add another master’s degree to my resume before it’s all said and done. I know I don’t want to stay in the Army, but I do want to be involved in government and public service. I’m hoping I can mix my professional and educational goals to knock out both in one shot. We’ll see if anyone in Washington will want to send me to get a master’s in Public Administration in return for serving Uncle Sam. Ok, that’s it for now. I’ve got to start catching up on my thank you notes!

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June 2008 Reflection

Posted on June 1, 2008 by nwright08

It seems like only a few days ago that I embarked on my journey to Ireland. Having never lived abroad, I boarded the plane to Ireland with great anticipation. Now that the year is drawing to a close, I find myself reflecting on how much this year has changed me.

I leave this year with a great academic experience, gleaming wisdom from experiences and perspectives unique to Ireland. Listening to generals in the Irish military demonstrated how Ireland’s own struggle has come to influence their own commitment to peacekeeping and humanitarian development.

Outside the classroom, the landscape of Ireland retains traces of its troubled history. Walking through neighborhoods in Belfast, the infancy of the peace process is still painted on the walls. Culinary lessons in Dingle highlighted the resourcefulness of the Irish who are only recently enjoying economic prosperity.

I take from Ireland a plethora of invaluable stories from which we in America could learn. From stories of humanity during conflict, difficulties in emerging peace, devotion to aiding those suffering elsewhere, to conversations about America’s future, all filled with gratitude, admiration, and disappointment. This year transformed my aspirations for a career responding to conflict, to one that prevents the common enemies of humanity—conflict, poverty, greed, disease and hatred.

The many stories of people in Ireland who were sustained by aid from relatives in America reveal how humans are inextricably bound together and that to overcome affliction, we must struggle together. I depart more firmly believing that each generation across the globe is summoned to give testimony to those rights upon which the dignity of humankind depends. Movements like STAND demonstrate that many among my generation are rising to the challenge. But, as President Kennedy suggested, if the free world cannot help those who are suffering the worst forms of oppression, it cannot hope to save the dignity of the few who are free and protected.

I left for Ireland hoping to gleam some insight into the transition from conflict to post conflict that might be used to transform the suffering in Sudan that I witnessed over three years ago in Eastern Chad. On my last days in Ireland, I remember my last days in Chad. Our translator, Soliman, walked up to me, lowered his head, and very quietly asked me if there was anything else that he could do to help our documentary. Then he broke down, with tears streaming down his face, he desperately offered to give us more evidence—pictures of the atrocities that tore apart his region. We hugged our final goodbye and I remember the unrelenting courage of those who shared their tragedies with us.

I avoided Soliman after that, as my journey was winding down. I was ashamed to have to tell him that our documentary might not change his situation. I think he was also avoiding me, terrified because he knew what I would say. For nearly two weeks, he had been our window into the violence that tore apart his country and his family. Believing he would face violent repercussions for his efforts, he nevertheless became our witness.

There is a part of the story that I do not usually tell. It came in the last few days of our journey in the back of a UN van, where Soliman begged us to get him out. He said that it was not safe for him to stay and he asked us not to forget him. The region where he was seeking refuge has now been engulfed in violence, and I have lost communication.

Until that moment, Soliman had been a hero in my eyes, a person who disregarded his own safety to translate the human catastrophe that engulfed his family. In my own mind heroes were not supposed to be that vulnerable. I felt completely helpless to save him.

While I certainly did not find a quick solution or ready-made model to end conflict and build economic prosperity, I came to understand that in its darkest hour, humanity is sustained by the connections between us. While a solution may be beyond one individual, the courage we show can inspire others. While it can seem insurmountable, a conflict created by humans can be solved by humans. And while there are no quick solutions, as the saying goes it is better to light one small candle than curse the darkness.

Without a doubt, what I will remember most from this year are the friendships—from the staff of the US – Ireland Alliance who provided endless and personal support, to my fellow Mitchells whose example has inspired and challenged me, to classmates who became lifelong friends.

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March 2008 Reflection

Posted on March 1, 2008 by estevens08

I live in a house with one other American, two Irish and one Slovakian PhD students, and one Irish undergraduate. The conversations about the differences between Irish and American culture are endless. There is no shortage of topics to discuss, from pronunciation (vitamin and aluminum are contentious issues around these parts) to business hours in our respective countries. This may be misleading—we talk about a variety of topics as we eat dinner together, watch Desperate Housewives and avoid school work—but it’s hard to not notice how different things are.

That said, I think Allison and I have gone down a dangerous road in terms of the way we have brought American culture into the house. I think we are perfectly polite and articulate with our discussions, but we have unconsciously incorporated a tool into our repertoire that may hurt more than it helps.

I’ll quit the mysterious act: we watch an awful lot of American movies. American war movies, to be specific.

I won’t argue the merits of many of the film choices:
Band of Brothers, Glory, and other movies about American soldiers fighting in various wars often display values that transcend culture. Loyalty, camaraderie, integrity, bravery—these are traits valued by many cultures and are clearly not characteristic to America alone. But we’re treading on dangerous territory watching The Patriot, and not just because of its questionable attention to historical accuracy.

The danger lies in my tendency to slip into “America rocks” mode while watching these films. When I’m not exposed to the veritable fever caused by a fast paced, action packed war film, I feel I’m perfectly able to articulate both my love for my country while at the same time acknowledging its faults, commenting on ways to improve international relations, and discussing the promise and pitfalls of certain domestic policies. But put Saving Private Ryan in the DVD player and I lose all sensibility and I’m making the “rock on” symbol while shouting “Yeah America!” Once the movie ends, though, I regain my ability to recognize some of the morally ambiguous choices made by the U.S. in a given war, the mistakes, the mistreatment, the perspective of the other side—and I can rationally reconcile all these aspects alongside my pride in my country and my awe at certain acts of valor.

But that happens only once the movie is over.
I don’t think it’s a symptom solely of the war movies. Granted, the entertainment industry is really onto something here if it has that kind of impact, but I think my overwhelming sense of pride in being American is also a result of being in a minority population. I think the same applies to the Irish away from Ireland and anyone else far from their home country; landing in New York after coming from Dublin, the number of people on the plane wearing sweaters emblazoned with Ireland seems to increase exponentially from the departure terminal. All people, to some extent, want to hold on to a piece of their identity when they feel out of place—and national identity creates a huge component of who we consider ourselves to be, especially in unfamiliar places.

That said, I can’t say I feel out of place in Ireland anymore. I call my room at UCD “home” and I look forward to arriving back at school after I’ve taken a trip. I had great fun attempting to explain American football during the Super Bowl but I find just as much joy in watching, for example, Ireland v France in one of the Six Nations Rugby matches (beautiful second half, if only it had lasted a few more minutes). “Grand” and “brilliant” find their way into my vocabulary as often as “awesome” and I only know French fries as “chips” now. I don’t even hate the weather as much, anymore. Ireland has found its way under my skin, and I like it there.

Just refrain from selecting Gettysburg on movie night, lest I lose all sense of nuance.

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March 2008 Reflection

Posted on March 1, 2008 by jbenedict08

Considering that I’ve managed to avoid any semblance of ill health since August, I suppose that it’s my deserved time to get a cold. And the health advice that I’ve received from everyone and their little brother about the best high-octane, 900-proof “cough elixir” has been enough for a journal entry of its own. I’m not really sure if the goal of these brews is to actually make the cough go away, or to slay the patient enough that he forgets he ever had the cough to begin with (or indeed, lungs, or a name, etc.). Intoxicating witch-doctor potions aside, it’s nice just to chill out in my room for a few days, anyway.

I talked to my family back home, and there was recently a snowfall that put 22 inches on the ground in the lower Midwest-Bluegrass region. I’m going through a daily debate with myself about which type of cold is more palatable; the crisp, snowy, way-below-freezing winters that were fairly common in the countryside where I lived until I was thirteen, or the above-freezing, hell-spawned three-month-long gale that personifies Winter 2008 in Maynooth. I thought that giving up ice cream shakes would keep me from getting ice cream headaches, but no! I need but to walk outside in the opposite direction of the wind for a few seconds, and the sensation smites anything a chocolate malt could ever do. I’m told that June here is beautiful, though, and the idea of eighteen hours of daylight sounds really, really appealing right now.

There’s something kind of quaint about this dank weather, too. The roaring fires in the pubs really just accentuate that people here try to make the best of the harsh conditions outside. Or maybe it just really amuses the pub people that my ale of choice is the one that only elderly Irish men drink (which leads me to think: was I born like this?). Whatever the case, it seems that the lesson that I’m learning over and over again is that a person can get through anything when the right people are there with him. And what the past couple of months have lacked in uplifting weather, have been more than made up with unforgettable people with whom to shiver through the demonic wind-gusts.

Case-in-point: I gave a piano lesson this evening to the daughter of this wonderful Singaporean family from my church here. The lesson had lasted fifteen minutes (I was planning for about forty-five) before the parents came in and swept me into the kitchen to this incredible buffet of international food. They told me that they know what it’s like for an international student to live alone in a different country, and now we feast together after the lessons (and I get a take-home bag!). And now I’m not sure if I’m not the one reaping the greater long-term benefit from teaching the piano lessons, when the people are so hospitable. But we’ll see. I wonder if they’ve ever had cornbread?

This evening is the beginning of my Easter Break. I’m using the travel stipend that comes with my scholarship to go to Geneva, Switzerland and Santiago de Compostela, Spain, each for four nights. I’m also traveling up to Northern Ireland with a good friend from my music program to stay on his farm and hang out with his family for a few days. Although I grew up raising llamas for a few years, I’ve never actually stood within an arm’s distance of a sheep, and lo, this languished yearning shall soon come to pass. Not to mention seeing the Giant’s Causeway, the Mourne Mountains and other rational reasons to go up north. School has been great, and my M.A. thesis research has become an absolute dream-come-true, but the break is also more than welcome.

Anyway, the Belfast Marathon training was going better than expected until this lung-bug attacked me. I haven’t endured any running injuries so far, and this may actually be a good rest, if only just to scare away the very thought of shin splints. A canal stretches from Dublin to somewhere in the middle of the country, and there’s a makeshift mixture of footpaths, gravel, asphalt and mud that lasts the entire length of the canal. It’s excellent for running. From my dorm to the canal to the Intel plant and back is almost exactly eight miles, and I need but to run closer to Dublin to go even further. I was pleased to find out that the discontinued (and thus, scandalously inexpensive compared to others) model of the GPS watch that I ordered from the Internet actually works, and tells me how far I run and at what speed. The watch, combined with the GPS receiver I have to wear to get a signal and the Camelback that holds all my water, makes me look more like Darth Vader after taxes than someone training for a race. It certainly seems strange that even in the Silicon Valley of Ireland (Leixlip, with its two major technology plants), people look at me like I’ve grown two heads when I brandish this dorky, high-tech gadget during a run. I thought they would have been envious; two heads would double the amount of computer programming output, after all. Still, I have little to worry about when I run. I’ve learned not to heed the puzzled gazes, and if I do end up with a running injury, I’ll just ask someone for his cough elixir recipe.

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March 2008 Reflection

Posted on March 1, 2008 by nwright08

For someone who has considered himself a student of human rights for the past several years, I saw a poetic justice when I observed a small and soft-spoken woman from Northern Ireland preside over the Charles Taylor trial in the Special Court of Sierra Leone. Here was a man accused of some of the most heinous acts that humanity can fathom, from targeting young girls to be abducted into the armed factions and then forced to live in brutal sexual slavery for years, to forcing his soldiers to eat their enemies. There was hope in this image that evidence would be weighed, violations punished, and justice served.

With the Taylor trial of the Special Court of Sierra Leone, the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and the appeals chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, The Hague is often considered the world capital of international justice. There was little question for me that I should take the opportunity of the Mitchell Scholarship to visit this historic city.

Sitting in the Grand Chamber of the International Court of Justice, I thought back to an Irish moot court competition I participated in a month earlier that attempted to replicate the ICJ. While I left the competition with the unfulfilled sense that our team gave it our best shot, the states that leave this great hall will have won or lost an argument of extreme importance. Nonetheless, the exercise reveals a commitment to peace and the international community has avoided a more historic dispute mechanism between states—war.

But as I thought of all the famous cases that were or would be decided within this room, I could not help but find myself disappointed. Many of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable groups would never have access to these institutions to protect their basic rights. As I took in the history, I thought of the millions of vulnerable people in Darfur who are suffering what many are calling a second wave of incredible violence. These victims and many other oppressed people across the globe could not find recourse within this chamber that admits only consenting state claims. I found myself thinking through several of the conflicts over the last half century that erupted in part from the inability of a group to access justice, from Northern Ireland to Darfur.

Across the town there is, potentially, a court where victims from Darfur may find a voice in the international arena. The International Criminal Court was created precisely to prosecute certain gross violations and a couple years ago the UN Security Council referred the situation in Darfur to the , enabling it to exercise its jurisdiction. However, to date, it has issued only two arrest warrants for individuals and in the face of Sudanese non-compliance, the court will unlikely be able to reach Darfur in the near future.

Sitting in the trial chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the limitations of criminal prosecution become evident. The tribunal was established in 1991 and the trial I observed, against Ante Gotovina, was dealing with charges from 1995. As one of the judges later observed, criminal prosecution has been unable to stop the violence in the region.

Nevertheless, back in Ireland, as the tenth anniversary of the signing of the Belfast Agreement approaches, I am filled with optimism that the end of conflict is not unattainable.

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March 2008 Reflection

Posted on March 1, 2008 by jsoni08

“The American in Europe is everywhere confronted with the question of his identity, and this may be taken as the key to all the contradictions one encounters when attempting to discuss him…If the American found in Europe only confusion, it would obviously be infinitely wiser for him to remain at home. Hidden, however, in the heart of the confusion he encounters here is that which he came so blindly seeking: the terms on which he is related to his country, and to the world.”

– James Baldwin, “A Question of Identity”

In his essay on the American student colony in Paris, Baldwin explores the American student’s introduction to the modes and methods of Parisians, and he concludes that while the American may come to Europe seeking indifference and irresponsibility, his American passport invests him with a kind of public power. It is an essay with great relevance for any student who travels abroad for further study. Baldwin argues that the American student is forced to become acutely and uncomfortably conscious of his American-ness: “What the European, in a thoroughly exasperating innocence, assumes is that the American cannot, of course, be divorced from the so diverse phenomena which make up his country, and that he is willing, and able, to clarify the American conundrum.” Little has changed since Baldwin’s time: the American student in Europe is still asked to serve as his country’s mouthpiece, even if he feels himself inadequate to the task.

Baldwin notes that the American student, confronted with hard questions about his homeland, begins to resent his new surroundings and “cannot wait, it seems, to look again on his native land—the virtues of which, if not less crude, have also become, abruptly, simple, and vital.” This feeling—a renewed patriotism in the face of criticism—has changed, but the difference is one of degree and not kind. European criticism is sharper, and more specific, and so the American’s retreat into love of country and things familiar becomes all the more acute. I defend America in Ireland with more patriotic zeal than I thought myself capable, an experience which, among the Mitchell scholars, seems to be more common than one might have expected. And I often find myself parrying attacks on America’s diminished military strength, economic security, or moral authority like a boxer on the ropes, unable to throw a decent punch in the opposite direction.

But the prognosis isn’t all negative. When I probe the comments of my Irish friends, what I find is that they understand, for the most part, that America can and ought to play an active and constructive role in the world. They believe us to be primer inter pares, first among equals, but they sense that we have forgotten the back half of that dictum. I think they might be right, and perhaps their feelings contain the greatest wisdom I’ll take back from the year: arrogance stings worst when your friends still believe in your good intentions and your power to do right.

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March 2008 Reflection

Posted on March 1, 2008 by smiller08

Since I arrived back in Dublin in January, my time at Trinity College has become increasingly busy. When I started at Trinity College in the fall, I hoped to become involved in the same campus environmental advocacy that made my undergraduate years so challenging and fulfilling. When I arrived on campus, however, I soon realized that Trinity had no student environmental group and that student involvement in campus sustainability was sparse. In January, I teamed up with another member of my Master’s course, and received official approval to start the Trinity College Environment Society. In the months that I have left at Trinity College, I feel like I still have a lot to learn about sustainability on a compact urban campus like Trinity’s, a university where start-up capital for cost-saving environmental projects can oftentimes be scarce. I learned a lot about the challenges of building a sustainable campus during my time at Harvard. At Trinity, the infrastructure and funding is so different that, in many ways, I feel like the challenges are entirely new. Two weeks ago, we traveled to Donabate in County Fingal to plant trees for Conservation Volunteers Ireland, our first service project of the year. I am excited to see what the future holds for the Trinity College Environment Society, and I really look forward to starting a new tradition of student involvement in campus sustainability.

During the past month, I have also been devoting many hours improving my German language skills. Next year I will work on climate-related regulations for the German Federal Ministry of the Environment as a fellow with the Robert Bosch Foundation. My year in Ireland has been a good introduction to environmental regulation and climate protection within the EU. I am excited to take all that I have learned during my time in Dublin and apply it to real policy implementation within the EU. As I write this journal entry, I am also getting ready for my first St. Patty’s Day in Ireland. After a trip to the 2 Euro store, I am equipped with tri-color face paint, green hair dye, a leprechaun hat, and enough Irish flags to obscure my entire living room wall in orange, white, and green. Three friends have come to visit from out of town. I am excited to show them all of the places in Dublin that have become special to me. This weekend we will go to the Sunday farmer’s market in Howth and walk along the sea cliffs that overlook Dublin Bay. Monday brings the famous St. Patty’s Day parade and a giant Kaile across the town. On Tuesday, we plan to hike among the lakes of Glendalough and the Wicklow Mountains, my favorite refuge in the outdoors. I am excited to show off the city that has become my home, and I look forward to what will surely be a St. Patty’s Day more amazing than I have ever seen.

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March 2008 Reflection

Posted on March 1, 2008 by shealy08

While attending a guest lecture given by the US Embassy’s Deputy Chief of Mission recently, I finally realized just how vast the differences between Americans and Europeans are. In answering a question concerning European and American relations under our current President, the speaker briefly alluded to the relative ignorance many Americans demonstrate about the greater world around them. This aside quickly drew criticism as a member of the audience said “surely you have to expect more from Americans than that. After all, we’re cut from the same mold and share many of the same ideals.” After spending the last six months studying in Ireland, alongside many students from around Europe (including student from France, Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, Czech Republic, Scotland, England, Italy, and of course Ireland), I’ve come to realize just how off target such an assessment is.

Perhaps it’s not a surprise to everyone (especially those who have a background in International Relations or related fields), but for someone who studied Engineering at West Point, the ideological differences between Americans and Europeans have provided me an eye opening experience. In my pre-European naivety, I thought that, aside from the Iraq War and Climate Change, most students would share my assessments of common problems and possible solutions to current issues. Boy, was I wrong.

In discussions with some of the other scholars, as well as some other American students I’ve bumped into on campus, I’ve discovered that I’m not the only one consistently defending US domestic and foreign policy on a number of fronts. The fact that I often found myself criticizing many US policies while I was in the states made me wonder if I had undergone some sort of transformation, but after some significant self assessment, I’ve come to realize that it’s not me. It is indeed the fact that Americans are from Mars and Europeans are from Venus. We don’t share the same views of the world and it has nothing to do with what political party you identify yourself with. I’ve come to the conclusion that while many Americans don’t realize that there’s a world outside their home state (for those of you who know someone from Texas, you’ll understand why I neglected to put the country as a whole here), many Europeans can’t seem to understand why the rest of the world isn’t like them. Perhaps you disagree, but when fellow Americans asked me if the Army would send me home to spend Christmas with my family while I was deployed to Iraq (and my wife’s co workers asked her if she could visit me in Baghdad) and the European Union asks the Arabs and Israelis why they can’t get along given France’s and Germany’s willingness to cooperate, it sure makes you wonder.

I’ve always considered myself to be a good step or two to the left when it comes to American politics, but here, I find myself feeling more and more like a rigid conservative with each class. Not to say my classmates and I don’t get along (in fact, I really enjoy their company and I’ve made lifelong friends here), but I think it’s safe to say that they think I’m a little “weird” for my patriotic and nationalist feelings. I tend to think of them as equally “weird” for just the opposite reasons. This assessment recently led me to spark a debate in my European Security class when the lecturer stated that the EU has been unsuccessful in inhibiting nationalist sentiments across Europe (obviously something I certainly disagreed with given my experience thus far). Given these different interpretations, I think it’s safe to say that most Europeans will be disappointed in the long run with whoever is the next American President.

For those who may think I’m presenting a pessimistic or discouraging view, I must tell you that my “exposure” to Europe has provided me an incredibly enlightening experience. It’s shown me the distinct differences between us, but also the similar ideals we share. It’s also given me a new found respect for the difficulties associated with achieving consensus in the international community (if it’s this hard in Europe, what does that say?). On a personal level, this experience has encouraged professional and intellectual growth that I would not have found in a similar experience in the US. Given my experience in Ireland, I often find myself encouraging my classmates to study in the US so they can gain a similar “enlightenment.” That being said, if you ever have the chance, STUDY ABROAD!

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March 2008 Reflection

Posted on March 1, 2008 by achan08

While it may drive Mary Lou mad that many of the Mitchell reflections come in at the last minute, I think it’s because we expect the next day to bring an event or story that’s just a little more journal-worthy. I’ve held illusions of James Bond grandeur aboard an overnight train in Italy with Jimmy in January. Allison, Erin, Scot, and Sean came down to visit in Cork in February. And I have to express my gratitude to Trina for the invitation to the Oscar Wilde event in Hollywood. Although the last few months have yielded enough experiences to write several reflections, I wanted to focus on something that’s come up in the last few weeks as I prepare to write my thesis.

I’ve decided to write on Chinese entrepreneurs in Ireland. I’ll be using qualitative and ethnographic research methods for the first time. These are methods that depend as much on building trust with people as they do with accumulating data. In effect, the interactions I have with people are the research. It’s not just what they say, it’s how they say it, when they say it, and what they are not saying that also matters. With methods like this, access is crucial. While my advisors all remarked that I would have no problem accessing the Chinese community in Ireland since I am ethnically Chinese, it has not been that simple.

So I have spent the last few weeks trying to meet Chinese business owners. While others have remarked on their outsider status serving as an impediment to gaining access, I am somewhere in between an insider and outsider. In short, the Chinese people in Cork don’t seem to know what to do with me. I look Chinese alright. But when I open my mouth, there is a disconnect. Perfect American English. I know – such an Amy Tan moment. I’ll give you an example.

I have made a point to go to the Gia Gia Chinese Market – despite the fact that it is so expensive –in Cork because I know that the owners speak Cantonese. In fact, the first time I was there, I introduced myself in Cantonese.

Me: Oh. You speak Cantonese?
(I know. So smooth.)
Shopowner: Yes! Yes!
(enthusiasm added)
Me: Oh wonderful.
(I don’t think I know how to say “wonderful” in Chinese, but it was something close to that)
Shopowner: Where are you from?
Me: America.
Shopowner: And what are you doing in Ireland?
Me: I’m studying.
Shopowner: What are you studying?
Me: Immigration! (In retrospect, one learns to never exclaim “immigration” in any language with any suspicious amount of enthusiasm) Shopowner: Ah leck jai.

Ah leck jai. The literal translation: “Oh what a clever/accomplished boy!” While this may sound like a compliment on the surface, I resisted the urge to revel in her accolade. In Chinese culture, “Ah leck jai” also serves the purpose of distinguishing between two people. Thus, I was the American student who happened to be Chinese rather than a Chinese student.

It was Chinese New Year the next time I went to Gia Gia. I walked in the store and went through my usual routine of picking out the item that would least hurt my wallet. Would it be the two euro rice crackers? Or the four euro Chinese greens? All the while, I’d have to remind myself not to convert the prices and compare them to the ones in Chinatown back home. I settled on two packs of noodles – they were buy 1, get 1 free. A rare find indeed! As I walked up to the counter, I prepared myself.

Me: (Breath)
Me: (with gusto and a big smile) Gung hay fat choy!

I got no response. To Happy New Year. That was a first! And she spoke to me in English.

Shop owner: (in English) Three euros your change.

Had I not been listening closely, I could have misunderstood her to have meant: “Three euros. You’ve changed.” I was the American. The leck jai.

However, determined to not give up, I went back this weekend and took it down a notch. When I entered, all I said was “Nay ho” or hello with a smaller smile – no teeth this time.

Me: (reserved, with an untoothed smile) Hello.

And then I minded my own business. This time, I picked the rice crackers. And this time, when I got my change back:

Shopowner: baht mun.

Baht mun! Baht mun! I had never been so happy to hear “eight euros” before and it wasn’t because the exchange rate had fallen to a new low. She had said it in Cantonese! It was a minor victory.

Was it the rice crackers? Or the lack of teeth? Maybe it was just because I wasn’t trying too hard to be one thing or another. And that’s more like me anyway. I’ve never wanted to be just Chinese or just American. For me, all-American means being able to pick and choose the best parts of my multiple cultures and to learn from the cultures of others. I find it fascinating that I’ve figured this out while in Ireland. It’s why the Irish think we Americans have got it right. I’ve welcomed the idea that I can be more than just one thing. So at that moment, she wasn’t inducting me into her inner circle. She wasn’t saying that I was now Chinese in her eyes. We had reached a compromise. No, I wasn’t the Chinese student. But I wasn’t just the strange American foreigner either. I was somewhere in between. And that’s a compromise I’m happy to make for the rest of this year.

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March 2008 Reflection

Posted on March 1, 2008 by fmcmillan08

Over the past few months, I’ve traveled to Morocco for a vacation, worked briefly on a presidential campaign in Ohio, continued my work researching and organizing in Belfast, and had an unintended, quasi-Mitchell reunion in Dublin. Each of these experiences has been extraordinary in ways I could never have expected. Yet, for this post, I want to highlight a relatively unexceptional meeting on the Shankill Road in west Belfast. A meeting that became exceptional because it underlines – in two short hours – how my perception has changed significantly over the past two months.

As part of my work with the PPR Project, I have started to help organize a group of residents on the lower Shankill Road. We’ve begun creating a DVD of residents’ experiences and started identifying human rights violations around which to pursue change.

First meetings for me are often awkward, but Stephanie – a local development worker at the project – immediately began introducing me to the residents she had been working with for months. We talked for a few minutes before the meeting started, but someone asked a question as we sat down that caught me off-guard.

“So, Frank, what’s your surname?”
“Oh…McMillan.”
“That’s a good Ulster Scots name, isn’t it? You said you’re from Georgia, right?”
“Yes Sir.”
“Well, welcome. It’s good to have you.”
It was an odd moment of belonging. But it was one that affected me in ways I wasn’t prepared for. I felt much more angry about the injustices on the Shankill than I had been before – about the health, education, and employment statistics that make it one of the most deprived electoral wards in Northern Ireland. I felt the emotion of it much more strongly because of the connections we had drawn between us.

On that night, the difficulties faced by all communities took on a different tone. In addition to being American, I saw myself as Northern Irish. The desire to see things change – to work for a brighter future for those who have been here for years and for many residents who have just arrived – became all the more important. It’s made the sense of urgency with which I work all the more palpable.

I hope everyone reading had a Happy St. Patrick’s Day, and that the soon-to-come spring weather treats you all well! Thank you again – and as always – to the US-Ireland Alliance and all the supporters. The experience deepens with each day I am here.

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March 2008 Reflection

Posted on March 1, 2008 by bmcfadden08

Over the past year and a half, I’ve received much advice about living abroad. And most all of it was appreciated and heeded (except for the suggestion that Scot Miller gave me on our first day in Dublin – swimming in the River Liffey is probably not the way to make a lasting impression of the Mitchell Scholars in Dublin!). For example, a Dickinson College professor told me that life lessons are the most important thing we can bring back with us from our travels. So, in these past few months, I’ve been developing a sort of ‘list’ of the lessons I’ve acquired, am acquiring, and still hope to acquire. Here’s a sampling:

1. We don’t own time. The path ahead of me is quite unclear – I’m not sure where I’ll be living or working come September, but being in Ireland has taught me to embrace this break from intense daily scheduling and life planning. I visited County Tipperary a few weekends ago with my second cousin – she has aunts, uncles and cousins living here and comes to visit every few years. The town of Clonmel was rather busy on Sunday morning and we were running late for Mass, so when a tiny parking spot was opening up, she waited, then slowly parallel parked the rental car. Traffic in town backed up for blocks, yet people waited patiently and not one horn was honked. Similarly, the phrase most frequently used by my course director and instructors is: “Don’t worry, it’ll all come together.” And they’re right – whether it’s a group project or a master’s dissertation, an internship or a future career, sometimes it is just better to deal with life on a day-to-day basis. The Irish seem to approach the concept of time differently than many Americans I know. Here, time feels like less of a commodity in a very refreshing way.

2. Personal belongings aren’t THAT important. I’m not the kind of girl who packs lightly. Five pairs of shoes, six extra outfits and countless hair gadgets have always accompanied me on every trip. In my car-reliant years of past, I would load up bags of everything I could possibly need for a trip or vacation of any kind and drive to my location (and, consequently, my car became more of a second home than anything). But when my sister arrived for a visit this past November, she forced me to shed – without thought to my outfit planning – over half of what I had packed for our four-day trip to Galway and Connemara. It sounds simple, and perhaps even petty, but for a ‘planner’ such as myself, this sudden shift to my packing logic threw me for a loop! But WOW, was the light packing worth it! Because when we stood in the old fort on Inishmore and there was no roof, no walls, just a giant sea cliff and the Atlantic Ocean stretching in front of us, I was grounded by the idea that if I was schlepping 50 pounds of belongings with me, I might have missed the natural beauty.

3. Embrace the ordinary. Living and studying abroad is almost inherently exotic. Friends gush about how ‘lucky’ I am to be able to drink Guinness everyday while living in such a fun city and meeting so many fascinating people. I couldn’t agree more that I am truly blessed that the US-Ireland Alliance has provided me such wonderful opportunities. But there is also something somewhat mundane about daily rhythms, no matter where you live. Despite my exotic locale and lifestyle, I still get up and go to class, head to the Tesco for groceries, and take my turn cleaning the bathroom. But it’s also these ‘simple things’ that make me love living in Dublin – the tourists crowding the sidewalks and gaping at ‘my’ campus, the women selling produce on Moore Street who predictably sell me the rotten fruits from the bottom of the pile, and sitting upstairs on a Dublin bus and watching the city stream by (although at most hours of the day the city tends to move by at more of a turtle’s pace).

In a few weeks I begin a twelve-week, full-time internship with the Homeless Agency in Dublin, before commencing work on my master’s dissertation in July. These will undoubtedly be months of learning – not just about how travel lessons can relate to life, but also about the causes to which I plan to dedicate my life. I know that no matter which specific field I work in next year, homelessness, social service provision, community development, housing, and healthcare are inextricably linked. I anticipate that learning how Ireland, and Dublin in particular, have developed action plans to alleviate social inequities will serve me well in the future. I’ll be sure to continue updating my list of lessons learned.

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