Guide

I really hope that foreign students could have the same help from the "host countries." lol. However, this is also the point made by some locals to oppose or deny refugees' access to the resources needed upon arrival.

"Why privilege this minority group over underprivileged from the local?" or "Why can they enjoy the things given that they don't pay the taxes at all."'

I think these points might neatly speak volumes about why non-EEU students have had to pay tuition fee since 2011 if they would like to study in Sweden.

I was so lucky that I got enrolled in 2010. But it's possible that I already became the unwanted foreigner that undermine the foundation of welfare system, as those asylum seekers have done.

Oslo, where you could only make friends with fjord

Oslo is the city that I had no chances to visit when I was based in Sweden from 2010-2012. Actually at the time I didn't have the feeling that I must go there. I suppose that one of the reasons was that a friend of mine told me that Oslo was the most boring capital in the world. The high price also served as the straw that blocked my way to this city.

After I came back to Taiwan, I read a book about one guy's life in Norway. It was well written and I really enjoyed the stories and words. Most important of all, the author made this book stand out by presenting deeper insights on what he had observed and learned from Norwegian society and by depicting the "bad sides" of Nordic country that would be only echoed by the people who had Scandinavian experiences. 

I was so thrilled by this book. So when I decided to go back to Europe to see all my friends and and to talk to the professors last year, Oslo was on my must-see list. 

And I did go visit this city last November. I stayed with a Belgium host who was studying at Oslo University. We went for a walk in the forest and ascended to the top of the hill next to his dorm, where one could get a spectacular view of Oslo fjord. This is the best part of the city: one could easily reach nature as if the capital city was located in a national park.

However, one would also easily get bored. Oslo has a very special manner that makes the air seems to be saturated with bored particles. I don't know why, but there is something missing in Oslo that makes this capital city not so charming at first sight. The high price also plays its part here. As a "Swedish" guy who has used to the ridiculous figures seen in super market, its the first time that I felt so desperate when buying food in a supermarket, not to mention that the items you could chose from were much fewer that you did in Sweden and Denmark.  (Well, I might visit the wrong store...lol)

Anyway, even though the first short encounter was kind of good, I did not have a strong motivation to come back either as tourist or a PhD fellow. Oslo was like a beautiful, tranquil lake, but there were no ripples which indicated dynamics as if silence was the only flow of energy.

A couple of days later, I had the second encounter with Oslo. This time I stayed in a hostel. But I had the chance to hang out with a Dutch guy. We went for a walk around the harbor area. There were a lot of restaurants, galleries, and some other fancy buildings, but there were not so many citizens. It was really weird since it's a capital city. Nevertheless, it was also amazing and refreshing because one could enjoy the serenity made of waves hitting the coast. 

At that moment, I found this place attractive. It's a lonely city where you would not be able to have a far-reaching social network, which meant that only very few people fell into the category called "friend". The nature might be considered another friend since you would always hear the same loyalty echo no matter how the world or the people surrounding you have changed. 

I believe Oslo could present thousands of faces. It simply reflects traveler's personality and the way he or she perceives and connect to the world. Therefore, an outgoing person would still be able to brew a nice, warm cup of tea on the basis of cold social relations. As for a depressed person, no matter how charming and bright the city manages to be, all the colorful pieces would still be outshone by the gray clouds.

I believe I still have the opportunity to go back to the city and cultivate different facet of Oslo. I am not sure if I will be able to thaw the permafrost. But I know that the fjord will be standing there, echoing the same sound only I could capture. 

Couchsurfing as a therapy?

This is the first time that I would say that I failed the couchsurfing. It was really frustrating that I've got this "criminal record" in Gothenburg, my favorite city in Sweden.

It's obvious that I did not realize that I was really really devoured by my negativity and emotions triggered by the failure to get in contact with the professors. And of course, the vague, confusing future ahead also  played its part. I believe I could hide these shits very well if I met someone who had a lot of things in common, especially the social issues. If not, then I just showed my true colors.

But my biggest problem was that I took it for granted that everyone would be willing to put on all my shits. I've got this habit when I surfed at London. There I met several friends who were so supportive and always would love to listen to me. It was so stunning that one could meet people from the other parts of the planet could understand the feelings. So after this, I think I want to get the copies from all the couchsurfers. But it's just not people's duty to do that, not to mention that I need to conquer all the things  by myself.

Anyway, I hope I learn something from this and will make the next couch better. 

Burger King Proud Whopper

"We are all the same inside."



But we are still different outside. By different I am referring to not the appearances but the power on the basis of race, class, gender, resources, whatever that can be utilized to deal with the risk. By the way, if sexual orientation was replaced with the attributes above, this footage would still make sense. 



The Whopper is really delightful. And the footage is stunning. But the whole world is still gloomy ahead of us. Because people always tend to find the differences but not the sameness that makes connection.

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The fascist mind in civil society

Then you see that domination exists even in the thing you have faith in. You start sensing totality, absolutism and flavor of magical thinking. You start capturing how both obedience and intolerance of dissent loom large the way one easily gets terrified. Violence is followed by denials while sacrifice is taken for granted. Eventually you realize the good old days have far gone. You either seek excessive power to reproduce the game rules or leave the once promised land for good. And you know you will, no doubt, choose the latter.

I will always be the on the other side of fascism. If the social actors who dedicate themselves to the rooted democracy ignore or even deny any signs / tendencies of fascism, they will confront with my withdraw and deepest hostility. 

I'd had faith in you, my land. Farewell. 

矛盾

經過今天短暫的談話，我反而更加沮喪困惑。

我選擇不參與審議討論，並不代表我就是選擇坐以待斃。我只是認為，反服貿如果要反得徹底，那就絕對不只是反黑箱/獨裁/中國而已，還要挑戰現行的經濟生產模式(以及伴隨而來的人際關係)。換句話說，反黑箱就是反目前的生活方式。但是，我知道我做不到。我只知道，因懂得規則而擁有社會與文化資本的自己，只能矛盾又悲哀地在可以忍受(或視而不見)的範圍內，對抗新自由主義的浪潮。也因此，在摸出自己的底線之前，我絕對不會抱持樂觀正向的態度去參加任何在我看來處處是新自由主義影子的審議民主。也許我們在某些時候，太過在意民主"決策"與法制"架構"，進而使我們過於專注在塑造所謂的"公民"，而就在這樣的過程當中，我們不僅可能忽略了這些審議討論背後所被忽略的、也該獲得重視的資本累積、分配不均以及相應的社會結構，更可能一個不小心就成了讓新自由主義政府運作得更柔軟(且更合法)的幫兇。

聽起來超級矛盾，但聰明智識有限的我，目前也想不出任何答案了。

Kyrgyzstan: Police Torture Gay Men

Hungarians must face their Nazi past, not venerate it (by The Guardian)

"History cannot be erased, nor forgotten. Discovering and understanding the past is the duty not only of governments and political parties, but also of the people, the whole nation. We must face it together – even when it is not pleasant – and try to learn from the consequences. Hungarians have not yet been through this process."

The words above are excerpted from the press article in the Guardian, with the title "Hungarians must face their Nazi past, not venerate it." 

I think the message here should be taken seriously by Taiwanese people as well. Please think about how you guys would like to cherish the democratic values, those that you always utilize as the symbols indicating the difference between Taiwan and China. Democracy as well as any kind of freedom is not natural but artificial, which means the value is the way you prefer to be governed by whom you recognize. If you like them, pour efforts into safeguarding them. If not, fine, let it be and stay where you are.

Pink is not the warmest color

London gay parade 2012

That day I didn't turn up to take a close look because I thought it would not be worth going. However, I am wrong. It turned out to be such a fascinating field where I could observe grotesque bigotry and hatred emerging on the basis of abuse of freedom of assembly.

On 30th November, there were thousands of people taking to the street in an attempt to stop the amend of Article 972 of the Civil Code, which is tempted to redefine the concepts of "marriage" and "family." According to Taiwan Family Guardian, the civil partnership right will shatter the traditional values. In addition, the same-sex marriage will have such negative impacts on Taiwanese society as labor force and child welfare. The latter refers to the circumstance where the children are allowed to learn the different mannerism and disposition between a man and a woman and thus will grow up soundly healthily. 

What a jarringly splendid remark! Really impressive! Are they saying that DINK as well as being single is sin? Or the people who, for whatever the reasons are,  are not capable of fertility should be charged with not having offspring? Or widow and widower have to marry again otherwise they might fail to raise their kids, if any, one the basis of a world comprising one man and one woman. In other words, the people who devote to the safeguard of marriage and family simply make a disgustingly contrived world by dismissing (consciously or unconsciously?) and hiding the social relations that they can't see. You know what? It is not of traditional value at all. On the contrary, It marks your line with eugenics that actually provokes racism. It also implies class violence and sexism. 

However, the protest taking place on that day completely went beyond my imagination  in a sick way. Ok, to be fair, I was not there, so my judgment is mainly based on those articles like "A feast of hatred" and "Bigotry and hatred under the sun." (Please see the details as the lines show; I don't intend to repeat the details here.) If what these articles described were true, then I would have to say that this "Happiness of the Next Generation Alliance has to come under huge criticism for the creepy things that you did not expect to witness in a democratic country. Well, it might partly explain why a guy dared to dress in Nazi uniform, citing the anti gay statement in reference to Nazi. His insane mannerism not only besmirched Taiwan's reputation but also profaned the metaphysical figure his spotless faith has always rested on. This guy's hatred, by coincidence, matched the pink as the color theme of the protest (please see A feast of hatred mentioned above).

To me, the traditional values embodied by "marriage" and "family" are nothing more than sufferings. Well, it is so due to my childhood experience. I just want to say that we should not overly deify or metaphysicize any single social system. Marriage would be too cheap if its holiness only lived for the moment couples saying " I do." Family would be too industrial if it was seen as the basis of population/society (are those guys going to safeguard the values seen in Industrial Revolution?). The value and holiness do not rest on the gender and labor division with a family; they are built upon family members' love and supportive characters. Marriage, followed by family, is not a certificate of love. It's the first step to establish a emotional shelter for all. How come civil partnership right is going to collapse the nation?

That day I turned up as a tourist in the London gay parade. The most touching moment was the moment when two Nigerians showed up with the crowds applauding for their mighty braveness. Their tough appearances signified the uneven distribution of risk faced by people across the world who have chosen to voice how they want their body to be lived differently. In this sense, people in Taiwan are lucky because they won't get killed (but bullied...) for being different. Although the hideous behaviors akin to those staged in that event will be consistently seen, the bright future is no doubt ahead of us.