Hybridity as a Culture: McDonalds vs. Supermac

As we saw the dance video in the Pod, the difference in culture from that culture to our culture was evident. Another example of culture changes would be the example of McDonalds in Ireland. In Ireland, they have put a twist on what we know as McDonalds, and they call is Supermac.

Supermac does not only serve burgers and fries, but they also serve pizza, cakes, and Irish breakfasts on a real plate. It is more than just a "burger joint."

Here is an image displaying men with an assortment of food at Supermac in Northern Ireland:

here is an image of what the outside of the fast food restaurant looks like:

As you can tell, it defintely looks more like a real restaurant than U.S.'s McDonalds. The main con about Supermac is the wait time. Buyers get aggravated because sometimes the food takes a little while to be prepared.

Stunts

In Kolbert's New York Times article, it sounds like she does not like what Beavan is doing in his No Impact Man project. She talks like everything he is doing is a waste of time. It seems like she thinks his project is just a stunt for a book to try to get attention.

Beavan's project was to go a whole year having no impact on the society. By this, he made no trash, used no electricity, didn't use washing machines or dish washers, didn't buy anything new, and only bought food that came from 250 miles or closer. Kolbert said, "Yet most people are in no mood to read about how screwed up they are. It’s a bummer. If you’re the National Academy of Sciences or the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or the Pope or Al Gore, you can try to fight this with yet another multivolume report or encyclical. If not, you’d better get a gimmick." I disagree with her statement. I think that a lot of people would want to read Beavan's book to see what he went through to try better the planet. Once people realize that it is possible to live the way Beavan did for a whole year, then it is possible for someone to change their own ways as well. If people realize that they can make a difference, then society will actually change.

I think that Kolbert is bashing Colin Beavan, a man who is trying to benefit the planet, for no reason, and instead of bashing others' lifestyles, she needs to reexamine her own.

In Beavan's project, I think the two best things he did for the society were either not making trash or not using any sort of transportation. Both of these two acts really benefit society because reduction of trash would save the sea turtles in the middle of the ocean for example. No transportation means less carbon pollution into the air, which would definitely benefit society. After this project ended, Beavan went back mostly to how he used to live, but he still continued some of the things he did throughout his year as No Impact Project.

Likewise with the Green as a Thistle woman, she went 366 days, doing one thing every day that would benefit the planet. I believe that both of these projects were not stunts, but honest acts of courage. Neither project was doing it for the attention, but they both were to better the planet. Kolbert refers to both acts as stunts for books, and I disagree. I think both projects were brave, honest acts, and the people involved should not be picked on for trying to do something that would benefit the planet. Both projects could potentially have the ripple effect, so if people read their books, then they may realize they want to do anything to better the planet as well.

Overall, I do not agree with Kolbert in saying that these two great, brave projects were just for attention and to use as a stunt for a book. I think these people involved actually believed that what they were doing could better the planet. Kolbert should reexamine her own life instead of bashing others for how they are trying to help the planet.

Out of the Trash

As the days went by, and nothing in my trashcan looked interesting to reuse, I finally found something today in my trashcan that could benefit me! My roommate has had pneumonia for a while now, and she finally is cleared to play soccer again and off of her inhaler. Yesterday, she threw her inhaler in the trashcan! So as I was looking down at my trashcan, I noticed it and picked it up out of the trash. It is called an Aerochamber Inhaler with Flowsignal. I thought, I wonder what I could potentially turn this into to reuse it! My first thoughts were do I need an inhaler? This could be hard to reuse. Then I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth to get ready for the day. After I finished brushing, I set my toothbrush right on the dirty counter top. That is when I realized how I could reuse the inhaler! It is shaped just like a toothbrush holder... most toothbrush sizes would fit perfectly in to this inhaler, and it would keep me from putting my clean toothbrush on the dirty, dust filled sink countertop. Here is an image!:

In order to turn this into a cute, durable toothbrush holder, I first have to cut the flaps on the inside out so my toothbrush could slide right in without being stopped. Secondly, I would paint the plastic to make it pretty looking instead of having inhaler instructions on it. Then I would clean and sanitize it so the germs would be removed from my roommates mouth! And then it's ready to use!!

Life at Elon

For me, life at Elon is a lot like how my life is at home in Atlanta. Elon is very similar to my high school in the sense that the teachers really care about their students, small class size, and great academics and athletics. I am on the varsity soccer team here at Elon so my life is probably a lot different than regular students. I arrived at Elon on August 11th for preseason, so for the first few weeks here, my life was solely soccer practice. I met a few other athletes outside of soccer, but mostly, we only stayed in our dorms eating and sleeping. It was a pretty hard adjustment going from such a fun summer to waking up early, having soccer practice twice a day, napping all the time, and going to sleep early at night. Since those first few weeks here at Elon, my Elon experience has definitely changed for the better. I have noticed many great things about the campus, the students, the cafeterias, and the overall environment.

Throughout the first few months here, I ate at the Colonnades all the time. I really liked the food because it was new to me, and I didn't know all my other options. Also, I live in Danielley, so this specific dining hall was very convenient to me because of its location. Now, the menus at the Colonnades seem to be very repetitive and not very tasty, so I definitely do not eat there as often anymore. Now my friends and I eat at Acorn all the time (hopefully not to often that we'll get sick of it!). We also like eating at Octogon because we love grilled chicken sandwiches from Chickfila!

Another great thing about elon is that in the fall and spring, there are people riding bikes everywhere. I actually have a bike here, and all throughout the fall, I would ride my to class, soccer practice, or to eat dinner and lunch. Having a bike really makes living here without a car so much easier! I think bikes are a popular way to avoid driving a car to class or to eat dinner, because the campus is small enough that biking from one side to the other only takes about seven minutes.

Everything about Elon is great. I live in Danielley with my soccer teammates in an 8 person suite with a kitchen and living room. I sometimes wish I lived on a hall with other freshmen so I could get to know more people, but I don't regret living in danielley! Basically to sum up my feelings about Elon, the campus is gorgeous, the food is good, the teachers are so helpful, and all the people make me feel right at home!