My American flatmate is not very upbeat at the moment. He has been caged in his room for days and is not very chatty - which he usually is. The weather might partly be to blame but he is getting disheartened. He is American and has come to Spain on a working / holiday trip. He is trying to get work and is always out there knocking on doors or emailing his cv to job adverts. As he is not an EU national he is experiencing difficulty in getting work and therefore in getting a life going here. I told him it is not easy to begin in a place where you do not have the right to earn a living.
The other night we were up until 4am talking about the developed world and the developing world, the privileges afforded to people of the developed world and the price paid by the people of the developing world. He is a Russian (by birth), Israeli (because he spent some years in Israel) American (because he now lives in the USA). He has three passports on the shelf in his room. He has the luxury of choice - 3 countries. He knows that Russia is a crouching tiger - that is poised to become a world power in the near future, but he still yearns to live in Europe. I suggested to him to go and try Russia as he has the documentation required to live and work there. He loves Russia but says it is still corrupt and work is hard to come by. I think he likes the sleepless night in Spain!!
There are 2 Russian ladies (in their late forties) in my Spanish class. I suspect they are here illegally as they are very secretive about themselves and their activities and their intentions. I discussed them with my flatmate. He explained that Russian people are not very proud of themselves and their country. Leon said the the first thing he would do if he was the president of Russia would be, to make the people believe they are great and their country is great. He says that Americans are taught to believe that America is the best place in the world and that they are the world's greatest people. It is their thinking which makes them so positive, stable and secure about themselves and their lives, their situations.
He said Russians have been made to undermine themselves and to believe that Russia is a bad place. I suggested to him that that is partly the result of the developed countries of the world. They have had so much power and influence over the developing world and have helped the developing world to formulate poor impressions of themselves and the countries they live in. But things are changing. The developed world is no longer in the favourable position it previously held, with this current economic climate. The developing world is starting to come into its own. The world is entering a new era - hopefully one where the developing world will have some power and influence and not be subjected to the power and influence of the developed world. I told Leon that Russia, Brazil, China and India are all countries that are on the rise and it will be interesting to see how the world leadership changes with new countries coming into the spotlight. Viva the developing world. Power to the poor!!
The other night we were up until 4am talking about the developed world and the developing world, the privileges afforded to people of the developed world and the price paid by the people of the developing world. He is a Russian (by birth), Israeli (because he spent some years in Israel) American (because he now lives in the USA). He has three passports on the shelf in his room. He has the luxury of choice - 3 countries. He knows that Russia is a crouching tiger - that is poised to become a world power in the near future, but he still yearns to live in Europe. I suggested to him to go and try Russia as he has the documentation required to live and work there. He loves Russia but says it is still corrupt and work is hard to come by. I think he likes the sleepless night in Spain!!
There are 2 Russian ladies (in their late forties) in my Spanish class. I suspect they are here illegally as they are very secretive about themselves and their activities and their intentions. I discussed them with my flatmate. He explained that Russian people are not very proud of themselves and their country. Leon said the the first thing he would do if he was the president of Russia would be, to make the people believe they are great and their country is great. He says that Americans are taught to believe that America is the best place in the world and that they are the world's greatest people. It is their thinking which makes them so positive, stable and secure about themselves and their lives, their situations.
He said Russians have been made to undermine themselves and to believe that Russia is a bad place. I suggested to him that that is partly the result of the developed countries of the world. They have had so much power and influence over the developing world and have helped the developing world to formulate poor impressions of themselves and the countries they live in. But things are changing. The developed world is no longer in the favourable position it previously held, with this current economic climate. The developing world is starting to come into its own. The world is entering a new era - hopefully one where the developing world will have some power and influence and not be subjected to the power and influence of the developed world. I told Leon that Russia, Brazil, China and India are all countries that are on the rise and it will be interesting to see how the world leadership changes with new countries coming into the spotlight. Viva the developing world. Power to the poor!!
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