Tag: story

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DisIntegration Experiences: 5

I convey my journey in countries and societies, based on my perspective and only my own experiences. I encourage you to contribute, ask questions and offer your own views. This platform is not complete without your contribution. Posting extracts from my upcoming book.

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Sites were full of colorful online reviews about the Paris, their airport plus their service and attitude:  "You cannot have a world class airport with third world transport to the city center”  “One simply grits one's teeth",  “Zero out of ten impressed”, “Wondering if terminal 2D could be the worst airport terminal in Europe". "Crowded, dirty, terrible shops, no catering, and the only lounge is airside, meaning that you have to leave the (admittedly poor) lounge one hour before the flight departs “This terminal requires immediate demolition!" "Certainly unlikely to bother visiting Paris again as not worth the unpleasant experience of the airport"

Knowing now what I know about the hideous shit I would dip my fingers into during the next ten years after my arrival to Charles de Gaulle airport – I just hope I would have had some sense and taken the next plane out of the country right there and then. Hell, I wish those canister throwers would have reached the airport and chased me to Germany, or anywhere else for that matter!

Photo by Skyler Smith
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DisIntegration Experiences: 3

I convey my journey in countries and societies, based on my perspective and only my own experiences. I encourage you to contribute, ask questions and offer your own views. This platform is not complete without your contribution. Posting extracts from my upcoming book.

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PROLOGUE (THE FOREIGNER)

With hindsight it was pretty far from the best moment to arrive at the main airport in France that Friday night in November 2005.

It was pouring with rain, and by Saturday 4th, the ninth of unrest and protest, there had been 259 arrests, a dozen men and women had been injured and more than 2,141 vehicles burnt. The suburbs of Paris were ablaze and the fever had spread uncontrollably to Lyon, Strasbourg and Rouen - political mismanagement fueling the rage of the most impoverished of France's citizens. Cars had been torched and buildings smashed. Riot police moved in, firing rubber bullets and tear gas. Fighting escalated. The rioters grew in number to 400. The Sunday before word spread that a tear-gas canister of the kind used by the police had been thrown on to the doorstep of the Bilal mosque up in northern Paris...

 

Photo by Norbu Gyachung
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Experiences on Integration: 1

Welcome back to Red Breast’s blog after a long break!! It’s been hot here in Portugal lately – I hope the rest of you are enjoying a more cool summer somewhere out there, even if I doubt it.

News. I am working on a new project - a book. In the coming weeks I will posting extracts here … So stay TUNED!  This book is about my experiences trying to integrate into different societies.

This not an embassy-approved manual of vaccinations needed, nor a best-practices guide of how to hob-knob at a local cocktail party. It lays bare the psychology of being a stranger in a foreign society. All is based on personal observations and experiences without referencing solely previous works, neither statistics nor research.

Who might this be for? For anybody who is interested in understanding what lies beneath the stereotypes of encountering and living in new societies.

I hope this no-nonsense account will give you more perspective of the true values, interests, preferences, strengths and weaknesses of living abroad than a regular travel book. Because the best truth, is what happened.

I lived my first 25 years in Finland, before moving first to The Netherlands, then to the UK and France now Portugal.

Back soon ...

 

Photo by Alex Paganelli

 

 

 

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Be True to Yourself – Speak Up Now

Are you somebody who sits back and says nothing when something really needs to be said? It could be an idea, a suggestion, an observation, a criticism ... but for some reason you don't want to speak up. Well, I was.

Some people might say like staying silent is the wiser choice – and it does apply to some situations.
But there are a few reasons why despite the risk, standing up is a good choice.

‘You must feel the fear and speak your mind anyway. Then act in spite of fear. Act in spite of anything.
So often people sit back and say nothing when something really needs to be said. Speaking up is an important form of honesty – for yourself’

 

gandhi

Think about fear. Why are you frightened? Imagine you feel in your guts that you want to say what you think. Say it, and it will bring you relief and release your emotions.
- If you stay silent it is usually taken as if you would agree. And if you don’t say what you wish, what could be further from the truth – it will later frustrate and create resentment in you.

You may not be alone in your thinking. Others may share your thoughts and opinions, but may be also unwilling or fearful to speak up. By speaking your mind you also encourage them to voice their opinions. If you say something that is considered irrelevant and unimportant then you voiced your opinion anyway: and if this is criticized in the group – it is a sign that the dialogue is not open.

Speaking up demonstrates that you will be truthful not only with other people, but with yourself. And when you practice this – it will flow naturally to speak up as your confidence improves, even if you would be an introvert.

 

Photo by Ricardo Mancía

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Looking into the Jaws of a Great White Shark – The Story of Shannon Ainslie

This story blew me right off my chair coughing up my coffee, and had me reconsider today's regular Sunday Surf Trip. Everybody knows there are no sharks around Lisbon,  but my next dip into the cold ocean was no doubt gonna be tense and edgy.

What you are about to read is one amazing testimonial in faith, and the most unbelievable true story of survival that side of the Vatican. It is the only clip in the world of two sharks  simoultaneously attacking a surfer. You don't even have to take my word for it - You can watch it.

The story was published on October 7th, 2013 in The Surf Channel.

At just 15 years of age, Shannon Ainslie was mauled by two 15 ft (4.5 meter) great white sharks while surfing Nahoon Reef in East London, South Africa.

About an hour into his surf, Shannon was riding a wave when two sharks attacked him. The shark on the left struck the surfboard underneath launching him into the air. Upon plunging  back into the sea under the surface - the shark bit Shannon's right hand dragging him deeper. During this time, the shark on the right went for his head and shoulders, but it missed him, because the shark on the left got in the way.

In his own words: "I remember staring the shark face-to-face underwater with its mouth wide open. I could see its one eye just staring into my face… It was super close. I could’ve reached to touch it or stick my hand in its mouth. Then, it swam past me, slowly turned around and then shoved me forward deeper under the water from behind"

Read the entire story published in Surf Channel on October 7th, 2013 here

Watch two great white sharks attack Shannon Ainslie in the below clip

 

Photo by Nathaniel Shuman