Three Years of IPSA - Article from De Wijzer, April 2011

When I was asked to write a bit about my experience in Leuven for De Wijzer, I knew exactly what I would be discussing: The International Philosophy Student’s Association (IPSA). I want to share some of the experiences I have had while working on making IPSA all that it has become. First, though, l want to put out the disclaimer that anything I might have done to establish and build this organization would have meant nothing if it weren’t for the great people around me. So a big shout-out is in order:

If it weren’t for their encouragement, I would never have started (thanks, Stijn and the ’08-‘09 NFK praesidium!).

If it weren’t for their hard work, I would never have been able to lead it where it went. (thanks, especially, to the IPSA ANGELS of ’09-’10, Dziugas, Liesbeth, Ryan, Thérèse, and every other person ever involved in organizing IPSA!)

If it weren’t for their support and inspiration, I would never have had the will power to step up during rough moments. (Thanks to NFK praesidia of all three years, the faculty at HIW, and the people at LOKO International!)

If it weren’t for their smiling faces showing up at our events, I would have had no reason to do it in the first place. (Thanks to you all!)

We have had some fantastic times together. And while at times our organization does not live up to its true potential due to lack of initiative among many of the students, there are still these magical moments that make it all worth it. Last year was filled with them. For me, perhaps the most magical of these moments was the theatre/rock benefit event at which we raised 200 Euros for an AIDS orphanage in Mombasa. I will always look back at that night and be filled with inspiration and joy, and I challenge you to organize a similar event! This year has not been without its own magical moments. Our colloquia have been thought-provoking and inspirational to everyone present. The IPSA/NFK coordinated Open Mic held in March of this year was a success, both in quality and quantity. It was wonderful to see old and new friends freely expressing themselves up on stage, and of course it was a pleasure to do so myself too!

There are so many experiences that have built up over these years with IPSA that it would be hard to do it any justice in a brief article. But I suppose that what would really do IPSA justice is to keep it alive, keep it growing, and let it flourish under the care of new students. It has been exceedingly difficult to pass leadership on, however. With new students coming in each year, with absolutely no idea about what IPSA is or even what Leuven is all about in general, it’s quite difficult to recruit a new group for leadership each year. I think what most directly contributed to last year’s success was the recruitment efforts taken at the very beginning of the year: along with Dziugas and Efe’s great help at student orientation, the help of the legendary party planner Matthew Barton gave way to an infamous start of year moustache party. What was it that got the most attention? FREE BEER!

Alas, my time in Leuven is coming close to an end, and with thesis work dominating my attention it is no longer possible for me to continue taking the lead. I can only hope that other students will see the value in organizing themselves around the IPSA name. If you want an amazing experience that will teach you more life lessons than you know, and if you want to get funding while you are at it, then just make it happen! All you need to do is get people’s attention at the beginning of the year, showing the potential of a good student group. Read here: throw a good party, and they will come! Then you’ve got to organize and delegate. People have parties, nights out, soccer matches, reading groups, and so on all the time… why not organize these officially with IPSA? Why not accept funding? The institute website advertises their International Philosophy Student’s Association, so why not embrace it? It is waiting to become whatever you want to make of it. Challenge yourself. You might be surprised at what you discover… I know I have!


JB

(Original article posted on page 10:Three Years of IPSA)

On Being and Action - Part One

In the following series of blogs I will be discussing all those big questions concerning the nature of the universe and its creation, along with the nature of free will and the possibility of the existence of god(s).  Open your mind and follow along.  If nothing else, this discourse will at least give you a chance to see the bigger picture.  Enjoy, and thanks for reading.

There are two opposing forces that govern every action that takes place in the universe.  On the one hand, there is a positive, creative force by which all things come into being and increase their order and involved relation to each other.  On the other hand there is a negative, destructive force which brings the current state of things to an end and generally decreases the orderly relation of all things to other things. 

That aspect which is commonly attributed to human being alone, i.e., free will, or the will to choose, at any point, the direction of ones actions, is in fact a law that holds for all things.  Free will is seen not only in the actions of human beings, but in the will of all events of existence.  Take for instance the movement we have recently been describing as the big bang.  This movement , as we would have it, is a movement from the extreme unity of a singular entity into the ever-widening universe.  This ever-widening is like the continual expanding of a balloon: as you blow the balloon larger and larger, the patterns on the surface of the balloon continually expand.  Things move apart, patterns get wider, and fragments disperse.  If we take the idea of entropy seriously, then this expansion implicitly involves a movement toward disorder.  Not only are the patterns of the universe expanding, they are in fact deteriorating.  Patterns of the way things once were are no longer recognizable patterns.  The links between those fragments of the original unity continue to decrease.

Such a trend of the activity of the universe should be considered as an example of a negative, destructive force.  And yet, just as I have explained that such a force is always coinciding with an opposing force of positive creation, it is reasonable to imagine that the movement which we describe with the big bang theory also has its opposing movement or force.  If the movement by which all the universe follows is one of entropy, then there must also be an opposite movement: a movement by which all things move from infinite fragmentation, infinite separation, towards unity and complete organization.  If there are clear patterns in the universe which tend by a law of entropy to decrease in their organization, then there must also be some sort of movement which increases organization and moves all fragments toward a singular unity.

The way I have been discussing these opposing trends is generally cosmological: it focuses on the 'big' things of existence.  But these trends can also be seen on the level of the tendencies of living beings, whatever 'living' means in particular. Even the phenomena of life and of death could be described as two instantiations of these two sides of all action.  However, can we not see the same two trends in human activity itself?  Look at those two sides to free will: if considered in the most general terms, the choice that is to be made at every moment is either a yes or a no.  Do it, or not do it?  Make it or not make it?  And so on.  Even in those cases where there are many options to choose from, one always chooses to either go or not go in which ever direction they choose. 

Take for instance the choice to either build something up or break something down.  Such is a very basic general movement observed in the actions of human beings.  One  might choose to build up systems of value by which one brings things together and increases the "orderliness" of the things around him, or one might choose activities which lead to a decrease of order: war is a very potent example of this, for it is inherently an action which moves to decrease the order of a particular set of things.  For example, the actions of war in a particular region tend to decrease the current order present in that place.  Yet, such an example gives us an opportunity to see a possible explanation of the wider relation between these two movements.  War is always a force of destruction directed by another force: that of order.  In war, the destruction of one entity or region is always directed by an urge to increase or create the order of another entity.  When a country invades its neighbor, it wreaks havoc with the intention of benefiting the order of the invading country.  If we take this example as a indicative of a wider tendency of the universe, then we can safely assume, at the least, that any action which tends toward destruction is directed by an opposing action of ordering or creation. 

It should be noted that the way we have been describing this so far is quite one-sided, for it assumes, if you will, that the chicken precedes the egg.  We cannot safely assume that the destructive is always ordered by the constructive.  We must also consider the possibility of the opposite: that the constructive, likewise, is a movement directed by the deconstructive.  Take again the example of war.  War is not simply a willing to decrease order.  Rather, it takes huge amounts of movements toward order in order to carry out the destructive actions of war.  Armies must be organized, bureaucracies must be established, even "rules of war" are often put in place to ensure that the very effort is held within the control of the acting entity.  Tactics are developed.  And what are war tactics if not a momentary organizing of "things" for the sake of the destruction of other "things"?  We must consider the macroscopic instance of this trend.

Running through Europe

It's been a while since my last post. I guess I've gotten out of the habit. But in the spirit of the new year the only right thing to do is get back into it and rebuild the good habit of writing regularly. And that's just what I've decided to talk about in this blog: building up good habits and breaking down the not-so-good ones.

The other day I was going for a jog. The sun was shining and the air was cool, yet just warm enough that I wasn't too cold or overheated. I listened to upbeat music and you know I had a smile on my face. On top of all that, there's something about taking a jog through the back streets of a really old European town that really grabs me. At the top of a long, gradual slope, I noticed three little boys. They were laughing and playing, and one of them held out a sign with an arrow on it pointing into an alley. So, naturally, as I jogged past I swerved and started going into the alley, winking at the sign-boy on my way past. Of course they loved it, and as I continued back down the street they ran along behind laughing the whole time. I have to say it was the nicest moment I've had yet this year.

Going jogging has always done something special to me. It allows me to set aside those thoughts that cloud my mind and those anxieties that cloud my actions. When I don't have the patience to sit in meditation, it's jogging that brings me back to the peace of the present moment. Not only that, it also inspires me to challenge myself in other activities. For the past couple of weeks I've been jogging every other day in an effort to rebuild that good habit, and so far I've noticed changes in the way I think about myself and how I go about my business. Instead of going through each day not really caring what happens so long as its enjoyable, I begin to seek out the things that give me the most enjoyment and sense of reward. I begin to challenge myself more. That same determination that I feel when pushing myself to run 5 or 10 minutes longer than I feel comfortable with comes out in the other things I do, like studying and socializing. And every time I get out there, it gets just a little bit easier.

I have to admit, for a while now my will power has been suffering a bit. I've tended to be apathetic about what I do with myself, thinking that it will all work out in one way or another. Well I still believe that, it will all work out. But lately I've started to question this carefree perspective. Now I've started to think that I'd prefer it to all work out in MY way. I want to choose my destiny, not have it handed to me. I don't want to waste my time doing nothing and forgetting all the big things I've done in the past, but rather pay tribute to them by spending every moment achieving new accomplishments. I am especially inspired these days, and I'm going to milk it for all it's worth.

So, right now I have set a few goals for myself. I can't tell you about all of them since some are more personal than others. But I can tell you about a few. Since this is exam time, my top priority is to study better than I usually do and do well on my exams. Also, as I already said, I will run more regularly and stay active. I want to socialize more, since usually I spend a lot of time at home like a hermit... regardless of what numerous facebook pics seem to suggest! It's true that I have lots of friends and acquaintances here and we know how to kick it. Hell, maybe 'more' isn't the right word, rather, I want to socialize 'better'. I'm so introverted sometimes that I think a lot of people miss out on the sides of me that I'm really proud of, like my spirituality and creativity.

Finally, I have set the goal to write much more than I have been. I intend to write regularly, even daily. Not on the blog, but between the blog, my personal journal, my creative writing, and... especially... my thesis. It's something that I will have to focus on after exams in a big way. But not immediately after exams. No, I've planned myself a little trip: I'm a goin' to Roma!! My plan: to write extensively every day that I am there. I will do mad sightseeing and write about every impression that comes up. I will put myself in interesting social situations and then write about it. In fact, about the only time that I will forget about writing is when I'm letting loose with new people from the hostel and from the nearby university. It should be really great, so you will enjoy reading about all of it on here. If possible, I will update the blog each day with new posts, but otherwise I will post a series of blogs shortly after my trip detailing some (not all, never all!) of my escapades in the great city.

I must say, this trip is going to be an exercise in self-development. Since I've been in Europe I have only planned one other trip, which was to Germany to see my family there. Other than that everything has been close enough so as to not really require any planning. I'm starting off this year right. Plan, challenge, believe, succeed... enough to make some hurl. But also, enough to make some others smile... and anyone who makes it this far through the current post is more likely to be in the second camp.

Thanks for reading, keep it up and so will I!

24h Velo... and 6 years of training

I remember the first time I heard of Leuven.

It was during my first year at university, six years ago. It wasn't actually about Leuven as such, but rather about the 24 hour bike race in Louvain-La-Neuve. It was during a lecture on transgression, festival, and jouissance. And naturally, I was immediately interested. My professor told the class about the moment when the self control and restraint of the participants dissolves and the party as a whole takes on a will of its own. He told us about how the town closed off all the roads, leaving access only for the numerous emergency vehicles standing by. "People die almost every year!", he said. He told us about drinking rituals involving regurgitated libations and the complete disregard for the usual repulsion one feels for human excrement of all sorts.

Naturally, he was exaggerating.

And yet, his descriptions weren't so far from the reality--or hyper-reality--that I experienced at the 24h Velo. By the end of the night I had rode drunk through the circuit inside a giant papier maché model of Aladdin's Genie. I had started a mosh pit with some Belgian punks. I had shielded a complete stranger as she stooped beside me to relieve herself in the street. And, most notably, I had rubbed the smooth head of a bald girl (also a stranger), as if it were the lamp of a wish-granter.

But wait, back up... I'm getting ahead of myself.

We arrived at Louvain-La-Neuve at noon, so that we could witness the beginning of the race at 1pm. In the mean time, my friend Gabriel gave me a brief tour of his home university and town. Already there were many people on the street, but he told me that by night fall every street would be as crowded as a dancehall. We walked down the large lake where students went to relax and enjoy BBQ on the banks. As we looked over the placid water Gabriel remarked on the relative silence of the moment, asking me if we had the expression "the calm before the storm" in English. I knew exactly what he meant.

I ordered my first of many drinks just after 2. At this time, the scene was still pretty tame, with activities being held for kids. Student groups had to hold some sort of children's activity, and in return they were allowed to have their own bar for a couple of hours later on. I met several of Gabriel's friends in a wine-tasting club, whose children's activity was something like a mix between wine-tasting and the Pepsi-Coke challenge. Deciding whether a drink was regular or diet doesn't seem quite as fun as the pie-throwing activity run by his other friends!

After meeting his friends in the childrens' area, we headed over to the area geared towards our own age group: the university parking lot. This lot was converted into a festival center, with a grandstand and bars set up all around the perimeter, each representing a particular province of Belgium and offering a unique drink from that place. The idea, I was told, is to do a grand tour, taking a drink from each of the 20 or so booths. I think I made it to about 10 before heading to a different part of town. As we tried some local drinks, we watched a pudding-eating contest on the bandstand. This was nearly enough to make me return all my drinks in the most ungracious manner... if you get my drift. Competitors had a row of pudding cups, and on the mark they had to gulp down each cup. The pros were swallowing each cup in one single gulp. Quarter-finalists only had to worry about six cups each... but the finalists, one big guy and one not-so-big girl... had to swallow back 12 cups each. The whole process only took them about 90 seconds, and involved a well-used barf-bag. In the end it was in fact the girl who had won. Slight disgust turned to slight intrigue as someone exclaimed, "it is amazing, all the things a French woman can do with her mouth..."

Shortly after the pudding fiasco, Gabriel and I decided we were drunk enough to ride a lap of the circuit. We waited our turns and then climbed under the giant papier maché Genie, and mounted our two attached bikes. Already we knew that it would be a long ride... his gear change clanked at every rotation and one of my pedal shafts was hopelessly bent out of shape, so that one leg bowed out every time the pedal made a turn. Still we were very determined, and even more intoxicated. Aside from running into a barricade or two, we were superb. We even passed some other bikes! We finished the circuit in about 25 minutes, a full 5 minutes quicker than the two who went before us.


Later on we went to a rock concert and eventually to an electronica/house concert. At the rock concert I saw some guys who were lightly jumping and bumping, and so I decided to show them how we mosh in Canada. Within seconds a group of 6-8 guys were skanking away, bodies slamming and fists flying. It was absolutely wonderful.

During the concert I went away to relieve myself behind a beer tent. Note: this is not in any way out of the general view of the crowds, just slightly less visible than most other places. As I was going, this girl walks up to me and stares at me. I say, jokingly, "care to join?" and without saying a word she comes right up beside me, drops her pants, and squats. What did I do, you might ask? Well, being the gentleman that I am, I finished up and turned my back to her, shielding her from the crowd until she got up. "Merci!" And off she went.

Try to imagine an entire town closed off for a party with about 20-30 thousand students... and NO public toilets in sight. Needless to say, she wasn't the only one we saw squatting in the street!

At around 3 am, we moved on to the electronica stage. The music was bumping and the crowd was going mad. It was in this crowd that I had my most precious moment of the night. Let me first explain something. In a crowd with so many people, the key to making encounters of any sort is to set yourself apart from everyone else somehow, whether it be by wearing rave sticks or flashy clothes or dying your hair a wild colour. Well, everyone has hair, right? So it is no surprise that the first person to catch my attention was an attractive young girl with absolutely no hair on her head. I knew at once my mission: I MUST PET THAT GIRL'S HEAD... if it's the last thing I do.

So, I went up to the girl and told her that nothing would make me happier than to, if only just once, pet her head. And naturally, she refused. I continued to entreat her and she continued to turn me down, though by this point I could tell I had caught her interest. When I saw that she was starting to enjoy this little game, I excused myself and found my friends for a drink. After a little while I returned to the girl, and explained to her that my friends were eager to leave and that if she didn't grant me my single wish, then my whole night would be just a little bit spoiled. She grabbed my hand and rubbed it against the back of her head... at last! What a happy moment. With that I told her she had made my day and wished her a good night.

As I lay in some dorm room couch that night/morning, nursing my throbbing brain, I thought to myself, I made it. After six years I finally experienced the jouissance of the 24h Velo. Without another thought I slipped away into unconsciousness.

Welcome to Tiensestraat 276

The first item of action when moving to any city is securing a living space. So from my first morning in Leuven until the moment I signed a contract, my sole concern was to find a "studentenkamer". These are private rooms subsidized by the University. They consist of a small room usually with furnishings and a bed, commonly with shared bathroom and kitchen facilities. The reason I sought these rooms over studios, flats and apartments is simple: they're cheap, like the budgie. Most went at around 230-270 Euros, and from 300-350 Euros for a room with a private bathroom. On top of this there is often added a 50 Euro utility bill.
I found a place for 205 Euros per month, all in. Out of the eight places I had already seen, this was by far the cheapest, and none of the others gave me a private shower and 3 metres of windows looking out over the rooftops of the city. The views of most kamers (rooms) are limited to the building on the other side of the street.

I first found the place as I was walking down Tiensestraat looking for signs that said, "Kamer te huur". Smelling the warm, yeasty scent of a bakery, I noticed in the window just such a sign. And so I inquired within, taking note of that scent that I would smell every morning for the next 11 months. When I asked for a viewing, the woman behind the counter gave me a set of keys and in broken English instructed me to go to the top floor, that she could not come up with me and tend to her shop at the same time. By the time I reached the room, I understood that the 75 stairs may have been a factor in her choice to stay in the shop. The stairwell had water damage and some mould... not a good sign. But it was clear that work was being done, for the thick wallpaper was being stripped off for future replacement. There were three things that I first noticed when I entered the room. First, it was a dusty mess. Second, the floor is so sloped that it takes my skateboard 2.3 seconds to roll from one side of the room to the other. The third thing, however, put all other concerns into perspective: a large desk facing a span of windows 3 metres long. From this new writing desk I could look out over the city of Leuven and contemplate.

Only two doors down from me is a small supermarket with everything I need for day-to-day provisions. Good thing, too, for I have no kitchen and no fridge or freezer. I shall purchase a hotplate or an electric grill, and buy fresh food daily. Hopefully this will in fact help me save, since I will never be able to hoard and always know the cost of each individual meal. Living cheap is a life skill. Gotta practice it as much as possible.

My second day in Leuven, I had found a perfect place for myself. Hem duril'a. That day I had already went through the aggravating process of registering as a student at the university. But the biggest task of the day was carrying two large luggage bags weighing 23 kg each from the hostel to the stairwell. This 20 minute portage was not extremely enjoyable. I dragged them through a construction zone, a train station tunnel, and down 3 blocks on the ringroad. Then came the 75 stairs. After getting my bags up into the room, I sighed in relief, hem duril'a.
There was much to be done, however. The room was a dust pool, and so I set about the three hour task of dusting and sweeping to every corner. By the end I had collected a veritable mountain of dust.

But finally I could remove my scarf from my face and breath easy in this room that through my labour had become more of a home to me. Since then I have cleaned the shower and the sink, the windows and mirror, and all the furniture. I have purchased a rug for outside my shower door to prevent water from spreading to other areas in my room. Aside from that, I have placed in the room many posters, a degree, and an opened box of Kellogg's Smacks. The nesting process is nearing completion.

My place, as I have explained, is in a very convenient location. Not only am I near stores and bars, but I am less than ten minutes from both the philosophy department and the skatepark. Let's just say I've decided it's worth my 205 Euros per month. With the first month and security deposit made, all I have left to do is meet the neighbors...

"A Friend is Better than a Stranger"

Well,
Here I am in Leuven.
After five years of steadily growing anticipation, I have finally arrived in that place I once heard of in a classroom back home. Now I anticipate new classrooms, and do what I can to make my new room a suitable home. It has been five days since I drove with my cousin Huub from Maasbree to Leuven and signed in at the de Blauput hostel. Since then I have registered as a K.U. Leuven student, I have secured a room for then next 11 months, and I have registered as a Leuven resident at the Stadhuis (City Hall). Not to mention, I have recieved lessons in Arabic and shared in interfaith dialogue with a doctor from Sudan. I have discussed the disappointing direction that American capitalism is headed towards... with an undergraduate student from Ohio. I have shared excitement about coming to a new city and shared concerns about culture shock with a girl from England. Needless to say, the K.U.Leuven posters weren't lying when they proclaimed that my experience in Leuven would be an international one!
My first day in Leuven happened to be a Belgian national holiday and the final day of a three-week long celebration in Leuven. Midway operators yelled out the Flemish equivalent of "Everybody wins!", and vendors listed off the benefits of their products. To my horror, every main street was as crowded as a Disney park at Christmas. On my first morning on this first day of my year in Leuven, I was not so surprised that there were people of all ages drinking in the street. What did surprise me, however, was the sheer number of people doing it at 10 a.m. on a Monday.
By noon 40-year-old couples staggered in each other's arms, doing everything in their power to walk in a semi-straight line and not spill their beer. Bands played on street corners, where crowds would dance and sing along to a somewhat unnatural mix of Belgian folk music, dancehall, and nineties American pop. With only the slightest hint of seriousness, I once again ask myself, what have I gotten myself into this time??
The answer came later that evening in the form of a very moving conversation with a medical doctor named Amir from Central Sudan. The night before, I had noticed that my roommate at the hostel had a prayer shawl and rug, so I wrote a note to him while he was out:

"Hello, my name is Josh and I'm from Canada. I hope we meet sometime soon. Cheers, salam!"

Salam is one of the only Arabic words I know, and perhaps it is the most useful for making new friends: it is a holy greeting that essentially means peace be with you.

Anyway, the conversation I had with Amir on the next night was most certainly opened by this very simple and yet infinitely complex word. I shall not explain in detail what we discussed, but I can tell you it involved sharing our ways of personal prayer, a comparison of our respective faiths, as well as a proper exchange of food. In exchange for one of his granola bars, I gave Amir a fresh pear from Huub's garden. With this he broke the day's fast (Ramadan). We discussed two reasons or justifications for fasting. The first justification is simply that fasting is the instruction of God. In a world of faith, there is no greater justification. The second justification is perhaps more aligned to strictly scientific outlooks: to limit the satisfaction of appetites for food, intoxicants, and sexual pleasure increases spiritual appetite for understanding, wisdom, and awakening. Such a concept was not new to me, as it is the 'second reason' for so many other mystical traditions, be they Christian, Jewish, Hindi or Buddhist. I welcomed it as a healthy reminder after a long day of festivities and a long week of jovial beer drinking with Thijs and Liesbeth in Maasbree!

Finally came the answer to my earlier question concerning my current situation. My heart was tickled when Amir taught me my second Arabic phrase: Hem duril'a. This utterance essentially means "I am satisfied". One says this when they finish a prayer, a meal, or when they get caught up in happiness, sadness, frustration, and so on. It is a way of accepting with open arms one's fate. An ecstatic moment elapsed as Amir promised me that he would, whenever I requested, teach me Arabic free of charge. At this moment the two of us understood that we had made a very special bond. Hem duril'a. We finished the evening with prayer: him on his rug and me bed-side.

It seems that the two other people I met may becomes friends during the year, albeit perhaps not friends with such a spiritual link. Perhaps. The future is yet-to-come. I met a German philosophy undergrad from Ohio in the hostel as well. He had spent the previous year studying in Austria, and surely it had rubbed in. He and I shared our views on North American media, consumerism, and corporate control. Our discussion was not limited to Walmart, small-town quarterback stardom, and the complete obliviousness of a large section of the population to what is really going on in the world, beyond the shield of corporate-controlled media. My new friend decided that perhaps it was growing up in such an environment that led him to such a great interest in Marxist and Socialist theory.

The third person I had a good conversation with was a law student from England here on exchange. I met her at the 'Stadhuis', the City Hall, to register as a resident. We discussed our mutual early onset of culture shock, as she told me that I was the first person she was able to have a real sort of conversation with... one not in embarrassed, broken English. It was nice to not have to worry about the language barrier for a bit. I suppose I shall meet her and her friends soon, and together we can, so to speak, break that barrier down over several alcoholic beverages.

Something I said to Amir quite perfectly sums up my attitude during these first days in Leuven: "A friend is better than a stranger."

Mes rêves pour l'avenir

Delivered on March 31, 2008.

Écoutez bien,

J’aimerais racontrer mes rêves pour l’avenir, mais nous ne voyons clairement nos rêves jamais, malheureusement. Neanmoins, j’essayerais de racontrer ces énigmes.

Le rêve le plus immediate est celui le voyage et decouverte du monde. Personnellement, j’assimile les voyages et experiences mondailles à la réussite, à lieux du succès monetaire. Certainement, il faut reconnaitre qu’on doit gagner de l’argent, à l’avance de ses voyages mondiales! Mais, je rêve des experiences seulement, sans des pensées d’argent.

Idealment, j’aimerais visiter tous les pays que je n’ai pas déja visité. Jusqu’ici, j’ai visité les Etats-Unis, le Mexique, le Cuba, l’Angleterre, la France, le Japon, et la Corée du Sud aussi. Alors, maintenent je voudrais visiter tous les pays en Europe. Je voudrais visiter la Belgique, l’Allemagne, et la France en particulier, et j’ai fait une demand de la maîtrise en Louvain, Belgique.

Si je suis admis à la Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (K.U. Leuven), je voyagerai à Dusseldorf en août et je ferai des études de la philosophie pendent une année. Je vais écrive une thèse dans les écrits de la Heidegger, et dans les sujets de la temporalité et des experiences mystiques.

Quand j’ai du temps libre et de l’argent, je voyagerai en France, l’Allemagne et les Pays Bas pour visiter mes familles, pour faire de tourisme, et pour faire du skateboarding! Dans ces pays, il y a beaucoup de beaux parcs pour skateboarding avec des grandes piscines et rampes. Pendant ces excursions, je visiterai les universités et les bibliothèques majeures aussi, dans Freiburg, Berlin, Amsterdam, et Paris, par example.

J’espère completer ma thèse pendant une année seulement, mais si j’ai besoin de plus de temps, je passerai deux années pour l’ecrire. Franchement, je suis un peu timide quand je pense à la thèse! J’espére que j’aurai du succés dans la maitrise.

Après ma premiere année dans la Belgique, je voudrais passer le temps à l’Allemagne ou aux Pays-Bas. J’ai la famille dans les deux pays, et j’espère que j’y travaillerai et étudier l’allemande, et faire de tourisme aussi!

Je voudrais travailler dans la ville de ma grande-mère, Iserlohn. J’y vais enseigner l’Anglais, peut-etre. J’espère que j’y trouverai des postes dans une école anglaise. Ma grande-mère racontrait toujours que mon grande-père et elle allaient faire des promenades dans la Foret Noir, et ainsi je voudrais bien y aller faire des promenades aussi.

Mes rêves pour l’avenir sont des rêves mondiales. Les rêves de voyager, et les rêves d’étudier. Parce que mes rêves sont tellement mondiales, je dois travailler tout le temps avant de partir, et economizer bien!

Merci a vous.