The Taxi Man's Story

In “The Ugly Tourist” by Jamaica Kincaid, tourism is thought as a disgusting and an extremely harmful industry. In her perspective, it allows first world citizens to escape and marvel at the simplest and most ordinary things. Although there is some truth in what Jamaica Kincaid describes to the reader, I believe there is a prejudiced view towards the tourist themselves. Kincaid’s essay about the ugliness and affects of being a tourist contrasts everything I’ve experienced being a tourist in Italy and Greece.

The next six lines (or next sentence) heightens the living standards of the affluent tourists, which heightened the contrast between living styles between the ‘turistas’ and the speaker. First, the speaker does not even see the tourists from a completely clear distance--she has to “peek” through the cactus fence. Here, the speaker sees how the women rub oil onto themselves that is “sweeter than honey” and children being playful, sipping on drinks with “long straws, coconut white, mango yellow.” This alone shows the options that these tourists have that may seem privileged to the speaker, for it was her and her family, there would only be plastic straws to basic drinks. The careful attention to what the tourists have and what they do (compared to the lack of attention in regards to the speaker) furthers the notion of class divide and status.

Riding the subway to a New York City resident is nothing new. It’s something that many of us New Yorkers have to use as transportation because living in a crowded city with limited space to drive is not very ideal. For the people who do drive, they do so for personal comfort and convenience. But for us commuters, having to not look for parking and worry about traffic takes up less of our time. On the other hand we experience train delays and disturbances in personal space. Nonetheless, the pros outweigh the cons and using the subway has become a part of our daily routines for many of us New Yorkers. Marc Auge states that, “If he draws himself into the field of his ethnological inquiry, it is no less fitting for his readers to broaden the scope of appreciation of the work for riders.” With that in mind, I observed the connections with my experience riding the subway in a city integrated with many different peoples and cultures.

It is unfortunate that we will be unable to meet on April 8th. Will you be in the states on April 5th and if so could we possibly meet on April 5th instead of April 8th? If no, April 8th is fine by me, and I will take the NJ transit train from Newark to Princeton.Kind regards,

In the prose, “On The Subway,” the author, Sharon Olds, used imagery, tone, and repetition to emphasize the great differences that come between the two different colors within people. It is evident that the author uses imagery, to visually get a representation of literal separation. “We are stuck in opposite sides of the car” shows emphasis of the difference in social classes both people are. “The way I am living off his life” allows the reader to imagine, that the white madam is racistly trying to call the black man a slave, saying he works for her.

The author references decades of research on family dynamics and childbearing that conclude that families with two to three children tend to prosper, while those families with eight to ten find success much more difficult and usually live in the poorest

“William wanted to hear more of this man’s stories…whether they were true or not. Perhaps it didn’t matter if any one man’s stories were true. If Fekadu wasn’t describing his own pain and loneliness, then he might have been accidentally describing the pain of a real and lonely man”(65). This excerpt was pulled from Sherman Alexie’s “Flight Patterns”. Alexie, a Native American, is best known for his novels and short stories. “Flight Patterns” is one of Alexie’s more popular pieces. William, the main character, leads the restless life of an assiduous business man. Although he loves his family dearly, he is unable to spend sufficient quality time with them. On his way to the airport, he engages in a conversation with the taxi driver, Fekadu, whom divulges events from his previous years. In sharing his life story, Fekadu greatly influences William to change his way of living. Although William has trouble believing some aspects of the story, he knows that somewhere, someone was suffering the events described by the taxi driver. Although Fekadu’s story may not have been true, it caused William reassess his priorities.

Additionally, It is also assumed that tourists travel for pleasure, “that cannot be found within the life-space and how this makes traveling worthwhile” (Cohen, 93). This is connected to tourists because, it is assumed that tourists travel to get-away from the stressors of their own lives, perhaps have a mini-break away from work or from the chaos within their own lives. It is assumed that tourists with a family, wants to travel and enjoy bonding time with family to create new memorable memories that one may not be-able to create in their own town and/or city. Or, it is assumed that young travelers want a romantic get-away to get hitched, or

Once upon a time there was a wizard that disguised himself as a homeless man. After he disguised himself, he would beg from house to house, and lied to each house saying that he needed money or food. Inside every house he went to there was beautiful girls. He would capture every single one of the girls, and take them away somewhere that no one knew, even none of the girls ever returned. One day, he came to the door of the man who everyone knew had three gorgeous daughters. Before he went to knock on the door, he made sure he looked truly poor, weaker, and he also carried magical pack basket on his back as it looked like he wanted to collect some kindhearted offerings in it.

The fortunate children who manage to get an education use the advantage to help their family, some even helping those who weren’t lucky enough to afford education. Manju, the daughter of a woman who strives to be a slumlord, is the only college-going girl in Annawabi and between balancing her home life and school life, she teaches children in the comfort of her own hut. “For many of these children, Manju’s little school was no bridge. It was all the education they would get (Boo 66.)” Boo often mentions the rare, well-educated residents on Annawabi, although most only have an eighth grade education.

Families were more routine and nuclear. What ought to be socially agreeable has changed amazingly since those times. In this way circumstances which were unsuitable in people in general coliseum have transformed into a common strategy for the duration of today's life. As demonstrated by Talcott Parsons, the family was sorted out on the alteration of the adult relatives. He clears up women's parts as nurturers and parental figures in contemporary industrialized social requests, where men give money related support and choose (p. 337). In today's overall population, it is more typical to see couples living individually and having children before wedding. Women are in the blink of an eye stands out in picking how they have to do their lives and destinies. Today, women of the family don't need to rely on upon the men any more and they can finish the same status with them if not higher. Varying qualities in family depletes the options in family structure and limit, thusly the significance of family doesn't express the leisure activities of any one society, sex, religion or ethnic

The “Rental Car” talk about the story of an army pilot who had difficulties with the redesigned fighter plane’s instrument panel in the middle of the war. During World War II, United States Army Air Corps pilot Dan Bowman was stationed on an island in the Pacific Ocean. A surprise air attack by the Japanese caught Bowman farther away than usual from the P-47 Thunderbolt fighter planes he was assigned to fly. So, when the air raid siren went off he had to cover some 300 yards to get to the planes.

Pain is a universal experience. All around the world pain has many of the same reactions. In the documentary Taxi to the Dark Side pain is a major theme in the film. They use torture as a tactic to get information on people they believe could be terrorists. Another theme represented in the film is abuse of power. After the 9/11 terrorist attack, people in the United States were skeptical of all muslim people. Innocent or not, it was believed every muslim individual was a terrorist. This is where the thirst of power played a major role. Dilawar, a taxi driver represented in the documentary, was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The United States invaded Afghanistan occupying a soviet air base in Bagram, where Dilawar was brought under the

Singapore is an island that lies just off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. Its strategic location on major sea lanes has provided the country with an economic importance in Southeast Asia. Singapore is often considered as a base for global enterprises looking to expand into Asia and Asian enterprises looking for global connectivity. Located at the heart of Asia, Singapore is sitting at the centre of business opportunities. Having the four key attributes - Trust, Knowledge, Connected and Life, Singapore is being positioned as an ideal city to Work, Live and Play. Singapore was ranked first in Mercer’s Quality of Living Survey 2009.

The Republic of Singapore celebrated its 42 years of independence in year 2007. Situated at the southern tip of Malaysia, Singapore currently holds a population of 4.68 million as of June 2007. At 704.0km2, it is ranked 4th in the world for its population density. During the past four decades, the economy as measured by real Gross Domestic Product (GDP), multiplied by over 20 times (Ghesquiere, 2007, p.11). As a small and extremely open economy, Singapore long term survival is very much dependent on the ability to maintain its viable position and remain afloat in the sea of global competition (Mun Heng et al, 1998, p.14).