What is new?

Well, it’s almost CHRISTMAS. I must say, this year I’ve been waay more into the holiday spirit than past years, and started feeling festive weeks earlier. I think it began when I decided to buy and put the Christmas tree up the first week of November. Hmm…a bit premature?

Also, a friend of mine let me know about a sweet internet radio website called 8tracks.com. It’s neat! You can just go on, derp about until you find a playlist you like, and listen in. The playlists have really come in handy for paper time and studying for exams….especially the multitude of Christmas playlists. Click for the one I’m listening to right now.

Oh, and I can’t forget to mention Justin Bieber’s Christmas album, Under the Mistletoe. I’ve also been listening to this since the beginning of November, when it was released. Just saw on Much Music today that he’s having a Home for the Holidays concert – completely acoustic- at an undisclosed location in Canada this December 22nd. You can go online and enter to win tickets and a bunch of other lovely stuff (airfare, 500$ for shopping!) here.

ALSO

My mom and sister (and two friends) ventured down to Haiti again this year…just got back last week. They spent three weeks at God’s Littlest Angels and Real Hope for Haiti. I’m excited to see the pictures when I go home for the holidays, but heres’ one. I guess this baby’s adoption was finalized that week, and she was leaving for New Brunswick !

One exam left….lucky me had six courses this semester and only two exams. It’s always a blessing when they are spread apart too, so you have lots of time to study. This one is also open book. Even though I’ll be done for the semester, I still had school work to do over break. Going to get a head start on the scads of brutal chapter summaries I have for Criminology next semester, and also my thesis proposal :)

On May 2nd, 2011, Canada is going to have it’s fourth election in seven years. According to polls, Stephen Harper is in the lead for votes, and not much has changed in terms of big moves for any of the parties. There is currently a ‘vote mob’ rising in Canada, with young people pressuring others to take a political stand and get involved in the vote. Elections Canada reported that only 37% of eligible youth voters participated in the last election.

It’s really important that young adults vote. The apathy we have as a generation towards voting is really quite concerning if you think that in years to come there will be no older adults to vote for us to make the important decisions about who runs this democratic country. Will we vote them? Or continue to not care? We sure find lots to complain about in terms of unfairness in our country and how it is run, but we lose the right to complain when we don’t try to do something about it by voting. It’s so important to make yourself aware of the politics now and start to engage in the responsibility of voting. We claim to be Canadians, and to hold ownership of this country with our status, but if its our Canada, we have the right to have a say in how its run! In some countries the people value their right to vote so much more, while we often just take it for granted.

A lot of young people I’ve talked to give the excuse that they don’t really know anything about politics, and it isn’t interesting to them. Fair enough, but that doesn’t really mean they shouldn’t be responsible for informing themselves and having a say. A quick way to see where you stand on some important topics is by completing the CBC Vote Compass survey. It’s also super easy to check out the party websites and read their platforms online. Considering the amount of time we young people typically spend on the computers, it shouldn’t be a stretch. Voting doesn’t mean you have to have a glaring, big sign on your front yard and go around harassing people about voting a certain way.

The parties are becoming more aware of the need to entice the youth vote. It could really change the game, if a potential rise of young people began to participate in politics. Leaders are trying to get the attention of youths by having Facebook and Twitter accounts, trying to address their needs (Iggy and his promise of support for post-secondary students), and by encouraging more online voter tools and online voting. I really believe however, that politics should be taught more in high schools. At the time of the last election I wasn’t old enough to vote but some of my peers were. Our history teacher took a few classes to give us a crash course on Canadian politics because he believed it was very important to educate us and hopefully encourage us to vote. If more youths were engaged through education, they may feel like their vote counts and they really can have a say and make a change. Our politics may not be as sensationalized as they are in the US, but we should still get excited about them because they are ours!

I don’t watch Degrassi religiously, but sometimes I check it out just for the soundtrack. They usually have some pretty decent tunes :)

Here in Canada we take for granted how priveledged we are to turn on the tap and have a cold glass of water to drink. City water may taste gross to some, but hey, at least it’s clean! I got annoyed a few weeks ago when the water was turned off for half the day here in Moncton and then a boil order was issued… because I didn’t get to have my hot shower until the evening. How selfish! Compare that situation to the current and constant reality of many places in Africa and wow… I’m so blessed to have more than enough fresh water to drink (even if I have to buy it once in a while) whenever I want.