Richardisation

(This might considered a ridiculous post by many of you.)

Globalisation is the term scholars and street junkies use to describe the intermingling of cultures that serves to almost homogenise the ways of life in the world, if not to at least result in the influence of some cultures on many others. Because of America's influence in the world, many think that globalisation is really just Americanisation. And with its often negative implications, it it sometimes referred to as McDonaldisation. Well, it seems that I've been an influence in the world as well, and whether it be intentionally or unintentionally, I will leave up to the rabbits to decide (Why? because they have rabbit feet, and supposedly they have some magical power). Anyways, this entry is about Richardisation, and I use the "s" for a literary purpose and because a certain country I am very fond of uses it insted of "z/zed" for many things.

My village, Sarangkot, just finished up "Sarangkot Idol" (Indian Idol is very popular over here especially since a Nepalese dude just won it). They had me, as the guest of honor, sing a song at the end. I chose "Hold my Hand" by Hootie and the Blowfish since already kind of popular among stories told about me in trips abroad, but there was no 40 yr old kiwi lady serenaded to this time. More importantly, a girl named Laxmi won a bunch of CocaCola flavoured candies and gave me one. As a side note, they performed this at 8am on a Saturday morning. That does not fit very well with my American expectations of when a singing contest should be performed. But, they children have to spend the rest of the day cutting grass for their family's buffalo to eat and to get, yes get, their weekly shower, which I've adopted as a routine as well. The first 3-4 days of going without a shower get kind of annoying, but after that, you feel like you could go for weeks comfortably without a shower. Thus showering has become somewhat bittersweet for me. There's more on my hygeine that I could get into, but I'll spare you.

There is also, of course, the random, "What the heck is Richard doing?", and I guess that is how this village man ended up wearing my sunglasses in that pic. Nice guy though. I like his family, too. They have a daughter named Radika and a son Barat. It's too bad though the pic with my sideways hat on him did not turn out.

Yesterday, I performed the Haka about 8 times in the past 24 hrs and still kind of lightheaded from it. Locations ranged from classrooms to village roads and forests. The kids and open-minded adults love it. I've been teaching my classes with a "Camp Ozark Morning Show" kind of structure, which includes themes like pull-ups, sit-ups, and jumping jacks (using only 2 fingers, of course); International Food; Country of the Day; Famous People; and bien sur, Sports and Inspiration. Every title is yelled by me in some sort of funky, or what Superdaved would think to be harmonic, rhythm, and they must repeat (dohoryaunus). They also ask for a song, and the best one I can recite by heart is Fresh Prince of Bellaire by Will Smith. It does not occur here without some sort of ghetto-ing of the outfit of course. I must use earphones to perform Yellow by Coldplay, which I'll perform for you upon request if you really want. It's as good as the Chowmein in China. Around the World is another sort of favorite among the schoolchildren, and the last time it was performed, I used a boy's forearm as a microphone. He nearly lost all circulation by the end of it all. I really got into it.

When I call role, I like to have the students at my fingertips. Instead of replying with "Here," "Present," or "Gifted" (as Travis Handerson loved to do in 6th grade Choir and I think once or twice in 6th grade English). No, instead they gladly recite whatever I put on the board, which has included "Go the All Blacks," "Go 'stros," and "Go Caddo." If you have any requests, send them to me, and I will try to serve them before my time is up here. I sometimes get video footage of it, too.

That's honestly all I can think of right now in terms of Richardisation. There's probably more, but they just don't come to mind right now or completely evade my awareness. I cannot complete this post without also mentioning that I am not without my own influences, thus influencing others at the mercy of Richardisation, but it starts to hurt if you think about the matter too much. That dude who wrote Blue Like Jazz and Searching for God Knows What, Donald Miller, who I would like to later write an entry about after all this Nepal stuff is said and done. Well, it may never be all said, but, you know the phrase. I am reading The Three Musketeers right now, and I certainly cannot say that is not influencing me right now. Alexander Dumas certainly has captivated me on this one. The Count of Monte Cristo was kind of cool, but at the time I read it, I just wanted to settle for the cliffnotes. But this, The Three Musketeers, is really good. I'll confess to this world wide web that I even write down some of the phrases Alex has some of the musketeers say, and don't be surprised if I pull one out on you when I get back. Furthermore, I've always thought of myself as a Renaissance/Bohemian guy (I know Bohemiam can have some very negative connotation with it, so you may want further explanation from me at another time and place). So I thought it was this Renaissance side that was pulling me towards this novel, but even though the setting of the story is in the Renaissance period, it was written during the period of Romanticism. I really did not think that the Romantic side of it was getting me, but then yesterday, one of the schoolboys called me a Romantic. I did not ask for further explanation, so it is left as an ambiguous comment, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to say that I am influenced by Bohemia, Renaissance Land, and a little bit by Romanticville. This is getting out of hand. Nepal is influencing me, too, and vice-versa, so we'll call it even on that matter.

*I really wish I could put up more photos for you guys, but it honestly takes about 30 minutes for me to load one photo on these computers. Maybe I'll just go nuts when I get back. It's holiday time now, so school is out of session, and I am going on a 7 day trek into the mountains with my host dad and another volunteer. Hopefully, I be able to show you as least 3 pics from it. Cheers!