Final Thoughts - What is Culture?

Sunday, July 29th.

What is culture? As I have travelled this year, I have noticed that many, or indeed most, countries have a distinct identifiable culture. It is evident in many ways but what struck me as a visitor the most was dress, music, food, modes of transport, and customs. And that began to make me think about my home country. What is Canadian culture? I thought about it a lot and other than a few obvious things I can not explain it to anyone. There are some definite markers of Canadian identity, such as: hockey, maple syrup, Terry Fox, the maple leaf, back bacon, Tim Horton’s… but after that I ran out. Of course, there are other things that are more regional in areas like Quebec or the Maritimes, such as fiddle music, poutine, and pea soup. But nationally, I give up? We have had many famous Canadians make it big at home or in the USA, like Chris Hadfield, Gordon Lightfoot, Rush, Shania Twain, Paul Anka, Peter Jennings, William Shater, Michael J Fox, John Candy, James Cameron, Alex Trebek, Neil Young, David Suzuki, Dan Akryod, Margaret Atwood and Wayne Gretzky (and hundreds of other hockey players). But, it seems to me that most of them become famous after making in the US. We have made significant contributions to science and medicine, we have prided ourselves on our peace keeping roles in international politics, but who are we?

I really don’t know. I think that since Canada is such a young country and has been populated by waves of immigrants from all over the world, that has prevented us from developing a particular culture, or a common type of traditional dress, or music, or food. We are an amalgamation of other people’s cultures. We have absorbed and adapted to all of the cultures of the world. We have given the world a very large piece of land to populate with all of those cultures and to be a huge experiment to see if the cultures of the world can co-exist. 

I loved travelling and experiencing the cultural differences for myself. Someone once said to me: “Why do you need to go to Italy, you can see all the Italians you want in Toronto.” Although that is probably true, it wouldn’t allow me to see where they came from and what made them what they are. 

Anyway, I am rambling, but traveling does make you think. It also makes you very grateful for what you have. I knew it already, but as I travelled I came to realize with crystal clarity that I am a very fortunate person. I am fortunate to have been born in an affluent, modern country with all of the amenities. I am fortunate to have good health and come from good genes. I am fortunate to come from and be in a loving family. I am fortunate to live in a country that allows me to have a respected passport that is welcomed more or less everywhere in the world. I am fortunate to have had an excellent job that not only paid me well, but provided me with the opportunities that I have taken advantage of: the self-funded leave that allowed me to take two different years off and travel while still being paid; the opportunity to participate in a teacher exchange to Australia and still be paid by Canada and have all of my benefits in place; and to be able to participate in the Project Overseas Program where I spent three of my summer vacations working with teachers in third world countries trying to help them become better teachers. I am fortunate to live in a country with universal health care and other social benefits. I am very fortunate to be able to turn on the tap in my house, drink the water and flush the toilet. I am fortunate to have access to an incredible variety and abundance of food from all over the world, that has come from the multitudes of cultures I referred to earlier. The list goes on.

As I travelled and came across very remote regions or tribal peoples I noticed that invariably the influences of the western world had proceeded me. Everywhere I saw motorcycles, western style haircuts, gangster rap finger signs, baseball caps and team logos, metal roofs, and Disney characters. I often wished I could have been there earlier when the people still looked like they did a hundred or even fifty years ago. A person like David Attenborough has seen more of the real traditional cultures in his life than anyone will ever again. The western influences are changing the cultures of people all over the world. With the advent of TV and satellites, the internet and the ubiquitous mobile phone, those changes are happening at an ever more frantic pace. The world wants to be Western. The American dream is alive and well around the world. Young children the world over are the same, they have fun, play with anything and seem to be always smiling, unless of course they are crying. It is the teenagers who are disenfranchised. They are the ones that have seen what they are missing, and don’t want to stay on the farms, or return after schooling. They have seen the waves of ‘rich’ foreign tourists with all of their wealth on display: iPhones, cameras, computers, clothes, jewellery, etc. and they want a piece of that lifestyle. They are the ones who are creating the exodus from the countryside to the city. This migration is putting more pressure on the countries as they struggle to keep up with the infrastructure required to support a rapidly growing population. 

One of the really big issues the world is grappling with and arguably losing is plastic. It is everywhere. There are studies done now that indicate it is in our food chain. The ocean is full of plastic that gets ground down into bits that little fish eat, then bigger ones which concentrates it, up to where we eat them. Scary thought. The plastic is everywhere. Many countries have no garbage pickup let alone recycling programs, so much of it winds up in landfills or strewn around the country. In some countries, like India, you see cows and pigs eating all of the scraps from the plastic and some of the plastic too. I’m all for banishing it, but I can’t fathom how tourists (or locals for that matter) would survive the polluted and dangerous water without purchasing safe water in bottles. With the ever increasing number of tourists, this in itself is a huge plastic problem that the third world is not equipped to deal with.

All over the world I have seen the commonality of signs on billboards or posters that indicate that most of the governments are worried about the same social issues: smoking, drinking, drinking and driving, and phone use while driving. 

Traditional cultures are struggling to remain viable. Some cultures like the Maasai of Tanzania or the long-necked tribe of India, or the bushmen of the Kalahari, celebrate their culture by becoming tourist attractions. Other people, like in Bhutan, are encouraged by their government to wear their traditional clothing while in government offices or when working with tourists. 

This intermingling of various cultures has been going on forever, but it became even clearer to me when I visited Mongolia. I mean who knew that the Turks came out of the Mongol region of Asia and after the Mongolian Empire they moved to what is now Turkey and created their own empire, the Ottoman Empire. The fact that the Mongols conquered and ruled most of Asia and obviously interbred with them, has blurred the features of the different nationalities and created a more blended look to the people.

Then there is the Chinese invasion. Whereas the Americans have acted as the police of the world and tried to deal with unruly countries with force, the Chinese are much more insidious. They offer countries money for things they need. But it seems clear to me that they build new roads in countries partially to help the country with better roads for transport, but more to help themselves to the resources of the country so they can get the materials to the ports. I saw signs of Chinese investment and construction all over Africa and other parts of the world. They are slowly buying up, or trading for the mineral resources and agricultural areas to feed their ever-growing industrial machinery and population. I think that some countries when faced by the heavy-handed method of the Americans, or the Russians for that matter, and the seemingly helpful hand of the Chinese, opt for the latter.

However, this often comes at another cost. A magazine on one of my flights complained about the proliferation of cheap generic toys from China into Myanmar which has come at a cost for makers of traditional toys, who hand-make their goods using wood, bamboo, metal, paper and clay, and who now struggle to compete with super cheap Chinese imports. This is another example of how traditional peoples are being overwhelmed by the modern world and we are all becoming homogenized.

So, twice around the world? Which one was better? Well that is hard, but I have a few thoughts. On the first trip I checked most of the major things I wanted to do: Galapagos, Machu Picchu, Easter Island, Iguacu Falls, Victoria Falls, safaris (where I met John), sitting with mountain gorillas, the Pyramids, Petra, Taj Mahal, the Terra Coat Soldiers, the Great Wall… So maybe the second trip would be mostly second-rate things? Well not exactly. I had lots of other wow moments, some that I planned for, some less well known and others that were surprises: the Baobab Alley, all the types of lemurs, seeing African wild dogs, seeing rhinos on foot, the rock churches of Lalibela, the Timket and Naadam festivals, sitting with gelada monkeys, the Golden Temple of Amritsar, the fortress of Jaisalmer, travelling with John again, the Tiger Monastery, the Paro Dzong, visiting the Komodo dragons, seeing a wild orangutan…

The first trip was maybe more of a lark, as I was carefree. I had my regular life to return to, my house (which Danny took care of) and my job. The second trip I had more on my mind, as in where does my future lie? I know I have to sell my house, as I don’t need a house that big for just me, I can’t afford it on my pension once I retire, and I need the equity to pay off the money I have spent on this trip. In addition, I was hoping to retire from this trip, but along with the money problems from the previous sentence, the tax department wants people to work one more year after the leave or they reserve the right to re-assess your taxes over the last five years. If I do sell it, where do I want to live? Where will I go? So in order to stay in the house until I can sell it, it makes more sense to work full time for another year. That had had me thinking too, because my principal has moved on along with my four best friends on staff (and all the male teachers). Then the new principal assigned me a different position than I expected, so that will be an adjustment and learning curve. So, given all of that, I have been doing lots of reflecting. Lots to think about, which was the underlying subplot of my year of travel.

Given all of that I had a wonderful time both years. Thankfully nothing untoward happened to me in any way. I travelled with exceptional people, especially the guides, all of whom were stellar people who I learned lots from. I met hundreds of wonderful people that I travelled with. Even the ones that rubbed me the wrong way were interesting in their own right. I travelled with hundreds of what I call ‘intrepid’ people. People who have travelled extensively. People who have made travel their passion, quitting jobs to pursue it, taking leaves, taking jobs abroad, taking time from their own businesses, volunteering their time to work with local agencies or animal shelters or going to school out of country. The vast majority of people I have met on these GAdventure and Intrepid Tours have that innate wanderlust. Incredibly interesting people who are living life to the fullest. They challenge themselves to get off the regular beaten path and to explore more remote, less travelled destinations in a fashion that allows them to have more contact with local people. The tours often gave us the opportunity to stay with local people and learn that much more from the close at hand experience. We also visited several start-up businesses run by local people to help local people in need. I have met dozens of people who have been to Antarctica (one lady three times!). I have met people who have travelled to places that I’ve never heard of, which gives me ideas of other places perhaps. The one downside to all of this relates to what someone once told: “The problem with telling someone a good story is that it reminds them of a boring one.” You can imagine the conversations we had in our groups. It becomes a game of one up man ship, or ‘You think that’s good, listen to this…’ We all know people who only listen for the break in the conversation, so they can get their story in, or the ones who don’t even wait for the break. The classic case of this was when John had his mobile phone stolen at the Timket Festival in Ethiopia. While he and the guide went to the police to report it, the rest of us stayed in the van. You should have heard the stream of horror stories that came out relating to thefts from all of the other people, one after another. It is totally understandable as all of these world travellers have a wealth of experiences and stories in their repertoire and want to share them. However, it does sometimes get a bit much and withdrawing to a quieter spot is sometimes the best solution.

Coming back to Canada a couple of weeks early and ending the year in Quebec City with Lucy was a great way to ease back into Canada and normal life. I really enjoyed the World Underwater Hockey Championships. It is probably the closest I will ever get to a world class sporting event. I brought my bicycle with me and during down time I went riding on the great bicycle paths of Quebec and I made use of the swimming pool too, to try and get back into some sort of shape, yes, I know round is a shape. And after seeing so many great places in the world, it was a great reminder that Canada is an amazing place in its own right. Quebec City is beautiful, vibrant and clean.

Do I have other places I’d like to travel to? Yes, of course. Iran, the ‘Stans’, Antarctica, more of the United Kingdom and more of my home country including Eastern Canada or the far north, quickly jump to mind.

Would I do this length of travel again? In a heartbeat. I love it as the trip just evolves from one place to another and you grow into it. However, it is extremely unlikely I’ll get another chance, but I would like to do a month or two at a time in the not too distant future. I think if it wasn’t for the electronics, cameras, batteries and assorted cables and adaptors I could do it with just a good-sized carry on. However, how would I photograph it all and blog? 

So, on that note, I’ll end the posts for this year long trip. I want to thank those of you who read it, or parts of it. A big shout out to my wonderful travel agent and good friend Denise. I knew where I wanted to go and she made it happen. If I had problems like when the wrong company picked me up for the right tour, she helped me figure that out. When I had a couple of breaks between tours and wanted to go to see the dragons, she figured out how to get me there and back again. Parts of the trip would have been much more difficult without her as my back up. So, thank you Denise, and for all of the comments you posted.

That’s it for now. The blog will continue hopefully in the future. Cheers.