Syncretism

I got exceptionally frustrated this morning when a certain professor I greatly respect informed us of how heavily the modern language/linguistic/anthropology departments are being targeted by budget cuts. Apparently they are "nonessential" fields.

Um... excuse me? Is money completely blinding the fact that the world is rapidly shrinking? That understanding of foreign languages, cultures and PEOPLE is now absolutely crucial to do anything in any other field?

Here's some random proof of the rapid-fire cultural collisions going on.

>sarcasm<
Remember that year I spent in France? You might've heard me mention it here and there.
>/sarcasm<

The regular occurrence of making and sharing Italian food with Moroccan guys while discussing Islam in French.

Watching an American movie with Greek subtitles, talking about it in French.

While cooking at a hostel in Barcelona, managing to explain to several German and Spanish guys that you can tell if spaghetti is done by tossing it onto the side of the fridge and seeing if it sticks. I don't speak a word of German or Spanish.

Buying things at a Vietnamese grocery store to make Korean barbecue the day after Thanksgiving in Wichita.

A Somali refugee recently escaped to India, where for some reason she contacted a U.S. senator for help with getting temporary residency in the states.

Meeting a 25-year-old former "Compassion child" at a conference who had grown up in Uganda, been supported by an Australian family, and later came to the states to get her degree in social work. She speaks Achouli, Luganda, a good bit of Swahili, and English. And she laughed and hugged me when I said, "O kwagala kwe kusingayuna!"

A British film set in India, the soundtrack of which features a Sri Lankan pop star who randomly sings in Spanish.

Or check out Andrew's life right now: "sometimes, I would just order my food in Russian and they would understand me. (and then they don’t think I’m an ignorant American tourist, just an ignorant Russian one. Or a weird American trying to speak Russian in Prague)"

Two Seconds Away cover of Apologize, and the microwave went off, beeping in perfect tune and time with the song. It was a very "August Rush" moment. (But really more of a wow-the-whole-world-seems-to-be-somehow-in-sync moment.)

Things from other countries are exotic and desired. When we find out about something that interests us, we long to be a drawn into it, to make it part of our lives.

"When people first encounter beauty, they tend to linger... even if they don't at first recognize it for what it is."

With all of the ways that the world is getting smaller, all the ways we're now able to understand each other, mix our lifestyles and traditions together and call it "multiculturalism", there's so much beauty. Sometimes I wonder if we're just rebuilding the Tower of Babel, and it will all come crashing down in chaos.

For now, I really really like it.