SIMUN

SIMUN was a fun experience, hard at times, but it was a really cool three days. I didn’t enjoy doing the research at all, but the actual participating in SIMUN was really interesting. It was neat to be a part of the professional procedures, and all the fancy wording wasn’t as hard to learn as I thought it would be. I got the hang of all the terms by the end of the first day!
I was a little scared to stand up and talk with everybody listening to me and watching me closely. But as SIMUN went on, I found it less and less scary. I noticed that when I participated, SIMUN got so much more fun. When all the countries fought everything got so much more interesting too. I found it easier to participate when there was a lot of controversy, because then I had a ton more to talk about.
I think I did pretty well overall. The first day of SIMUN, I wasn’t really clear on how everything worked. I was a little bit hesitant, and only talked towards the end. So I know that that day was definitely not my strongest. The second day however, I found a lot more to talk about. My country was Mexico, and that is when we discussed the issue of the drug war in Mexico. So I found it easier to talk about, being that I was an important figure in the situation. I also felt like that was the issue that I had researched the most, so I actually really understood the topic. The third day I talked, but probably not as much as I had on the second day. I didn’t really feel as comfortable with the topic, and didn’t talk as much being that I didn’t fully know how to react to the situation at hand. I did talk a few times though, because I had to support my allies.
To prepare for the SIMUN experience I studied the issues given, and my country in general. I also asked some friends who have been through SIMUN before, about what to do, and how everything works. It made me feel a lot better knowing that SIMUN wasn’t so bad after all, according to them anyway. I feel like I spent a ton of time researching the topics, but I think I could have understood them a little better. Next year I plan to look further into the topics, so I actually understand them, rather than just knowing some facts. I want to be able to participate right off the bat, and in order to feel comfortable doing that, I want to know right away who my countrys allies are, and what my countrys stand on everything is. I would also like to better know, who would be involved in many of the issues, and know who other countries allies are.
Overall I really enjoyed SIMUN and am actually pretty excited to do it again next year. (:

The Kite Runner

In my book, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, I have noticed several cultural differences. First off, everyone living in Kabul and the locations around it, are judged by their religious beliefs. Hassan and Ali are both servants for Baba and Amir, and they believe in very different religions. Because they believe in different things, they are treated very differently in society. The United States is just the opposite; people believe in all kinds of religions, and are all treated alike in society.

Another huge cultural difference that I have noticed when reading The Kite Runner, is weddings. When Amir gets married to Soraya in Afghanistan, their wedding is a lot different than the typical American wedding. Instead of asking the women to marry him himself which is usually the case in America, Amir requests that his father asks her father for Soraya's hand in marriage. Even throughout the rest of the wedding procedures, the rituals vary dramatically.

Another huge difference between the two cultures is the seasons. The kids in Afghanistan go to school during the summer, while kids in America get the summer off of school. Afghanistan children get the winter off of school, while American kids are in school. This difference in school seasons has an impact on the culture. During the Afghanistan winter break people gather together to have a kite flying and running competition. As far as I know, America has no such competitions during our summer, that are as large and important as the ones in Afghanistan.

The biggest cultural difference between America and Afghanistan is dominantly the government and the wars going on in The Kite Runner. The streets in Afghanistan are torn up, and Afghanistan is just a terribly destroyed country. Living in America, I can't say the same. America has its rough cities and towns, but nothing in America can even compare to the destruction in Afghanistan. The thing about all this too, is that the people living in Afghanistan are used to all the horrible violence, they live day by day, just simply trying to live. While people in America are fixed on their toys and games, and for most people life comes easily.

Simun Example

Mexico would support the United States in occupying Pakistan to secure nuclear materials. Mexico would try to send in as many troops possible to help out the United States. But not too many troops, qualifying we are in the middle of a drug war, and need all our troops to be helping our own country. But it would be a possibility as well that Mexico could "loan" back the American troops currently in Mexico, back to the United States to help them for a bit. Mexico would also try to support the United States by giving them money, after all, they have given Mexico so much money and support in the violent drug war. Mexico, being practically a third world country, is not able to hand out money as easily as the United States is though unfortunately, but Mexico would certainly try to contribute and help out our allies as best as possible.

Mexico needs and wants the United State's support in a lot of other things too, so Mexico would do the most that it could do to support them like they have supported us over the past several years. Mexico would also urge the United Nation's peace keepers to help out, as well as just the United Nations in general helping out by offering support and money to the United States. Because Mexico has no known nuclear weapons, it would not support Pakistan, nor understand their reasoning to have the weapons. Mexico is sick of the violence going on in their very own country, and would like to stop violence in others. Mexico is trying to stop violence in their country, and needs support to stop the violence, from other countries around the world. If Mexico helps out the United States, maybe they would be more willing to help back a little bit at least.