Still Saving Our Planet?
I would consider myself to have a fairly mild personality; however, there are a few things I’m pretty passionate about and well…recycling is one of these things. This most likely stems from growing up in the ridiculously crunchy granola eco friendly recycling obsessed Pac NW. Many Pacific Northwesterners have similar mentalities regarding recycling: you do it, you love it, not recycling isn’t an option, and if you throw something out that could be recycled and/or composted, you’re most likely going to hell. Here in Austin, there’s a similar mentality. Even my host family in Mexico was extremely pro-recycling.
So, the other day I was Facebook chatting with a friend, Ofir. I met Ofir this past summer when I was in Israel – he was one of the Israeli soldiers that joined our birthright trip. (And by the way, I know I haven’t blogged about my Israel trip yet…I’m still trying to sort out my thoughts; however, I will give away one spoiler alert – hands down, my favorite part of the entire trip was having the Israeli soldiers and students join our group. They provided an entirely different dynamic for the group and truly made an already incredible trip even more amazing. More on this later.).
While in Israel, I ended up having many conversations with our Israeli soldier and student friends about differences between life in the US and Israel, cultural differences, stereotypes we had of one another, etc. One day, we were walking down the street in Tel Aviv and I noticed this giant metal structure filled with plastic bottles. I realized I didn’t know much about recycling in Israel, so I asked Ofir about it.
He said that although the concept of recycling was catching on, it still was fairly new and not completely accepted/prioritized. Ofir asked me about recycling where I’m from so I gave him a brief overview. He then asked me about the water bottle I had (it was one of those Nalgene-style bottles) – I explained the concept of one reusable water bottles vs. continually recycling plastic bottles. After my overview and this water bottle conversation, I pretty much assumed he viewed me as some crazy tree hugging crunchy granola composting hippie earth child. (:
Anyway, back to my original topic of conversation – my Facebook chat with Ofir. So, during our chat, the following conversation happened. I know this might make me appear to be a super crunchy granola and well…yeah, I guess it’s totally true. Perhaps it’s silly to get so excited about something like recycling plastic bottles, but well…I don’t think so! When I read when he wrote, I was pretty much bouncing out of my seat with excitement!!! Here’s our conversation:
What with you? Still saving our planet? :))
haha what do you mean by that??
Just for you to know I bought a green bottle for water 
YAY!!! That makes me so happy!!! I love recycling (:
That you doing great job! Haha yes!
I love it!
Even more, I told all my soldiers not to throw their plastic bottle
(: !!!!!!!!!
And now we have this big place we save all the bottles and recycle
(:!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is so awesome!!! You’re saving the world now too!!!
People On Airplanes
There’s something about airports…more specifically, airplanes, that cause so many of us to lose any ability to function with rational thought and/or logical behavior.
I was recently on a flight – it was one of those small regional jets. One of those small regional jets with overhead compartments that can accommodate an item no larger than a medium sized purse, at best. On these flights, people with the roller carry-on suitcases generally gate check their bags, i.e. they avoid luggage fees by dragging their suitcase through the airport, waiting for airline staff to tell them the bag is too big, then having their bag complimentary checked at the gate. It’s a pretty not-so-sneaky way for passengers with the small bags to avoid fees.
Anyway, I’m in the line to board the plane. You know, the line that everyone rushes to get into and ends up standing in the same spot for about 20 minutes while those in front take an insane amount of time to get situated in the plane. The guy in front of me was middle aged, 5′ 9″, pushing 200 pounds, had longer than average/slightly greasy hair, thick hipster glasses that might or might not have been prescription, and a large sports coat. His carry on item looked something between one of those small roller bags that fit in the overhead compartment of a regular sized airplane (which ours was not), a briefcase, and an old-school video camera case. Basically, it was way to big to fit on the plane.
We approach the plane entrance, he takes three to four large steps, reaches down, grabs his suitcase and lunges it with all his might up and into the overhead compartment, somewhat like a shot put. He sees the bag will clearly not fit – especially as he is trying to jam it between 2 hard cased bags that are already up there. He throws his bag down on the ground and tries to forcefully shove the two side bags to their respective sides to make room. In my head I’m thinking: A. “Sir…I’m no math/science person…but I do understand the basic laws of umm…the world…and can almost guarantee you that pushing two solid objects into one another will not create more room.” and/or B. “You know you CAN have that bag gate checked for free, right?”
Alas, I keep this unsolicited advice to myself and watch him reach down once again and launch his bag into the overhead bin. At this point, he starts furiously punching the bag into the bin with all of his might. Greasy hair flying all over the place, hipster glasses bouncing all over his nose. He’s putting his whole body into it at this point. I can tell the man sitting in the seat below this commotion is highly uncomfortable, though I’m not sure if he’s more concerned for his safety, or more grossed out/in shock by the hipster man slamming his body into the seated man’s chair, with every punch thrown at the bag. After about 20 seconds of punching (which is a long long time for this type of situation), the bag is finally wedged in the overhead compartment, the hipster man rips off his jacket, takes his seat, and I proceed down the isle.
Thoughts On New Media
I was recently interviewed about my thoughts on new media…a topic of interest, one could say. Here are my musings:
“How does social media influence your international education job?”
As the New Media & Research Assoc. at API, social media plays an active role in my position. As many of us use social media as a main source of communication, research, etc., a significant portion of my time is dedicated to creating, managing and monitoring our online presences.
“How did you get into social media?”
In 1992, I created my first e-mail address, began blogging in 2001, created a Facebook profile in 2005 and signed up for Twitter in 2007. I studied advertising with a focus in new media, creative research and strategy. During this time, I spent a year researching social media infrastructures and developed a new social media model to support our converging online/offline communication behaviors. I’ve held various internships and jobs in the field and was one of the contributing authors to The Project 100 (a collaborative book on marketing in the era of social media). I suppose you classify me as a digital native, but the truth is, I’ve always been interested in the relationship between and convergence of humans and technology!
“What is one social media tool you cannot live without now?”
As there are so many social media tools with such different purposes, it really just depends on the end result I’m looking to achieve. With that said, one tool I’ve really found useful is Google Analytics. I’ve learned quite a bit about online behavior via analytics tools.
“What is one thing you wish you knew about social media that would have made getting involved with it easier?”
There are a handful of insights I’ve picked up over the years.
Authenticity: Be yourself, be genuine, be transparent, be interesting, be entertaining and if you do make a mistake, acknowledge it…we’re all human!
Collaborate/Connect: How can you collaborate with people in a meaningful way? How can you make it easier for people to communicate with one another?
Details: Don’t be hasty! Though the message may be brief, take time to think through what you are saying. Before publishing, take a breather. Read. Re-read. Then click send.
Measure: There is so much to learn by monitoring analytics. Quantitative results are important but don’t forget about qualitative results!
Research: Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo, YouTube, Digg, Skype, Blogspot, MySpace, WordPress, Flickr, Slideshare, Ning, Flickr, Delicious. Whew! Just because it’s available doesn’t mean it should be used! Make sure to research before diving in – watching, reading, listening, collecting, and conversing. What are people saying? What are people looking for?
Strategy: Of course it’s necessary to understand the functions of new media, but it’s just as important to understand people’s motives for using these platforms. New media will come and go, but human behaviors and patterns will always be around.
What do you think is social media’s biggest impact has been on international education?
The web was originally created to display static documents – more of a monologue model. However, the web has evolved into a dialog model, where social elements have been incorporated. Now, people are not just looking to “experts” for answers, but crowd sourcing their respective social networks for information.
It’s important to remember that social networks are not new. We’ve formed social circles for thousands of years. Social media merely adds an online element to our offline worlds.
With this said, I believe incorporating sociability into communication strategies has been the biggest impact social media has had on international education.
Why do you continue to use social media?
As long as the relationship between technology and people continues to evolve and my curiosity remains, I’ll continue to use social media. (:
Kim Karalekas is the New Media & Research Coordinator at Academic Programs International (API), specializing in online user experience, research, brand strategy, new media & web development. Away from work, she enjoys salsa dancing, playing the violin/piano, and geocaching. To connect with Kim: @API_KimK I http://www.linkedin.com/in/kimkaralekas Ikim.karalekas@apistudyabroad.com
No Presents On Christmas
About 438 years ago when we were kids, my mom would say: “Don’t get me any Christmas presents – I have everything I need!” I remember thinking: “Wow…I really wish I could say the same thing & actually mean it.” I thought it was so amazing that my mom was so content with what she had. I really really really wished I could be content with what I had. It’s not that I wasn’t content…it was more that the excitement of opening a bunch of presents on Christmas morning got the best of me…as hard as I tried, I couldn’t help wanting presents.
Fast forward to 2007. Study abroad. I was allowed 1 suitcase and that was it. How was I to fit 4 months of living into 1 suitcase? FML is what I was thinking.
But I somehow did it. And at the end of my 4 month study abroad, I realized I was completely content with 1 suitcase worth of stuff. And in fact, I was even more content than before because I didn’t have to spend time maintaining all of my stuff. I got to use this time to enjoy life. I lived in a room that wasn’t mine and had my suitcase with my stuff on the floor. It was perfect.
When I came back to the states, I made a decision: I never want to have more belongings than what I can fit in my car.
In 2009 I moved to Austin. I cheated and brought 2 suitcases worth of stuff, as this move was indefinite. Everything else was left behind and none of it was missed.
So now it’s 2011, Christmastime, and retailers are going crazy. Black Friday makes me sad as I am reminded of how gluttonous Christmas has become. I googled “What is Christmas?” and this is what I found:
“The annual Christian festival celebrating Christ’s birth, held on December 25″
So, Christmas is celebrating a birth. Of jesus christ. So, how does celebrating jesus translate to buying mass quantities of gifts for people who are not jesus? I’m not a Jehovah’s Witness, but I do wonder how excess and gluttony have become such a large part of this holiday season. I wouldn’t say I subscribe to a particular religion, but I will say I subscribe to common sense, educating myself, and holding myself to the morals and values I’ve established. And with this said, to me, our society’s current Christmas traditions/behaviors/expectations don’t correlate with the original reason for a Christmas celebration.
I’m not suggesting we stop giving gifts at Christmas. In fact, I’m suggesting we give gifts year-round. I give a gift when I see something that I know someone will like, whatever time of the year it might be. This is the point of a gift. The reason behind buying a gift should not be because December 25th is rolling around.
David & I did not give each other gifts this year. And I am so happy about that. I couldn’t have said this and meant it when I was a kid, but today, I really can say this and mean it. Of course I still enjoy receiving gifts – I’d be lying if I said I didn’t – but I enjoy receiving gifts when they arrive unexpected and with meaning. For now, I have what I need and that’s enough. And although I might not have a ton of stuff, I am completely content. Why? Because to me, stuff just doesn’t bring value and long-term happiness. The stuff that’s worth it to me? Memories, experiences, time with friends and family. 20 years later and I finally get it.