The world population living in urban areas

The world’s urban population is growing faster and faster. According to the UN, there will be 26 cities in the world with over 10 million inhabitants. Those big cities are called megacities, and today there are already about 20 of them. Tokyo, with 33.4 million habitants is the city with the biggest population in the world followed by New York that has 24.1 million habitants. Mexico City is the third biggest, and Seoul comes after that.
In the 1800s, it is estimated that only 2 percent of the world’s population lived in urban areas. In 1950, the urban population had grown to 30 % of the world’s habitants. In 2000, 47% lived in cities or urban areas, and scientists have estimated that the urban population will grow till 52% of all the people in the world, and in 2030 60%.
The different regions in the word have a singular development when it comes to population growth and urbanization. Asia did in 1995, 1180 of 3429 million habitants living in urban areas, and in 2015 it is estimated 1970 million people are the urban population. But then of course, the total population will also increase. In Africa and America, the growth will according to statistics made by BBC, have a quite similar expansion. But in Europe, the urban population will probably not enlarge that much. That might be because of the fact that most people already lives in urban areas in Europe.

Tokyo, megacity. Picture taken from here

English around the world

One of our curriculum goals this year is to learn about how English is used outside the Angelo-American heartland. We are also supposed to learn about how English is used as a communication method even though the people who communicate are not fluent or very good English speakers.
This Christmas I had the opportunity to study this very closely when I went to visit my family in South Korea. Honestly, I had not thought a lot about the language before I actually got there.

In South Korea it lives almost 49 million people, and of them knows little or no English at all. I experienced that every time I went to a store, or tried to talk to some of the native inhabitants. On the other hand, the little amount of people who knew a little English almost ran up to us on the street just to ask us what we thought about the weather or how we were. In other words, when they saw that we were foreign, they assumed that we spoke English, and they really wanted to try what they had learned in real life.

A lot of Korean stores, cafes and brands have their name in English, and some of them were actually quite funny to read. One of them said “Angel-in-us Coffee- the world best coffee”. Several places had signs or slogans like this. What I find interesting with it, is that even though grammar and spelling might be wrong, there are no doubt about what they want to say.

9/11

9/11 2001 I was eight years old. Now, nine years later I am 17 but the event of the day eight years ago still sticks to my mind. Today I remembered the day, because we saw one of the many movies made about the disaster. The movie we saw was originally a documentary made about the fire department in New York. The main goal of the movie was to follow Antonio (Tony) Benetatos on his journey from a rookie firefighter, or a probie as they call it in the film, to "becoming a man" or a real firefighter. They knew nothing about what the movie would end up being about. Even though this is a documentary, it also gives a fictional impression because this incident is so unreal itself. There are no doubt that this, for me, was the best visualization and information source about 9/11 I have ever seen.
The film shows how the whole world can be changed and turned upside down on only one day. The people’s common fear of terror and war was extremely reinforced. In the movie one of the firefighters talks about the 10th of September and says: “Then I realized how evil evil can be”. Tony, the probie, states that before 9/11, he wanted to become a fireman to save lives, but now, if his country sends him to kill, he will do it. That is a disquieting alert of how war spreads and how cruelty affects the victims.

Merry Christmas!

Today we watched the movie Narnia in class. We were supposed to watch a Christmas movie because of the time of year we are in, but the majority decided that we should watch this one. Somehow, I still would call Narnia a Christmas movie. A lot of details that has to do with Christmas is included in the film; snow, music and even Santa clause appears for a minute or two. I love this movie. Firstly it is because I have read the books, and loved those too. Second of all, because some of the themes are related to the society as we know it, which is something I find quite fascinating in movies and books. Another relation to Christmas found in the movie, is Aslan. The true meaning of Christmas derives from the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Somehow, I find a similarity between Aslan and Jesus. They are both hailed, both of them are killed in atonement and both resurrect from the dead after. So maybe Christmas is a more significant theme after all?

War is definitely also a big topic in this movie. This might be related to the author who wrote the books of Narnia, Clive Staples Lewis (mostly known as C.S. Lewis). He served in the World War II. He is also well-known for his friendship with John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (J. R. R. Tolkien), the author who wrote The Lord of The Rings.
I would like to wish my readers a merry Christmas and a happy new year!



- Tuva

Dear Santa

This Christmas I want you to bring the world together.

This Christmas my wish for you is cheap.
It is not something you can touch or eat,
but something you can feel and give away.

This Christmas I want you to give the homeless warmth,
the hopeless hope and the thankless gratefulness.
Please send ghosts to the greedy at and angels to the giving.
Give the Christmas a new main goal, or should I say “new-old”.
Make Christmas the way it once was
where family and friends joined together to cross,
the routines of the days before.

This chistmas can you show us that Christmas is in our hearts, not under a tree?
And that giving away our abundance, is a gift for ourselves indeed.
Show us that there is a whole other world outside our windows.
Let no one be alone this Christmas, let no one cry without homes.

Santa, this Christmas I want you to bring the world together.

The kite runner - last part

Now there are three days since I read the last page of Khaled Hosseini’s “The kite runner”. It has been stuck to my mind since. You know that feeling when you read the last page of a book you really enjoyed, when you delay the last sentences because you don’t want it to be over. And when you realize it is, it is somehow sad. The kite runner was that kind of book. The perfect balance between superstition and pure human feelings made me long for the same experiences and emotions. I think that has a quite odd irony considering the fact that it is the carefree and peaceful existence we live in, most people want. I can’t explain those feelings further than that, but I sense them as good feelings, which is why I would rate the book with 6 out of 6 possible if I were to.
What I liked most about the book is that it ends with hope. In some parts it could seem like it would turn out tragically. This would, in my opinion, ruin some of the book’s purpose. I like to think that the author meant to give this hope not only to Amir, the main character, but also to us readers, so that we can make our own ending, or beginning if you like.



The picture is taken from this site.

- Tuva

The kite runner – beginning

(This post is written 30.09.2010)
About two weeks ago, I started reading a book called “The Kite Runner”, by Khaled Hosseini. After one week I had read about 50 pages, and the fact that I was not captured, and thrown into the story’s troubled world caught my attention. After reading dozens of laudatory reviews, I was expecting a greater fascination than what occurred to be my reality. But still, there was something about it that grabbed my mind and stirred it around. I experienced putting the book away, and then later thate day, I actually thought of the way I acted compared to how Amir, the rich Afghan boy in the book, would have done it. It was more similarity between my acts and Amirs, than between Amir and his underprivileged servants son Hassan. That shocked me. Due to my small amount of spare time between homework and school, I did not get to read more until three days later. At that time I had actually started to feel a hunger to know the story, Amir’s story. So I sat down to continue. And as the pages turned, so did my first impression. Now I have started reading chapter fourteen and I am both caught and bound. It is something about the relationship between Amir, and Hassan that amazes and shocks me at the same time. How can something that appears to be that strong and deep, be perceived that differently? How can Amir not call Hassan his friend? Still, it is Hassan’s commitment and love that strikes me as the strangest. Why does he continue to idolize and value Amir that much, when Amir is not acting like the friend he is supposed to be? I hope to get some answers to my questions further in the book, and I am very excited to see how the story develops!


The picture is taken from this site.

- Tuva