Sorry people, I had thought of starting to blog very regularly once am here in Helsinki, but lazyness just got better of me... Anyways lemme start now... So here's this course called "European Integration Issues" that I have taken up which deals integration challenges that EU is facing.
N in today's class, i heard one of the most interesting discussions I have ever attended! It was how is army looked at in ur country... We, Indians very proudly proclaimed how much respect the armed forces receive in our country, n related this with the fact that our country has to be indulged in wars more often ( the last one in 1999), making us respect ppl who protect us... But what followed was beyond I could have ever expected... The German guy said Germans hate their army because of historical reasons (remember Hitler???). The French said, they r pretty indifferent. N guess what the Finnish people had to say..... "I think they are a waste of money"; "We can't pay them for doing nothing". Adding to the comic scene were the Mexicans who told about the system int their country about the mandatory army service. Apparently when ppl become 18 yrs old, they have to goto an office and pick up from a box one ball... One particular color implies that the person shall have to serve in the army, while the other means you dont hav to (!!!).. Yeah, its that arbit. N also even if u r unlucky to pick up the wrong ball, u can bribe your way out of it ;)
It's interesting to see people's reactions to topics like these! I remember sometime back, the topic of the debate was "what are you paid by the govt if you get fired" (!!!) I could barely believe my ears when i heard the topic! Everyone narrated how their respective govts support the person and his family of someone gets unemployed. N believe me what their govts were paying them was higher than what most of the people get when they are employed! When my turn came, I said why should and would govt. pay for the fact that my employer finds me useless??? But then I saw all the Europeans looking at me with disbelief cos i told them tht in India, its just 3 month basic salary n tht too is the upper lmt! Talk about disparity! N yep forgot to mention... on an avg, a EU cow receives $913 annually in subsidies! Need I say more???
:)
N in today's class, i heard one of the most interesting discussions I have ever attended! It was how is army looked at in ur country... We, Indians very proudly proclaimed how much respect the armed forces receive in our country, n related this with the fact that our country has to be indulged in wars more often ( the last one in 1999), making us respect ppl who protect us... But what followed was beyond I could have ever expected... The German guy said Germans hate their army because of historical reasons (remember Hitler???). The French said, they r pretty indifferent. N guess what the Finnish people had to say..... "I think they are a waste of money"; "We can't pay them for doing nothing". Adding to the comic scene were the Mexicans who told about the system int their country about the mandatory army service. Apparently when ppl become 18 yrs old, they have to goto an office and pick up from a box one ball... One particular color implies that the person shall have to serve in the army, while the other means you dont hav to (!!!).. Yeah, its that arbit. N also even if u r unlucky to pick up the wrong ball, u can bribe your way out of it ;)
It's interesting to see people's reactions to topics like these! I remember sometime back, the topic of the debate was "what are you paid by the govt if you get fired" (!!!) I could barely believe my ears when i heard the topic! Everyone narrated how their respective govts support the person and his family of someone gets unemployed. N believe me what their govts were paying them was higher than what most of the people get when they are employed! When my turn came, I said why should and would govt. pay for the fact that my employer finds me useless??? But then I saw all the Europeans looking at me with disbelief cos i told them tht in India, its just 3 month basic salary n tht too is the upper lmt! Talk about disparity! N yep forgot to mention... on an avg, a EU cow receives $913 annually in subsidies! Need I say more???
:)
