Among things that can be done to pass time is to survey the news reports from around the world. I justify this by claiming to be improving my “product knowledge.”
So I start the morning by examining the Russian press, checking in on the latest accusations flying between Tbilisi and Moscow and the hysteria over NATO. Apparently drug use is up, yet government “specialists” insist AIDS is not a major issue. This never takes me too long- the news is nearly always the same. From there I entertain myself examining the press in…well pretty much any place where I can decipher the language. If it is a REALLY slow day, I sometimes have to go even further, aided by online dictionaries. There have even been a few Friday afternoons I have found myself attempting to make sense of Hungarian dailies, surely the supreme manifestation of boredom. By mid morning, I have read through the BBC, le Monde, la liberation, the Economist (my Friday morning entertainment), and whatever debate might be raging on the New York review of books website. Lunch time I devote to el Pais, ABC and Pagina/12. In the afternoon, I got through random stuff: Grandma internacional always gets the whole office going, and I have a Pakistani colleague who excels at reading out the Times of India, complete with the accent and commentary. Then sometimes I get emails or calls from people claiming there is a big story happening in their country, or being covered by their newspaper. I was stunned this week to get one such alert from Ottawa. Yes, that’s right in CANADA. I spent 2.5 years living in Quebec back in the 1990s, and I remember the local newspapers dedicating weeks of front page coverage to the debate that was raging….over the colour of margarine. This particular issue probably sticks in my mind so clearly as it was one of the few times the press seemed to wander off its normal favourite topic- linguistic grievances. However, having been informed by my old roommate that the Canadian government was on the brink of collapse (WHAT?!) I trotted downstairs to the news kiosk, and sat down at my cubicle to inspect the Globe and Mail. And sure enough, there is Harper (the prime minister) seeking desperate measures to keep his 7 week old government afloat. Furthermore, the comments (both in their content and quantity) suggest that Canadians are actually getting interested in the events, something which some of my Canadian friends have confirmed. Is my office just so dull that I am seeking solace in Canadian scandals? It is, but at the same time, this is incredible stuff!
http://www.theglobeandmail.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire