Marxist Geographers

I spend very little time learning actual geography these days. Almost none at all, in fact. The one exception is the cognitive map of Nottingham that I am always restructuring and revising in my head. But other than that, no geography. This is despite the fact the second word in the title of my degree is "Geography." I'm learning statistics and I'm learning about philosophy, and I'm sure as hell learning my share of Mandarin Chinese. But no geography. I guess I'll just make due with Descartes and find some use for him.

*Tangent*

Okay, since I've been lately going through the rogues gallery of every philosopher that had something to do with the way we think about space (Okay, so I lied. I get a little geography...but not enough!) and I've come to the conclusion that I would be way more into philosophy if, as a child, I was able to play with action figures of famous philosophers and scientists. For example Einstein (sold with Patent Office Playset) would come with a chalkboard and mold-able hair. Newton would get an apple and a catapult for demonstrating the principle of gravity and annoying the family cat. Descartes would of course come with his own signature scaled down fighter jet known as the Cartesian Plane. I would have been all over science and philosophy as a child with such learning aids!

*End Tangent*

The purveyor of the course sort of gave me a subtle glimpse into the cut-throat world of academia. He definitely doesn't like Marxist geographers and he is no fan of "Dick Peet." It sort of reminded me of my experiences with the Scilian mob. I could definitely see my professor trying to take out a hit on this Peet guy.

Setting: The Clark University Cartography Lab

Several professors are sitting in a dimly lit, smokey cartography lab.

Another professor enters and opens a tube containing a thematic map of fishery stocks in the North Sea which he/she unfurls across the table for the other academics to see.

Professor 1: What the hell is this?

Professor 2: It's a geographic message. It means Dick Peet sleeps with the fishies!

End scene

Okay, maybe academia isn't that harsh. But what a film it would make for if it was...

-Chinese-

This is how you write "accelerating economic growth" in Mandarin Chinese. (I wrote it myself.)

And these are lines from a Tom Petty song (Learning to Fly), also written in Mandarin that sum up how I feel in my Mandarin Chinese for Research class:

I didn't write the whole song, even though I would like to, because soon I have to study serious economic-related Mandarin instead of transcribing rock songs into foreign languages. I don't know how it happened, but I'm really struggling to keep up with this stuff. Come to find out that I am only the SECOND person to do a MSc in Human Geography and Chinese Studies at Nottingham. Ever. They're still working out the kinks. This means I have to work really hard to catch up to the people in my Research class.

I guess it also means that, for my program, I'm sort of like a founding father. Or rather a founding guinea pig.

Ultimately, I'm still having a good time learning. It's just slightly different that what I imagined it would be like. But then again, what isn't?

Lastly, I'd like to get some audience participation! Today in class we discussed how the french export a lot of philosophical thought that impacts the social sciences. What's YOUR favorite thing that the French export? Be creative!

Farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies...

Jonathan "I'm gonna need a bigger boat" Trenary