Tibet, Tibet

Tibet, Tibet made me feel really emotional and actually a little disappointed in myself.  Even as someone who is constantly reading and formally/informally educating myself, I somehow have missed out on huge current events throughout the world.  I am extremely excited to read Tibet, Tibet while doing my initial research and literature review for my thesis.  It makes the issues more pressing and real, and overall I feel more intrigued and passionate.  

The disappointment I mentioned I feel about myself is in relation to the fact that I had no idea how serious things were in Tibet and China, and mostly how so little has been done to remedy the situation.  Before studying for my thesis and for this class, my understanding of what has occurred, what will occur, and what is occurring now in Tibet, China, India, etc. is limited to my viewing of Seven Years in Tibet a few years ago and small news bits on the internet.  Reading Tibet, Tibet and scholarly journals made me realize the seriousness of the issues over there, and above all the recent nature of the issues: they're current.

Yesterday I was eating curry (who cares) with my friends and decided to ask them a few questions about India and about the few facts I know about what has happened to Tibet.  They didn't know the following facts (I didn't either prior to my studies on the matter):

1. Tibet is not actually Tibet anymore, and it has been completely taken over by the China.
2. The 17-Point-Agreement was made and broken.  They didn't know it existed in the first place actually.
3. The Dalai Llama is not Indian or from India.
4. It is forbidden to worship the Dalai Lama in what used to be "Tibet."
5. Brad Pitt is no longer allowed in China (this I threw in to keep their interest on the topic ;)).
6. There are several Tibetan communities in India where Tibetans seek refuge.

My friends are both formally educated, and I would say they read a lot like I do.  They had no idea that these things were and are true, and were actually appalled to hear some of the issues I relayed to them.

Overall, I feel blessed and excited to continue on studying what I've chosen to study.  I have a newfound desire to stay current on world issues and in general I have a greater understanding of what it means to be concerned for a minority.  It's funny that at my job all day I'm trying to teach people without disabilities to have compassion and understanding for the minority group I've chosen to advocate for, but that I've neglected to keep myself super informed and proactive in world issues.  It's time for me to generalize my knowledge.