It has been beautiful to see how the Olympics have brought unity to Canada.

The nation became electrified by the excitement of the Games, believing that

Canada is the space where we can realise our dreams.

I was impacted by the poem “We are More,” by Shane Koyczan during the opening ceremonies. Shane so beautifully opened up a true definition of Canada, and as a 21-year-old sitting in this land, I resonate with the vision that Canada is more.

There was a lot of talk about owning the podium during the Vancouver Olympics. The obsession for Canadian athletes to win the most medals cost the federal government almost $120 million dollars.

I don’t understand the big frenzy around this need to be No. 1 through the merit of medals. Canada did end up with the top gold medal count, but even if we hadn’t, we proved ourselves to be one of the greatest nations, not through medals won but through our hospitality and graciousness.

I’m not a big sports fan, and I was a casual observer of the Olympics games, but I’m sure there were a few moments that touched every Canadian.

Joannie Rochette went on the ice and performed an emotional skating program felt round the world just days after the death of her mother. Her poise and determination can’t be quantified in gold, silver or bronze — although she did win third place.

There was a lot of talk about owning the podium during the Vancouver Games. The obsession for Canadian athletes to win the most medals cost the federal government almost $120 million dollars.

I don’t understand the big frenzy around this need to be No. 1 through the merit of medals. Canada did end up with the top gold medal count, but even if we hadn’t, we proved ourselves to be one of the greatest nations, not through medals won but through our hospitality and graciousness.

I’m not a big sports fan, and I was a casual observer during the Olympics, but I’m sure there were a few moments that touched every Canadian.

Joannie Rochette went on the ice and performed an emotional skating program felt round the world just days after the death of her mother. Her poise and determination can’t be quantified in gold, silver or bronze — although she did win third place.

You may have that one Muslim friend who, for the past month, postponed a coffee date, turned down that bubble gum and avoided the cafeteria. Yes, these are the symptoms of the holy season of Ramadan, during which more than one billion Muslims unite around the world to devote one month to fasting from sunrise to sunset, including your fellow classmates.

The act of fasting is so visible to the majority of people that they often mistake it as the main purpose behind Ramadan. The truth is there is so much more meaning to Ramadan than just the physical act of fasting, especially for those of us Muslims living in Western society.

For example, with all the money one would save from cutting back on groceries, going to restaurants, and not buying that daily coffee, a portion of this money has to go to some form of charity. All young and old do this, and this instills a great value of giving back to the community. This immediately humbles all Muslims. It’s a constant reminder of how lucky we are to have all the food in our fridge, readily available to satisfy our midnight hunger. It is important to remain humble especially for those of us who live in a materialistic culture supported by the capitalist economy.

“Being an immigrant is hard,” said a family friend to me a few days ago. She has just moved to Europe for her retirement and is quickly realizing, as I am, that we are not in Kansas anymore. Everything is just different enough to realize that this isn’t quite home — yet — as much as we want it to be.

I arrived in Grenoble nearly two weeks ago and my spacious bachelor pad is just beginning to feel like it’s mine. Having gone from living with three roommates to now living on my own, the evidence is stark that living in France is basically like turning my Ottawa lifestyle upside-down.

While my friends back home are anxiously starting up their final years of university, thinking about careers or graduate school, and are probably all meeting up with one another again after spending the summer scattered across Canada, I am sitting here in a foreign country — and that is pretty much all I’m doing.

This recipe has been brought to you by two Carleton alumni still in school and still trying to cook on a shoestring budget. Carson is halfway through his master's degree in computer science, and Rebecca has just completed a law clerk program at Algonquin to compliment her bachelor of arts from Carleton. Aside from recipe blogging for the Charlatan, they run a seldom-updated cooking blog, known as A Little Kitchen (www.alittlekitchen.com), which documents their culinary enterprises in their tiny apartment kitchen.

It’s commonly agreed that to attain worldwide peace, we need equality for all. It’s also commonly agreed that it is impossible to carry out the interests of the people without political representation. However, these two notions, once intertwined, create a problem: governments, while acting on behalf of their people, fail to care about people beyond their boundaries.

In an attempt to mend this problem, states have attempted to create international law. This can be exemplified by the United Nations. While I strongly respect the commitments of the UN, I do not believe that it is successfully keeping the peace in this world.

 
The iconic rock group attracted 32,000 fans to Bluesfest on July 15.
 
The concert was exciting, to be sure; it was a sign of Bluesfest's ever-growing musical diversity and, let's face it, it was pretty freaking awesome for little Ottawa to play host to such a huge name.
 
Now, I understand why so many people showed up at the concert. In all probability, it was a never-to-be-repeated day in Ottawa's history. I doubt that KISS will ever come back. I doubt that Ottawa will ever reach that many decibel points outside of YOW ever again.
 

 
Many of my friends have begun to wonder whether I’ve become crazed or not. Their focus happens to be aimed towards my views concerning our societal structures, which I stand strongly against without any hint of diffidence. Coming from a middle-class family, I am quite ensured that the provisions laid down before my hands will never have me thrown into the gutter. I am usually asked why I’m skeptical of the concept of a state, when I am provided with the necessary opportunities that would lead me to success in the near future – as long as I act in the rightful manner, of course.
 
I often say that criticism towards an idea does not involve its denunciation towards the point of destruction. If I happen to disagree with governments, it does not mean I would love to see the citizens of each country gather in the streets, pitchforks in hand, and inflame chaotic disorder. Violence should not have to be an option, and that is the mere essence behind my objection towards governments in the first place.

I took off for Shanghai on April 28 to work for a woman I’d never met and live with a guy I’d never spoken to. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous, but mostly I was just excited.

The job was with a mini news wire called Trombly Ltd. (http://tromblyltd.com/siteapps/859/htdocs/) They’re actually a new phenomenon in journalism – well, I guess any real media in China is a new phenomenon.