A Common History for Nationalism and Role of Public Education

How can we unite people with different races, languages and values to create a unified and harmonious nation? 

Imagine bringing in people from different nations to live together in one place and say that from now on you all are a part of this new country. Chaos is what comes to my mind from this situation. However, this is exactly what happened many centuries ago when people try to create a nation. So, how could they do it? 

One possible answer is "Nationalism." They created a strong centralized administration to create a common history for all people in the country to share. Similarly, when you have a high school reunion, what bring people together is their common experience in high school that they want to share with others. By inventing a common history, the government basically makes us feel like we have a reunion all the time.

Champ De Mars from the top of the Eiffel tower.

Last post for Paris: Why do I love Paris?

I thought 10 weeks in Paris will be a long time, but in fact it was not that long for me. I feel like I just got to know the city. I just started to know what the city is like, what the people are like, what the language sounds like and where to go when one has free time. I experienced this feeling for the first time yesterday after my last final exam here in Paris, but it was also the last day that I can experience it. 

But time never stopped running, and now another chapter of my life is slowly coming to an end while the next chapter is coming soon.

When I got here, I don't think I will ever say this, but I do want to say it now. "I love Paris." There are more than just touristy places that everyone seems to post online to share when they come to Paris. Here are things I like about this city and the time that I am here.

Public transportation
It seems like everyone love this fact about how efficient public transportation is in Paris, how little time they have to wait at the metro station to catch a train home, how fast it is to get from one place to the other and how easy it is to find metro stations since there are everywhere. If you walked in the city and started to feel that you got lost, the next metro station will be right in front of you and you can just catch the next train home without much thinking to do. And I really like public transportation here for these same reasons as well and it just makes it is much easier to get to know the city like I could not have done anywhere else.

Musée des Arts et Métiers Metro stop

Also, there are many little details in the metro station that are worth looking at. And perhaps because of this, that I never hesitate to get the next train and go to different places that I have never been before.