This is a guest post by Marek Bennett, the creative genius behind —Coffee+Dumplings+Komiks—, a travel comics from Slovakia. The comic originally appeared on Marek’s blog on January 25, 2012, under the title “Juxtaposition 3: Life in the Middle”. Below the comic, Marek remarked, “Sometimes it feels like cartography and history are forms of cartooning.” Marek kindly allowed me to repost the comic here as a preview of my upcoming series about Central Europe. Enjoy!
There has been no significant movement toward federal immigration reform since a bipartisan effort died in 2007, blocked by conservative opposition. But it has been the subject of a fever of legislation at the state level, and it could become an issue in the 2012 presidential campaign. —In “Immigration and Emigration”, 1/19/2012 update, The New York Times That is as succinct a summary as it gets of the current status of the immigration reform process in the U.S. We’re stalled, folks, but may be hitting another turbulence soon. Regardless of the reform’s [...] Continue reading >
Aside from being a wonderful English phrase, "learn something new every day" captures an immigrant’s experience to a tee. It feels good to understand your new home better, day by day. Until you hit the acculturation treadmill. The bigger the cultural difference between your own and the host American culture, the steeper and longer the learning curve. Even immigrants and transplants from Central Europe, who have, culturally, always taken inspiration from and looked up to the United States, have plenty to process and learn. After a while, the instances [...] Continue reading >
When you live outside your country of origin, particularly if it’s overseas like, say, America, every trip ‘back home’ turns into a special occasion. If you’re Evgenia Arbugaeva, not only may it take 18 years to go back, it may also be the last time you see your home town. Tiksi is Arbugaeva’s ‘home home’ in Siberia, on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, at the true edge of nowhere. A former military and scientific base, Tiksi emptied after the Soviet Union fell apart. Arbugaeva returned after almost two [...] Continue reading >
San Francisco can leave you with many memories, but the one that’s stuck with me most strongly is the sign I saw on a fire station (see right) indicating people can leave their unwanted babies there. Even two years later I have a hard time fully wrapping my mind around the American infant safe haven laws. Many State legislatures have enacted legislation to address infant abandonment and infanticide in response to a reported increase in the abandonment of infants. Beginning in Texas in 1999, infant safe haven laws have [...] Continue reading >
In a happy coincidence, Friday the 13th was also Orthodox New Year’s Eve, and if the party Chervona threw at Dante’s is any indication, 2012 will be awesome. A few recollections from the night linger through the night’s haze. The Show Before the Show I call it Old New Year at Soup-n-Vodka Kitchen: a small pre-party with kapustnica, vodka, and cheap beer. The warm-up works so well I forget about the clock and don’t want to go anywhere. Still giggling at the detour sign a few blocks back that said "MORISON BR EAST DETOUR", I [...] Continue reading >
To see and feel America, you have to have had for at least one moment in some downtown jungle, in the Painted Desert, or on some bend in a freeway, the feeling that Europe had disappeared. You have to have wondered, at least for a brief moment, ‘How can anyone be European?’ —Jean Baudrillard in “America”
And judging from Chervona’s Xmas video shoot a month ago, a good one too! In fact, most, if not all, of the good people who populated and helped shoot the video (below, includes American Robotnik in a snow-white ushanka) will be in attendance at Dante’s on Friday the 13th. Tickets may even still be available. According to Stephanie Salvey’s intro to the reprint [pdf] of my article about the video shoot on Oregon Music News, “Each year around this time the cheapest round trip to Russia is a ticket to Chervona’s Old Russian New [...] Continue reading >
Two of the defining features of immigration are the crossing of the language gap and the multicultural experience, both which can often be tough to navigate. You find yourself cherishing every little cause for relief or consolation you can find, so this can help: the multi-language and multicultural experience immigration entails helps boost your creativity. Exhibit #1: Psychologists Charlan Nemeth and Julianne Kwan discovered that bilinguists are more creative than monolinguists—perhaps because they have to get used to the proposition that things can be viewed in several different ways. —Eli [...] Continue reading >
On a recent road trip to Northern California, I made a point of revisiting the Guerneville junk store. Tucked in the western edge of the Safeway parking lot in downtown Guerneville, the junk store, like many other junk stores, casts a strange magic on me whenever I visit it, which is on every trip down there. A junk store is like a lure: it pulls you inside but it hurts as well. As always, I forgot to check the name on the storefront. Thinking back, there may not even be [...] Continue reading >
In this new, occasional American Robotnik feature, I’ll share articles shedding light on various aspects of American society and culture. The readings will have inspired me, informed my thinking and writing, or simply sparked interest in the issues they discuss. I also hope they’ll help you along your acculturation curve. Enjoy. “All the Single Ladies” by Kate Bolick, The Atlantic, November 2011 – On the crumbling institution of marriage and the rise of a single woman. “Why Craft Booze Is Booming” by Ken Walczak, GOOD, December 9 - Umm, because it’s delicious? “How American [...] Continue reading >
Following up on my review of Peter Sís’s new book “The Conference of the Birds” and our conversation at his reading here in Portland, Oregon, I asked Peter about his experience as an émigré. We spoke via Skype on New Year’s Eve, I in Slovak, he in Czech; the interview below is an English translation and edit of my Czech and Slovak notes. *** American Robotnik: In your latest book, “The Conference of the Birds”, birds are the main characters searching for the king that will solve the world’s problems. What [...] Continue reading >
Inventing traditions is part and parcel of American culture, indeed a tradition in itself. Today’s exhibit: the NHL Winter Classic, the one and only outdoor game on the league’s schedule played on New Year’s Day (or the next day if the year’s first day falls on a Sunday). Traditions, as Eric Hobsbawm has shown in “The Invention of Tradition”, are cultural constructs. Underlining the strong commercial undercurrent of American culture, the motive for the NHL Winter Classic was business: the event originated at NBC Sports in an effort to boost the sport’s [...] Continue reading >
 2011 American Robotnik |
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