I have a confession to make. For those of you who know me well, I probably have broken it to you before... My name is Jessica, and I'm a vegetarian. Even though I've been one for many years, I've been wondering recently, what's the big deal about it? When I meet someone new, I can almost guarantee that when my dietary habits come up in conversation (which, surprisingly, doesn't usually take very long), there's shock and disbelief, questions, and at least ten minutes of quite pointless conversation...'Do you not eat meat because you don't like it or because you don't like the idea of killing animals?'... 'what do you eat then?'... 'what about eggs?'.
All I'm trying to say really, is that I don't understand what all the fuss is about. If someone doesn't particularly like rice, or potato, or any type of food, it isn't a big deal. But it is when it comes to being vegetarian, people just don't always seem to understand.
It's a little embarrassing, too, when people seem to over-cater and get a little too excited. For instance, if I were to visit someone's house, it would seem that my awkward lifestyle choice is such an enormous challenge...'what to cook for a vegetarian!?'. There's always a lot of thought and preparation, when all it would take is someone to say 'how about we just take the meat away from the plate, and put a bit more of something else there?!'
It's often an opportunity to make fun of me as well, but all I've done is decided not to eat certain foods, why should it bother anyone else? It seems that in this day and age, as we're becoming a more health-conscious society; more and more people are cutting meat out of their diets. Yet I still feel a little bit like an alien.
I quite like having things that make me stand out a little, even if it isn't something that's really that great.
I like to think that I don't eat meat because I stick to the morals that I believe in. We all have our own personal beliefs, even if we don't consciously know what they are. And I believe that our own morals that we live by are as unique as our fingerprints. I'm far from perfect in many respects, but taking a stand and not eating animals makes me feel like I'm not a complete monster. It's nice to have something to believe in.
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
19 Oct 2009
14 Oct 2009
Cous-cous anyone?
Apart from 'how drunk are you?', one question I get asked regularly at University is were I'm from. And, this may sound pretty stupid, but I don't really know how to reply, so I usually list a cocktail of places and move quickly on with the conversation. I mean, I live in Lincoln. But I also kind of live in Doncaster still (much to my disgust), but I was born at the opposite end of the country, and I lived somewhere else in between, too. And I can definitely see myself fondly calling London or Japan my home when I'm older.
It seems that the majority of people have lived in their home town until they came to University, whereas I just feel like a little lost soul sometimes, who doesn't really belong anywhere.
People from the North and South of England mostly seem to be proud of where they're from, but although I was born in and spent my childhood in Newcastle, I think I left my identity there when I moved away. Just listen to me speak, my accent and my vocabulary are mixtures of North, North East, Yorkshire...
In England, there are obviously certain stereotypes stuck to most places, and telling people where you're from can often lead to prejudice, good and bad. There are certain presumptions made of Northerners and Southerners, certain characteristics that are actually, usually quite true.
I think that I've missed out a little. My childhood was sporadically spaced out all over the place, there's no one place that gives me the warmth of familiarity and that 'home' buzz. And I think that that's a feeling everyone needs once in a while. I've always wondered what it must be like to live in the same place all your life before you go away to University. The feeling you get when you go home must be great - I'd give anything to go back to the house I first lived in. Or even to walk past my nursery school. To some people, these places are easily accessible, but to me they're a distant memory.
Some people have friends that they've known since they were a baby, but I don't have this kind of relationship with anyone. My longest friendship is roughly 8 years, and to me, that's an achievement. I can't comprehend what it must be like to live in the same place you grew up in.
My memories of early childhood seem so far away, because they are. When something happened so long ago, and so far away, it almost makes it seem unreal, it makes my childhood seem like it never happened. I'm sitting here now, in my room, listening to the squeaking of a hamster wheel downstairs in my rented student house, and it's real. But in 20 years time, when I'll (hopefully) have been all over the word - will I look back on my University years and find it hard to believe that they actually took place?
I think that having a sense of identity is essential, so does this make me less of a person? It might do, but I say 'cous cous' unlike anyone else, so therefore I'm special. And if that's took living in five different houses, so be it.
It seems that the majority of people have lived in their home town until they came to University, whereas I just feel like a little lost soul sometimes, who doesn't really belong anywhere.
People from the North and South of England mostly seem to be proud of where they're from, but although I was born in and spent my childhood in Newcastle, I think I left my identity there when I moved away. Just listen to me speak, my accent and my vocabulary are mixtures of North, North East, Yorkshire...
In England, there are obviously certain stereotypes stuck to most places, and telling people where you're from can often lead to prejudice, good and bad. There are certain presumptions made of Northerners and Southerners, certain characteristics that are actually, usually quite true.
I think that I've missed out a little. My childhood was sporadically spaced out all over the place, there's no one place that gives me the warmth of familiarity and that 'home' buzz. And I think that that's a feeling everyone needs once in a while. I've always wondered what it must be like to live in the same place all your life before you go away to University. The feeling you get when you go home must be great - I'd give anything to go back to the house I first lived in. Or even to walk past my nursery school. To some people, these places are easily accessible, but to me they're a distant memory.
Some people have friends that they've known since they were a baby, but I don't have this kind of relationship with anyone. My longest friendship is roughly 8 years, and to me, that's an achievement. I can't comprehend what it must be like to live in the same place you grew up in.
My memories of early childhood seem so far away, because they are. When something happened so long ago, and so far away, it almost makes it seem unreal, it makes my childhood seem like it never happened. I'm sitting here now, in my room, listening to the squeaking of a hamster wheel downstairs in my rented student house, and it's real. But in 20 years time, when I'll (hopefully) have been all over the word - will I look back on my University years and find it hard to believe that they actually took place?
I think that having a sense of identity is essential, so does this make me less of a person? It might do, but I say 'cous cous' unlike anyone else, so therefore I'm special. And if that's took living in five different houses, so be it.
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