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General Mills

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Submitted By szeng
Words 882
Pages 4
Simeng Zeng
INTL 190
Professor Quinney
April 10, 2013

Assignment #2: Finding the Global in the Local
Thomas Friedman asserts that the word is flattening by the increasing development of technology, which transforms the human experience of time and space. With the process of globalization, the interaction among people in the world has changed from country level to company level, then to individual level. The world is flattened in a way that barriers such as time and space are disappearing. As a product of the process of globalization, I have witnessed this flattening process in every aspect of my life and expect for the future transformation.
Eight years ago, I packed 14 years of my life into two big suitcases and flew over the Pacific Ocean from Pudong International Airport in Shanghai, China to San Francisco Airport in California, America. I did not only leave the delicious food that I used to crave in Shanghai, but also my closest family members and friends back in Shanghai. I was worried if I was able to keep in touch with them and if we could still laugh together on the same topics. After I settled at the new home, I asked my mom for telephone call cards to call my friends. I called them every week for an hour or two at weekends and this became the thing that I was most excited to do. I remembered that my dream was to have a call card that does have minute limit so I could use it forever. Now, I just realized that my dream certainly has come true. I never have to worry about running out of minutes when I am calling my friends and I am thankful to the development of new technologies or the internet that enable me to do that. Since a couple years ago, I could just simply connect to the Internet, double-click the blue icon with “S” on it, and then press the green “call” bottom. At that moment, the physical distance and time difference were disappeared. Skyping became the main tool to connect voices from different continents. Now, with the development of smart phone, I do not even have to sit down in front of a computer screen to call. I am holding an unlimited-minute phone-call card on my hand that I can use at anytime at anywhere. Internet has certainly made my dream came true to the level that is out of my imagination.
New technology has not only altered time and space in the way of physical communication, but also in a way of sharing spiritual goods. I always wanted to have access to TV shows that are podcasted in China, so that I can have the same topics to talk to my friends. Recently, my dad bought a program, which uses Internet to show all the TV programs in China. Since this program saves all the shows for us to watch at anytime, my grandmother does not feel lonely or unfamiliar with this western country when she watches local TV shows that she used to watch every night. Our desires of mentally connecting with people on the other side of the Pacific Ocean are fulfilled time while space has been altered again.
There are many examples in my personal experience that I have encountered someone I have not met and probably never will such as the telephone operator in India who helped me to fix my Dell computer. Recently, my connection with someone from “It’s Not Just Mud “ has affected me in my effort of disaster relief project for 2011 earthquake in Japan. “It’s not Just Mud” is a NGO that is conducting volunteer project at the affected area in Japan. As an external officer of the Japanese student organization at IR/PS, I have engaged in the charity event earlier this month to raise the awareness of the disaster. We have successfully connected to one of the founders of “It’s Not Just Mud”, who was willing to participate in our event at the Great Hall by sending us a self-recorded video to show at the event. Seeing him sitting home talking about his experiences on the big screen, I feel “closer” to him in a way that we are all connected with our effort of help rebuild Japan. Although I have met him and probably will never be able to, the ability if new technology diminishes the necessity of physical interaction in order to have a solid influence between us.
The world is also flattened by connecting with people we do not know through Internet. A lot of live chat services online certainly help us to solve many problems. However, no one has ever wondering who are those people on the other side of this fast speed invisible wire that are providing the services. Those are just one corner of how Internet is altering time and space. With the on going development of new technologies, I think my life is fundamentally different from the lives of my ancestors as a consequence of these technological changes. The technological changes reduce the barriers of connecting the world and made out lives more easy and convenient such as GPS system of tracking mails, communication systems, improvement of transportation system and so on.

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