Zijue

I went here today with my best friend and had a really good afternoon despite the showers :) We did a brass rubbing, got chased by a dragon and did archery, which was great fun :) Well worth visiting :)

I would like to visit Sicily because of its unusual history and situation in Europe. Sicily has been owned by almost every major European power in the last two millennia, not to mention the Arabs as well. It has been culturally influenced by all who have conquered her, and it is a strange relationship they have with Italy now as it has only been part of Italy for about 150 years. Italy has been highly fragmented and Sicily’s position away from the mainland only increases this lack of unity. It would be interesting to see Sicily in its own light, rather than as another part of Italy.

I remember when I was about 8 years old having this book on Greek mythology which proceeded to get really worn from having read it cover to cover many times over. I loved learning about Ancient Greece at school and this interest has continued into adult life. I would love to go to Greece as it seems a particularly clear example of living history. I am also interested in the impact the Greek world had on other areas in the world, for example Sicily and Western Europe in general. I’d also love to learn the language, but it’s one of many on my list so I’m not sure when I’ll get round to it! :)

In the last couple of years, I’ve been reading about Buddhism and also about the Dalai Lama, and this made me interested in Tibet. It is a somewhat mysterious place as access to this region/country has been limited to tourists, but I would love to see it for myself. I don’t know much about the situation regarding Tibet’s status as a country or region of China, but both Tibet and China are of interest to me, for different reasons, and I would like to see both sides of the situation for myself, as a (hopefully) unbiased outsider. The main thing I’m not unbiased about is the inexcusable use of violence against the Tibetan people, regardless of who’s right or wrong in the dispute.

I’m interested in the Orient generally, and would like to use any experiences there to help me write a book one day. I think Tibet is a very spiritual place and I believe that I would gain so much from visiting the place.