I have been thinking a lot lately about the effects globalisation has on the individual, and to what extent 'it' can change one's life. It's quite amazing to see how many young people (and older people) today are taking advantage of the globalised world, and literally globalising themselves; living abroad, learning new languages, maintaining international networks, consuming 'foreign' products, 'city-hopping'. Last week, I was having dinner in Geneva with six friends: Liliana (who is also my wife), Tim, Nick, Titilayo, Thomas & Kuba. The language of choice was English; however, every person present except one was capable of communicating in another, one person brought up a question about a changing Europe and whether or not individual languages would die in favour of English. Personally, I think that English will be (and already is to a large extent) the European language of business and governance, and that individual languages will remain strong locally, particularly for reasons of cultural identity maintenance. Only two people present at the dinner were resident in the country of their birth, and I know that at least one of those has already lived in another country for some years. I currently live outside of my birth country, in Portugal, and I intend to move on to another country within between six & twelve months; I want to learn other languages & cultures, and continue the globalisation process. My consumption is truly globalised: my computers are American, my mobile phone is Finnish (but the mobile connectivity company is British), my clothes are usually made in China and designed in Europe, my food comes from a variety of places be it by design or source, etc. etc.

Some may say that to globalise yourself you have to be wealthy and privileged; I don’t come from a wealthy background, but I make the most of the opportunities I have to experience the world. Most of us at least have access to the internet and global markets, why not experience something new? Expand your network, be it virtual of physical. Experiment with food from other cultures (many of us would be surprised to learn that the food we eat and presume is normal is actually relatively brand-new to our Western cultures), and learn a new language! Read a foreign or international newspaper (the International Herald Tribune (and the Economist) is highly recommended – this is a private joke but check out the advert section on the weekend edition, talk about selling yourself!). Do what you can to expand your horizons and be a better world citizen.

Since Sunday, Portugal is now a Socialist-governed country; the President, Prime Minister and Parliament majority are from the leading Partido Socialista (Socialist Party). It's going to be interesting going back to a new country, seeing as when I left last week it was a majority conservative one. Although this new Prime Minister is not someone I would have voted for, he is the very best of a bad bunch and I hope will try hard to make Portugal a better place.

I will record here the progress of a new Portugal.

What a ride!

This is my last day in Geneva, and I was supposed to leave yesterday. I missed my flight, and thanks to the lovely Air France customer service people, now have to embark on a journey of planes, trains and automobiles (well, not the last one but probably a coach). I'm flying tonight to Barcelona, and I have 1.5 hours to get from the main airport to the main rail station and catch my train to Vigo. From Vigo, I get another train to Porto. In total I'll have one overnight train journey, a day in Vigo and another three hour journey to Porto. At least we get home, which is a lot better than yesterday's panic situation; thanks Titi for helping out!

PrepCom 2 was an interesting experience; it was my first PrepCom and a learning experience. I made good business relations, and over the next 6 months to a year, my company will be moving into Afghanistan; a dream which has been a long-time coming.

Signing out from WSIS Phase II, PrepCom 2,

Luke

I represented the Youth Caucus at the WSIS Civil Society Bureau meeting yesterday here at the PrepCom2 at Geneva. It was strange, and interesting, to see how these things work and the problems that Civil Society need to over-come if we want to become more effective. For example, bureau members get caught up on the slightest of slight details, such as how to vote on issues, rather than getting into the think of the issues. Yesterday, several people held up the meeting for at least ten minutes just arguing about which voting method would be best to select bureau-to-bureau (Governmental/Civil Society) meeting facilitators. Crazy, really, and I hope that we can move on and be just a bit more efficient.

I'm here at the cyber cafe that the lovely UN people have set-up for us WSIS PrepCom 2 delegates. I'm here until Monday, representing the Youth Caucus of the World Summit on the Information Society, along with other members of the Youth Caucus (including Titilayo Akinsanmi, Global Facilitator).

This is my first visit to the European headquarters of the United Nations, and it's a little strange. After the hassle of getting my badge, we found the right entrance and found a cafe just inside door 13. The coffee was cold and pastry wasn't that great; and the decor is fresh from the 70's (not in the welcome way!), I'm guessing that Kofi Annan doesn't get his coffee from this cafe. Geneva is currently freezing, around 0 degrees centigrade on average.

To keep up with the Youth Caucus during this meeting, please visit http://www.wsisyouth.org, and check out our official news blog.

Luke