I am proud to say I have never watched a full episode (would you call it an episode?) of Big Brother in my life. That said, I think the whole world has heard, some way or another, about the big bother caused by some of the members of the Celebrity Big Brother 2007. It was a clash of apparantly the biggest celebrities Britain had to offer and a huge, gorgeous A-list bollywood celebrity. The comments about hygiene, cooking and ways of eating, and English ability were all hurled at the Indian superstar in a less than coherent manner by the English born and bred contestants.

Seeing the distress of the actress, it's not surprising really that the displays in BB caused outrage all over the world. But the debate that surprised me the most was whether it was racism or a 'clash of cultures'. I think it's safe to say that in this day and age, in this society of gobal mobility, there is no one who has not come across someone from another culture.

Another issue is what you define as racism. To me, anything discriminatory towards someone based on their race is classed as racism, especially something directed in a tone as malicious as what was heard every night on Channel 4. In any case, the main offender was voted out of the BB house to be greeted by mobs, lost contracts and a ruined status. Boo hoo.

Last night I was celebrating a friend's birthday at a Japanese restaurant. It was all fine and dandy and all together very entertaining - my first time having teppanyaki! The one thing that spoilt it for me was a group of four middle-aged causasian people sat next to me. They complained loudly about their food taking so long, which was fair enough. But when the food did come out one of the men started to slow clap and complaining that he should have gone to the greasy spoon around the corner. As their personal chef came out to start cooking their meals, there was non-stop complaining, swearing and otherwise loud talking. The chef cooked their meat dishes and started to cook their rice second, which was not the order these delightful customers wanted their food. The chef tried to explain that in Japanese cuisine, the rice comes last, unfortunately it fell on deaf ears as the customer shouted that he wanted a new tuna dish cooked for him. When the chef went back into the kitchen, the tuna enthusiast shouted loudly and repeatedly that no culture in the world would serve the rice last. Please feel free to insert the expletives I have deleted.

Now, the question is, would this be classed as racism or a clash of cultures? To me, this blind ignorance and can only be attributed to a refusal to accept other ways of doing things. These customers had obviously never been to a teppanyaki restaurant before and so I don't think it's too much to ask for them to allow the chef to do what he was obviously well trained to do. But was it racism? I'm happy to say I did not hear any reference to the service they received as attributible to Japanese people, nor did I hear any direct racist comments. I can only conclude that they were either hired by some rival company to kick up a fuss or they are just really hard to please.

On the way to uni on Monday I saw something that shocked me. No, it wasn't the fact that I was walking to uni a week before the start of term...it was the little daffodil stems that were poking out in little bunches like mini social gatherings all along the grassy bank I pass enroute to campus. The first thought was, yay, that means spring is just around the corner! Then I realised that it's still early January. And then I realised that my nose, fingers and other bodily extremities were not freezing to the point of dropping off.

I guess in a way it's a bit hard to feel all that worried about it when you're just an everyday person filling your car with petrol, turning on all the lights in the house, turning the heating up another notch so you can wear those cute hotpants around the house.

It's nice to be able to wear tshirts in February and wake up in the morning feeling refreshed and not feeling like you need another 24hours sleep. But I can't help feeling sad when I hear news reports of polar bears dying in the North Pole because I didn't turn my landing light off last night. And I curse myself for boiling a full kettle of water to make a cup of tea when there are floods in the Outer Hebrides.

I don't think it's a lack of conscience. We all get a little guilty feeling at the back of our throats when we read about global warming in the paper. And then we turn the page and read the comic strip and the weekly horoscope. I wouldn't wish the catastrophic effects of global warming on anyone but sometimes the only way to get through to someone is the hard way. Is the only way for someone to realise the horrors of this slow, ticking timebomb by letting them experience it? I hope not, because by then it might be too late. A civilisation ruined by its own doing...