Travel Journal

Culembourg 2012

Drake SMART — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 07:05:30 +0000

We broke into a couple groups and toured the Eco City. Some characteristics:
-Has communal farm with a little shop. Each home also has an area for a small garden.
-Residents are expected to park in a designated lot and then walk once they are inside the complex.
-There is an orchard bordering the city that residents are allowed to pick fruit from
-Some of the buildings have grass on the roofs. (Tara)

This was a very interesting concept. One question I asked of our tour guide was whether there was a particular educational level of people willing to get together and live in this new Eco City? It was pretty much as I expected.

Most of those who live there tend to have a level of higher education in various fields. It seems that those preoccupied with living in such emerging Eco Cities are not just well educated, but it also seems that there must be a minimum income level to afford such an environmentally altruistic, yet simple lifestyle. Which comes first wasn't quite clear. I wasn't sure whether a higher educated population cares more for the environment, or whether it was those that can actually afford to live in such housing - unsubsidised. (Maurice)

Hoek van Holland 2012

Drake SMART — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 05:17:26 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6onNYgpCGOU

That evening we got on a mini-cruise ship and set sail across the English Channel. We ate dinner, some took in some fun at the ship’s casino and then we slept and woke up in the Netherlands!

Oxford (2012)

Drake SMART — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 05:06:09 +0000

Here we attended a lecture by Professor Rajat Gupta who works with the government to help integrate sustainable building practices into the community.(Tara)

At the Oxford Brookes University we were introduced into some of the important strides being done in the field of Low Carbon home construction. With tangible results, Dr Gupta pointed out the dilemma being faced with an old country and old buildings, and how much of a challenge it has been, and continues to be to produce less carbon emission homes and still live comfortably. (Maurice - unfortunately I don't have a pic to show the handsome stature of Professor Rajat Gupta but you can see more below)

More of Dr. Gupta's research can be found here:

http://www.brookes.ac.uk/about/news/ecohouse

England (2012)

Drake SMART — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 05:01:42 +0000

Once we left the airport we headed out for a tour of London. Westminster, Big Ben, and the London Eye were just a few of the sights we saw. On Sunday afternoon we took the coach out to Windsor Castle. We got an audio tour while we wandered through the many rooms and spacious grounds.

United Kingdom (2012)

Drake SMART — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 04:52:11 +0000

Days 1-3
Arriving into Heathrow
After our long flights into London’s Heathrow airport, we got an immediate bus tour of London, followed by a tour of the London’s 2012 Olympic City. I hope I wasn’t the only one to be falling asleep during the tours. Jet Lag really had its way with me. (Maurice).

It wasn't enough to witness the spectacular piece (or rather lack of) of architecture that was the Olympic Stadium. It seems that a new trend of architecture is emerging for this type of theme-focused design. The stadium is being built to be a completely sustainable, minimalist structure, devoid of all frills.

It also has a feature that allows it to minimize after the fanfare of the Oympics are gone so that it can be used again and again for smaller events. They spared no effort to mute its appearance. Even the bathrooms and vendors' stalls are outside, instead of inside an elaborate maze-like interior.

Paris, March 22, 2010

Drake SMART — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 08:59:56 +0000

O Paris. Que vous êtes la plus belle ville du monde! I wouldn’t even be able to begin to describe how much of a great time I had there; this blog would go on for quite a while longer than you probably have patience for. I absolutely adored our time in Paris.

From the hills of Montmartre to the Egyptian Obélisque in the Place de la Concorde to the Notre Dame cathedral, Paris is a monument to its own greatness and beauty. I had the opportunity to climb to the top of the Arc de Triomphe and see the Sacré Coeur at night, as well as the hourly light spectacle of la Tour Eiffel. I think we all packed a lot of sightseeing and touristy-type events into our 3-plus-day stint in Paris, but every minute was worth it. Every sight is worth seeing, even if it’s just a small café on a corner with the only patrons being a welcoming old man and a couple of young lovers having a coffee and a smile.

For such a bustling international metropolis, Paris hasn’t lost its charm. Granted, I always have a hard time hearing more French than English while I’m there, but the French are quite proud of their legendary city, and they’ve done a great job of preserving it.

Oh, and I guess I should talk a little bit about what we actually did, shouldn’t I? I was able to make it out to Versailles to view Louis XIV’s castle, which was quite impressive to say the least. I had always known that the gardens were both massive and beautiful, but I had no idea how huge the castle itself was. And every room is filled with an all-but disgusting display of gilded ornaments, classic paintings, and picturesque views. In walking through Versailles, it’s obvious that Louis XIV had the idea that he WAS the state -- in fact, about 40% of the French government’s economy at the time went to Versailles. The population loved it, though, as the castle was a demonstration of France’s economic power and lifestyle. I wonder how something like that would go down today. :P

We also had a program at the OECD, one of the world’s leading entities in gathering demographic statistics on a plethora of issues, including children’s health. We learned many things about the health of American children (go figure, we’re obese and not doing well in national test scores), but some striking statistics came in the form of maternal mortality rates (well above the OECD average) and the fact that we’re physically shorter than other countries and shrinking while other countries are growing. That kind-of surprises me, because I’ve seen maybe 6 French people in my entire life who are taller than me, and I’m not that tall, but stats are stats, and they’re a great way of getting to the core of an issue.

Several people from the group had some qualms (with seemingly valid points, especially regarding the deliveries of premature babies; I just don’t know enough about that are one way or another to comment) with some of the statistics given about children in the U.S. and the lack of family policy that we’ve enacted. But Dr. Meyer wisely made it known that statistics, while imperfect, are the best thing we’ve got. The WHO itself said there’s no such thing as a completely perfect statistic in this day and age, but from what I saw out there, some interesting phenomena are taking place in our country. I also like the point that we shouldn’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good, and while statistics are never 100% accurate, no one at the OECD is forcing the United States to enact policy one way or another based on them.

The bottom line is I really appreciated the dialog we had during the program, and I’m glad we had the opportunity to experience such an intensely informative (statistics can be daunting, but they did a great job of presenting them) and thought-provoking event.

Oh, and we were in Paris. The City of Lights. La plus belle ville du monde.

-Zach Spittler

Geneva, March 19, 2010

Drake SMART — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 19:22:51 +0000

I’ve always been a fan of Geneva, and I couldn’t wait to get there this time around. For some reason completely unbeknownst to me -- there’s no way I can put my finger on it -- the fabled Jet d’Eau is my favorite landmark in the entire world. There’s just something about it: the almost geometric linearity of it; its sheer height; the way the water gracefully settles back to the lake. I just love it. And the second time around was even better than the first.

But the Jet d’Eau aside, Geneva was a remarkable stay. Our programs were -- while fast-paced -- informative and interesting. The first, regarding the SOS Children‘s Village, addressed the emphasis of family structure in foster care. I took some good notes from this one.

The SOS program does its best to ensure that siblings stay together and the family structure fit’s the children themselves, and it also stresses the strength of the family. They say foster care should only be used when absolutely necessary, which gives a lot of peace of mind about the whole process of foster placement. For every child they place, they keep 9 others at home.

They also have some new U.N. guidelines which provides many opportunities for advocacy, lobbying various member countries to do things the ‘right way,’ yet another means of pushing back against government reluctance to adhere to guidelines that are thrust upon them.

The next program was also quite interesting. It was a bit of a bang-bang stint at the WHO, addressing topics ranging from immunization to environmental factors in children’s health. It was interesting to talk about the measles, because we in the United States rarely think about measles as a major cause for concern. But the speaker cited that in 2008, 450 people died every day (164,000 total over the year) from the disease.

Our last speaker took on the issue of environmental factors and their impacts on children’s health. Things like rapid globalization and new industrialization are the new players in the fight, and the WHO is doing its best to keep up with the changing times. 24% of global disease (23% of all deaths) is due to environmental factors, and children are especially susceptible to the environment around them, especially since their bodies consume things differently than adults, and the way they explore much of their surroundings is from the hand to the mouth.

I particularly find interesting the two programs’ quotes on children:

“Children aren’t mini people; they’re people.” -SOS Villages International
“Children are little adults.” -World Health Organization

-Zach Spittler

Stuttgart and Rothenburg, March 17, 2010

Drake SMART — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 23:13:07 +0000

Stuttgart

Our next stop was not exactly a slouch, either. We spent the morning of Wednesday, March 17 in the southern German city of Stuttgart, a metro that has taken it upon itself to be he most child-friendly place in the world. And it’s taking a very proactive approach to this concept, as our program noted.

Stuttgart has for years been facing a problem of a low birth rate. Basically, the number of children in the town (1.3 children/household) is insufficient to keep the population stable in the coming years (2.1 children/household would be needed). So to continue the population vitality, the city government took a multi-faceted approach to make life for families enjoyable, including making housing more affordable for families, enhancing children’s place spaces, and enacting comprehensive health and safety measures for children and parents alike. As a result, the number of children living in Stuttgart in 2010 is 21% higher than what was predicted in 2004.

It’s easy to see why -- women who are pregnant can’t be fired, bicycle promotion programs have been enacted for children and teens, and despite the presence of Mercedes and Porsche, Stuttgart has focused on sustainable, non-powered mobility throughout the metropolitan area.

The last portion of our program addressed the immigrant integration initiatives the city has recently addressed. 22% of Stuttgart’s population is foreigners, and 40% of those living in Stuttgart have immigration backgrounds, meaning they’re only 1-2 generations removed from being from another country. Schools foster both the learning of the German language to those families who don’t have the ability to speak it, as well as promotion of the native languages of the foreigners who have come to the city, as this provides further enrichment of the city’s diverse culture.

Just think, a city that embraces and actively promotes healthy, stable lives for children, showcases the multicultural backgrounds of its citizens, and has a direct emphasis on sustainable transportation and active lifestyles. Really sounds like this place has its stuff together, doesn’t it?

Rothenburg

It’s not every day that a group like this gets to view an authentic medieval walled-in city. But yesterday was fortunately one of those lucky days. Again, we didn’t have much time in Rothenburg, but we made the best of it. The highlight was easily the night watchman tour, which was led by a very charismatic local who holds the post of town guard to this day.

The halberd-wielding storyteller arrived at 8 p.m., allowing us to take pictures with him. I just may have gotten one holding his halberd, but I make no promises. During the tour of the inner town, the Watchman let us in on a few specifically intriguing points regarding the city’s history.

First was the storage of food. I found their system particularly interesting, as it was like a medieval form of social welfare -- something that era isn’t exactly known for. Since the city was fortified by well-guarded and strong city walls, the only conceivable way to successfully attack Rothenburg was to besiege it and starve the people out.

City officials had a great idea to combat this. They fixed the price of grain very low, so that everyone -- even the poor -- would be able to stockpile grain in the event of a siege. As a non-perishable and cheap food item, everyone was able to store enough to survive. The other facet of the city plan regarded salt. (Point of interest, the word ‘salary’ comes from the price of salt back in medieval times -- it was so valuable, it could be used as currency.) So to ensure that salt could be evenly distributed among the city’s theoretically besieged population, the nobles were forced to stockpile salt (at full price, unlike grain), and further forced to distribute their stored, expensive salt to the poor if the town is besieged. Surprisingly, the nobles loved this plan, because that also meant that they were doing a good deed in the eyes of God -- essentially buying their way into heaven with salt.

It’s not exactly a bad idea, is it? Keep grain prices low so everybody can afford it. And since God says that the rich should give salt to the poor in the event of an enemy attack, distribution of the perpetually valuable product of salt wasn‘t an issue. The population can last longer, and everybody’s happy. Now THAT’S what I call city planning.

Well, as with most outdated defense armaments, the medieval model proved slightly ineffective once gunpowder became involved in warfare. Rothenburg was finally taken over in 1618 by a Catholic army during the religious 30 Years’ War. The 6,000-person city, with an army of only 600, decided to face an invading Catholic army of 40,000. The small but well-fortified army defended its beloved city well, initially losing no men while killing 300 enemy attackers. But then one day, the city’s stockpile of gunpowder literally backfired on them.

The gunpowder was stored in a non-lit room, so when the (I call him the Steve Bartman of Rothenburg) gunpowder security officer entered the room with a torch, the gunpowder exploded, killing him, one other Rothenburg defender, and blowing a hole in the city’s defending wall. Even though they were “up” in the death count 300-2, they had no chance. No wall to defend, no gunpowder to fire back -- they had to surrender to the Catholics. So the city was invaded, and Rothenburg had seen its first military loss.

There was also an interesting World War II story regarding American attack and Nazi betrayal, but I’ll leave you to find that one for yourself. J Or you could just talk to me and I can give you my blurb on the whole deal.

So bottom line: our one night in Rothenburg was a great one! Next stop: Geneva. Let the neutrality commence!

Rothenburg

-Zach Spittler

Cologne Cathedral and Heidelberg, March 16, 2010

Drake SMART — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 23:06:14 +0000

Cologne Cathedral

All I can say about this place is WOW. Actually, that’s a lie -- I can say quite a lot about the Cologne Cathedral. I’ve seen a lot of cathedrals in my day, and frankly, at a certain point, they all start to blur together. Only a few prove otherwise -- Notre Dame de Paris, the Notre Dame basilica in Lyon, and now the Cologne Cathedral. I’ve never been in a place of worship so immensely huge and immaculately beautiful in all of my life. As Dr. Meyer said, I’m incredulous that man is able to pile stones that high.

The Cologne Cathedral was actually the tallest building in the world up until the 1860s, when it was trumped by the Washington Monument. Its gothic architecture gives the landmark an elaborate beauty, while its sheer size gives it a sort of omnipotent feel one might expect from one of the bastions of the Catholic faith.

It took 600 years to build, and it was worth every minute. The stop we made there was brief -- only an hour or so -- but it’s definitely the best “pit stop” of my life.

Heidelberg

Again, our stay here was short. Too short, in fact, if you ask just about anyone on the trip. This is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever seen in my entire life. We arrived late -- about 7 p.m. -- so it was impossible to go on an official tour of the castle. That didn’t detract from the experience, though. The Heidelberg castle is absolutely breathtaking, especially at night.

The structure is built on a hill for fortification purposes, but its location serves nowadays as a spectacular view of the town. From the castle, you can see Heidelberg in all its beauty: an ever-present serenity shrouds every hill and every valley, while the city’s world-class university adds a sage punctuation mark to the already sleek cityscape.

We only spent most of one night in Heidelberg; I will try my best to make it back someday.

The inside of the Cologne Cathedral. Absolutely beautiful.

-Zach Spittler

Hamburg and Neuengamme, March 15, 2010

Drake SMART — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 22:55:27 +0000

Hamburg

Our next stop on the trip was Hamburg. Although I do think that many students involved in the program were disappointed with our sporadic and slow-moving access to the Internet, a lot of fun was had by all. By far, the highlight of the town was the rathaus (city hall).

The city of Hamburg, much like many other German cities, is a city-state that controls the whole surrounding region. Accordingly, a city senate and council meet to decide the area’s fate in the town’s rathaus, which is by far more elaborate and beautiful than most American government buildings I’ve seen, city, state, or federal. During the tour we learned that the only reason the building is still standing while the rest of the city was destroyed in World War II is because the bomb that was placed in front of the rathaus was a dud and never detonated. The failed bomb is proudly on display in the building today.

Another highlight of Hamburg is the Beatles museum. Few may know fully (I certainly didn’t) the role that the city of Hamburg played in helping the Beatles get their feet wet on stage and get their careers started. I personally liked the CVs that the band had sent to a Hamburg bar to try and reserve a gig. Who knew that rock n’ roll was so formal?

Neuengamme

On day two of our Hamburg stay, we made it to a guided program on the Neuengamme concentration camp. Frankly, the day was absolutely miserable -- and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. The cold rain pelted us throughout the day, a biting wind reduced our clothing to a mere front; it felt as if we were wearing shorts and flip-flops out there on the tour.

Some would probably complain about the weather that day, but I think it serves as a reminder of what the people at the camp had to face. See, Neuengamme isn’t a famous camp for several reasons. It didn’t have gas chambers. It wasn’t an exclusively a camp for Jews. And instead of instant death, the prisoners there encountered a sort of living death with a small glimmer of hope that freedom may once again be possible someday.

Neuengamme was a “work camp,” and prisoners viewed it as a final shot at life. We, of course, learned otherwise. Prisoners came from varying places, with the large predomination being Soviet political prisoners and prisoners of war. Otherwise, there were a lot of political prisoners from Germany and other Nazi-occupied countries. Crimes landing you in Neuengamme spanned anything from being found as partaking in the French Resistance to listening to American or British music or even making a joke about Hitler. If the S.S. found you doing any of those things, you could be sent to Neuengamme to literally work your life away.

World War II was the 20th Century’s version of slavery, as the S.S. used forced labor for much production during the war. When you think about it, it really makes sense -- I’ve never known how Germany could match the incredible production boom of the United States after having already been involved in war for years. Wars suck away resources, and production lines must have been spread thin. Yet somehow, even with all the Rosie the Riveters in the United States, Germany was able to match the production of a unified, focused country of, at that time, more than 250 million people. Neuengamme explained how that could and did happen.

The prisoners had to literally build their own death camp at Neuengamme. Most of the enslaved were tasked to dig clay for brick-building, often with their bare hands. As you might imagine, the prisoners were incredibly malnourished, being only fed a watered-down coffee “substance” in the morning, a watered-down soup mixture in the evening, while being forced to work a 10-12-hour day in harsh conditions with minimal tools and insufficient wool clothing. Prisoners would only take in 700 calories a day. If they were unfit to produce enough work for the Nazis, they were killed. If they were sick, they were killed. If they stopped working, they were killed. It was horrible, and I was absolutely humbled to learn of their experience.

Many prisoners were said to have only lasted a few weeks after arriving at the camp, and I’m not surprised. Those who did last were worked and worked, producing materials that their captors needed to keep them and others oppressed. A precious few who were known to be skilled laborers got to be “moved” to a different part of the camp, as private companies during the Nazi period used forced labor to produce things like arms (the Walther Company, for instance) for the war effort. Forced labor is obviously cheaper than traditional labor, so companies (Walther was not unique; many large German companies partook in such nonsense) made use of the advantage available to them to produce goods at well below market costs.

As I was walking through the tour, I couldn’t help but think to myself, over and over, “Well, it looks like the bar has been set for absolute evil, hasn’t it?” Then Lance Noe brought up a great point. We’d like to think of this as an isolated event -- and I certainly hope that nothing like this ever happens again -- but let’s face it, evil does happen, all over the world, day-in and day-out. He’s absolutely right. If we had lost the war, we would have museums in California about the detention camps that were set up for Asians living in America. The Holocaust is most definitely the most pervasively known evil event in modern history, but it’s certainly not the only one. And this only happened a number of decades ago -- this was absolute oppression, total enslavement, and it took place in the time period when we had supermarkets and electricity and cars and many of the luxuries that we use to label this era as the most advanced in human existence.

The tour ended with us visiting a tall, stone monument in the shape of a chimney, as prisoners were told that the only way to escape would be through the chimneys. Neuengemme, like the rest of the Nazi concentration camps, is an example of the darkest side of humanity, and we must remember it and acknowledge what these people faced. Hopefully with remembrance, we can avoid something like this ever happening on such a grand scale ever again -- or on any scale, for that matter. I feel both honored and humbled to have been able to learn of what happened there, and I will do my best throughout the rest of my life to advocate the education of anyone who may benefit from the knowledge I’ve gained on that cold, wet Monday morning in March 2010.

-Zach Spittler