Why I Travel

I feel compelled to travel. I have an insatiable curiosity about the world that can’t be satisfied by books. I’m an extremely physical person. My body buzzes when I engage all of my senses and expand my limits.

I want to seek out all the knowledge that I can. I don’t know what I am going to do with this knowledge, but I’m sure it will come in handy someday. Once I went to an informational meeting on French drivers license. The subject couldn’t have been less interesting, but I wanted to practice French. Later, my seemingly useless store of information came in handy when my friend got pulled over. Maybe I’ll have more experiences like that.

A short list of things I learned on my latest trip….
1.) Francophone Swiss bisous three times starting from the left.
2.) Norwegians start learning English at four years old
3.) 80% of Swedes speak English.
4.) Gustav Vigeland
5.) Gustav Klimt
6.) Theater etiquette
7.) Basic Tango
8.) New Foods
9.) New French music.
10.) Swedes like to celebrate travel with a drink, even at five in the morning.
11.) 10-15% of Jordanians are Christian.
12.) The opportunity to get a perspective on culture and politics in Jordan.
13.) Challenging conversations
14.) History
15.) Bauhaus

I don’t go looking for happiness in other countries. I’m not disappointed when I find that at a very fundamental level other countries are similar to my own. People are tired of work, they like to talk and eat. Everyone everywhere wants to be safe, happy, and loved. People are doing their best to take care of themselves and their families.

A big theme from my latest trip is wandering around towns, and talking with folks. It doesn’t sound that interesting; I don’t have to leave the United States to do that. There are pretty towns and interesting people everywhere. Every country has a psudo national identity as well as subcultures, and countercultures. So why buy plane tickets?

I get along with travelers. All my best friends in life are travelers. The people I meet on the road are kindred spirits. I appreciate and recognize fundamental similarities between other countries and my own, but I like details too. SAD didn’t affect me at all this winter because I was so stimulated by the newness and excitement of details like funny caddy’s in the grocery store.

My latest trip was particularly interesting, because it was the first time that I traveled in countries where I don’t speak the national language. The majority of people in Norway and Sweden speak English, but travel isn’t the same if one doesn’t speak the language. There is a big difference between travel and tourism. I’m cautiously willing to say that tourism is almost inevitable if one doesn’t speak the language. I don’t know anything about Swedish culture for example. Couchsurfing does a little bit to bridge the tourism versus travel gap. Nevertheless, I can’t say that after four days with one Norwegian that I have an understanding of Norwegian culture. I think of travel as a long stay, genuine cultural sharing, and language. I’m leery of the comodified element pervasive to tourism. Yet tourism has advantages, so I proceed with caution.

Indeed travel and tourism aren’t without problems. Travel is a privilege and it’s not great for the environment. I could easily be spending my time and money in more philanthropic ways. At it’s base, I believe travel is important to building a sense of global identity, compassion, and understanding. Travel also offers an invaluable opportunity to really understanding one’s mother culture. Even if someone never gets intimate with another culture, it doesn’t take much tourism to open a new perspective on home. Travel as an idea isn’t really problematic; it is the structures that surround it. Quitting travel isn’t an acceptable option; instead travelers should unite to make travel more accessible, less corporate, and more environmentally friendly.

Their, and Back Again

Ursula and I had a good time in Frankfurt. After I wrote the last blog, we wondered aimlessly around the city and talked. Ursula was very impressed with Frankfurt. Eventually we hit up a restaurant so that Ursula could sample some German cuisine. Then we continued wandering and talking. We stopped into some churches, paused for coffee breaks, and took pictures of pretty buildings. I’ve been to the Frankfurt Airport so many times, that it was nice to finally get to know the city a little better. Urusla and I didn’t have a map, but Frankfurt is on a grid and has some tall buildings so it was pretty easy to navigate.

That evening our couchsurfing host Gautier made us a wonderful diner and then we went out for a beer. Gautier is a really open minded positive guy. He is French, and he is doing an internship in Frankfurt to complete his last year of school. Soon he’ll be traveling around Eastern Europe for a month and then he’ll start another internship in Berlin. Gautier is 20 and he is also in the “Where am I going next!?” phase in his life, so it was especially good to talk to him. He has a lot of interests and talent so I’m sure he’ll work something out. Ursula, Gautier, and I talked about culture, beer, language, teaching, materialism, travel, tobacco, politics, etc… It was wonderful.

The next day, (Wednesday), Ursula and I set out for the airport. She caught a bus back to Metz, and I caught a plane to Oslo. I met up with Fredrik, my couchsurfing host without a problem. I was grateful that he fed me right away, because I was so hungry! Fredrik is a well traveled writer, and an avid tango dancer. Talking with him and trying tango was really neat. We shared meals together, and I learned a lot. More on that later….

Oslo is great! All the museums are free in the winter, and the buildings are super colorful.
I spent Thursday chasing after Edvard Munch. I came to Oslo, because I fell in love with Munch. Traveling to another country is the craziest thing I’ve ever done for love. I hope too keep it that way. I started the day in the National Gallery, and then I went to in the Munch Museum. The National Gallery had some of Munch’s best paintings, along with other outstanding pieces. I was floating! It’s not a big museum but I spent over three hours their. Unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to take pictures in the National Gallery.

Friday, Fredrik was kind enough to share the fortress and the town hall with me. I felt so grateful that he came along and told me about some history and culture. I know he must have seen those things hundreds of times. Later that day, I ventured out to the exquisite Gustav Vigeland sculpture park, and Fredrik went skiing. I was so impressed by the sculptures. I tired to take pictures, but it was difficult because sculptures are huge, and they are best appreciated in 3D.

Saturday I saw a Contemporary Art Museum. I wanted to see the Modern Art Museum, but for some weird reason it didn’t open when it was supposed to. Oh well. I didn’t understand the Contemporary Art, but appreciated the posters that described the philosophy behind the Contemporary Art Movement. In an overly simplified sound bite, “Contemporary Art tries to appreciate art as a process while celebrating the intrinsic beauty of everyday objects”. I’m really into that philosophy!

After Contemporary Art, I caught my plane home. I came in at midnight and my lovely friends cooked a meal for me and we chatted it up until nearly four in the morning. I get so sad when I think about leaving my friends. It was wonderful to have someone to come back to at the end of the trip, I missed them so much! Living alone isn’t too terrible if I have friends like that. I can’t imagine coming home to nobody after a long trip.

Well I’m back in Metz, and work starts tomorrow. I’ve kept a simplified account of my travels, but I have more to share, and I’m still processing. I think it will be a blog heavy week. You can check out my pictures on Facebook. I’ve also accepted a job in St. Louis as a tutor with AmeriCorps. More on all that later as well!

Stop-Over in Frankfurt

Ursula and I had a great time in Stockholm! It really is a magical place with all the islands, water, and bridges. Sunday We went out to the residence of the Royal family. The theater on the property is really renown, and Ursula is an actress so we we wanted to check it out, but unfortunately the theater was closed. We still had a good time though. Ursula stood on a frozen lake for the first time, and the palace was nice. We both loved taking the public transportation out to the palace. The palace is about 40 minutes outside of the main islands of Stockholm. After the palace we rode public transportation to other parts of Stockholm. It is such a treat to just ride around or walk around with water views and bridges everywhere.

Our hostel experience in Stockholm was really cool! We met a some awesome people and had great conversations. We walked around for two hours Saturday night trying to find a place to dance, but we were a group of 4 girls and 11 guys so no club would let us in.

Sunday night we hung out in the hostel and chatted. We played cards with a group of Francophone Swiss. They told us that the Swiss bisous three times starting from the left. In France we start from the right and bisous two times. I spent a long time talking to a Christian guy from Jordan who lives in the hostel full time. Their was also a really neat group of three roommates who study in Poland. One roommate was French, another Italian, and the other Turkish. I´m actually hoping to go visit them. We´ll see.....:):):)

Ursula and I got in to Frankfurt unexpectedly late, but our couchsurfing host was so gracious! We chatted a little bit last night, but he had work today so we´ll hang out some more tonight. Today Ursula and I are going to hang out in Frankfurt. We don´t have any particular plan at the moment. We´ll catch a bus back to the airport at 11am tomorrow. At the airport we are going to part ways. I´ll be couchsurfing in Oslo, but their was an unexpected change to Ursula´s plans so she´ll be heading back to Metz. I´ll be back in Metz on the 21st.

Goodbye Berlin Hello Stockholm

The second hostel I stayed at in Berlin was definitely more active than the one Elizabeth and I stayed at the first two nights. A 17 year old boy invited me to go out with him and his friends, but decided it was best to do my laundry. I was hoping to connect with some people at the hostel but the washing machine was really old and I spent three hours doing my laundry. In the morning I got up early to make it to the museums.

The museum I went to was mostly about Picasso. I don't love Picasso the way I love Manet, Renoir, Munch Van Gogh, Emile, and Monet. I never get the feeling that I'm floating when I see Picasso's work, but he fascinates me. Picasso can render anything in a completely "normal" fashion, but frequently he chose not to. I'm interested in Picasso as a man. Why did he choose to render some things more in cubes, and other things, twisted or exaggerated. It is clear from Picasso's work that he has a sense of humor as well. His use of color is captivating. I've always been interested in Picasso because his work is weird, but listening to every track on the audio guide that the museum provided has only fueled my curiosity. I have added reading a biography about Picasso, and visiting the Picasso museum in Paris to my list of goals.

After I hung out with Picasso I saw another not so interesting museum and then I headed to the Berlin airport. Spending the day with myself wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I was super glad to see my friend Ursula when I landed in Frankfurt. We got to the Stockholm without a problem, and spent the night in the airport. At five in the morning the airport was full of people drinking beer. I'm not joking. Beer for breakfast. Ursula and I were shocked. I asked someone about it later and they said that people were drinking to celebrate their trip. Urusula and I had a good laugh about that. If we didn't ask, we would have thought that Swedes have beer everyday for breakfast. It is so easy to extrapolate based on one observation. Ive been trying to make observations without assumptions, but this experience showed me that I have lots more work to do.

At ten in the morning Ursula and I took a bus into Stockholm. When we arrived an hour and a half later we were amazed. Stockholm is built on several islands connected by bridges. It is truly phenomenal. I realized that every city I love is built on the water. Ursula and I immediately set out to find food, and a hostel. We were checking out hostels on a list from the tourist office but we unexpectedly found something else. It's a quite hostel in the old part of town that caters to families. The location is excellent because our little island is sandwiched between the two bigger islands and you have to pass through it to get from one big island to another. We're saving a lot of money on food because it's so easy to come back to the hostel to eat lunch. Ursula and I are eating really well in Stockholm because we supplement the food we bought with food from the free cupboard.

Stockholm is a big city, but unlike Berlin, it is very walkable. The main reason to be in Stockholm is to walk around looking at pretty buildings and water views. The highlight today was running into a troupe of dancers dressed completely in white. The dancers gestures were funny, beautiful, and inspiring. They walked around the city drawing attention to themselves. We joined the crowd that followed them to the venue. Ursula and I wanted to watch because we were both captivated, but we couldn't find a place where we could see.

Berlin

Berlin is a big city, but it is almost empty so there isn't all the hustle and bustle typical of big cities. Berlin's unusually large sidewalks are never crowded, and the huge streets seemed deserted. I've never been to London, but I was told that Berlin is a smidge smaller than London in terms of land, but it has half the population.

My friend Elizabeth arrived safely Monday night and we set out in search of a hostel straight away. We got a little lost and had a taste for how spread out Berlin is. Fortunately the first hostel we came to had space for us and we were lucky enough to get a private room. The hostel was clean, quite, and safe. Their were also large tasty beers for one euro. After checkin we ate at a Turkish influenced cafe and hit the pillow early.

Tuesday we got an early start and headed over to the Reichstags building. The gigantic spiraling glass dome was amazing! It was such a neat view! I would like to come back again on a clear day. After studying the curves and reflections of the dome we warmed up with a coffee at the cafe in the top of the dome. The nice thing about chilly weather is that the dome and cafe weren't crowded. The cafe was charming with a red tulip on every table.

After the Reichstag we meandered over to the memorial to the Politicians who stood up to Hitler and then over to the Brandenberg gate where we meditated in the room of silence. Then we explored the Murderd Jews of Europe memorial. I'm generally not a fan of memorials, but this one was alright. It is a forest of stones designed to look like caskets which come in various sizes. All the stones are in rows but the elevation varies and they lean slightly. The overall effect was a little dissorienting. Also, the stones were treated with an anti-graffiti chemical that has the dual affect of making the stones look like they are crying when it rains.

Later we had lunch, and joined a fantastic walking tour. After the walking tour we spent some time at the Check Point Charlie museum, had some diner, and tucked in early.

Today, (Wednesday) Elizabeth and I had the good fortune of seeing some Australians from our walking tour at the cafe where we ate breakfast. So we all had breakfast together, and enjoyed some good conversations. Then Elizabeth and I spent most of the day walking arround. Berlin has some really neat buildings, and graffiti. We walked from East Berlin, to the Bauhaus in West Berlin. I wasn't planning on going to the Bauhaus, but I REALLY enjoyed it. Previously I had no idea the effect that Bauhaus had on modern furniture, architecture, and art. Kandinsky taught at the Bauhaus too:):):).

After the Bauhaus Elizabeth had to catch her plane back to Frankfurt, and I set out to find a new hostel deep in the West of Berlin. West Berlin, has much less graffiti and charm than East Berlin, but I like it. I chose to change hotels, because I wanted to get a different experience and see more of this giganic city. I checked into my hostel, and then set out immediately. It is clear that this hostel experience will be different. I have a twin bed in a co-ed room full of I don't know how many bunk beds. This is how I imagined hostels. I'll report back later.

After checking into the hostel I caught a bus and then a train back to the East where I investigated the Egyptian museum. I went to the Egyptian museum because my little sister has a fascination with ancient Egyptian culture. Needless to say I thought about her quite a bit while I was exploring.

After the Egyptian Museum I had time to visit the Jewish Museum, but it was neither close to the trainstation nor the Egypitian museum. Since I didn't have the energy to get to two different corners of the city I chose to walk straight to the trainstation which took nearly two hours. Although my walk did involve getting a tea and getting lost. Now I'm in the internet cafe at the trainstation. I accidently bought to much time on Monday, and I know I won't have time to use it tomorrow.

Tomorrow I am going to another part of West Germany to check out an art museum that I'm super excited about. Their is another neat museum in that area too. At about 2pm I am going to start trecking over to the airport. I suspect it will take about two hours with public transit to get to the Berlin airport from the museums I want to see.

This time Tomorrow my friend Ursula and I will fly from Frankfurt to Stockholm. We get in at about 11:30pm, and from what I understand the airport in Stockholm is far from any place interesting. We are planning to sleep in the airport tomorrow night and then we will catch a train into the city. It looks like we will be staying in a hostel Friday night.

Vacation Started

I just spent the weekend with a childhood friend from when I lived near Heidelberg. Steffanie lives near Münster now. Everytime I see one of my friends from Germany, I feel shocked that we're grownups. Steffanie and I didn't do anything touristy. We enjoyed eachothers company, talked about her visit to St. Louis, and hung out with her friends. It was really wonderful!

My weekend with Steffanie was the first stop on a two week vacation. Currently I'm sitting in an internet cafe in Berlin. A friend of mine arrives soon and then we're going to ber really touristy. Thursday I head to Stockholm. I'm going to try to update my blog again before I leave Berlin.

These next two weeks are an opportunity to practice spontinaity and minimalism. I'm traveling with a school back pack, and some over-night accommodations are yet to be determined.

I'm a Pseudo Teacher

I teach 12 hours a week to 6-12 students at a time. I have taught normal classes, special education classes, and honors classes. Since I only take part of the class at a time I only see my students once every two or three weeks. This makes it really hard to learn names and establish relationships. It’s also hard to see what, if any, progress I might be contributing.

Preparation for class isn’t too difficult. Once I have a good lesson plan I can use it in several classes for several weeks. I think preparation takes me longer than a real teacher because I have no experience planning. Using the same lesson several times is always interesting. I love to see what different classes come up with. Also, the same lesson might be a complete failure with one class and a total success with another.

Students at my school are known for being difficult, although I don’t usually have any trouble with them. If I do, then I send the student back to the real teacher. I have a quasi teacher status but the students don’t seem to perceive me as a teacher. I’m five years younger than the youngest teacher at the school, students use my first name, I don’t give grades, and some students have cussed in front of me. I don’t think they know that I know French cuss words. As long as the student isn’t being mean or directing their cuss words at someone particular, I don’t run interference. Prior to winter break I felt like a rock star. Every time I walked down the hall I would hear “Hello Miss!” “How are you Miss?” “Jamie! I love you” “You are beautiful” etc. etc… At first this was a little overwhelming.

Because the students don’t see me as a real teacher, sometimes they can get a little chatty in class. I encourage students to talk, in a structured English environment. However, when they are chatty it is with each other and in French. When the students are chatty I ask them to stop, refuse to go on, move the student, and if it comes to it give my “it’s hard to learn a language” talk.

I give this talk in French which usually gets their attention. I explain to them that I practice French every day yet I still make mistakes. I ask them if they think 4 hours of English a week is really enough to learn a language. Then I tell them they need to profit from every second of class time which is why I use gestures and other English words to explain things they don’t understand. I also tell them that their chattiness is unfair and has a negative effect on the students who are interested in learning. I tell chatty students that if they are not interested they shouldn’t ask to come with me again. Finally I make it clear that if the chatty students don’t sit quietly for the time being they will be sent immediately back to class. I move on after I look the chattiest students in they eye and ask them if they understand.

Middle School

I teach at a middle school called Louis Pasture. The students range from 11 -15 years old. French middle schoolers are every bit as awkward and angsty as American middle schoolers. Middle schoolers in France are generally regarded with suspicion. All new schools have a locked gate to prevent unauthorized entering and exiting. Students are required to carry around a note book where they keep their schedule, write down homework, and keep track of appointments. Should the need arise; there is also a section in the notebook to communicate with parents.

School starts at 8am and ends at 5pm. Most students have a two hour lunch break starting at 12pm, but kids who have chosen to take 2 foreign languages only have a one hour lunch break. Students have the option to eat in the school cafeteria, but many go home. The students schedule is different every day. Students have 10 subjects and they don’t have every class every day. Students are organized into years and classes. For example there are six classes of the third year. The class stays together for nearly every subject. In their last year of middle school every student takes a one week internship in order to explore career possibilities.

In addition to the administration and teachers there are a few staff at the school who work entirely on discipline. They monitor the kids in the court yard, monitor the halls, collect attendance, give late excuses, monitor detention, and handle unruly kids who get sent out of class. Detention and extra written assignments are common punishments for chatty or impolite students.

French schools are a bit more formal than American schools. The students are required to stay standing until the teacher invites them to sit down, and if an adult enters the room the students drop everything and stand. Many teachers also utilize an interrogation method of testing students’ knowledge. The student is invited to the front of class and answers various questions.

Teachers in France are a bit stricter, and there is more yelling than in the United States. Many teachers yell very little, if at all. However there are a very special two at my school who yell unscrupulously. I know this kind of yelling would not be allowed in American schools. I was shocked and afraid the first time I heard it. Literally afraid. I couldn’t imagine sitting in that class. It is so negative. Most teachers don’t support yelling of this nature, but they also have some compassion for the yellers because the students at Louis Pasture are notoriously challenging.