Hope.March of….

What I see everywhere in the world are ordinary people willing to confront despair, power, and incalculable odds in order to restore some semblance of grace, justice, and beauty to this world. ~ Paul Hawken

Saturday was the great march by the people through the streets to the Bella Center.  Sadly I did not make it for the march, but was there at the end for the rally.  The day had started out quite beautiful.  The sun was shining (finally) and we were all in high spirits. 

I had a meeting to go to and by the time it finished, we had missed the march; however, we went down to the Bella Center to check things out.  The folks that I was with went into the Bella Center to listen to Desmond Tutu speak.  I went out to the march.

On the way there, I met a guy from Yale who was doing surveys for a professor from Columbia on protests, so I helped him.  When we first went towards the march, everything was dark and all you could hear was the beat of the drum at the sweat lodge.  The sky gets dark around 3:30 in the winter here.  The wind was blowing and it felt like the spirits were out that day.

We walked to the very front of the march and asked people to fill out the surveys.  In the process I also talked with the people who were filling out the survey.  They say there were 100,000 people there.  I am not sure the percentage of foreigners versus Danes, but every other person that I spoke with was Danish.

Overall, the march made me incredibly sad.  When I was not speaking with someone directly my eyes were almost always filled with tears and my heart heavy.  Perhaps it was the cold and darkness, but I think it was much more. 

 There were 100,000 people outside walking together, singing, laughing, dancing, hoping.  Inside the Bella Center (the place where the negotiations occur), no one could hear, see or feel the people.  The windows in the center are only on the ceiling.  There is over 60 meters of concrete surrounding the center.  If people did not read the news, they would not even know the march had happened.  So much disconnect between people’s lives and the policies that are created to govern us.  So much work needs to be done on bridging this gap. 

What continues to give me hope is that people are serious about wanting change.  Of the people that I spoke with, two Danish men stay in my mind.  They were   both middle aged and both had chidren.  They said they came out for their children.  They almost mirrored each other in the quiet anguish and apprehension on what might come of their future if a strong and binding deal was not achieved.  However, they also had hope that, as a global community, we could make a difference.  From these men I draw hope. 

Bikes and Danish Christmas

I have been here only for two and a half days but it feels like I have been here much longer.  I think it is because there has been SO much going on and because I am working so much it is hard to keep everything straight.   Even though I am working quite a bit, it is really interesting and fun.  Apart from working, I have also been meeting new people and learning about Danish customs and communities.  Thus far, all of  the Danish people that I have met have been extremely genereous and kind. 

One of the main things that I notice here is that there are SO many bikers.  It is quite fantastic!  In fact, they have bike lanes that are raised up so that the cars cannot go on them.  There is then another area that is a bit higher up that is for people to walk on.  You have to watch that you do not walk on the bike lanes, as I have done so and almost been run over a couple of times already.  The bikers here do not mess around.

Yesterday I had the privelege of attending a Christmas celebration with the woman that is hosting me.  Apparently Danes love Christmas and celebrate it for the whole month of December.  So yesterday, I went with my host to one of her family’s Christmas gatherings with their neighbors.  There were four generations there in total and enough desserts to feed at least 20 people.  It was glorious, I ate sugar until I was about to fall asleep.  All kinds of new desserts that I was told are specific to Christmas time.  There is also this warm wine/sherry/lemon/sugar drink that is quite delicious that goes with all of the sweets…and we biked there

For reflections that are more related to COP15 go to iofcenvironment.wordpress.com

Ba-ba-ba-ba-back!

Back in the U.S.A.  It feels strange to be back.  Have that ‘let down’ feeling that comes from being at an exciting and new place and then returning to what feels ‘normal.’  Of course what is ‘normal’ has changed as much, if not more, than I have changed, but there’s still that feeling.  Like when you’ve planned and ran an amazing event and afterwards all you want to do is cry.  Like that.  But it is good to be back.  Am visiting my parents for a bit and then back to Milwaukee to finish the professional project.  After that will return to Detroit and figure out the job, health insurance, etc.

I will create a powerpoint on my experiences and have posted photos on facebook if you’re interested.  I’ll try to keep writing even though I am not trippin’ over the world for a minute.

Thanks for joining me on this journey!

Barcelona baby!

Hi. It is true. I am in Barcelona   It is beautiful, HOT, and nice here.  Again, I have a-mazing friends.  Am staying with my friend Tim from university.  Yesterday we went to this fantastic beach that was by a castle and went swimming and walking.  His girlfriend is great and she drove us there as well as to the top of the mountain to see all of Barcelona.  Today we went into Barcelona, walked around and took a nap in the park.  Just now, a guy drove by and is bumpin’ ‘my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard…’  It is super hot her, up to 35 C, but it’s nice to feel like real summer.  Am starting to understand a bit more Spanish, but am still shy about speaking…un dia, un dia…

the batteries on Tim’s computer are getting tired.  so am signing off.  am still trying to decide if I should stay in Europe until the 7th of Sept or go home on the 19th of Aug…will let you know soon… be wonderful!

Reflection Number One

I am in London now!  Apparently exhausted because I slept until 3pm.  Never, ever, ever have I done that before.  I was not very keen on coming here, until I saw Meaghan and just the safety and comfort of an old friend made everything all right.  And her partner is amazing.  She wrote me a note and made me lunch.  Lovely. 

Initial reflections from Caux…

1. Humbled and Responsible: I am reminded over and over again how much I have and also how much I can give.  Incredibly blessed to have the amazing people I have in my life and the access that I have to resources that I need in order to have a fulfilling life.  Simple things that most people in the U.S. do not have to think about-running water, electricity whenever we want.  Big things-that a starting salary for me would be at about $25,000-$30,000 a year, at least and my friend makes $2,500 a year.  So the ability for me to travel, if I was to be careful and save my money, is much higher than his.  As spiderman says, ‘with great power comes great responsibility.’  So this calling to live more simply so that others may simply live, is a real one.  And so is the call for merciful justice. 

2. Culture-in the midwest, I think many of us believe that the rest of the world is ’like us.’  I had known that there are many different cultures and norms across the world, but in my ignorance had assumed that the similarities between the western countries were stronger than they actually are.  Simple ways: in the words that are used and the tone, it is different for different western countries and even within regions.  Big things: the ways in which men and women and men and men and women and women relate, touch, etc. very different.  For example, in Cambodia, you do not touch people’s heads, while in the U.S. ruffling someone’s hair is a sign of affection.  In the U.S. men and women touching, linking arms, arms around the shoulders, no problem.  In other countries, men and women touching in this way is inappropriate, but then people of the same sex, who are friends, holding hands, linking arms, etc. is perfectly acceptable.  Lesson: watch, listen, observe, and then watch some more.  Speak only when nesc. and only if it is true and kind. 

3. Spirit-the element that is essential for Life and for transformation is the Spirit.  That in our Spirits we must acknowledge our humanity and our power and then through that we can change.  The development of one’s Spiritual path is an important part of social and systemic change and it is often neglected.  The person, I think, consists of the mind, body, and spirit.  Often, in the ‘westernization’ of people, it seems that the focus is solely on the mind and body and the Spirit is discouraged or forgotten.  Small things: people would often say that miracles happen at Caux.  I would say that it is not that miracles happen more at Caux, but rather that people are more aware of them there.  because people allow them to be miracles.  Large things: everything is Sacred.  what if we treated everything as Sacred.  met a person who said that he did not believe that people were ‘real’ at Caux.  felt that people are not really this kind and patient in real life.  what if we are?  what kind of world would that be?  Yesterday, I hiked up to Roche de Naye, the top of the mountain that we stayed on.  It was a day in which a large part of the hike was covered in clouds.  We were literally in the clouds.  Could only see so far ahead and behind us.  This is Faith, I think.  I knew that we were on the mountain, I knew that the lake was below us, the cows, houses, trees.  I had seen them before.  My friend had not.  But we both knew they were there.  We could only see around us, but we had Faith that as we walked, that which is around us would be revealed.  Lesson: have Faith.

4. Change-The only constant is change.  Each time I move from one place to another, I am hestiant and honestly, not keen on leaving.  Because I am comfortable and more or less happy where I am at.  But then when I do move, it is because it is time and it is good.  Small thing: We had to move from Alpina, the house that we were staying at to the Caux Palace.  I did not want to move because we were good where we were.  But when we moved down, we had nicer rooms, I had a roommate, and it was much easier to get where we needed to go.  Of course both places were good, but not wanting to move because one place was familiar, was not reason enough.  Luckily I did not really have a choice.  Large thing: leaving Caux.  I did not want to leave.  was happy there, could walk a lot, meet new people, etc.  was ‘tired’ of traveling.  Was not keen on London.  but now am very happy to be here.  Lesson: sleep more.

Thanks for reading the world’s longest post ever.  Love for your day.

Walk…Castle…Swim…Fire…Chocolate. WHAT!

I have given up on backtracking on what’s been going on, and will just move forward.  One day I will go back.  Today I will share with you about yesterday.  T’was glorious. Yesterday was Swiss National Day.  The day of the founding of the Swiss Federation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_National_Day).  For breakfast we had Swiss rolls with Swiss flags in them…and then I went back to sleep.  It’s been since France that I have been able to sleep in, so it was very very nice.  After lunch a few of us decided to walk down the moutain to Chatel de Chillon, this medieval castle on Lake Geneva (pictured above).  Apparently it takes mos people about an hour to get down, but we have mad skills and so it took us two. 

It was a beautyfull day out and we were mostly in the woods.  Found an abandoned path and on the path there were really ripe blackberries!  Warm berries on a warm day.  Fantastic.  Eventaully we made it down and went to the castle.  This weekend, there is some type of festival there and people were dressed in the clothes that people wore in the castle.  There were also soliders shooting off cannons.  We roamed around the castle for awhile, and then went swimming in the lake.  That was one of the things I wanted to do…just to say I did it, of course   The water was not bad…once we got up the courage to go all the way in.  Some folks were swimming and others fishing.  Then we booked it to the train, barely catching it.  The train comes at quarter til every hour, but dinner is at 6:30, so if we did not catch that train, we would have missed dinner.

On the way up, the other people on the train were SO excited, because really friends, this place is out of a picturebook.  I will put up pictures on facebook soon.  And I was again in awe, that this is where I live.  Where the sky and the lake meet and glisten on the edges.  We are at the middle of the mountain, in a house that literally looks like a palace.  It over looks the lake and above us is more mountain.  This place helps to remind me that no matter what we humans do, what kind of destruction and evil we create, that God is always good.  There has been some high drama, tense moments, discussions on very serious, deathly issues in our world, but the lake, mountain and forest always remind me that no matter what we humans believe, we are only a speck in life’s creations and that if we would just respect the Sacredness of life… gah.  what a world this would be.

So we made it up for dinner on time.    Ate dinner with two women about my parents age from Taiwan and Japan and another woman about my age from Taiwan.  So good to be around people who speak Chinese (the Japanese woman didn’t, but still, good to be around Asians).  They have devoted their whole life to this organization-Initiatives of Change.  (more on the organization later).  After dinner we went up the mountain a bit more and they had a huge 10-15 ft. high bonfire set up.  The kids from the area came and performed and some other folks did as well.  They lit the fire and we had chocolate, wine, and buns.  Since we are halfway up the mountain, we could see the fireworks and bonfires all across the lake.  We had a few of our own fireworks, but seeing everyone else’s from above was real nice.

This was yesterday.  Today we will go to the chocolate factory and perhaps the cheese one as well.  It is fantastic, but trust me, I, of course, have gotten myself all invovled in the work related stuff here, and that is good too, but don’t worry, I’m not having too much fun.  Just enough. 

next steps…

I know that I have hardly written anything about what I’ve been doing…but I have decided to go to London for a few days when I leave Switzerland.  After that I will go to Spain.  So, if you know of any good places to visit or go to in London, please let me know!  Will be there from the night of the 10th to the day of the 14th.  What what!

What is good about being here is that I have started gardening at 6:30 in the morning.  Very very good time to garden.  We had cheese fondue tonight, so good.  Not sure that I can eat cheese like I used to, but it was still very very good.  Went to Geneva this past weekend, was really nice.  Some of the folks had never been out of their country, so we drove to France (aoubt 20 min away from Geneva).  Jumped in and jumped out   This is all for now.  Be wonderful!

The Short and the Short of It.

hello.  so…since I’ve been MIA I will start will write a short paragraph on what has transpired in the last few weeks and then write about yesterday. 

After Paris I stayed at the monastery with the nuns for a few days.  It was amazing!  met a beekeeper who had 200 bees, had wine with both lunch and dinner every day, and completed my first hike up a mountain by myself.  Got lost a few times, but made it to the top and back.  the key is to follow the red and white spraypaint lines on the rocks.  It was very very good to be able to be still for a bit.  They started morning prayer at 7:30 and had prayer or vespers or mass every few hours.  The nuns were fantastic. 

Since then I have been in Caux, Switzerland.  It is a tiny little village that is about half an hour train ride from Montreux, Switzerland.  Beautyfull place.  For the first two weeks we stayed in a house that was about a ten minute walk about the mountain from the Caux Palace Hotel.  It is an old hotel from the turn of the 1900 that was built for the rich and the famous.  Then during the wars, the Hotel lost money and was not able to sustain itself.  In WWII, the hotel housed some Jewish refugees and allied prisoners of war.  Then after the war, this group called Moral Rearmenment bought the place and has been using it as a conference center and in the winter as a hotel management school.  The group is now called Intiative of Change and works for individual transformation for global change. 

I will write more later on about the Caux Scholars Program, the Human Security Forum, and climbing mountains.  Just for a taste, I am in a work group now with Harriet Fulbright, have shaken hands with Mahatma Gandhi, and climbed up the mountain a couple of times.  :)

Tips for traveling…learn Chinese.

I asked people to share with me their travel tips (I should have asked BEFORE I left, instead of a week in, but so it is.) and folks came up with some really good ones.  If you have any more, please share.  I will include people’s tips at the end of this post, but first want to tell you why learning Chinese is the best tip…ever.    Actually, just learning other languages is very very helpful and I would highly recommend it.  I speak fluently English and Chinese and can get by in Spanish.  Thus far on the trip, I’ve been able to use all of them and it has made the trip so much more fantastic.

So I was in Paris from Friday until Tuesday morning.  During this time, Kurt and Esther were extremely extremely gracious, hospitable, and generous.  They showed me around, let me stay with them, eat with them, basically be a part of their lives.  I am very thankful for the soft start that I had because of them.  On Sunday I went to church at Notre Dame (all by myself!) and to this beautyfull chapel nearby.  Then on Monday, I had the chance to wander around by myself all day.  It took me a few hours to work up the bravery to go outside and face the scary world of French people.  Really, they are not scary at all, but I was just afraid of trying to get on with the few words of French I knew and was basically afraid of making mistakes.  Finally (with the help of friends such as Aaron and Mary), got up the guts to go outside.  Of course it was fine.  I gave myself two tasks:

1. Go to la poste (the post office) and get stamps and 2. find my way back to the Louve and go to a musuem.

There were a few stops on the metro that would have gotten me to where I needed to go, but I decided to walk instead.  There is this one street that leads directly from their home to the center of the tourist area.  So I’m walking and feeling a bit nervous about my direction and everything (in general) and then I see a resturant with Chinese writing on it.  Kurt had told me that there is an area where there are a lot of Chinese immigrants and so I went in to ask for directions.  Thank God (and my parents) that I speak Chinese!  The woman was really nice.  She had been in Paris for a few years and she flagged down her little sister for me to ask her to take me to the post office.  Her sister look like an early teen and was too cool to take me, but told me how to say stamps and the woman from the resturant gave me directions.  Along the waay I would stop random people that I hoped were Chinese and ask them for directions.  If I asked if someone spoke Chinese, the person would not respond (lots of poeple asking for money use this is a way to ask for money), but if I asked where the post office was, they would point me.  I got to the post office!!    Ah the little joys in life.

After that I became a bit more brave and eventually met another person from the U.S. (a guy from Oakland, CA).  I hopefully talked him into using restorative justice and peace making circles in fourth classroom.

Later on, I met a woman from Portugal and she spoke Portuguese, French, and a bit of Spanish.  So Spanish has been very good to me as well.

Moral of the story…learn another language!!

now, the REAL travel tips (sorry about emilio’s being huge, this is a swiss-french keyboard and i’m still not really sure how it works):

money, tickets, passport. repeat every time you move. -Meaghan

traveling is learning.
not just moving around.
meet local people, learn local language & culture. -Teppei

i like to say that i don’t travel alone… i travel with people i haven’t yet met. my big tip is to head off solo and see who you meet. – liz

“ A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-boggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough. ”— Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (from Emilio)

try to do something where you have no idea what’s going on. – Denny

have no plan. -Ryan

face wipes.-Liz

a little tp in your backpack and take care of your feet.-Shelly

Don’t be afraid to get lost. -rosanna

Pack light and then pack again lighter, you never need half the stuff you bring. Oh yea water proof stuff sacs are great and one is always useful.-justin

and peanut butter. a little jar might save you a world of hurt.-shelly

Ditto on venturing off alone. Forces you to communicate with local people, and they are more likely to approach you, too.-sonya

—-

I am currently in Caux Switzerland.  Will write more later on the monastery and then on Switzerland.

May all be well with you.

next stop…stillness.

Last day in Paris!  About to go be brave and explore on my own.  If you have any good travel tips, please share.  I’m realizing that I am both more and less brave than I thought I was…and that next time I travel I will be more prepared in the language and customs of the country.  Apparently people don’t really tip here because the tip is already in the bill. (fyi)

Tomorrow I will go to stay with the Bernardine Cistercian Nuns for a few days.  My uncle is a Trappist Monk ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trappist also of the Cistercian Order) and he hooked me up with these Sisters.

The Order of Cistercians (OCist; Latin: Ordo Cisterciensis) is a Roman Catholic religious order of enclosed monks.  At the time of monastic profession, five or six years after entering the monastery, candidates promise “conversion” – fidelity to monastic life, which includes an atmosphere of silence.^[84] Cistercian monks and nuns, in particular Trappists, have a reputation of being silent, which has led to the public idea that they take a Vow of silence.^[84] This has actually never been the case, although silence is an implicit part of an outlook shared by Cistercian and Benedictine monasteries.^[84] In a Cistercian monastery, there are three reasons for speaking:

functional communication at work or in community dialogues, spiritual exchange with one’s superiors or with a particular member of the community on different aspects of one’s personal life, and spontaneous conversation on special occasions. These forms of communication are integrated into the discipline of maintaining a general atmosphere of silence, which is an important help to continual prayer.^[84] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cistercians

My understanding is that their lives consist of: 8 hours of prayer, 8 hours of sleep, and 8 hours of work (with feedings in between). The place that I will be staying is in the French Alps and on the French site there are bees…so perhaps I will get to hang with bees!  This is the spot:  http://www.bernardine.org/touvete.html.

Will be good to go and walk the mountains and re-center.  Will let you know if there are revelations that need to be shared when I get to Switzerland.

Thanks for journeying with me!