|
|
Follow the TourEurope
Rostock is set on a wide and navigable estuary of the Warnow River. Throughout the Cold War, it was the largest and busiest seaport in East Germany, built on a scale to rival Hamburg. The town still bustles with maritime activity, though its importance has declined since reunification. Today visitors come to Rostock to wander its reconstructed Alstadt, which contains major sections of the town's medieval wall, and to visit the town's museums and churches. Leipzig is situated in the east of Germany, in a low-lying area by the rivers Elster, Pleisse and Parthe in the north-west part of the Free State of Saxony. Average altitude is 118m above sea-level. Leipzig currently has about 494,000 inhabitants. |
|
|
|
Regional LearningDriving in a Foreign CountryBy Crystal Sanderson,
Canada We started our day with a tour of the maintenance area, where we were shown how they repair and restore the city's buses and trams. We were also brought into the control room, where we learned how the drivers communicate with the office. There they have a wall of videos so that they can check on the safety and whereabouts of each train. I found it very interesting to see how they track each tram and know if it is late, early, or on time. The next part of our tour of the facility involved something none of us have done in four months...drive! Rostocker Strassenbahn AG (RSAG) is also a driving school, so we each got the opportunity to drive both a bus and tram. It was interesting to see how we all did, as we have not driven since we were back home in our own countries in January. Driving a large bus was more challenging than I ever imagined, as it was stick shift (standard) and so big to maneuver around. The tram seemed easy enough-all you had to do was push or pull a bar to move the tram. The scary part was not knowing where you were going, as there was no steering wheel and you just had to trust that it would go onto the correct track. The most memorable part of the day for me was when one of my friends, Lin Wang from China, drove. I take driving for granted, as everyone I know back home knows how to drive a car. I was shocked to hear that Lin had never driven before. Lin summoned up her courage and got behind the wheel and impressed us all with her driving skills. This was an amazing Regional Learning opportunity. Where else would we get the chance to actually drive a city bus or tram without having a license? These are the kinds of activities that make this program so unique and unlike a normal touristy vacation. |
|
Regional LearningWorldSmart Student Appreciates
|
||
|
|
Community Impact DaySunshine, Sea and PaintBy Naina Goulart,
Brazil We got together with the students from the community that would work with us and made our way to the port. When we got to the ship we had an explanation about its part in the community. The ship provides students from Rostock a place to hang out after classes and a site to learn about the environment and sailing. Before we started our work, the students gave us the trendy outfits we were supposed to wear during the activity. It was a pity that we had to return them; it made our crew look really stylish. As we spent the day painting, with the sunshine and blue sky above us and the nice wind from the sea, we had the opportunity to relax and catch up with our talks, which was really great. Besides that, it was a chance of working on something that most of us would not have the chance to do in ordinary life. By the end of the day we were exhausted, but feeling great. It was awesome painting, talking and having fun together with the group; another day of volunteer work, another day of fun. |
|
Personal DayGoing to Sweden for a Weekend and Wondering About LifeBy Hugo Ariza The WorldSmart crew was in the Netherlands when I heard that some people were making plans to go to Copenhagen the next weekend during our stay in our next city Rostock, Germany. Since I had not been in Sweden and we were going to be close to it, I thought that it would be a good opportunity to get to know the country where I am going to begin my graduate studies, where my girlfriend and some friends live and where I would increase the number of countries I have visited to fourteen. I got a map, visited some Web sites to learn about ferry departures, found out that the trip was possible according to the program's schedule, and got on my way to this adventure! I took a ferry for six hours until I arrived in the city of Trelleborg, Sweden, where I was met by my girlfriend. After a car ride that lasted for an hour we were in Helsingborg where we met up with a couple of friends that I traveled with last semester in the WorldSmart program. It was an amazing weekend! I got to learn more about Swedish culture, the way they are, the way they live, the way they communicate, the way they get happy when the sun comes out, and in general, the way life is in this country. This trip in particular was more than a simple trip, it was not only about going from one country to another but to me it was a way to open the eyes, think about what had just happened and feel fortunate for having had this experience. I come from a very, very, very small town in Mexico called Axochiapan Morelos, where unfortunately the economic situation is a concern. People work way over 8 hours a day, and yet they still struggle. For most people going abroad is not even a dream that may be possible. I was thinking about all of this on the way back to Germany, about all that had just happened. I had just traveled from Germany to Sweden on my own, I had visited my girlfriend, I had visited friends, I had done things that I would have never thought I would do. I realized that these experiences are not common at all; I am very fortunate and blessed to be part of such a wonderful experience. I realized that sometimes we go on in life blind-folded -- not valuing what we have, but desiring what we do not have. This is only a small taste of what WorldSmart can give you; the opportunity to do things that you would have never imagined you would do, things that build your personality, things that make you a better person, and all in all make you a global citizen. These kinds of experiences are available for everybody who wants to take them. Pursue your dreams and you will realize that everything is possible if you want it hard enough and you believe in it. If it doesn't happen at least you will have learned from it. These opportunities do not disappear they are just taken by someone else. If you knock on thousands of doors, I guarantee that a couple of doors will open. Do you want to knock on the WorldSmart door? |
||
 Mehmet Baha, Cyprus, listens to the tour guide at the Statis Museum in Leipzig
|
Regional LearningSecret Service Agency Aimed to Suppress East Germans and Control the StateBy Mehmet Baha,
Cyprus Maybe, that person would be a "close" friend of mine. What about love? Does love have borders or physical barriers? Until fairly recently, I learned at the Stasi Museum in Leipzig, there were unique borders between East and West Germany. The love letters you wrote could not be received by your lover; mainly because you lived in the same city but different sides of the "Berlin Wall." Today, for sure, there are spies and espionage, although different from the surveillance that existed in East Germany. Checking individual letters one by one is not a common approach now. But at that time, letters and packages were meticulously opened, and checked and those found to be inappropriate were taken away. Here come the barriers on love and many other feelings. A love letter from the West Germany to the East Germany or vice versa, were taken away in the post office and never reached its destination. The idea is that West and East Germans must not have love affairs between each other. Even envelopes with a different German style of writing were taken away for some strange reason. I am talking about Stasi, a secret service organization established in GDP (Germany Dermocratic Republic) in 1950s. Its aim was to control GDP in every possible way to ensure there would be no opposition to the state. Thus, Stasi followed each and everyone in GDR by spies and secret personnel. Furthermore, it even secretly operated in the West Germany. Creating files about people was a major task. Some mediums of espionage were mail, telegram, and telephones. Until the collapse of the Soviet Union, only in some circumstances could East Germans go to West Germany. Only one person in a family, for instance, could be allowed to go West Germany for fear that if the whole family were allowed to go at once, they would stay there. Basically, Statis strived to put people in a closed box and oppress them. West Germans wanting to go to East Germany had to answer questions like: "How long will you stay there?", "What is the aim of your stay?" What is more, money, books, newspapers and medicines specifically were not allowed to reach the East side by post, and thousands of letters everyday were checked by Statis members in Leipzig. Listening to telephone calls of people in the East was another approach; Statis in Leipzig had the capability to listen to 350 phone calls simultaneously. Interestingly, it was the same secret service, Statis, which did not allow the mailing of products, for example jeans, from the West to the East, and that imported machines and devices from the West to listen to and follow people. There were even devices to close the envelopes that had been opened to be checked. This really seems strange! Out of the whole experience in the museum, the most unforgettable point is about the "Berlin Wall" postcard. Any postcard with a photo of Berlin Wall on it, that was sent to East Germany was confiscated by the post officers secretly working for Statis. That was because they feared that East Germans who got that postcard would feel they had been prisoned inside the wall. |
|
Host Family LivingGerman Host Mother Teaches and Learns During Visit from WorldSmart CrewBy Allison Myers, What an interesting opportunity to also compare notes with Lin about her perceptions of communism in China, and the differences in China's economy and that of the former GDR. Lin discovers that she has learned more about her own country since she has been in this program. She explains to us that while researching and giving her conflict presentation on Tibet, she realized she previously didn't know there was an issue, as there is no information about the conflict in the Chinese media. We talk more about media, education, politics, communication styles, stereotypes, our favorite books and movies, language. We hear stories about the coal heating that left Leipzig houses filled with ash, the long wait to have a private telephone, driving to special markets just to buy bananas for your children, and never having real jeans. Sabine talks about still appreciating, every time she puts her hand on the thermostat, the fact that she only has to turn a switch now to heat her home. She teaches me a lot about gratitude in this short time we have together. "I got my job 12 years ago because I didn't agree to work for the Stasi", Sabine informs us. Lin had visited the Stasi museum that morning and found it fascinating, saying that it gave her insight into her own country. Sabine tells us about the time when she was in college that she had the opportunity to work at Leipzig's trade fair -- the one time a year when companies from Western Germany were allowed into the city. Leipzig is at the juncture of two major routes through Europe, so this was an exceptional occurrence. Prior to the trade fair, members of the Stasi showed up at her family home to talk with her, but as she wasn't home, her father had the chance to warn and prepare her. She subtly declined the "invitation" to work for the Stasi, spying at the fair on the westerners and her neighbors. She was afraid, of course, but knew it was the right thing to do. After the wall came down (which to her is a strange phrase that comes from the West) her choice gave her the edge over another woman who applied for her job at the Consulate -- the other woman had worked for the Stasi, and was denied the position. Sabine is curious about everything. We are also interested to know more about her life, and the three of us talk each night until early in the morning. It is asparagus season, and Lin tries it, practicing the name over and over, for the first time. We all are interested in language, and compare notes about accents and linguistic nuances in translation. We compare tongue twisters in our respective languages, and laugh hysterically over Lin's Chinese twister that sounds like a strange Jazz riff. Sabine tells me that her head is full, with so many new things to think about after our conversations. We have covered so much ground, I feel the same way. On Saturday she gives me a tour of downtown Leipzig, and we visit the Cathedral of St. Nickolai, where the peace demonstrations began in 1989, a few days before everything changed. On Sunday, after a leisurely breakfast of breads from the neighborhood backerei, and coffee she makes just for our habit, we head out to a castle in the countryside. After touring the castle and imagining the lifestyle in the cold, but elaborate halls, we take a few turns on the alpine slide. We end our week with a barbeque with some of her colleagues, one of whom is hosting Helena Piehl from Sweden, and another, Crystal Sanderson from Canada. Sabine tells us that she has already decided that she will host again next year, and I have decided that I have a new friend in Leipzig. We make plans for a visit next spring. Eastern Germany is not as far away as I once imagined it to be. |
||
|
|
Community ImpactFood Bank at the
|
|
|
Follow the Tour Europe
|
ＪＡＣ -UpwithPeople JapanAlumniClub-           |
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
