Arrive Down Under

One week has past since I have arrived in Cairns, Australia and it has been busier than I possibly could have imagined. Cairns is known as the “Adventure Capital of Australia,” and the city lives up to its reputation. The city itself is a northern coastal town surrounded by beaches, marinas, and water on one side and mountains on the other. The city has a similar feel to Florida beach towns in many ways with open air restaurants and bars right on the water, as well as a multitude of tourists. As I took evening walks downtown I passed groups of people speaking languages from across the globe, many of which I could not recognize. Unlike Florida, however, the people and tourists of Cairns do not go to the beach when they want to cool off, rather, they have a city lagoon which is similar to a massive public pool in which the residents of the city can swim. The reason for avoiding the beaches of Cairns is that they are filled with saltwater crocodiles, jellyfish of many varieties, including box jellys, stonefish, and sharks, just to name a few. Fortunately, Cairns has plenty to offer without going to the beach.
On my second day in Cairns we went out onto the Great Barrier Reef to go snorkeling and scuba diving. Never in my life have I been filled with so much awe and sadness at the same time. The reef was a thing of beauty with fish and coral of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Angelfish, parrot fish, regal blue tang fish looked like the glittering lights of a Christmas tree as they swam by me. Unfortunately, the reef also is no longer what it used to be as a result of environmental destruction. Reef bleaching has sucked out so much of the vibrant colors of the reef, and although there certainly were areas of breathtaking beauty, significant portions of the reef looked more skeletal with white coral being contrasted with a bright spot of nearby color. The marine biologist aboard our ship told us that it is projected that within the next five years there will be more plastic in the world’s’ oceans than there are fish, and that coral grows at the rate of centimeters per year so destruction to any portion of it could be the destruction of decades of natural growth. Even seemingly small things like sunscreen could damage the reef and we were instructed to apply sunscreen at least a half an hour before entering the water. It was humbling to realize that a living structure the size of Japan could be simultaneously so fragile, and it gave me a greater understanding of environmentalism.

Here are a couple of pictures from my scuba/snorkeling experience

Here you can see how low the tide got as the reef is actually beginning to come out of the water
This is a picture just outside of the hotel I was staying at while in Cairns

On day three, I had the opportunity to go canyoning in Crystal Cascades with a group of others and our tour guides which was wild! Admittedly, I felt a bit dorky at first as we pulled up into the park wearing wet suits, helmets, and harnesses, meanwhile we walk past little kids and their parents simply wearing bathing suits. Crystal Cascades is a waterfall and river system which provides the drinking water for the city of Cairns. At certain points in the river that becomes wider, deeper, with a weaker current and the locals use those places like an all natural swimming pool. After we passed all of the families, we arrived at a massive gate with barbed wire wrapping across the top. The guides led us through and we started a hike up an incredibly steep hill. Once we made it to the top of the hill we began canyoning down which consisted of abseiling, cliff jumping, swimming, and zip lining down the river/waterfall system to the bottom. The entire experience was simply amazing as we scaled down waterfalls in a gorge surrounded by the Australian rain forest. Needless to say, I was quite happy for the safety equipment that made me feel so foolish earlier, particularly helmet as I slipped going down one of the main waterfalls and slammed into the side of the cliff.

Here is a picture of the group after finishing the canyoning


Finally, on day four I went into Daintree Rainforest with an aboriginal tour guide as he taught us both about his culture and about his land. Before we started our hike, we were asked to join in a smoking ceremony where the guides made a small fire underneath a cover so that the smoke would billow out onto which we were told would protect us from any danger as we entered the forest. My guide, Skip, once again mentioned how the Daintree Rainforest is the world’s oldest rainforest and that it is the only rainforest that has never had any primates other than humans. As a result, the fruits in Daintree are far more toxic than the fruits found in other rainforests around the world. Skip also taught us about stinging plants in Australia and how they have tiny hairs on the leaves which is embed into your skin and sends four different toxins into your muscles (one of which scientists have yet to discover what it is!) when they are touched and the needles can stay embedded in your skin from anywhere between two weeks to two years! I made sure to take careful notes regarding what that plant looked like in order to avoid it in the future. Skip also told us about how the aboriginal people would use barbed vines as hooks and fishing line when they went fishing. He also told us about how the aboriginal people would use glowing mushrooms to allow them to see when hunting at night, which I thought sounded like something straight out of the movie Avatar. Skip then took us to a river which ran through the rainforest and he told us that this river was the water supply for the city and it was entirely safe to drink which naturally led to all of us students filling up our water bottles with the river water and I must say it was fantastic. After finishing our hike through the rainforest we went to a wildlife reserve where I was able to get up close and personal with a lot of animals native to Australia. I had the opportunity to feed wallabies and kangaroos, as well as pet a koala and see other animals like emus and cassowaries.
At the end of the week, all of the students who were apart of my program said our goodbyes and made our way to our respective universities across Australia. This first week has been busy, and action-packed, and it has felt like something out of a dream. As my plane took off to Sydney and I watched the mountains and rainforest shrink in the distance, I couldn’t help but feel tremendously grateful for the opportunity that I have been given to study abroad. At times it has been difficult for me to comprehend the reality of the whole situation because I am quite literally on the opposite side of the planet right now and having experiences that I have only previously dreamed of which have each been incredible! Now off to Sydney to see what Australia’s biggest city and the home of my new university has to offer!

The bus ride into the Daintree forest was pretty scenic too

This is the river which acts as the water supply for Cairns

This is Humphry, the Koala I got to meet
Feeding the kangaroos and wallabies was so cool

Paris Reflections!

   

Since I arrived back in Michigan, I have been thinking and reflecting on my summer semester in Paris. I kept a journal from the first day I arrived in Paris, and detailed every moment and funny memory. Looking back, I am so glad I did this because I was able to better understand what I learned and see how I adapted to a foreign culture. Studying abroad in Paris was undoubtedly the best adventure in my life so far. I met the most incredible group of people through IES, who became my close friends I am blessed to have lived in France over the summer. If I typed out everything I learned about living in a foreign country, we would be here for hours. So to save the trouble, here is a short list of the best lessons I learned while living and studying in Paris:

  1. “So much of who we are is where we have been.” -William Langewiesche. I found this quote written in graffiti on a wall in Paris near the Seine River, and it resonated with me as I progressed through studying abroad. I felt myself becoming more adventurous, where I traveled by myself to Belgium, Luxembourg, and Stonehenge. I felt myself becoming more comfortable speaking a language I had never studied before, where I was not afraid speaking French with locals. I felt myself falling in love with Paris. So much of who I am will remain in Paris.
  2. Bread will never be the same. When it comes to bakeries, the French have this perfected to an art. I probably ate my weight in croissants and baguettes, but French bread is incredibly delicious. My favorite dessert, and what I will miss the most about French food, is Pan du Chocolat (chocolate-filled croissant). Hopefully I can find an authentic French bakery in Michigan!
  3. Travel. Travel. Travel. Traveling within Europe is incredibly cheap and easy. When are you ever going to live in a foreign country again in your life? Take advantage of every opportunity and leave no stone unturned. My group and I went to London, England together, and I went to Brussels, Belgium and Luxembourg City, Luxembourg by myself. My group was more interested in exploring Paris than traveling far, but I didn’t let that falter my plans. Even if you have to go alone, don’t regret not going somewhere. I had a blast both on my own and with my group. Also, I learned how to book travel accommodations and research places to go all on my own. When my flights were delayed and trains became cancelled due to strikes, I figured out alternate routes on my own last minute. How cool is that? Travel, and travel far.
  4. The Eiffel Tower never gets old. From the first time I saw the Iron Lady to the last night under the sparkling lights, I never grew tired of looking at how beautiful the tower is. Every Wednesday, my friends and I had a picnic under the tower to watch the sunset and sparkling lights. I always looked forward to every Wednesday, and could not get enough of the Eiffel Tower. The view from the top of the tower isn’t bad either, but I’d much rather watch the lights sparkle with a baguette and wine from our secret terrace we found.
  5. Take the leap and study abroad. I have to admit, I was a little nervous just before I left. I had never traveled on my own before and had never been to Europe. I would have to learn a new language and learn to navigate a foreign country. Luckily, the nerves went away the second I got to my apartment. I fell in love with Paris and made incredible friends in my study abroad group. I learned a ton in my classes that I know will take me far in the rest of my studies. I created internship connections through my professors. I tried food I never thought I would dare eat. I traveled alone to other countries. I saw Stonehenge. Nothing will ever compare to what I experienced, and most importantly, I learned that a classroom is much more than four white walls.

Take the leap and study abroad; you just might learn something about the world around you.

À bientôt, et je t’aime Paris!

-Alissa Smith

The Garden Route

Last weekend was full of crossing things off the South Africa bucket list! IES organized a road trip for us along the Garden Route, a stretch of southern South Africa that is made up of farmland and some incredible sights. We had an early morning Friday to drive to our first destination, Wilderness. Wilderness is home to the Touw River, where we got to canoe and look at the mountains and hills surrounding the water. It was a bit chilly to be canoeing, but still a fun way to experience Wilderness and do some sight-seeing.

The IES group on the beach of the Touw River after canoeing!

On Saturday we made our way to Tsitsikamma National Park and hiked to the suspension bridge that overlooks the Indian Ocean. Despite the pouring rains, this hike was amazing. The views were spectacular and full of beautiful plant life and animals. Once we made it to the suspension bridge we were able to walk across and see down the river between the mountains on one side and out into the ocean on the other. It stopped raining right after we crossed the bridge, so we were able to walk back to the beach rain free which was a nice break, even though we were all already drenched.

Sarah, another Hope student, and me on the suspension bridge at Tsitsikamma National Park.
View of the mountains from the suspension bridge.
View of the suspension bridge and the outlook of the Indian Ocean.

After we dried off a bit we had the choice of going to four different animal encounters: monkeys, birds, big cats, or elephants. The majority of people chose the same as me and went to the elephant reservation where they save elephants from zoos and trafficking to put them in a natural and safe environment. We were able to get up close with the elephants and meet them which was one of the most exciting parts of this trip! We got to walk with the elephants while holding their trunks, pet them, feel their ears and tails, and hug their trunks. I also got to feed them chunks of cantaloupe and they grabbed it right out of my hand with their trunks and tried to take it from my hand even if they weren’t the elephant I was trying to feed. It was a really fun way to encounter elephants and learn more about them!

Walking with an elephant!
Learning about the elephants from our guide, Charlie.
Giving the elephant a hug!

Sunday, our last day of the Garden Route trip, we headed to Congo. In Congo we went to the famous caves that were discovered by a Dutch farmer who was looking for a lost sheep. We did the adventure tour, which meant that we had to crawl through tight spaces to get to some of the caverns. The rocks and formations inside the caves were really cool and took hundreds of thousands of years to form. Even though some of the crevices we had to fit through were tight and a little nerve-racking, it was definitely worth it to see what the caves had to offer.

Our final stop on the trip was to an African ostrich farm. Ostriches in South Africa are farmed for their meat and leather and are also used to herd and protect sheep. There was a handful of ostriches that they let us interact with. The first ostrich we saw was a dwarf ostrich who had a mutation causing him to be significantly shorter than the typical ostrich. We were able to feed him pellets out of our hands, and he had a surprisingly powerful bite and sharp beak. We then met Betsy, a full grown ostrich that the farm rescued. The tour guide said that Betsy is an unusually friendly ostrich, whereas typical ostriches are very aggressive and protective. Since Betsy is friendly and enjoys being around people, everyone got a chance to pet her and get an ostrich hug! The tour guide then asked us if we wanted to get an ostrich neck massage. We figured this meant standing with your back to a bunch of ostriches while holding a bucket of food. The ostriches reached over my head and around my neck in order to eat from the bucket. They were going at the food pretty hard and I definitely got hit in the face by an ostrich head a couple times, but it was worth it.

The dwarf ostrich – significantly shorter than the average ostrich.
Getting a hug from Betsy!
Getting a neck massage from the other ostriches by feeding them!

It was a really fun trip and a neat way to see more of South Africa other than Cape Town, but I am definitely excited to be back in Cape Town and become more familiar with the city I will be living in for the next four months!

My Last Week in Paris!

Finals week finally arrived for all of us at IES Paris! While I feel like I’ve only been in Paris for one day, it’s been seven weeks of unforgettable experiences. Since our finals happened to be on the Fourth of July, the staff at IES Paris decorated the IES center with American flags and streamers. Our professors and staff have been incredible to work with, and we’ve all become extremely close. It’s hard to turn in our last final, but we’ve all learned so much and made great internship connections.

After we crammed for finals and turned in our exams, IES took everyone out to a fancy farewell lunch at a restaurant called Deuz. We were served fried eggplant rolls filled with goat cheese (sounds weird, but I promise it’s actually the best appetizer I’ve had), and some of the best duck in Paris with everyone at IES Paris. We were sad to say goodbye and we all hope to come back to Paris to visit everyone!

Even though it was the last week, we still had some exploring left to do. We visited the Paris Mosque, which is one of the most beautiful and intricately decorated buildings in Paris. The bright blue tile floors were gorgeous in the sunlight, and the mint tea served there changed my life. Tea will never be the same. The gardens were beautiful, and since the Mosque is a hidden gem of Paris, we were able to enjoy the gardens in peace with no tourists.

   

A few of my friends from Avondale (my high school in Michigan) happened to be in Paris while on their trip through Europe during my last week. I was super excited to meet up with them! I took them to my favorite crêpe place, La Crêperie de Josselin for lunch. We had a blast catching up and exchanging travel stories, all while enjoying some of the tastiest crêpes in Paris! (Shout out to the IES Paris staff for introducing me to this crêperie!)

Shortly after, I explored the city visiting some of the places I still needed to cross off my list. One of these places was the famous Love Lock Bridge. This bridge is an icon of Paris, but unfortunately Paris removes the locks each month to keep the bridge from collapsing. Although, I was not disappointed, as there were hundreds of locks on the bridge. I hope to come back one day and put a lock on the bridge, as this ranks pretty high on my bucket list!

For my last night in Paris, I decided to do something special for myself. I bought a ticket to the top of Montparnasse Tower, which is the tallest building in Paris. I stayed for the sunset and watched the Eiffel Tower sparkle at night. The view was breathtaking and I could see for miles beyond Paris. I enjoyed some fantastic chocolate mousse while watching the sunset from the skydeck, because when in Paris, why not?! It was a great way to close my summer semester in Paris and the view of the city is something I will never forget.

Au revoir, Paris!

-Alissa Smith

Street Festivals in Germany

America certainly has a culture of summer festivals: every summer at home, my town puts on a big 3-day summer festival with food stalls, cultural displays, carnivals rides, fireworks, and more. But in Germany, there’s an entirely different culture built up around it. Not all the festivals happen during the summer, either. Even in winter, Christmas festivals brighten up dark evenings and fill the air with the smell of spices and cakes.

The Christmas markets brighten up German town squares during the darkest weeks of the year. (Dresden)

Even when I first arrived in Freiburg in February, the weekly market that takes place in the main square of Freiburg every day except Sunday way selling bratwursts, spices, and even flowers! Freiburg has had a market in the square around the Munster for about 700 years, and this traditional is still thriving today- on sunny summer Saturdays, the market is thick with tourists and locals.

Now that it’s summer, though, there’s even more festivals and markets than ever! On any given evening, you can expect to stumble across a festival if you wander around long enough.

While trying to go for a quiet evening stroll along the river, I came across a festival with rollercoasters! (Trier)

These festivals pop up all over town — in squares, along streets, on the banks of the city river. I’ve even been to one festival along a street in Freiburg where every few minutes everyone had to clear a path through the crowd for the street cars to pass through!

The long summer evenings are best spent hanging out at festivals until the sun sets — you can see that the street car tracks run right through the middle of this festival. Every once in a while, a street car would have to cautiously crawl through the crowd. The famous Munster spire can be seen rising over the city. (Freiburg)

One thing that surprised me was just how centrally alcoholic beverages figure into some of the festivals. Freiburg has a wine fest that’s one of the largest festivals in town, because Freiburg sits in the wine region of Germany. In Trier, I stumbled across a festival where every other stall was serving the regional beer, and the stage was covered in ads for the beer company.

This beer cap celebrates that this producer — Andech’s Monastery — has been selling beer since 1455. (Munich)

The oldest continuously operating companies in Germany date back to the 11th century, and all of them are breweries. The oldest effective law is the Beer Purity Regulations, instated 500 years ago, and Germans are very excited to share this fun fact with foreigners. The culture and tradition of brewing and vinting are important to Germans, and each region has its own take on fermented drinks to celebrate.

This stage — on the banks of the Mosul River — is decorated with ads for the regional beer producer, including massive cardboard cutouts of beer bottles. The band was also very regional — their ensemble included an accordion, and their outfits were polka-dotted vests. Most of their songs were crooning about the beautiful locality and its history. (Trier)
These large, heart-shaped cookies are everywhere at German street fairs. I believe they’re the German version of Gingerbread (Lebkuchen), which has citrus in addition to spice.

 

Brussels, Belgium and Luxembourg City, Luxembourg!

For a weekend trip, I decided to take the train from Paris into Brussels and Luxembourg City. Immediately entering the Grand Place city square of Brussels, I was greeted with intense smells of chocolate. I bought authentic Belgian chocolate from Mary’s, who are the chocolate suppliers of the Belgian royal family, and it was 100% the best chocolate I have ever tasted! I also had Belgian street waffles, which were piled high with tons of toppings. Later on, I stopped for frites (fries), and there is a huge feud between France and Belgium over where frites originated. I personally think Belgium had the better tasting frites!

Brussels is the most famous for the Manneken Pis statue, which occasionally gets dressed up in costumes for special events. I was lucky enough to be in Brussels on a national holiday dedicated to Manneken Pis, so I was able to watch a parade dedicated to the statue and see Manneken Pis in two different outfits!

After Brussels, I headed to Luxembourg City, Luxembourg for another day trip. Luxembourg City is full of history and castles. I toured the Bock Casemates, which is a fortress carved into the Luxembourg cliffs dating back to 963. This was one of the most interesting places I have seen in Europe. The fortress is entirely carved into caves and tunnels throughout the cliff side. The cave system is so large that I walked through for hours and did not see any other people. Bock Casemates border the city of Luxembourg, and it was beautiful to look out over the entire city from the fortress.

   

 

   

After touring Bock Casemates, I followed a hiking trail along the cliffs and forest of the city. The trail leads to a point called Chemin de la Corniche, also known as “the most beautiful balcony in Europe”. I can definitely agree that this view is the most beautiful balcony in Europe, as I have never seen anything like it! Luxembourg was my favorite country I visited in Europe, and I hope to visit again soon!

Ciao!

-Alissa Smith

 

 

The Mother City

I arrived safely in Cape Town a week ago for my fall semester at University of Cape Town and began what I hope will be the adventure of a lifetime! When I landed, I met my study abroad program director at the airport to drive to where I’ll be staying for the semester: a small 7-person house in a little enclosed garden. The house seems like it will make for good community throughout the semester, but I just have to get used to using a space heater to warm up my room since its winter here and uncommon to have central heating. The winters in Cape Town get cool, around 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit and are very rainy, but the rain is much needed here because of the drought Cape Town is going through. The water reserves were recently reaching 14% of their capacity, but since the winter rains it is now above 50%, which will last the area until 2019 at least. Even though the water levels have risen, Cape Town is still considered to be in a drought. We are under water restrictions and have to try our best to limit our water usage. That means short showers, recycling shower water to flush toilets, not leaving the faucets running while washing dishes or brushing teeth, etc. It will definitely take some getting used to!

Upper Campus at University of Cape Town, where I will be studying!

My first week here consisted of full days of IES orientation, where IES staff members went over Cape Town culture, history, safety, and academics. The orientation was mostly made up of lectures, but we were able to do some fun things afterwards. On Wednesday a few people from a nearby township called Langa came to take us on a tour in order for us to experience Cape Town as a whole instead of just becoming familiar with the city. Townships are similar to neighborhoods surrounding the city and each one is unique, so the members of the communities have a lot of pride in their township. Langa is a Xhosa township, which is one of cultural groups and one of the 11 national languages of South Africa. Langa is made up of black lower and middle class South Africans. During orientation we learned that in South Africa 54% of the population is under the poverty line and only 13 percent of the total population make enough money to be eligible tax payers. These were significant and surprising statistics to learn. We were able to see some poverty  first hand in Langa since the majority of the people are also under the poverty line.

Mike, our tour guide, was born and raised in Langa and still lives there today. Because it is a such a strong community in this township, he said that few people tend to leave even if they have enough money to move to a wealthier township. It was also evident that there was strong community based on the amount of people that were outside together and the number of children playing in the streets with each other. Our first stop on the tour was the arts building, where there are a few different art programs. One of the programs is called Our City – Cape Town. This program is made up of various local artists who sell their work and put the profits towards funding for local youth to come after school and learn how to make artwork. It is a way for the young people in the township to learn a new skill and have something to do after classes. It seemed like a really good opportunity for the children because from what we saw in the township, they  didn’t have toys to play with or access to the types of crafts or activities I grew up with. They were smiling and laughing and having fun but were playing with car tires and old storage crates. It was reassuring seeing how their community was providing them with opportunities like this art program since they are unable to have their own toys and other things many of us take for granted.

Some of the artwork created by local Langa artists being sold for the Our City – Cape Town program.
A mosaic wall outside of the Langa art building.

The next stop was with street vendors cooking and selling sheep heads. In Langa sheep are a common and popular food, but they eat every part of the sheep, including the organs and the head. So, we were able to see how Langa women cook the sheep head and even got to try a bite! The idea of eating the face of a sheep was a lot worse than the taste. It wasn’t bad but that could’ve been because I put a lot of salt on it. It is also tradition for boys to go through a rite of passage to transition to manhood, in which a sheep is sacrificed. So sheep are a big part of the cuisine and religious tradition.

A street vendor cooking a sheep head over the fire.
The sheep head I got to taste a bite of!

In Langa there is also a variety of living situations based on socioeconomic status. The middle class members live in full houses collected in one section of the township. The lower class community members live in hostels. Mike brought us to see a couple different hostels on our tour. There are older hostels where up to 6 people live in a room about 12’ x 10’ and they share a common space and bathrooms with 5 other rooms. This means that at times there can be 36 people sharing the same kitchen and bathroom. These living conditions were hard to see and experience because they wouldn’t be ideal for anyone. The room we went into was where a 16-year-old girl lived with her family; it was hard to imagine what it would be like to have to do all of my homework and apply for college in a tiny room filled with my family. It put into perspective what living conditions I grew up with and am used to compared to and how I complain about my dorm room being small when I only share it with one person, not five others. The government knows that these living conditions need to be improved, so they have started renovating the hostels. The newer ones are much nicer. They still have one bedroom with up to 6 people, but there is only one room sharing a common area, which is much more homey and comfortable. It was nice seeing that improvements are being made, but it is not happening at the rate that it needs to be.

Rows of older hostels in Langa.

After seeing the township and experiencing a little bit of their daily life, we went to a restaurant in the township, Mzamzi, and got to taste traditional Xhosa food and listen to an African band during dinner. The woman who runs the restaurant and cooked our meal came out to Welcome us to Langa and told us the story about how the restaurant came to be. She told us that she wanted people to be able to experience a different part of Cape Town and see that townships are not all dangerous but have a rich culture in themselves. Her restaurant is ranked number one in Cape Town on Trip Advisor which is an incredible accomplishment for her and her community. The food was delicious and included traditional foods such as samp and beans, beef stew, umngqusho (dried maize and bean mélange) and my favorite part, malva pudding for dessert. After eating, her husband came out and got us dancing to the African band and we even got to play the instruments for the last song. It was a very fun way to end the night, seeing how excited the people of this community were to share their culture with us!

The African band playing at Mzamzi while we were eating. We got a chance to play some of the instruments pictured!

Experiencing Langa was eye-opening, allowing me to gain a better understanding of what life is like for many South Africans. Some of my peers at UCT will have come from townships such as this, and I hope I will be able to learn more about life in townships through talking with peers and experiencing more of them throughout my time here. There is so much culture here in Cape Town and so much depth to each aspect of it, I can’t wait to discover more!

Big Hope 2: Stories That Move, and “All You Need is Love”

   

As a newbie to the UK, I was filled with so much excitement when we were en route to land. When we arrived, I heard the accents of our lovely student greeters and immediately fell in love. There’s something about experiencing a new culture that makes me feel so alive. Being in an entirely new setting always brings me back to the feelings of being a child. Wandering around in awe as everything around me is so fresh and unfamiliar. For example, today we went to the Lake Districts as my day trip. We were driving in the biggest bus down the tiniest roads, and I would look to my left and see what seemed like painting after painting. Where I grew up, all I saw was flat land and boring buildings. Here, there were deep valleys, mass greenery, and waterfalls that reminded me of how crazy cool of a Creator we have. A quick food-for-thought, witnessing the Lake Districts provoked the notion to never set limitations on any dreams and/or aspirations. God made the biggest and most imaginative things come to life, and through Him, we’re able to do that too.

Along with all the beauty, I just had so much fun. Today especially, the company made the long bus rides and overall experience so memorable. I spent a great amount of time with two students from China. We exchanged slang, language, and dance moves, but we also spent time discussing experiences with race and stereotypes. We talked about the difference of being Asian living in America and Asian living in Asia. It was, in an odd way, comforting and exciting for me, because I don’t often get the chance to have those kinds of genuine conversations especially in the States. We were able to connect in such an immediate and purely joyful manner, all because we both made the decision to travel and be intentional in getting to know one another.

Generally speaking, those kinds of intentional discussions are what made this trip so enjoyable and fruitful for me. My favorite part has simply been meeting people I would’ve never met otherwise, and learn from their diverse experiences and outlooks on the world. In particular, I loved my learning track and the people I worked with. I was in Stories That Move which sheds light on the realities of discrimination. Our team decided to use stories as a way to give people a platform to speak up about their experiences and what they want our society to do to combat such prejudices. We collectively believed that personal stories was the most powerful way in communicating the importance of ending discrimination. As a part of our project we went to the Slavery Museum in Liverpool to interview people who may have stories of their own they’d like to share. We had a successful trip and came back with their experiences, both direct and indirect, regarding stereotypes and unjust judgments. Along with their stories, we took portraits of them to give a face to their voice. We then did the same procedure with our own narratives and experiences. Finally, we made a Facebook page to give people the platform to share their stories, and we got our first story by someone yesterday! This project was incredibly encouraging because not only did it shed importance on the life of each individual, but it reminded me of the importance of mine. I was reminded that my story and voice has a place, and should be used in order to empower the present generation, and those to come.

I’d say the anthem of this week was “All You Need is Love”, as it was performed in the opening and closing ceremonies, the final concert, and hummed among others while walking from session to session. It’s safe to say this will be stuck in my head for weeks. The meaning of this song reigned true among many of those I met in this Big Hope 2 conference. Whether it was through laughter, inclusion, or purposeful conversation, I’ll always be grateful to those who shared their love with me this past week. No matter how cliché, overused, and  undermined the word “love” sounds to many, it’ll always be a profound and effective one to me. It was love that was behind many of the conversations had where people shared bits of their lives with one another. It was love behind people’s intentionality and desire to be present. It was love behind people’s passions to see this world become a better place. Love was the driving force of what made this conference come together in all the good ways that it did. See, I think people have forgotten about the power that comes when choosing to simply love. In this conference, the goals discussed such as world peace, equality, freedom, and human rights are only going to reign victorious when people choose to foster the radical and profound act of love. When we do that we’ll see a people who look at one’s identity before racial stereotypes. We’ll see people be first responders in places of violence and oppression. We’ll see a world that actually values selflessness and compassion, when we take love seriously.

 

— By Jillian Chang

Big Hope 2: Global Citizenship

The Big Hope 2 has been one of the best experiences of my life so far! I loved coming together with passionate and fun-loving people from all over the world to discuss global issues in the city of Liverpool. I felt so alive, motivated, and inspired during the whole week and my heart was fuller than it had been in a long time. This conference reaffirmed my beliefs and passion for cultures and global challenges. The speeches and discussions inspired me to be an active global citizen and to work for the common good, but my favorite thing was my learning track. Everyone got to choose a learning track, which was like a mini project, from 27 different options. I chose “Global Citizenship, Education, and Faith” and got to work on that one during the week.

The track was led by six Italian professors who were all eager to work with our group and share about their culture. Our group was probably the biggest one at the conference with around 25 students from different countries. I was fascinated by all the diversity represented in our classroom from language to skin color to religion to gender and more. Below you can see a video of our group saying “hello/good morning” in our native languages!

We focused on defining the concept of global citizenship based on our experiences and ideas. First, we all showed pictures and videos from our countries that were related to our idea of global citizenship. Then, we wrote down the themes represented in our pictures like family, faith, music, food, nature, and others. I enjoyed seeing how no matter where we were from, we all valued the same things even if it was to a different extent. It reminded me that our common humanity unites us despite our differences.

One of the days, we went down to the city center together and had a blast! We first went to a museum, and then we got a walking tour of the city. We were amazed by the beauty and history of the city and took advantage of it by taking lots of pictures together. It was such a fun day and it brought us closer together.

The other days we worked on a project to show to the rest of the groups in the conference. Since we were a big group, we made four projects which included a presentation with a video, two songs, comics, and a handmade symbol. I worked on the presentation and had a lot of fun putting everything together and combining all our ideas. I was also glad to help as a translator for the group coordinator who only spoke Italian and Spanish. We finished our projects on time and presented them to the rest of the people at the conference, and we even got to perform a song at the closing concert!

Looking back, I am so grateful I chose that learning track, but most of all, I’m thankful for the people who were in it. I learned a lot from them and now I have new friends in different countries! We befriended each other on social media to keep up with our lives; yet, I really hope I get to see them in person again. My main takeaway from the learning track and the conference in general was that our common humanity should go over nationality and anything else that distinguishes us from each other. We are all global citizens and our race is humanity. This does not mean we should abandon our other identities. It means we should recognize that we are also members of the world community; therefore, we all share the same global identity and are responsible for our community. For the years to come, I aspire to be an active citizen wherever I am, celebrating diversity and seeking solutions to global issues at a local and global scale. You can do that too!

— By Biana Reyes Alvarenga

Bianca is third person in this photo, left to right

 

Coming Full Circle

This isn’t actually my first “exchange” to Europe — in 2012, at the age of 15, I was fortunate enough to be able to go on a two week tour of Europe with a youth orchestra. We stayed with host families in the communities we visited and traveled through Germany and France. It was an amazing experience that I still look back on with great fondness. In fact, it made such an impact on me that I considered trying to study abroad in one of the German cities that I had visited as a freshman in high school.

As a 15 year old, I was very excited about the massive jars of Nutella one could get in Europe!

So naturally, I reached out to the organization — Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp — to see if any of the five or so youth ensembles would be coming to Freiburg this summer.

As it turned out, the Blue Lake International Youth Choir would be performing in Badenweiler, which is a village about 23 miles south of Freiburg. Unfortunately, there was no direct way for me to get there. I was determined, though, and so yesterday evening I embarked on a 2 hour journey to Badenweiler.

A poster for the concert!

It was really sweet because the conductor (actually the choir director from Albion College) was doing his concert “speech” in German for the first time and would occasionally ask the audience for grammar or vocab help, and the audience was happy to oblige him. In fact, I and everyone else seemed to be really enjoying the performance: they were getting really excited about the Gospel songs the choir was singing, and were clapping along during the song and whistling and whooping at the end. The music was all characteristically American, with selections from Gospel, folk hymns, and Broadway- including Hamilton! These are the songs and music styles that I grew up hearing and that remind me of our history, and they just don’t exist in the same way in Germany. I missed them a lot this semester!

Unfortunately, I ended up having to leave before the concert ended, because I had to walk another hour back to the train station to catch the evening train home! Had I missed it, I would’ve had to wait at least an hour for the next train, and I didn’t want to do that. It was really cool that I was able to cross paths with this little piece of my past in the countryside of Germany. I’m going home in about three weeks — what a perfect time for a little shot of nostalgia and home!