This is Munster, a small city just a couple hours from Bonn, in Westphalia. I went to Munster for just 24 short hours, but I loved every minute of it. Small city, tons of bikes, tons of history, tons of trees... this seems to be a pattern in Germany. The combination of old and new, of history and nature is incredible, so unlike Canada.


So here I am in the Hall of Peace, where a large part of the Treaty of Westphalia was negotiated to end the Thirty Year's War in Europe in 1648... I actually wanted to go to Munster especially for this... and it was worth it! It was amazing to stand in the room, in front of the 37 portraits of delegates, in the space where our modern day state system was created... and yes, I realize that I am a huge IR nerd.The Hall of Peace again. I took so many pictures in there, and it is not a large room by any means, but I wanted every detail! I had to wait through 2 presentations in German so the room would clear out enough for me to get some unobstructed shots.The Hall of Peace from the outside.

Organ, magnificent organ in St Paul's Cathedral, the largest church in Westphalia. I wish I could have heard it being played. Organ music is like the bagpipes, they are both such moving, dramatic, expressive instruments.The inner sanctuary of St Paul's... this was definitely one of those places that my photography skills can't capture. The sheer size and architectural artistry of this cathedral was magnificent.

The towers of St Paul's.
This is one of the markets I was writing about, this one in Dom Platz in front of St Paul's. I was there the night before and the entire Platz was deserted and empty, and the next day BAM! People and stands everywhere!
St Lambertii's Church, a gorgeous Gothic building. The top of this spire still has 3 metal cages attached to it, where Baptist priests used to be held as punishment for, well, being Baptist.
Prinzipmarkt at night, one of my favourite pictures. If I just imagine away the cars it is like being back in time!
Munster is known as the bike capital of Germany, and The Promenade is why. It is a bike and walking trail which runs the circumference of the city and around Lake Aasee, in place of the city walls.

Yes, I am taking a ridiculous amount of pictures. Yes, I am a tourist. And I'm totally ok with that.

Normalcy or Novelty?

Blog Assignment number 2.... Time to set the scene!

I've now been in Germany for almost a month, and there are things here which seem so normal to me now, but are such a novelty when I think about Canada! For example the open air markets that are in every Platz big enough to hold them... selling produce, knick knacks, antiques, and meat. SO MUCH MEAT. Some of my friends told me I would have a hard time being a vegetarian in Germany, and I shrugged it off, saying 'Germany doesn't have fruit or vegetables??' Of course, Germany DOES have food that is meat-less, but it IS harder to find. Eating meat here (especially duma, a sausage and sauce combo that is sold on the street like hot dogs) seems like a more entrenched way of life than in Canada, where vegetarian and vegan restaurants are available. In the markets I have to be careful which rows I walk down, I once found myself faced skinned pigs hanging upside down inches away from my face, and Patrick once asked for chicken on his pizza and was told his only option was sheep's meat, revolving slowly on a spit behind the counter. So I am still doing my vegetarian thing, but it seems strange and out of place here... I don't mind though, it just makes ordering in restaurants difficult, I feel like such an idiot, pulling out my phrase book to try and decipher the menu, asking 'Does this have meat in it?' to servers who may or may not speak English, and usually look at me like I have 2 heads or something... If only I spoke more German - I should try and learn the names of every random kind of meat possible so I can stop pestering the servers! So I am always a little concerned when my food comes, depending on my confidence in the clarity of communication with the server. I asked once in a supermarket if someone could tell me which kinds of soup had no meat, and the guy working there looked at me like I was crazy and told me I was in the wrong kind of supermarket. But there doesn't seem to be a RIGHT kind of supermarket for a vegetarian, they all carry the same stuff!

So the food here is not really what I am used to. I can't find cheddar cheese anywhere, although they DO carry my favourite kind of frozen pizza! But what is really killing me the price of chips. I am a chip addict. And here everything is either sour cream and onion (not my favourite) or paprika flavoured. Seriously, I had no idea that there would be this obsession with paprika, or that a small bag of chips would cost 3.5o euros!! That's over 5 bucks for a teeny bag of chips!! So I must get my chip habit under control or go broke... But I see why people in Germany seem to be so fit, everyone bikes everywhere and avoids junk food since it is too expensive!

And the bikes! They are everywhere! I am more in danger of being hit by a bike than I am of being hit by a car. Drivers are so considerate, there are pedestrian crosswalks with no lights, and as soon as I even look like I'm considering stepping onto the street what little traffic there is grids to a halt, including buses and streetcars. In Toronto I would never dream of not looking twice before crossing the street, and even then it can be risky business. Here I'm sure I could step out onto the street and wander around blindfolded and never get hit (don't worry Larissa, I won't try it!) But car culture is very different here, it isn't nearly as prolific as in Toronto and Canada.

Finally the atmosphere! The places I have been so far, Bonn and Munster, OOZE history, it seems as though every building has a story to tell. Wandering the streets of Munster at night, through the old part of the city when no one was really around was like being in a different time, everything is restored from the war and looks the way I imagine it would a couple hundred years ago and more. This is something which Canada does not have, this deep character that comes with a long history. I love Toronto, but the gray concrete and skyscrapers have nothing on a church built in 1230, and our dirty sidewalks lack the charm of cobble stoned streets.

Some more pictures are on the way! Though I don't love whipping out my camera every 2 seconds (does anything scream tourist louder than that?) I am comfortable enough with my foreigner status to snap pictures at will - I want to remember this journey! And I would love to improve on my photography skills, since I seem to be artistically challenged when it comes to painting and drawing, maybe one day I can take good photos! So forgive my sometimes sad attempts at photography, I don't quite seem to have the knack yet of capturing the beauty around me, but some things don't translate as well into photos - they need to be experienced, breathed in. However, I hope they give some idea of my experiences here in Germany...

I think it's about time...

...I wrote about my internship! Patrick and I are the first to ever intern for the African Youth Foundation, so I figured I should offer up some info! So, a day in the life of an AYF intern starts at 8 or 8:30 am (so early for my brain, but I drink tons of tea and the walk to work helps wake me up most mornings). I unlock the office, and spend about a half hour or so trying to get the internet to work (depending on how finicky it decides to be on any given morning). Once that is up and running the day can truly begin!

So far, I have been working on one major project with Patrick. We are designing a detailed and comprehensive outline for a 5 day entrepreneurship training seminar which will be held in Ghana this coming October. We are in the final stages of preparation and should be submitting our proposal and outline this week. It has been a challenging assignment, as someone who is NOT business-minded, to compile a 5 day long seminar which introduces youth to the fundamentals of starting a successful small business was kind of intimidating. Since this was a topic area which I didn't know too much about, the research has been extensive, but I have learned so much. I am excited that this is a project which can actually have an impact, as entrepreneurship is so valuable to economic success, and the benefits definitely are felt by entire communities, not just individuals. It feels great to be participating in something so worthwhile.

I have also written a report on the ABEN dinner (see below for details, I posted a picture and short blurb on it last week sometime), which will be published on the AYF website.

That is my internship so far! I wish I spoke more German, every time I amswer the phone I almost have a panic attack that someone won't speak any english and I won't know what to say or where to transfer their call, but so far almost everyone speaks at least some english.

Once this project is complete, I will let you guys know what I am working on next!

Picture Comments!

So I couldn't figure out how to post pictures with captions.... I'm clearly NOT a savvy blogger... Not yet anyways!

Ok, I will work my way up from the bottom picture.

This is a magnificent church situated in the inner city of Bonn, meaning that NO CARS ARE ALLOWED! It is a amazing place to walk around and shop, all cobblestone streets and fountains everywhere, patios of restaurants and spectacular architecture, most of it so well preserved! This church, around the other side of it, has 2 enormous stone heads lying on the ground, and though I'm not sure why they are there or where they came from (it looks as though 2 giant sculptures have been beheaded and their bodies carried off), it adds to the old world mystery and authentic charm of Bonn.

Next up is the main university building, so much longer than I could fit in one camera frame! Yellow, of course. I have noticed a surprising obsession with the colour yellow here, I've never seen so many yellow buildings! But they are undeniably gorgeous. The university looks out into a huge green open space, another thing about Bonn that I have noticed... greenery and water are everywhere! It's really a very peaceful city to just wander around in, especially on a rainy day (and we've had a lot of those) when not many other people are out and you feel like you have this entire historical experience to yourself. The next time is rains I will go and take some pictures of my favourite lookout spot over the Rhine river, I find it so much more magical in rainy days. I don't think that I will have to wait too long!

Next up is another green space, a long green corridor flanked by double rows of trees and bike paths leading up to another university building which houses botanical gardens behind it. I have only peeked through the bars at the gardens, I will definitely go and post some pictures, it's free on weekdays! The first time I saw this view down the long park to the university, I was stunned. It is so much longer than this picture shows, there is a charming stone bridge over a fish pond once you are closer to the university, and on a clear day you can see mountains rising in the background behind the university.

This next picture is a complement to the one before, it is the tree-lined walks which run on either side of the long park.

Next is the stone bridge I wrote about above, and a closer look at yet another stunning university building.

This next picture takes a bit of explaining. The organization I am interning with, the African Youth Foundation, puts on an African Business Networking dinner every year, a chance for members of the African Diaspora to come together and discuss solutions to issues and barriers that they face in the business world, and also those faced back in Africa for entrepreneurs. I arrived at the dinner, expecting to listen and learn (and enjoy a free meal!), but the executive director of AYF, my boss, asked me for a favour. I could not have been more shocked when she told me what it was! One of the speakers had dropped out, the ONLY female speaker, and she wanted a female perspective on the roster for the night. So she asked me to fill in.

I seriously considered not doing it. I mean, I am fine with public speaking when I am prepared! And I was thinking, "if only I had known this yesterday I could have written a speech and been confident!" But luckily Patrick, the other York intern at AYF and Adam, another York student at a different internship in Bonn who we had invited along, encouraged me to embrace the opportunity. I knew they were right, but I was freaking out! Adam, as a business major with some insight into aspects of business which I'm not as knowledgeable about, offered to come up with me and help me fill the time (I was supposed to talk for 15-20 minutes!) I was so relieved to be sharing the responsibility, but still participate and voice my concerns and observations. We were asked to discuss a more youthful, Canadian student perspective on entrepreneurship in Africa and on business linkages between Canada and Africa.

I chose to pull from personal experience, from my year as an assistant manager at Ten Thousand Villages - a not for profit fair trade organization which deals with many artisan groups in Africa - to talk about the power of consumer awareness and the possibilities of fair trade. Since fair trade often walks hand in with ecologically friendly methods of production, I also voiced my hope, and the hope of many Canadian I have spoken to through my work with TTV, that Africa uses its unique position as a developing nation to break the traditional industrialization mould. Africa has the chance to utilize its one of a kind and abundant resources and a growing base of responsible entrepreneurship to help to create a culture and a path to development which is a more sustainable model than the one take by the West.

I have to say, I'm so happy I embraced the opportunity to speak before these successful African Diaspora entrepreneurs, many of whom are involved with development or entrepreneurship ventures in Africa. I was nervous during my speech, but once people started asked questions and discussion began, I was able to join in and feel quite comfortable talking to the group and interacting as a forum leader. And I have to say thanks to Adam, he was great to have up there with me, and to Patrick, who had some of the sharpest questions and observations! He kept the discussion going when I feared crickets were about to start chirping. Thanks guys!

Culture. Is. A. Lie.

I don’t expect all Canadians to have anything in common, even those things which are “typically” seen as Canadian, those things which as easily recognizable as Canadian, those characteristics which brand Canada and everyone who lives here. I don’t like hockey, I don’t drink beer that much and I don’t like national and cultural classifications, assuming that living within certain geographical boundaries defines the people that we can become. Being Canadian doesn’t define me. Would I be different had I grown up somewhere else? Maybe... but there are things inside of me that I feel are irrevocable, and will stay with me no matter where I go and what I do, things that I believe would be a part of me no matter where I was raised. I grew up in rural south-western Ontario, where diversity was nonexistent, where everyone was white, where a very small-town, sort of “Hicksville” mentality tried to smother those who were different. And I was always different, I was a nerd, a goth, then a harcore Marxist – I was always the weird kid with radical ideas who no one understood, and what’s more, no one really wanted to. I wasn’t raised in a diverse metropolitan centre like Toronto, in fact my small town, Strathroy if you wanted to know, couldn’t be more different from Toronto or Montreal. Canada is too large and diverse to be cohesive. I don’t think I could begin to describe the culture of Canada, because I don’t think that it truly exists.

Something which is seen as “Canadian” is the acceptance of multiculturalism, but my experience growing up in Canada was not characterized by diversity. If I wasn’t raised anywhere near diversity, why do I embrace it? I don’t think it has anything to do with being Canadian, I think it has everything to do with being a tolerant person who believes in equality and individuality – this is who I choose to be. I would be this way if I had grown up in the USA, or Australia, or the UK.

My strong environmentalism would be another aspect of myself I do not think I could escape, whether I grew up in the Great White North or not. Wilderness and respect for it is supposed to be a part of Canada’s culture isn’t it? Isn’t it perceived that way, both by Canadians and others? When really the reality is that Canada is lagging behind in preserving our natural spaces, with a marked reluctance from not only government, but the Canadian people, to change how we exploit the land which we have claimed for our own. And so in some aspects of “culture” I see lies – comforting falsehoods that people can whisper to themselves, use a shield to protect themselves from needing to claim personal responsibility to change. The illusion that Canada is eco-friendly serves to placate entire masses of people who could do something to preserve some of the most biologically diverse and unique areas of the world. Canada has 1/3 of the world’s wetlands and 1/5 of the world’s wilderness – and we’re not protecting them. Instead of characterizing ourselves by a mistaken cultural identity of being tree-huggers, why don’t we let our actions and our environmental track record speak for itself? The truth is there, and it doesn’t make us look like tree-huggers - quite the opposite. The multiculturalism is mentioned above is another illusion of our "Canadian identity." One need lool no farther than the First Nations to see very clearly that we are not as accepting, or as supportive of those who are different from the European-descended "norm" than we would like to believe. It seems ironic to me that those who were here first, on this land we call Canada, are now pushed to the margins and excluded by our so-called multicultural society.

But Hey! We’re Canada! We’re diverse! – In other words, let’s not do anything about it. We don’t need to do anything about it.

A nation is an artificial construction, and I would rather be defined by the way I interact with the world around me, by how I treat the environment, and how I treat my fellow human beings – and these are my choices. This has nothing to do with a “state” or with “Canada.” I actually have a strong aversion to nationalism, I think of it as misplaced loyalty to a “state” - when our loyalty should be to the earth and to each other. What’s more, nationalism often walks with its extreme sibling, patriotism, and together they have misled, caused wars, and continue to perpetuate injustice.

I don’t like to think of culture in terms of being defined by nation-states, an individual can choose how they want to move through the world, an individual can choose who or what to associate themselves with – and I hope that individuals can see past the veil, past the illusions about our identity that Canadian “culture” tries to perpetuate. I choose to distance myself from nationalism, I don’t want to let a love of an artificial entity overcome my empathy for the earth and others. Nationalism places “the nation” above “we the people” and above nature, and by associating my culture with a nation, by accepting cultural stereotypes and using them to help define myself, I am stepping towards that precipice.