Next Stop: Thailand

Now that I am a college girl, I get to go even further than Europe, and explore Thailand. This wasn't a randomly chosen destination, of course, because what would a good adventure be without some purpose and meaning?

Last year, my dad and I decided to host an exchange student, R-Lee, and she just so happened to become my best friend. She lives in Thailand with her parents, grandmother, and two brothers. After a bit of saving and a lot of excitement, my dad managed to scrape up the $6,000 for airfare, lodging, and everything else so that we could go visit her and meet the whole family.

To make it even better, R-Lee's family has planned the whole thing for their vacation too. We got the itinerary, and it had things like going to the temple, swimming and diving in the sea, and even riding an elephant!! Being from Michigan, all of these things are pretty exciting for me, especially since elephants are my favorite. The countdown is 3 days until we fly out from Saginaw, Michigan over to Detroit then to Tokyo, Japan, and then finally Bangkok, Thailand!

Frank Huis

While in Amsterdam, we visited the Anne Frank House. It was an amazing experience!

The museum is so popular and busy that we had to get a reservation and get there an hour before they opened. I took a picture of the line that we didn't have to wait in because we had a group reservation. It stretched around the block!

The Anne Frank House is hard to get a large group reservation for because of its close quarters. They haven't modified any part of the annex apart from guide ropes to keep you on the path. It is also peculiar that you cannot take any pictures while there. This is because it can be an emotional experience for some visitors and they do not want to upset anyone by having everyone taking pictures of everything. They do have approved pictures printed on postcards in the bookshop, and of course, I loved that. I bought a lot of postcards and what I couldn't have pictures of, I keep in my memories.

Being a People to People experience, there was a little extra compared to what the average tourist got to experience. Before entering the museum, we had a lesson on the Frank family and did an activity with the book In Memoriam. This book was written to remember all of the people that lost there lives in the Holocaust. By looking up Anne in the book, I realized just how young Anne was for going through all of the horrors of Auschwitz. she also died soon after her sister, Margot, and only days before the prisoners in Auschwitz were set free.

I already had a small understanding of what awaited people in concentration camps, but after seeing the Annex, I got a true understanding of the lengths people went to to try and keep themselves and their families safe.

In Flanders Fields

We were in Belgium for a very short time, but we got to see a lot. We had a demonstration at a chocolate shop (the best chocolate shop!) and the only remaining true belgian lace shop. These were really interesting, but my favorite place was the In Flanders Fields Museum.

This museum is dedicated to the memory of what happened during the Great War in Flanders Fields. There were a lot of interesting displays and even kiosks that would tell you about a persons life throughout the war. You could scan your ticket and get a specific person's story. I followed Bill Clarke from the United States. He left the U. S. in July 1918 and experienced the deaths of many friends in no-man's land before safely returning home in March 1919.

In the museum, we even got to experience no-man's-land. There was a dark room where we heard people's cries for help and enemy fire, and saw pictures of the battlefield. It was all put together to give you the feeling of being in the darkness with everything happening all around you. It was really scary to think that people had to live through that. 

Poster to remember the people in Flanders Fields

The symbol of Flander's Fields is a poppy flower because they usually grow freely in the fields but the battle tore them up so much that nothing could grow. Then, as people were buried, they grew between the crosses.

Actual picture (on a postcard) of the battlefield

U.S. Enlistment Poster
Showing Gernmany as a monster

Walking through the museum helped me understand that everyone in the war suffered. All of the military forces on all sides were taking losses in lives and all sides were responsible. There were no monsters like the governments wanted their people to believe. We were all people, and the only ones to fear were the ones in control.

First Stop: Switzerland

If you want to go somewhere beautiful, go to the Engadine in Switzerland. This province is nestled right in the middle of the Swiss Alps and the views couldn't be any more spectacular.
We landed in the big city of Zurich, and had to travel through the mountains to get to our destination. We literally had to go through the mountains to get there so the bus we were on got onto a train that took us through the mountains. You would think it was amazing but on that warm summer day, the bus got unbearably hot.

Ardez Switzerland from the Mountains

Ardez, our final destination, was a small, old town in the middle of the mountains. The hotel was small enough that we had it almost all to ourselves. There weren't a lot of tourist attractions there, but who needed them? There were so many things to do there and sights to see. We took hikes through the mountains and saw whole villages!

Postcards are my kind of souvenirs, but I didn't get a lot of them in Switzerland. I

took plenty of pictures though!

This is my favorite picture of the mountians. We took a gondilla up one side of the mountain for lunch, potatoe noodles, a traditional Swiss meal, and then a hike to the other side to get down. On our hike, the view was breathtaking. I had never seen anything like it.

Scuol is another small town near Ardez that we toured. We walked through the city on a treasure hunt for knowledge. We had a language lesson in Romansch to prepare us for interaction with the locals, but mostly we communicated through broken English instead.

The architecure was really different. All of the houses were decorated and I loved the doors. Since Ardez and Scuol were old farming towns, the houses were originally built as part barns. They would have a basement level to keep the grass for the animals and in the cold of winter, they would drive the cattle in to stay warm. Most of them aren't used for that anymore though, but they still have awesome doors. 

Being People to People Student Ambassadors, we got to do things that regular tourists don't. The treasure hunt was only one thing. At the hotel, we had a dance where a traditional Swiss band performed just for us! There was a string bass, an acordian, and a clarinet (that's my instrument). The music was awesome and we got to play games to it.

I loved Switzerland and would love even more to go back!

What is People to People?

You might be wondering what this organization is and what it is all about. Well, I can fix that.
People to People is an international organization that was started by Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 and strives to create a better world with peace through understanding.
Their Mission states:

"We bridge cultural and political borders through education and exchange, making the world a better place for future generations."  (Official People to People Website)

 

 They send thousands of students in junior high and high school around the world to learn first-hand about other places and the people that live there. There are programs in all seven continents and many go to several different countries.
By giving students (and educators) the opportunity to travel they promote the "bridging of cultural and political borders, through direct interaction, unparalleled access and unique opportunities" (Official Website). By doing this, they hope to raise a generation of educated indaviduals free from prejudice and ignorance toward other people and cultures.

For more information visit their website:

http://www.peopletopeople.com/AboutUs/Pages/default.aspx

Adventures In Europe



People To Poeple 2012
Adventures in Europe!

Last summer, June 26- July 15 to be exact, I embarked on an amazing trip with 45 other people to Europe as student ambassadors. We went to Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, France, and England. Whenever people ask me where I went on my trip, they get a little overwhelmed when I list six countries off the top of my head. This experience is one I will never forget and it definitely changed my world forever.
After coming back home and soaking in all of the things I saw and experienced, I decided that I would make the world's culture and history my business. I want to learn more than ever before about different people and the way they live. As a high school senior, I am trying to find a way to turn this new-found interest into a college degree and career. So far I haven't settled on anything for sure because it is all so interesting. Everything from humanities to sociology, and global studies to history. My only problem is finding something to focus on. I want to experience every culture and visit every place in the world.

Since first writing this blog, that is exactly what I've decided to do. Join me in my adventures, around the country and around the world!