Global media 2, a la Crossing Borders

The global media are on the way of losing their values. They are getting more focused on making money, making a living for their owners, being the first in delivering news. They are covering their own interests and curiosity with the “lie” of others’ being curious. To cut long story short: They are getting selfish.

I believe we can call it the recent crisis of the media. This is not about the journalists losing their jobs, the newspapers and the TV-channels being forced to close down. In my opinion this is a crisis of values and of attitudes.

For me the question is: Do they want the story to get out or do they want to be the first to tell it? Why is that so important? Is it about the money or about their personal pride?

Besides these problems, the abuse of media for personal and political reasons is happening more often as well. Not only politicians, but also businessmen are using their money and power to get a hold of the media as much as they can. It can be very dangerous sometimes. Even if we do not know about it, it exists.

by: Daniel Jadi (HUN)

Media Consumption by Zsuzsi

Today's post was inspired of My Studies about Global Media at Crossing Border Group.

How I consume the Media?

I don't watch TV, because I feel it's so agressive in many way and people can be addict on. The news are always about conflicts, cheating, natural catastrophe. In a way it keeps peoples's mind in a continous state of fearing, or the worse in apathy. In that state of mind, people are easily get being manipulated at all the time. They consumes opinions from the talkshows, ideologies from the political shows, lifestyle from the series and advertisements. If you turn on the TV, it's really hard to stop and run away from all the shits. The ownership of Magazines, Papers and TV Channels are very concentrated. The Mainstream media is just about making profit and power, not to get you to be informed. They are so manipulating. All the system is a big bubble, the price of 1 second advertising time is outrageuosly huge amount.
I prefer to read weekly newspaper. I get used to read 3 type of newspapers in Hungary to have a coverage of all political sides and get some objectivity. It's a fun to explore the political line, and how the news can be served in totally different way. And I can filter them more easily than the TV. But what I really like to read, are the alternative media sites, like Indymedia or several blogs, and I've also started my own blog. I think it's the best way to know about the reality through the ordinary people's opinion.
What is Indymedia?
"The Independent Media Center is a network of collectively run media outlets for the creation of radical, accurate, and passionate tellings of the truth. We work out of a love and inspiration for people who continue to work for a better world, despite corporate media's distortions and unwillingness to cover the efforts to free humanity."
http://www.indymedia.org
You can reach in many languages and you can edit it freely if you want.

By Zsuzsi

17th November 1989

Today, 20 years has passed since the students demonstration took place in the streets of Prague. This demonstration was brutally supressed by the police and it started the so-called Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. A social movement that has changed the political regime. Today is the 20th Anniversary of the new Czech (and Slovac) DEMOCRACY.
Why was it exactly on this day that the students went to the streets? We have to go back in history to find the answer. In autumn 1939, when Czechoslovakia was occupied by the Nazi Germany, a Czech student Jan Opletal was heavily injured in an anti-Nazi demonstration. He died a few days later and his death initiated a new wave of revolt against the occupiers. These actions were not left without answer and on November 17th 1939 the University dorms were attacked by Germans and the Czech Universities were closed down - 9 students were executed and many were sent to concentration camps.
The events of November 17th were recalled every year during the official commemorations in the communist era. In the year 1989, the students wanted to organize the 50th Anniversary on their own and their way. This was not in link with the official policies and that's why the students were attacked by the police during the peacefull manifestation. This was the last drop that made other people come into the streets and actively manifest their thirst for freedom.
Today, 20 years later, I live in a democratic country. I can travel, I can be here in Krogerup and study together with people from all over the world. I am free.
November 17th is therefore an important day for me.
At the end of this article, I would like to pass foward a message that Mr. Václav Havel (one of the leaders of the dissent, former president of Czechoslovakia and Czech Republic) brought out this week during his various speeches in Prague. Freedom goes hand in hand with responsibility. Therefore, lack of freedom might seem attractive. Because it is easy for a human being to get used to the fact that he doesn't have to decide, make his choice. There are still millions of people around the world that are being manipulated every day, that live under a totalitarian regime and suffer from oppresion. It is our moral responsibility to help them out, the same way as the international community and many individuals helped us when we needed it. It is our moral responsibility not to set economic interest higher than basic human rights. This counts for both politicians and single individuals. Keep awake. Let's not forget!
- Eva (Global Citizen with Czech roots)

Feeling the struggle - meeting the DTP

Friday 30st of October, Van, East Anatolia.

After having visited the governmental AK Party, we hurried to the headquarters of the DTP - Demokratik Toplum Partisi (Democratic Society Party). The DTP considers itself as social-democratic fighting for equality and freedom, and especially the rights of the Kurdish people in terms of identity, cultural and language rights. The final aim for the DTP is a self ruling model for the Kurds. The Kurds constitute the largest people in the world without a country.

We went up through a narrow old building and were seated in a cold, decayed and dark room – where the only thing lighting up was the red rose of the DTP (DTPs official symbol) and the burning idealism in the party members’ eyes. As we sat on the dirty plastic chairs our prominent colleague from ROJ TV (the only independent Kurdish TV channel) joined us.
After having learnt Turkish for the last days we were glad to be enriched with a new language - the difficult Kurdish. On principle the DTP only speaks Kurdish at their meetings. Luckily we had our beloved translator and guide, Sami, with us, who got quite a challenge explaining the hard struggle of the DTP to us.

At fearless eye level
DTP met us at eye level contrary to the AKP earlier, where a high stage separated the speakers from the crowd. The speaker Ibrahim Demir, member of executive board and with a hard history about 5 years of prison and no job possibilities because of his support to the PKK, started speaking very fast and full of commitment.
DTP was founded in 2005 and since then they have tried to build a dialogue with the Turkish state. Within recent years many parties fighting for the Kurds’ rights like the DTP have been shut down by the Turkish government for being against the Turkish Constitution, and now the DTP have a case against them. However, the party members seem fearless in their struggle.
The DTP are having a hard time doing their political activities. During the last elections 52 party members were arrested. The DTP is by far the biggest party in the region with a great majority in the respective councils, however, their headquarter is a dump compared to the AKP headquarter – the DTP has tremendously little financial support. The financial source is open for the AKP because the Turkish state uses the governmental party in the area to secure itself. The only ones supporting the DTP are the people in the streets, as Ibrahim Demir says.

Quite a lot of woman were among the party members contrary to the AKP, where the only present woman delivered magazines. As we went through the building we stumbled on a meeting room for the Women’s organization, where the DTP particularly focus on women’s rights.

We got a bit surprised when we heard that the DTP has relations with the PKK- Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanz (Kurdistan Workers Party). This could be a problematic allegiance because of the fact that the PKK are on international lists of terror organizations. Though Ibrahim Demir explained that PKK is the fundamental organization for the all the conscious Kurds and has been an active guerilla movement because to them, there were no other possible ways of fighting for many years.

No real changes without the DTP
The AKP government has carried out some reforms called “the Kurdish initiative”, and that shows the failure of the Turkish assimilation politics over the last decades because the government has now realized that those politics had no future. However, the DTP doubts the sincerity in these reforms, because the AKP totally ignores the DTP and the Kurdish opinions in their initiative. According to the speaker the government uses a “do what we say or you get nothing ” procedure against the Kurdish population. The government cannot make serious democracy reforms without including the DTP. If the changes are to be persistent and sincere, a change of constitution is necessary.

Ibrahim Demir ended the meeting with the message; Be aware of us! Do not let us alone in our struggle. Leaving the room we heard a whispering voice saying:”Biji serok Apo!” (Long live Abdullah!). A courageous feeling of hard struggle warmed-up our souls as we left the cool room.

Written by Jasmin & Niels

Ping-pong practice

Da der som regel er kor hver mandag kl. 20, og hverken Maja eller jeg har brug for at show'e off vores skønne sangstemmer, besluttede vi os for at begynde til bordtennis med målet at blive prof. inden opholdets afslutning i december.
Vi hyrede canadiske Kennedy som coach hver mandag, når han ikke skulle til fodboldtræning. Han lærte os at serve, skrue og smashe, og vi gjorde hurtigt fremskridt, men pga. interne stridigheder på holdet TEAM MAJA måtte vi afskedige ham til fordel for noget individuel træning.
Siden har Niels med sin japaner-moves været en god hjælp. Personligt har han trænet mig i bordtennishop - to skridt til højre, et til venstre, et frem, tilbage og forfra. Og ned i knæ!
Når Maja og jeg øver uden for den officielle træningstid, er der flere af drengene som med glæde joiner en omgang rundt om bordet, som oftest resulterer i, at Maja og jeg ender på sidelinjen, hvor vi så kan vente til finalen er overstået, og et nyt spil begynder.
Den sidste nye opfindelse er "de uendelige liv", som kun gælder Maja og mig. Dette var til stor frustration for Jasmin, Hans og ungarnske Daniel, for hvem det nu ikke længere gav mening at smashe os ud. Ja selv Niels var ikke helt forstående over for min nye regel.
Der er nu ikke andet at gøre for TEAM MAJA end at træne i smug, så bordtennis ikke lige vækker interesse for andre.
Dog har der været lidt problemer, da boldene bliver slidt op. Vi har heldigvis en hemmelig aftale med vores sponsor Jeppe, der har private bolde liggende på værelset, som vi kan træne med.
Og vi træner hårdt! Lige til det bliver sløret for øjnene af træthed, og blæren er ved at sprænges. Om vi bliver hjulpet eller eller modarbejdet, skal vi nok nå målet! Og ellers begynder vi bare at træne bordfodbold..
- Cecilia

Top 10 things that rocked and sucked by Hans

Yesyes, I'm back in Denmark, and after reflecting upon our voyage into the great unknown I think it's fitting to do a top 10 of good and bad things about out trip and the country. That way we'll also broaden our reader-base to include the MTV-segment, a group of people I felt we've left behind in our blog so far.

SUCKS
10: The weather. Condering how few things actually sucked about the trip, I have to be nitpicky with the first few points. Generally speaking the weather was not bad, but rain and overcasts are never welcome guests at any trip involving out-door activities. Minor flaw, but a flaw nonetheless.
9: Airport security. Turkey gains extra minus points for actually scanning you and your backs twice, once at the entrance and once before boarding. Who knows what kind of bombs I could've picked up inside the airport. Silly.
8: Lack of time adjustment in Van. When the sun sets at 6.30 AM and goes down at 4.30 PM in Van, perhaps Ankara should get off the moral high ground and issue at least another timezone for the very eastern part of Turkey?
7: Barbed wire. Barbed wire is bad. It's especially bad when placed at heights at which one might scratch his head. Barbed wire = bad thing.(To those implying that only idiots miss barbed wire before running into it, bear in mind that even heroes need a break)
6: Getting up at 7 in the morning. Yawn, literally speaking. Getting up before 8 involuntarily is a crime against humanity. I don't care if Jesus is showing himself to us, let me sleep damn it!
5: Turkish TV. Man, I watched 2 hours of this in total and I had had enough. All Turkish, all bad shows, all poorly produced, and when an English show comes on, it's dubbed. This makes Hans a sad panda.
4: 'Special price for you, my friend'. This doesn't work when you yell it at everyone who passes by your stand, my Bazaar friend. Restaurant owners need to stop persuading strangers to enter their place and extra minus points are again earned by the guy who told Niels he would screw his mum if he didn't buy his perfume. Not cool, Turkey, not cool.
3: Nationalism. Turks, your country is not heaven on earth, so knock this self-adoration the fuck off. Please. You have minorities, so start accepting that they do exist. You have huge socio-economic disparities, work on those. Allow your women to wear scarfs, stop banning parties and redistribute the cash flow from the military to places where it's more urgently needed. Until those issues are addressed, you're just the guy bragging about getting a D- in Nationbuilding.
2: Atatürks personality cult. Knock it off. Mindlessly adoring a guy is so 1930s Europe and reeks of dictatorships, oppression and unification. Is Atatürk a good man? Compared to the other leaders of certain countries at his time, he's not bad. Does that mean we should hang a picture of him in every class-room around the country. No.
1: Lack of English-speakers. Wow. I was taken aback by how poorly the Turks speak English. You wanna join the world economy? Acquiring a basic English vocabulary would be the first step towards such a goal. English: learn it, love it.
OR
1: Alcohol prices. A beer should not cost 2,5 liras when I can get 2,5 ltrs of Coca-Cola for 1.5 lira. We are danes, we crave alcohol, so lower those prices.

ROCKS
10: The speakers. An overwhelmingly positive experience, except for one or two of them. Props to Martin, Sammi and Garba for putting such an awesome program together.
9: Beer. Yes, there is beer in Turkey. It's expensive, not very good, but it's beer nonetheless. Props for that.
8: The open mindedness of most Turks. Turks love to talk about nearly everything, and striking up a conversation with a complete stranger is very easy. I wish Denmark could acquire a bit of the Turkish mindset in this area, it makes the everyday so much nicer.
7: The history. Coming from a country whose history is comparable to Titanic in terms of excitement (yes, that's negative) Turkey really has something to brag about. Ottoman empire, Roman empire, Seljuks, Atatürk and tons of other things make Turkish museums genuinely interesting. 'This rock christened the danes'. Thumbs down. 'This church was build 400 years before Denmark was christened and still has the 4th largest dome in the world'. Thumbs up.
6: Taksim. Undoubtedly the coolest part of Istanbul, Taksim is most cities nightlife times a 1000. So large, so great and so awesome. A nice vibe over arches the area, meaning that everyone is friendly (violence is neigh zero) and the place is too cool to describe with words.
5: Topkapi Palace. Partly belongs in the history section (#7) but Topkapi deserves its own spot. I wrote about it another blog, but the gist of it is that it's huge, pretty and has a pretty effing awesome treasury. Must see!
4: Van. Van was nice, because it showed us a different side of Turkey, much unlike the buzzing metropolis of Istanbul. Much poorer, but also with its own charm, Van showed me a side of Turkey I wouldn't have wanted to be wihtout.
3: Prices. A döner for 6kr? Thank you. 2,5lrts of coke for 5,50 kr? This way please. 150g of saffron for 35kr? Yesyesyes. The prices of Turkey appealed very much to me. I went to Turkey as a poor boy, but it was still possible to have fun, eat well and go partying with going broke.
2: Sammi, Garba and Martin. I don't think I can stress enough how well planned, thought out and mixed this trip was: good speakers, nice places to see and stunning nature at the Van lake - the trip had something for everyone. I know it's not easy to satisfy 25 people aged 18-34, but you did a grand job. Big ups!
1: The students. Nothing is more important to a trip than the people you travel with, and the diverse group of Krogerup didn't disappoint. Even sickness, snoring at night and early mornings couldn't kill the group spirit, and I must say that Turkey wouldn't have been the same without you. Thanks!

- Hans

Goodbye Van...

Saturday October 31st was the day when we moved westwards again – back to Istanbul. I won’t tell you about the delay of our plane nor about how hungry we were when we finally reached the Cheers hotel late in the afternoon. I will rather focus on what we are bringing back from Van in our minds and hearts.

I talked to couple of my fellow-students about their impressions from our 4 day long stay in the Kurdish - obviously less developed – part of Turkey. Some of them were reminded of other places that they have seen before in another part of the globe. Like Kia – „Van looks like a provincial town in the Phillipines, only that people stare much more at us here“ or Karla „visit of the primary school reminded me of my work and studies in Mexico“. For Mathilde, on the other hand, Van and its surroundings was very unique „I have never seen such a place before, so untouristic“. Most of the girls were surprised about the number of men in the public space. Zsuzsi pointed out „not only on the streets, also in the bar, in the shops – lot’s of men everywhere. The women are probably at home, cooking“. Ida N. further comments: „this experience was very good, but people were staring at us and didn’t know how to act, very few spoke English, but they were very nice to us“. On the last day, Anemone saw two young boys figting on the street and realized „that there is a certain hierachy in this society“.
I also talked to a few boys from our group. They didn’t get as much attention outside as the girls and Morten even liked walking on the streets of Van more than walking in Istanbul: „I enjoy the fact that there is not a hundred shop owners who are offering you something to buy all the time“. For Daniel, the visit of the primary school in the village was the most interesting experience. This visit made him wonder: „The kids in the school were so excited about our arrival, they were smiling and talking to us – they behaved the same way as any other small kids in Europe. But how does their future gonna look like? Will they become smugglers? Guerilla fighters or activists? Will they maybe leave to Istanbul to make a better living and never come back?“.
My impression is that we all appreciated very much the unique opportunity we got by visiting Van. It might not stand on the Top 10 places to see in Turkey list, but it is definietely worth seeing. It showed us another face of the country, the contrast between Van and Istanbul made us think and look for answers to questions we wouldn’t come up with earlier. Being guided by a local, visiting the home of an ordinary family and experiencing the traditional Kurdish wedding celebrations made our experience even more unique.
When someone will ask me one day with a suspicious tone „So, how was Kurdistan?“, I have plenty of stories to tell. For me, it is not an unknown territory with a bad reputation any more. It is concrete places, concrete pictures, concrete smells and concrete faces. I am very thankful to all the people who opened their homes to us, who answered our curious questions and were so kind and welcoming.
-Eva

4/10 - 09 Goodbye to Turkey! Afskedsmiddag hos Martin

Then it was the last night! Turkish delicious homemade food at home with Martin (and no, Martin is not the cook!:)) Nice atmosphere and good talk. After dinner and dessert, speeches were made, both one from us, the Garba and from Martin. Both Martin and Garba got gifts (raki) because of their nervous contractions (of us?) And a picture of us all to Martin and a subscription to Garba made by us :-)... It's been an evening with much laughter! and a little sadness, we will miss you Martin ...

Trip to Aktamar Island - 28. oktober

Extreme rain and a boat trip to a small, uninhabited island may not seem as the best combination. At least that was our thought as Martin and Garba forced us to leave the warm bus and go to a small dock, where a rocking boat was expecting us. None of us felt any need to enter.
Many of us chose to brave the rain and stay outside on the deck. An elderly man forced Signe and I to accept his umbrella even though he only was wearing a blazer and we both wore jackets. Typical turkish gentleman behaviour.
Not even the rain could hide the beauty of the Aktamar Island. A tiny shop and an old Armenian church were the only buildings. Besides that it was all nature. Sami was able to talk about every detail of the church and while he was talking, the rain stopped.
After a cup of classic cay, our group decided to climb the mountain. We felt as if every döner we had eaten the past days were burnt away from our bodies. The view from the top was worth the struggle. I took an endless amount of pictures during the short while we stayed, and I wasn't the only one.
Samba, Ida and I chose to take it slow on the way down in order to avoid falling. This plan succeeded until we reached the road again. Here Ida chose to take a dramatic roll down a small step. It looked impressive but caused no damaged.
As we entered the boat again, darkness had fell upon us, creating a melancholy atmosphere. All of us felt a bit sentimental as we sailed away from Aktamar, watching the lights of the villages on the shore of the great Van lake. I doubt no one left the island without the feeling of having experienced something truly beautiful.
- Maja

Ishak paşa Palace

By Sıgne
Friday afternoon on Mt. Ararat we had the pleasure of visitıng Ishak Paşa Palace. The Buildıng itself ıs over 300 years old and is built of sandstone brought from far away places. The place rises majestically on the edges of the mountain's cliffs. Upon entering ıt felt like a labyrinth;rooms ın every corner, halls and small rooms that seemed almost secret. I especially enjoyed to wander alone within the palace, lettıng my thoughts run and to feel the buıldıng's powerful sılence and energy.
In the end Anemone and I found a large room with a high ceiling where we sang a couple of songs. Jasmine and Niels entered the room, thinking the song was a radio. :)
(30.oct.)

Naeste station: Turkey.

After a very sad "see you later" from our friends at Krogerup, we headed out to the cold dark night on our way to the train station. Naeste station: Turkey.
The hours past slowly, with mixed emotions of sadness, tiredness and happiness all together. At 5am we landed and at 7 we were already sitting in our hostel top floor which has an amazing view of the 1500 years old Hagia Sofia church and the surrounding. Later that day we went for a small walk to see the bazaar and some main streets with Martin Selsoe, who turned out to be an excellent guide and a great conversation man. That was an experience! Hot weather and good-looking young tourists made (mostly) Turkish men stare a lot at the group. When we entered the bazaar area, we stepped into a new world. A sudden flood of sensations overcomes you; different colors, smells and sounds surround 360 degrees of you. There is no order or logic in the bazaar streets, one road does not parallel another, but strolling in them with no aim will eventually lead you to the center of the market, marked by a big booth with faucets. After some lost and founds, we all gathered around Garba, our shepherd, and Martin, and went to eat our first doner (Turkish kebab).
Bon appétit!

Reut Amsalem

Turkey - Part 2

Yawyaw, dis be ye man mr. Henriksen comin' at you with part deux of Krogerups amazing Turkey adventure. Since most of the stuff we have planned will be covered in great detail by the rest of the adventurers (e.g. Jeppe and Lasses posts) this'll be my own thoughts about some of the things that we've seen. Since my memory is comparable to that of a goldfish this will be in no particular order.

First things first, we're back in Istanbul after 4/5 days in Van, a city located some 1500 km east of Istanbul, in the very eastern part of Turkey. The city is perhaps best known for the Van cat, a cat that supposedly swims very well and, most notably, has two eyes of different color. (as the sharpminded reader might have guessed, Van isn't exactly the 2nd Istanbul of Turkey. Tourism is neigh zero and the area is poor compared to the western part of the country)
Van was unquesionably a good addition to the program as it showed us the social, cultural and economical differences of Turkey. 8 year old boys running around with the latest and greatest of weighing equipment, trying to persuade you into measuring just how unhealthy you've been in the last few weeks and making a few lira in the process, speaks of an everyday quite unlike the one we'd gotten used to in Istanbul. (As far as I know noone dared weighing themselves: our strict 4-doner-a-day-diet has taken its toll on our BMI-values)

Also included in our Van stay was a trip to Akdamar island, located in lake Van, a very large lake that has given name to both the city and the province. Akdamar island is only reachable by ferry, and not a very comfortable one, but the hassle is definitely worth it: Akdamar island rivals the Grand Canyon as the most beatiful place I have ever been, and this was in rainy weather. The area and the nature is absolutely indescribable, it has to be seen, preferrably with ones own eyes. Check this link: There is also a church on the island, more than a thousand years old and the epicentre of quite a struggle, which I'll leave to this designated blogger to describe in greater detail.

In Van we also saw Ararat mountain, were Noahs ark supposedly marooned (In a world were God has flooded everything, how can you hit a mountain? Noah must've been a pretty awful sailer..) and quite a few million dollars have been spent trying to find said boat (Would republicans label this wasteful government spending? I would..), a 60m deep meteor crater and spoke to Iranian asylum seekers. Especially the talk with the Iranians was an eyeopener in many ways. The described the horrors of the theocratic regime and how the lack of individual, press and religous freedoms hurt the population.

Before leaving Istanbul we also had a touristy day, were a guide took us through Hagia Sophia, Sultanahmet/The Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace. Hagia Sophia and Topkapi palace deserve further elaboration, so here goes. (Sultanahmet Mosque is awesome, but not as much as the other two)
Hagia Sophia is a 1500 year old church that still has the 4th largest dome in the world. Enough said. 1500 years ago Danes were living in mud huts and could hardly be called a people, much less a civilization, which makes Hagia Sophia so much more impressive for Danes. This building was a church for a thousand years, then a mosque for 400 and finally made a museum by Ataturk in the 1920s. The interior is hence a mishmash of islamist and christian religous stuff, making it that much more interesting. ('Theres Maria and Jay-boy.. and there's the names of Mohammads earliest followers')
Topkapi palaced has already been covered by Anemone, but in Danish so I'll do a brief description in English. Absolutely jawdropping. Done. ... OK. As the seat of Ottoman rulers for close to 400 years, Topkapi is really a palace taken out of most fairytales. If you've ever played Prince of Persia, you'll know what I'm talking about. Many rooms, many gardens and many, many treasures. Amongst the treasures stored here are Mohammads footprints, Moses' walking stick and Ibrahim/Abrahams turban... and a throne made of pure gold, a dagger with 3 coin sized jewels on it and 2 light holders sporting 6666 diamonds total. Nifty. The palace is huge and occupies the most expensive lot of land in all of Istanbul - the view over the Bosphorus offered from the eastern ledge of the palace is numero ono - making it all the more impressive. A must see if you're ever going to Istanbul.

Last night we went to experience the fabled night life of Taksim, but the weather and overall tiredness made the night end early for me. Still, I got an overall feel for the place, which is huge, filled with energetic and outgoing people and a very nice to place to hang out. Grab a beer, a hookah, a drink or a prostitute: Taksim has it all.

Also, I never thought I'd say this, but I'm actually starting to get sick and tired of Kebab. 11 days with an average 3 a day really gets to you. Maybe it's better in the long run, if I can finally get rid of a bad habit. (to those worrying about my calory intake, this is not completely without merit, but do note that Turkish kebab is more healthy that it's danish counterpart. They're smaller, cointain less meat and more vegetables and they do not use dressing. By no means a healthy snack, but not absolutely terrible either)

This was just some of the stuff we've been up to. Hope you enjoyed reading it.
- (This time neither drunk, nor high)Hans

The Ararat Mountain

By Lasse Munthe Jensen
Thursday the 29 october
Early morning we set sail for the Ararat mountain, just like some guy called Noah did many years before us.
Ironically it has been raining for some days now, is history repeating itself and is our bus going to be the next ark?
Well the rain stopped during the day, so much for my prophetic sense.
On the ay to the mountain, we stopped at a hangbridge over a river, and most of us enjoyed jumping on it so ıt went from side to side and up and down(for the horror of others).
After driving for what felt like an eternity, we could finally see Ararat in the horizon, the top was hidden by clouds, but the part we could see was really huge. The mountain itself should be around 5100 meter above the ocean, so quite an impressive rock.
The mountain reminded me abit of an ostrich, hidding it´s head so it thinks no one can see it. Although thats only something they do in the cartoons, ıf they would have done so in the real world, that specie would have been extingueshed long ago. Typical us humans to dumbify things so we can laugh at it and feel smarter.
Though I´ll admit Noah didn´t seem lıke the brightest guy either, or else he as damn drunk. I mean, imagine the entire world ıs flooded, Noah sailing around in his ark, and then BUMP! He manages to crash into the ONLY thing that is above the ocean for miles.... Make my day, he invented the drunken sailor! :)
And further more, quite impressive that he went around the world and collected every animal, not bad eh? Well surely he must have forgotten some? Where is the unicorn? the dragon? and the mermaids? (rawr gief hot ladies that swim around). And instead he took with him the mosquitos that has overstung my body many nights... Good job man, really!
Anyway, back to the real story, so we where going to Ararat, or well we got to like 5km from the mountain as the closest we got to it, so no real mountain climbing for me nor any of the other hopeful mountaneers. At least we got a very good view of he awesome turkish military might, since it was their national day and they were parading in the streets with their tanks, a shame they had no artillery or rockets, though it´s a perfect example of how to rule a nation with military pride!
Atatürk! Atatürk! Atatürk!

AK Party

Today we went to the regional headquarter of Turkey's ruling party: Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi(AKP) to hear about their Minority Rights Reforms. Afterwards we went to the less fancy headquarters of DTP - the biggest Kurdish party.

The AKP, under leadership of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is a Conservative, Democratic and Islamist Party. They favour democratic reform and stronger minority rights and Turkish EU membership. The AKP has improved the Turkish economy a lot through successful reforms.

Their hold on the power in Turkey is not threatened by any other political party, as they are by far the best and strongest. However internally there are divisions in the Party between Islamists and Secularists which reflects the general situation in Turkey.

2 years ago the AKP were threatened by a military coup from the army, but as they stayed in power - their confidence is at an all-time high. The Constitutional Court of Turkey and the Turkish army see themselves as defenders of Ataturks' vision of secularism in Turkey - and often critisıse the AKP for being too Islamist.

I agree with a journalist we met previously when she says: AKP is the best party in Turkey, but they are not to be trusted. Though they favour Minority Rights, EU Membership, and have sound economic policies, there is a threat that they might turn too Islamist if they hold the power in Turkey for too long. Also they have shady business relations with the big Turkish Conglomerates.

By Jeppe Kirk Bonde

Not Turkey:

While the 'Krogerup-linje' and Crossing Borders students explore the wonders of Turkey, 'Verden Brænder' takes on Bolivia, and the Africans study climate change in Brussels, the Americans are still back at Krogerup. The building is a lot quieter and steadily getting messier. Thankfully, the kitchen is still making us food and still saying 'Go'morgen' to us as we stumble in before class, but everyone living at the school now fits around one table. A fort appeared in Lille Sal one night, but was taken down the next day when we found out we'd used the wrong sheets for it. The candles keep shrinking, but there's fewer people around them.

I, along with 11 others, are studying at the Danish Institute for Study Abroad (DIS) in København while living at Krogerup. Instead of Krogerup courses, we attend classes in the city during the day for subjects ranging from architecture to the European Union to biotechnology. There's around 600 Americans studying at DIS, and we're distributed among many host families, kollegiums, roommates, and højskoles. We're the luckiest ones, I think. It's a long commute to and from class, 55 minutes if everything goes right, but Krogerup is a great place to come home to at the end of the day. Good food in the kitchen, a fire in the 'pejsestue', a game of foosball in 'Natkassen'. I could talk for ages about all the fun we've had in 'Natkassen', actually, or about how good a distraction it is from our homework.

At first, I was worried that the Americans would have a tough time fitting in, since we weren't taking the same classes as the other højskoler. It hasn't been a problem at all; we moved in on the same day back in August, so everyone was looking for new friends anyway. All of the Americans have different course schedules, but we can always find someone to save dinner for us if we're coming home late. Nights and weekends are good times for us to mix together, and I've had lots of great conversations with the people here. Morten has helped us find good jazz clubs in København, and most of the girls had intricate braids for a few days after Signe's hair-braiding lesson. Half of us are in Danish language classes, and Krogerup is a great place to clumsily practice what we've learned.

I wasn't sure what to make of Krogerup the first night, when we sang traditional songs, told stories, and held hands and folk-danced in a room with lots of candles. It seemed like enough "hygge" to choke a horse (then again, the concept of choking horses is inherently "uhyggeligt"...). Not every night has been as traditional, but it's still a great way to get to know Denmark, especially Danish youth life. It seems like everyone is at Krogerup for different reasons, so it's interesting to find out why people chose to come here. Saturday night political discussions in the Spanish Kitchen when we need a break from the party are fun; one night, we even made it all the way back to the 1980s. Poul Schluter! About half of the Americans are also in the Krogerup Choir, which meets weekly just after we've made it home for the night. I expected traditional højskole songs, but we have a great time singing music in English and African languages.

Not everything has been sunshine and roses, of course. Since we're not around during the day, there's been trouble communicating rules and expectations now and then. Perhaps we don't clean as much as we should. Some days, it feels like we spend as much time waiting for and on the regional train as we do actually in København. Just as the other people get back next week, we go on a two-week travel break, so the whole family won't be back together until mid-November.

The sign-up sheet for this blog in the hallway, which doesn't have any signatures on it yet, asks for "An American Perspective". I'm absolutely certain that we have twelve different perspectives, as we don't do the same things or hang out with the same people. I usually get lost running in the woods, but some people manage it successfully. However, I can't imagine a better place to get an introduction to Denmark. Our classes can get stressful, but Krogerup is a great place to de-stress while still learning about ourselves and the world. From the 'kulkraftværk' protest to the Wild West party to philosophy over the fire, Krogerup has been fantastic, and I'm thankful to the great people I live with -- Danes, CB, Africans, and Americans alike -- for making it so.

Jeg elsker Krogerup, fordi jeg kan godt lide snakke med mine venner og synge med Rikke. Om lørdagen plejer vi at danse, og vi spise og gøre rent sammen. Danmark er rigtig sjovt!

(I apologize if any of that is actually incorrect Danish. We're still learning. Tak for mad.)

Matthew

about TESEV NGO by Zsuzsi

On Saturday, we visited the NGO TESEV in Istanbul.

We have met a very intelligent, well educated, good English speaking woman for the second time. It seems they are represented the modern Turkey.

TESEV are dealing with minority projects in Turkey.
First we got a general introduction about the different ethnic categories existing in Turkey.

There are religious minorities:
Armenians, around 60000
Greeks around 45000
Jews around 23000

These minorities have been existing according to the Treaty of Lausanne what was signed in 1923, after the 1st World War. (Did you know that only 2 countries have been using 1st WW Treaty?)
They can use their languages and practise the religions freely. But just these 3 groups are mentioned in the Treaty. Out of them, there are Assyrians, Circassians (3million), Kurds 12 million, Bulgarians, Albanians, Native Anatolian non monotheist Groups.
TESEV aims to promote the role of civil society in the democratic process and seeks to share its research findings with the widest possible audience. In order to do so, TESEV organizes regular seminars and conferences, bringing together specialists and policymakers from Turkey and abroad to discuss issues of current concern. It releases project reports, books, pamphlets, policy watch briefings and seminar proceedings aimed at general readership.

TESEV focuses on the most urgent and important policy questions facing Turkey and its neighbourhood in the new century. Program areas are grouped under three headings:
- Democratization
- Foreign Policy
- Good Governance
Some of the most remarkable of TESEV’s work have been on the issues of Islam and democracy, combating corruption, state reform, and transparency and accountability. Among the ongoing project areas are security sector reform, minorities and citizenship rights, transparency and strengthening civil society as well as Cyprus, Middle East and North Africa, and Turkey and European Union relations.
You can find more info here:
http://www.tesev.org.tr

Armenian Medz Yeghern!

This morning we went to Martin - the journalist's apartment. After some fruit juice, cookies and coffee we had a lecture by an expert on the so-called Armenian Genocide or Medz Yeghern (The Great Catastrophe, as Armenians call it).

Turkey has for 90 years denied the extent of the massacres of Armenians between 1915 and 1917, but today the animosity is loosening up, and Turks are slowly becoming aware of facts. Turkey, however, has no intentions of admitting to have committed genocide, as this is illegal in UN treaties, and would require Turkey to pay reparations to Armenians. Therefore the word "Genocide" is avoided.

Personally I have come to the belief that Turkey must do the following: Become aware of the facts, take moral responsibility for the massacres, change their history books and apologize to the Armenians. However, I do not think Turkey should assume any legal responsibility for Genocide. Stirring up the past and fighting over land has no place in the 21st century.

By Jeppe Kirk Bonde

Den 25. oktober 2009 Istanbul TOPKAPI - PALADSET

Jeg og den sidste del af vores gruppe ankommer i forvirring til Topkapi paladsets hovedindgang og fortsaetter videre ind i selve parken foer paladset hvor vi moeder resten af "familien". Bygninger omringer os tıl alle sider og jeg maerker et sug i maven imens vi gaar op mod hovebygningen. Jeg er saa glad. Alt er saa nyt, spaendende og vedkommende og jeg suger det hele til mig.
Vi faar koebt billet, siger farvel tıl vores guide og jeg glaeder mig tıl at se alle de skatte, som opbevares her. Jeg griber en glad haand, moeder et smilende ansigt og halvdanser ind for at se den foerste udstilling.
Jeg gaar fra det ene menneskefyldte rum tıl det naeste og fra udstillingsvindue til udstillingsvindue og ser alt fra guldtroner, smykker, toej og vaaben til Moses's stav og Muhammeds fodaftryk. Det undrer mig ıkke, hvıs fortidens fyrster har foelt et sug i maven og aerefrygt for den sultan, som var ejer af det meste af det her...
Jeg naar den del af paladset hvor haremmet ligger og skal betale... igen! surt show, men det er det jeg har glaedet mig mest til. Der er en uventet stilhed i haremmet og naesten ingen mennesker. Der er en helt anden stemning her. Smukke mosaikker pryder vaeggene og jeg gaar forbi mange lukkede doere. Det er langt mere intimt og privat her og jeg blıver pludselig meget glad for at leve i 2009, og ikke vaere en eller anden konkubine blandt mange, som boende taet sammen med andre kvinder... Hvilke intriger har ıkke opstaaet her!! Jeg er helt lettet da jeg naar udgangen og moeder et nyt smilende ansigt fra "la familia", som jeg slaar foelge med paa tılbagevejen tıl vores hostel.
Anemone

Turkey part 1

S'up everyone. This be Hans bringing you the latest and greatest of our adventures in Istanbul.

The entire group arrived after an exhausting journey to Cheers Hostel, located in the immidate vicinity of the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and 10 minutes walk away from the Grand Bazaar. First impressions of the hostel ranged from average to abysmal -the girls got their rooms immediately, average service, the boys had to wait 4 hours, abysmal service - and after breakfast (or some resemblance thereof: cucumber, tomato, feta cheese and eggs is NOT breakfast) and 2 hours of sleep our guide deemed us ready for our first stroll around the metropolis. At the moment I begged to differ, but off we went, and I quickly changed my mind. Istanbul is mindblowingly amazing! From the hectic tourist trap that is the Grand Bazaar to the Imam calling everyone to prayer, Istanbul is something unlike everything I have seen in my life before.

First stop was the Grand Bazaar, more than 500 years old and a center for trading for just as long, this place is a mecca for shoppers, tourists and traders alike. Here we also got our first glimpse of the turkish haggle culture: no price is carved in stone, everything is negotiable. Morten and Jeppe proved to have skills in this area and it was quite staggering to watch them cut 40% of various items by hesitantly walking away, causing the poor shopper to come running after them, yelling 'OK, OK, 10 is you'. Personally I deemed myself too tired to participate in any serious shopping, so I just quietly tagged along.

After the Bazaar we grabbed lunch at a kebab place, paying the equivalent of 25 kr for a meal with drink, only further positivising the first impression of Istanbul. After that we went to the spice bazaar, which is almost as old as the Grand one, but not quite as big and much the same. Still we jaywalked through and Martin, the guide, announced that todays program was over, 3,5 hours after it began. We all hurried back to the hotel, took a shower and sawed logs for 2 hours. At 7 we woke up, got dressed and met up with the others in order to grab dinner. We found a kebab shop and after Jeppe once again aced a haggling exam, giving us kebabs for 2 lira each, about 8 kr.

Afterwards we found a water pipe (hookah if you're an uncivilized american) bar, grabbed a beer and a smoke, chatted about the first impression, which everyone agreed passed all expections, and relaxed. Sadly, the only thing that is somewhat expensive is beer and other ethanol-containing substances, but we'll manage. This being my first time smoking just about anything, I was quite high when we left 90 minutes later, but still manged to find my way back to bed.

Next day we woke up at 9.30, had 'breakfast' and a shower, and headed downstairs where the bus would take us to Star TV, a fairly large turkish news company. The bus was delayed - trafic flow in Istanbul range from bad to unbearable depending on the hour - but off we went, some of us still quite groggy and hungry.
Star TV is owned by a turkish entrepeneur who used to use the network for bashing his competitors, before transforming into a more 'serious' news network. Our guide, whose name eludes me ATM, forgetfulness thy name is ethanol, showed us a TV studio, office areas and the reception before parking us a meeting room that would've satisfied Wall Street executives. A waiter(!) brought us water, tea and soft drinks before leaving us to the poke at the TV lady (again, sorry for lack of memory). At first she was hesitant with her answers, but after awhile she had no problems critizing the government and Ataturk, usually places that are no-go. We left 2 hours later, well informed, our thirsts quenched, but starving.

Martin took us to another place in Istanbul with good kebabs and close to Dolmabahce Palace our next stop. After yet another kebab (4th or so at this point) we headed for said palace were Ataturk resided when he was still alive and kicking. (Fun fact: when he died in said palace, at 9.05, they stopped all the clocks at the exact moment, forever remembering the man and his deed). However when we got there the museum was closed... who the hell closes a museum at 4 PM? With broken hearts and tears in our eyes we left for the tram to take us back to hotel. Some weirdos with too much energy decided to tour more or Istanbul, but since you're only interested in Los Experiencos dos Hansito I won't tell you about those. (Read: I don't know what they did)

At the hostel I slept for 45 minutes, somehow ignoring Jasmin and Niels going bananas on a drum they bought at the Bazaar. At this point I should probably tell you that the boys sleep in an 8-man dorm, the girls in a 10 and 6 man dorm respectively. Since 8 is larger than 6, but still only a single digit this is naturally the place to kick it. We attempt to keep a somewhat militarist attitude towards hygiene, but we're already failing somewhat on the 2nd day. (If it doesn't smell, it's not home)

Anyway, we had dinner at a place that Martin picked out for us, where the food was OK, but not fantastic. I tried Raki, the Turkish national drink, which was fairly good once you got used to it. It's also very strong (unless you're fucking Jordan (here as an adjective, not a verb) you don't mix 45 % liquor half 'n half - Lonely Planet inform yourselfes) and really has quite a kick once you down 6 or 7 glasses. After dinner we tried to find a night club, but the only one that seemed discotequeish played house music which didn't suit most of us. The night life in Istanbul doesn't compare to anything else in the world: never have I seen so many people crammed in so many bars, with so much live music and such a nice overall vibe. For danes it's comparable to Roskilde basically, next to no violence and bad experiences, just people, chilling, dancing, listening to music, smoking, drinking and having a good time. 'Hygge' is no longer only Danish: the Turks know how to do it as well.
Our small group of 7 people found a water pipe bar, smoked, had a coke (here as the beverage, not the drug), before me and Reut went home at around midnight. Apparently Jeppe almost got his passport stolen by some random dude, but Elif and Uruba saved his ass. (Should've have blown all those skill points in haggling my man (here as a Diablo II reference, not.. fuck it, this is old already))

So here I am, still a little drunk from the Raki and a little high from the water pipe, bringing you the first part of our trip to Turkey. Do we miss Krogerup? Not yet, but it'll come. Are we enjoying ourselves? Hell yes. Is Istanbul infintely cooler than Bolivia? Having spent less than 48 hours in Istanbul, I'd have to say that Bolivia would have to be heaven on earth to even compare. (Enjoy your koka leaves, suckers!) Am I awesome? It goes without saying. Will this blogpost be used to deem whether humans are intelligent beings or not by extraterrestial life? For the sake of humanity, let's hope not!

- (A drunk and nicotine high(I don't smoke pot, mum) Hans

Jacob Holdt and his American images - Hans

Recently I was persuaded by my fellow Krogerup students to pay a visit to the museum of Louisiana, positioned in the immidiate vicinity of the school. Normally I'm as about as easy to drag to a museum as a hardcore alcoholic to an AA meeting, but peer presure once again reigns supreme as means of persuasion.

So off we went: halfway there I realized I'd stumbled upon Holdt earlier in my short life, somewhere a couple thousand gigabytes ago on the internet. His webpage, www.american-pictures.com, is worth a visit fo' sho'. We entered - being students at Krogerup spares us the admission - and headed for the exhibition, positioned in the western end of the museum. The images depicted american life in all its glory and horror, instantly capturing the attention of an otherwise hesistant museum-goer, read, moi. Drug abuse, sex, violence, both ends of the economic spectrum and racism were shown without comprimise by Holdt. When asked how he managed to snap such pictures he says it's very easy, once you've earned the trust of your depictees. Holdt, having spent close to 40 years hiking around America, is excellent at gaining the trust of complete strangers, sometimes through acts that the common man would regard as disgusting: a video, produced specificially for this exhibition, showed Holdt talking about him enduring sexual abuse, slave-like living and working conditions and extreme poverty in order to grab his shots.

Yet Holdt claims he has never met an inherently bad person: of all the bigots, racists, homo- and xenophobes not one of them has been born evil, if Holdt is to be trusted. This unconditional humanism seems a bit questionable to me, but Holdt seems to know what he's talking about, and after, more or less, aimlessly jaywalking through the exhibition for 1½ hour I was just about convinced of this controversial statement.

Holdt has also been active on the political scene advocating a quick and massive response to the growing gang wars that plague Copenhagen in this day. The problem is now on a relatively small-scale, but Holdt says he has seen the same development many places throughout the US in the 70s and 80s. He is also strongly against the sitting governments integration policy, saying the shutting multiculturalism out in this day and age is as futile as it is stupid. Ironically one of his best friends is Søren Espersen, MP from the DPP, the right-nationalist party of Denmark.

Holdts pictures are copyrighted, but a good one is here: http://www.american-pictures.com/gallery/usa/pages/usa-00529.htm. There are countless others worth a peek: I've spent hours browsing his site.

If you swing by Humlebæk in any foreseeable future, be sure to swing by. If you know someone at Krogerup Højskole, swing by for a beer as well. Nothing helps digest art like a cold one from the fridge.

- Hans Henriksen

JAKOB HOLDT’S FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE by Roberto

Jakob’s depiction of life’s realities is thematically universal. Obviously it is summed up into the Christian teaching virtues of Faith, Hope and Love. Regardless of time, space and people one can always relate at various levels. Unless one’s feeling is numb, he may see it as just one among the endless photo exhibits. However, I believe that there will always be a slight disturbance as you see them piece by piece. Without the text, first reaction would be a world of violence. But its picture stands alone, telling its own story with the thought of “what is the ending?” Artists’ popular cliché says that “life imitates art”. Conversely, other artists too would say “art imitates life”. But here Jakob Holdt merges the two schools of thoughts. We see life both in form and reality because Jacob himself was not only taking shots, he was literally part and involve in all the stories of his pictures. Like all stories, there are happy and sad endings but the virtues of faith, hope and love are redeeming values to understand that life is not always fair and that there is a constant struggle to find one’s own space within the spaces of others. And nobody can foresee what happens along the way. That is the sweet mystery of life!

STRIPTEASING

WE CAME
WE SAW
WE HEARD
BUT NEVER FELT.
THEN,
HE SAID, SHE SAID,
THEY SAID, WE SAID
EVERYONE SAID
AND WE THOUGHT
AND WE TOUCHED
AND WE REALIZED
LAYER AFTER LAYER
WE UNPELL LIKE ONIONS
MAYBE SHED A TEAR
MAYBE WEAR A SILLY GRIN
AND NATURE BEGINS TO UNDRESS
THE GREEN LEAVES OF SUMMER
TURNS YELLOW, RED AND GOLD
GENTLY WITH ELEGANCE, BIT BY BIT
FALLING FROM THE COLD
A DAZZLING STRIPTEASE ACT
CHEERS TO THE NAKEDNESS
OF THE HEART AND THE SOUL!

Roberto Nicolasora
Autumn at Krogerup Hojskole
October 6, 2009

Ost og rødvin

Idag holder vi ost- og rødvinsaften.

De sidste par uger har været rigtig hektiske, og endelig har vi en aften fri, hvor vi kan nyde hinanden i den rette stemning. De sidste mennesker er lige i dette øjeblik kommet til og joiner nu vores arrangement i det spanske køkken. De har været i biografen for at se "Pigen der legede med ilden", og nogle er nu på vej ud i mørket for at jagte spøgelser. Snak over en eller anden form for mad er generelt et fælles ritual for os alle - slik, chokoladekiks, kage, kanelgifler og andet godt bliver tit indtaget, når snakken går i pejsestuen, og snakken i aften har gået på, hvilke forskellige oste, folk foretrækker (Port Salut eller gedeost...?). Helt i samme (mad)ånd planlægger Christian det store sushi-indkøb til Sushi Night søndag aften. Derudover nærmer den store, officielle vennefest sig, og diskussioner om alkoholudvalg og -priser er på det højeste. Et meget stort antal af gæster arriverer, og derfor skal indkøbet være ekstra stort! Godt, Garba stiller sin bil til rådighed...

Det er også den sidste tid, inden Verden Brænder-folket tager til Bolivia i en måned. Derfor hygger vi også ekstra meget de her dage. At vi skal være adskilt i en hel måned er en mærkelig tanke, efter den første tid hvor vi har været sammen konstant. Vi kommer til at savne dem rigtig meget, og vi håber, de får en rigtig, rigtig god tur!

Ost og rødvin holder i længden - specielt på Krogerup :-)

/Ida N

GLOBALIZATION: A BLESSING AND A CURSE

Crossing Borders Global Studies 2009
Reflection on Globalization

GLOBALIZATION: A BLESSING AND A CURSE

Roberto:

Globalization is as huge as its term. The enormity of its measure is limitless. The effect is both predictable and unpredictable. It is a blessing and a curse. It smacks right in our faces shaping our mode of responding the necessity of everyday life. We cannot ignore and undo the smashing wave of technology affecting our economic, political and cultural life, even our sex life so to speak. Indeed we all enjoy its accessibility from agriculture to food production, family desires to the wider community needs; and the whole global village running like machines absorbing anything that globalization emits.

The ideal premise is that globalization should work in service of the people. In practice it maybe an assumption. It involves politics, economics, self-interest and power. And who are in power? The rich nations who have all the resources at the same time using the resources of the deprived and under privilege nations through land and labor use. It may appear in sheep’s skin of development and progress. Who wouldn’t want it anyway? These are realities as real as how globalization gradually devours the weak, the vulnerable sectors of the society.

Where are we heading to? Where will it lead us? Simple questions we won’t bother thinking about. Or maybe we leave it to the experts and the knowledgeable. That is what they are made for anyway. These are the attitudes that will deliver us into hell. The advanced price we have to pay is the future of the coming generation.

On the other hand there are efforts to install preventive measures in various forms. Individual advocates, concerned citizens, organizations and institutions fight it out in various playing fields. Education and information in all forms are venues for awareness and action. Creative and active approaches are explored to respond the hazards of globalization transforming its own technology to a positive and functional use. Individually, being part of humanity playing a key role on this issue must develop a sense of critical attitude in taking action to the influx of what globalization has to offer. Unless we choose to sit and wait until the kingdom comes.

Eva Vítková:

Why do we get so attached to our „stuff“? Or, to be more precise, to some of our stuff? We develop relationships to different objects that we own, let it be an iPod, favourite book or a bike. And in case of lost (when this item is stolen/broken/lost), we exprerience a terrible feeling – for a while, it feels like loosing the best friend. In order to overcome this feeling, we run to the shop to get a replacement for the previous object – and we start a brand new relationship. But as I have implied before, that doesn’t count for all of our stuff.

Or at least not all the time. Do you remember how easy it is to forget about the old object when you are on the way to the shop to buy a new one? Because the old one is out of date, doesn’t function any more or you just got tired of it? I think that people tend to buy new things instead of repairing or improving the old ones nowadays. It just requires less effort. In order to have your old shoes repaired, you have to invest time and energy into finding a place where they repair shoes, bringing them there and after some days bringing them back home. Does it cost 10 times less than a new pair of shoes? But buying new ones is soooo much easier! It is an easy solution. A relatively easy and fast way how to solve my problem.

The first step we all have to do in order to improve the environement we live in, is start looking for solutions with a long-term perspective on mind.


Reut:

The movie (20 min. on the process of "things") presented in a very clear way the greedy side of human beings. This greediness is a part of a process of detaching ourselves from what we really need and connecting to what we want or what we are told we want/ need by others.
Globalization has a big affect on the matter because it enables exposure to those unnecessary things. That exposure has no limits; it reaches young and adults, poor and rich, everywhere in the world. Censoring that exposure is almost impossible.
The way to make a change, as it seems to me, is to raise awareness to the way we consume things, even though we don't need them, and to educate about the process of making things and their consequences.


Anežka Kervitcerová:

The term globalization is recently being used more and more often. It seems to be a new trend in our society and you might be criticized if you would not mention this subject during your speech. However where did this reflex appeared and what does it means for common people?

In my opinion globalization came through the development of economy and technology. Thanks to the currency convertibility we can have translational corporations that offer the same products and services to people all over the world. Thanks to the media we can communicate and share information with everybody on the other end of our planet. And thanks to the modern transport and infrastructure we can visit places of our dreams.
Finally a question comes up: “should we be afraid of this phenomenon?” I believe globalization just reflects reality that all of us are identical human beings with the same needs and shortcomings. And as every event in people’s lives, it only depends how we utilize it.


Samba:

Globalization is a term that describes a process of a world connected in all aspects of life. In fact, media and economics are the corners of this phenomenon. Moreover, capitalism is a fundament element of globalization. It facilitates the movement of goods and people through exchange and trade. Which sums up the world into a small village were all nations are connected somehow.

However, globalization contains several disadvantages that many people suffer or even die because of it. In fact, globalization has divided the world into two blocks: the rich and poor, the have and have not etc. So wherever you go in the world rich people live together play together; meanwhile, poor people suffer together, live together etc. In other words interests are globalized rather than humans. Consequently, materialism rises in all around the world. The image of a small village where all things are connected turns to be a small city where no one knows the name of his neighbor.

Anyway, we have to admit that globalization contains as everything else advantage and disadvantage. Ignoring it is a suicidal choice. So we simply have to be aware of it so that we can swim in it and not sink into it.

Fruzsina:

The Globalization is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology.

There is some maintain word when we hear them we are thinking about the globalization, for example environment which is very important to keep safe. There are some methods which might help like recycling, more trees, don’t waste the energy.

The other example is communication. This is one of the most important things. This is that it helps people keep contact with each other. You need it to be able to work. Technology has been the principal driver of globalization. Advances in information technology, in particular, have dramatically transformed the economic life. Globalization is everywhere that it would be very hard to prevent.

Zsuzsanna:

Globalisation.

This word express me ’to making the world open and to come at table’.
And I’m also associating a lot of expressions related to the Globalisation: uniformity, one world, people, united, same, big, north, south, equality, liberalism, free trade, fair trade, institutions, and government.

The world is open to you. But who opened it? And you can find the institutions, governments, the media, and the companies.
Is it really open, open for everyone? That’s the question.
Let’s see an example:
When you go to the shop, you can find a banana from Ecuador on the display, and you pay the same price than you would pay for a loaf of bread. It’s a good business for you, you think.
But how is it possible to get the banana in a very reasonable price if it comes from so far away, how many miles it was need to take until you get it? What is the impact of the environment? It should be cost a lot. And how much could be remain from this relatively cheap price at the producer? What is the system behind it? Is it really a good business for you?Globalisation generates a lot of question to me. But I think we always need to ask about...This small example points out that Globalisation has an effect on you and you can have an effect on it as well. Be aware!

Denmark:
The Center for World Climate Policy
Roberto Nicolasora

Coming to Denmark is like a pilgrimage to me. This is my fourth study travel to the land of the famous Hans Christian Andersen’s underwater fairy tale “Little Mermaid”. The magic still remains as tourists swarm taking photos even if the head is no longer the original one. It has been vandalized twice by cutting the head replaced by new ones.

Denmark is relatively flat by land. I once asked a Dane student how does he like his country and he said “it’s boring”. I asked why? “Because there are no mountains, only rolling hills” he replied. I told him there are two things I love in Denmark, the bread and the windows. Apart from the healthy variety of bread, I think Denmark has all the windows of the world in various designs, shapes and colors. Watching them from afar with lighted candles is really cool. One’s visual sensitivity should muster enough thoughts for this awesome moment.

These months’ people are out enjoying the summer sun. By October, leaves turn red and gold as “autumn leaves start to fall”. That inspired the immortal song. You can still find them in the pages of their traditional songbook used in the “morgensamling” and still sung until today’s nth Danes generation. I believed this is the heart of the Danes tradition because everyone both young and old knew the songs by heart. On the other hand this natural changing season must have changed in some ways too through the years.

Krogerup Hojskole as a venue for climate change and environmental awareness is in itself an atmosphere to behold apart from the very rich history of its existence. Surrounded by huge towering trees is a forest by standard. Apple and pear trees within the school’s premises are there for everyone’s grab. Red and blue berries as ornamental plants and other fruit bearing trees on pathway sides is a recognizable sight, however no one seems to notice anyway. Wild edible bear berries like weeds just grow everywhere. Then you have a wide area of wheat field and a variety of organically grown vegetables for the school’s daily food consumption. This is paradise for vegetarians. Arrays of colorful flowers add contrast for the green scenery providing the artistic and interior landscape. And by logic the area cannot escape from the threat of climate change even if preventions are gradually installed. It’s a global problem! Unless countries realize the magnitude of its effect and exercise political will in responding the inevitable disaster then we all join and moan into the pit of our own creation.

Climate change as a global concern is one of the main summer course at Krogerup Hojskole thru the Crossing Border project. The Danish government and non-government institutions are working up mechanisms to reach one of their goals in 2015, that of a green and blue capital city towards a healthy major city. These are built-in consciousness-raising in all schools, government and business establishments. May not perfect but people take diligent efforts actualizing their care and concern for the environment.

Consequently because Denmark is a very rich country, they have the necessary facilities and resources setting up structures responding to these visions. In practice they project themselves as the world’s best city for cycles cutting the use of energy consumption. The government is seriously addressing the problem of global warming. They organize a lot of forum, study groups, workshops and conferences regarding the current issue of climate change. Denmark positions them selves as the center for world climate policy. The advocacy is to engage people and countries to set their own action even basic and minimal initiatives. At the end of this year the Danish government will host the summit conference for climate change. World leaders and active citizens are expected to deal severely the issue of climate change that is a global concern.

The Autumn Term at Krogerup Hojskole is not excluded in the climate change awareness. Students are encouraged to take part in this campaign. Special sessions with knowledgeable persons about this global issue present and provide a space for discussion not only for the students but also the community residing near the school. Soon they will disseminate the current situation on energy, food and fuel consumption detrimental to the young generation and the universe itself. These are building up activities for the forthcoming climate change summit in December.

International Current Affairs

Let me get the blogging started!

As a participant of the Crossing Borders program I had the chance to attend the course of International Current Affairs (ICA) which is lead by Thomas Boserup. We usually discuss recent affairs of the world, sometimes watching different types of movies (on Afghanistan, etc.), or just browsing the ICG-report. We had two guests recently: Line Wolf Nielsen and Henrik Lerche. One week ago we had a trip to Copenhagen to visit the Ministry of Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs and the Nordic Council of Ministers. After these official meeting we were allowed to enter the home of Thomas. It is a nice place near the Forum square, with his two lovely children and his friendly wife. We were blessed with a delicious Chili Con Carne, some red wein and a relaxing discussion.

On our last lesson we watched a video about a school-project with the purpose of showing the afghani Youth/children how to participate in the elections, and how democratic elections are held. They were asked to run as candidates, after collecting a given amount of supporters. Five of them managed to start their campaign (not only males!). All candidates were funded by the organizers, with a simbolic amount of money. These children worked on own political programs, and they were able to hold rallies, give speeches, interviews. As for the money: some of them spent the money on ice cream, or biscuits. :) Is it surprising? I do not think so.

Believe it or not they had very serious programs as: get rid of the foreign troops, spend more money on security issues...

Anyway, it is a course worth attending! I am looking forward to more interesting topics!

Tak, Thomas!

by: Daniel Jadi (HUN)

Contact persons

If you have a question, a comment or anything else, then contact Ida N (idaniebur@hotmail.com) or Maja(majakirstinenygaard@hotmail.com).
We are responsible for the blog in the autumn 2009!

Have a nice weekend, all of you!

Hello World!

Now the Krogerup-blog has started!

The blog will contain descriptions and comments on our everyday life at the school and the other arrangements which we experience.
It is possible to write both in English and in Danish.

Therefore, if you have something to say, then bring it on :-)