Sculpture Projects Munster: An Every 10 Year Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit

by Jamie Rhein on

Munster, Germany was almost totally destroyed during World War II. If there is any indication that “Art Saves Lives,” as I used to see on art pins sold in the Mariposa Gallery in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Sculpture Project Munster, is it. Every ten years this outdoor sculpture exhibit pulls in artists‘ work from different countries to infuse vibrancy into the human experience. There are 37 artists on the list. This year’s theme is to show how art transforms public space. To go along with the exhibit there are lectures, film screenings and discussions.

The exhibit, June 17-September 30 is a chance to see how you interact with the environment when you interact with the sculptures. Once each exhibit is over, Munster keeps some of the sculptures making this a city to see if you like outdoor art. There are 34 sculptures still on display from previous years.

If you are interested in heading here, the Web site has a Grand Tour page with visitor information.

Opera in Prague: Cheap and Fantastic

by Neil Woodburn on

Yes folks, I’m linking to Opera News Magazine today.

Now this is something I wouldn’t ordinarily read, but the cover caught my eye and when I opened it up I discovered that nearly the entire May issue was dedicated to Prague.

Prague, as you may or may not know, has an opera tradition just as fine as Vienna’s. In fact, Vienna’s favorite son, Mozart, lived here and composed such masterpieces as Don Giovanni.

Naturally, the city is also blessed with some outstanding opera houses bedecked in all the fine trappings you’d expect from such a culturally rich city. The National Theater and the art nouveau Municipal House are just two such examples.

Perhaps the best thing about opera in Prague is that one can see a world class performance in a world class theater for less than $20. Wow. And let me tell you, this is where I saw Carmen, my very first opera, and I was blown away. And I’m not even much of an opera fan.

If you, on the other hand are a big fan of the Fat Lady singing, or merely appreciative of the fine arts, take a moment to jump on over to the Opera News site where they’ve put together a nice selection of the following articles;

A profile of local star Magdalena Ko?ená
A historical perspective on the challenges of being a writer or artist during the communist regime
Why we in the West never heard about Prague’s finest opera singers during the Cold War
A photo gallery
Tips for dining and accommodations

A Canadian in Beijing: Being Light

by Ember Swift on

Here I am in my eighth week here in Beijing and I realize that I have been a bit slack this week in keeping you up-to-date about my experiences. In just four days, I will be exactly two-thirds of the way through my trip. There is so much to write about and so little time. Life has wrapped me up here in the summer sunshine and I am lolling in a hammock of activity. It’s perfect: a contradiction of being both busy and blissfully relaxed.

There’s really two reasons for not writing as much this week: first of all, as just mentioned, I’ve had a hard time finding the time to write about one event before another has swept me up into its pace. The second reason is that I have been intermittently traumatized by the absurd response to one my posts that was linked to through AOL. As of today, it has had more than 100,000 hits which has resulted in so many hideous, xenophobic comments and accusations towards this amazing culture and towards me as a writer here. (I used the word “intermittent” above because I have had moments when I have been more amused, and thus reassured, rather than traumatized. I suppose there is a balance in everything.)

How does a writer recover? Well, this writer has stepped back this week to truly take in this experience of living in Beijing. I really wanted to spend the week feeling this city and culture fully so that this next post could be a true reflection on my time so far, as a whole, rather than just on one experience or interesting fragment of such a vast spectrum of light. I know that fragments make good stories, but receiving such surprising feedback to that one post has made me suddenly feel as though perhaps these posts are incomplete. After all, it’s impossible to show you the panorama of my China experience with just one story. I could suggest reading each and every post (and some of you do, so thank you!) but with this post today, I’m hoping that I can give some sort of summary of what it’s been like so far.

I’ll start with a handful of the practical things:

Since arriving, I have learned some great lessons. For one, I’ve located plenty of vegan food and I am eating extremely well now that I have enough language skills to order correctly in restaurants and to read labels in the supermarket. When I don’t, I know enough to be able to ask clarity or grab the arm of one of my Chinese friends and hope they’ll accompany me to the grocery store! Also, I no longer have to be in a vegetarian restaurant to eat. I know what I can eat and what I can’t and I know what is “safe” vegan food and what isn’t. All in all, my health is steady (and I’m over my cold!) and I feel strong.

I have also learned to always put my toilet tissue in my front pocket of my jeans and not my back pocket. When squatting, your pants are pulled down and so the back pocket of your jeans finds itself sandwiched tightly between the backs of your thighs and your calf muscles, thus making it impossible to fetch the paper without standing up again. Simple thing, you think? Well it has taken me weeks to remember that “the front pocket is the place for toilet tissue,” aka: my mantra. I’ve even had to repeat it quietly to myself before putting the tissue in my pocket. I was slow in the uptake on that one!

Finally, and probably most importantly, I have friends here and a flourishing community. I feel part of a crew in several different scenes and it’s a great feeling. There’s no end of social opportunities and I feel connected to several thriving urban worlds and aware of what’s going on. With all the travelling I do back home and now living the country, I sometimes feel detached from “scenes.” Returning to this reality is like living in Toronto ten years ago for me. It’s been great fun. I haven’t had any problems fitting in or making contacts and I love the clarity that I’m finding in the exchanges I’m having. So much openness and care and love. These will be lasting connections, I have no doubt.

And, on a more philosophical note:

Being in China has been incredibly liberating. There is a heaviness that has lifted from my chest that I didn’t even realize I was carrying. It lifts a little more every day and, despite the air quality here, I’m breathing better than I have in years and I feel more alive than I ever imagined. Lighter. In my life back home, I am planned and organized. My schedule is laid before me in a neat pile of itineraries and scheduling. I love my life, don’t get me wrong! I love the travel and the performances and the gift of making music every day. I am incredibly lucky! But I had forgotten what a joy it could be to have *no plans* except living.

Some of my friends at home have told me that I’m too serious. I think too much at the best of times. I often have to push my mind aside to make room for my heart. I over-analyze and apply a certain degree of importance to every decision, so much so that I find meaning in everything and/or assign meaning to everything. This hyper consciousness has served me well and has meant that I am alert and aware and present in my life. The downside, however, is that I rarely allow myself to just bounce off life like light on a city, never knowing where my beams will refract and reflect and, furthermore, not presupposing its path to ready myself for any consequences or results. I rarely just wait and see… how it all feels.

Because after all, light is just light. I am just another human being here. Light will travel as I have done and it need not be assigned great importance, though nor should its affect be unappreciated. I’m paying attention to its beams, hitching a ride and taking notes. Somewhere in the middle is an equilibrium that has shocked me with its simplicity. Beijing makes me feel both small and enormous in my potential.

China has lit me up.

Which brings me to my role here as a writer, too. I’m here to tell you about my experiences. Sometimes, I find some cultural practices hard to understand, but I am overwhelmed by humility here – hyper aware that I am a foreigner coming with a foreign perspective and there will be much that I don’t understand. I am learning so much every single day and this learning is incredibly nourishing. My respect for Chinese culture and the Chinese people whom I have met here grows exponentially with every new character learned, every new personality I’m introduced to, every new cultural practice that I am taught and invited to take part in. It is all a great privilege and I am typing this with a gratitude that I had no idea my heart could feel. It’s immense.

This past week, I have also had the wonderful opportunity to include my art in this experience. I know I already had a gig in April, but this really felt like my first gig this week. It was a great success and really was the experience that showed me that I have built a real community here of both friends and supporters and contacts. Since then, I have performed yet again (last night) and I’ve yet to tell you in great detail about either show. I have much to report and I ask you to just be patient for my slightly anachronistic posts this coming week. I’m busy gathering some additional photos as well, which always makes a post more interesting, as I’m sure you’ll agree.

All in all, I will hold the next four weeks close to my chest. The word Beijing is just one letter away from the word “being.” I have often made this typo since arriving and I realize now how appropriate this missing “j” is to my experience.

Being here is truly being.

Alive.

In love.

China.

Water in Africa Project

by Jamie Rhein on

In my post on bucket baths I mentioned the Water in Africa Project by World Wise Schools. For any of you who’ve done adventure travel or have been to remote places, you know what it’s like to have water be an issue. A faucet with clean running water is nirvana.

The Water in Africa Project is the result of a collaborative effort between 90 Peace Corps volunteers, K-12 classroom teachers and Coverdell World Wise School staff members and covers pretty much everything having to do with water in African countries. From what I understand after reading the homepage, the idea of the project came from one person who had enough excitement and vision to generate interest in the folks who could make the project happen. I’m impressed. Collaborative projects thrill me.

The project has lesson plans and resources to keep you reading for hours. If you want to find out about water born illness, water projects, water use, water anything, this is a terrific place to start. The site is one that also keeps being added to as teachers come up with new lessons they’ve created by using the website.

Unusual Tours You’ve Got To Take

by Willy Volk on

I don’t usually go in for tours, but sometimes I break down. After all, occasionally you run across a tour guide that offers so much knowledge, experience, and insider information that you can’t possibly do better. But how do you know which tours are right for you?

From vodka tours, to pot tours, to punk rock tours, to voodoo tours, here are some of the greatest (and weirdest!) tours to take.

Vodka Tours in Poland
Outside bustling Krakow, Poland’s countryside is filled with strawberries, apple blossom, freshly cut grass — and vodka. Krakow Tours will take you through the country’s wide open spaces in a wagon cart — through fields, forests, farms, and villages — as you sample vodka in various establishments.

From top-notch vodka-ries to illegal hooch-brewers, the tour will leave you buzzing…with excitement. Expect strawberry, pear, apple and plum vodkas; you’ll even learn how they distill the stuff the old way.

Cannabis Tours in Amsterdam
Did somebody say “freshly cut grass”? In Amsterdam, cannabis is openly sold and smoked in the city’s 300+ “coffeeshops.” Amsterdam City Tours will take you on a behind-the-scenes tour of the Amsterdam Coffee shop industry.

In addition to visiting some of the shops where you’ll learn about client attitudes, social reaction patterns and current trends in the drug trade, the tour will also swing by the Cannabis Museum.

Punk Music Tours in Washington D.C
Washington D.C. is known for monuments, politicians, and five-sided buildings. But did you know that it was also the epicenter of the harDCore punk scene that emerged in the late 70s?

Before you head to the nation’s capital, swing by Yellow Arrow, a site that’s produced several excellent, short video documentaries about DC’s punk scene. Watch them or download them to your MP3 player. Thereafter, explore the city via Yellow Arrow’s text message tours, guided by a downloadable PDF map.

Voodoo Tours in West Africa
After living in Africa for three years, I know juju (black magic) pervades much of the countryside. Much of Western Africa still believes in gods and ghosts; sorcerers and witches; magic spells and sacred snakes; it’s not incorrect to call it the land of voodoo.

Beginning in Lome, Togo, Explore takes you on a journey through Akodessewa fetish market (with its bizarre display of religious and medicinal ingredients) before heading to rural villages where voodoo shrines and fetish ceremonies dominate the lives of local people. In Benin, you’ll visit the python temple before taking pirogues across Lake Nokoue to the stilt village of Ganvie. Also, don’t miss out on a chance to visit the Royal Palaces of Dahomey, built with human skulls.

Cave Snorkeling in Bonaire
The Caribbean island of Bonaire consists of limestone (fossilized coral reefs). Over the years, the caves have eroded, leaving numerous caves on the island.

While cave snorkeling with Hans, you’ll visit two different caves. First, you’ll hit a “dry” cave with stalactites, stalagmites, and even the special helectites. Second, you’ll slog through a “wet” cave, where you’ll snorkel in crystal clear water looking for cave shrimp and the rare cave-fish. If Hans asks you to help him with his rare cave-swimsuit-fish, swim away quickly.

Visit Dracula’s Castle on Halloween
In addition to touring the countryside and some dramatic frescoed monasteries around Transylvania, you could spend this Halloween inside the castle of Count Dracula. Dunno if a dude wearing a cape will jump out of a casket at midnight, but it sure looks like dressing up is encouraged.

The following day, you can take a boat ride across Snagov Lake, to the island that’s the eternal resting place of the Count. (Or is it?)

San Francisco Vampire Tours
Held every Friday and Saturday night at 8, these 2-hour tours explain the history of the city and how Vampires played a role in that history.

For an idea of what the tours are like, check out this short video. While it was filmed during the day, note that the tours are much spookier at night.

Ghost Tours of the London Underground
Ghosts are everywhere, apparently — including the London Underground. Ghosts of the Underground is dedicated to tracking the reported ghost sitings in the Tube, and features many bizarre, unexplained photographs.

Download the 47-minute documentary on the subject and give yourself a self-guided tour — and a fright!

Private Eye Tours in Seattle
On Private Eye Tours, join a Seattle native with a medical and science background as you explore the dark side of Seattle’s streets and alleys.

On your tour, you’ll visit the scenes of crimes, burglaries, arson, speakeasies, and the red light district. You’ll also see where a number of famous people — including Ted Bundy, Bruce Lee, Jimi Hendrix, and Kurt Cobain — lived…and died.

Wild Seaweed Tours in Canada
Meet Diane Bernard — who actually allows herself to be called the “Seaweed Lady” — at Whiffen Spit on the southwest coast of Vancouver Island near Sooke, B.C., Canada (about 40-minute drive from the city of Victoria) for her seaweed tour.

This 2-hour hands-on inter-tidal workshop teaches visitors about the different varieties of seaweeds, their nutritional benefits, and different methods of preparing them. If you’re interested, you can sample some fresh seaweeds; you can even try wearing some, if you’re so inclined — and not overdressed.

Hip-Hour Tours in Harlem
Harlem Hip-Hop Tours is a tour in style. Each tour includes a ride in a stretch limousine, and the best in the food, sightseeing, and shopping that Harlem has to offer. Tour participants will see the Apollo Theater and Striver’s Row; have the opportunity to shop along 125th street; and come to understand the true meaning of “putting your foot in it” when you savor the flavor of a home-cooked soul food meal.

Moreover, Harlem Hip-Hop Tours provides personal instruction in hip-hop dance and slang (um, like what “putting your foot in it” means). Tour participants will also travel to some of New York’s hottest television and recording studios where they can see firsthand how hip-hop music is created, and meet IN PERSON established and up-and-coming hip-hop artists.