Oswego, New York. Historical for Two Reasons

by Jamie Rhein on

Snow is dumping on Oswego, New York. Five inches by the hour. When I heard this on the news, I perked up. I used to live there, and I haven’t lived in that much snow since. If anything, it’s been the opposite. From time to time I’ve even lived close to the equator. I don’t know if it’s the snow that chased me south.

I’ve thought about the Oswego snow from time to time, though. From where it sits next to Lake Ontario it can’t help but get snow. It’s called “lake effect.” Whatever it’s called, it’s a sight. Snow plows have some sort of contraption that throws snow into dump trucks so it can heaved onto the lake. The result is that streets look more like corridors that can reach chest high and the lake has mini-mountains. Cars sometimes put orange flags on the antennas so they can be seen at crossroads.

Although Oswego’s snow puts it in the national and local news across the U.S. from time to time, there is another claim to fame that not many people know about. It’s not as flashy as the snow, but it’s interesting to note just the same. During World War II almost 1,000 Jews were allowed to “temporarily” enter the United States to escape the Nazi regime in Germany. They were housed at Fort Ontario which just happens to be in Oswego.

Fort Ontario is the sight of a battleground bonanza. First built by the British in 1775 it was destroyed by the French only to be built again by the British, to then be destroyed by the Americans during the American Revolution and again destroyed again by the British in the War of 1812 (Are you keeping up?). Eventually, after wars weren’t fought in upstate New York anymore, the fort had some more incarnations until its rare use as a refugee camp between the years 1944-1946. This was the only place in the U.S. that served as such a haven and the only organized U.S. effort to bring Jews into the United States. There was fear that once people were allowed into the U.S., they wouldn’t leave. For awhile, the people who were housed at the fort had to stay there 24-7. After awhile the regulations lifted so the adults could get jobs and kids could go to Oswego’s schools. The kids going to school happened first. It wasn’t, I think, until year number two when the adults could leave for longer periods of time.

Today the fort is open as a tourist site. I’ve been there but I can’t recall how much information is on display about the fort’s role during WWII. I didn’t find out about this bit of history myself until after I had moved away and saw a program on educational television.

Los Angeles Times Travel & Adventure Show

by Erik Olsen on

I’m going to snake this post from Neil, even though I know he’s probably going to go..unless, of course, he has something more important to do. But I went to this event several years ago and saw some of my travel writing heroes in the flesh. What event, you ask? Why the Los Angeles Times Travel & Adventure Show. Every year the West Coast’s best newspaper teams up with the travel industry to turn Long Beach into a mecca for travel enthusiasts. It is said to be the largest travel show on the West Coast, and this year the event takes place on the weekend of February 10 & 11, 2007 at the Long Beach Convention Center.

As I say, I’ve gone to the event once and thought it was pretty interesting. It’s a bit salesy. As you walk the long rows of outfitters, they beckon you to come and check out their various trips, many of which are beyond the reach of your pocketbook. You experience a mixture of elation and misery…elation and all the possibilities for travel and misery for the fact you’re just seeing posters of these places and that, well, that you are in Long Beach. But if you keep your eyes peeled, you’ll see some luminaries, and I urge you to talk folks up if you go. I also went to the big NYT travel convention years ago and blogged about it here. When I did that I met the editor of National Geographic Adventure and Jon Bowermaster. This year, the folks you might see include Colin Angus, the first person to circumnavigate the globe exclusively under human power, as well as Don George, formerly of Lonely Planet who’s now running Don’s Place.

Rickshaw Pullers: Cultural Icon or Exploited Commodity?

by Willy Volk on

Last December, West Bengal — India’s poorest and third-most populous state — outlawed rickshaws on the basis that human-powered transport is, “A disgraceful practice that flourished when the British lorded over the people.” Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, West Bengal’s chief minister, may be right, but in outlawing the profession, the government put an estimated 6000 licensed pullers (and who knows how many unlicensed ones!) out of work. Interestingly, Bhattacharjee’s government claims that cycle-rickshaws — arguably more difficult to operate — will still be allowed.

Although rickshaw pullers earn only about $2.25 a day, that’s roughly double the income of the typical West Bengal citizen. Consequently, late last month, the Calcutta Hand Rickshaw Pullers Union (sorry, no website) asked Bhattacharjee to develop a retraining package. However, considering the minister is vigorously wooing the tech sector to Calcutta, it’s hard to say whether he’ll spend much time worrying about these cultural icons.

As an aside, be certain to check out Andy Carvin’s short but stunning video of cycle-rickshaws. It’s amazing how they can remain so sparkling despite all the mud.

[News via Mental Floss; photo courtesy Soumik]

Vanishing Chinglish

by Iva Skoch on

China will never be the same; at least Beijing, that is. As the Olympics approach, a quasi-government group in Beijing has set out to correct the city’s English menus and signs.

The WSJ just ran an article detailing these efforts: to date, for example, these language cops from the Beijing Speaks Foreign Languages Program have replaced 6,300 road signs with often odd, sometimes downright hilarious, English phrasing, the result of bad translations.

We’ll definitely miss the restroom signs saying “Genitl Emen” (aka, gentlemen), such great attractions as the “Beijing Hospital for Anus and Intestinal Disease” (aka Hospital of Proctology), and street signs telling us “To take notice of safe: The slippery are very crafty” (aka, be careful: slippery). Or, “Little grass is smiling slightly, Please walk on pavement” (aka ?).

Fortunately, we’ll still be able to relive the good ol’ days on various websites, such as pocopico.com, flickr’s chinglish pool, chinglish.de, and google images, of course. Any other good collections out there, dear readers?

Paris: Romance Perfection or Romance Disaster? You Decide.

by Jamie Rhein on

Now, that this day has been filled with love, here’s the other side of the coin. Paris is touted as the city for romance. Tom Cruise proposed to Katie Holmes there. Gene Kelly danced through puddles to “Singing in the Rain” in An American in Paris. Frank Sinatra crooned “I Love Paris,” (click for lyrics) Cole Porter’s song. We’ve all seen pictures of the Eiffel Tower backlit with kissing couples doing some perfectly framed eye-gazing.

Sure, Paris might be the place for romance, but my first time there during my junior year in college was romantically disasterous. The first misstep was not convincing that dashing Canadian fellow I met at that youth hostel in Norway to ditch his friend in Germany for a couple of days and come to Paris with me. “There will always be Berlin,” I had said.

Being young and determined, instead of altering MY course and going with him like he thought I should do, I headed to Paris alone on my “I’m independent” streak. No, nothing terrible happened, but I did fend off a custodian’s advances at a Metro stop which involved drawing a toilet on a scrap of paper after I unwittingly wandered into his custodial closet while looking for the restroom. With that coloring my impressions, I wasn’t too thrilled to brave out my adventure. I did get in a boat tour on the Seine River, toured the Louvre and the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume, went to a symphony concert and walked along the Champs Elysee before heading out of town feeling disappointed. I sighed all the while, thinking about my missed Canadian opportunity. Oh, the follies of youth.

Thankfully, I’ve been back to Paris three times since then and each time was better than the last. So, go ahead, give Paris and romance a shot. Just avoid the custodial closets.

If you are going to be in Paris on Valentine’s Day here is a romantic dinner cruise you can take on the Seine. If you can’t make it by the 14th, this cruise is a daily event made for two, but book ahead.

Do you have any of your own sad-sack love/travel stories? Here is a place for venting.