Preface:
I am in the past was Protestant, and I know such churches, and also Catholic religion in Germany, the bible, the Lord's Prayer, and the traditions of the Christian churches. Often regions in Europe practice Ecumenism. It means, for example, they hold services for the congregation together, or alternate. In June I was in Hungary at an Ecumenical wedding. In the Catholic church a Catholic priest (in a white robe) and a Protestant pastor (in a black robe) held the service together. In Bali I visited lots of Hindu temples, and in the Turkey some of famous mosques. This is my only background about religion. I am atheist, and visit the church normally only once a year at Christmas with my family.
The services, which I know, are very bible oriented, using the old fashioned language and the stories from the (old or new) testaments. Everywhere in-, and outside of Christian churches you can see paintings, or sculptures of the Lord, of Jesus, and Maria, and also of the prophets.
On Sunday we visited the Crossroads Community Church. The first observation was: nowhere any signs of a church, no crosses, no altar, etc. The first impression was that could not be a real church. Outside it appeared, like a big mall with a huge parking space and inside like a big congress center with meeting point, information center, coffee bar and a recreation area with WiFi and comfortable couches. There were kids' club with creative wall paintings like in a zoo or jungle with big climbing house and rooms for children at different ages, also for children with special needs. Toys and drinks were offered, so that, I think, people, especially children, like to come here. A lot of meeting rooms were in the background, as we later learned, for example, for use by different support groups.
The auditorium was very impressive, like a very huge cinema or meeting hall with drink holders at every of the 4000 seats; in the middle a stage with two screens besides, like at a big rock concert. A rock band played and a prayer, using Jeans and a T-shirt, was performing his message like an entertainer. The message and the pictures were very emotional, and I thought al well that more gratitude in the every days live would be advantageously.
In the hall they offered free bibles, and some materials: "What we believe", "Seven hills we die on", and about serving and Baptism. I read these, and I think that this kind of relogion is a special form of humanity. They give the people the choice and the freedom what they think who God is. They say that the church are the people (church = people). They ask the people to help them to improve something in the world, starting at themselves, to take care on each other, to grow, to push out of the comfort zone, to do the life together, to engage for cultural communication in the community, and to be authentically. I think, with or without focusing on God, if they achieve some people with some of these messages (to be a better husband, to help the neighbour, to develop some understanding for other people and behaviours), it could help to make the world better.
I think, this is an interesting way to get through to people in our today's time.
An other religion we occupied with is the Islam. We visited a mosque, and learned something about the religion, the Koran, the seven things the Muslims believe in, and the five pillars, they have to do. It was also very interesting, but the big difference is that the rules are very strict. As a "real" Muslim you have to pray five times day-to-day, you have to practice the Ramadan, and to pilgrimage to the holy sites once a life (or more), etc. I think, also the exterior signs, like the woman's clothes, are very strict and extreme. In the Turkey we got to know far open religious manners, and that the exterior signs are not the most important things to be a good believer. Most of the women there don't wear the traditional clothing and the scarves.
Also this religion supplies a lot of interesting offers to the community, like using football places and other sports equipment, meeting halls and classrooms.
The Muslims say that everyone is welcome to learn something about the religion, too. I think, this way of practicing a religion is more difficult to interest people in "God", or how they call him "Allah", who have not background in this, yet.
I think, both of the "Institutions", we have visited, contribute to a larger Cincinnati community, each in it's way.
To be continued...
Bye for today!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Medical care in America
On Friday morning we were in the high-tech genetic laboratories at the Children's Hospital of Cincinnati. It was a very short fly-past across different types of laboratories, in which they analyze blood, especially chromosomes. We got information about very new methods like SNP Beadarray technology in the chromosome genetic analysis lab or in the oncology section, and about some typical prenatal analysis, like Amnio Synthesis, used to detect different chromosome defects, like Trisomy 21, Turner's syndrome etc.
The realization of the details was a little bit difficult not because of the language, but because of the content; meanwhile my biology lessons in the school are past over 30 years, and I never was busy with biological issues since that time. The explanation of the woman who told something about genetic counseling was interesting, but only for general education, not for business relations.
After this visit we completed the visit at Wallgreen's, but this seemed a little bit like "occupational therapy". I do not understand the sense of the question to compare a high-tech genetic laboratory with the offers in a pharmaceutical shop, like comparing apples and oranges. Neither the offers nor the prices are comparable. These are completely different things. A pharmaceutical shop is a self service for everyday illnesses, like headache or other pains. A genetic lab is combined with a hospital and analyzes things for many thousands of dollars on demand of doctors. The payment here, like in Germany too, how they explained, depends on the insurance that the people have or they have to pay it by themselves when the diagnosis is not so dramatic, but they want to have a special check-up or an analysis.
At the Walgreen's we had to investigate some facts: there are available over 100 pain relievers based on three different substances, over 500 "Cold and Flu" medicines, also contraceptives, nicotine patches, and razor blades. If you do not know what to take, please ask your doctor or the friendly pharmacist. The Wallgreen's brand pharmaceuticals are only different from the other in the inactive ingredients. The brands are offered all next to each other with good visible price and product information. In Germany you could find the low price products always in the lower shelves below the normal visual field of people.
What else you can find in Walgreen's shop? Nearly everything, for example: drinks (cola, juice, milk), snacks, shampoo, bath foaming, hair colour, creme, cosmetics, skin care, air filters, kitchen appliances (toasters, pancake makers, steam creamers, coffee makers), gardening tools, tool kits, glue, tape, nails, locks, electrical materials (adapters, extension cords, light bulbs), automotive accessories (oil for cars, cleaning equipment), socks, toys, masks, sweets, school blocks, pencils, pens, pet meals, washing powders, diapers, wipes, baby food, CDs, DVDs etc.
Concerning the free offering and availability of drugs in the drugstores, I don't know if the rate of drug dependence in the USA is higher than in other countries, like Germany, where a lot of these pharmaceuticals (for example Ibuprophen or antibiotics) are not freely available. Perhabs the system to get the medicine is only less complicated, and cheaper if you know what you need. I think this system has a lot of advantages, too. You could save time to go to the doctor only for a prescription. Of course, every system has to be used with ethical responsibility of each participant. I, personally, want to have the decision about the treatment for an illness, and talk with the doctor about the methods and ways of treatment he thinks about. In Germany, often, people also ask other (second and third) doctors for their opinion, for example, to decide on a surgery, but they of course have to pay for these other consultations too.
That's all for today, the library closes soon.
The realization of the details was a little bit difficult not because of the language, but because of the content; meanwhile my biology lessons in the school are past over 30 years, and I never was busy with biological issues since that time. The explanation of the woman who told something about genetic counseling was interesting, but only for general education, not for business relations.
After this visit we completed the visit at Wallgreen's, but this seemed a little bit like "occupational therapy". I do not understand the sense of the question to compare a high-tech genetic laboratory with the offers in a pharmaceutical shop, like comparing apples and oranges. Neither the offers nor the prices are comparable. These are completely different things. A pharmaceutical shop is a self service for everyday illnesses, like headache or other pains. A genetic lab is combined with a hospital and analyzes things for many thousands of dollars on demand of doctors. The payment here, like in Germany too, how they explained, depends on the insurance that the people have or they have to pay it by themselves when the diagnosis is not so dramatic, but they want to have a special check-up or an analysis.
At the Walgreen's we had to investigate some facts: there are available over 100 pain relievers based on three different substances, over 500 "Cold and Flu" medicines, also contraceptives, nicotine patches, and razor blades. If you do not know what to take, please ask your doctor or the friendly pharmacist. The Wallgreen's brand pharmaceuticals are only different from the other in the inactive ingredients. The brands are offered all next to each other with good visible price and product information. In Germany you could find the low price products always in the lower shelves below the normal visual field of people.
What else you can find in Walgreen's shop? Nearly everything, for example: drinks (cola, juice, milk), snacks, shampoo, bath foaming, hair colour, creme, cosmetics, skin care, air filters, kitchen appliances (toasters, pancake makers, steam creamers, coffee makers), gardening tools, tool kits, glue, tape, nails, locks, electrical materials (adapters, extension cords, light bulbs), automotive accessories (oil for cars, cleaning equipment), socks, toys, masks, sweets, school blocks, pencils, pens, pet meals, washing powders, diapers, wipes, baby food, CDs, DVDs etc.
Concerning the free offering and availability of drugs in the drugstores, I don't know if the rate of drug dependence in the USA is higher than in other countries, like Germany, where a lot of these pharmaceuticals (for example Ibuprophen or antibiotics) are not freely available. Perhabs the system to get the medicine is only less complicated, and cheaper if you know what you need. I think this system has a lot of advantages, too. You could save time to go to the doctor only for a prescription. Of course, every system has to be used with ethical responsibility of each participant. I, personally, want to have the decision about the treatment for an illness, and talk with the doctor about the methods and ways of treatment he thinks about. In Germany, often, people also ask other (second and third) doctors for their opinion, for example, to decide on a surgery, but they of course have to pay for these other consultations too.
That's all for today, the library closes soon.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Meetings and exhibition
Hello today,
At first some words about yesterday because I had my program out of the other group. In the morning, Ruth picked me up at 7:30 am at the dormitory. She accompanied me to a building at the UC-campus to meet Dorothy Air. Dorothy is responsible, also like me, for contacts between the university and companies, so that the contact could be helpful, but I assumed what shall I talk with her from 8 am until 3 pm, but it was completely different what I thought.
At 8 am began a meeting of the "Community engagement council" of the UC. This is like in Germany a strategy commission of the university that discusses the vision and the next steps of the university development. Very interesting, but too long (80 min), was the presentation of the keynote speaker Prof. Barbara Holland about "Engagement at the University of Cincinnati - Principles and Strategies". She was from Sydney, and the presentation was given via telephone conference and the Powerpoint via CITRIX. Very interesting for me was the following discussion because I mentioned that the processes are everywhere the same. Like in Ilmenau, the council has been meeting for 5 years. They are people from the administration, and they are discussing for lots of time the meaning of words and the difference between commitment, engagement and service orientation, how they could transfer this information to the university staff, and what would be the impact. We had to leave this meeting at 11 am because the next meeting was waiting at Blue Ash. This was a lunch meeting at the Hilton.
The planning committee, the so called "Blue Ash Life Sciences Collaborative" discussed the preparation of a Life Science Symposium at the beginning of November. Also this meeting was was in a very well known atmosphere. Even two months before the symposium, a very large committee spends the time to begin to think about what and when and especially with whom they want to do something (like at home).
After this meeting, I went with Dorothy to her office at CincyTechUSA, and she explained the work of this organisation, where she works at half of her job. She recommended several meetings and keynote presentations, which we could take part in the next time.
Today we were in Columbus in the Ohio State University. It is the biggest university in the USA with 62,000 students. The grounds of the university were wide with parks and impressive buildings. I have never seen such a giant recreation center. The library was very impressive as well. I think a public building with stairs made of of glass is only possible in America.
The exhibition of the Berlin Wall was made by students of the University of Paderborn in Germany. There were shown photos made by them. These photos were a result of a student's work, in which they tried to find out the places from old photos in the present. Most of them were photos with an artistic touch. They were interesting, but nothing special and to less historical debate. More interesting was another photo exhibition with the title "Local Time". The photographer Stephan Koppelkamm made photos from buildings in the former GDR in 1990 and a second time in 2000, and the photos were compared. It is a little bit crazy to go to the USA to see an exhibition of our home country.
The question about the "walls in the heads" today is not so easy to respond to. I think the fall of the Berlin Wall was 20 years ago. Certainly you have in the German language the words "Ossie" and "Wessie" still now, from someone who has never been to the other part of the country. I also met here people, who told me, when I reported about our trips to Chicago or New York, that they had never been there. Some information young people get from their parents, but for most of them, this historical event will be like any other in history, like World War II or slavery here that we learned about in the Freedom Center. In our group, we have half from the West, and the other half from East Germany, but I cannot discover a difference in the behaviour from the point of regional background. In the past, I worked, and right now I am working with, a lot of people who came from the former western part of Germany. My impression is that the people assess each other according to character or expertise, may be appearance, but this is the same thing all over the world.
On the way back the visit of a big outlet center was "superfluous" - because a lot of money could have been saved without this stop. :-) But many thanks to Debbie for her patience.
To be continued..
Bye for today!
At first some words about yesterday because I had my program out of the other group. In the morning, Ruth picked me up at 7:30 am at the dormitory. She accompanied me to a building at the UC-campus to meet Dorothy Air. Dorothy is responsible, also like me, for contacts between the university and companies, so that the contact could be helpful, but I assumed what shall I talk with her from 8 am until 3 pm, but it was completely different what I thought.
At 8 am began a meeting of the "Community engagement council" of the UC. This is like in Germany a strategy commission of the university that discusses the vision and the next steps of the university development. Very interesting, but too long (80 min), was the presentation of the keynote speaker Prof. Barbara Holland about "Engagement at the University of Cincinnati - Principles and Strategies". She was from Sydney, and the presentation was given via telephone conference and the Powerpoint via CITRIX. Very interesting for me was the following discussion because I mentioned that the processes are everywhere the same. Like in Ilmenau, the council has been meeting for 5 years. They are people from the administration, and they are discussing for lots of time the meaning of words and the difference between commitment, engagement and service orientation, how they could transfer this information to the university staff, and what would be the impact. We had to leave this meeting at 11 am because the next meeting was waiting at Blue Ash. This was a lunch meeting at the Hilton.
The planning committee, the so called "Blue Ash Life Sciences Collaborative" discussed the preparation of a Life Science Symposium at the beginning of November. Also this meeting was was in a very well known atmosphere. Even two months before the symposium, a very large committee spends the time to begin to think about what and when and especially with whom they want to do something (like at home).
After this meeting, I went with Dorothy to her office at CincyTechUSA, and she explained the work of this organisation, where she works at half of her job. She recommended several meetings and keynote presentations, which we could take part in the next time.
Today we were in Columbus in the Ohio State University. It is the biggest university in the USA with 62,000 students. The grounds of the university were wide with parks and impressive buildings. I have never seen such a giant recreation center. The library was very impressive as well. I think a public building with stairs made of of glass is only possible in America.
The exhibition of the Berlin Wall was made by students of the University of Paderborn in Germany. There were shown photos made by them. These photos were a result of a student's work, in which they tried to find out the places from old photos in the present. Most of them were photos with an artistic touch. They were interesting, but nothing special and to less historical debate. More interesting was another photo exhibition with the title "Local Time". The photographer Stephan Koppelkamm made photos from buildings in the former GDR in 1990 and a second time in 2000, and the photos were compared. It is a little bit crazy to go to the USA to see an exhibition of our home country.
The question about the "walls in the heads" today is not so easy to respond to. I think the fall of the Berlin Wall was 20 years ago. Certainly you have in the German language the words "Ossie" and "Wessie" still now, from someone who has never been to the other part of the country. I also met here people, who told me, when I reported about our trips to Chicago or New York, that they had never been there. Some information young people get from their parents, but for most of them, this historical event will be like any other in history, like World War II or slavery here that we learned about in the Freedom Center. In our group, we have half from the West, and the other half from East Germany, but I cannot discover a difference in the behaviour from the point of regional background. In the past, I worked, and right now I am working with, a lot of people who came from the former western part of Germany. My impression is that the people assess each other according to character or expertise, may be appearance, but this is the same thing all over the world.
On the way back the visit of a big outlet center was "superfluous" - because a lot of money could have been saved without this stop. :-) But many thanks to Debbie for her patience.
To be continued..
Bye for today!
Monday, August 24, 2009
English language
Hi all,
Today I want something resume about language using in Ohio and Illinois.
We had a lot of different contacts with different people during the week, we are staying in US.
At first we have the teachers, like Ruth and Debbie and Judy. The speak different English but - especially Ruth - very clearly.
I think, that it is not the problem to understand the people because of the slang. It is not a problem to understand the people. To tell the truth, I can not notice about the difference between the language of the people in Ohio and in Illinois. I know the difference between British and American English. And here are, like in Germany too, people, who speak more articulately then other.
So some times the pronunciation is a problem. For example Chuck speaks a very "American" English like "Rrarrarrarra". And the guide in Jungle Jims was very difficult to understand for me because of his mumbling and also because of the loud noises in the surrounding.
In Chicago we talked with a lot of people in shops, at the hostel reception, in the railway station, in information centers, in the streets, asking for the right way. It was not a problem to understand each other. May be it was necessary to inquire a second time, but this is very uncomplicated. The people are all very friendly. Often, when we started to open the city map the people stopped and asked "Do you need help?" We also visited a musical in Chicago about the band "Four seasons" , on the Poster was written approximately: "Please note, that the language will be used with some kind of regional slang". I think it was not not difficult to understand - may be not every word, but the context.
I think, that it is very helpful to be for a while in an other country, to hear the language in different colours and more and more better to understand this. The speed is not really the problem. In Chicago we were also in a special whine shop and the woman explained a lot of details and spoke very quickly, but very clear, and it was excellent to understand her.
A problem is also the vocabulary. Here would it be good, to find a way, to learn it fast and efficiently.
Today I want something resume about language using in Ohio and Illinois.
We had a lot of different contacts with different people during the week, we are staying in US.
At first we have the teachers, like Ruth and Debbie and Judy. The speak different English but - especially Ruth - very clearly.
I think, that it is not the problem to understand the people because of the slang. It is not a problem to understand the people. To tell the truth, I can not notice about the difference between the language of the people in Ohio and in Illinois. I know the difference between British and American English. And here are, like in Germany too, people, who speak more articulately then other.
So some times the pronunciation is a problem. For example Chuck speaks a very "American" English like "Rrarrarrarra". And the guide in Jungle Jims was very difficult to understand for me because of his mumbling and also because of the loud noises in the surrounding.
In Chicago we talked with a lot of people in shops, at the hostel reception, in the railway station, in information centers, in the streets, asking for the right way. It was not a problem to understand each other. May be it was necessary to inquire a second time, but this is very uncomplicated. The people are all very friendly. Often, when we started to open the city map the people stopped and asked "Do you need help?" We also visited a musical in Chicago about the band "Four seasons" , on the Poster was written approximately: "Please note, that the language will be used with some kind of regional slang". I think it was not not difficult to understand - may be not every word, but the context.
I think, that it is very helpful to be for a while in an other country, to hear the language in different colours and more and more better to understand this. The speed is not really the problem. In Chicago we were also in a special whine shop and the woman explained a lot of details and spoke very quickly, but very clear, and it was excellent to understand her.
A problem is also the vocabulary. Here would it be good, to find a way, to learn it fast and efficiently.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
The culture of food
We visited different grocery stores. At first we were at Stop N Go. It is like a shop at a gas station, small and expensive without fresh goods. Then we were in Krogers. It is a normal supermarket with an organic section.
Today we visited a Pipkins store. It looks like a German "Bioladen" with fresh organic vegetables and fruits. But the fruits did not only come from the region, but also from other states and countries, like Italy or Mexico. The customers there could find regional products also, like for example honey or cheese, but more expensive than in a supermarket. The sales person told us that advertising is not necessary, because they know the shop and come there extra, but the people need a car to reach this shop.
The second one, that we visited today was a real adventure, it was the "Jungle Jim" food market. We had an interesting tour with a lot of different possibilities to try some things, like cheese, meat, olives or salsa. The market is very big and impressive. It is a private company, which was built up in 1974. The owner started with a little stand at the street and the people called him because of his appearance with long hair like a man from the jungle "Jungle Jim". He called the company so, like a brand. The customers in this market were locals, aliens and immigrants, because of the special selection of food. But I think, it is not a destination for poor people, because it is more a delicatessen. Also this market is outside of the city and the customers have to go there by car.
Very impressive were the goods from all over the world. 14,000 different sorts of wine are available and hundred sorts of vegetables and fruits, some I have never seen before. I took hundreds of photos of the vegetables and fruits. I think at home I will prepare a big collage titled "The colours of fruit or ... of food" or like this.
They had different sections in the market with special food from different countries. Before our trip we assumed, what would be the typical German food, and we found this: dark bread, sauerkraut and dumplings and different products of Dr. Oetker, Maggi and Knorr.
The sections had signs with the name of the country, where the products are from. And there were typical big figures, like Robin Hood for England and some elephants for India.
Thank you very much for the impressive trip to a kind of American culture.
I think the socio-economic status of the customers here is the same like in Germany too. The more expensive and healthy food is bought by the people with more income and the more processed and cheaper food is bought by the people with lower status in supermarkets.
Today we visited a Pipkins store. It looks like a German "Bioladen" with fresh organic vegetables and fruits. But the fruits did not only come from the region, but also from other states and countries, like Italy or Mexico. The customers there could find regional products also, like for example honey or cheese, but more expensive than in a supermarket. The sales person told us that advertising is not necessary, because they know the shop and come there extra, but the people need a car to reach this shop.
The second one, that we visited today was a real adventure, it was the "Jungle Jim" food market. We had an interesting tour with a lot of different possibilities to try some things, like cheese, meat, olives or salsa. The market is very big and impressive. It is a private company, which was built up in 1974. The owner started with a little stand at the street and the people called him because of his appearance with long hair like a man from the jungle "Jungle Jim". He called the company so, like a brand. The customers in this market were locals, aliens and immigrants, because of the special selection of food. But I think, it is not a destination for poor people, because it is more a delicatessen. Also this market is outside of the city and the customers have to go there by car.
Very impressive were the goods from all over the world. 14,000 different sorts of wine are available and hundred sorts of vegetables and fruits, some I have never seen before. I took hundreds of photos of the vegetables and fruits. I think at home I will prepare a big collage titled "The colours of fruit or ... of food" or like this.
They had different sections in the market with special food from different countries. Before our trip we assumed, what would be the typical German food, and we found this: dark bread, sauerkraut and dumplings and different products of Dr. Oetker, Maggi and Knorr.
The sections had signs with the name of the country, where the products are from. And there were typical big figures, like Robin Hood for England and some elephants for India.
Thank you very much for the impressive trip to a kind of American culture.
I think the socio-economic status of the customers here is the same like in Germany too. The more expensive and healthy food is bought by the people with more income and the more processed and cheaper food is bought by the people with lower status in supermarkets.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Experiences at Freedom Center
Today we visited the Freedom Center and learned something about the slavery in America. This was very interesting, and I have to say, that that was not an issue before, I was related with or was spacial interested in.
Very impressive was the carpet on the first floor and in the audio guide (the red numbers) the stories to interest children in the content. It was interesting to hear, how the speaker explained the phenomenon of slavery.
I didn't now so concrete before, that about one million Africans come between 1790 and 1860 as slaves to America, as the largest forced migration in the world history.
Very emotional were also the short films, from art style to very realistic copy of the atmosphere at the river with slave hunters, wild dogs and horses. Impressive was the little child, who sang: "Before I'd be a slave, I'd buried in my grave, and go home to my lord and be free." I think I know that as a gospel song.
I think the museum uses the name Freedom Center, but it was very focused on the black - white problem of slavery in America. In a little section on the third floor they summarised in a film "Struggle continuous" the problem of freedom worldwide and showed some other examples, like Apartheid or children's work in Asia. I didn't know, that there are 27 million slaves on the world today. Impressive was the slogan, which was lightened on the wall: When, when not now. Who, when not you?
In an small computer center were some possibilities shown, what people can do today, but it was a small section of the museum.
Very impressive was the carpet on the first floor and in the audio guide (the red numbers) the stories to interest children in the content. It was interesting to hear, how the speaker explained the phenomenon of slavery.
I didn't now so concrete before, that about one million Africans come between 1790 and 1860 as slaves to America, as the largest forced migration in the world history.
Very emotional were also the short films, from art style to very realistic copy of the atmosphere at the river with slave hunters, wild dogs and horses. Impressive was the little child, who sang: "Before I'd be a slave, I'd buried in my grave, and go home to my lord and be free." I think I know that as a gospel song.
I think the museum uses the name Freedom Center, but it was very focused on the black - white problem of slavery in America. In a little section on the third floor they summarised in a film "Struggle continuous" the problem of freedom worldwide and showed some other examples, like Apartheid or children's work in Asia. I didn't know, that there are 27 million slaves on the world today. Impressive was the slogan, which was lightened on the wall: When, when not now. Who, when not you?
In an small computer center were some possibilities shown, what people can do today, but it was a small section of the museum.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Cultural values in children's texts
Yesterday we were in the Blue Ash regional library, to rent some books. Ruth has organized this. The different departments had different colours - yellow for children, blue for teens and red for adults. The childrens department had some little furniture like in a kindergarden and space to play. It was easy to find books, because of the big headlines, like fairy tailes, languages, techniques etc. The shelves were lower than the shelves for adults, so that the children could reach all the books. The lending was very easy, self checking the ID codes at the desk with library identity card. It is the same procedure like in Germany.
I chose two books from Hans Christian Andersen, two fairy tales. The first one "The Little Mermaid", and the second one "The Red Shoes". The books were very different. "The Little Mermaid" was the classical translation, a very long story with elaborate descriptions about the landscape under and over the water, about the feelings of the persons, about the clothes, about the celebrations etc. There was described a fully other world, so that just the reader could immerse in an other world. This feeling I remember, when I was a little girl. I very much liked this feeling. But the fairy tale of the little mermaid was very sorrowful. The end of the story, I heard years before was a little bit different. What I remember was, that the mermaid herself had to dissolve in to the foam on the billows. In this version here the mermaid went with the daughters of the air into heaven, and after years, when she has done a lot of helpful things, she may obtain an immortal soul and entrance ino heaven.
The other book "The Red Shoes" was shorter, more simple and the moral in the text was in the foreground. The girl has to think about, what she wished. She said, that she more than all things on the world wants to have the red dancing shoes. The shoemaker said, that she should be careful, what she wishes for, because it may come true. In the book she had to learn by no-stop-dancing shoes, that the family and the other values are more important. And there was in the book a happiend with happiness in the family. This book was easy to understand, and children could identify with the story. But I was bothered by the circumstances, how the girl gets the shoes. The shoes were her dream for a long time and she collected coins for many years in a glass. I think this is very good way, that children, if they want something not get all by gifts. They have to exert themselves for something. I don't understand, that the conclusion is although so negative, and would not advise this book to my children.
In summary lets say, that some books are very good for children, they could understand them by themselves, and other need a discussion with adults to understand the moral.
That's all for today...
I chose two books from Hans Christian Andersen, two fairy tales. The first one "The Little Mermaid", and the second one "The Red Shoes". The books were very different. "The Little Mermaid" was the classical translation, a very long story with elaborate descriptions about the landscape under and over the water, about the feelings of the persons, about the clothes, about the celebrations etc. There was described a fully other world, so that just the reader could immerse in an other world. This feeling I remember, when I was a little girl. I very much liked this feeling. But the fairy tale of the little mermaid was very sorrowful. The end of the story, I heard years before was a little bit different. What I remember was, that the mermaid herself had to dissolve in to the foam on the billows. In this version here the mermaid went with the daughters of the air into heaven, and after years, when she has done a lot of helpful things, she may obtain an immortal soul and entrance ino heaven.
The other book "The Red Shoes" was shorter, more simple and the moral in the text was in the foreground. The girl has to think about, what she wished. She said, that she more than all things on the world wants to have the red dancing shoes. The shoemaker said, that she should be careful, what she wishes for, because it may come true. In the book she had to learn by no-stop-dancing shoes, that the family and the other values are more important. And there was in the book a happiend with happiness in the family. This book was easy to understand, and children could identify with the story. But I was bothered by the circumstances, how the girl gets the shoes. The shoes were her dream for a long time and she collected coins for many years in a glass. I think this is very good way, that children, if they want something not get all by gifts. They have to exert themselves for something. I don't understand, that the conclusion is although so negative, and would not advise this book to my children.
In summary lets say, that some books are very good for children, they could understand them by themselves, and other need a discussion with adults to understand the moral.
That's all for today...
Monday, August 17, 2009
First impression of cincinnati university
Hello all,
on Saturday we arrived in Cincinnati. The first culture shock - I knew this from the last time in US - is the air conditioning. Outside is the temperature about 40 degrees C, and inside feeled about 10 or less degrees - in the airport, in the car, what picked us up in the morning, in the room in the dorm, in the classes, in the shops. The best prevention are to have every time summer AND winter clothes with you, and to turn it on and out and on and out and...
The university surrounding is very impressive, they have an own stadium for the university, such big as our stadium in the town. There is a very wide landscape and all is belonging to the university - very impressive with very big buildings. The area behind this is like in an American film, small houses with a lot of concrete. The people are sitting at the street in the sun with big Ghetto blusters, and the children are playing there. You can see a lot of impressive cars in the streets, also a lot of Honda (this is my brand too). Here you can see only very great/big things or small/poor, the middle is missing, I feel.
The air outside is stuffy, but yesterday in the evening we found a small garden - ALUMNI GARDEN - only three minutes from the dormitory, where was very nice to sit there with a book and to relax for some hours.
On the first evening we got a nice backpack from the University of Cincinnati. The most interesting thing inside was a small pin on a small paper, but more interesting some information about the university on the paper, where it was pined up. The University is the biggest employer of the Cincinnati region with more than 3 billion $ turnover last year. About this dimensions German universities can only dream, especially about the funds from industry. This tells nothing about the landscape surround the university, but these are very impressive facts for me.
An other thing, we have seen today, are the flags, the American flags. In Blue Ash near every private house has an American flag outside. This would be unthinkable in Germany, with the exception of the soccer world championship.
The people are very friendly here, very open, very interested, and I guess, the three or four weeks would be to short, to learn to know about all, what is interesting.
That's all for today. To be continued...
Lili
on Saturday we arrived in Cincinnati. The first culture shock - I knew this from the last time in US - is the air conditioning. Outside is the temperature about 40 degrees C, and inside feeled about 10 or less degrees - in the airport, in the car, what picked us up in the morning, in the room in the dorm, in the classes, in the shops. The best prevention are to have every time summer AND winter clothes with you, and to turn it on and out and on and out and...
The university surrounding is very impressive, they have an own stadium for the university, such big as our stadium in the town. There is a very wide landscape and all is belonging to the university - very impressive with very big buildings. The area behind this is like in an American film, small houses with a lot of concrete. The people are sitting at the street in the sun with big Ghetto blusters, and the children are playing there. You can see a lot of impressive cars in the streets, also a lot of Honda (this is my brand too). Here you can see only very great/big things or small/poor, the middle is missing, I feel.
The air outside is stuffy, but yesterday in the evening we found a small garden - ALUMNI GARDEN - only three minutes from the dormitory, where was very nice to sit there with a book and to relax for some hours.
On the first evening we got a nice backpack from the University of Cincinnati. The most interesting thing inside was a small pin on a small paper, but more interesting some information about the university on the paper, where it was pined up. The University is the biggest employer of the Cincinnati region with more than 3 billion $ turnover last year. About this dimensions German universities can only dream, especially about the funds from industry. This tells nothing about the landscape surround the university, but these are very impressive facts for me.
An other thing, we have seen today, are the flags, the American flags. In Blue Ash near every private house has an American flag outside. This would be unthinkable in Germany, with the exception of the soccer world championship.
The people are very friendly here, very open, very interested, and I guess, the three or four weeks would be to short, to learn to know about all, what is interesting.
That's all for today. To be continued...
Lili
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