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Have been reading The Radiance of France by Gabrielle Hecht in order to better research the international dialogue and opinions on the topic of nuclear power (for project). Tomorrow I will travel to one of France’s nuclear power plants. France … Continue reading
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Day 2: Energy project NY.PARIS.BERLIN A collection of books I have been reading on the topic of energy and also some Germany travel related materials to better prepare for travel that I will be doing outside of Berlin.
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Day 1: Energy project NY.PARIS.BERLIN On the flight over from Seattle to NYC while reading an endless collection of books on energy and planning the schedule for my project completion, I tucked away items to prepare for landing. I slowly … Continue reading
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Polaroid photo taken at Headlands Center For The Arts June, 2012 “The question then is how to get lost. Never to get lost is not to live, not to know how to get lost brings you to destruction, and somewhere … Continue reading
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3 hour delay at the airport means 3 hours to work on improving my German. 🙂 (Taken with Instagram)
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First part of my installation project: programming and electronics assembly, check!
“The Nigerian storyteller Ben Okri says that In a fractured age, when cynicism is god, here is a possible heresy: we live by stories, we also live in them. One way or another we are living the stories planted in us early or along the way, or we are also living the stories we planted — knowingly or unknowingly — in ourselves. We live stories that either give our lives meaning or negate it with meaninglessness. If we change the stories we live by, quite possibly we change our lives.”
I’ve always been fascinated with the absurd. Completely fake worlds we create for amusement or escape. Believing that American culture contributed to this in the most extreme ways, though there are plenty of additions from the Japanese culture. While researching nuclear power in Germany I found out about Wunderland Kallar. In 1972 Germany built a nuclear reactor in Kallar despite protests. Soon after the Chernobyl disaster happened and the project was stopped. What to do with an unused power plant and cooling tower? Why build an amusement park… of course?!
Photos from: http://www.amusingplanet.com “Totally unused, the building is essentially one of the most expensive, complicated pieces of trash in the world.”
While I find Disneyland and fake waterfalls in Golden Gate Park to be amongst the absurd, Germany has some fascinatingly weird stuff. How about a swimming pool in a river?
photo: http://www.arena-berlin.de
Or what if you want to go to a tropical island on vacation. Experience the sand between your toes and warm sun on your face? Get to know the local island culture and drink a tropical drink out of a pineapple but you don’t really want to leave your country? Well… there’s something for you too.
“Located in Germany, Tropical Islands stretches across an area of 66,000 m², the size of eight football fields. It has perfect temperatures of 26 °C and is home to the world’s biggest indoor rainforest, Europe’s largest tropical sauna and spa complex, a Tropical Sea with a 200 metre-long sandy beach and many other exciting attractions. And best of all it’s open all year round, 24 hours a day!”
Photos and above quote: Bless This Stuff
I have enjoyed reading a collection of different blogs that explore Berlin from the view of both locals and expats. I am no stranger to travel, having been a foreign-exchange student more than once, but Berlin remains quite foreign to me. One great advantage to traveling the world now, as opposed to 12 years ago when I lived in Europe, is the array of travel blogs, meetups, and cultural explorations that are available online. Who needs a guidebook when you can read personal adventures?
If you’re twenty-two, and physically fit, hungry to learn and be better, I urge you to travel — as far and widely as possible. Sleep on floors if you have to. Find out how other people live and eat and cook. Learn from them — wherever you go.