If you haven’t seen this bittersweet animation about a Kiwi with a dream, do so right now! This animation was the Master’s Thesis of Dony Permedi, and became a big hit (11 million views on YouTube alone). If you’re interested to know more about how it was made, read this interview.
Posts Tagged ‘english’
Kiwi
Monday, August 27th, 2007Jesus Camp: One Last Thought
Tuesday, August 14th, 2007“Salvation” is a story by Langston Hughes (1902 - 67) about a childhood experience he had. It’s a good example of how harmful it can be to hit children over the head with ‘overt religious behavior’. It reminded me of the documentary Jesus Camp, about which I had planned to write a bit more than just one other post and this one.
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Psychopaths and the Death Penalty
Saturday, July 28th, 2007
Should the death penalty be abolished? And if so, why? The main argument in favor of the death penalty is that it’s a powerful deterrent to keep people from committing horrible crimes. The problem with this argument is that it’s invalid; research has shown that most crimes that warrant the death penalty are crimes committed in the heat of the moment, with no consideration of the possible consequences.
During my travel through the Balkans, I got a ride from an Austrian professor from the university of Leoben. He had been teaching and researching on the subject of ‘material properties’ for a long time, and had two months left until retirement. When I asked him what he would do next, he told me about his work on the board of Amnesty International in Austria. One of the important issues in the coming months is the death penalty in the USA. Amnesty thinks it should be abolished.
We talked about the issue, and he presented some great arguments against the death penalty. However, one thing still bothered me, one possible argument in favor of the death penalty: psychopaths.
Home in Holland
Wednesday, July 25th, 2007From a small village in Bosnia (Bos. Petrovac) to Amsterdam in less than two days; that’s gotta be some kind of record! On Saturday, 5 PM, I got a ride from the village in Bosnia directly to Austria, and from Austria a direct ride to Münster, which is close to the Dutch border. There a german guy dropped me off in Enschede on Monday 3 AM.
I killed time by chatting with a homeless Dutch/Spanish guy. We shared a beer (his), and some Austrian chocolate and disgusting German bread (mine). He gave me tips on how to get free food and shelter.
It takes some time to adjust. After three weeks of temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius, and even above 40 degrees, it’s hard to get used to the rain. I also find myself walking around Amsterdam from a hitchhiker’s point of view, in constant search of a small park, or some other kind of shelter where I won’t be bothered. I also still have the urge to run to the edge of the road and get a ride whenever a car with Dutch number plates passes by.
It’s good to be home and get a proper shower, good food and a good night’s rest, though.
Back through Bosnia
Thursday, July 19th, 2007We’re currently in a place that would be marked on a map by ‘There be dragons’. Surprisingly, there’s an internet cafe, and even more surprisingly, half the population here speaks Dutch or German. Apparently many in this village were refugees in both these places. I should remind myself to be more careful about what I say in Dutch to Ulysse…
We left Albania two days ago, and took a slight detour through Podgorica, the capitol of Montenegro. We had spoken to two people at a mobile phone promotional stand at the train station, and were hoping to meet them again. We did, and the results were two very short nights, a wonderful day, and a place to sleep. I even got to discuss Nietzsche with one of them, and am now the proud owner of ‘The Anti-Christ’ in both English and ‘Serbski’. I’m trying to learn Serbski now, so this should be a great help…
The weather has been horrible: 42 degrees celcius in the shade. Apparently a town nearby had the highest measured temperature in all of Europe. It is not good for hitchhiking!
We’re hoping that the owner of this internet cafe will drive us to our destination, because it’s in the middle of even less where, and too far to walk.
Back in Albania, back home?
Wednesday, July 11th, 2007We arrived in Albania, and it’s been a bit of an emotional period for me. The minivan took us from Ulcinj (Montenegro) to Shkoder (Albania). We walked to the highway to Durres, and eventually got there with two different ‘rides’. I felt more at home than I have ever felt in the past five years. From the skyline with the palace on top of the hills, silhouetted by the setting sun behind it, to the crazy traffic everywhere, to the strange combination of ugly communist buildings and modern highrise; everything was so… familiar.
The Rolling Stones Stole Our Mojo
Tuesday, July 10th, 2007
We were on a roll. We hitchhiked from Holland to the southernmost part of Croatia - staunchly refusing to take any kind of paid transportation. When we reached Montenegro, however, some Stones blocked our way, and messed up our plans. Because of a Rolling Stones concert in a village nearby (Budva), we had to take a bus from a nearby town to Podgorica, Montenegro’s capitol. And what are the Stones doing in Montenegro anyways?
Aside from that one detour, our trip went just as planned. After our stay in Zagreb we travelled south through the coastal city of Split, then Dubrovnik, then Podgorica. At the moment we’re waiting on our ‘fugon’ (mini-van), which will take us to Shkoder, a town in the north of Albania. Our plan is to get to Durres today; our final destination.
In this town (Ulcin) about half the people are Albanians, and it’s been great to finally speak some Albanian again. I get very confused though, because throughout our travels we’ve spoken English, German, French, Albanian with others, and Dutch with my co-hitchhiker. A few minutes ago, I started a conversation with ‘Excuse me’ (I forgot the Albanian for that), asked for the time in broken French, used some German words for no reason, and padded all that with (I hope) some decent Albanian.
Of course the reply was in the Montenegran dialect of Serbian/Slavic, and she didn’t understand a word of what I said. Her eyes just sort of glazed over and she smiled. We get that a lot in this region. For some reason, I enjoy all this confusion.
A Short Break in Zagreb
Saturday, July 7th, 2007
After hitchhiking for three days, we took a short break from our spartan adventure in the city of Zagreb. We booked a room with two beds, and could finally sleep without the constant fear of being sent away (Munich Airport at night), robbed (a field in Slovenia), or taken into custody (an unfinished house in a rural German village). We got a much needed shower, went shopping for some food, and enjoyed the many beauties of Zagreb.
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On The Road
Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007Clothes? Check. Sleeping bag? Check. Enough books to last a year? Check. My co-hitchhiker Ulysse (blog) waiting for me in Amersfoort? Check. Passport? Che… oh crap.
After discovering that my ID-card is valid only in the EU and a few other countries, but not Albania, I had to postpone my travels. Fortunately, a (expensive) speed procedure allowed me to finally leave today.
Current stop: Amersfoort. We’re visiting Baptiste, Ulysse’s cousin, and we’ll spend the night here, and start hitchhiking tomorrow. In an effort to keep my bag as light as possible, I’m leaving some stuff here. I still haven’t decided which book to take. I love them all equally! As it is, I’m carrying six kilo’s, which is much, much less then I took on my last trip.
This will be an interesting trip. I expect this trip will be quite a bit more spartan than my other hitchhiking attempts; I’m traveling with an experienced hitchhiker who spent three months traveling to and in India on an extremely low budget.
This will also be the first time I return to Albania in five years. I’ll get a chance to practice my Albanian again, and I’ll meet old friends, and visit all the places that were part of my youth.
And, of course, just getting there will no doubt be very interesting. Our current plan is to go through Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Bosnia, Serbia or Montenegro, and finally Albania.
Off we go!
Why Forced Charity is a Good Thing
Tuesday, June 26th, 2007Last Sunday, on of the pastors at my church, Eric Asp, preached about Ephesians 4. He read verse 28, which is on the subject of stealing, and linked this to the Dutch welfare system. A brave, and somewhat controversial statement, this caused a bit of a stir in the audience.
I’ve been thinking about the issue since then, and I’m torn between two points of view.