Kaminski Globe Trotters: May 2015

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

The Wonders of Alsace

On May 18th, the 7th graders (including me) attending the International School of Brussels (ISB,) set off for a five day field trip to the smallest region in France; Alsace. I thought that I should explain what we did there, so here it goes!!!!!

STRASBOURG:

Strasbourg Cathedral Exterior - Diliff.jpg

COLMAR:

AND MANY MORE!!!!!

But let's start with what we normally start with, the region's flag....

As you can see the colors of the flag stand out to be red and white, but what do they mean? Let's see... The yellow crowns on each side of the white (fat) stripe, represent the royal family of Habsbourg, who used to rule over central Europe. The color red is very commonly found in the two Alsatian coat of arms, and the white stripe represents the dukes of Werd, who ruled over the northern part of Alsace.

A BIT OF INFORMATION:

Alsace is divided into two parts: the Haut Rhin and the Bas Rhin, as seen on the map. The capital of the Haut Rhin is Colmar, and the capital of the Bas Rhin is Strasbourg. In French: "haut"means "high"and "bas"means "low,"and the Rhin, is the stream that flows through this small french region.

Where Does the Name Alsace Come From?
Alsace come from the alsatian word Elsass, which means the "Land of the Ill." The Ill is large stream that flows through this region, and intersects with the Rhin.

THE ALSATIAN LANGUAGE

The Alsatian language is based off German, and a little bit of French. Years ago, the Alsatians spoke French at work, and at home Alsatian. But today, this is rarely the case. Though, many schools in Alsace have now decided to teach the region's dialect, so that students could speak and grow with Alsatian. A study shows that among the dialects: tahitien, occitian, corse, basque, and catalan, alsatian is the one who has shown the most progress, in terms of the students understanding of it (if that made any sense!)

So in Alsace, there's really good food, so I decided I should copy and paste the link to the ABC'S of the Alsatian Gastronomy, so here it is!!!! Just in case you are really hungry, or if you will ever go to Alsace! By the way here's the link: http://www.otstrasbourg.fr/en/discover/gastronomy.html

Anyway, now that you were able to explore the Alsatian gastronomy, we are going to move on to sight seeing.... Here is a list of places that I went to during my stay, and that might interest some of you. I also added a little comment about and from one to five how much I liked it.

Strasbourg Cathedral: Beautiful, spectacular! Obviously, when visiting Alsace, you go to Strasbourg to visit this cathedral!!! (4.5)

2. Botanical Gardens of Strasbourg: This botanical garden is unique in many ways. It's a conservation, and scientific research center filled with millions of rare and endangered plants! (4)

3. Historic museum of Strasbourg: This is a great opportunity to expand the tourists learning of this magical city. (3.5)

4. "La Petite France." Situated in Strasbourg "la petite France," so "the little France," is a beautiful and relaxing area, full of wonderful houses on water. (5)

5. The Vosges; They are chains of mountains and country side, full of wonderful animals! And by the way, the tallest mountain in Alsace (the Grand Ballon) is worth a try!! (4)

6. Parc Alsace Aventure: A wonderful preserved park, where you climb trees, go hiking, bungee jumping, zip lining, and more! (5)

7. Gingerbread Palace: Alsace is known for it's gingerbread, and so we wen to visit this magnificent gingerbread palace, that tells you everything you need to know about gingerbread. (3.5)

Image result for le palais du pain d'épices alsace

8. Castle of Haut-Koenigsburg: Simply beautiful, and educational! But don't go on the tours, they are just too boring! (4)

9. Centre de Réintroduction de la Cigogne Blanche: Technically, it means Conservation Center of the White Stork. The Alsace symbol is the white stork, and after it went almost extinct, the Alsatians decided to build this small but useful area, that will re-introduce the stork. (2.5)

10. Colmar: Capital of the Haut-Rhin, Colmar is a cute, and small city, that is worth spending a day or two visiting it. Simply loved it! (4.5)

Sources:

Sunday, May 3, 2015

Welcome to The Country of The Red Devils

Belgium Red Devils Soccer Team

It's a small country, full of attractions that many people around the world ignore of. Yes... it rains a lot, but there is lot's of green spaces. The French make fun of this small place, north of their nation. If you haven't guessed yet, I'm talking about Belgium, the country of the Red Devils.

Antwerp

A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY:

Belgium takes it's name from Celtic tribes called Belgae that settled in Low Countries (Belgium,) a long time ago. Though, they were not to establish a big colony because the Roman Empire (at the time it was Julius Ceasar who was running it,) took over the Celtic territory. Later on, the German Franks settled in what was before the Celtic grounds, thus they created a new language: Flemish. Belgium in now separated into two different territories: the Flanders and Wallonia. These two parts of Belgium have been at war since a very long, fighting for their freedom.

THINGS you MIGHT want TO know About Belgium:

Belgium's population reached about 11,204,000 people in the year of 2014.
Belgium is the most densely populated country in the world since it covering an area of 30,528 km 2.
The capital of Belgium is initially Brussels, which is also known as the capital of the European Union.
Three official languages are spoken in Belgium: Flemish (which is very similar to Dutch,) French and German.
There is a town in this small country called Spa, which is where the word "spa," actually comes from. A long time ago, people used to come to Spa just to bathe in the warm baths.
For grownup talk, Belgium is world famous for it's wonderful beers, there are about 1100 different kinds of these alcoholic beverages in this country.
Now, for kid talk, Belgium is world known for it's delicious chocolate, french fries and waffles. I live in Brussels, and I can tell you that the chocolate is amazing there!!!!!
French fries were not made in France, but in Belgium!!!!! I just wanted to make that clear.
Lot's of people make fun of the city Brussels, because it sounds like Brussels sprouts. Actually, the famous stinky vegetable was "invented" in this country .
There are more comic makers per square meter in Belgium, than there is anywhere else in the world!!!! Tintin, the smurfs, etc, were all invented in Belgium.\
The saxophone was given it's name because of it's inventor Adolphe Sax the belgium musician who invented the musical instrument.

Brussels:

The Grande Place:
Moving from New York to Brussels is a huge shock. Obviously, this is Europe, there are not skyscrapers every where and so forth, but instead of modern buildings there are wonderful (and sometimes beautiful) historic sites. Take the Grand Place for instance:

This magnificent square that attracts the most tourists during the day, is located in the center of Brussels. The architecture of this square dates back to the late 17th century, which explains the kind of Gothic style on some of those buildings. There is long history behind the Grand Place but I'm not going to write it all because then it would take several days. So, I'll just give you the information you need to know. The Grand Place demonstrates the strength an the prosperity of Brussels, because it overcame many bombardments during the 15th century. If you like back at the two pictures above, the one on the left shows the King's House. It was built using Gothic style, and it resisted to the strong bombardments that was taking place in the city of Brussels couple centuries ago. Decades ago, the King's House was transformed into the City Museum, so that newcomers or tourists would be able to get a deeper understanding of what they were seeing and visiting. Surrounding the King's House, there are many house that are ornamented with gold, these were the houses of many important people that lived or stayed in Brussels. Finally if you look back to the images above, the one on the right shows a big and beautiful historic landmark, houses and this sort of flower carpet. The beautiful historic landmark is Town Hall. This one though, was slightly damaged and rebuilt during the 16th century. The flower carpet that you also see, is not always there, but is put out at the beginning of May to celebrate spring's arrival and the new blooming flowers.

THE ATOMNIUM and MINI EUROPE:

The atomnium:

This landmark (the most visited one in Brussels,) was built for the World Fair in Brussels, in the year of 1958, it now remains where it, and it is now the symbol of the European Union's capital. Around it was built this amusement park that includes Mini Europe, Oceania, and so forth. Today we climb into the 9 round spheres and see Brussels landscape. For more information go to: http://atomium.be/.

MINI EUROPE:

Mini Europe is basically a mini amusement park, where for each country belonging to the European Union there are several monuments. It's amazingly well done, and it is great for both children and adults. I really do recommend this place. But for information got to: http://www.minieurope.com/

OTHER PLACES TO VISIT IN BELGIUM:

Antwerp:

Antwerp is a beautiful town located
in the Flanders region. It is known for it's diamond mines, and that is why the wheel in the background of this image is shaped and represented as a diamond,

2. Gent

3. Knokke le Zout

4. Pairi Daiza

It is more than a zoo. When I went there, it was amazing!!!! The best one I have ever gone to!!!

So for more information, click here: http://www.pairidaiza.eu/en

Sources:

Saturday, May 2, 2015

Wonderful Flags

I've always loved flags, and I have tried to memorize and identify all of them. But, I was never able to. So here are some flags from different countries that I think are interesting:

Sri Lanka: It is also called the Lion Flag, because of the the golden lion holding the kastane sword. The lion represents the Sinhalese culture and the bravery of that nation. The yellow color represents Buddhism and the four golden Bo leaves, on the four corners, represent the four main concepts of Buddhism; Mettā,Karuna, Mudita and Upekkha. "The orange stripe represents the Tamils, the green stripe represents Moors, and the maroon/brownish background represents the majority Sinhalese, like the lion.The flag has a yellow border represent unity and Buddhism ." (Wikipedia)

Tokelau: Tokelau is a little island in the continent of Oceania near Australia. The flag shows a tokelauan canoe, sailing through the sea. It represents the journey that the people of Tokelau did, to find the best governance for their country. The Southern Cross (the shape that make the white stars,) has helped the Tokelau fishermen navigate, and therefore, they were able to sustain their family with food. And finally the white stars symbolizes Christianity, that is essential to the Tokelau people everyday lives.

Uganda: The grey crowned crane, in the center of the flag, is the country's national symbol. The black symbolizes the African people, the yellow symbolizes sunshine and vitality, and the red represents African brotherhood. Finally, the crane was the military badge that the Ugandan soldiers wore under the UK.

Here are other wonderful flags without their meanings: