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ADE Institute 2006Explore. Create. Share
December 2005
It all started on a December afternoon, a Friday, I think. I sat in my kitchen listening to thenews via a conference call and I knew I had to go. I knew I had to be a part of this possibly
once in a lifetime opportunity. I danced around my kitchen, I called my husband at work, I
chatted with ADE friends. To me, there was no other possible reaction to the news that the
2006 Apple Distinguished Educator Institute would be held overseas. I felt strongly that
this could be a truly powerful professional development experience.
Why would I want to leave my young family for so long and go traipsing offto Europe to
help create a global awareness curriculum? Based on myfirst institute experience, I knew
that amazing relationships were built and ideas were exchanged during Apples ADE sum-
mer professional development event and these experiences could only be enhanced by a
longer immersive period in Europe. It sounded adventurous to me and as I neared my forti -eth birthday, I suddenly longed for an experience that would test my boundaries and capa-
bilities. And, I firmly believed that my own children and students would benefit from my
experiences if I led by example.
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In 1989, I did my student teaching while participating in an offcampus program sponsoredby a consortium of colleges calledThe Associated Colleges of the Midwests Urban Educa-
tion program. I took a course called Dimensions in Multiculturalism and I distinctly re-
member being exposed to concepts of globalism and social justice for the first time. The
program directors, Peggy Mueller and Marilyn Turkovich, seemed ahead of the curve, pre-
dicting the emerging significance of a global society. This program was one of the illuminat-
ing experiences of my life, yet I havent always practiced what I learned. By revisiting global
education in the context of this Apple project, I hoped to become more of an activist
teacher.
Personal reasons aside, I also realized that the global education content developed could
have amazing relevancy in this day and age. American education could be enhanced by a cur-riculum that helped children see beyond our borders and that emphasized the development
of critical thinking skills. The fact that Apple felt the necessity to do something good with
its power was compelling as well. The bottom line for me was this was a fabulous opportu-
nity to be part of something truly innovative.
Spring 2006
From the onset, I was eager to prepare for this trip. I bookmarked websites, bought travel
books and consulted friends and family. I decided to extend my trip another week by travel-
ing with two ADEs I did not personally know. I felt that if I was going to travel all the way
to Europe, I wanted to see as much as possible. I also did a couple of podcasted interviews
with people at my school who have experience with global education. In hindsight, I felt
that I could have done more beforehand, but nothing could truly prepare me for this trip
other than the actual experience.
Friday, July 21 - Saturday, July 22
Before the Institute, I had traveled a fair amount within the U.S., Caribbean, and Mexico,
but only once to Europe. On the way to Germany for this excursion, I was surprised to be
packed like a sardine into the plane. I enviously eyed the business class group with their re -
clining seats and more importantly, their ability to plug in their laptops. During an iChat
conversation earlier in the week with ADE Larry Anderson, I had learned all about the
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perks of business class while Larry was en route to Belgium. While I couldnt recharge my
laptop battery on my economy class flight, I could pay to connect to the internet, and Icouldnt resist the temptation to do so. Once online, I was pleasantly surprised to find a fel-
low ADE on line as well and on a plane to Germany as well. We wittily compared notes re-
garding the in-flight entertainment which was the same on both planes. I also took time to
write an entry for my blog. The simple acts of instant messaging and blogging at 35,000 feet
was nirvana for the nerd in me. Two other things impressed me about myflight to Europe,
the first being that the airline food was not bad on Lufthansa and I liked how they occa-
sionally projected our route, estimated flight times and altitude in the cabin monitors.
Flying into Berlin, I was first struck by the amount of water
I saw from above. There seemed to be many lakes in the area
surrounding the city. Arriving at the hotel located in theformer east German side of the city, I immediately recog-
nized the area from the movie,The Bourne Supremacy,
which Ive only watched about a gazillion times as its shown
about every other week on cable television. Very soon after
our arrival, we set out on a walking tour to the Brandenburg
Gate with Melanie, our supremely knowledgeable tour guide from EF Education. Her own
life story was fascinating in itself as she was born in East Berlin to activist parents and even-
tually, her family was allowed to move to West Berlin. Members of my curriculum team re-
corded her narrative and hopefully, it will be part of our final product.
Later that day, we met with our project teams and a received a group trip orientation. The
curriculum will focus on an essential question based on Wiggins and
McTighes Understanding By Design model. Our question is: What is
a border? and we had divided into several subgroups prior to our trip .
Four themes related to the essential question were subsequently de-
veloped: Use of Natural Resources, Peace, Conflict and Security, So-
cietal Change, and Quality of Human LIfe. Two special area groups
related to primary grades and higher education were formed. Also,
prior to the institute, we brainstormed many ideas related to these
themes in our online ADE community. I chose to work on the Qual-
ity of Human Life strand and specifically, on the middle school por-
tion of this curriculum.
Sunday, July 23
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http://www.ascd.org/portal/site/ascd/menuitem.6a270a3015fcac8d0987af19e3108a0c/http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/denkmal/denkmale_in_berlin/en/unter_den_linden/brandenburger_tor.shtmlhttp://www.ef.com/http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/denkmal/denkmale_in_berlin/en/unter_den_linden/brandenburger_tor.shtmlhttp://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/denkmal/denkmale_in_berlin/en/unter_den_linden/brandenburger_tor.shtmlhttp://www.ascd.org/portal/site/ascd/menuitem.6a270a3015fcac8d0987af19e3108a0c/http://www.ascd.org/portal/site/ascd/menuitem.6a270a3015fcac8d0987af19e3108a0c/http://www.ef.com/http://www.ef.com/http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/denkmal/denkmale_in_berlin/en/unter_den_linden/brandenburger_tor.shtmlhttp://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/denkmal/denkmale_in_berlin/en/unter_den_linden/brandenburger_tor.shtmlhttp://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/denkmal/denkmale_in_berlin/en/unter_den_linden/brandenburger_tor.shtmlhttp://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/denkmal/denkmale_in_berlin/en/unter_den_linden/brandenburger_tor.shtmlhttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0372183/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0372183/ -
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The next day, July 23, we started out with a morning bus tour
of Berlin. I found that bus tours were really helpful in get-ting oriented to a new city. We visited several places includ-
ingCheckpoint Charlie and the Memorial to the Murdered
Jews of Europe . I was surprised and unnerved the most was
the notion of the Berlin Wall. I previously had been basically
clueless to the fact that Berlin had been an island within
East Germany and became divided into four quarters post
World War II. This wall was constructed overnight, taking its citizens by surprise and divid-
ing families.
We had a group dinner that evening at a Turkish restaurant and it was
superb. I had suggested this particular cuisine because I had read in aguide book that Berlin had a large Turkish population. Most of the
meals we had while touring Europe were outstanding in general. I was
astonished by the freshness and quality of food wherever we went.
There was little processed food in general, and I saw very few obese
people. Europeans seem to live a more healthy, calm and active life-
style than most Americans.
Monday, July 24
In the morning, we had some free time to explore the city and some members of my work
group and I set out for the Pergamon museum which un-
fortunately turned out to be closed. Instead, we hopped on a
boat for another tour of the city via the Spree River.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pergamon_Museumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pergamon_Museumhttp://www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/index.htmlhttp://www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/index.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_to_the_Murdered_Jews_of_Europehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_to_the_Murdered_Jews_of_Europehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_to_the_Murdered_Jews_of_Europehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_to_the_Murdered_Jews_of_Europehttp://www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/history/checkpoint-charlie.htmhttp://www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/history/checkpoint-charlie.htm -
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In the afternoon, we visited theJewish Museum which was very strik-
ing with its grey metal sheath and slashes of windows. We met withthe director the museum who was very clear in pointing out that the
museum was about German Jewish history spanning two thousand
years as opposed to a museum about the Holocaust. We toured the
museum according to themes that interested us, and I chose national -
ism. I was impressed with the overall exhibition design and could
have spent much more time there.
Afterwards, a group of us decided to
head to abier-garden visited earlier in
the day by ADE Karen Percak. We followed her for what
seemed like miles, and just when we thought we might turnback, we discovered the most special place. This bier-garden
was hidden among the trees in a central park area of Berlin
called the Tiergarten. Picnic tables surrounded a small lake
where people could row small boats. Strings of bulbed lights stretched out across this area,
and there was a concession that sold beer, wine, pasta, margherita pizza, and strawberries
and cream.. This area was not a tourist trap; I felt conspicuous with a camera dangling from
my neck. I think we all felt that we had stumbled upon something special that only locals
visited. Our meal there was one of the more memorable moments of the trip. I relished the
atmosphere, the companionship of ADEs and the victuals.
Later on in the week when I sought some peace and quiet after traveling with our large
group, I returned there just with my trip roommate, Meredith, and it provided a comforting
atmosphere for us to dissect life and our trip thus far. Our trip was not just a set of tourist
destinations, but an intense experience of interactingand collaborating with other educa-
tional tech professionals passionate about work and life. Every once in awhile, I felt the
need to step back and make sense of everything because of this intensity.
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http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-2776258-cafe_am_neuen_see_berlin-i;_ylt=AsftRtB93rcwHYR..fS7MeewFWoL?action=describehttp://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-2776258-cafe_am_neuen_see_berlin-i;_ylt=AsftRtB93rcwHYR..fS7MeewFWoL?action=describehttp://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-2776258-cafe_am_neuen_see_berlin-i;_ylt=AsftRtB93rcwHYR..fS7MeewFWoL?action=describehttp://www.juedisches-museum-berlin.de/site/EN/homepage.php?meta=TRUEhttp://www.juedisches-museum-berlin.de/site/EN/homepage.php?meta=TRUE -
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Tuesday, July 25
On July 25, we trekked to Potsdam via bus and then by boat.
We visited Cecilienhof, a mansion where Stalin and Truman
met after World War II as well as Frederick the Greats pal-
ace, Sanssouci. ADEs Carol Anne McGuire and Anne Rear-
don very thoughtfully bought me a pressed penny here as I
had told them about my familys quirky habit of collecting
these coins.
Wednesday, July 26
On Wednesday, I had a truly authentic experience. ADE Kathy Shirley and I did our laundry
at a German laundromat/Internet caf. We had trouble fig-
uring out the device that controlled all machines and dis-
pensed detergent, but a sympathetic patron helped us out. It
was another example of the graciousness we found among
the Europeans. The internet access was free and even better
than in our hotel. I generally found that internet access and
good bandwidth were not as readily available as in the
United States. This is yet another thing that I completely
take for granted!
We returned to the hotel just in time for lunch with a panel of locals. Later on the after-
noon, we toured the Story of Berlin Museum. One of the EF people told us beforehand that
the museum had run out of funding, and hence, it might appear somewhat incomplete. This
was far from reality. The museum told a detailed and comprehensive story about the history
of the city and the overall design was really well done. We capped offthis visit by a tour of
an underground bunker that was built during the cold war and still can be used as an atomic
bomb shelter. The whole concept of this bunker was eerie and disturbing and far removed
from an American mindset. We ended our visit with a quick cocktail party in the bunker.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanssoucihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecilienhofhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potsdamhttp://www.story-of-berlin.de/flash.htmlhttp://www.story-of-berlin.de/flash.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanssoucihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanssoucihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecilienhofhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecilienhofhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potsdamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potsdam -
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Thursday, July 27
We left Berlin via bus and stopped in Dresden en route to
Prague. It was scorchingly hot outside, making for a very
uncomfortable walking tour. We had a leisurely lunch and
then made our way to the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen
where we saw many works by Dutch masters.
We arrived in Prague around dinner time and convened
shortly after for a traditional Czech dinner in the cellar of a restaurant. On the way home we
stopped in Old Town Square for a beer and to watch the astrological clock. A crowd assem-bled to watch the clock turn 11PM and then 12PM. We couldnt discern any noticeable ac-
tion. It turns out that the clock does not do it s special movements after 9PM!
Friday, July 28
We were bused up to Prague Castle, the current headquarters of the Czech Republic gov-
ernment and we also toured St. Vitus Cathedral. One factoid I learned was that the Rolling
Stones played a concert here a few years ago (scroll down here for a blurb on this) and paid
for special lighting to be installed. We walked down the Golden Lane, stopped for refresh-
ments and then walked down a hill through the New Town section of Prague and over theCharles Bridge into Old Town section. Our hotels were lo-
cated in this quarter.
Later on, our work groups met again. We accomplished a
great deal towards our strand of the curriculum, but again, it
extremely hot, even inside the hotel with its weak air condi-
tioning. Air conditioning is not as powerful nor as prevalent
as it is in the United States.
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http://www.pragueexperience.com/places.asp?PlaceID=594http://architecture.about.com/cs/greatbuildings/a/pragueclock.htmhttp://www.frommers.com/destinations/prague/0063020034.htmlhttp://www.frommers.com/destinations/prague/0063020034.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Vitus_Cathedralhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Vitus_Cathedralhttp://old.hrad.cz/index_uk.htmlhttp://old.hrad.cz/index_uk.htmlhttp://architecture.about.com/cs/greatbuildings/a/pragueclock.htmhttp://architecture.about.com/cs/greatbuildings/a/pragueclock.htmhttp://www.pragueexperience.com/places.asp?PlaceID=594http://www.pragueexperience.com/places.asp?PlaceID=594http://www.skd-dresden.de/en/museen/alte_meister.htmlhttp://www.skd-dresden.de/en/museen/alte_meister.html -
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That night, a group of us went to a restaurant called the BlueDuck for dinner. It had been highly recommended by friends
of friends, and I was somewhat adventurous tasting rabbit,
goose liver and venison.
Saturday, July 29
We toured the Museum of Communism which more closely resembled my expectations for
the Story of Berlin Museum. It was more home grown than other museums we had toured,
but still packed with information. By the end of this trip, I felt like I had a better under -
standing and timeline in my head for nationalism and communism in Germany and the
Czech Republic respectively. Many of my traveling companions were particularly affected by
a movie within this museum depicting the final days of communism. There was such a con-
trast between the Prague of 20 years ago with the Prague that we experienced. It was fasci -
nating to get a glimpse of how rapid change has come to much of Eastern Europe.
A panel of local people spoke to us at lunch. The panel including an older woman who works
for the Fulbright Foundation, a former au pair who worked in the U.S, and a woman who
was currently working for an NGO. Lunch was traditional and delicious and the building
where we had lunch looked recently restored. It had fabulous mosaics on the wall.
That night, Development Executive Helen Hoffenberg
treated the central region ADEs to dinner at the most fabu-
lous and elegant Czech restaurant, the name of which es-
capes me. One of the bonuses of this extended institute was
the opportunity to spend quality time with people. We are
all so busy in our everyday lives so this trip afforded us the
time to relax, talk shop and generally bond. My own life
keeps going at a very fast pace, and during this trip, it struck
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me that I need to recharge my batteries more often. My fa-
vorite part of the evening was when I asked everyone to talkabout amagic moment they experienced on the trip. My
roommate, Meredith, coined this term and we often referred
to those moments when we felt suspended in time and place
during our trip. There were many, many magic moments in
Europe for me!
Sunday, July 30
Our last day was a busy one. We toured the Jewish Quarter and museum in Prague which
included a synagogue inscribed with the names of Czech Jews killed during the Holocaust.
It was an astonishing and powerful sight. The tour also included the Old Jewish Cemeterywhere layers of people were buried and a Spanish style synagogue that was incredibly beauti-
ful.
Helen Hoffenberg arranged for interested people to tour
Terezin, a Czech town that served as a Jewish transition
camp during World War II. We visited two museums. The
first had a detailed history of Jews and World War II and we
also viewed a good film that explained Terzins history. The
second museum had a replica of a typical barracks from that
time as well as examples of art, music and writing created by
the Jews held at Terezin. Terezin was used by the Nazis todeceive the Red Cross about what was really going on at concentration and transition
camps. None of the original barracks exist today because of a typhoid breakout at the end
of World War II. The part of our tour that left me the coldest was a visit to the cremato-
rium. Terezin is still a town, and people live there, but it felt like a ghost town.
We celebrated the end of the institute with a cocktail party, dinner and a keynote speech by
Dr. Joan LaRovere of the Virtue Foundation. Toasts were
made and a video edited by ADE Ross Kallen brought many
laughs. Memories were cemented.
We walked to the Charles Bridge and back one last time. Im
not sure why I felt drawn to bridges on this trip; maybe
bridges are a metaphor for the institute. I know that I found
solace, beauty and a sense of place when standing on the
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Bridgehttp://www.jewishmuseum.cz/aindex.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Bridgehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Bridgehttp://www.virtuefoundation.org/cms/front_content.phphttp://www.virtuefoundation.org/cms/front_content.phphttp://www.photo.net/travel/bp/terezinhttp://www.photo.net/travel/bp/terezinhttp://www.jewishmuseum.cz/aindex.htmhttp://www.jewishmuseum.cz/aindex.htm -
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various bridges we encountered on our trip.
Monday, July 31 - Friday, August 4
I extended my European trip a week and visited Italy and
France. It was great to have this time to decompress from
the group experience.
ADEs Valerie Becker, Kathryn Smith and I left Prague
early Monday morning to start our post-institute adven-
tures. We flew to Munich and then on to Pisawithout anyproblems. Our airline of choice was Condor, and we were pleased with the ease of travel.
Once in Pisa, we quickly found the bus line that took visitors to Florence and we were at our
hotel by noon or so. The hotel, fortunately, was ready for us,
but I dont know if we were ready for it after our nice digs in
Prague. While the location of our Florence hotel was ideal
(near the Duomo), the accommodations were rather spartan.
The place grew on me, though, because connecting to the
internet was reasonable and we had AIR CONDITION-
ING! I also relished having my own personal space as we
had our own rooms, and I spent a fair amount of time de -
compressing from the institute.
I did do the requisite tourist things such as visitingMichelangelos
David, the Uffizi and the Ponte Vecchio. Our first night there we saw
a newly married and very handsome couple posing for pictures on the
bridge, and again, we were continually drawn back to this place. An-
other night on the way to dinner, we saw the sunset from the bridge
while a three piece band played lovely music. Valerie and I went twice
to an area across the Arno where locals were gathering to hear jazz.
While we didnt hear any music, we enjoyed the view from various
areas on this hill, culminating in a breathtaking view from the Palazzo
Michelangelo.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo's_Davidhttp://www.polomuseale.firenze.it/english/musei/uffizi/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponte_Vecchiohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo's_Davidhttp://www.yourwaytoflorence.com/db/musei/giotto.htmhttp://www.hotelmaximfirenze.it/English.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponte_Vecchiohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponte_Vecchiohttp://www.polomuseale.firenze.it/english/musei/uffizi/http://www.polomuseale.firenze.it/english/musei/uffizi/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo's_Davidhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo's_Davidhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo's_Davidhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo's_Davidhttp://www.yourwaytoflorence.com/db/musei/giotto.htmhttp://www.yourwaytoflorence.com/db/musei/giotto.htmhttp://www.hotelmaximfirenze.it/English.htmhttp://www.hotelmaximfirenze.it/English.htm -
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On our last evening, we had a celebratory dinner at Sabatini,a restaurant that had been a favorite of my mother in law.
ADE Steve Wagenseller was in Florence, too, for a world-
wide Esperanto conference, so he joined us as well. After-
wards, Valerie and I went down to the Ponte Vecchio again;
it seemed natural to return to the bridge before closing this
chapter of our trip.
Friday, August 4 - Tuesday, August 8
While traveling to Paris, we encountered our first and only travel glitch. We had booked our
flights on Easy Jet, which apparently has a total weight limit for all pieces of checked bag-
gage. I was over my limit and I quickly whipped out an extra bag and repacked some items
in it. I put the bags on the conveyor belt and I was still over the limit; it didnt matter that I
had spread the weight between two bags. I had trouble understanding the ticket agent and I
thought he said that I would be billed 70 euro per kilo, and I was 4 kilos over. Valerie per-
suaded me to carry the second bag on the plane, even though I had two carryon pieces al-
ready and miraculously, her plan worked.
We arrived in Paris around noon. The best surprise of the
trip was in our Paris hotel. Recommended by a colleague at
Lab, this hotel was FABULOUS and just what we needed.
Small, elegant and intimate, I felt we had stumbled upon a
Parisian gem. Its left bank location
across the Seine from the Louvre was
ideal. Everyone escapes Paris in
August, but I didnt feel like this was
a disadvantage to us. While many shops and restaurants were closed,
I liked the uncrowded feeling of the city.
After a delicious omelet at a neighborhood caf, we took a bus tour
that first afternoon. Admittedly, I was completely exhausted, even
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nodding offduring the tour. I did manage to stay awake for
the truly important parts and man-aged to get somewhat oriented to the
city. That night, we dined at a caf
called Les Deux Maggots, once
known as a hangout for Jean Paul
Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. Vale-
rie and I walked over to the Louvre to
see its famous pyramid at night, and while exploring the Richelieu
wing passageway, we found two large paned windows looking into
hallway entrances to the Louvre. Large marble statues filled the cav-
ernous space, and it was quite a sight. Simultaneously, a lone violinist
began playing and people gathered to listen. I whipped out my new iPod and Belkin Tune-Talk to capture the magic. Later, I turned this into apodcast accompanied by some of my
favorite European photos.
Our second day in Paris was spent checking out a shopping
district. We had dinner at the oldest restaurant in Paris, and
then visited the Eiffel Tower. While visiting the Louvre the
previous night, we had surprisingly witnessed the Eiffel
Tower lit up with sparkly lights so we then had the oppor-
tunity to see this phenomenon up close. I had never known
that the Tower did this, and it was amazing. I didnt actually
end up going up the Eiffel Tower until our last night as we
arrived too late on our second evening.
Our third day was well spent visitingMonets home in Giv-
ernyand Versailles Palace. We took an overpriced bus tour
to the outskirts of Paris. Giverny ended up being our favor -
ite. Monets gardens and ponds were gorgeous. His inspira-
tion was crystal clear. Versailles, on the other hand, was
crowded and we had to strain to hear our tour guide most of
the time. We did have a lovely lunch with our tour mates
and two ladies in our group turned out to be foreign lan-
guage teachers from Canada. We impressed them with our impromptu demonstrations of
the many classroom uses of iPods. That is being an ADE for you...never missing an opportu-
nity to advise, author and advocate for Apple.
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http://giverny.org/gardens/http://www.chateauversailles.fr/en/http://giverny.org/gardens/http://www.tour-eiffel.fr/teiffel/uk/http://www.artrepublic.com/wow/travel/paris/famouscafes.asphttp://www.chateauversailles.fr/en/http://www.chateauversailles.fr/en/http://giverny.org/gardens/http://giverny.org/gardens/http://giverny.org/gardens/http://giverny.org/gardens/http://www.tour-eiffel.fr/teiffel/uk/http://www.tour-eiffel.fr/teiffel/uk/http://web.mac.com/elemenous/iWeb/ADE/Blog%2520%2526%2520Podcasts/061CAEA5-F06D-47B2-8BF4-1B80C9BC4C84.htmlhttp://web.mac.com/elemenous/iWeb/ADE/Blog%2520%2526%2520Podcasts/061CAEA5-F06D-47B2-8BF4-1B80C9BC4C84.htmlhttp://www.artrepublic.com/wow/travel/paris/famouscafes.asphttp://www.artrepublic.com/wow/travel/paris/famouscafes.asp -
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Monday was our last day and we had planned to visit the Louvre and the Muse de Orsay.
We also wanted to visit Monets Water Lilies at the Muse de lOrangerie. Unfortunately, theOrsay is closed on Mondays so we missed Impressionist works. The entrance line the Or-
angerie was too long.The Louvre was amazing and I especially loved the design of under-
ground entrance beneath the Pyramid. I spent my time viewing the three must sees: the
Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace . I also concentrated
on European paintings. I was impressed with the vast size of many works and also surprised
that photography was allowed in many parts of the Louvre. Most museums I visited in
Europe prohibited visitors from taking pictures or video.
We had dinner at another local caf and headed back to the Eiffel Tower where we caught a
night boat tour. The highlight of this tour was cruising by the Latin Quarter and watching
couples tangoing on the banks of the Seine. There was much that we didn t see in Paris, butI know I will return one day. The evening was capped offby a solo visit to the second floor
of the Eiffel Tour. The top floor was closed for the night by the time our boat tour returned
to the area.
On our last morning, I ran over to a nearby store to take some pictures of a store. Upon ar-
rival in Paris, I had received an instant message from fellow ed techie and Portland princi-
pal,Tim Lauer. He had just returned from a trip to Europe himself and he pointed me to
this NPR podcast about an Parisian art supply store where Picasso once shopped. It turned
out that Sennelier was about two blocks away from our hotel, but closed for most of August.
I took pictures of the exterior, however, to show Tim.
Myflight home was relatively uneventful, although a cold I developed in Florence continued
to plague me. I flewfirst to Frankfurt and found the gate for myflight home to Chicago in
the next terminal. The gate was the last one in the terminal, and strangely, it was cordoned
off. I had to show my boarding pass and passport again in addition to putting my bags
through another x-ray machine. I was then patted down and a metal detection device was
waved over me. In hindsight, I realized these extra precautions were due to the terrorist
investigation that came to light two days later. It is a sobering reality that we are living in a
world threatened more often by violence. I have to admit that this was in the back of my
mind throughout my European travels. I had thought this summer had been strangely ab -
sent of any major terrorist episode, so I suppose recent events were not a total surprise.
Promoting awareness and understanding through global education initiatives is even more
imperative these days, and its going to take a miracle to overcome the hate that seems per -
vasive in this world.
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http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/08/10/us.security/http://www.sennelier.fr/default.htmhttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5581725http://www.louvre.fr/llv/commun/home_flash.jsp?bmLocale=enhttp://www.musee-orangerie.fr/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louvrehttp://www.musee-orsay.fr/ORSAY/AccueilMO/HTML.NSF/c5ad27560274b3dfc125642800567d48/322da73321db3942c1256714004e756a?OpenDocumenthttp://www.cnn.com/2006/US/08/10/us.security/http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/08/10/us.security/http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/08/10/us.security/http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/08/10/us.security/http://www.sennelier.fr/default.htmhttp://www.sennelier.fr/default.htmhttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5581725http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5581725http://tim.lauer.name/http://tim.lauer.name/http://www.louvre.fr/llv/commun/home_flash.jsp?bmLocale=enhttp://www.louvre.fr/llv/commun/home_flash.jsp?bmLocale=enhttp://www.musee-orangerie.fr/http://www.musee-orangerie.fr/http://www.musee-orsay.fr/ORSAY/AccueilMO/HTML.NSF/c5ad27560274b3dfc125642800567d48/322da73321db3942c1256714004e756a?OpenDocumenthttp://www.musee-orsay.fr/ORSAY/AccueilMO/HTML.NSF/c5ad27560274b3dfc125642800567d48/322da73321db3942c1256714004e756a?OpenDocumenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louvrehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louvre -
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Post Institute Random Thoughts
In a post-institute discussion, ADE Joe Morelock said, Costco will never look the same
in response to my slight feeling of disgust regarding American life. It seemed that Europe-
ans did very well with much less than the average American. I am grateful for all the pro -
gress and wealth shown by our country and I fully understand why some people think its
the greatest country in the world. However, I think the U.S is overrun by a sense of mate-
rialism and self-centeredness that truly concerns me. Do we really need gigantic SUVs,
suburban subdivisions where every house is the same, a plethora of electronic devices at
our whim? Where has American individuality gone? What about taking care of other peo-
ple on this planet?
European life is calm, noted ADE Lucas Van de Paer, in another post-institute conversa-tion. I appreciated how Europeans generally biked everywhere, lingered at cafs, took af-
ternoon breaks, and enjoyed good food. I have been in such a mad rush juggling lifes re-
sponsibilities that it was very refreshing for me to take time to smell the roses.
I expected to learn more about the Holocaust on this trip and I certainly did. I was aston -
ished at the conditions that allowed Hitler to rise to power. I was amazed at the level of
organization and planning as well as with the speed that events occurred. While I previ -
ously had a general knowledge of the Holocaust, I have realized that I need to explore this
topic further. I am simply stunned that humans can behave in this manner. Maybe I am
naive, but I dont know if I will ever understand what motivates others to be deliberately
and unusually cruel and unjust.
While there are some places and activities that I missed, I don t have any regrets. On va-
cations, I usually plan as much as possible in order to experience as much as possible, al-
most to the point of creating a rather frenetic schedule. On this trip, I learned to relax
and contemplate more.
I gained a sense of independence by learning to navigate and stumble my way through un -
familiar territory. Making post-institute travel arrangements and executing that plan af-
terwards was a huge boost to my confidence. I did have small episodes where I felt rather
ridiculous, such as when I waited outside a bathroom at the Jewish Museum, thinking it
was locked. The door was not locked; I thought I had to pull the door rather than push.
Another time, my roommate ADE Meredith Melragon made me order a beer myself just
so I could get over my apprehension of mispronouncing its name. Meredith generally set agreat example for me of how to live life fearlessly.
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Speaking of language, I was surprised by the number of Europeans fluent in English, par-
ticularly in Germany. I felt very uncomfortable trying out German and Czech phrases, butin France, I felt much more comfortable with the language as I took the French classes for
about five years. French was actually one of my strong points in school; I wish I had kept
up with it.
I also came home from Europe with a renewed interest in travel. I also feel strongly that
my children to should visit Europe and other places whenever our family can afford it.
Many parents often dont want to take their children to certain places until their children
are old enough to remember the trip. I dont think any kind of experiential learning is
wasted on the young; travel can strengthen attitudes and build confidence. I want my chil-
dren to grow up to embrace the world. ADE Audrey Van Alystne and her family are vet-
eran house swappers and this sounds like a viable option for my family.
As this institute was longer and even more of an intense experience than last years insti-
tute, I had the opportunity to strengthen already established ADE friendships as well de-
velop new relationships. Its difficult to describe the power of gathering a like minded
group of people, passionate about their lifes work, but it was intoxicating. I probably
stayed up too late too often on this trip, relishing conversations and shared experiences,
but it was well worth it.
Im very happy with the curriculum group to which I am assigned. We generally seem to
be on the same page regarding our vision for the Quality of Human Life strand, and I par -
ticularly appreciated how DE Helen Hoffenberg and ADE Tina Barrios kept us on track
whenever we were in danger of derailing. Im looking forward to continued work with this
group and am optimistic that we will produce a thoughtful portion of this global aware-ness curriculum. We have decided upon using walls as a metaphor for a border and our
theme will be something related to what lies beyond walls.
As far as EF Tours was concerned, I thought that the company did an outstanding job
leading us on this trip. The tour guides, Melanie and Alex, really knew their stuffand were
able to multitask very well. I now have a better sense of what is involved in taking a group
on tour, and its no small feat. Id like to lead an iStory tour one day with kids from my
school as we already have several travel programs in place, even a few with EF. Its a natu-
ral progression to add the technology piece. Adult acquaintances who have since heard me
describe my summer travels are intrigued by the iStory concept as well. Id like to even
lead a group of teachers abroad in much the same way we experienced Berlin and Prague.
I was also very surprised at the scope of EF as a company; they are not just about studenttravel.
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I also thought it was interesting that EF and Apple chose Berlin and Prague for us to visit.
I dont think many ADEs were truly prepared to be intrigued by these cities. I know thatas a novice European traveller, I would have initially preferred to visit more standard tour-
ist spots, but in hindsight, I am so glad that we visited Germany and the Czech Republic.
The rich history of and the rapid transformation of these cities were fascinating and gave
me perspective on societal change.
If I have to summarize how I feel about my experiences this summer, I would say that I
am grateful. I have gratitude towards my husband for keeping our household running
smoothly, towards my children for not falling apart without me, and to my workplace and
the ADE program which both continue to support me and my endeavors in so many ways.
I am thankful for living in the United States, too, and for having this incredible opportu-
nity to experience other cultures. I always dreamed of traveling to Europe and I am now
simply amazed that I have done so.
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