Hilary Johnson

Just Don't Waste

2011-04-30T12:12:00.001+02:00

http://seac.150m.com/fun_facts.html

Metal:
1)Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours -- or the equivalent of a half a gallon of gasoline.
2)During the time it takes you to read this sentence, 50,000 12-ounce aluminum cans are made.
3)Once an aluminum can is recycled, it can be part of a new can within six weeks.
4)An aluminum can that is thrown away will still be a can 500 years from now!
5)There is no limit to the amount of times an aluminum can can be recycled.
6)We use over 80,000,000,000 aluminum pop cans every year.
7)Every ton of recycled steel saves 2,500 pounds of iron ore, 1,000 of coal, and 40 pounds of limestone.

Paper:
1)To produce each week's Sunday newspapers, 500,000 trees must be cut down.
2)Recycling a single run of the Sunday New York Times would save 75,000 trees.
3)If all our newspaper was recycled, we could save about 250,000,000 trees each year!
4)During World War II when raw materials were scarce, 33% of all paper was recycled. After the war, this number decreased sharply.
5)If you had a 15-year-old tree and made it into paper grocery bags, you'd get about 700 of them. A supermarket could use all of them in under an hour! This means in one year, one supermarket goes through 60,500,000 paper bags! Imagine how many supermarkets there are in the U.S.
6)The amount of wood and paper we throw away each year is enough to heat 50,000,000 homes for 20 years.
7)Approximately 1 billion trees worth of paper are thrown away every year in the U.S.
8)The average household throws away 13,000 separate pieces of paper each year. Most is packaging and junk mail.
9)The 17 trees saved (above) can absorb a total of 250 pounds of carbon dioxide from the air each year. Burning that same ton of paper would create 1500 pounds of carbon dioxide.
10)The construction costs of a paper mill designed to use waste paper is 50 to 80% less than the cost of a mill using new pulp.
11)Each ton (2000 pounds) of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, three cubic yards of landfill space, 4000 kilowatts of energy, and 7000 gallons of water. This represents a 64% energy savings, a 58% water savings, and 60 pounds less of air pollution!

Plastic:
1)Americans use 2,500,000 plastic bottles every hour! Most of them are thrown away!
2)Plastic bags and other plastic garbage thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1,000,000 sea creatures every year!
3)Recycling plastic saves twice as much energy as buring it in an incinerator.
4)American throw away 25,000,000,000 styrofoam coffee cups every year.

Glass:
1)Every month, we throw out enough glass bottles and jars to fill up a giant skyscraper. All of these jars are recyclable!
2)The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle can run a 100-watt light bulb for four hours. It also causes 20% less air pollution and 50% less water pollution than when a new bottle is made from raw materials.
3)A modern glass bottle would take 4000 years or more to decompose -- and even longer if it's in the landfill.
4)Mining and transporting raw materials for glass produces about 385 pounds of waste for every ton of glass that is made. If recycled glass is substituted for half of the raw materials, the waste is cut by more than 80%.

Landfills:
1)The first real recycling program was introduced in New York City in the 1890s. The city's first recycling plant was built in 1898.
2)About one-third of an average dump is made up of packaging material.
3)The U.S. is the #1 trash-producing country in the world at 1,609 pounds per person per year. This means that 5% of the world's people generate 40% of the world's waste.
4)Roughly 90% of landfill contents are recyclable.
5)Out of ever $10 spent buying things, $1 (10%) goes for packaging that is thrown away. Packaging represents about 65% of household trash.
6)On average, it costs $30 per ton to recycle trash, $50 to send it to the landfill, and $65 to $75 to incinerate it.
7)Americans generate and throw away 9 times as much waste as does a person in Africa or Central America, but we also generate two to three times the amount of waste as people living in industrial countries with a comparable or better standard of living as us.

Misc:
1)More than 20,000,000 Hershey's Kisses are wrapped each day, using 133 square miles of tinfoil. All that foil is recyclable, but not many people realize it.
2)McDonald's saves 68,000,000 pounds of packaging per year just by pumping soft drink syrup directly from the delivery truck into tanks in the restaurant, instead of shipping the syrup in cardboard boxes.
3)Rainforests are being cut down at the rate of 100 acres per minute.
4)A single quart of motor oil, if disposed of improperly, can contaminate up to 2,000,000 gallons of fresh water.
5)You can walk 1 mile along an average highway in the United States and see about 1,457 pieces of litter.
6)The Washington, DC-based Institute For Local Self-Reliance calculates that recycling creates 36 jobs per 10,000 tons of material recycled compared to 6 jobs for every 10,000 of tons brought to traditional disposal facilities. (6 times higher employment!)
7)A typical family consumes 182 gallons of pop, 29 gallons of juice, 104 gallons of milk, and 26 gallons of bottled water a year. That's a lot of containers -- make sure they're recycled!

A View Through My Window

2011-04-02T13:55:00.003+02:00

Each morning I awake to the call to prayer, sounding from mosque minarets, joined by chickens cackling and a rooster crowing. These sounds drift through my bedroom window overlooking Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Below, crumbling stone walls encircle bombed-out wreckage. Leaning out the window, I still expect the freshness of home after rain; instead I smell pungent, burning garbage. Colorful houses, smattered with bullet holes, line the narrow pot-holed street. My eyes sweep upwards to the surrounding mountains I climb, which once hosted snipers and landmines. Neighborhoods intermingled with white-stoned cemeteries rise up the hillside. It is a beautiful scene marred by war and negligence.

Mostar is a city of contrasts. Our freshly painted orange school stands next to destroyed communist-era apartments. Trash lies heaped around the beautiful park. Built as a symbol of hope, the giant cross on the mountain serves for some as a reminder of religious oppression. I see politicians drive Mercedes-Benzes past Roma refugees, bowed begging for bread. Untreated sewage pollutes the aquamarine Neretva River.

These contrasts are personal because this is the second home I have learned to care for and love. Coming to Mostar from Portland, Oregon, where it is sacrilegious not to recycle and “Peace” is on bumper stickers, my senses cringe to see pollution and ethnic division. Contrasts reveal to me my privileges, give me hope for change, and compel me to act. My dedication to sustainability prompted me to initiate community care days removing the trash. Feeling what it is like to live in a post-conflict society, engaging in the process of reconciliation, evokes compassion and a deeply rooted commitment to honesty above political influences. The truly hospitable Bosnian people inspire me by their tenacity in the face of adversity. Through my window I see both the beautiful and the scarred, and the potential to change.

A Watershed Moment

2011-03-06T20:04:00.000+01:00

Is a critical turning point.

Here is the opinion of one person regarding the top ten "watershed moments" in history -

Do you agree?

http://listverse.com/2010/08/28/top-10-watershed-moments-in-history/

I think the internet is revolutionizing our world today, or at least broadcasting the revolution.

What are the watershed moments in my life?

Quote of the Day

2011-03-05T20:56:00.000+01:00

"We cannot teach people anything; we can only help them discover it within themselves."

William Stafford Poem

2011-03-05T20:48:00.001+01:00

"It is a test for us, that thin

but real, undulating figure that promises,

“If you keep faith I will exist

at the edge, where your vision joins

the sunlight and the rain: heads in the light,

feet that go down in the mud where the truth is.”

UWC Couchsurfing

2011-03-05T20:44:00.002+01:00

http://www.connectUWC.org

Beyond the Naked Eye

2011-03-05T20:10:00.001+01:00

http://green.yahoo.com/blog/greenpicks/292/rare-images-beyond-the-naked-eye.html

A Piece of Beauty

2011-03-05T18:16:00.000+01:00

A Birth Certificate shows that we were born.
A Death Certificate shows that we died.
Pictures show that we lived!
Have a seat, relax . . . and read this slowly.
I Believe...
That just because two people argue,
It doesn't mean they don't love each other.
And just because they don't argue,
It doesn't mean they do love each other.

I Believe...
That we don't have to change friends if
We understand that friends change.

I Believe....
That no matter how good a friend is,
They're going to hurt you every once in a while
And you must forgive them for that.

I Believe...
That true friendship continues to grow,
Even over the longest distance.
Same goes for true love.
I Believe...
That you can do something in an instant
That will give you heartache for life.

I Believe....
That it's taking me a long time
To become the person I want to be.

I Believe...
That you should always leave loved ones with
Loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I Believe....
That you can keep going long after you think you can't.
I Believe....
That we are responsible for what
We do, no matter how we feel.
I Believe...
That either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I Believe...
That heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs
To be done, regardless of the consequences.
I Believe....
That my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.

I Believe....
That sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down
Will be the ones to help you get back up.

I Believe...
That sometimes when I'm angry
I have the right to be angry,
But that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.
I Believe....
That maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had
And what you've learned from them and less to do with how many
Birthdays you've celebrated.

I Believe....
That it isn't always enough,
To be forgiven by others.
Sometimes, you have to learn to forgive yourself.
I Believe...
That no matter how bad your heart is broken
The world doesn't stop for your grief..

I Believe....
That our background and circumstances
May have influenced who we are,
But, we are responsible for who we become.

I Believe...
That you shouldn't be so eager to find
Out a secret. It could change your life Forever.
I Believe.....
Two people can look at the exact same
Thing and see something totally different.
I Believe....
That your life can be changed in a matter of
Hours by people who don't even know you.
I Believe....
That even when you think you have no more to give,
When a friend cries out to you -
You will find the strength to help.
I Believe...
That credentials on the wall
Do not make you a decent human being.
I Believe...
That the people you care about most in life
Are taken from you too soon.
I Believe...
That you should send this to
All of the people that you believe in, I just did.
'The happiest of people don't necessarily Have the best of everything;
They just make the most of everything they have.

Steve Giesecke - He got all 7 :)

2011-03-05T18:11:00.002+01:00

http://www.nwguardian.com/2011/02/24/9631/on-top-of-the-world.html

Way to go Uncle :) You're such a 55 year old in a 35 year old's body :P

US Debt Clock

2011-03-05T18:08:00.001+01:00

http://www.usdebtclock.org/index.html

A Sad Passing

2011-03-05T18:05:00.000+01:00

Please join me in remembering a great icon of the entertainment world. The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of a yeast infection and trauma complications from repeated pokes in the belly.
He was 71.

Doughboy was buried in a lightly greased coffin. Dozens of celebrities turned out to pay their respects, including Mrs. Butterworth, Hungry Jack, the California Raisins, Betty Crocker, the
Hostess Twinkies and Captain Crunch. The grave site was piled high with flours.

Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy and lovingly described Doughboy as a man who never knew how much he was kneaded. Born and bread in Minnesota, Doughboy rose quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with turnovers.

He was not considered a very smart cookie, wasting much of his dough on half-baked schemes. Despite being a little flaky at times, he still was a crusty old man and was considered a positive roll model for millions.

Doughboy is survived by his wife Play Dough, three children: John Dough, Jane Dough and Dosey Dough, plus they had one more in the oven.

He is also survived by his elderly father, Pop Tart.

The funeral was held at 3:50 for about 20 minutes. (Until golden brown)

If this made you smile for even a brief second, please rise to the occasion and pass it on. You will be sharing that smile with someone who may be having a crumby day and kneads a little lift.

A Song from Samia

2011-03-05T17:55:00.000+01:00

Shared as part of a World Today called "Revolts and Riots in the Arab World"

Discussion about the riots, the historical impact, and our Arabic students perception and insight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H53UntsF3o

At the dawn of the third Millennium there's still hunger, homeless children, crying and tears

Let's annihilate wars, O' powerful states

No to poverty, No to grief, No to racism!

Who are you? I don't care. But your agony can tell me

I don't know of which colour or religion you are,

But i know that you're my brother in humanity

At the dawn of the third Millennium, there are still outcasts and people in detention for years

At the onset of this era while it's yearning, let's eradicate oppression and terror and meet for justice.

Who are you? I don't care. But your agony can tell me

I don't know of which colour or religion you are,

But i know that you're my brother in humanity

I come from the east, the land of faith

Our villages are the rays of Sun and the colours of time

From here to all peoples we salute

May generations go and come on the road to justice

Who are you? I don't care. But your agony can tell me

I don't know of which colour or religion you are,

But i know that you're my brother in humanity.

How can you be more green?

2011-03-04T12:55:00.001+01:00

http://www.50waystohelp.com/

2011-03-04T12:52:00.003+01:00

Drumming

2011-03-04T12:49:00.003+01:00

Precision. Dedication. Teamwork.

http://www.wimp.com/drumcorps/

Two Thought Provoking Articles - and One for Literary Reference. Must Reads.

2011-01-24T22:53:00.002+01:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/21/world/asia/21gender.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=homepage&src=me

About the role of when in Afghanistan.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/magazine/29language-t.html?pagewanted=1&sq=language%20magazine&st=cse&scp=3

How does language shape our perception of the world?

http://www.math.grin.edu/~simpsone/Connections/Writing/Thesis/fiveway1.html

Literary Thesis Writing

Do we take our human rights for granted?

2010-11-23T17:37:00.000+01:00

Read this article written by two UWC students in Hong Kong, writing about this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner from mainland China, an advocate for human rights, who may not even be able to accept his prize, because he is detained and his rights have been revoked.

http://interuwcmag.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/liu-xiaobo-wins-2010-nobel-peace-prize/#comment-1092

Can you see the beauty every day?

2010-11-22T12:38:00.000+01:00

I hope this inspires you to see the beauty each day as you live life fully.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html

Joshua Bell - World Renowned Violinist, playing on a street corner.

Between Portland and Mostar, Building Bridges, Climbing Mountains :)

2010-11-21T23:43:00.000+01:00

An article about me was just recently published in the SW Community Connection, a local Portland Newspaper.
Check it out :)
http://www.swcommconnection.com/features/story.php?story_id=128569163805286400

Southwest student in melting pot of culture, education

Former Wilson High School student on two-year IB exchange

BY CLAIRE OLIVER

The Southwest Community Connection, Oct 1, 2010

SUBMITTED PHOTO / HILARY JOHNSON

Johnson, a former Wilson High School student, looks over Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina, her home during a two-year International Baccalaureate exchange through United World Colleges.

A world apart, togetherHILLSDALE — While most others her age are still navigating the waters of American high school life, Hilary Johnson, a senior and former Wilson High School student, has already spent a year abroad in Bosnia-Herzegovina and is beginning a second through her participation in a two-year International Baccalaureate (IB) exchange program.

“I originally heard about the United World Colleges program through my uncle, who was an admissions counselor trying to recruit UWC students,” Johnson said.

Further research piqued her interest even more.

The United World Colleges program was founded in 1962 by German educationalist Kurt Hahn and since then has established 13 campuses worldwide, from Swaziland to Singapore, Norway to New Mexico.

According to its website, almost 40,000 students have participated in the colleges’ two-year IB track, which is meant to “deliver a challenging and transformative educational experience to a diverse cross section of students, inspiring them to create a more peaceful and sustainable future.”

Queen Noor of Jordan acts as president of UWC, and Nelson Mandela holds the title of honorary president.

Each year, only 50 U.S. students are selected for the program through a process that involved what Johnson called an extensive written application” as well as a day-long interview for finalist candidates.

UWC’s Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina, campus opened in 2006 and houses 154 students between the ages of 16 and 18.

“They consciously place students of diverse backgrounds together as roommates,” Alice Johnson, Hilary’s mother, said. “Hilary’s roommates included an Israeli and two Bosnians, one of Muslim background and the other Serbian.”

Johnson said the majority of her schoolmates come from Eastern Europe, but Western Europe, Asia and Africa are also represented.

There are five other American students in her program from Alaska, Ohio, Michigan and Vermont.

UWC employs teachers from around the globe as well. Johnson said her economics teacher is Welsh and her biology teacher comes from Africa.

“The same classes are taken both years of the program to give a great depth to and comprehension of the subject material,” Johnson said.

Usually, students take three standard-level courses and three higher-level ones. Johnson is taking four higher-level classes, which require a greater number of classroom and work hours, and two from the standard tier.

This year, her course load includes a mix of physics, economics, English, French, chemistry and mathematics.

Johnson said that, although her classes are taught and her exams administered in English, a basic knowledge of the Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian languages spoken around Mostar is essential for day-to-day interactions.

After school

Aside from the diversity created in UWC’s school environment, Johnson said the city of Mostar itself is also full of contrasts.

“I live on the Muslim, Bosniak side of the city,” she said. “So many mornings I wake up to the combined sound of roosters crowing and the call to prayer.”

Moreover, as the city was a center of fighting during the 1992-96 Bosnian War, it is still in a process of physical repair.

“You see gleaming new buildings but not far away bullet-ridden, bombed-out structures since they are still recovering from the … war,” Alice Johnson said.

In fact, UWC’s Mostar campus is focused on demonstrating how members of different ethnic groups can cooperate in this post-war period.

“The biggest adjustment (for me) was recognizing and becoming comfortable with the cultural differences and expectations,” Johnson said.

She said Bosnian culture places a high value on hospitality and respect for elders but that there is “not much support for underprivileged groups such as orphans and the mentally and physically disabled.”

Through UWC and independently, Johnson has traveled throughout Europe during her fall and spring breaks as well as for college-sponsored programs such as debate tournaments in Stuttgart, Germany, and educational development programs in Kosovo.

Johnson visited UWC’s campus in Italy during a Spring Break trip and spent time at its Victoria, B.C., campus this summer.

When students aren’t traveling, she said they also have opportunities to share their own culture with their schoolmates in Mostar.

“Every year, we have four cultural weeks representing regions of the world: Asian and African; Balkan and Eastern European; Western European; and American,” she said.

“During the week students organize dances, cultural movies, food tasting or events specific to their culture.”

These weeks are capped off with a meal served to the student body by these “ambassadors,” who dress in traditional attire and present a show.

Johnson said her experience abroad has allowed her to learn more about American culture as well.

“My appreciation for Portland, the beautiful city of roses, and the entire Pacific Northwest, which I call my ‘bio region,’ is much greater because of my time abroad,” she said.

Both she and her mother recommended the program for both its challenging curriculum and the experience living abroad provides.

For more information about United World Colleges, visit www.uwc.org.

Dan Brige Za Okolis

2010-10-24T20:39:00.002+02:00

Did you know that it takes 10 to 12 years for a cigarette butt to decompose? 10 to 20 years for a plastic bag? 200 to 500 years for a beer can? Never for Styrofoam.

On Saturday, October 23^rd, the United World College in Mostar hosted its second annual Community Care Day (Dan Brige Za Okolis). The aims of this coordinated effort, led by the Environmental Council were to physically clean up several central locations throughout Mostar, to raise community awareness regarding environmental issues, and finally, to unite people from all over the city towards a common goal.

It was a clear and beautiful day, the plan was to clean three locations throughout Mostar – Spanish Square and around our school, Susac Stairs, leading to our residence, and the Partisan’s Memorial, which used to be an imposing tribute to the people, but has declined into a local hang-out for drunks and druggies, covered in litter. It was a big task to take on in only one day – and many hands were needed.

In Spanish Square we were joined by students from Gymnasia as well as a near-by Economics School. Surprisingly, when a group arrived at Susac Stairs they were already clean! Thanks to a political student group, who then proceeded to join UWC students in cleaning the stairs opposite the stadium. We could have been very proud of just these accomplishments – but the work continued.

The Partisan’s Memorial posed a daunting challenge, and upon arrival people were stunned by the quantity of garbage covering the white stone monument, and filling a pool which was once upon a time a symbolic fountain. Dani, a second year from Spain said, “It was too dirty to be real.”

Sara, an American first year commented, “The coolest part for me was to see how the community outside of our school came together to work with us. After the day finished I felt really tired, but very content, and proud of the work we did.”

“For me, it was really pleasing to see the results, to compare before and after and see that we actually made a big difference,” said Lusia, a Belarusian first year.

Our work was very visible, not only the change in the surrounding, but the piles of garbage bags waiting to be taken away. The garbage bag statistics include 25 bags from Spanish Square, 40 from the stairs, and a whopping 130 from the Partisan’s Memorial!

Even though so much work was done, and great progress was made – there is still much to do, if we want to make the Partisan’s Memorial trash free – a goal for the future. “Taking into consideration the number of people that were present, we did a great job and made a difference,” said Marina. She went on to explain her disappointment in the people who created this huge mess, as well as the many people who did not take the responsibility to clean it.

Summarizing many feelings, Mirwais, a third year Austrian-Afghani student, bluntly stated, “Shit happens, but you can change it.” Our goal was to change it.

Another continuing initiative is implementing a joint recycling program between UWCiM and the two gymnasia curricula. As well as cleaning, students painted and prepared recycling bins to distribute throughout the school. This was also the beginning of an environmental awareness advertising campaign - distributing informational posters around the city.

On behalf of the Environmental Council we want to profoundly thank all the people who came, and strive to make this city a clean safe environment. We especially want to thank teacher advisor Jasminka, and everyone who made the day logistically possible. You are my heroes.

“I’m excited about what we can do next time. With more people we can make even more progress, and continue making this city and this world a better place,” said Maggie, another American first year.

A message to citizens of Mostar, and of the Earth – this is all of our responsibilities, take each opportunity to take pride in the place you live, and keep it clean.

Written by Hilary Johnson

Edited by Maggie Bursch

Pearson Seminar on Youth Leadership

2010-09-27T17:29:00.002+02:00

How can you be the change that you wish to see in the world? To do so, whether you want to be a political activist or a doctor, an engineer or a mom, an artist or an architect you must become a leader. The next question you may ask is who is a leader? Are they the people that stand up on the podium and make the speeches? Are they the most intelligent, qualified people? Or can they be the people working behind the scenes to run an organization, or the professionals who fulfill their responsibilities each day? What type of leader do you want to be?

“The Pearson Seminar on Youth Leadership is designed to strengthen the role that young people play as future community and world leaders.” Utilizing a framework comprised of discussions, presentations, guest speakers, workshops, and interactive leadership training, 100 students from all around the work came together for three weeks, with the backdrop of the beautiful campus of UWC Pearson on Canada’s west coast, the land of big trees, salmon, bears, mountains, and the Pacific Ocean. Broadened perspectives revolve around themes of “ecological sustainability, social justice, and international understanding.”

Skill development is focused on “project planning and coordination, ecological education in a temperate rainforest setting, information on local and international social justice issues, indigenous ideas and traditions, public speaking and awareness-raising techniques, people management skills (group management, conflict resolution, mediation), cross-cultural and diversity training, personal reflection and self-awareness exploration, critical thinking, problem-solving and decision-making, goal-setting, and ethics-based action.” Forming these skills as part of life require confidence, the information and skills necessary, and the opportunity to practice. The intentional community at PSYL seeks to develop a space where student leaders are nurtured, to create the impetus to enact change, in themselves, and in others.

Facilitating, was a unique role, as part of a tight knit group of fifteen UWC students and several past participants – forming a bridge between the participants and educator coordinators, both teaching and learning. A comparison would be the UWC experience without IB, and as a result of this experience I have become more of who I seek to be.

From consensus based community meetings every morning, to Carpe Diem “seize the day”, Spirit Spot, to just chillin’ in the Fridge (the student common room) each day was stimulating and innovative. You were never falling asleep in “classes,” because your classroom might be in the middle of the forest, or out on the bay in a canoe, just as easily as in an amphitheater. Daily session topics include: power and privilege, conflict transformation, self-awareness and leadership, sustainability 101, gender dialogue, and ecological wisdom. Throughout, the importance of ceremony, music and creativity were highlighted.

Each participant developed an action plan, detailing how they want to be a leader in their community back home, whether it is in Canada, Brazil, or even here in Mostar. My hope is that we are all leaders in building a community here at UWCiM, focused on peace and conflict transformation, through education.

“I have a dream….” Fill in the blank, and then make it come true.

Fluss. Agape. Real. Kai. Pura Vida.

If you wish to apply for a position as a facilitator, or simply want to learn more about the program feel free to ask me, or go to www.psyl.org.

Adventure Crew: Rafting Trip

2010-09-27T17:28:00.000+02:00

Rain pounding down on our heads, the boats, the river. Everybody stroking in time.

“Everywhere we go! (echo)

People stop and ask us.

Who we are, and where do we come from.

So, we tell them! UWC in Mostar!

MIGHTY MIGHTY MOSTAR!” The chant rang out of the mouths of the twenty paddlers.

We are the ADVENTURE CREW!

Created this year to incorporate hiking, biking, rafting, and skiing, the adventure crew embarked upon a rafting trip on the upper Neretva, as the first official adventure of the year, although just living in Mostar is an adventure in of itself. Plans for the rest of the year include hikes to classic favorites like Diva Grabavica, and Veliki Vran, as well as some new routes, and overnight camping.

Faces were apprehensive as the group gathered in Spanish Square in the morning for the bus ride to Konjic, to transfer to another van to go to the house of our rafting guides. The ominous dark rain clouds did not bode well for our expedition, or so we thought. Upon arrival at “base camp”, we were graciously welcomed as guests, with a hospitality that was incredibly generous throughout the entire day. The laughter began as we dressed in sexy wetsuits and booties, comparing our newly discovered muscles.

The crew was divided into five boats, five people per boat, with one guide. Our only instruction was, “don’t fall in love with the skipper.” On the van ride to the head of the run the guy (what is his name) told us some history and folklore of the region – about the Neretva river as a woman, and the mountain Prenj as the obstinate and unpredictable man.

Stalling for time, to wait for the rain to cease, we ate a freshly grilled fish meal and plums, which we gathered from the trees. Finally, the expedition started, with no let-up of the torrential rain, but we carried the boats to the riverside, suited up in wetsuits, helmets, and goofy raincoats. And we were off!

The landscape was incredible, as the boats took us down the Upper Neretva, surrounded by soaring canyon walls, cloaked with greenery, and the river dimpled by the raindrops. Each boat crew quickly developed its own sense of pride, and competition for the cherished first spot. Code words were created, like cevapi, for a surprise attack on another boat. Cheering, laughing, and stroking with our whole bodies, we sailed downriver, straight into the heart of the storm.

We all survived the thunder and lightning, the drop-off rapids, the fierce competition, and the belly aching laughter – and were welcomed back to the “base camp” once again for a huge traditional meal, warm dry clothing, and swapping stories. Simply put, it was an epic day for those who chose to come out and accept the challenge of adventure!

G. K. Chesterton said, “An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.” I challenge you to look for the adventure.

Over an out, Hilary Johnson reporting live from Adventure Crew Central.

International summer School on the Anthropocene at UWC Adriatic

2010-09-16T17:10:00.000+02:00

http://www.uwcad.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=231:international-summer-school-on-water-in-the-anthropocene&catid=48:highlights&Itemid=92

This is what I did at the beginning of the summer - a Climate Conference with 35 students from every single UWC. Our final presentations will be published shortly.

The Invitation

2010-08-06T07:27:00.002+02:00

The InvitationBy Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for,
And if you dare to dream of meeting
Your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
For love, for your dream,
For the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon.
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow,
If you have been opened by life's betrayals,
Or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain,
Mine or your own,
Without moving
To hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy,
Mine or your own,
If you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
Without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic,
or to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true.
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself,
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.
I want to know if you can be faithless and therefore be trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty
Even when it is not pretty every day,
And if you can source your life
From its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure,
Yours and mine,
And still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon,
"Yes!"

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair,
Weary and bruised to the bone,
And do what needs to be done for the children.

It doesn't interest me who you are, how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
In the center of the fire with me
And not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
From the inside
When all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone
With yourself,
And if you truly like the company you keep
In the empty moments.

One Perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

2010-08-01T06:58:00.002+02:00

http://peaceittogether.ca/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNz5TgVHREM

Thank you Zahida :)

Praan

2010-07-26T19:52:00.002+02:00

Bhulbona ar shohojete
Shei praan e mon uthbe mete
Mrittu majhe dhaka ache
je ontohin praan

Bojre tomar baje bashi
She ki shohoj gaan
Shei shurete jagbo ami
(Repeat 2X)

Bojre tomar baje bashi
She ki shohoj gaan
dao more shei gaan

Shei jhor jeno shoi anonde
Chittobinar taare
Shotto-shundu dosh digonto
Nachao je jhonkare!

Bojre tomar baje bashi
She ki shohoj gaan
Shei shurete jagbo ami
(Repeat 3X)

Bojre tomar baje bashi
She ki shohoj gaan
Shei shurete jagbo ami

Bojre tomar baje bashi
She ki shohoj gaan
dao more shei gaan

Stream of Life [English translation of Praan]

The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day
runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.

It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth
in numberless blades of grass
and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.

It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth
and of death, in ebb and in flow.

I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life.
And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.

(Search, "Where the Hell is Matt video on youtube to hear the song)

YOU'RE INVITED!

2010-06-30T21:35:00.001+02:00

Save the Date: Tuesday the 13th of July
Time: 5:30 PM
Where: Mercy Corp Headquarters
28 SW First Ave

I'm going to be giving a presentation about my experiences going to the United World College in Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The description of this year is INDESCRIBABLY GLORIOUS. Come to see why :)

Water, is it really a free good?

2010-06-25T04:33:00.000+02:00

Here in Portland, we are lucky to access abundant water supplies, that is drinkable straight from the tap. But increasingly around the world water supplies are being exploited, depleting either the quantity and/or quality of water sources. Recently, the UN posted a statistic stating By 2025, 1 800 million people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world population could be under stress conditions. Source: FAO

There is a website which approximately calculates your household's daily water usage - and the results will surprise you. We see our actual physical water usage - but there is a new concept called "virtual water usage" and this has the largest impact. This is calculated by our daily consumption of products which need water during production such as foods, electronics, and energy.

http://www.h2oconserve.org/?page_id=503 Take the quiz and discover for yourself how much you consume, and find some tips for conserving water - because even if you live in Portland, water is still a limited resource, and we do not want our own tragedy of the commons.

As an end note though, I am proud of my cities efforts - currently I wake up every morning to the sound of heavy machinery drilling and digging, and beeping down the street as they tear up the antiquated water mains and replace them, to prevent leakage - as part of a water conservation initiative in the city.

For those of you who are really interested, there is a book called "Blue Covenant" about the emerging water scarcity worldwide - which also evaluates the anthropological causes.

As always, Cheers and more to come,

Hilary

P.S. I'm excited to be going on a great three day adventure with my Mom and Dad this weekend. We're going to climb South Sister in Southern Oregon and spend some time on the hot rock at Smith Rock as well.

If time flies, where does the time fly to?

2010-06-22T22:46:00.000+02:00

Today is the second official day of summer, but I've already been out of school for almost a month. While it feels as if I saw all those wonderful people only yesterday, it also feels like ages - because I know how much happens in just one day for us, so multiply that by 30.

Where do I begin to tell the stories? Hopefully, I will be posting more often now, catching you up on all the adventures.

But, today is a significant day, because I just finished my FIRST GUITAR LESSON!
I've been talking about starting to play the guitar for a long time, and I always admire the people who can just sit down and play a couple of songs or just start improving. Especially my younger sister Serena, she's awesome now, and a composer. She even wrote me a song for my birthday :) She taught me the chords to one of her first songs "The Amazing Race" so that is my next task to tackle. Today I learned how to play "Collide" by Howie Day, and "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol.

I'm hoping to add quite a few more to my repertoire by the end of the summer. I have fond memories of some of the first weekends in Mostar, spent listening to guitar and singing on Andy, Amer, and Mustafa's balcony in Susac - bundled up in blankets, under the stars in the evenings. I have to give a shout out to Andy, thanking him for donating his guitar to us first years.

Hulda, I cannot wait until the next time I see you, because we can finally jam out on the guitars and ukuleles with worship music :)

This morning I enjoyed a video conference with some students from Scotland through Mercy Corp and the Global Citizen Corp - they taught us a lesson about the Millennium Development Goals, and a current initiative for Education throughout the world, using the World Cup.

This evening, there is a presentation about Bosnia, by a guy who lived in Sarajevo and was an aid worker during the conflict years. I'm really interested in what he has to say. I'm also excited because they invited me to do a short presentation about UWCiM's efforts in Bosnia regarding integration of the education system on Thursday!

Lots of thinkings swirling around! Where's it going to lead, who knows.

Until the Next Adventure, Cheers,

Hilary

Aren't you supposed to play for fun?

2010-04-20T12:59:00.002+02:00

This is a message that we just received from our administration:

Dear students,

There will be a football match tomorrow between the two opponent clubs of this town. As you are probably aware the supporters of these two clubs are known for their violent behaviour which puts this match in a group of high-risk ones. You are advised to go to the residences tomorrow after the lessons and not to spend too much time outside during and especially after the game.

Kind regards.

We'll see what happens, and who wins. Updates to come.

Kiva

2010-04-16T18:04:00.000+02:00

Kiva is a non-profit organization that gives small micro-finance loans to impoverished people all around the world. They believe that by connecting people, and encouraging people to become entrepreneurs through small, low interest loans they are allowing people to better their lives.

Check it out!

The Declaration

2010-04-16T17:05:00.000+02:00

The Declaration of a Student Conference Regarding Educational Reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina

On the 10^th of February 2010 a conference was held in the United World College in Mostar with students from ten different schools, representing a diversity of ethnic groups, view points, and opinions. The diversity provided a rich source of perceptions and views among the student representatives on the topic of educational reform. The assembly expressed frustration with the current state of affairs. We are aware of the complexity of the current situation, and we acknowledge the difficulties of bringing about change. But it is necessary to bring about change now. There are both internal and external factors driving the imperative for change. Certain common themes emerged and priorities could be identified for potential reform. The following recommendations are made as a result of the discussion between the participants and represent these common concerns.

Our recommendations are made under six headings which represent our major concerns. The collaboration of recommendations concern curriculum issues, pedagogy, resources, personal and social development, school and community relationships, and continuing school opportunities.

These recommendations are based on a holistic approach to the educational system. There needs to be a centralized ministry of education to create efficiency and effectiveness. Each student needs to have equal opportunity and access to education – this can only be achieved if there is one system, equipped with sufficient resources, and maintaining a high level of professional teaching.

Curriculum Issues (Teaching and Learning)

Within the curriculum students said that the main problems are the number of subjects, the schedule, and the subject material. The current curriculum requires students to take more than ten subjects, and up to fifteen or sixteen. It is impossible for students to focus and engage in this amount of subjects in a timely manner. The range of subjects on one hand does give students broader knowledge, but restricts the depth of education. Secondly, lengthy school days also detract from the efficiency and effectiveness of classes. A combination of less, but longer classes, but an altogether shorter schedule per day would allow students to profit and gain more from their education.

Education should be multi-dimensional, and utilize a range of teaching styles, methods, and materials. Students expressed frustration with boredom in classes, because they simply copy notes from the board and do not interact or discuss the material that they are learning.

The second major concern, while discussing the integration of schools, is the practical aspect of respecting the three national languages Bosnian, Serbian, and Croatian. Students suggested several solutions. In the first model students would attend all classes together, except for their primary language. The main question is, which language would textbooks be written in? Brcko District serves as one example – they choose textbooks, disregarding language, based on the quality of the information. A second suggestion is to print the same textbook in the three different languages, so that students could all study together simultaneously in their own languages.

Offering religious and ethical studies is a comprehensive part of education, but it should not be compulsory. Also, a range of religions and moral philosophies should be explored. If students wish to pursue personal religious studies this can be done through a religious institution or other means of education, other than the public school system. Exposure to other religions and cultures will allow students to develop a broader world-view and greater perception of their surroundings.

Pedagogy (Teachers)

Teachers have a huge responsibility, to educate and guide their students as they grow and mature. It is not solely to inform students about a particular subject, but also to challenge students to become informed, respectful, and conscious citizens. Although, their first responsibility is to educate students and challenge students to learn themselves. Teachers have the time and ability to influence student’s way of thinking and learning, and their life maturation. We believe they are one of the most important components of every education system.

A good teacher is responsible and respected, they should enjoy teaching and interacting with students. They should be qualified to teach their subject, and challenge their students. Student evaluations should be used to evaluate teacher performance to improve the system. Teachers are needed, yet receive one of the lowest salaries – which can only discourage them to do their job the best way possible. Teachers have a lot of power and they are forming the next generations. Education is in their hands; therefore they should be well prepared and focused. Teacher improvement seminars should be compulsory. Teacher should identify problematic issues such as politics and treat it with caution yet allow students express their different opinions.

Resources

A lack of funding, and inefficient spending detracts from the education system. It is essential to provide quality resources like textbooks, laboratory equipment, IT labs and training, and basic school supplies. Due to instable curriculums students said that textbooks were changed frequently – which leads to a waste of monetary resources as well as paper. Students proposed the formation of a single national system of education to provide the structure necessary to equip all students and schools with proper resources to facilitate learning.

Personal and Social Development - Personal Development as part of Education

We identified four common goals concerning education, which unite students. Firstly, students attend school to be prepared for further education or work. Secondly, they want to develop personally, become more mature, and contribute to society. Thirdly, they want to form relationships with other students, and interact. Finally, they want to form and maintain individual and group identities. The creation of a unified system of education would augment these goals.

Right now, many students do not feel that they are sufficiently prepared to attend university, or begin working. It is essential to create a system of secondary education that meets these needs. The formation of relationships would broaden by bringing together students from all ethnicities to study together. Lastly, identities would not be damaged or weakened by integrating the education system – instead the converse would occur, by recognizing and accepting differences, people would be able to explore and solidify their identities.

School and Communities -Relationships with formal education system with the community

We defined community as local, regional, national, and international. Within local communities schools act as a center point and place for the community to gather and interact. They can organize events for the community, and bring together families because the students are interacting. Communication among parents, teachers, and students encourages cooperation and understanding within a community. Regionally and nationally schools act as a common ground, something which all people within society experience. Therefore, a divided education system will only cause further division within society, and prevent the formation of links towards cooperation.

Continuing education -Post school – Universities, Employment

The purpose of education is to prepare students for their futures, whether it is to continue higher education into university, to pursue a career or job, or to simply be part of society it is necessary to develop a strong base of knowledge and skills. Many students said that they do not feel prepared for the future and are not satisfied with the opportunities available to them.

The first suggestion that was strongly supported was fostering the development of internships, or work experiences between students and local businesses. Giving high school students the opportunity to practice skills that they learn in school and to sample different types of work helps them to feel more confident and make decisions about what they want to do in the future.

The second suggestion that the students proposed and agreed upon was that there needs to be a national system of requirements or testing to graduate from high school. This was discussed in further depth in a conference in Banja Luka at the same time. The students agreed that it would be easier to pursue further education internationally if they received a respected diploma.

All the students here today commit to be a part of and support this change. You can rely on the students to be a fundamental base, motivated to make this change occur. It is necessary for authorities to take responsibility to make the changes outlined above. Representatives are elected to listen to the citizens that they represent. This declaration is what these students representing many different backgrounds want for the betterment of their education.

In conclusion, this society is seeking to move forward, and a holistic approach to education is the means to develop the young citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina. These students, as representatives, stated that they want change to be made and that they are willing to work together to make it happen. We as a group are committed to partnering and sharing in a continuing commitment to change, and the students want to take this conversation further. We acknowledge the difficulties of reforming the education system and making these changes, but it is necessary to start this change now.

We, the students of this conference, are united in our commitment to work with authorities to bring about such change and educational reform for the betterment of this nation, these peoples, and the students of future generations.

Educational Reform Conference in BiH - By Students for Students

2010-04-16T17:03:00.000+02:00

On the 10^th of February 2010, our school hosted a student conference about Education Reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Eighty students from ten different schools gathered to discuss the necessity of change in the current system. Forty students from outside UWC came to share their opinions, experiences, and concrete suggestions. The students came to the conclusion that change is mandatory – now. A declaration was written to assert the student voices. The initial idea to host the conference in Bosnia and Herzegovina was incepted at a social issues conference in Kosovo in December. We conducted a research project polling local students about their satisfaction with the current system based on a diversity of educational backgrounds. At the conference we presented our research and heard many other presentations and conclusions. There was significant interest in our investigation, but we did not think that there was enough time provided for further discussion, evaluation, analysis, and the proposal of tangible solutions.

The recommendations outlined in the declaration are made under six headings which represent the major concerns. The collaboration of recommendations concern curriculum issues, pedagogy, resources, personal and social development, school and community relationships, and continuing school opportunities.

Two distinguished guests presented and facilitated the writing of the declaration. We were honored by the presence of Professor Jeff Thompson and Doctor Mary Hayden from the University of Bath in the UK. At the beginning, they briefly presented their own research study about the impact of the United World College in Mostar on integration in the local community and student mentalities. Then several students shared personal reflections on their experiences, and an article written in 2004 by the OSCE. We presented our research from Kosovo, and asked a lot of questions to begin the discussion sessions. Students were divided into smaller moderator groups in order to enable dialogue. Each group was led by two moderators, one international and one local. Moderators noted important points, which became the basis of the areas of recommendation in the declaration.

Concerning the logistics of the conference, students were split into discussion groups which were led by facilitators, and notes of the discussions were kept. A brief outline of questions to direct the conversations was constructed, but it was created as an open environment for students to talk about a very relevant topic, without feeling pressure based on ethnicity, or identity.

The central questions we felt were:

What do we want as students?

Are you satisfied with the current system?

With the teaching, books, subjects?

Do you feel that your school is giving you an adequate education for your future?

What’s stopping you from getting what you want? What’s wrong?

How can you fix this?

What does integration mean to you?

Each person will have an individual understanding of integration. By discussing the definition of the word it will avoid conflicts based on different definitions.

What will people gain through integration?

What are people afraid of losing through integration? (emphasize that it is a common fear)

Are these fears justified?

UWCiM is an example that you will not lose your identity by integrated education – students actually claim that they feel more confident in their identity by explaining it and understanding it from an outside perspective.

Why hasn’t integration happened yet? Lack of political / common will.

“Education should not be political, it should be a neutral learning atmosphere, creating critical, mature individuals.”

How will having an integrated system facilitate fulfilling wants and needs?

We were pleased with the results of the conference, but it is only the beginning of a long process. We are firm in our belief that students need to be united in their commitment to work with authorities to bring about educational reform for the betterment of this nation, these peoples, and the students of future generations. It is the responsibility of students, both local and international to continue to push for change, and demand excellent education.

We would like to sincerely thank the United World College in Mostar, our headmaster Paul Regan, our teacher coordinator Ljubica Bajo, Professor Jeff Thompson and Doctor Mary Hayden, the student moderators, Meri Musa for coordinating press coverage, and all the participants that made this event possible.

We encourage all students to continue to “be the change that you wish to see in the world.” Mahatma Gandhi

18 Things I Am Thankful For on my 18th Birthday

2010-04-16T16:15:00.000+02:00

1. My Family
2. Being at UWCiM
3. Adventures (spontaneous and fulfilled dreams)
4. Being given a back massage right now :)
5. My roommates, my close friends, and my inner circle
6. An absolutely amazing childhood (so many wonderful memories, along the roller coaster)
7. The talents I have been given and developed
8. Sunshine and the smell right before it rains
9. The love that surrounds me (which I take for granted)
10. The journey I have taken thus far & the road ahead
11. My little man (ask me the story)
12. Complexities in life, because challenges make you grow
13. God
14. Listening to the Birthday song in Chinese, German, Hebrew, Dutch, Local and English
15. Mountains, Rivers, spring-time, & flowers
16. Jumping pictures
17. Shaked's camel loves me.
18. For the color blue.

English Professors

2010-04-15T17:22:00.002+02:00

Just sit and imagine for a moment a classic British English professor. He studied in Cambridge, he wears a tweed jacket, a cap on his balding head, a popped collar, or a turtle neck sweater. He's a bit on the shorter side, and sometimes seems to be off in his own world. He refuses to teach novels because they are too boring, but prefers poetry, and true stories.
He is a gentleman by creed, but has a dry sense of humor. He went to boarding school since the age of nine, and always has to have the window open to prevent the classroom air from getting stuffy. He points out our errors, and is quite delighted when we understand his analysis of a single line of poetry.

This is my English professor.

(Photo: English class outside, studying "This is a Man", on the stairs of Velic, our languages, humanities, and office building.)

If you are bored...

2010-04-13T15:58:00.001+02:00

Write a song for somebody you love.
Make new clothes
Loesje Work shop
Stumble Upon

First Years

2010-04-13T15:00:00.000+02:00

Dear all

I am writing to you with the good news that, following a teleconference with Executive Committee members today, I have been unconditionally authorised to enrol a fifth generation. It is envisaged right now that the generation will be a small one, but if funds materialise later, we can enlarge the numbers.

But the important thing is that we have continuity and the college remains intact.

Clearly there is much work ahead and long term stability and reform must now be the next goals . But sometimes small steps can be all that is needed and we got one today.

Many thanks to all students and staff for their solidarity, proving once again that we have a strong sense of family preservation!

Another important decision was also made today. This was the confirmation of Valentina Mindolevic as the next Headteacher of UWCiM, effective from 1 July. I wish her every success and know she will do a great job in the challenging time ahead.

Best regards.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The fear of not having first years is one of the worst that a student of UWC can experience. It threatens the very process of growing up and becoming responsible, it represents a discontinuation of the school, of the ideals, of the goals, dreams, and projects that we work for as students. When we heard the news that we would be receiving first years, everybody was running around Musala hugging and congratulating others, people were smiling, laughing, yelling. I ran up to our room and swept Shaked up into a huge hug, we were just laughing and yelling for several minutes, not willing to let go. The fever has caught and spread throughout the school, it is a contagious disease, the planning and dreams for the new individuals who will one day look up at the impressive stripped facade of this gymnasia and know in their hearts that it will become a home for the next two years, and the foundation of their identities for the entirety of their lives.

To future first years:

Any first years who might be reading this, sometime soon or in the future. YOU are the future of our school. I feel a very big responsibility to introduce you, and mentor you, and most of all challenge you to grow. We all cannot wait to meet you, you mean the world to us.

Take advantage of every moment this summer. Live life to the fullest. Do the things that you enjoy the most. Spend quality time with you family, and your closest friends. Leave time to be spontaneous. Live in the moment, the future will come. The meaning of life is the journey in search of the meaning - so never stop looking. The only battle that you lose is the one that you stop fighting for. Try to find your balance in life, and I wish you peace, love, and harmony. Although you will never always have these things be joyful throughout your trials in life, because through them you will grow the most, and find the strength within yourself to carry on. All you need to do is stand up one more time than you fall down :)

We send you love from your new family in Mostar. Let the adventures continue.

Look what I'm Excited For :)

2010-04-13T13:08:00.001+02:00

http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/150576/mount-jefferson-oregon-.html

"How to Tell a True War Story"

2010-03-29T19:24:00.000+02:00

How do you generalize?

War is hell, but that’s not the half of it, because war is also mystery and terror and

adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love.

War is nasty; war is fun. War is thrilling; war is drudgery. War makes you a man; war makes you

dead.

The truths are contradictory. It can be argued, for instance, that war is grotesque. But in

truth war is also beauty. For all its horror, you can’t help but gape at the awful majesty of combat.

You stare out at tracer rounds unwinding through the dark like brilliant red ribbons. You crouch

in ambush as a cool, impassive moon rises over the nighttime paddies. You admire the fluid

symmetries of troops on the move, the harmonies of sound and shape and proportion, the great

sheets of metal-fire streaming down from a gunship, the illumination rounds, the white

phosphorous, the purply black glow of napalm, the rocket’s red glare. It’s not pretty, exactly. It’s

astonishing. It fills the eye. It commands you. You hate it, yes, but your eyes do not. Like a killer

forest fire, like cancer under a microscope, any battle or bombing raid or artillery barrage has the

aesthetic purity of absolute moral indifference—a powerful, implacable beauty—and a true war

story will tell the truth about this, though the truth is ugly.

To generalize about war is like generalizing about peace. Almost everything is true.

Almost nothing is true. At its core, perhaps, war is just another name for death, and yet any

soldier will tell you, if he tells the truth, that proximity to death brings with it a corresponding

proximity to life. After a fire fight, there is always the immense pleasure of aliveness. The trees

are alive. The grass, the soil—everything. All around you things are purely living, and you

among them, and the aliveness makes you tremble. You feel an intense, out-of-the-skin

awareness of your living self—your truest self, the human being you want to be and then become

by the force of wanting it. In the midst of evil you want to be a good man. You want decency.

You want justice and courtesy and human concord, things you never knew you wanted. There is a

kind of largeness to it; a kind of godliness. Though it’s odd, you’re never more alive than when

you’re almost dead. You recognize what’s valuable. Freshly, as if for the first time, you love

what’s best in yourself and in the world, all that might be lost. At the hour of dusk you sit at your

foxhole and look out on a wide river turning pinkish red, and at the mountains beyond, and

although in the morning you must cross the river and go into the mountains and do terrible things

and maybe die, even so, you find yourself studying the fine colors on the river, you feel wonder

and awe at the setting of the sun, and you are filled with a hard, aching love for how the world

could be and always should be, but now is not.

Think about this, I just wrote an essay about contrast in this piece for English Class - you cannot appreciate light without darkness, nor love without solitude.

P.S.

Mom, Dad, and Serena thank you so very much for all the birthday gifts! I received the final two packages today, the one with the DVD and the clothes, granola, and so many other random things :) I especially appreciated the lilacs from outside my window, I can imagine them in bloom, and their scent accompanies many beautiful memories at home.

Palm Sunday

2010-03-29T01:53:00.000+02:00

Arms outstretched, the wind at my back, standing on the edge of the outcropping, the sunset sinking in glowing splendor, as the moon rises over the opposite horizon, shining silvery white in the midnight black sky, only the brightest stars barely visible, yet there hangs Orion’s belt. The lights of Mostar begin to flicker on, and streets are outlined by the pinpricks of light. The school stands like a stripped fortress in the middle, Susac’s blue roof off on black hill, the futbal stadium, the park, the old bank, the train station off on the other side, and the turquoise Neretva flowing beneath the bridges. This is Mostar, this is my home.

I walked to the cross with Mirwais this evening, quite spontaneously, which made it even more of an adventure. As soon as I arrived home from MUN he yelled out the window, “Hilary we’re going to the cross” and I couldn’t argue with that. We spend so much time looking up at the cross each day, yet the moments are rare to reverse the situation and stare down at the city. Each time I try to memorize the winding river, the buildings, and communist bloc apartment buildings, and the streets as they intersect networking across the town.

The feeling as we walked up there, and then stood gazing out at the city in the foreground and the mountains surrounding the basin, the smell of the wind and the occasional faint aroma of flowers, combined reminded me of so many places and times throughout life. It was as if all my wonderful memories like this, a combination of walking, wind, and sunset were compounded upon each other and the smiles on our faces could not go away.

Flinging my arms wide, the wind almost swept me off my feet, and I couldn't help but sing praise.

Songs of the Night:

Shaked’s playing “Hey Juliet” right now J

Fireflies

I’m Yours – Jason Mraz

Wonderwall – Oasis

Sweet Home Alabama

(the last three performed by Schirin, Misha, and Dino with the school band at Coco Loco)

After walking down in the dark, talking the whole way of course, we went to Coco Loco where the school band was performing. The music was wonderful, the trio Schirin (Austria) Misha (Russia) and Dino (BiH) performed an amazing selection of music, and everybody was singing along, clapping, dancing, all of us swaying with our arms wrapped around each other. Smiling faces of many friends, Shaked, Anita, Dorontine, Verena, Simone, Mirwais, Nicolai, Anja, Masha, Yuli, Dani and so many others. It was the best party, quality fun, and a wonderful atmosphere. Encore!

This morning the final general assembly debates, resolution voting, and closing ceremony for the MostMUN conference occurred. MUN is an abbreviate for Model United Nations, an international program that simulates United Nation delegate meetings. Since Friday, over sixty students from UWCiM and schools throughout BiH, Turkey, and the UK, have been debating resolutions within four separate councils as representatives of countries from all over the world. I was in the Historical Council (not actually existent in the UN) as a representative of the Russian Federation and the USSR (depending on the date.) We discussed two situations and created several interesting resolutions:

Insitutionalized Racism in South Africa under the system of Apartheid

The Situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina 1993

As well as in the other councils:

Security Council

Piracy Off of Somalia’s Coast

Regulations on a Nuclear Free World and the creation of Nuclear Free Zone in the US

Environmental Council

Protection of the Global Climate for Present and Future Generations

Global Plan to Solve the Issue of Water Shortages

Human Rights Council

Combating Defamation of Religion

Promotion and Protection of Freedom of Speech in China

On Friday evening our school hosted the annual traditional Global Vision contest. Here in Europe there is a competition similar to American Idol called Euro Vision – where delegates, one from each European country, compete for the title of the best singer throughout Europe. Our school modified the concept a bit, to include candidates from all around the world.

Representing the country of Austria I performed a medley from the Sound of Music with Leah, Isa Belle, Shaked, Schirin, Rikka, Laura, Michelle, and Ardi. We had a lot of fun putting together the choreography, and singing along to all the classic songs – “Rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens, A few of my favorite things, Yodel-le-yodel-loo, I am 16 going on 17, Do-Ray-Mi, the hills are alive with the sound of music, and finally So long farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, good night.” I was the part of Gretel (of course) and it was really fun. Some other acts included Amitai, Selmir, and Miran representing Sweden who won, Clement singing “My African Queen”, Mirwais, Nicolai, and Niv doing a medley of music ending with “Don’t Worry Be Happy” and wishing all of us first years good luck with the upcoming months of hard work doing IAs, EEs, and ToK. To translate from IB language – IAs are Internal Assessments, EEs are Extended Essays, and ToK is theory of Knowledge presentations and essays. Whoo sounds like a lot of fun right? J

These next few months are going to be filled with a lot of hard work, many decisions and opportunities are riding on the results of my predicted grades and the quickly approaching exams and SATs. But I’m ready, work hard, play hard. I just need to hone my focus, but still enjoy balance and all the friends and new family that I am lucky to have here. One of Shaked’s crazy metaphors really applies: when hiking on a trail it is necessary to look down quite a bit so that you don’t trip, and so that you follow the right path, but it is also good to look towards the horizon, towards your goal, because the mountain is waiting looming ahead. And if your shoe gets untied, or life throws you a challenge, stop and take the time to tie it, so it doesn’t trip you up in the future.

Now, we have two more days of school, then Shaked and I are leaving for Easter Break! It’s a SURPRISE! And we are incredibly excited!

And, maybe something semi-important to add, I turned 18 years old last Wednesday, the 24^th of March, 2010. I am a legal adult – wow. But that is a whole other blog entry. For my birthday I collected advice from everybody for the next years of my life, and it resulted in some interesting and pleasant results.

A shout out to all those Portlanders finishing up their Spring Breaks and heading back to school, I send my love to you!

Good Night!

Balkan Sunflowers - The End of the Week

2010-03-19T23:12:00.000+01:00

   Wow, it has been an amazing and full week, with a little flavor of life here in Kosovo, lots of children and laughter, pounding nails, eating delicious, food, cooking, communicating (or trying to) in five or more different languages, learning a lot about the work being done here, and learning more about myself. I would say that I feel privileged to work with Andy, Dorontine, Amer, and Dani from UWCiM, Martin, a student teacher from Germany, and all the people at Fushekosovo. We were especially honored my Mohamet and his family by hosting us, accepting us into their home, feeding us, and allowing us to work alongside them in the center.
   This evening was a wonderful way to wrap up the week - our team took the initiative to cook dinner for our family, after a long days work. Martin bought some ingredients - but we were not quite sure how everything would turn out. The menu was spiced baked chicken a la Andy (with some guidance), pasta salad (American and German style) prepared by Martin, Amer, and myself, appetizers by Dorontine and I, and chocolate chip cookies by your very own. There were thirteen people total, all crowded around two small tables on couches and stools. It was cozy and nice, and Dorontine and I dominated the kitchen and took responsibility for all the cleaning - since they haven't allowed us to do anything all week out of pure hospitality. I'm really proud.
   Before we returned home the staff at the center hosted a party for us with some snacks, drinks, nice music and taught us one traditional group dance. They are all very sweet people, and I enjoyed working with them this week - even though the language barrier restricted some communication smiles, translations, and simply working together is its own language. After the party everybody came to inaugurate the shed that we built (which is basically finished).

Now we will sleep, in the morning Amer's father will come to pick us up and drive us back to Rozaje, from where we will take a cab back to Sarajevo then catch the evening train back home to Mostar, retracing our path from last Sunday. I'll write more and post just a few of the many photos later! Safe journeys to everybody returning to Mostar!

Balkan Sunflowers

2010-03-13T13:39:00.000+01:00

   Each year at all the UWC schools students participate in project weeks, where we are given a week off of school to arrange a project doing social service, investigating historical events, analyzing economic situations, doing sports activities, discovering cultures, and many other creative ideas.
   This year I chose to go to the new country of Kosovo to work in a school as part of a program named Balkan Sunflowers. The learning center that we will be working at is located just outside of the capital Prishtina. Our group is seven members strong including Andy Hemphill (USA), Benedikt Gottwald (Deutschland), Dorontine Berishaj and Amer Bralic (Montenegro), Dani Ramajo Falcon (Spain) and our mentor Martin from Germany.
   This grassroots organization was first created in 1999 during the Kosovar war to aid refugees and Roma people. There are two major projects, the Learning Centers Network and Great Films that Change Our World. Their three primary areas of focus are the community, human dignity, and children and youth.
   While we are there we will be living with host families and working at a learning center during the day. We will be leading workshops for the kids at the learning center between the ages of 5 to 18. We organized science demonstrations, musical workshops, environmental education, artwork, geography, sports, and other ways of interacting with the kids. Also, during the day we will help to cook and serve hot meals for the children, and we will be working on several building projects for the school.
   Some other students from our school are doing amazing trips as well - a group of people left last night for Istanbul to research religious minorities, two groups are going to Wien (Vienna) to research Balkan immigrants there, and to experience the culture. There are also people going to Slovenia, Belgrade, Croatia and Sarajevo. I'm really proud of all the student initiative that made these projects into reality.

Pruture Day

2010-03-08T18:29:00.000+01:00

Edelweiss

2010-03-07T02:07:00.001+01:00

I had a lovely evening today. First, we had the Balkan Cultural dinner, which was a great array of presentations and delicious food. The students were representing Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia. We had a very talented folk singer sing some local songs, watched a traditional dance, and of course ate delicious food. With a stomach satisfied with baklava, and many deserts and meat dishes. Shaked and I made our way back to Musala after a short stop in Old Man's Cafe and Coco Loco. It was a long day, we woke up early to greet two exchange students who arrived from UWC Adriatic this morning by bus. Allie from Canada, and Emilian from Poland are switching spots with two of our students, Ardi from Kosovo and Kristina from BiH for a week. During the afternoon I worked planning culture week events, making videos, and a moderator meeting about Pruture (Present Future) Day on the stage.

When Shaked and I finally arrived back in Musala we curled up with a bunch of lovely ladies and watched The Sound of Music. It was the perfect movie to cheer us up, and make us smile. Thank you to Leah, Isabelle, Michelle, Laura, Schirin, Shaked, Rikka, and Verena for the nice time together.

I dedicate the song "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" to Shaked, because she won't be sixteen for much longer, and I am turning 18 soon! And of course my two favorite songs are...well, I really do love all of them, but "My Favorite Things" and "Edelweiss".

Edelweiss, Edelweiss
Every morning you greet me
Small and white, clean and bright
You look happy to meet me

Blossom of snow may you bloom and grow
Bloom and grow forever

Edelweiss, Edelweiss Bless my homeland forever.

Climb ev'ry mountain
Search high and low
Follow ev'ry by-way
Every path you know

Climb ev'ry mountain
Ford ev'ry stream
Follow ev'ry rainbow
'Till you find your dream

A dream that will need
All the love you can give
Everyday of your life
For as long as you live

I have some really soothing memories of my Dad playing this song on the guitar in the living room mixed in with John Denver some evenings as I was falling asleep. Those nights I would definitely fall asleep with a smile on my face.

Good Night to all of you around the world. May you remember your favorite things in the good times and bad, and cherish all that you have around you.

Diva Grabavica

2010-03-01T13:55:00.000+01:00

Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breath out. The wind roaring and rushing through the mountains, and rustling the leaves on the ground, the barren trees leave the slopes exposed. It is a beautiful and quiet place, the only human noises come from the tramping of five pairs of boots, the breathing from our mouths as we zig-zag up the trail, and I can feel my heartbeat pounding in my temples and my chest.

First signs of spring!

Fears

2010-02-25T23:56:00.000+01:00

I was on a website called stumble, and this is what randomly showed up:

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1wMufs/www.phobiaguide.com/

There are a lot of fears in the world, each of us are afraid of different things, but the key is to acknowledge your fears, and overcome them. By doing so we become greater people, and we can live our lives to the fullest - without being controlled by fear.

I have quoted Eleanor Roosevelt many times, "Do one thing that scares you every day."
What do you fear? Why do you fear? How will you overcome your fear?

Ahhhhhhh, Sigh of Happiness and a Beautiful Sunshine Day :)

2010-02-25T16:59:00.003+01:00

   First, I write to you from a wonderful place, simple, yet wonderful. I am lying on my stomach on a wooden stage in the middle of Spanish Square right next to my huge orange and yellow striped school. It is a glowing sunny day, after about a week of dreary clouds and rain. I can feel the warmth of the sun soaking into the left side of my face, and the coolness of the shadow in my right. A barely noticeable breeze is flowing, everything is a live, people are laughing, talking, moving, and resting and enjoying this beautiful day, the 25th of February.
   I just finished TOK lessons for the day, and the whole class was sitting or laying in a circle, as we talked about the comparisons between art and life. ToK is Theory of Knowledge, and a part of every IB course - it brings together all of our subjects, and demands that you critically analyze your assumptions - and validate your opinions. For me, it embodies the yearning that I have now to think about my beliefs, my assumptions, things that I previously assumed were common knowledge and thoughtfully examine them, and change them when I find it necessary.
   The first quote was, "Life is a work of art." And then we moved on to asing who is the artist, do we start with a blank canvas or do we utilize things we are given to create the outwork ourselves. Everywhere around this place we can see people "living" = going about their every day lives. Do they think about the idea that their lives could be art. We cherish and revere art in so many ways - some types of art are sacred, others are provocative. Which is your life? Do we treat life like art? What is the purpose of art? What is the purpose of life? A friend told me a couple days ago that I always ask ten questions when I am asked one. Most of the people close to me know that I love questions - but more so I love answers, because they open up a whole new understanding, and a whole new set of questions.

   The beginning of spring has always been a memorable and special time for me, it is the beginning of lacrosse, of the last push before summer. It is a new beginning, but it is also a summing up of all the hard work during the winter. It is a time to dream, and fulfill those dreams. Ahh, I am a dreamer, a romanticist, but a person who I hope is known to make those dreams come true, for myself, and also for others.
   This city is beautiful and broken at the same time, divided, yet united against the juxtaposition of the landscape. I'm staring at a ruined building, only the chimneys and craggy scraps of wall left standing above a pile of rubble, but behind the pieces in the distance stand the mountains, capped with snow, some in the shadow but the tops glistening in the purity of the whiteness. It is beautiful, I love the mountains - I love the outdoors, the full breath of pure air brings me peace. Now, it is time for English class, we are analyzing poetry at the moment.
   I hope that you enjoy a few of my musings - and I send my love to you all!

Skiing at Jahorina

2010-02-13T12:32:00.001+01:00

February 8th 2010

Yawn, stretch, clock says five am, jump out of bed, wake up Beni, Andy walks in the door, Nicolai is finished packing, put in my contacts, sling my pack on my back, run to the car through the drenching rain, and we're off.

Andy Hemphill (my second year from the US), Benedikt Gottwald (my a fellow firsty from Munich, Germany) Nicolai Svanefjord (a second year from Denmark) and I (Hilary Johnson from the US) all went downhill skiing at the previous Olympic ski area outside of Sarajevo. It was awesome day, as we cut up the power covered slopes.

Even though I have been skiing since I could practically walk, this was some of the best snow. We found some virgin slopes on the east side of the mountain - and that drenching rain back in Mostar was a fresh layer of powder snow eleven centimeters thick up here at the mountain.

Andy and Benedikt are boarders (snow-boarders) and Nico and I skied. We spend the whole day together, crossing over the mountain. It was a great group because we were all pretty much equally matched skill-wise, nothing was unconquerable ;)

There were a couple of wipe-outs, a couple of yard sales, races, wicked jumps. At the top of the mountain it was completely enclosed in fog, and from the lift the ground and the sky were indistinguishable - but as soon as we dropped 100 meters the visibility was great.

Taking a day to enjoy life was perfect, and a calm before the storm of this past week! Spending time with the guys was amazing, I really enjoy the laughs and good times that we have together. My favorites this trip were the conversations on the lifts, swooshing down the mountain, a delicious lunch (Nico has great taste for food) and cake! and enjoying a relaxing evening afterwards cooking pesto tortellini and watching Dr. House.

I hope that this will be a tradition and that Beni and I can go again next year!

A Walk with Leah

2010-02-13T12:06:00.000+01:00

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Do one thing that scares you each day.” Emily Pellegrini was the person who passed on this piece of wisdom to me, and though I do not seek out situations that scare me, they seem to come unexpectedly. Emily, I have always remembered this ever since you told it to me freshman year. It has provided many conquests, adventures, and memories – this is one of them.

As we stared into the twilight at the ruins, I felt transported to the ancient land of Narnia at the castle of Cair Paravel when Lucy, Susan, Edmond, and Peter returned to find their happy reign as Kings and Queens long gone and grass growing among their turrets. The gray stones cut long ago into rectangular bricks, now with rounded corners built the fragmented walls, which once surrounded this ancient monastery.

The Orthodox Serbian monastery, which used to stand up the hill from the Old Bridge, was destroyed during the war, because of hatred towards the Serbs. The area within the perimeter is mostly cleared so that the new construction of a Russian style church can be built, but the walls and piles of rubble and stones from the old building encircle the area, almost the size of a smaller soccer field.

The only parts of the monastery, which remain, are two huge square pillars, which held up the entryway, and formed the passage from the world into the hallowed passages and places of prayer. Now they stand holding up the entire vastness of the night sky, the countless number of stars, pinpoints of light in the encompassing blackness.

After school today, I came to Musala and invited Leah to go on a walk in the crisp air as the sky was darkening towards dusky blue, and the mountains were rimmed with pale pink and yellow. She has been working hard, like many second years, as they go through exams and turn in their final college applications and financial aid. Still at the beginning of second semester I am beginning to feel the urge, slight oppressiveness, but enthusiastic anticipation of the work that needs to be done in the next twelve months, then I too will be almost finished, just reviewing all the concepts and knowledge (what is knowledge Mr. Regan would ask) that I am learning now. We walked along Musala Street, then onto the cobblestones of old town, our feet directing us towards the Bridge.

At first we were talking about how this semester will progress, it seems like so much time on one hand, but on the other, it will pass by lightning. She said that when she was a first year she could not imagine UWCiM without her second years, and I agree the friendships and relationships that I have with my second years. Especially Leah, Nicolai, Srdjan, Isabelle, Mirwais, and Andy are wonderful; I really treasure them, the memories that we have and are making, and the impact that they have on my life. Though next Leah offered encouragement and told me that this has been even more amazing than last year, even though I cannot imagine it right now. She told me about a journal entry she wrote last year when they found out they would have three first year girls, she said that she really wanted a girl who she could bond with and be close to, that she would be able to support all of us, and that somebody would come who was a Christian as well as fun-loving. Then, she said that I was the answer to that request. I feel very honored, and I am so glad that she is my friend, my sister, my second year, a wonderful hug, a good laugh, and so many other things. When we just got back from our walk Yuly looked at us dressed up warmly in hats and scarves and laughed and said, “You guys are such sisters,” and then broke out into an Israeli song about sisters.

While standing on the old bridge Leah told me about one of the teachers last year, who told them to deeply explore the extent of their metaphors. It made me think about the river as life, and how it is always flowing, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, each at the right time. Right now I think that I am in a phase of more contemplation and thoughtfulness. Leah reminded me of something that I said to her near the beginning, I said that during the summer I am really social and enjoy being around a lot of people, and although that does not drastically change in the winter, subconsciously I tend to enjoy my quiet times, steaming cups of tea, and time with the people who are closest to my heart. Even without knowing it, that is the pattern that I am in right now. She reminded me of the saying, “water under the bridge.”

From the old bridge we wandered towards the bookstore, but it was closed, so for a moment we stopped and looked out over the crooked river and the small bridge. And then headed back the way that we originally came, but turned up some back alley stairs instead of continuing towards Musala. At the top of the stairs across a narrow road we continued to head up another set of derelict stairs and crossed the largest road through Mostar. On the other side stood a gated off road that rose fairly steeply upwards and curved. The sign in front showed an Ornate Orthodox Church, and from our knowledge of local Leah and I gathered that it was in the process of being built on the site of the old monastery. There was a hole under the fence, we looked at it, looked at each other, and decided to go for it.

We walked up the road, and the night became darker as we left the light of the road, it was a transition between two different parts of this world, the modernized system of transport and communication, and an antique symbol of religion, reverence, and respect. We sat and watched the lights of Mostar, listened to the ringing of the bells from the church, silence and darkness enveloping us in a sense of peace as my mind raced with thoughts, which slowly resided. Moments of complete quiet and peace are rare and I treasure them greatly.

Enjoy the small moments in life, allow time for spontaneity to happen, if you have to do something find something good about it, being cheerful is an outlook on life.

February 2^nd, 2010

Late Night Tickle Fights

2010-02-01T17:24:00.000+01:00

Random funny moment :) Last night my whole room was up relatively late studying for math tests today, as well as physics and getting ready for the week. In the middle of the night we started a huge roomie tickle / pillow fight. It was hilarious! I was laughing for such a long time! But we were really worried that Sejla, our house mom, would wake up and come down and bust us :/

Look for the little amazing moments in life, sometimes they are the best!

Robotics

2010-01-30T17:41:00.000+01:00

The last four hours, I have been building a robot. And I can still hear drills buzzing, people shouting directions, and hammers pounding from the other room. In front of me sit the motors and gear boxes that I just build. The frame is being shaped and put together as I write.

Ingrid, a fellow American student from Michigan, started a FIRST robotic team at our school in December, before break. When we returned building, designing, and programming started in full.

http://www.usfirst.org/

This is an awesome project because we are learning how to work together, how to use technical and programming skills, and five people will have the opportunity to travel to Israel for the actual competition.

The students working on this project are from UWCiM, the gymnasium, and a local technical school. Local students are all working together with us internationals to make this dream a reality - and a cool one at that.

The final robot will be about three feet by three feet, and controlled remotely through programming and a human controller. The challenge this year is like a soccer game, and robots work together on teams to see who can score the most points during the 2 minute 15 second playing time.

I am really enjoying the opportunity to physically build something with my hands, so often in school we write papers, talk about concepts and ideas, but don't create anything physically. I find a lot of personal satisfaction from building things, putting together motors, and trying to figure out how a robot can kick a soccer ball.

For project week, which is coming up in early March, I hope to find a project to make something physical as well, or make a concrete difference instead of superficially investigating something. An ultimate project would be similar to the work that I did in La Purisima Mexico two summers ago - building houses, soccer fields, or community development. If you have any ideas or opportunities you are more than welcome to pass them along!

That's all for now folks!

Suplemental Blog

2010-01-28T18:42:00.002+01:00

I'm not going to switch blogs, but I started a new blog to post pictures etc on, because wordpress offers more options for posting.
The web address is

http://hilaryjohnson.wordpress.com

Enjoy the photos from the winter weather we have been experiencing recently!
I will post the link, whenever I post on it so you still only have to check this primary one :)

Ingredients

2010-01-28T17:25:00.001+01:00

Ingredients in a documentary film produced in Portland, which explores the impact of eating quality foods grown with care locally verses mass production which is detrimental to the health of our society, physically, and they would argue economically.

Here is a short exerpt:

The local food movement takes root.

American food is in a state of crisis. Health, food costs and our environment are all in jeopardy. A movement to put good food back on the table is emerging. What began 30 years ago with chefs demanding better flavor, has inspired consumers to
seek relationships with nearby farmers.

This is local food.

http://www.ingredientsfilm.com/

Take it into consideration :)

Where I've Come From

2010-01-27T09:37:00.000+01:00

"For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City."
- Chris Tomlin

Mostar is always changing, fluctuating, and shivering with development.
Each day my eyes blink with surprise at the unexpected things which happen here.

This morning, I sat up at six o'clock in the morning and looked out to see snow blowing sideways,
and swirling everywhere, like a crazy tarantella. As I gaze out now, the first footprints have already been completely covered. I will be making my own path soon.

When I arrived home late last night, I found a book lying open on my bed with a note from Leah, "Something to reflect on this evening."

The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost

1874-1963

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bend in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that, the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

The road on which we travel makes all the difference. Coming to Mostar, to UWCiM, is the road less traveled by, but it is making all the difference in my own life.

There are two primary ways, it has opened countless new horizons and opportunities to explore and pursue and by challenging me academically, personally, spiritually, creatively, and through time management, and stepping up for leadership I have grown, and become more of myself. Right now I am in the middle of this journey, and the growth is intensely centered, but I am at peace within the craziness of life here, and wake up enthusiastic for each new day.

I am very privileged to be here, and I would like to thank the people who ultimately make it possible: my parents. Mom and Dad, thank you so much. I want to let the whole world know how much you mean to me as the human beings whom I hold closest. Without your support emotionally and financially I could not be doing all the incredible things that I am doing here. I hope to make both of you proud. I love you.

Word of the Day

2010-01-21T15:49:00.002+01:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consociationalism

Consocialtionalism

Shaked and I finalized the plans for our Educational Reform Conference today. We are finishing up the schedule and writing the invitation letter. Then we just had a really interesting conversation about Palestine.

Contact Note

2010-01-18T11:39:00.000+01:00

If you would like to receive a notification e-mail when I update my blog please send me a message at
hilarygo24@msn.com

And I will put you on the list.

Cheers!

Time Zones

2009-12-20T10:54:00.000+01:00

Sitting in this airport dealing with so many time zones it confusing here it goes.

Right now it is 4:49 AM in Washington DC
   10:49 AM in Mostar, Bosnia
   11:49 AM in Egypt (Fiona)
   1:49 AM in Portland

Right now my body is telling me it is almost 11 AM, but it is way earlier here in DC and even earlier in Portland, I might be a bit discombobulated for awhile. And my watch, computer and cellphone are all on different times....
Plus I'm calculating times for Chicago, Qatar, and Mumbai...could it get even crazier? :)

Adventures in an International Airport

2009-12-20T06:54:00.000+01:00

Hey Everybody!

I'm sitting here stranded having an adventure in the Washington D.C. airport in the middle of a huge winter snowstorm. :) If I wanted snow for Christmas I sure got plenty of it!

Dane is lying in front of me on one of the baggage carousels asleep, and she is such a cute shminkus. We spent a great night with a wonderful family in Sarajevo - classic Bosnian hospitality, with kava and caj. Then in the morning they drove us to the airport, first the Dutchies for their early flight, and then Dane and I at seven to catch our connecting flight from Sarajevo to Vienna. The airport in Sarajevo was operating, but we were nervous flights would be canceled due to the snow there as well as the fog, but we made it into the air and on our way to Austria safely and on time. Thank goodness! It was beautiful seeing all the mountains from above with snow covered peaks.

I started reading my first book of the trip, "The Bridge Over the Dhrina" and after living in BiH it gives a very interesting, more ancient, historical perspective to the conflicts and divisions within the Balkans. The author Ivo Andrić won a nobel prize in literature for this book. Just in case you wanted to know ;) Anyways, it was a 10 hour flight from Vienna to Washington D.C. and it went well until we got to the Eastern seaboard where it is currently a raging snowstorm, which is dumping maybe a foot or two of fresh powder snow all over the city. I sat next to a really interesting guy who is building the new US embassy in Sarajevo. He told me lots of stories of his travels around the world first with the navy, and now as a private government contractor. Besides a lot of experience traveling all over the world, he told me a lot about the fraud and waste involved in government projects that are not properly managed. This starts a complete conversation about governments, corruption, and then of course the next question - how can we solve it? The same principles apply to any project, if it is well organized and managed a project is more bound to be successful than one that is thrown together, especially if each person knows what they should do, and what is expected of them. This applys to UWCs, to NGOs, to governments, to everything. One lesson that I am debating in my head is what Barbara told me right before I left for Kosova, "Don't be a candle that burns at both ends." What is the tipping point between excelling and doing a lot of things and doing too much! It is easy to want to do more than is possible at UWCiM because there is so much potential and passion.

Back on topic, we were barely able to land in D.C. because the snow was falling thickly and the wind was blowing quite hard. The scrapers and trucks and workers couldn't keep the runways clean and the planes de-iced. I found out later that our flight was actually not supposed to leave from Vienna, but I am glad that it did - even though I am not home to Portland, I am at least back in the US and across the Atlantic Ocean. We landed, but weren't able to escape the plane for an hour, and when we finally did we had to wait for our baggage for an hour to an hour and a half. Well, when we finally got that we had a mini celebration, then went to brave the news about our flights to Oregon and Michigan. Turns out all the flights for the rest of the night were canceled and the airport was officially closed but all the people who are stranded are allowed to spend the night here. It is quite a nice environment, everybody is really friendly.

I got REALLY lucky! I have a guardian angel, because I went to reschedule my flight for as soon as possible, and originally the guy said unfortunately the soonest he could get me a flight would be on Wednesday the 23rd. I was close to losing hope, but he kept on looking and I was praying and crossing my fingers and he really wanted to help me get a flight sooner. Thank goodness he kept looking, because he somehow found me the last ticket for a flight to San Francisco at 6:45 Sunday (this) morning and then FINALLY a flight to Portland at 10 AM (but you need to take into account the time difference.) So since about 7 this evening I've been hanging out in the airport. Everybody is really friendly here, because we all a common bond - we're all trapped here trying to get planes to where we need to go. There are lots of international travelers trying to get to foreign countries. Right now its just a little past midnight, and I am sitting with a group of students studying at universities in the US, but originally from Qatar, and I also had a conversation with several guys from Mumbai who are trying to get home to the sunshine. A girl named Zainab And several young guys in the navy who don't have very much experience. Ratatoui is playing on a laptop. Christmas jazz music is playing in the background.

So many questions are running through my mind right now, as I go through this transition back home I'm really reflecting on the past five months. I'm noticing many differences between the US and Bosnia, and Europe. Things that I wasn't even conscience of before. I need to think about this a little more and then I will add it :)

Now I need to sleep myself on the carousal, pray that I can leave in the morning as well as Dane!

Love,

Hilary

I woke up this morning in Kosovo and it was snowing!

2009-12-12T08:26:00.000+01:00

Good Morning Everybody!

I'm in Kosovo right now for a two day Social Issues conference directed by the American School in Kosovo. The school is located in the capital city Prishtina - and this morning we woke up and a blanket of snow covered all the rooftops and the ground and flakes are still gently swirling down :)
   It is beautiful, and reminds me of all the Christmas feelings :) To everybody back in Portland, I hope that you are also enjoying your winter storm that blew in! I hope that it doesn't last a week, because in exactly a week from today I AM COMING HOME! At the beginning of the year Christmas seemed like an eternity and it literally feels like the time has passed in only a few days. Although I do not want to leave Mostar, and all the amazing new friends and family that I have there - I am really looking forward to coming home. Because there is no place like home for the holidays.
   The conference here is very interesting. Students from all over the Balkan region are doing research presentations on social issues in their region. Shaked and I did a project together titled, "Educational Reforms in Post-Conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina." We had a successful presentation yesterday, even though there were minor technical difficulties with power stopping several times. The educational system in BiH is a central topic of discussion, especially at UWCiM because it is very segregated and georaphically separated between the three ethnic groups (Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs).
   While in the conference, I realized that these presentations are great - but what really needs to be done is to take the suggestions each of these students make to improve the situation AND PUT THEM INTO PRACTIC. Students are not too young to make a difference. So, even though plans are still in the pre-infant stage I want to organize a youth conference with students from all ethnicities to come together and discuss how the education system can be reformed. Hopefully we could cooperate with the OSCE, and there would be presentations, debates, and most of all lots of discussion - finally concluding with some sort of unified statement about what students think about Educational Reforms.
   I also learned a lot about the history and current affairs here in Kosovo. This state only gained independence from Serbia in April of 2008, but Serbia and several other countries still do not recognize its indepdence. The US has played a huge role here over the years, first when President Wilson created Albania and then secondly, and more recently when President Clinton saved Kosovo in 1999. Because of this people here I can truly say are obsessed with the US. They have a street named Bill Clinton street. They have statues of US presidents. American flags fly from flag poles. And students dream of studing in the US. The majority of people speak English and people know the current affairs and history of the US really well. The capital city Prishtina is an interesting mixture - trying to be "American" but it is also very undeveloped and run down in many ways. Kosovo is one of the poorest countries in Europe. But there is a sense of optimism running through the people here. Even though currently there are many trials, economically and political corruption, they still have a lot of hope for a better future. Now we are going on a tour of Prishtina to see the historical sights, like the Newborn sign, and Bill Clinton street and then off to another day of Presentations.
   I am here with Shaked my roomy from Israel, Isabelle my good friend from Holland, Ana Filipovic from BiH, Marko from BiH, and two teachers Mr. Raymond Lewis (Economics teacher from Wales) and Dzenan (pronounced Jennan) the history teacher from BiH.
   Last remark, Happy 17th Birthday Fiona! I wish you all the best, Hilary motto - dream big, and then turn those dreams into reality :)

Yours Always,

Hilary

The First Day of December

2009-12-01T23:51:00.000+01:00

December 1^st, 2009

First off, I cannot believe how quickly the days, weeks, and months are flying by. Even the days seem to zoom past in a second, but when I look back it seems like much more time has passed than actually has because each day is jam packed with work, school, friends, amazing conversations, projects, dreams, goals, and most of all Adventures.

This past week has been especially adventurous, because first I was in northern Bosnia and Serbia with Milica and Shaked, as I said before and now I am finishing my third day in the Open European Debate competition. I didn’t believe that I could say this, but each day here is even longer than days back at school, because there are no breaks. Most of the day we are either debating or preparing for the debate, and during the mornings and evenings we are still thinking about the motions.

Each morning I am waking up at six o’clock to arrive at school by seven, because that is when classes for my host sister Oana start. I attended German classes this morning, and ironically they were debating in class – about whether to extend the school day, because classes end a little after noon.

Each morning there have been organized activities for the debaters to do, as well as prepare for the two upcoming debates in the afternoon. This morning was a lot of fun for me, because a group of ten or so people were invited to go to a local bakery and learn how to make and bake pretzels. So, we watched the bakers operate all the fancy equipment that mix and cut the dough into equal pieces, and then we rolled and twisted the balls of dough into pretzels! Then we coated them with butter and salt crystals with another machine, and loaded them into the huge ovens to bake for only 12 minutes before they popped out hot, delicious, and golden brown. Yummy!

Yesterday morning, we attended the famous Christmas market in the center of Stuttgart. It is a beautiful place because the huge square in the center of the city is filled with booths selling gifts, ornaments, food, and a large fresh vegetable market with all sorts of oddities. I felt my Christmas spirit begin to glow, and to my dear family and friends in Portland, I cannot wait to decorate the Christmas tree with you, bake cookies, make gingerbread houses, spend time with family, go adventuring, spend time relaxing with friends, eat our traditional seafood Christmas dinner, and find a special way to show my loved ones that I care. In Mostar, the Christmas spirit isn’t as evident because half of the population of Mostar is Islamic and they do not celebrate Christmas. But, still it is around the corner, there is a lot to happen in the next twenty days before I finally arrive home. And I am focusing on living in the moment, because I really do cherish each moment because I am so thankful and always curious about something new.

Then the rest of the day, until eight o’cock tonight was consumed with debating, first preparation for the debates, and then the actual debating. The two motions for today were:

THBT = This house believes that….

THBT…ferocious animals should not be kept as domestic pets. (Opposition)

THBT…profit-making dominates healthcare. (Proposition)

The great news is that all three of us, Ingrid, Marius, and I learned from our mistakes yesterday, and really improved our speeches for today. And we won BOTH debates!

Once again, tomorrow we have two more debates, the first one is an impromptu debate, so we receive the motion one hour before to prepare, and the second motion is THBT people are too quick to applaud Obama. So tonight I need to collect all the information together and write the outline of the debate.

Basic format, for each team there are three speakers, each speech is eight minutes, and then the 4^th speech is a reply speech of only four minutes. My forte is the third speech because it provides the majority of the rebuttal – and I get to be fiery and passionate and prove that opposition points are completely wrong. Dad, I completely attribute my great debate skills to you. Our debates throughout my life made me prepared for even the hardest most experienced opponents. You would do very well, of this I have no doubt.

This evening, after returning home I ate a delicious Romanian meal prepared by my house mom. Then with Oana’s German speaking skills we called my distant relative Dieter (my Grandpa’s 1^st cousin?) who lives in Stuttgart, to say hello and see if he wanted to meet. It worked out very well, and he is planning to come to my host families home tomorrow evening after I am done debating! I really hope that it goes well, I’m very excited to meet him. Also, I hope to get in contact with my Grandmother’s best childhood friend, who also lives here.

So, big day for tomorrow – I need a little bit of rest J

Good Night and the updates will continue.

Yours,

Hilary Anna

I am thankful because….

2009-12-01T00:18:00.000+01:00

I am very blessed.

I am at a debate competition in Stuttgart right now

I have wonderful teammates, Ingrid Fiedler (USA) and Marius Kat (Netherlands)

We won our first two debates, and we learned a lot of lesson from the two that we lost.

Our preparation went well tonight, so we should have a strong base tomorrow.

Stuttgart is a beautiful city, I especially love the Christmas Market it is really bringing the holiday cheer.

I have a surprise from my roommates waiting at home, and they refuse to tell me what it is. (Torture.)

SHAKED AND I WERE SELECTED TO PRESENT OUR RESEARCH PROJECT IN A CONVERENCE IN KOSOVO on the 11^th and 12^th of December at the American School of Kosovo.

Our project is: Education Reform in Post-Conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina

I had a wonderful vacation and Thanksgiving with Milica’s family and Shaked in North-Eastern Bosnia.

I am surrounded by people that I love, and that I know love me, a deep love, not an artificial one.

Little things makes this evident.

Sometimes I don’t know how to show them how much I completely appreciate their influence and presence in my life.

WE WILL HAVE FIRST YEARS NEXT YEAR (attached is the short letter from our headmaster with confirmation)

Dear students

I am pleased to be able to inform you of the following:

Last Tuesday, after two days of extensive meetings in Sarajevo, the Executive Committee of the UWC-IBO Initiative authorized me to begin the process for the enrolment of a fifth generation of between 80 and 100 students for 2010-2012.

This is excellent news although a major funding challenge still lies ahead of us. I have already made provisional offers of 100 places to National Committees, and will be following up on this with a firm notification of our intention to them after 15 December.

Best regards

Paul Regan

And the amazing thing is that this list could on for pages, I could write for ages about what has happened in just the last five days. I arrived here yesterday but it seems like it has been a week. There are so many insights, things that I have learned, people I have met, new experiences.

I traveled here all by myself on a bus from Belgrade, Serbia – and I’m trying to communicate in so many different languages and cultures. I would never have believed everything that the Man up above had in store for me even six months ago. I didn’t know that I was accepted into UWCiM six months ago. Yesterday was the 3 month anniversary of my official life as a student at UWCiM, because on the night of the 29^th of August, 2009 was my first night staying in my dorm room. So much has happened since that night, it is a legitimate usage of the word EPIC.

Gute Nacht,

Hilary

A Day in the Life

2009-11-12T17:28:00.002+01:00

Today as I was walking back from Old Town right after school I had just finished putting up posters for the Community Care Day that I helped to organize this Saturday, I saw a boy. He was standing in front of the Mosque, he was probably seven, or eight years old, and he was singing. Actually, chanting, he was singing the verses of the Koran in the most beautiful voice that I have heard in a long time. He had mastered all the small nuances of the rhythm and I could hear him singing before I could see him all the way down Musala street. There were people gathered in clusters listening to him. He didn’t seem like he was begging, because he wasn’t holding his hands out, and he didn’t have a cup. In fact, as I walked past he boldly stared me straight in the eye, as his voice smoothly transitioned to a new verse. I was reminded as I was walking quietly through the streets of Old Town how different Mostar is from Portland. I looked up at the cross towering on the hillside. I listened to the chatter of local, which I can’t understand yet.

It is one of my major goals in the next few weeks to really work on learning local. There is a great website called www.serbianschool.com that outlines a series of lessons that really helped Andy to learn the local language. I really admire his talent for languages; he is able to have conversations in local – an invaluable skill. (As well as speaking French, English of course, and he is learning Arabic from Mustafa) Hussain, my co-year from Baghdad is also teaching me Arabic. I know how to say hello, how are you?, I’m fine, and tell people that he is my Iraqi brother. The wealth of languages here at the college and the desire of students to learn them is amazing. Ab initio classes are for beginners, and so far we have ab initio Hebrew, Russian, and Spanish – all taught by fellow students I might add. People can be seen walking to class singing a song in Hebrew or local, greeting a fellow student in Arabic, and then saying good night in Russian, Hebrew, local, and ubbi dubbi.

Leah and I were having a conversation, about a week ago, about the unfairness that most students have a language which the majority of other people don’t understand, so if they want to talk privately with their parents, or other people from their country they can. Unfortunately, Americans are at a disadvantage because we speak English as our native language (most of the time I am very thankful that English is my native language) – so that is when Leah and I decided to learn ubbi dubbi. It is a language first proposed by the tv show Zoom. Basically, you add the syllable –ub before each vowel pronounced in a word. For example to say, “Hi my name is Hilary.” I would say, “Hubi muby nubame ubis Hubilubaruby.” It is tedious to type, but after several days of practice we are becoming quite proficient. Conversations are a bit slower, and words such as ubunduberstubandubing (understanding) are tongue twisters, but we are getting better each day, and most importantly people can’t understand us! Finally, there is an “American” language J This is a tradition that will hopefully continue here at UWCiM.

Last comment before I finish reviewing for my physics test tomorrow – today was a great socc—oops Futbol game. I am still the only girl that persistently comes on Wednesdays to play with about twenty guys, but it is a lot of fun. I am gradually proving myself, today especially I played really well defensively. People are split into teams of five and play, the winner stays on the field while the next teams rotates onto the field from the bench. Whenever I do a move, or tackle a guy all the other guys on the bench whistle and clap it is pretty funny. At first I felt pretty inferior, because a lot of the guys are really good at Futbol, but with some coaching from Andy and lots of encouragement from three guys named Mustafa, Almedin, and Ivan I am improving quickly. It is a great sense of camaraderie on the field, competitive, but a ton of fun.

Within the next couple of days my two main focus’ are the Community Care Day and finishing my research project for a social awareness conference in Kosovo. Good luck to all the people who are applying to colleges right now!

That’s all for now folks!

Laku Noc from Hilary

Did I ever mention life here is really busy? :)

2009-11-04T21:47:00.000+01:00

....Well if I didn't then I will tell you now. From the minute I wake up in the morning at 7:03 a.m. until the minute my head hits the pillow and I fall asleep at midnight every single second is occupied by something. Now this might be a slight exaggeration - but it is very slight, because even if you have a minute when you are bored then you think of something else that you need to do. Saying all that, this environment is one of the most stimulating and interesting places to live, and along with never being bored there is never a dull moment. I really appreciate the initiative that the majority of students take here to be involved, and I am always impressed by all the inspirational and creative ideas - if there is a will there is a way, and if there is a problem there is a solution. Now I just need to find the time!
   The reason why I am writing this blog entry is to apologize to all the people who would like to hear more about life here in Mostar. I have come to realize that staying in touch with all of you back home is part of my responsibility about coming here, (after the fact that I just want to hear from you) because if I don't then only I benefit from these experiences, but if I share them with you I hope that in some way you can enjoy or learn from my insight into life here. All the time I think of things that I want to write and that I want to share, but things always keep interfering or I just don't make the time to sit down.
   Now is a precious moment because I am the only person in my room. It is close to a miracle, I love having three roommates, but that means that at any given time it is probable that you will find between five and fifteen people in my room, studying, talking, laughing all sorts of stuff. If you know me, you know that I love being surrounded by people, and that I love talking and listening and having great conversations etc - but when I need to sit and write a blog post it is a bit difficult to concentrate. (I escape when I have to do homework or else it would be impossible.) One lesson we all learn here from experience and survival of the fittest is how to concentrate with loud noises and conversations and who knows what else happening all around you. Some people promise they could work through a hurricane - I'm not thaaat good, but I'm getting better every day.
   So, my goal is to begin to make time at least once a week to write in my blog for all of you to read - but first I have A LOT of catching up to do. I have been here longer than three months now, as hard as it is to believe, and I haven't seen all your smiling faces for three months!
   To give you a little appetizer of what I am eventually going to write about, starting from the beginning:
   Introduction Week
   My first opinion of Mostar
   Homesickness - the Challenges and How I over came it (Dad, Mom, and Serena I love you all
   and I hope I am making you proud.)
   I want to give you a short introduction to the people who I live, work, play, and study with.
   A video tour of Mostar (currently in production, I'm still an amateur)
   Cooking in Mostar (quite difficult - but Leah and I have had some great successes)
   My CAS Activities (Creativity, Action, Service)
   Futbol (Soccer) Rugby
   Swimming in the Neretva
   Climbing to the Cross
   My first train ride to Sarajevo
   Biking to the Cross
   Legendary hiking trips with Raymond and co.
   Shaked & My Lists - "Before we Grow Up!" and "Been There, Done That"
   How much I miss drinking Milk and eating Bananas
   How I'm learning local
   Going to church
   Going to Italy! And UWC Adriatic (my first official trip all alone)
   Environmental Project
   Classes
   Community Care Day
   Recycling Program
   Halloween in Mostar
   Celebrating Chinese moon festival
   Running around Mostar
   Amazing cabbies
   Adventures with my roomies
   How proud I am of my sister (She wrote a song called the Amazing Race, it's on youtube, search
   Amazing Race, by Serena)
And the list can go on and on and on :)

So just to give you an idea of what I have to by Sunday night: (this is a little above normal)
   3 Physics Lab reports - two physics, one chemistry
   An English Essay about idealism and realism in the play A Streetcar Named Desire
   An Economic Practice Internal Assessment about Scarcity
   Kosovo Conference Research Project
   Physics Test
   Organize Community Care Day
   Work on Environmental Project STELLA model
   Read a Kite Runner
   And countless other smaller tasks...
I'll stop procrastinating now, and get to work, and once I accomplish all that my next goal is to update this blog, asap it will be moving to a new home, but I will inform you when that occurs. Next I need to write and upload pictures of Italy. Next, I need to finally answer all my facebook messages, to everybody who is frustrated with me I humbly apologize, I cannot keep track of everything all the time. And like I said there is never a dull moment.

Let the Adventure continue...

Love from Mostar,

Hilary

Florence, Italy

2009-10-24T09:41:00.000+02:00

   Good Morning from Florence, Italy! This is Shaked's and my third day on the road by ourselves :) We drove from Mostar to Zadar, Croatia on Thursday evening the 22nd of October 2009 with Leah, Isabelle, Andy, and Nicolai where we parted ways and they drove on to Venice (hopefully) and we stayed the night in a youth hostel to catch our plane to Pisa the next day. All the girls in the back learned to make friendship braclets and then we curled up and slept for some of the drive along twisting mountainous roads of Bosnia. The theme song of the car ride was "Tonight's gonna be a good night!" and oh it was amazing indeed. This is the first time that Shaked and I have both traveled by ourselves and it is epically amazing! (They told us at the hostel that we were the youngest people to stay there haha)

Preliminary disclaimer:
     For all the parents reading this, the trip is going amazing and very smoothly. We haven't had any problems or complications. We have stayed at really great hostels in Zadar and now in Florence. Don't worry! There comes a time when we need to spread our wings. Be proud of us because you have taught us so much about life and traveling and now we are finally old enough and mature enough to put everything you taught us into practice. Mom and Dad I love you!

    Friday morning we woke up at our hostel located right next to a pretty marina on the Adriatic and headed out to adventure. We caught our one and a half hour Ryanair five euro flight from Zadar to Pisa and then took a bus about an hour from Pisa to Florence. We arrived in front of the train station around five o'clock in the evening. It was pouring down rain, so our first purchase were two umbrellas which have become our fashion statements - but rain couldn't stop us from exploring! We found maps at the tourist office and started on a trek to find our hostel for the night. We showed up in front of Plus Florence and it is great, I would definitely recommend it to anybody traveling here. (We also stayed at one in Venice during the summer.) After checking in we headed out again to see the Fortezza da Basso which is a palace about five minutes walk from the hostel. There is so much more to tell...but we want to head out this morning to see the whole city - Florence in one day, is it possible? Yes we can! The iternary for the day includes the Duomo and the Uffizi and as many other places as possible!

The adventure continues...
Love,

Hilary

350

2009-10-17T01:08:00.000+02:00

UWC 350 Initiative

Meet the Students at an Integrated Bosnian High School

2009-10-16T22:52:00.000+02:00

Article from the Bosnia Daily e-newsletter.

Meet the Students at an Integrated Bosnian High School

And you thought your high school cafeteria was tough

By Nicole Itano
GlobalPost

The Mostar Gymnasium, a bustling high school of 50 students, lies at the crossroads of Bosnia’s divides. Located on a boulevard that once served as a front line between Croats and Muslims during the country’s brutal 1990s war, the brightly colored, recently renovated building stands out among its neighbors, most of which are still in ruins. But it’s not the discordant splash of peach amid the rubble that makes the school conspicuous here - it’s that inside, Croatian and Muslim students attend school together. Fourteen years after the Dayton Peace Agreement ended the war, Bosnia’s children are growing up more isolated from other ethnic groups than even their parents did. The war largely succeeded in separating the country’s three main people, Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks. But the peace cemented those divisions into law.

Touchy Subject

According to the Dayton constitution, nearly everything in Bosnia is divided along ethnic lines. The country is partitioned into two largely autonomous entities. The country has three presidents, one from each group, and a parliament in which Croats, Serbs and Muslims each have a third of seats.

Education is a touchy subject for all three of Bosnia’s peoples, each of which interprets the past through the lens of old grievances. Culture, history and even language have been imbued with the politics of difference. Officially, there are even three languages in Bosnia: Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian, although everyone can understand each other. And every parent, in this country, has the right to educate his child in his own language. "I was optimistic about the future, but as long as the schools are separate, the problems will not stop," said Branka Barac, a Serbian English teacher at the Gymnasium, herself a graduate of the school before the war, when it was named after a famous Bosnian Serb writer. In Mostar, a city still divided into Muslim and Croatian sides, the Gymnasium is the only mixed school. After the war the school - by then renamed for a Croatian priest - had only Croat students who attended lessons on a single floor of the building, then still in ruins. In 2004 it was renovated with donor money and began accepting students from both sides of the city. What Side Are You From

   But even here, the integration only goes so far: there are two separate curricula for Croatian and Muslim students. But sports, school activities and a few classes, such as technology, are combined. On the school’s third floor, the United World College high school, which shares the building, has students from all three of Bosnia’s groups drawn from around the country, as well as ones from around the world. But it is run by a private foundation - which offers its select students free tuition - and instructs students in English using the International Baccalaureate system.
   Darija Coric, a second-year Croat student, had never gone to school with Muslims before she came to the gymnasium. Now, she said, she has Muslim friends and even knows of a few relationships that cross ethnic lines. But she’s never been to a Muslim student’s house and says she doesn’t like to go out at night in the Bosniak half of the city. "I would like for Bosnia to be united and everyone to be equal, but I don’t know if that’s possible," she said. "Even when I introduce myself and say I come from Mostar, people ask what side I’m from."
   But Armin Pekusic and Voljen Gubeljic, who became friends at the school and are now finishing their last year, said their time there has made ethnicity less important. "We thought when we hung out with each other there would be problems," said Pekusic. "But we found out it was easy."

Slow Progress

   The current principal, Bakir Krpo, is a Muslim who graduated from the school when Bosnia was part of Yugoslavia. He said that during the war he was imprisoned in a camp by one of his former students, a Croat, and for a while, he despaired that Bosnians could live together again.
   "We thought, ’were we bad teachers that our students could behave this way?’ But now there are friendships, dating. They’re on the debate team together, the newspaper," he said.
   He had hoped that when the Gymnasium proved integration worked, other schools would follow. But so far, it remains the only integrated public school in the country. And politicians sometimes talk about closing it. Only time can heal Bosnia’s wounds, Krpo said.
   "In essence, I’m an optimist," he added. "But it will be very slow. I don’t think I will live to see it. Maybe my grandchildren."

Grace like Rain

2009-10-11T09:38:00.000+02:00

Raindrops are fallin’ on my head…

Da da da du-da du-da-da daaaa..

Da da du-da du-da daaaa…

I woke up this morning to the pounding pitter-patter of raindrops on the tin roof, my window was open and I could feel the cool, clean air filling my lungs. For a moment I thought that I was back in Portland, because so many mornings I would wake up to the same peaceful canon and lie in bed and think, or read, and enjoy a steaming mug of hot chocolate or tea. Mom would always come to wake me up with something soothing to drink to start the day. The thunder from the dark clouds over the cross is booming now, but the rain is abating to a light pitter-patter pitter-patter. The cars are driving through the puddles, splashing the water on wayfarers hurrying along under umbrellas.

Leah just walked into my room as I was staring out the window, we are getting ready to go to church about a fifteen minute walk away. I am finally going to use my raincoat and my boots. I have reveled in the beautiful sunny autumn weather until now, but I love the rain. And like a true Portlander I can smell it coming, and the anticipation is wonderful. This is actually the second time that it has rained since I have been here in Mostar. The first time was several weeks ago and Shaked and I woke up and ran down the stairs and out into the rain and danced until we were soaked, the water streaming down our faces, our wet hair flying as we twirled. The clouds are grumbling again.

A moment of contemplation, Portland, my first home I love you, you are dear to my heart. All the people at home you are irreplaceable. But Mostar is now my second home - a place for my UWC family.

Hallelujah, grace like rain falls down on me

Hallelujah, all my stains are washed away, washed away

United Words

2009-10-10T14:33:00.000+02:00

   This website is a link between all the UWC schools, with articles, comments, pictures, videos, and insight from students. It was created in 2007 by UWC Atlantic.
   Here in Mostar we have a links group that supports connection between all the UWCs. I firmly support this connection, the more support that we give to each other, the more ideas that we spread, the stronger our movement will become, we must live United!
   There are some exciting opportunities this year to enhance our inter-college relationships. For midterm break Isabelle, Leah, Shaked and I are traveling around several cities in Italy, and then stay in Duino for a couple of days at the UWC Adriatic with the hopes of forming connections with their college and sharing our ideas from the environmental project. Also, later this year Isabelle is hopefully setting up student exchanges with other colleges for a month.

http://interuwcmag.wordpress.com/

UWC Venezuela Article

2009-10-10T14:23:00.000+02:00

This is an article that Andy and I wrote for the UWC Venezuela student magazine concerning the environmental project that we are spearheading here at UWC Mostar.

UWCiM Environmental Project: iM Green

We are putting into action a student-lead initiative at the United World College in Mostar, aimed at reducing the environmental impact of the school. The goal of the environmental project is to increase our school’s long-term sustainability and to conserve both natural and economic resources by reducing excess energy and resource usage. Though green projects are becoming quite commonplace around the world, this is something very radical for the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is still recovering economically from the wounds of war. Therefore, up until this point, attention to and legislation concerning the environment have been almost non-existent.

Beginning with fundamental projects such as changing light bulbs, composting, and reducing waste greatly diminishes the impact of our school’s carbon footprint. Many people are unaware of the huge impact that these seemingly menial tasks can have. Therefore, our hope is to raise community awareness, in collaboration with the Ecology Group, locally as well as in the whole country of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Previously, this took place in the form of paper collections for recycling and local garbage pick-ups. We received tremendous appreciation for our work as well as many volunteers who jumped right in to help us. Now we hope to expand these projects and start new ones to continually embrace our responsibility for the stewardship of our planet.

We have both short term and long term initiatives. We are implementing many of our projects immediately; however, more drastic measures must be taken to accomplish our goal of becoming self sustainable. The best way to become completely sustainable is to fully utilize local resources, readily available in your area. In our case, we are blessed (and sometimes burdened) by exorbitantly strong winds (called the “Bura”) in this mountainous region of Herzegovina. It is our hope to employ this resource to our advantage by generating renewable wind power to support the energy needs of our school. That is to say, our goal is to create Bosnia and Herzegovina's first sanctioned wind-power generator. It is projects like this, which are daring yet attainable, that can really truly combat against environmental degradation and act as a role model for the beautiful vicinity in which our school is located.

Furthermore, this month has seen a movement throughout the UWCs to support the 350 initiative, which emphasizes the growing necessity to protect the environment and consciously reduce harmful emissions into our atmosphere. 350 is the calculated limit, in parts per million, of carbon emissions that can be released into the atmosphere before we cross the “threshold” of irreversible climate damage. This underlines the importance of projects like UWCiM's which, together with others, can protect our precious environment.

In the spirit of the UWC movement, we hope that our project will inspire other UWCs to initiate or continue their own environmental projects, and that an exchange of ideas will develop between the colleges, so that together, we can significantly reduce the harmful impact on our home.

Simply Part 1

2009-10-04T21:11:00.000+02:00

Mostar, Bosnia - six months ago I could not have located this city on a map, and now it is my second home, I don't believe that it is a coincidence that I am here, too many pieces of this crazy puzzle that we call life have fallen together in perfect order. This first month at the United World College in Mostar has come full circle. I started out in a completely new place, meeting entirely new and different people from all over the world, memorizing so many names and places back on August 28^th the first day of our official introduction week, and now I just greeted my co-year from Iraq named Hussain Aziz, who just arrived here in Mostar from Baghdad several hours ago. First, I came here with no idea what to expect, and now I am introducing another individual to life here in Mostar.

On one hand my time here thus far seems like the blink of an eye, but on the other looking back so much has happened that it is incredible that it has been squeezed into the space of only a little more than a month.

Before I begin to relate all the amazing adventures, struggles, challenges, and new friendships, I am going to tell you a little bit about our specialized vocabulary here at UWCiM. Since there is such an assortment of languages, we start to use a little bit of everything. (Unfortunately, my English vocabulary and writing skills are decreasing, because the majority of people here do not speak English fluently, so their vocabulary is limited, but everybody is learning)

UWCiM Dictionary

UWCiM – United World College in Mostar

1^st year (firsty) – students who are in their first year of the college

2^nd year – students who are in their second year of the college

Note: If somebody refers specifically to “their” first or second year, it means from their own country. My second years are Andy Hemphill and Leah Reynolds from the US.

Co-year – somebody who is the same grade as you

Note: My co-years from the US are two girls named Ingrid Fiedler and Dane Jones.

Local – the language that we speak within the college. Here in Bosnia and Herzegovina there are technically three national languages, Bosnian, Serbian, and Croatian but they are the same except for a few exceptions. We refer to it as local to avoid bias for one language. Holding on to the minor differences between their languages is one example of the divisions that still exist between the ethnic groups here even so many years after the war.

Musala – one of the two college residences (my home) It is located next to Musala square, only two blocks away from the Neretva River on the East Bosniak side of Mostar. It is approximately a seven-minute walk from school, which is very convenient with so many different activities happening at all hours of the day. In addition, it is about a ten-minute walk to Old Town. About half of the students live here, in a three-story building.

Susac – the other college residence (with the blue roof, which is visible from almost every high point in Mostar) A long walk from school and from Musala, almost 25 minutes, but it has a great atmosphere. Also a great destination for runs in the evening. (On average, it takes about 11 minutes to run there, 30 minutes of socializing, then 10 minutes to run home before you are late for curfew)

Curfew - During the week, all students have to be in their rooms by 11 o’clock, on the weekends people over 18 can stay out until midnight.

Canteen – we have three canteens, one in each of the residences, and one at school, where we eat our meals and general centers of social life. In Musala, especially people are always in the canteen cooking, eating, talking, playing music, chess, or studying.

Spanish Room – the center of college life, when the school first began four years ago all classes were held in this one room. Now that we have expanded, it is our assembly room and the main study room during the school day. It is on the third floor of the school. Everybody goes in and out of the Spanish Room at least four times per day. It is the heartbeat of academics and activities at the school.

The Library – It just opened a few weeks ago for the first time, and it is my oasis for studying and quiet solitude. It was just remodeled and it is a beautiful, but small space in the attic of the Gymnasium. Skylights let in streams of natural soothing light, and the big desks and study spaces allow me to spread out all my stuff, collect my thoughts and work hard. Nobody dares to say a word above a whisper for fear of breaking the hallowed silence in the room. The bookshelves are half-empty, but soon they will be filled. All three schools in the Gymnasia share the library, but it is still a well-kept secret because very few people take advantage of the study space.

Velic – a house converted into more classrooms and office space right across the street from the Gymnasia. All languages are taught there as well as some psychology and history classes.

Gimnazija Mostar – Officially titled the Mostar Gymnasium. This one building houses three separate schools. UWCiM on the top floor and the labs on the second floor, and two national schools, one Croatian, and one Bosniak (Muslim). Just as this country has three official languages, it also has three separate school systems – each learning according to their own individual curricula. UWCiM is the first integrated school system in all of Bosnia and Herzegovina – teaching students in Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian. The building itself was just refurbished last year by a generous grant from the Council of Europe Development Bank to restore it to prewar conditions. The building architecture is a classic example of Austro-Hungarian influence in the decades before World War I.

Neretva – the river that flows through Mostar. When the city was originally built, the river was necessary for trade in the southern region of Bosnia (back then referred to as the Ottoman empire) It also flows through Sarajevo from the snowcapped mountains to the north. Now, it provides hydroelectric power – but it is quickly becoming polluted from sewage waste. Protecting the Neretva River and its environment needs to become a priority. During the first weeks of hot weather, it was a refreshing treat to go swimming.

Croat – Hrvati are one the ethnic groups within the Balkans, and one of three constituent peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They speak Croatian and are primarily Roman Catholic. The western side of the Neretva River is known as the Croatian side. (The school is located on the front line of the fighting during the war. Susac is also on the Croatian side.)

Serb – are another of the ethnic majorities within the Balkans. They are traditionally Orthodox Christian, speak Serbian, and write principally in Cyrillic. They are not a majority in Herzegovina in southern Bosnia, but are a majority in the Republica Srpska in northern Bosnia near the Serbian border.

Bosniaks – are the third primary ethnic group in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They are characterized by their connection to Bosnia historically and their Islamic faith. Bosniaks live primarily on the eastern side of the Neretva river, where Mosques are abundant. Musala is also located on this side. The differences between the two sides of the river are subtle until you become aware, and then they are startlingly obvious.

Bosnian – refers to the overall national identity of all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina. When people formally introduce themselves, they first say their ethnicity (Croat, Serb, or Bosniak) and then say that they are Bosnian.

Roma – The Roma people are known in the US as gypsies. They live throughout most of Eastern Europe as primarily nomadic people, moving from camp to camp depending on the seasons and resources. In Bosnia and Herzegovina many Roma are treated very badly, because during the war many of their identification papers and proofs of citizenship were destroyed, so they are denied many of the basic rights that are available to citizens, such as education, housing, financial aid, healthcare, and jobs. Throughout the city, mostly around Old Town, some of them beg tourists and the people of Mostar for money.

IB – International Baccalaureate, the curricula that all UWC schools follow. www.ibo.org for more information J

CAS – Creativity, Action, Service – part of the IB diploma requires all students to do at least one activity in each of these categories and log a certain number of hours over the two years. I am doing as many CAS activities as possible; if it were possible, I would really enjoy doing all of them. There is not a single activity not worth doing. My core CAS activities are creativity: Model United Nations, MUN, action: Futbol, service: ecology group.

House Mom – Her name is Sheila and she takes care of our residence. She is strict and does not understand very much English – but we are all alive so far ;)

Head Teacher – Mr. Paul Regan is the head teacher of UWCiM. His role is similar to a principal, and he makes all executive decisions about the college. He is a very distinguished and intelligent man, who is very supportive of us as students and truly wants to keep building our college.

Boom! Roasted! – a phrase used when somebody gets majorly burned

BiH – Bosnia and Herzegovina

Roomies – roommates, mine are the best in the entire world (Shaked from Israel, Milica from BiH, and Maida also from BiH)

University vs. College – here University refers to that period of school after high school, College is the equivalent of high school

Futbol – soccer, as you probably know Futbol is a huge deal in Europe, and especially here in BiH and even more so in Mostar. In Mostar we have two teams, Zrinjski and Veles, and the two support groups are the Ultras and the Red Army. Zrinjski is the Croatian team from the West side (and they were league champions last year.) Veles is from the East Bosniak side. Tonight they had a match against each other and it is considered dangerous to go near the stadium because fighting regularly breaks out, and there are swat teams on the streets. People here take their Futbol seriously! (Don’t worry it sounds more dangerous than it actually is.)

Celsius, Kilograms, Liters, Meters (cm, km) – all the units that I need to use here, because nobody knows about Fahrenheit, pounds, gallons, and miles

CIA World Factbook: Bosnia and Herzegovina

2009-10-03T14:45:00.001+02:00

If you are interested about Bosnia and Herzegovina check out this website with very informative explanations and statistics.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bk.html

Mighty Mighty Mostar

2009-10-03T14:37:00.000+02:00

Every where we go, (Every where we go)
People stop and ask us (People stop and ask us)
Who we are (Who we are)
And where do we come from (And where do we come from)
So we tell them (So we tell them)
UWC in Mostar (UWC in Mostar)
Mighty Mighty Mostar (Mighty Mighty Mostar)

Contact Information

2009-08-25T10:23:00.000+02:00

Hilary Johnson
United World College in Mostar
Spanski Trg 1
Mostar 88000
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Introduction

2009-08-25T10:21:00.000+02:00

Hello! Or as is commonly heard around here, Dober Dan!

I am now in my third week of traveling around Eastern Europe with my family, and it has been a whirlwind trip. We have visited nine different countries: Holland (our flight connected there), Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Croatia, and today we are finally headed to my final destination Bosnia. The cities that we have visited include: Munich, Regensburg, Prague, Ceske Krumlov, Vienna, Budapest, Ljubljana, Venice, Split, Dubrovnik, Sarajevo, and finally soon to come Mostar. To say the least this trip is incredible - before this I had never left North America, and suddenly I have been thrown into living history here in Europe. I will include much more detailed stories of all the adventures!
By the end of this week I will arrive at my school the United World College in Bosnia and Herzegovina located in Mostar. Quite a few people have no idea where Bosnia is located, (and some have even confused it with Botswana) So this is where it is:

   And this is Mostar. As soon as I arrive I will include lots of photos of the actual town and my school. :)
   The United World Colleges program is a worldwide international initiative, whose mission states that "UWC makes education a force to unite people, nations, and cultures for peace and a sustainable future." UWC encompasses twelve colleges on five continents, all teaching the IB (International Baccalaureate) Diploma. If you want to know more about this awesome program the website is www.uwc.org. And this next link leads to a description of my school in Mostar. Click on Me! :) For everybody at home in Portland, I don't feel like I told you enough about what I would actually be doing in Bosnia - and honestly I didn't know that much myself, so I hope that these descriptions give you more of an idea :)
   Ahh, there is so much to say, and so little time. I just want to say that I am very lucky and feel very blessed to count so many people as close friends, whom I can trust and who make life absolutely amazing. A part of me is made of all of you. No words can express how much you mean to me, if there is anything that you need always feel free to ask me, I will do anything that I can to help. And please write or skype me! To all the people in Mostar that I am going to meet, I am incredibly excited - this is going to be a once in a lifetime adventure that we will share together :) Many prayers and may you be blessed.

Love,

Hilary