Here is a fun little game... leave a comment on my blog of a memory that you and I have had together. It doesn't matter if you've known me for a short time or a long time, anything that you remember! Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It is pretty funny to read the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you are playing and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.
Read more...Donnerstag, July 3, 2008
Thursday
On Thursday, we decided to take a walking tour to Potsdam. This was a city that is outside of downtown Berlin, that has a lot of history: from Prussian Palaces to the setting for the Potsdam Conference, where Allied Powers decided what to do with Germany after World War II. The town also has an old KGB Prison, in the Forbidden Village - where NO ONE but the SOVIETS were allowed access for over 50 years.
The tour was really cool, but it was very long and very, very hot. Although it was weird to think about it being hot, AND say it was only 30 degrees.. Celsius. We were all dripping - it was gross. We had a break for lunch in Potsdam. We didn't know where to go but when we saw the word "Cheeseburger" and huge 1.0 Liter bottled drinks, we got excited. It was a Turkish Cafe. We ordered 2 hamburgers (they didn't have cheese), and bought a humongous drink for each of us. Yay.
When we got our hamburgers, I realized that the bottom bun was very hard. But I really thought that maybe Germans liked their bread that way? How was I to know? So I just ate it; we had walked for forever and ever and ever so it was good to just sit down and eat, and drink something. One of the workers, however, must have noticed that it was hard to bite and asked more than once if the food was good. I kept saying that Yes, yes it was good.. And explaining that I was just exhausted. They didn't buy it. Finally, he came over and took my hamburger out of my hand, and took my plate away. He noticed how hard the bottom bun was, even knocked on it, and showed everyone that I had lied about it. He said to Ashley, "she very big liar." He wanted to fix me something else. I wasn't sure what to say. He had me try some of the chicken Döner they had, and fixed me some of that. It was huge. We now had spent almost all of our break time and had to leave. We got our hamburgers for free, and only had to pay for the Döner, and the drinks. Maybe it's good for a budget to always act kind of dumb.
Me, with my Döner chicken and gynormous Coke.
Sanssouci Palace, means "without a care" in French
Brandenburg Gate
View of Berlin, from the top of the Reichstag
Me & Ash, in front of the Berliner Dom
Nefertiti!I have a new blog.. where I am going to be posting my Genealogy Research, and some old photos that I have, etc. Check it out at itsallrelativehere.blogspot.com. I also continuously update my photo blog found at nicoles-fancy-photos.blogspot.com. Thanks for reading!
Also, I found this quote and thought it was kind of funny.
Where is the path to Grown-Up Land? How do I get there? Or will I just get old, not understanding that I'm no longer young? ~ Tish GrierRead more...
JEFF
A well-composed book is a magic carpet on which we are wafted to a world that we cannot enter in any other way~ Caroline Gordon
The Host, by Stephenie MeyerSo of course after I write a blog about that Teller position it is gone.. I could work there part time, but then I'd have to find something else to supplement my income, and that might be harder than I want it to be. I don't know. But if I took the part time job, I might be able to do the volunteering and stuff I would want to do, instead of working full time Mon-Fri, and then taking my class on Saturdays. With the part time job I'd be able to take my class during the week.
What to do .. What to do .. ANY IDEAS?
As I was trying to find a job today.. I was playing around on the internet and came across an awesome website.: http://www.soles4souls.org/. Everyone should check it out. It is awesome. Their goal on their website says just this, "Soles4Souls has a simple mission: To impact as many lives as possible with the gift of shoes." I think that is really really neat. You can donate your shoes at many of the locations they have around the country. I found like 7 in my area. Or you can send shoes to their warehouse locations, either way you get a tax-refundable receipt, and somewhere a man, woman or child that did not have a way to get shoes before now gets a pair of shoes! You can also just buy them on the website, donate and you just choose between either flip flops or clogs, and the company takes care of the rest for you.
I know so many people that have 50 pairs of shoes or more, how about helping someone get just one pair?
I am still looking for a job. I need one. But it's almost like I cannot decide on what kind of job I would like to have. Well, I know what kind of job would be perfect, however I do not think it exists. These would be qualifications for a super awesome job:
No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.
There can be no global justice unless the worst of crimes -- crimes against humanity -- are subject to the Law. In this age more than ever we recognize that the crime of genocide against one people truly is an assault on us all - a crime against humanity. The establishment of an International Criminal Court will ensure that humanity's response will be swift and will be just.Kofi Annan
Okay, so the other day, when the Sudanese President al-Bashir was indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), I started to do more research on what exactly the ICC is. I am a firm believer in International Organizations, this world is too complicated and technologically "small" for big democratic nations to not join in with the International Organizations, such as the United Nations, NATO and the International Criminal Court. It makes me think of "no man is an island", well, in effect no country should be either. Well, apparently Mr. Bush seems to think the United States should be..
Now at last, thanks to the hard work of the States that participated in the United Nations Conference over the last five weeks - and indeed for many more months before that - we shall have a permanent court to judge the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole: genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.This meeting in Rome, is now known as the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.Kofi Annan
The United States is today signing the 1998 Rome Treaty on the International Criminal Court. In taking this action, we join more than 130 other countries that have signed by the December 31, 2000 deadline established in the treaty. We do so to reaffirm our strong support for international accountability and for bringing to justice perpetrators of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. We do so as well because we wish to remain engaged in making the I.C.C. an instrument of impartial and effective justice in the years to come.However, after the Bush Administration entered office, on May 6, 2002 President Bush nullified President Clinton's signature. The Rome Statute was to go in effect on July 1, 2002. His claim was that the ICC "may initiate politically-motivated prosecutions against US nationals."
President Bill Clinton
As the United States works to bring peace around the whole world, our diplomats and our soldiers could be dragged into this court," Bush said. "And that's very troubling to me. We'll try to work out the impasse at the United Nations but one thing we're not going to do is sign on to the International Criminal Court.I understand that he says he wants to protect our soldiers and diplomats. But if we're not doing anything wrong.. Why would we have anything to hide? It's not like the ICC can just bring up false charges. It has rules, and regulations, just like any other court in a government body.President George W Bush
Human Rights Watch, a popular organization that does just that, watches out and tries to ensure human rights around the world, had said this when it was "unsigned."
Unsigning the treaty will throw the United States into opposition against the most important new institution for enforcing human rights in 50 yearsKenneth RothHuman Rights Watch
Sentebale: "forget me not"
Prince Harry is awesome. He has founded a charity called Sentebale. As if serving his country in the Royal Army was not enough. It looks like he has inherited his mother's need to serve, and I love him for it. Sentebale literally means "forget me not", and Prince Harry & Lesotho's Prince Seeiso are trying to do just that. They are trying to help the children of Lesotho, those that have been abandoned, abused or orphaned by tragedy. Usually related to HIV/AIDS.
Prince Harry described it this way: "Sentebale means 'forget me not'. We chose the name as a memorial to the charity work of our own mothers, as well as a reminder to us all not to forget Lesotho or its children."
I mean, everyone loves William.. "Wils" this.. "Wils" that.. but, King Harry has my Vote.
President Omar al-Bashir is finally going to have to take responsibility for his awful actions and be punished for the evil that he has done. At least I hope. I hope that he will be in trouble, that he will be held responsible and will be shown to the world for the awful man that he is. I just hope that something like this doesn't spar more violence in Darfur.. because, frankly, it has taken 6 years for the world to notice the killing and torture that has been happening; and, if a backlash was to occur, I think any reaction would devastatingly be way too late.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. officials and diplomats said the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court will seek an arrest warrant Monday charging Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir with crimes against humanity and genocide in Darfur. (from the Associated Press article, click here).Omar al-Bashir deserves everything he gets. However, the worst part of it all is that it might not end with al-Bashir. He has followers, his goons.. and they may continue the hell that Mr. al-Bashir has inflicted on his very own people. I don't understand why it has taken so long for something to be done, the International Criminal Court is finally recognizing that war crimes have occurred, and that al-Bashir MUST be punished. The worst part is the world has seen things like this happen before, and if we do not stop them, and show the world and the evil men like Omar al-Bashir that the things he is doing ARE NOT OKAY, it will just keep happening. Someone needs to stand up for those people. For those children.
Paul RusesbaginaWhat is happening in Darfur is exactly what happened in my home country of Rwanda, which was left to choke on its own blood from April to July of 1994.
The United Nations took virtually no action during the genocide. A detachment of well-equipped peacekeepers, made up of less than one-twentieth of the American troops now stationed in Iraq, could have easily stopped the killings without risk and sent the powerful message that the world would no longer tolerate mass murders of civilians, a real expression of the phrase "Never Again." But this simple act was deemed, then and now, to be somehow beyond the power of the United Nations, the United States, NATO, the European community and everybody else with the real power to stop another holocaust.
There are now about 7,000 soldiers from the African Union stationed in Sudan, which is mostly an exercise in public relations. They lack helicopters, jeeps and firepower. More importantly, they lack a sense of purpose. There are no clear rules of engagement and many of the soldiers appear more interested in collecting their per diem payments than inserting themselves between the government-backed Janjaweed militia and their victims in the farming villages. The African Union recently said it will stay into September, and a handover to the United Nations may take place at that point. By that time, the genocide will have lasted for three years with a likely half-million dead, or more.
To be sure, part of the debate involves the fear of an Iraqi-style campaign of insurgence against any humanitarian or peacekeeping force deemed "too Western" by the Sudanese government and the Janjaweed thugs. But we should not let ourselves be cowed by these threats. Will we allow murderers to intimidate us away from doing the right thing and saving lives?
Historically, I am sorry to say, the answer has been "yes." When modern genocide has loomed, the United Nations has shown more concern for not.
Germany did not work out. I am now home. Which is why my blog address has changed. I had an awesome time in Berlin, and so I will be posting those pictures in a few days. It was really neat to go somewhere where there is so much history, ancient history, up to imperial history.. and on to fairly modern history with the Berlin Mauer (the wall). I really enjoyed it.
I basically had the exact opposite experience in Southern Germany, and felt like I was going to die. So that was not quite as fun. I did get to see some of that area though, traveling by train, and it was beautiful. Too bad my host family was not. I will have to go back someday and see all of the castles, but for now, I am home. And I don't know if I have ever been so happy to be in Utah.
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