Zu Hören von Judith Brandner

Es freut mich sehr, wieder einmal eine Ankündigung von Judith zum Weiterleiten – vor allem Gratulation! Ich freue mich schon sehr, dich im Newton zu sehen.

 

Liebe FreundInnen, Japanfans und/oder am Nuklearen Interessierte!

Im September werden auf Ö1 zwei Radiosendungen ausgestrahlt, die Euer/Ihr Gehör finden sollten. Das sind voraussichtlich meine letzten Sendungen für Ö1, denn ich wechsle im September in die TV – Wissenschaftsabteilung/Sendung Newton.

Viel Spaß bzw. Spannung beim Zuhören!

Judith

 

Radiokolleg/Musikviertelstunde
Am Fudjiyama blüht kein Edelweiß … Das Japanbild in der westlichen Unterhaltungsmusik.
4. bis 7. September 2017, jeweils ab 09 Uhr 45 bzw. ca. 22 Uhr 40

(auf Basis der Recherchen von Prof. Sepp Linhart)

Hörbilder. Das Radiofeature
Bis in alle Ewigkeit. Die Suche nach einem Endlager für Atommüll
16. September 2017, 09:05 Uhr

 

Judith Brandner

Journalistin ö1; Publizistin

Austrian Broadcasting Corporation Vienna/Radio

www.judithbrandner.at

ユーデイット　ブランドナー

ラジオ　ジャーナリスト。作家。

www.judithbrandner.at/welcome-japan

LINKS

Mehr von Judith Brandner auf Kulturimpuls

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Russische Impressionen – Thal und Bärnbach

Thal und Bärnbach

Teil 4 – Eine ungewöhnliche Geschichte

Russische Impressionen aus der Steiermark von Sveta und Nastya:
Jeder ihrer Beiträge ist eine Hommage an die Steiermark aus der Sicht einer mit allen Sinnen erfassenden Russin.

Thal und Bärnbach [Russian]

Original English Translation by Nastya

Report on trip to Austria, part 2

7-th day. The Church Ernst Fuchs
The Church Of Hundertwasser
Glass manufactory in Burbage.
By the way, this tank is in the center moved in my collection of vases.
The Eggenberg Palace.

I’m planning a separate posts about all the above.
The weather that day was disgusting. The temperature dropped, the rain periodically began to pour in buckets. I tried on the way to remove fields with pumpkins, – Styria is famous for the production of pumpkin oil, pumpkin grow here everywhere, and the fields look very cheerful – but the rain muddied glass. And nothing but a light orange stain outside the window of the car, did not work.

Traudl very tired that day. Winding road, lots of tunnels, heavy rain. Of the morning news the next day revealed that in some places in Styria, even the snow fell, and the roads there were many accidents, including and with sad outcomes.
Therefore, the following,
8-day was a day of rest. We did not travel outside of Mürzzuschlag. We just walked around the town, visited the Museum of Brahms, ran to the shops. In the evening we received a gift from Traudl on the excellent bottle of pumpkin seed oil!

9-th day. In the morning we said goodbye to the nice Mürzzuschlag and sailed back to Vienna, where the first thing rushed to KHM to watch Brueghel.
Well, of course, not only Brueghel. A lot of things, and other interesting. After KHM, I fulfilled a mother’s duty and led my child to the Technical Museum.

I was found very interesting:
Once, in a past life, the subject of my dissertation included the prosthetics of the lower extremities. There were many interesting things on this topic in the Museum

We took to the Museum’s closing time and, frankly, not enough…

Nastya, instead of the Museum, went to Albertina. In her heart, knocked “the ashes of Klaas» the hare of Durer.
She saw the hare and the impressionists, and was perfectly happy. In this good mood she went to visit Tanya, where they watched a film about the theme of the Impressionists.
Stas and I went in search of Gazometro, and 20 hours had Daytona the Museum of sounds ( House music). On the advice of Traudl got off at the station and drove to the station on. But gone, apparently, in the wrong direction, went long and circles ))).

On the road:

The long-awaited gasometry..
So, gasometry we won!
It’s time to the Museum sounds. In the subway we got off at the right stop, and then we could not navigate. “House music?, – happily asked the tourist-Spanish – follow for us!” And we boys ran after the Spaniards. This house fled to a crowd!)
and the house was not the same…To “our” house we came at 8 PM and 15 minutes later. And time for the examination of a large heap of interactive exhibits seemed to us too little.

10th, the last day. Stas was in a deep sleep, Nastya and I went to the flea market, which operates exclusively on Saturdays ( the other days they sell food and stuff). The Vienna market called the Naschmarkt. In someone else’s story I read that a very appropriate name, because this “Markt” clearly “ours.” Fully confirm, – the number of Russian merchants “was through the roof» ). The market is located a pair of kilometers in length.

Nastya said it’s no good idea without a purpose to wander around the market, it is necessary to determine their desires. I wanted a little vase, a little doll and something for my soul ))). Nastya – wanted to find vintage jewelry and one definite book. From the market she left a few sad, because nothing found. However, she did not know which moral compensation is waiting for her in the evening. My program was 100% complete. Now I am the happy owner of three subjects about which I know nothing, but they like me by the way, if among you there are experts and will tell anything. Unlikely, of course, but suddenly…

So it will be placed. The vase ))) Rather, a bottle of perfume. Judging by the picture, refers to the modern era. Similar analogues in the Internet is not
found. But they found exactly the same cover, which, oddly enough, do not refer to modernism and to him the preceding Victorian era. I admit that the cap may not be native. Although the size is suitable. Best of all, from the cap and from the bottle, still exudes a slightly noticeable subtle perfume “Bouquet de Nice” ) now Dolly.

Originally wanted another. But that was sold only in pair with the boy in national costume. Not mine… I sighed, rummaged in the box and pulled out the tucked under the larger and more prominent of the beauties of this one:
She got me hooked. Probably a bow ))) Doll celluloid, sold as pre-war. I am not an expert, so I asked about its origin in the community on Facebook. Replied that the products of the factory “Minerva”. Maybe post-war, and maybe pre-war ))) And then my post deleted. Mess ))) Because a bunch of questions I was left with ) the information found in this factory: closed in 1955, the mark besides the word Germany starting from 1933 there was an inscription of Minerva. From what I have it isn’t there, a doll made earlier in 1933. I am silent, I see her all the same style ))) But there was a bunch of “but”: all the little dolls Minerva, whose photos have found have molded hair, my doll had real hair. And a stamp in the upper right part of the same (like a helmet), but all that’s left under this hat, unlike. However, in that Minerva joined a few other, smaller factories. Possible that done on one of them. But with a year to decide and failed. I want to determine at least a decade )))And the third thing ) Which for the soul ))) I don’t even know what it is ) as condition things is bad. But I fell in love with her at first sight ))) My little hands reached out to her, unable to break away ) the Salesman said that this Bedemier. Somehow trusted him right away ).

At first I thought it was a handbag. And in form it resembles, and flanked by two decent holes, as if a pen from her threw up. But after scrolling through books on fashion history, I started to doubt. All handbags of this period in the books of cloth knitted or made of a metal mesh, and leather that is not visible in the book. Maybe it’s not the bag, and some road four wheel accessory? I asked the expert on the history of costume. She said she’ll think about it. But it is silent, she is silent as the guerrilla on interrogation. Already I do not expect an answer.Well, okay, it’s time for us to leave the “flea market” ))) and return to the apartment to pick up my son ))). Secession was on the way.And anyway, this whole quarter of solid art Nuovo. Art Nouveau, as they call it here.
All together with Stas go to the House of the Sea. Price hoo! Well, there are some interesting… Although the St. Petersburg aquarium is much better. And the price is lower. Nastya it was not yet, because the House of the sea her unconditionally love.

What is good in the House of the sea is the viewing platform.In Schönbrunn with its palace, zoo and other delights son refused to go, early in the morning by choosing a replacement – the House of the sea. “No luck in cards, lucky in love…”, I mean so lucky in the morning on “the flea” because it is foolish to think that the rest of the day will also carry. Really, the second Museum today son chose MUMOK (Museum of modern art). Well, I did not like…

By seven PM we were home. Packed up for departure, waited, Traudl, which, like a the good kind fairy, came to us with gifts. And, most surprisingly, Nastya received the gift of the book with watercolor paintings, a book which dreamed! With a bottle of sunny spanish “Rioja”, Traudl told us absolutely incredible story of finding this book. So, miracles do happen and dreams come true. Especially when the good wizards try your hand )))
And wait for stories about the individual, only indicated here, landmarks )))

Russische Impressionen – More Admont

Mehr von Admont – Bibliothek, Museum und Park

Teil 3 – Eine ungewöhnliche Geschichte

Russische Impressionen aus der Steiermark von Sveta und Nastya:
Jeder ihrer Beiträge ist eine Hommage an die Steiermark aus der Sicht einer mit allen Sinnen erfassenden Russin.

Admont Bibliothek [Russian]

Original English Translation by Nastya

The monasteries have always been not only a religious place but also a place of learning. Admont fully cared about the education of local children and youth. The monastery has  three museums.

The first of them is the Museum of natural history.

Just it is a classic. It is very small. I t is just a baby compared to our Petersburg Zoological Museum. But the collection is wonderful.

Nastya really liked the shelves with minerals…

…and I with birds

The colors are most unusual.

The ladies deer are horned too )))

The monks a little joked  in this Museum. This lion roars loudly when someone is  approaching to the exhibits.

After a devastating fire in 1865  the monastery and museum was restored. The Father Gabriel Strobl (1866-1910) devoted to the museum 44 years of his life. He devoted  himself to the botany  12 years and the following 32 years – entomology. He created a collection of 252000 instances of insects. Almost everything that we now see in the Museum is the work of Strobl. What he could not himself produce in his expeditions he is exchanged or bought. Еру сcollection of Strobl it’s something!!!

In one of the rooms has 243 varieties of Styrian apples. All made of wax by his father Constantine Kepler ((1778-1864). Some varieties of the now non-existent.

In General, the Museum is very worthy.

In one of the rooms have 243 varieties of apples from Styria. It is made of wax by his father Constantine Kepler ((1778-1864). Some varieties of apples are no more. In general this museum is very worthy.

Another museum is the Kunsthistorisches Museum. It presents the exhibits from the Romanesque period to the Rococo.  It is the paintings, sculptures, textiles.

The most valuable exhibits are the embroidery made by famous master Brother Benno Haan (1631-1720).

The view from the stairs at the glass transition from floor to floor.

The third museum is the museum of Modern Art. I understand that his exposition periodically updated. Here the authors are well frolicked. I like that most of the work has humor  in contrast the works in Vienna’s MUMOK. Here is an example of the use of spoons-forks not for its intended purpose.

The elegant chandelier made of plastic bottles.

I stumbled in the hallway on the currently fashionable artist Gironcoli.

And he was also spotted in the yard.

I can’t say that his work has impressed me. I retarded person.

And the area around the monastery is also quite good. There are a lot of flowers.

I liked the floral arrangements with the bricks in the windows of the flower shop

Here I asked   Stas to take a photo of me : Useless! Either he couldn’t fit the view in the frame, or does not fit the head or all remaining  body parts!

And it is a wonderful place to explore the local pond. You can see water lilies, ducks, swans, beautiful views of the mountains and the monastery. It is a very beautiful place.

From the monastery went to the nearby castle Strechau. The castle is the second largest in Styria. Inside should be an interesting museum.

But the first time we didn’t find the way and we had to go to the track countless kilometers. In general, when we arrived, the castle gates  had been already closed.

The castle is in private ownership. And it closes at 15:00.

With the lock connected a very old legend about an unfaithful lover.

The young girl took her lover to a crusade… And promised the knight that he would remain faithful to him to the grave. But if he does not return from a crusade, she will go to the monastery. Some time passed and she forgot about her promise. She said yes matchmaking to her grandee. They arranged a big wedding. But at the wedding feast with her there was a terrible metamorphosis: her delicate features distorted by a terrible grimace. Instead of the beautiful face  the stunned guests saw the skull. The ground opened under the feet of the unhappy and the demons dragged her to the hell…

The painting by an unknown artist Burgfräulein von Strechau hangs in the museum of Admont. And we made a little picnic on a bench in front of the castle. And we went  home…”

Wishing all the best, Nastya 🍁🍃🌞

Russische Impressionen – Admont

Admont

Teil 2 – Eine ungewöhnliche Geschichte

Russische Impressionen aus der Steiermark von Sveta und Nastya:
Jeder ihrer Beiträge ist eine Hommage an die Steiermark aus der Sicht einer mit allen Sinnen erfassenden Russin.

Wir starten in Admont

Admont [Russian]

Original English Translation by Nastya

I found by chance, this place is in Austria, when I examined in the internet map of Styria (clicking on all the pictures in a row). This place is in the boonies, it far from any major cities. After seeing the picture, I opened my mouth in amazement. What appeared before my eyes? It was a monastery library.

… And here, Traudl invited us into her car. Outside the window began to flash (flickersed) the beautiful views.In the immediate vicinity there is the national Park Gesäuse. So, if someone wants to spend their holiday actively, and in beautiful place, let has in mind this place is a Park and monastery, and a castle nearby.Two hours later we arrived at the scene.The monastery is situated in extensive grounds in the valley. And surround the monastery on all sides of the mountain, half of which are more than two kilometers tall.

We were lucky. The day was Sunday, in the courtyard of the monastery turned fair. There were local products, drinks, Souvenirs. Festivities were in full swing, many people were in national costumes.Generally things of juniper were many, but all very expensive.
People in the courtyard of a cultural rest, slowly drank the drinks of varying strength and listened to the orchestra.The orchestra itself is also not to offend. Even the nuns are allowed a little aperitif)

A General impression that in Austria everything and always in a good mood. ))) The monastery in Admont has a very venerable age.We staring on the bright bushes, and almost missed the point in this photograph – St. Emma. But it all started!But thank God for Nastya, who photographed the text on the green board.Judging by the headdress, inside the Church is also St.Emma.

Emma was born in 980. She was married Wilhelm of Friesach-Sanngau. She gave birth to two sons and lived happily and richly until murder her sons during the uprising. Their father is brutally murdered with a rebellious people after went to Rome to atone for sins. But the way he died. Emma was left alone. She spent all the wealth on charity, investing in the foundation of monasteries. Here it was founded the monastery of Admont, but 30 years after her death. Emma was beatified in 1287, and was canonized in 1938.

I admire Emmas headpiece )))

Photo from here

The information about St. Emma from the same and from the story of Olga

The land and the money was from Emma, but the real founder was Gebhard (1010 – 1088), Archbishop of Salzburg

In 1074 the monks Benedictines arrived here of the parish of St. Peter in Salzburg. In 1120 there appeared a women’s monastery of the Benedictine order. In 1644 he founded the school at the monastery. And besides, in the 17th century, the school of embroidery, led by brother Benno Haan. In 1735 under the direction of architect Gotthard Hayberger it began rebuilding in the Baroque style, which was continued by Joseph Hueber.

Please note that the picture of 1839 the monastery looks somewhat different than it is now. The head of the Church crowned with onions. (This and the next two pictures are from the site of the monastery. Information from the same place)http://www.stiftadmont.at/en/

But in 1865 a fire destroyed almost the whole monastery, with the exception of the library.

In the following years after the fire the monastery was built again. In the 1930-ies of the monks provided their living by selling works of art. In 1939 the Nazis expropriated the monastery and in 1945 the monks returned here.
Currently the Abbey is a spiritual, cultural and economic center of international fame. In his charge are 26 parishes, nursing home and a middle school with 700 students. In all of these schools employs approximately 500 people. In the monastery the monks 26. From 1 August 1996 the dean of monastery is Bruno Hübl. His motto, “Ex caritate confidens de adiutorio Dei” –

mercy, relying on God’s help.

So the monastery looks from the height of bird flight

The collegiate Basilica dedicated to St. Blaise.

The founder Gebhard was buried in the chancel.
Quite by accident I found on the internet the information that in a monastery in 1094 he died one of the daughters of Yaroslav the Wise – Anastasia Yaroslavna. She was the wife of the king of Hungary András I. The name of the Admont monastery (and in older sources – Almond). This daughter of the Russian Tsar Yaroslav. Anastasia died not later than 1094, as in this year she was mentioned as deceased. According to legend, she died in the Admont monastery or Almond that in Styria. Anastasia is second from the left in the mural.
Through the Admont is the pilgrimage way of St. Emma. The way out in the southern part of Austria, then to Slovenia. Stretches 187 km elevation Changes are significant.http://www.outdooractive.com/de/pilgerweg/alpenregion..

You can see the pilgrims on pictures.

It’s late and we go to the museums part of the Abbey.
We looked interesting multimedia show About the monastery and the order of Benedictines.
The library is the main treasure of the monastery.
Before entering the library are copies of medieval manuscripts. They are beautiful in the extreme.

Russische Impressionen aus der Steiermark

Eine ungewöhnliche Geschichte über die Steiermark und St. Petersburg

Auf dem Camino del Norte in Spanien haben Karin und ich zwei Wanderinnen getroffen, sind einige Tage zusammen gewandert und haben uns in Spanisch und Englisch sehr unterhaltsam verständigt.

Sveta und Nastya sind in St. Petersburg zu Hause, unsere Muttersprachen Russisch und Deutsch konnten wir nicht verwenden. Besonders ein Erlebnis mit einem aus seiner Weide ausgebrochenen Jungstier, der den Städterinnen sehr gefährlich erschien, hat sich in unserer Erinnerung bewahrt. Der glückliche Ausgang dieses Abenteuers hat mehr mit Händen und Füßen als mit Worten seinen Abschluss gefunden. Wie oft auf Wanderungen haben wir unsere Emails ausgetauscht und unsere Wege haben sich getrennt. Karin und ich hatten unser Ziel erreicht. Sveta und Nastya sind bis Santiage de Compostela weiter gewandert.

Nach einiger Zeit haben wir Fotos ausgetauscht und sind in loser Verbindung geblieben. Im Sommer 2014 traf ich Sveta und Nastya in St. Petersburg wieder. Unsere Verständigung war noch ein wenig spannender, denn Karins Spanisch hat gefehlt (ich war mit einer anderen Gruppe unterwegs). Eine russische Freundin der beiden, die auf Heimaturlaub aus Australien in St. Petersburg war, übernahm die Übersetzungsarbeit. Wir hatten wieder viel Spass und haben uns einen Nachmittag lang köstlich unterhalten. Ich dachte an eine Einladung der beiden nach Oesterreich.

Diesen August 2016 kamen die beiden mit Svetas Sohn Stanislaw nach Wien und dann nach Mürzzuschlag, wo ich wohne. Sveta hatte in ihrer Vorbereitung ein umfangreiches Programm erstellt mit allen Orten und Sehenswürdigkeiten, die sie gerne sehen wollten. Nastya hatte in der Zwischenzeit ihre Englischkenntnisse in Kursen erweitert. So wagte ich mich in das Abenteuer. Zuerst erfolgte ein Wiedersehen mit Karin, ein von ihr liebevoll zubereitetes vorzügliches Essen und das Auffrischen von Erinnerungen in Klosterneuburg.

Nach dieser doch etwas längeren Vorgeschichte komme ich zum eigentlichen Anlass meines Artikels.

Sveta hat Eindrücke von unseren Ausflügen in der Steiermark festgehalten und in mehreren Postings online gestellt. Jeder dieser Beiträge ist eine Hommage an die Steiermark aus der Sicht einer mit allen Sinnen erfassenden Russin.

Grüner See [Russian]

Noch mal Grüner See [Russian]

Original English Translation by Nastya

“Austria is amazingly beautiful country! And we have not been to the mountainous parts of it. The trip was limited to Styria and Vienna.

In Austria every step of the castles…

…and interesting museums.

But the main wealth of Austria is people. Wonderful, kind, hardworking, very cheerful and very musical.

And the best of the Austrians to us, of course, Traudl, thanks to her  took place on this trip! If you knew what a fairy she was! Thank you, dear!!! May God grant you health, luck and fulfillment of wishes!

And where you can meet such great people as Traudl? Of course, on the Camino ))) There they go in the a crowd of people  (droves)    ))).

There we met with Karin. And a huge thank you to her that during their brief stay in Austria, she found the time to meet with us!

But sitting still wasn’t done. Lives in Vienna one infinitely dear to us – Tanya Gurin gmarta . And thank you, Tanya, for the meeting and gifts!

1 day. Vienna. 1 day. Vienna. The center of the city we toured on the tram on the ring (and then walked )

Hundertwasser house + village Hundertwasser

Church St.Othmar

The Hundertwassers Museum

Waste-to-energy plant project of Hundertwasser saw a glimpse, passing by in the subway.

By 12 o’clock, we rushed to the famous Ankeruhr clock. We could not find them and upset that it was late because it was already the first hour. But it turned out that the clock is well behind! Finding them, we still waited for 10-15 minutes, when the passage of the shapes.)))

Then we looked in the oldest Church Ruprecht

And in the Greek Church

And to the “dear Augustine”

We went to dinner in “Figlmueller”, where the reviews online was a endless wieners schnitzel and democratic prices.

I asked the waiter for ice water. He replied that alas… no. Then I tried to joke and asked for some ice without  water. The waiter laughed. But 10 minutes later he brought me a glass of ice without water” ))). Phew, what a joy it was, considering that on the street the day was muggy and hot.

After dinner we walked to the Cathedral of St. Stephen, on Stephanplatz and the district.

Then we bought a family combo-ticket “Treasury of the Hofburg + KNM”, but two museums on this day did not happen because of the intolerable stuffiness in the Treasury. With tenderness and nostalgia were reminded of our well air-conditioned and well-lit Museum space. There is almost total absence of light and air. By the way, Traudl was interested that Austria seemed to us better or worse than us. Well, “best” in Austria are endless ))), but a distinct disadvantage in Austria, we noticed bad transport links between settlements and very bad air conditioning.. In all museums it was hot and stuffy.

The day ended with a meeting with Tanya, who, as it turned out, lived just a 10 minute walk from our place.

2nd day. It was in the Kreuzensteins castle and Klosterneuburg. Where we met Karin. with Karin. About this day will be a separate post. And, most likely, two posts. )

The evening of the same day to the sound of rain we drink in small sips a cherry liqueur with Tanya )

3rd day. Early morning we moved from Vienna to Mürzzuschlag. Scenic area Simmeringly railway, included in the UNESCO list, among other things.

We located in the house of Traudl, surveyed the area, settled down in the car and went to the lake Grüner See and spent the day. About the lake there will be a separate post.

The 4th day was held in the Abbey of Admont. About it will a separate post. On the way back wanted to get to the castle Strihou, but not the first time I got onto the right road and came straight after its closure. We looked at the locked gate, had a little picnic but went home.

5-th day. The pilgrimage to Mariazell.

6-th day. Neuberg an der Mürz. Abbey glass manufacture. And pseudo-Hundertwasser ))) “

 

Hard choices

It is interesting … some topics I stumble across again and again at different points in time – this probably means that I have not yet digested it or taken a stand on it for myself.

I think that some things just take times to evolve and grow and digest … in this hectic times we rarely have this time though. I need to have the time or more so take the time, there is no choice – because it is not in my control how long it takes me – my body, mind and spirit –  to go through it.

I finally understood that I need to be patient with myself if I want to evolve, grow and develop into the me that I have in mind.

The topic of hard choices is in the center of my thought – again – here is how Ruth Chang’s talk caught and fired my thoughts:

Hard choices are hard because the alternatives are not equally good – one is not better than the other.

She clearly explains why: there are two worlds we all move around in.

A comparison of alternatives is usually based on numbers and logic – with scientific quantities.

In the world of values, quantification is not done by numbers.

We need to introduce new ways of measuring …  Ruth proposes: … “that the alternatives are “on a par.”

When alternatives are on a par, it may matter very much which you choose, but one alternative isn’t better than the other. Rather, the alternatives are in the same neighborhood of value, in the same league of value, while at the same time being very different in kind of value. That’s why the choice is hard.”

There is no best alternative.

Knowing this alone makes the choice somehow easier, because you can not be wrong.

Are you are someone who fears to be wrong? You can not be wrong.

“Understanding hard choices in this way uncovers something about ourselves we didn’t know. Each of us has the power to create reasons.”

What reasons for choosing one or the other alternative do you make?

Or are you one of the people who don’t exercise their normative powers in hard choices? Are you a drifter?

“Drifters allow the world to write the story of their lives. They let mechanisms of reward and punishment — pats on the head, fear, the easiness of an option — to determine what they do.”

I choose to not be a drifter.

LINKS

Ruth Chang on how to make hard choices

3 timeless rules for making tough decisions
Actually time does play a role

From my favorite read Effortless Decision-Making

From the world of Numbers A former CIA executives advice on how to make hard decisions
Easy to spot that this is not the way 🙂

How Richard Branson makes decisions
A mix of both worlds

Re-awaken

From my dear Friends Marc & Ragni and their newsletter about their trips – this time they really earned the merit badge!

ROAD WARRIORS

Up at 4;00am for our Leh-Delhi-London-Oslo return to Norway, the trip starts badly when Jet Airways (JA) announces a 2-hour departure delay, and defers some 5 hours upon our landing in Delhi (after a 75 min hop over the Himalayas), to reschedule our subsequent British Airways (BA) flights.

Once in Delhi, we’re placed in the temporary care of a nice but clue-less “loader”, powerless victims of a stunning ballet of group incompetence: a gaggle of JA employees pointing fingers at disappearing colleagues, shuttling us back and forth with our luggage within a cavernous air terminal architected to impress rather than accomodate. Accustomed as we are by Western organization and service we wonder out loud if we’ll ever want to return to India …

The next BA flight is scheduled to depart in 16 hours, at 2:20am the next day. Not only doesn’t JA fulfill its responsibility to re-rout us on “the next available flight”— which our trusted travel agent documented that they must (They shrug it off as “a mistake”) but they can’t even assure us that we’re booked on the next BA flight, which we’re told is fully booked… The matter must be decided by BA which, by the way, won’t be available until 3 hours before departure or 13 hours hence… So for 13 hours without a boarding pass to access a more comfortable environment (“La sécurité oblige”), and no guarantee as to the end of our misery, we must wait in the general entry hall of the monumental, cavernous, noisy Indira Gandhi Airport, with our cumbersome luggage in tow …

Fortunately we do board the next BA flight and sink into sleep for most of the flight above Parkistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, the Northern Coast of Turkey, Romania, etc… Arriving late in London we run to catch our connecting flight to Oslo… which our luggage misses… Every Frenchman knows that the endearing English practice of the understatement is in fact a sign of a time-proven art of deceit: They lead you to believe that you’re transferring within a single terminal, Terminal 5, when in fact you’re moving through a vast complex of buildings separated by a 2-station automated train line of at least half a mile long. My ancestral rant against the Brits is tempered when an empathetic English gentlewoman kindly lets me ahead of the security line in order to let me gain a few minutes.

All is well that ends well: son Patrice, and grand-daughters Gabrielle and Caitlin welcome us at Oslo-Gardemoen. They arrived from Oregon 3 days earlier and were pampered by friends Åse & Knut Arneberg near Ragni’s hometown of Moss.

We re-awaken to the cleanliness and order of the Norwegian landscape.

If only we could pay for it at rupee-prices …

The universal language

The key of sharing and collaborating on ideas is of course communication. And for communication not to lead to misunderstandings the same set of rules and values is important, which in a simple way can be just the language. As I am writing this blog entry in English it is obvious that I did so, because it will be understood by a wide range of people. It is not my first language and after years of using English and even being able to have serious conversations using it, I still feel that there are certain things I will never be able to express as I wanted to. The other way around, I feel more comfortable talking e.g. about Design Thinking in English, because I learned and worked with it solely in English.

I had the opportunity to spend some time in South America this year. This was something new and challenging to me. I’ve been to Asia quite a lot, but South America has an totally different, interesting cultural context and I had fun exploring it. One of the things I noticed quite soon was that although a lot of people spoke English, a lot of people did not. This is the same in a lot of Asian countries, but in contrast to Asia, it is not perceived as a lack, if you do not speak English. It was even the other way around that I felt I did not make enough effort to communicate in Spanish! I had plenty of situations when even amongst travellers the common language was not English but Spanish and I had a hard time keeping up, because my Spanish is beginner’s level at best.

It was kind of an eye opener to me. Until now I somehow expected everyone everywhere to speak English. It might have been a bit arrogant of me to expect that, because besides English there are other languages such as Spanish and Chinese that is spoken by a large number of people. I do not want to imply that we should all switch to a different language, but just looking at the development, we might have to think about other languages than English. Who knows what will happen in a few years if you look at the development of the Spanish speaking population in the United States, which is constantly growing. Or the great amount of Chinese speaking population on earth. This is an appeal for being open minded to other languages than English and making an effort learning Portuguese, German, French, Japanese, you name it. Do not automatically expect others to speak English, but agree on a language that is most comfortable for all.

P.S.: I had the most fun conversation with a Belgian guy, who did not speak English, but Spanish and French. I speak neither Spanish nor French, but English and still, we somehow talked about all kinds of things. We agreed on a mix of Spanish with English and a few words of French and voilà, we were having a great time talking

RELATED ARTICLES

Body language and its effect

Why  is  communication  the  key

Kaleidoscope of feedback

17. May in Oslo

From my dear Friends Marc & Ragni and their newsletter about their activities with friends & family – shortened though.

My title:
We all have our heritage but how we design the here and now is up to us.

Thanks for sharing this with me.

HISTORY

200 years ago in 1814, the Norwegian people drafted their current constitution. It allowed them a regime of relative autonomy from the Swedes, a preamble to the total independence they could not yet afford but finally obtained 91 years later (1905) when they fetched the first king of the current dynasty, a Dane who married an English woman.*

* It took their recent riches of North Sea oil to elevate them from their status of country bumpkins in the eyes of their Swedish neighbors headed by French-born Napoleon relative Bernadotte, renamed Karl Johann, as well as the Danes who ruled Norway for over 400 years.

BEFORE THE PARADE

One of 117 schools marching to Karl Johanns Gate parade, from 3 directions.
It’s mid-morning and they’ve been up early to march in their neighborhood.
A family unit. Mother and daughter have the same folkloric dress.
The men, if not dressed in traditional costume (bunade), wear a ribbon at the lapel.
Joyfully waving a flag is the rule.

The crowd was extraordinary, on account of:
– the day fell on a Saturday,
– the 200th anniversary,
– perfect weather.

THE PARADE
The parade is primarily in the main street leading to the king’s castle where the king and his family will stand in the balcony for the 3.5 hours of its duration. The street is named after Karl Johann, the Swedish king who strongly opposed and delayed the independence of Norway, How tolerant for the Norwegians to not have renamed the street !… As soon as Morocco became independent from the French in 1956, almost all the streets, and some cities, instantly lost their French name.
The parade is opened by a military squad, the Royal Guard.

According to a friend, it’s second only to Russians, in terms of marching with acrobatics with their weapons. Each of the 117 schools marches to the same line-up:
– First, the placard identifying the school:
– Then comes the dozen or so large flags:
– Then, often comes the band, sometimes with baton-twirling majorettes:

You can tell the high school senior by their black cap.

– Elementary school kids, ushered by adults, close the march:

We even get to cheer the adult children and grand-children of the friend who hosted us:
10-year old Martin is first of a kind, playing the electronic guitar,
on a leash to his father Halvor carrying the guitar battery and speaker…
40-year old Helge returns our cheers.
He’s months into a new start-up venture.
The handicapped share in the party atmosphere.

THE “BUNAD” Folkloric Dress

Each county has its own design with possible tweaks within a county.
Ragni did not bring her bunad because its bulky and heavy. Back as 1982 she started embroidering one for our daughter Anne. A friend helped her finish the embroidery and the piece is now being expertly assembled, a major task which requires experienced hands.

   

A white bunad is a rarity.

 

Continued in the next message:
– The high percentage of immigrants,
– The crowd milling around after the parade.

BRINGING THE IMMIGRANTS INTO THE FAMILY
It’s impressive to see so many immigrants in the parade, a testimony of Norwegian tolerance and forsight. They come from Pakistan, Somalia, Ethiopia, among others.

In our local small town library, French books are only available on a rotation basis; yet there is a section aimed at a bunch of Ethiopians temporarily camped nearby for orientation. Mind you this is no ordinary refugee camp but a posh mountain resort hotel gone bankrupt. These dark skinned Africans must nevertheless feel pretty isolated and out-of-their element in the montainous countryside, not to mentin the rigor of the climate (not only the cold but also the darkness of Winter).

 

POST-PARADE MILLING AROUND

Cars were banned from the whole downtown area. It took our host 1h30minn to exit their parking, and they even paid $50 for the privilege.
Cost of living is very high in Norway. How about $6 for a single avocado ?!… We brought our own from California, apples and nuts too !….

By means of cell phone we manage to meet friends, in spite of the crowd

Years ago, as part of the AFS high school student exchange, the Teljes (pronounced “Tel-yeh”) hosted the daughter of Palo Alto friends, for one year in a Norwegian mountain town near our cabin.

The dagger is part of a man’s uniform.  These lovelies enjoy an enviable status in Norway.
A minimum 40% of corporation board seats is reserved for them.
The current Prime Minister is a woman.
A representative of the Lapp people, an ethnic group of reindeer-herding nomads in the artic North. They enjoy official autonomy and maintain their own language.

We once knew one in California who addressed me as “De Gaulle” and derided the Norwegians as “lazy” !…

Marc Pasturel

Wishing you lots of Christmas for 2014

Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus, a religious event and a widely celebrated cultural holiday.  When you ask people the question “How do you celebrate Christmas?” or “What does Christmas mean to you?”, you will get quite diverse answers.

Everybody has a different way of celebrating. In some places Santa Claus comes through the chimney and delivers gifts to children on the 25th of December. Where the population is predominantly roman catholic, the birth of Jesus as the “Christkind” is celebrated on the 24th of December with a family gathering and attending church service.  In other countries Christmas is a festivity with a more commercially motivated.

         Christmas tree 2013

The essence of any festival for me is the coming together, meeting family and friends, cooking and eating together. This is what my family does at Christmas. It was not always like that. It developed into this format. The special dish this year was Carp in salt crust and it was delicious. But it was not about the dish. It was about the time spent together and the thoughts exchanged while decorating the tree, preparing the meal and cleaning up afterwards.

This is my feeling of Christmas. I enjoy all festivals of all religions that bring people together, open their minds for each other and lead them back to what connects them: common roots, same goals, shared views on life, friendship and love.

I hope that this kind of feeling was part of your Christmas holidays and I wish you lots more feelings like this for the New Year 2014

I wish you lots of Christmas occasions throughout the year.

Thanks for the thought exchange, support and collaboration to

my family and friends
my colleagues, advisers, mentors and companions
my former students in Japan
my current Creativity Engineering students

RECOMMENDATION

Are you owing someone a meal? Listen to the Author of the book Happy Money – click on Can Money Buy Happiness?

Embracing Difference

The culture of the country you grow up in forms you and your identity. My identity is firmly anchored in German culture as I grew up in Berlin the first 17 years of my life. Nevertheless, being the child of a Japanese father and a German mother, the issue of where I belong and as what I identify arises pretty quickly. I was never a a victim of harassment, but sneaky side comments in elementary school let me wonder how not only I but also others see me. As a matter of fact, the first twelve years of my life I looked into the mirror and did not see a difference.

I can honestly say that I am happy I was raised in Germany, where 50% of a class is mixed and I walk through streets listening to all kinds of languages. This is a very stereotypical description, but I want to highlight the difference to classes I experienced during my time I attended Japanese high school. Out of 1000 students, the Assistant Language Teacher, two or three mixed kids and me were the only foreigners at that school. Naturally, the understanding of people having a different cultural context or speaking a different language was just about zero and I met a lot of stereotypes such as “All foreigners speak perfect English”.

The treatment I experienced while living in Japan I recognized in the movie “Hafu – Japan is changing” by film maker Megumi Nishikura and Lara Perez Takagi. It is about Japan, a homogenous country that is embracing new cultures and how society deals with the change of identity. Is only 100% Japanese the real Japanese? Or are there more aspects to “being Japanese”? It is also about the identity of half Japanese people, their struggles and their wishes for the Japanese society. I recommend this movie to all, who wonder how Japan treats people who are different, because this is not only applicable to half Japanese people, but to foreigners in general.

こんな顔でも日本人で有り得る社会になって欲しい。

I want this to be a society, where I can exist as a Japanese person the way I look.

– Megumi Nishikura

Homepage: http://hafufilm.com/

All Generations engaged at WorldSkills 2013

Our Youth – Our Future

The Worldskills 2013 in Leipzig were an event not only for highly engaged and highly competent youth in 46 professions. It was also a cross-generation event. There were an equal amount of experts committed to mentor and coach their national winners to be able to compete with the best talents of 52 nations.

There were many meetings and conferences that took place in the Conference Center of Leipzig Messe organized and attended by European and OECD leaders about youth (un)employment from across the world.  In this truly global effort, that will be the basis for a continuously engaged platform, you could meet Ministers, Law Makers, CEOs of companies and foundations. They came together to not only speak about the currently very bad situation for youth in many countries but to take action and offer perspectives and a future to their youth.

The focus was put on joining forces, using synergies, learning from other`s mistakes and successes to leverage existing knowledge for changing the way things are. The dual education system which has been an essential part of the national education system in Germany, Switzerland and Austria is believed to be a big part of the solution to low youth unemployment. I attended following conferences during the WorldSkills Competition:

Green Industrial Skills for Sustainable Development

Humanity faces enormous challenges in the sustainability of our current lifestyles and systems. The decisions we take can either move us in the direction of sustainability or contribute to the growing problems. Green Industries are the driver towards sustainability and currently experience a high growth time. It is crucial to have access to the necessary skills to be able to realize the potential growth path.

The conference took place on July 1, 2013 and started with a plenary sessions and keynote addresses from Nobel Peace prize Laureate H.E. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Chairperson National League for Democracy in Myanmar, Ursula Müller from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany, Chakib Jeane and Marcos Pontes from UNIDO and Olga Strietska-Ilina from ILO. The following three panel discussions were dedicated to following topics:

• Panel 1:  Green Industry Initiative
• Panel 2:  Skills Development for renewable energy
• Panel 3:  Worldskills and how to sustain the industry through green skills competition development

It was a very interesting day dominated by the questions of how VET Vocational Education and Training can solve this problem to fill the skills gap detected in this crucial sector.

European Alliance for Apprenticeships” (EAfA)

Please see article about this initiative.

Skilling the future: VET and Workplace learning for Economic Success

This international conference organized by the OECD and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research [BMBF] focused on the role of Vocational and Adult Education as well as Workplace learning as the emerging challenges. After the keynote parallel working groups started and engaged in the following topics

1. VET and higher education: transition pathways and innovative blends of VET
2. Systematic development of apprenticeships and workplace learning: changing roles of responsibilities of trainees, employers and social partners
3. Innovative concepts for making the bridge between school and work

I participated in the working group three and presented the success story of  Cisco Networking Academy – a CSR Program for educational organizations supplying a learning platform with IT Networking and System resources for IT skills development.

Resume
The Worldskills Conference Program 2013 “Our Youth – Our Future” was definitely a highlight of the WorldSkills Competition and will be instrumental to connect stakeholders on a global level to implement policies and programs that improve the situation and give our youth a prospective and positive outlook into the future of their nations.

LINKS
Worldskills Leipzig 2013
WorldSkills Conference Program
Cisco Networking Academy Program

Cisco Schweiz lädt zum Girls in ICT Day – 25. April 2013

Cisco Systems, Richtistrasse 7, 8304 Wallisellen / Zürich
Cisco Systems International, Avenue des Uttins 5, 1180 Rolle
Cisco Systems @ EPFL Technische Hochschule Lausanne, Route Cantonale, 1015 Lausanne

Liebe Lehrer- und LehrerInnen !

Internet ist nicht einfach immer da. Dafür braucht es Geräte, die den Datenverkehr regeln und Menschen, die diese Geräte bauen, verkaufen, installieren und dann am Laufen halten. Der Gerätehersteller Cisco baut diese Strassen des Internets! Keine Email, kein Chatten, kein Facebook, kein Skype wäre ohne Cisco Produkte möglich.

Am 25. April, dem Girls Day 2013, laden die CISCO Büros in Zurich, Rolle und am EPFL in Lausanne Sie und Ihre Klasse ein, Kommunikationstechnologie in Aktion zu sehen und die Technologie des Internets bei uns hautnah kennenzulernen.

Es erwartet Sie und Ihre Klasse ein Einblick in die Arbeit in einem Unternehmen, das Geräte und Apps anbietet, die das Internet zum Laufen bringen. Es gibt die Möglichkeit, verschiedene Workshops zu den Themen “Sicher im Netz”, “Soziale Netze” und “PC-Technik” zu besuchen, wo man selbst aktiv ist.

Ich freue mich auf Ihre Rückmeldung und bespreche gern nähere Details direkt mit Ihnen. Wir hoffen, dass es Ihnen möglich sein wird, uns in einem der Büros zu besuchen.

Mit herzlichen Grüßen

Jutta Jerlich
Cisco Networking Academy Schweiz
Email Anmeldung
Online Anmeldung

↑↑↑ Deutsch ↑↑↑ ↓↓↓ English ↓↓↓

Dear teachers!

Internet is not simply always there. It needs equipment that allows and regulates data transfer and people, who develop, build, sell, install and operate them. CISCO is one of the companies that build those Internet highways. No email, no chat, no facebook, no Skype would be possible without Cisco products and services.

On 25 April 2013, on the occasion of International Girls in ICT Day, we invite you and your class to our CISCO Offices in Zurich, Rolle and at the EPFL in Lausanne for you to see communication technology in action and experience the technology behind the Internet in practice.

You can get an inside view into a company providing equipment and apps that keep the Internet running. There are possibilities to join small workshops about topics like “Secure in the network”, “Social networks” and “How does my PC look from inside”where you are actively involved.

We are looking forward to your reply and to discuss details about your visit directly with you. I personally hope to be able to meet you in one of our offices.

With best regards

Jutta Jerlich
Cisco Networking Academy Schwitzerland
Email Registration
Online Registration

LINKS
ITU Kalender Girls-ict-day-Zurich
ITU Kalender Girls-ict-day-Rolle
ITU Kalender Girls-ict-day-Lausanne
Tech needs girls

Language influences thinking – Sprache beeinflusst Denken

While I was teaching Advanced German language courses at universities in Nagoya, Japan, I observed that it was difficult for students to understand how to explain the sequence of events in a story in German. Through in debt discussions and questioning how the same information would be composed into sentences in their mother tongue Japanese I discovered that it was not possible to convey the exact same information as in the German sentences.

The difference was that in German sentences it is explicit what happen first, simultaneously and after and how a decision was made or a conclusion about a situation was inferred. In Japanese this was not so clear.

The consequence of this for my teaching was that I made it a point to explain this in debt to students for them to understand:
1. that there are different concepts of thinking delivered with a language and
2. that they need to allow different thinking processes to happen in their mind for mastering this particular language.

This led me to think about how I could visualize this language border even for beginners in learning German language. A first attempt was the creation of a simple small app-like presentation that decoded this language borderline.
Example Language border German Japanese

Interestingly Keith Chen, Associate Professor of Economics at Yale School of Management, is also researching impacts of language on behavior. He hypothesizes that languages that grammatically associate the future and the present, foster future-oriented behavior.

Why I am so interested in this?

Different understanding about how decisions are made and how a person really understands his or her commitment to deliver what he or she is assigned to contribute in a team project ultimately has great impact on group performance.

This is what I observe in my Creativity Engineering class at the Technical University: team members come from different language back grounds. They use English as a common language. Most of the team problems relate to team members not delivering what they signed up for in time or at all, causing a decrease in group performance. Some groups even fall apart and do not finish the course, in some cases caused by one group member.

LINKS

COWLES FOUNDATION DISCUSSION PAPER NO. 1820

TED Talk: Could your language affect your ability to save money? published on 19.2.2012

TEDxYale: The Impact of Language on Economic Behavior published on 6.4.2012

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Creativity Engineering – Kaleidoscope of Feedback

This year’s Creativity Engineering Class was able to inaugurate the team feedback tool to allow us to learn about perceptions of communication, teamwork and situation awareness among team members. I would like to share a few comments received:

Topic: Value of working in teams

“Together we are faster and stronger, with more ideas and solutions! ”

“If you work alone on a project there is often a lack on feedback, as you only see the good points of your idea. Therefore, it was really awesome to have some critical people within the group.”

“Having people from different academic background improves the idea generation process a lot.

Topic: What did I learn in the course

“I learned how different the roles of every group member can become after a while, even if you try to fix and discuss them right at the beginning.”

“I looked at our ideas from viewpoints different than the usual ways.”

“I learned working in a group and listen to other people.”

“We all learned to come to a compromise.”

Topic: Personal Achievements

“Learned about some tools used in business analysis and planning.”

“I am happy about my performance because I managed to do stuff I had never done before.”

“The strongest arguments win, so if you want something you have to argue very well. You would never learn this alone, because then you will make your own decisions.”

“I learned that as the only woman in a group, the way you have to state your case is differently. Because it can easily happen that you are not heard.”

One example of a situation during group work

“One weakness of our project was that we are dependent on suppliers. I explained this, two others agreed and I updated my point with some comments. But there was another understanding of this point from one more team member. He explained it and it was amazing. Because his understanding was completely different. I could not say that it was wrong. It has been interpreted in a totally different context and perception. And at that moment I realized that I brainstorm with participants from other countries is more efficient. Each of us knows something that is not available to another due to cultural differences. But when this knowledge is together, it creates a superposition principle like in physics.”

Stark am Berg und Langfristiges Denken

Was hat denn das miteinander zu tun, denken Sie sich sicher gerade. In meiner Gedankenwelt ist der Zusammenhang ganz eindeutig. Wenn man auf die Berge geht, muss man langfristig denken und für alle Eventualitäten gerüstet sein. Auch wenn das Wetter noch so schön ist, schlechtes Wetter darf auch kein Problem sein. Man muss immer für alles bereit sein. Das bedeutet Sicherheit und man kann die Schönheit der Berge beruhigt genießen.

Aber es gibt noch einen zweiten Aspekt zu diesem Zusammenhang und den finde ich besonders klug und gleichzeitig mutig. Langfristiges Denken beweist der Eigentümer Hans-Peter Starkl vom Bergsport Geschäft Starkl in der Toni-Schruf-Gasse 12 in Mürzzuschlag. Selbst Bergexperte, Schifahrer und Wanderer gibt es keine besseren Empfehlungen zu Schuhen, Kleidung, Gerätschaft und was es sonst noch so gibt. Denn er hat alles selbst ausprobiert und teilt die negativen wie positiven Erfahrungen mit Ihnen. Die Zeit, Sie zu beraten, nimmt er sich immer, auch wenn das Geschäft voll ist und viele Leute noch warten.

Besonders bemerkenswert ist für mich sein Prinzip, dass jeder Kunde Schuhe auch zuhause ausprobieren darf bis man den Schuh gefunden hat, der wie für einen gemacht ist.

Herrn Starkls Worte “Was habe ich von einem Kunden, der einmal ein paar Schuhe bei mir kauft, aber dann nicht mehr wieder kommt, weil er nicht zufrieden ist” sind einfach unüberbietbar klug. Das sagen auch seine Mitarbeiter. Und das ist für mich langfristiges Denken.

Mutig habe ich es genannt, weil der Erfolg mit so einer Strategie nicht über Nacht kommt, sondern eben auch seine Zeit braucht. Doch nachhaltig aufgebaut bedeutet auch stabil weiterführbar. Finde ich gut.

Gelungene Impulse – gewachsene Ideen

1.	Immer wieder werden Ideen durch Taten umgesetzte, als erster Pilot mal ausprobiert. Mit viel Enthusiamus und Freude.
2.	wird der Ball aufgegriffen …  Zeit …. Zeit …. und manchmal
3.	ist der Samen dann aufgegangen.

 

“Eine Idee verbreitet sich so schnell wie sich die Idee in den Gedanken von anderen einnistet und zum Teil dieser anderen Personen wird. Je mehr Personen diese Idee in ihren Gedanken einbauen, desto schneller die Verbreitung.”
Gedankenanstoss der Woche

 

Impulsanstoss	Aufgegangener Samen
Kultur am Teller 28.11.2009 Kulturen Kennenlernen ohne Sprachbarrieren	Veranstaltungsserie: Kulinarium am Bärenkogel Link

Impact of Learning – or Common mistakes in how to measure learning impact

The easiest way to measure something is always by capturing numbers. Hard facts. But there are also soft facts that are equally important but a great deal harder to capture, measure and track. These soft facts ultimately drive hard facts. Without accounting for the soft facts, numbers will not change.

Leader know how many variables can impact hard numbers in a complex business – sometimes even anecdotal evidence about how learning impacts performance is more compelling. Including the views of all stakeholders and making sure that you are not basing your concepts on assumptions are a way to ensure that you are on the right track.

While the perfect way of how to measure the progress in a complex process may really make sense, the practical implementation may fail because the measurement responsibility is usually distributed among many heads and the more complex it becomes, the less likely it is that the task will be executed accurately, thus providing figures that do not actually measure what you are trying to measure. This results in a lot of energy and resources spent with a mediocre or even worse result: numbers that you can’t count on.

How much time does it take to collect the required data and does it really prove what you are trying to prove?
What about questions that do not have a single right answer? Those dilemmas need to be managed. Such as measurement of learning impact – the subject of this article.

A very common pitfall in measuring impact is the lack of alignment with cultural norms and values. This is best explained with a personal question as an analogy to understand its relevance for organizations: Are you measuring happiness or personal success in terms of happy feelings or money in the bank?
The answer will most probably be a mixture of both, depending on your values and expectations in life.
Well, the same applies to organizations.

After you have done the hard work to define your mesaurement parameters, identify the sources and collected all the date, now it is about presenting. What can be learned from the collected data? Was it worth the effort? Do you know what needs to be changed to improve performance? Can you present the information in a way that everybody can understand its implications?

My bottomline is this question: Which of your business goals are related to learning?

If your answer is more than one – learning is an activity that needs to become part of everybody’s daily activity. Therefore it is more important and ultimately more effective to focus on creating a culture that allows open discussion about issues and problems as well as successed to allow the consequent learning impact to happen.

Listen to some thoughts about Reinventing The Workplace

Sprache eröffnet eine eigene Welt

Judith Brandner stellte heute in einem Vortrag an der Nagoya City University einige Autoren vor, die Deutsch nicht von Geburt an ihre Muttersprache nannten. Die vier vorgestellten Beitrage über Sina Tahayori, Zwetelina Damjanova-Ortega, Michael Stavaric und Sohn Young stammen aus der Ö1-Radiokolleg Serie “Andernworts – Deutsch schreiben – mehrsprachig denken” und waren sehr interessant und eindrucksvoll. Eine bedeutende Rolle in der Entwicklung dieser völlig unterschiedlichen Persönlichkeiten und deren Werken spielte und spielt Christa Stippinger mit dem Zentrum Exil und dem Exil-literaturpreis „schreiben zwischen den kulturen“.

Was ich als Gemeinsamkeit sehe, ist die Erfahrung, dass jede Sprache eine neue Welt mit sich bringt. Dies ist meine Erfahrung aus dem Sprachunterricht an japanischen Universitäten. Jede Sprache verbirgt in sich eine Art des Denkens und Kommunizierens, die die Gesellschaft und deren Werte und Traditionen in gewisser Weise abbildet. Sprache ist mehr als nur Sprache. Sprache ist Verpackung für Kultur.

Wenn man eine neue Sprache lernt, muss man in diese Kultur eintauchen und am besten selbst erleben, wie Menschen aus diesem Sprachkreis miteinander kommunizieren. Man muss die kulturellen Hintergründe verstehen lernen. Je weiter die Kultur der neuen Sprache von seiner eigenen Muttersprache entfernt ist, umso schwieriger ist dies.

↑↑↑ Deutsch ↑↑↑ ↓↓↓ English ↓↓↓

Today Judith Brandner introduced four authors at the Nagoya City University who did not name German as their mother tongue all their life. The short reports about Sina Tahayori, Zwetelina Damjanova-Ortega, Michael Stavaric and Sohn Young are from a radio series called “Elsewhere – writing in German – thinking multilingual” and were very interesting and impressive. Christa Stippinger with Zentrum Exil and her literature award „Writing between cultures“ played and plays an important role in the development of those four unique personalities and their works.

What connects them is the experience that each language opens up a new world. This is also my experience from teaching language classes in several Japanese universities. Each language encompasses a specific form of thinking and communicating that mirrors society, its values and traditions in certain ways. Language is more than language. Language is a packaging for culture.

If you learn a new language you have to experience the culture of the language region and at best personally interact with people living there. You have to understand the cultural background of a language. The further away the new language is from your own origin, the harder this can turn out to be.

Links
www.zentrumexil.at
Nachhören unter www.judithbrandner.at