Well here i am back at GNG NYC. Being back feels like i am in a dream. I really had the most amazing time traveling on SAS and working in the field for GNG. We met so many amazing people along the way who i will never forget. Some of my favorite moments were spent with students we met along the way who took us into their homes and shared their lives with us. I will also cherish the memories of all the fun times i had interacting with students, faculty, staff, life long learners and their partners who traveled on the ship with us.
I think the most important thing which i realized along the way is that the world isn't a big scary place. Everywhere is within our reach and people are warm, friendly and gracious on every corner of the earth.
Thanks everyone for tuning in for this GNG adventure!
Peace Out!
Joanna
Ps- The picture below was taken when Mark, Ben and I along with our SAS buddies caught up with the ship in Qingdao after disembarking in Hong Kong to travel to Beijing. After our travels in China there was no place like home...the MV EXPLORER.
May 15, 2007
May 09, 2007
May 04, 2007
KING OF BEEF
Kobe My Beef
I wanted a restaurant that would be able to serve me a small affordable piece of what I had been told was the best beef in the world. So much of the actual meal is the ambiance and this was as important to me as the food itself. I hoped to find a nice, friendly, small, elegantly lit place, full of charm. It was our last day in Kobe and I was on a mission. Three hours before having to be on board the MV explorer….I turned the corner to a small side street and spotted this big fat silver dude…a sign perhaps?
I peered past the white scrolls and opened the wooden door and what a scene…..just what I was looking for.
I walked in and took a place in the corner at the counter.
What a charming place. The counter and the surrounding tables were all so nicely set up.
People were grilling their food right in front of themselves on these hot plates…a Japanese style of cooking called Hibatchi.
Well, I guess my Kobi beef was too important for me to cook. The chef took care of it…
Out it came, placed in front of me, KOBE BEEF, garnished with all kinds of exotic vegetables.
The first bite said it all. Truly the best piece of meat I have ever had. So good that I had to stare at the last piece for quite some time, before saying goodbye to it and popping it in my mouth.
If any of you ever make it to Kobe, below are the details. Drop by and order some Kobe beef…you will not regret it.
A picture with Yuki, and a big thank you for the best meal I have had in months and off I was back to the MV Explorer.
May 02, 2007
When Tomorrow is....Today?
I gotta change speeds here. Stop (wait for it.....) monkeying around More posts, less verbage. I love writing, but it's actually pretty difficult for me. I feel like it takes a lot to get the engine going. Once I do, everything's peachy, but getting to that point, battling writer's block, trying to avoid my natural inclination for schmaltz with a layer of cheese on top, is pretty exhausting. And then once I finally start writing, I feel like I'm vomiting up a ton of pseudo existential wannabe streewise mish-mash all over the page. I even got a little on my shirt.
Anyway, I think maybe rather than reading Moby Dick lite, all three readers of this blog would probably prefer shorter posts more often. At least I would, and that's all that counts, right? Thanks to Saul for lighting a fire under my butt(that's figuratively, not literal folks). Right, so...on with the show.
Today is May 2nd. So is tomorrow. awesome! In other words, tonight we cross the international date line, so we repeat the same day twice. Trippy. It'll be like my own mini Groundhog Day(a highly underrated film...how great is Bill Murray. If "I Got You Babe" starts playing on my alarm, I'll know I'm in trouble. Especially since my alarm clock doesn't have a radio).
But I digress. I'm backed up on countries to write about, but I wanted to get a chance to mention Penang, Malaysia. One interesting aspect of our mini docs for the Global Nomads Group is our initial concern about balance in who we portrayed in the pieces. What I mean is, after South Africa, we felt like we had too many strong male subjects, and not enough female subjects. Yet, ironically, from Cape Town on, we only have female subjects. It wasn't really planned, just the way things ended up. But also interestingly, in the broadcasts I found in the port cities that it was the girls that really stood out for me, in terms of what they had to say and how eloquent they were in saying it. This isn't to say that they overshadowed the boys, but probably has more to do with my expectations of male/female roles in societies other than that of the western world. Nowhere else was this more surprising than in Malaysia.
Being a Muslim country, perhaps I expected the women to be more quiet, deferring more to the men in social situations and discussions. Whoa was I wrong. Our main subject, Alia, was great. So smart, charismatic, and not afraid to speak her mind at all. She was everything we could have asked for in a subject for our piece. And she wasn't alone. Her friend Wali, as well as many of the other female students that took part in our broadcasts from Penang, we exceptional in representing themselves. They brought up some really fascinating points about Islam, particularly in Asia. They are allowed to drive, they dress in much more colorful outfits and headscarves, and are allowed to show their face and feet, unlike many Muslim women in Arab countries apparently.
But the biggest issue they addressed was the need for understanding, for not judging all Muslims by the terrible actions of a few(just as I hope they don't judge us by the few Americans-unfortunately those in power, that have tore apart Iraq), for people to educate themselves, not just through books or films, but on a personal level, to reach out and get to know those(in this case Muslims) in your community that would give us a better and more real appreciation of what the culture and religion is all about. It's been an education for me, seeing firsthand what GNG is able to do in its' video conferences. For people of different cultures to see each other and talk, face to face, about misperceptions they may have about each other, and realize they're not so different.
It's just really powerful to bear witness to. I guess that's what GNG is all about, trying to make those personal connections, the kind, in this world of Internet, video games, TV and movies, I feel like we could all use more of. They say the world is getting smaller all the time. If that's so, we better get to know our neighbors, and not draw the blinds and shut ourselves up in our little condo. Cus you never know when we'll need to borrow some sugar. And besides, we smell them cooking some awesome food, and we heard they throw a pretty good party, so they might fun to hang out with after all.
(I have no idea what that means, but I think you get the idea).
~Ben
Joanna, a student, Wali, Alia, and some weird dude who just rolled up last minute
April 23, 2007
Vietnam: Scooters, Temples and Churches, Water Puppets, and the Mekong Delta floating Market, all for the Price of One Blog. Everything included, special price…..free.
Vietnam was fast paced and action packed. Not a moment’s rest, which was a good thing – we wanted it all – and we sure got it! Our board member, Pam Taylor, joined us. This was a really nice surprise and she jumped straight into our mad schedule and played along. Crossing the street in Ho Chi Minh City was an exciting adventure, but even more so, was riding on the back of a scooter throughout the city. Scooters dominate, cars don’t. And if your driver is a dominant and aggressive scooter driver then be prepared for a massive adrenaline rush.
Fresh off the ship, we jumped on scooters and headed out to visit some churches and temples. Quite a surprise to find that in communist Vietnam there were rather large churches and temples.
We stopped by, soaked in the worshiping going on……
jumped back on our scooters and headed for a unique Water Puppet show. An almost lost ancient Vietnamese art, started over 1000 years ago by rice paddy farmers, recently over the last decade, it is slowly coming back mainstream.
This was an awesome show.
Check out the soon to be posted webumentaries on both scooter driving and water puppets.
2 a.m. on our last day we rented a small motorboat and headed for the Mekong Delta…zipping up the Saigon river and arriving to the floating market on the Mekong Delta at sunrise was another rich experience that none of us will forget.
remember comments are for free so go ahead and feel free to leave one!
A BLOG IN THE FORM OF AN E-MAIL
I HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT MY E-MAIL UPDATES TO THE EXECUTIVES HAVE BEEN INFORMATIVE SO I HAVE DECIDED TO SHARE THE LATEST ONE ON MY BLOG……enjoy, I hope ☺
Hello Les,
Two amazing port cities and programs have passed us by and we arrive in Hong Kong tomorrow. A quick update. Malaysia was initially a huge concern because a few days before our arrival the selected school in Penang cancelled on us. Initially the very enthusiastic teacher had confirmed the schools participation only to have the Headmaster cancel last minute as he felt it was too political...having the students discuss Islam and what it really means to be a Muslim, with their counterparts in the US. So GNG headed straight to Malaysia’s Science University....a sprawling beautiful campus in Penang. The dean was quite surprised by our unannounced entrance and presentation, especially when he heard the first broadcast was to take place the next day! He was most appreciative of our work and mission, and granted us permission. Anyway this was probably our most successful program to date. Not only were the 20 Malaysian Muslims all incredibly articulate but the girls, whom I had thought might be a little quieter than the boys, proved to be much more outgoing and comfortable discussing Islam. We had an amazing professor Dr. Zailan Morris, head of Islamic studies, joined by Dr. Mary Keller from SAS, participate in the last conference. Many students and professors attended all three. The second conference, about 12 of Dr. Rohweder’s students attended and spent the whole of the next day on a private tour of Penang with their new found friends. They were raving about this experience and two of the SAS students have said they will share, via an essay, their experience. I will send this when they do so.
Vietnam was a difficult one, in that we had technical issues with the vc unit at the US consulate! We were lucky to have about 20 SASers (mainly professors, their families and staff) come and even though this first conference did not connect with youth in the US, we turned it into a live face-to-face with SASers and the Vietnamese students laughed and really had fun. We conducted a remote broadcast the next day from a park that included about 15 SAS students mainly from Dr. Rohweder’s class. They participated in the live conference with about 20 Vietnamese students and the discussion went really well. We focused mainly on culture but religion was discussed towards the end with some odd moments that held testament to the still (granted better than even some years ago) rather taboo subject of religion.
Two days ago, amongst stiff competition from 4 other events, we aired our GNG Rwanda Alive documentary. It is about a young girl, Ingrid, who enlightens the viewer to the awful Genocide that took place when she was 6 years old, but with a very powerful positive message. The 20 people that joined the GNG team were touched by it and we discussed the film afterwards.
We plan to air two more documentaries on Iraq sometime before our arrival to Hawaii as well as a screening of the mini-docs we have created in each port city.
Great news, Larry and I had a meeting with the Archbishop and he has agreed to be involved in a live broadcast from the ship right after our arrival in Hawaii, Monday morning, 7th of May. The idea is to involve about 15 SAS students. Students whom the Archbishop would like to participate with and students who were involved with the GNG port city programming. Our thoughts are to a) have the Archbishop talk about the importance of young people around the world communicating with each other and b) have the SAS students share their amazing SAS experience.
Greetings to everyone,
Mark
Dr. Zailan Morris presenting Islam to youth across the US
Malaysian Muslim participants
Malaysian Muslim participants
Group of Vietnamese youth
Vietnamese youth with Mark holding up two traditional dresses
Joanna in action
April 22, 2007
Hey(India), been trying to meet you...
In the past, just the thought of traveling to India made me sweat a little bit. I would conjure up Images of heat, poverty, and complete anarchy in the streets...basically 16th and Mission on a busy Friday night, with the temperature of 100 degrees. I envisioned an army of paraplegic beggars, tugging on my shirt, my only escape to run to the Hare Krishna temple across the street, where due to my fragile state they convince me to sell all my belongings and hand out pamphlets at the airport with a perma-grin on my face.
Yet whatever my idiot preconceived notions, It was still a place I knew I had to visit, a place I knew a big part of me wanted to go. The food, the way of life, the spirituality ingrained I knew it was something I wanted to experience...but whenever it was time to start planning a new trip, I always brushed India aside. I said to myself, I'm not sure if I want to take time out of my hectic life, to go somewhere where just going to the bathroom can be hectic. Ah, Delhi belly. Good times.
But one out of many reasons I've been grateful for the opportunity to participate in this program and be on the Semester At Sea ship, is that it brought me to India. It's a place I'd like to think I would have built up the gumption at some point in my life to visit. But who knows? Maybe I would have always found another place, another reason to avoid it.
But there I found myself early on a sunday morning, filming as we pulled into the dock, hundreds of thoughts running through my head, sort of getting psyched up to go toe to toe with whatever Chennai had to offer.
And sure enough, as soon as we got off the ship, in search of a quick bite before heading off to the school we were going to be broadcasting from, we got a quick, and jarring introduction to India. Leaving the comfy confines of the MV Explorer and it's icy AC, I think I broke a sweat in the first five steps outside the ship, as we walked past the coal factory the ship was docked next to (Chennai is not a big destination for cruise ships) and towards the throngs of auto rickshaw drivers gathered outside the gate. The sun and humidity beating down on us, we were set upon by the drivers like locusts as we passed the gate into the street, each one asking where we were going and telling us they would give us the best deal. 
Insisting we just wanted to walk around, they just kept up the hard sell, following us for the next 2 blocks, honking their horns, or following us on foot, trying to get us in their little rickshaws. Eventually they turned back, seeing more ripe prospects coming thru the gate. But this wasn't before they passed the baton to a combination of street vendors and beggars. We eventually got some good Indian food, and made the trek back to the ship, I think a bit battered from our first experience into India.
Although this first experience reinforced some of my preconceived notions of what the country was about, the reality is that the rest of the trip proved to be much different from what I expected. The most stunning aspect of life here that I hadn't expected was the hospitality we encountered over and over again. The people were just so kind, wanting to introduce us to everybody in their family, and the family that lived next to them, their uncle that lived down the street, the cousin that lived across town. And the food....everyplace we were, we were offered vast quantities of amazing food. But in a way, given our schedule and what we had to get done for our project, the hospitality was almost too excessive. I'll get to that later, but in some ways it was like we were killed by kindness.
One of the most difficult aspects of making the documentary pieces in each port city has been finding the right subject in an extremely short amount of time. Each port we've gone to, we have to find a person who is about the right age for our demographic, which is roughly 17-22, and who is the religion we're focusing on. This is without much pre-production, because without seeing them and checking out how they are on camera, we can't make any judgments on how good a subject they'll be for our piece. But given the fact we have about four to five days in each port, we basically have to find a person that not only fits the basic criteria, but also hopefully is an intelligent, well-spoken person...in our first or second day in port. This is a tall order, and means that we need to get most of our footage with the subject, like an interview, and footage with them with their friends, families, and where they worship, in the remaining two to three days. Yikes. We've been extremely lucky so far, in that all the subjects we've been able to convince to be a part of Currents have been fantastic. And Nythia, our subject in Chennai, was no different.
We met her on the day of the first broadcast, and immediately felt like she would be a great subject. During the broadcast, you could see she was the most eager to speak, and was articulate and precocious. I spoke to her after the conference, explained what we were looking for and inquiring if she had free time over the next two days, and she thankfully agreed to be a part of our program. Me, Mark, and Joanna were excited about working with her, and felt good as we mapped out the next two days of filming. But, you know what they say about best-laid plans. Yeah, me neither. So I googled it-"the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry". In other words, things didn't go according to plan, or at least not as much as I was hoping to. But the funny thing is the reason behind why I didn't get as much footage as I'd hoped: it was the kindness of the people involved that got in the way.
From the first morning of shooting with Nythia, we were invited to eat with her family. After shooting a quick interview and tour of her home, we had to rush off with headmaster of the school who had helped us greatly in getting our broadcasts together and putting us in touch with Nythia. He wanted me to film his other school, and then sit down for some lunch with some of his teachers. Then I had to rush back and try to shoot more with Nythia and her family, but they insisted I have another snack with them. Nythia's mom, a very outgoing, nurturing woman, had been dismayed about my lack of appetite earlier, and expected me to eat more this time around. Going on my third meal in 2 1/2 hours, I stuffed my face until it felt like my gut was going to burst. I waddled around, shooting her family cooking and eating, until we had to take off to do the GNG Broadcast at a nearby temple.
After the broadcast, I was able to get Nythia and a couple of her friends together for an impromptu discussion about women's role in Indian society. It went well, but afterwards I was taken on a tour of all the friends’ homes. I was introduced to their families, their neighbors, grandparents.... basically it was an instant block party wherever we went. And we went to ALOT of homes. Over the next 48 hours, this happened constantly. I grew a bit frustrated by the whole process. I was happy to meet everyone, but I felt like it was all happening at the expense of the project. I could hear the clock ticking in my head, telling me I only had a few hours left to get all of the important segments for our doc. All the while I could hardly think straight, because of all the food everyone kept stuffing me with I was in a constant state of curry coma. I think at that point if you had cut me I would have bled masala dosa.
I think the basic problem was I have such an American mentality, go go go, get the job done, move fast, get it, and move on. It was a tough transition for me, to slow down, to incorporate ritual and tradition when I was so stressed out on just getting what I needed. But in our final minutes together, as I was about to hop into a cab that would hopefully speed me along back to the ship so I could make it before missing our departure (I was cutting it close), Nythia said something to me.
I was running around like a maniac, trying to get all of these shots I thought were necessary for the piece, and as I was shooting her family gathered outside of her home, she comes up to me, happy, and tells me how much me being with her, finding out more about her life and world, has meant to her. "These last few days have meant a lot to me, they have been very precious and I’ll not forget them. Ben, at first I was intimidated by you, of the way you looked, of your demeanor, you seemed so serious. But now, now that we’ve got to know each other, I think you are my best friend." It was like a slap in the face with a big lovable marshmallow. I got a little veklempt, or maybe it was the dust in my eye. Hard to tell. But as I said my goodbyes and zoomed off in my little rickshaw back to the ship, and off again to a new destination, I realized how amazing Nythia, and everyone else I had met were. I might not have been able to film everything I had hoped, but we still ended up with some amazing stuff. But more importantly is realizing the impact I had on my subject. And the impact she, and the rest of them, has had on me.
Sometimes, in this work, you find yourself being selfish. You just take and take, put demands on subjects without ever giving back. But we can give back, not only by giving people a chance to tell their story, but also just be being considerate, good people, interested in finding out about their life and culture. It's not just a job, making this type of work. It's a passport into another world, where, so far on this trip, we've been brought in not as strangers, but treated as friends. Nythia's words really hit home, and even though in the heat of the moment I was a tad irritated by the time I lost through the constant offerings of hospitality and the visits to all the homes, I know realize that time wasn’t lost at all.
I realize how special those moments were, and, considering what they gave me-access to their homes, their lives, their religion and spirituality, the absolute least I could have done was to eat one more pappadom and meet one more grandmother in law. As Mick says, you can’t always get what you want, and if you try sometime, you get what you need. And boy, I needed that. I needed a reminder of the impact I have as documentarian, and how important it is to not forget to give back. So thanks to all the young people that were involved in our India project, and all the other projects. And a special thank you to my new best friend.
Nythia & family kickin w/ Joanna after our shoot
March 21, 2007
Sister Christian
Expectations can be funny things. It was only a few days ago, but if feels like weeks since we left Cape Town. It was a fascinating place, and the process of filming our Currents episode there was truly educational, but maybe in a different way then I anticipated.
Through our search to find a good subject for our Cape Town piece, we found Garrett, a very bright, cool guy just starting his studies at the University of Cape Town. One of the more interesting experiences was checking out Garrett's church. He belongs to Friends First, which is a Pentecostal church that seems to be very popular among young people in Cape Town, especially the suburbs. Most of the kids were white, and seemingly well off. It reminded me a bit of some of the kids known as the "God Squad" that I would meet while an Undergrad at UC San Diego. They would be these total surfer types, and every now and then they'd approach me(for some reason always at the old student center, where all the hippies/artistic types hung out), and while I'd be stuffing my face with some sort of millet/seaweed wrap and chugging my carob-soy-shake). The first time I expected them to ask me if I had any surf wax on me, or if I'd seen the swells this morning. But instead they would ask, in their best Nic Cage Valley Girl voice, if I'd accepted Jesus. The first time I think I nearly spit out my tofu, it was just so unexpected. But when I had time, I always enjoyed talking to them, I found them to be bright, and very dedicated to their faith, and extremely enthusiastic about spreading the word.
So walking into Friends First with Garrett for the sunday night service, I found the crowd to be very similar. It was almost like walking into some movie theater on a friday night -- just tons of high school and college age kids, dressed like they were at the mall, socializing with friends before the service started. We asked the leader of the church, Terren, a surfer/banker in his early 30s, if he would mind if we filmed the service, which they called a "meeting". We explained what GNG was about, and what our aim was with the Currents program. He said it wouldn't be a problem, and was extremely friendly. The meeting/service was fascinating. I don't want to give too much away, since Joanna is hard at work editing it for your viewing pleasure. But by the end I could definitely see the appeal for the young folks. Lots of music, multimedia slide shows, and all the preaching was done very matter of factly, speaking the kids language, not the typical, more ritualized sermons I've been to at my grandmother's Presbyterian church, or the catholic and Jewish services I've been to. My favorite moment at Friends First was after the service ended, and what had to have been close to 200 people attending came to the back of the room to have pie and juice. We were definitely attracting attention as we filmed Garrett interacting with his friends, and in between shooting a young woman asked what we were doing. I explained we were working on a short documentary about Garrett, to be part of larger series of shorts about young people and religion. She asked it was all on Christians, and I replied it was going to cover a broad spectrum of religion. Then she asked me what religion I was. I'm not sure why, but in my head I said a big "uh oh". Would I offend her if the answer was anything but Christian? Would she thing I was here to take advantage of them, to poke fun at their manner of worship?
I told her the truth, that I'm agnostic; in other words, I'm pretty sure there's something out there, but I'm still trying to work out what that something is. And i gotta tell you, I was so impressed with her response. Rather than being disappointed that I wasn't Christian, or seizing the moment and trying to convince me to join the flock, she said "wow, this project must be great for you then! Since you're so open-minded about religion, you can get a little taste of everything!"
What a cool attitude to have about it---especially when I was expecting something all-together different.
This is just one of a thousand stories I've accumulated over the few weeks on the job for Currents. I find myself coming into these situations involving religion with certain pre-conceptions, only to find them knocked to the floor, and the reality to be something I wouldn't have expected. That's what's so amazing about getting out of your comfort zone, and meeting new people from different cultures and countries. Heck, you don't even have to go to different countries to find this though. Just going to something outside your day to day in your own town or city can be just as rewarding an experience. Stopping to talk to the old guy who sits on the corner every sunday in my neighborhood in Brooklyn, or going to check out a local buddhist center in San Francisco when I was in grad school....it's all about bridging that gap, reaching out to find out more about the world around you.
amen.
We'll be in Chennai, India, in a few days. From everything I've heard about the amazing food, the intense poverty, the vitality of the people, the beauty of the temples, I'm sure the culture shock will cause my brain to explode in a million little pieces. Come back soon, we'll try and put them back together in my next entry. Until then, here's a look at Mauritius, where we stopped for a few days of R & R. It wasn't ugly.
-Ben
March 20, 2007
A little bit of South Africa....In my life
So, as Joanna mentioned, Pam Taylor, one of our board members, came to Cape Town to see us in action. It was great to have her support whilst we implemented our program. Here we are at the conference center, where she spoke with our colleagues in NYC right before the students came in
and then the conference got underway.
We were sad to leave Pam and Cape Town behind….and before doing so, we organized a on board visit so Pam could see what life was like on the ship….pics of our rooms and dining hall will come in a blog near your home town soon….
Of course we did not leave before screaming at the top of our voices “ VIVA GNG”
Peace Warrior also spent some time with us in Cape Town, specifically he insisted we take him to Table Mountain. At first we thought it was for the view….
but actually his gaze is over a most important part of South African history.
The infamous Robbin Island, which from 1960 till 1991 was a maximum-security prison for political prisoners under the apartheid regime. Including of course Nelson Mandela, a hero of peace and freedom to everyone around the globe. If you want to take a moment to learn more about Robbin Island and Nelson Mandela:
http://www.ddc.co.za/clients/tom/robben/index.html
As Warrior of Peace gazes he thinks of the men that have stood against the norms of their time and ignoring all odds, have accomplished great things. His advice to all of us? It’s in everyone of us…which was recently emphasized by another hero of peace and freedom, the Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who is circumnavigating the globe with us. Are we lucky or what? As The Arch might say…..”JUST DO IT”
