Winterim Travel Updates

3/10/2011

This month, Upper Schoolers are traveling the globe on Winterim—educational, exchange, and service-learning trips. Students and staff are on trips to: Belize; China and Korea; India (student exchange with Podar International School); Paris, Pamplona, and Barcelona; Senegal; Austria, Germany, and Switzerland; a Global Studies Program to New York City and Washington, D.C.; and local Boston trips.

Following are some excerpts from recent blog entries made by the trips with Internet access:

From the China Winterim trip

3/15/11
We had another amazing day in Seoul yesterday! We began the day at the Palace, the History of Seoul Museum, and a visit to the Blue House (house of the President). Sharin and I then left the group to to some business with student recruitment, and the students and the chaperones along with the trip leader went shopping. We then all met at the Kim Family's Furniture Museum followed by the most magnificent dinner we have ever had. Prepared by a French chef, our dinner had a spring theme of seven delicious courses. We ended the evening presenting a birthday cake to Houghton, which was the most beautiful cake in the world, and then thanked our student hosts and families. The constant generousity of our Korean families has created deep appreciation in all of us, and we hope we return their kindness.

3/13/11
We had a wonderful day in Seoul! We began the day at the Folk Museum where we saw a traditional Korean wedding, a traditional farmers' music and dance that included beautiful ribbon dancing, and an acrobate on a tight rope! The students played traditional Korean games, ate traditional sweets and snacks, and looked through the gift shops. After our great time there, we went to a Korean BBQ restuarant for lunch. It was both fun and delicious. After that the students had a lesson in Taekwondo by Master Lee Byoung Ho who holds an 8th Dan Black Belt as well as many distinguishing international positions as an instructor. Each student was presented with his or her own personalized uniform! It was so much fun to watch them learn a new skill! Sharin Russell and I left the group to join our Korean parents for a dinner at the Seoul Club where we had such a great time getting to know each other. The students went with the chaperones and our tour guide to a show, dinner, and shopping.

3/12/11
We arrived on time in Seoul and the city is magnificent! The students are in their hotel rooms and are settling in for the night. This morning we did some shopping before going to the airport, and because we started so early, we got to see the shop keepers open their stores. We are learning that the kids LOVE to shop. And they like to eat, especially ice cream. At 5:00 Mrs. Oh met us at the airport and we took a bus to the downtown area where we ate dinner. They were given an hour to shop! It looks like Times Square X2!
We have an early start to our day, so I will try to write more tomorrow. From the sound of the bus, the kids really like Seoul!

We are up early this morning so we can leave in time to meet the Primary School children before they break at 10:00 for brunch. The morning will be spent with the school children, and then we will be stopping at a jade museum and do some village shopping. We had a full day yesterday.

From the France/Spain Winterim trip

Zaragoza to Barcelona, Our Last City
3/14/2011
The group said goodbye to bus driver and amigo Francisco as they checked in to their Barcelona hotel.

Biarritz—playground of the rich and famous (and Brimmer & May)

3/11/2011

The group headed to the warmer south and Biarritz.

3/10/2011

The France and Spain group headed south to the Loire Valley, admiring the expansive grounds and maze at Chenonceau along their route to a lovely country inn in the Dordogne region.

From the India Winterim trip

Second Day Impressions

3/9/2011

When we arrived at the school this morning, we were greeted by G.C. Rao, the principal of the Podar International School [Brimmer and May's sister school]. We then took part in an assembly during which students, wearing traditional dress from their native states in India, introduced themselves and spoke briefly about where their families are from. Another class gave a yoga demonstration, and a third class sang a song for us. The students were delighted to find a basketball court where they played with students while the teachers spoke with the principal about philosophies and the systems of education in India and the United States. Later in the morning, we were pleased to attend two art exhibitions that displayed pieces from each student in the morning and afternoon sessions. We met the art teachers and spoke with the students about their work. Finally, we attended an interactive session with students from standards 8 and 9. Podar students asked our students and teachers questions about our impressions of the school, what we have observed here so far, and the differences between education in India and the US.

Yesterday after our visit to the school, we had lunch and then attended the Agha Khan Palace where Mahatma and Kusturba Gandhi were imprisoned during the Quit India Movement. It is now a museum dedicated to the Mahatma and the freedom fighters. We then went to Sunivar Fort, where Emporer Aurangzab was defeated during the Moghul Dynasty. Students and teachers then retired to their host families homes for the rest of the evening. Upon meeting this morning, we all remarked about the warm hospitality we have received from each of our families and our enjoyment at getting to know them.

From the Austria/Germany/Switzerland Winterim trip
3/15/2011
Monday was our last day, and it was another bus day. Michaela performed yeoman's work in breaking up the trip with wonderful stops.

We said goodbye to the consensus favorite hotel of the trip (Alpenhof) and started down the mountain to meet up with the Rhine river in the Swiss city of Schaffhausen. The Rhine drops about 30 feet and takes a sharp left at Schaffhausen, and the result is a spectacular waterfall. The falls themselves are smaller in scale than one would expect, but they are violent and, coupled with the castle on a nearby cliff, make for an impressive view. Revisiting the model train motif from yesterday, a passenger train circled around the cliff, passed under the castle, and crossed the falls on the opposite side of our view. Students were duly awed by the scenery, but alas there were many kilometers still to go.

Michaela had our new driver, Marek, chart a path through the Black Forest in order to head north to Heidelberg. Everything that has been written or said about the Schwartzwald is accurate; the forest is beautiful. Apparently it gets its name from the fact that the trees are so close together, giving the forest a heavy, dark feel. As we drove by copses of trees we peeked in, and sure enough there was no light to be seen on the forest floor. We stopped at a small roadside hotel for lunch and received a demonstration on the history and construction of cuckoo clocks. Some of the larger ones display intricate scenes of people drinking beer, climbing ladders to steal a kiss, etc., but they also go for 1500 euros.

3/13/2011
Lucerne is just about perfect, on the shores of a deep blue lake and surrounded by picture-perfect mountains.

We started our exploration of the city with a visit to one of Europe’s most famous and moving monuments: The Dying Lion. In 1792, a number of Swiss Guard (they protect royalty all over Europe... today they guard the pope) died while protecting King Louis XVI during the Terror of the French Revolution. Just doing their job defending an otherwise indefensible tyrant, the Swiss Guard were overcome by the hordes of the Third Estate as they sought redress for 400 years of horrible treatment (remember your A Tale of Two Cities...) The memorial is a huge dying lion, wounded by a spear in his side, still grasping his shield as his tries to fulfill his duty. The statue was carved directly into the face of a cliff of pure, sheer granite, and its effect is powerful. We then made our way to the “Altestadt” (Old Town) and had a walking tour of the medieval part of the city, crossing the Kappelbrucke, a 13th century covered footbridge that served to fortify the city’s defenses, and visiting an ornate Jesuit church. The students then had a chance to explore the city on their own and see another part of Swiss culture: luxurious shopping.

After lunch, we boarded the bus to climb Mount Titlis to visit the medieval town of Engelberg (“Angel Mountain). There are those angels again, but I can see how the monks who first settled this plateau could feel they were visited by a divine presence; the views were nothing short of inspiring. Michaela took us to the original monastery, founded in the early 12th century, and showed us the cheese factory there. Students had the chance to see artisans making a fresh batch of cheese and also sample some of their wares.

3/12/2011
There's actually not a lot to say about today... "bus" pretty much sums it up. We had to make our way across Austria in order to be closer to our eventual departure city... the EF title of this itinerary is "Vienna to the Rhine", and we would finally make it there today. We had to travel through four countries to do it... we started in Austria, passed through Germany, made a quick stop in Liechtenstein, and ultimately stopped in our beautiful little hotel in the small farming village of Melchtal about twenty miles outside of Lucerne.

One final note... Leslie Guggiari, a Brimmer and May alumna, is the Dean of Students at Franklin College, an American/Swiss college near the Italy/Switzerland border. She came to meet us at the hotel, had dinner with the students, and had a little Q&A about schooling abroad and and fascinating chat about Swiss culture. She will also spend the day with us tomorrow.

Germany

Denken Daran Wie Wir Hier Starben

3/10/2011

Well, I guess a day like today is the prima facie example of why we have a program like Winterim. We talk a great deal about global education and why it's so important to our identity as a school. Experiences like today will help them understand as they continue to grow into adulthood.

When one thinks about it, it becomes clear that ultimately all of our special programs at Brimmer and May have the implicit goal of helping students see outside of themselves. Middle School Inspirations, Lower School Community Service Day, Outlook, the Lower School Life Rules and Gators of the Week... these programs ask students to think first of the "the other" and what our roles are in service of him/her. Winterim provides a concrete opportunity for students to step far outside themselves and experience the world in all its temporal forms: past, present, and future. One cannot walk through Dachau without a profound sense of "the other" and how, as a human race, we too often fail him/her. I know the students felt it today.

As far as the Dachau memorial is concerned, it is a place of a preternatural quiet that belies the cacophony of evil and anguish of its previous incarnation. We all felt the power of the Dachau's silence and carried it with us when we departed.

3/9/11

Our first stop of the day was the tour of the Berchtesgaden Salt Mines. The industry has been active in the region for more than 800 years, and the people at Berchtesgaden have put together a slick, multimedia tour to explain the salt mining process and its effect on both the Salzburg region and the world. We all donned coveralls and boarded a tiny tram that took us into the heart of the mountain. After descending a couple of wooden slides that miners used in the 1900's, we were far under the surface and travelled to various stations that explained the process of extracting salt from earth. To make a long geological story short, way back in the time of the dinosaurs a large inland sea covered most of Germany. As the continents shifted into their present formation, that sea was eventually covered by earth and rock; the water eventually evaporated and left behind massive deposits of salt. Unfortunately, in its natural form, salt is quite porous and does not lend itself to traditional drilling. The Germans engineered a method of pumping water into the mines, dissolving the salt into a thick brine, and pumping that brine to a refinery some thirty-seven kilometers away. The students got a thorough education on the entire process, including having the opportunity to take a short boat ride across one of the saline "lakes". In all, it was a pretty neat experience, and the kids had a great time.

Next we had a short bus ride into Salzburg, birthplace of Mozart and home to most of the story of The Sound of Music. The visit was more like a pit-stop as there was no formal tour; Michaela gave us a quick orientation, and the students had a couple of hours to explore on their own. Some students visited Mozart's birth home, some students shopped, some played a little soccer in the town square...

We then boarded the bus for Munich, had dinner downtown, and retired finally to our hotel on the outskirts of the city. The schedule is pretty full tomorrow; guided tour of Munich in the morning and exploration of the work camp Dachau in the afternoon.

March Media Madness Winterim trip

3/11/2011
March Media Madness students began their day by looking up weather, news, and sports information from around the world, including all of th eWinterim locations. We then took the T downtown and had lunch at the Top of the Hub Restaurant on the 54th floor of the Prudential building, just as the rain clouds started to clear out.

DAY FOUR-BOSTON MOVIES, AQUARIUM VISIT

3/10/2011

On Thursday, nine March Media Madness students watched clips and trailers from more than 20 movies and TV shows made in or about Boston locations, including Fever Pitch which features Brimmer and May graduate Monica Neidermeyer in a cameo sitting behind Jimmy Fallon at Fenway Park, the Company Men, filmed in part in Framingham, as well as classics like Good Will Hunting. Then we took the T and saw the New Engalnd Aquarium.

DAY THREE-VISIT TO BOSTON AD AGENCY

3/10/2011

On Wednesday, March Media Madness students visited the Studiocom ad agency in Boston, and learned how they advertise Dunkin Donuts and other products on social media. Creative Director John Gonella and Associate Creative Director Jane Goldman spent about 90 minutes with us. We then headed over to see the church on Boston common where Garrison preached against slavery, the State House, and the Mass 54th Regiment memorial by Saint Gaudens.

DAY TWO-BOSTON GLOBE/JFK LIBRARY VISITS

3/10/2011

On Tuesday, students first got some background about the print media and its history, then looked over columns by Alex Beam as a preperation for a visit to the Globe. We visited the Globe and then toured the JFK Library to get a look at the media in the 1960s and JFK's presidency. See Keynote on Alex Beam and the Globe.

Washington, D.C. Winterim trip

The Newseum
A fantastic and comprehensive new museum focusing on the history and impact of the news media--paper, broadcast, internet, etc.-- the Newseum offered an excellent opportunity for students to look at both historic, recent, and current events through the eyes of both domestic and international media. Exhibits on 9/11, Media History, Pulitzer Prize Photographs, Ethics in the Media, Hurricane Katrina, and many others were engaging and informative about the world we once knew and the world we live in today....

The Holocaust Memorial Museum
After lunch at the Zoo we took the Metro to the Smithsonian stop and walked the few blocks down the street to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. This powerful memorial to the victims of the Holocaust presents a chronology of events from the rise of Hitler’s Germany and the characteristics and geography of the European Jewish population prior to World War II and throughout the war. We began our visit to the museum by sitting in on the First Person Speaker presentation held in the Rubenstein Auditorium. Jacqueline Mendels Birn survived the Holocaust as a child when her family fled Paris for the French countryside of the Vichy Republic. During a powerful hour-long interview, Mrs. Birn spoke of her family’s experiences during this horrifying period of her life. Following this special presentation, we toured the museum exhibits from the sixth floor down to the first. The history presented here was a very sobering and necessary lesson....

The Pentagon
We rode the Metro against the early morning commute to Arlington,Virginia for our 9:00 a.m. tour of the Pentagon. It was only a short two stops away, and when we came top-side at the Arlington National Cemetery, we had a good view of this landmark in the morning sunlight. We went back underground for our destination, the Pentagon, and Walter directed us to the security check point for our tour of the Department of Defense. Once inside the massive building we waited for our tour to begin. A large group of visitors had assembled and our small group was split up into three other groups for the tours. The guides are all activity duty members of their respective Honor Guards: Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines, and Navy. They wore dress uniforms and guided the groups in twos, one at the front walking backwards and one at the rear to keep the group together. We started the tour in the Pentagon’s shopping mall area -- 23,000 people work in the Pentagon, and this makes it into a small city in itself! We walked by offices and departments, through the courtyard, and into the area where the building was struck on 9/11. We visited the indoor memorial site for the victims and saw the exterior site through the $10,000 windows that are used throughout the building. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed to be taken during the tour, but our guides were exceptional and left a lasting impression of the US military man’s character and conduct.

Click here to read more about Brimmer and May's Winterim Program.

Winterim Travel Updates

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