Blogs

I was not really excited to go to Timisoara at this time of the year because of the cold weather, but the perspective meeting good old colleague-friends kept me warm.
We came together for a doing2learn project meeting, sharing our work we have done, difficulties we had and still have and discussed how to proceed.

I have been doing these European projects since seven years now and it is very often quite disenchanting and frustrating. There are many players in the ring with different motives which are not always conform with the meaning of the project or the European framework. Mostly, those people who created the project and carried out the work are enthusiastic at the beginning, trying to bring fresh ideas into their organisations and trying to motivate people to broaden their horizon by learning something.

2010 is the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion in adult education. To start his year, the European Commission organised a conference in Brussels, Management Centre of Europe, over three days (26-28 January 2010).
It was the first time I attended a conference like this, and I wanted to take the opportunity to not only meet people and new potential partners, but also to promote eduate.eu. I was the first one to arrive at the Centre and, hence could see who was coming in, and who'd be my first target. :-)
Over the three days, I learned a lot about what those people would like to have and what they need. I questioned and listened to them in the plenary, in workshops and, of course, one on one.
I noticed what people want is a tool to disseminate their projects and outcomes, a tool to network and to see what others are up to, a tool that is simple and easy to use.

This was my third trip to Poland. The first one I made in the early 90s, private, searching traces of someone's family. I have uncomfortable memories from that trip, not only because we visited the Auschwitz concentration camp, the whole environment was a bit strange. The second time I travelled to Poland, at the end of the 90s, I stayed in Krakow and I was surprised how vital the city was, even though the whole centre was a big re-construction site.

Now also my third trip, the time couldn't be worse. It was very cold, wet and dark and I haven't seen any blue sky for 4 days.
A French teacher picked us up at Krakow airport to ease the conversation during the two hours drive to Cieszyn (usually, French people do not speak English, might be a prejudice, but it is often true).
On the way to Cieszyn, we passed Oswiecim, saw the museum of the concentration camp and I still got the creeps. I can't imagine how to live in such a place with the visibility of the horrifying past.

The book has a simple mission

realize when it is enough
- stop working when it is enough
- stop eating when it is enough
- stop consuming when it is enough
- stop YOU-NAME-IT when it is enough

My problem is sometimes to notice when it is enough.

It is this kind of cycle: more work -> more money -> more needs -> more things .... you know it.

Sorry for the delay between the event and the post :-) too much work.

Nov 27th, 8:30
Coming from the warm Gerone/Spain I arrived a bit late. I used my chance being in Vienna to look for an cast iron spiral staircase for our house. This shop has wonderful staircases but they know also how to make money - 7.500 € + taxes + transportation.

10:30
I arrived at the registration desk in the wonderful main building of Technische Universität, bought the cool Kaiser T-Shirt and got a cup of coffee from a strange drupalized coffee machine.

6:00 I leave the hotel in Milano. The day before I walked through Milano and was impressed. I have to come back for a closer look. See pictures. The Metro in Milano opens at 6am. I miss the bus at 7am. It is sooo cold and icy. I take the 7:45 bus to Crema. The distance between Crema and Milano is only 50 km but the bus stopped at EVERY busstop so it takes me 1.5 hours.

9:30 I arrive at the university campus in Crema. The Dipartimento di Tecnologie dell'informazione is a part of the university of Milano.

Last weekend I travelled to Machynlleth, the old capital of the former Kingdom Wales, until the English conquered Wales. The Welsh's were very visionary at that time (1404!), they already had a parliament, a constitution and equal rights for men and women. Very rare at that time!

It is easier to get to New York then to Machynlleth in Wales, which takes a whole day, even though its just 1,700 km away from Fitou.
I stayed in a beautiful middle of nowhere, it rained nearly all time and was very cold, but also very romantic. That part of Wales seems to be one of the last natural paradise.
Those Brits, which could afford it, bought old farm houses to live far away from civilization, enjoying a natural life (one of them is the boss of Tesco). Hence, the prices for land and houses increases dramatically which makes it nearly impossible for young locals to buy a property.

Unfortunately, I could not attend the Drupalcamp in Vienna, instead, a short outline how to classify the structure and dynamics of groups.

The structure

People form groups, when they want to distance themselves from others and create, however natured, a structure. This very simple group description includes two key elements: dissociation and structure.
A group can either be hermetically closed (there is no way out), it can be closed (there is hardly a way in, and hardly a way out) or a group is open (it is easy to belong and easily possible to leave the group).