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Skiing in the shadow of Vlad the Impaler

4/2/2016

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Chloe Levins is a senior at Rutland High School and enrolled in the Global Studies Concentration at the school.  Recently, her participation in a sport called biathlon took her across the Atlantic Ocean for international competitions.  Biathlon, the most popular winter sport in Europe, consists of shooting a .22 caliber rifle and cross-country skiing. This is her fourth year competing in biathlon and her second winter of international biathlon competitions. Below she describes her experiences in Romania.

​This past week, 13 young Americans from across the U.S.A. and myself competed at the Youth/Junior World Championships in Cheile Gradistei, Romania.  We stayed in a newly developed resort nestled in the heart of the Transylvanian Alps.  Being less than 10 kilometers from Castle Bran, also known as Dracula’s Castle, and within walking distance of the racing venue allowed us to have the perfect proximal balance of culture and racing.  

Romania, a former member of the Eastern Bloc, was under varying degrees of Soviet influence until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.  Now, Romania is an democratic Eastern European country.  It is a member of the European Union, but is not currently on the Euro.  Instead, it’s currency is called the Romanian “lei”.  About 1 American dollar is worth 4 lei.  Travel tip: find a currency exchange in the airport upon your arrival to your destination country!
Romanian, unlike the languages of other Eastern European countries, is a Romance language.  “Romania” itself means “Land of the Romans”.  Obviously, the language was still very foreign to us, but some parallels between Spanish and Romanian were tangible.  Some overlapping words that I was exposed to consisted mostly of greetings and numbers.  Travel tip: try to learn some native words before you leave the U.S.!  Being polite is important, and if you can use your manners in a language that local citizens understand, it’s even better!

Based on my experience in Belarus last year and this year in Romania, Eastern European food is similar across the board.  Every meal consisted of some form of potatoes: cubed, whole, mashed, baked, roasted, etc..  Other than potatoes, meat cutlets and soup were frequent occurrences at mealtime.  At the resort where we stayed, they also offered croissants and traditional dessert cakes from other Eastern European countries such as Lithuania.  These cakes were not as sweet as the cakes we eat for birthday celebrations in the U.S..  For example, the Lithuanian cake was made of white batter and a cheese filling with raisins.  On occasion the resort staff would make pizza and ice cream which was always a big hit among the Americans!
​On the second day in Romania, the youth girls and myself took a cab to one of the most famous tourist attractions in Romania: Dracula’s Castle.  Originally built as a structural protection for the mountain pass in the 13th century, the Castle Bran was home to many Romanian monarchs through the 17th century.  The most famous one, Vlad Dracul, influenced many books and Hollywood movies with the brutality of his torture tactics.  Vlad Dracul, also known as Vlad the Impaler, signed his name on documents as “Dracula”.  Although he was not a literal vampire, the vampire legend developed from the idea that he was “blood thirsty”.  Whether he actually drank people’s blood or not is undetermined.  

The castle itself is now a museum.  Most of the rooms were preserved and open for us to tour.  Nearly every room had a beautifully constructed fireplace lined with blue and white tiles.  Crowns, staffs, armor, and clothing was also on display.  One of the most interesting rooms, however, was the torture chamber.  In this room, there was a large chair with what looked like pointy wooden dowels on every inch of it’s surface.  Apparently, Dracula would weigh women on a scale compared to a bundle of rocks.  If the woman weighed less than the random assortment of rocks, Dracula deemed that the devil lived inside of her and she should be punished. 

In general, the accommodations and people at the resort made this trip very enjoyable for us.  Every morning, I woke up to the sun rising over beautiful mountains, similar looking to the Colorado Rockies. Although it was above freezing nearly every day, the race organizers did an excellent job of preserving the race track for us.  Not to mention, this was the most successful Youth/Junior Biathlon World Championships the United States has ever had!  We had one World Championship victory, three podiums, six top tens, and seven top twenties! There are only good memories left from my experience in Romania.
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Global Alumni - Rachel Black

30/8/2015

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PictureRachel in Tunisia, 2012
Rachel Black is a 2009 graduate of Rutland High School and was co-captain of the 2009 girls’ state champion lacrosse team. She is also a 2013 graduate of American University in Washington D.C. She currently lives in Los Angeles and teaches garden education as a FoodCorps Service Member. Her blog post reflects on her travels of the past four years and how they have changed her view on the world. She has been fortunate to travel through Asia, North Africa, the Caribbean, South America, and the Middle East and each has provided her with deeper cultural understanding , imbedded in her the importance of communication, and opened her eyes to the fact that some countries do ‘it’ better.


In the Fall of 2011, I studied abroad in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). I chose to study abroad in the UAE when I realized that the Arab World was a whole region that I knew nothing about besides what I was taught by the media and the few books that I had read. In 2001, I was 10 so I had pretty much grown up under this culture of fear, mistrust and hatred for the Middle East. I was influenced to believe that these people hated me and my culture. But, I wanted to find out more. So, I put in my application for the UAE and to this day, I think it was one of the best choices that I have ever made. Throughout the semester, I was continually bombarded with excited, friendly questions and eager friendship.  Everyone was so happy to have American exchange students who wanted to come to their country. They were so happy to hear that we did not think they were all terrorists and that we were open to hear them talk about Islam and how it had been misrepresented by the events of 9/11, extremist groups, and the media. They could not believe that we were interested and open minded because they thought everyone in the U.S. hated them. I remember leaving that semester with such a great appreciation for first hand cultural experiences because I saw so much similarity in what both of us assumed. We both assumed hatred by the others, we trusted what the media told us about each other (I saw some pretty interesting ‘American actor’ portrayals), and I knew that if everyone could have similar experiences there would be so much more cultural understanding, appreciation, and hopefully, peace.

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Egypt, 2011
In the Summer of 2012, I was a participant in the State Department’s Critical Language Scholarship Program in Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia where I took intensive formal Arabic and Tunisian dialect. This was probably one of the most brain exhausting experiences of my life, but also one of the most rewarding. The most important thing I took out of this summer was how much more than just communication that language gives you. Language allows you access to people and through them, you are allowed access to situations and cultural insights that you would not have had as an outsider. That summer because of my language skills, I was able to create a wonderful bond with my host mother, I was able to travel independently of the program seeing and experiencing places that I would have missed otherwise, and I built life lasting friendships with locals. All of these experiences allowed for a deeper cultural understanding and appreciation for Tunisia and its people. So whenever you travel, even if for only a few days, try to learn a few words and use them as much as possible. People will be extremely grateful and it humbles you immensely.
Havana, Cuba in 2015
South Korea, 2014
In the Summer of 2013, I moved to Dongbaek, South Korea where I taught English for a year. When Korea comes up in conversations, the first thing I say is that it is the easiest place to live as a foreigner. It is modern, a multilingual country, and Seoul is what every big city should be. By this I mean the metro system was widely used (there is very little traffic in Seoul) and fantastic- clean, organized, labeled in different languages and it even has an offline app which made traveling amazingly easy-, clean green space was built into the city, cultural and historic landmarks were well preserved and provided a great juxtaposition between old and new, wifi was everywhere, built the city with exercise and health in mind (there were prevalent running, walking and biking paths, the many mountains in the city were covered with hiking paths, and public exercise machines were everywhere), and the city was safe. Korea, and Seoul especially, knew how to make a city of 10 million seem like an inviting and wonderful place to live. Even after significant traveling, I was still under the impression that is berated into our minds that the U.S. does ‘it’ best. After Korea, I realized that that isn’t necessarily true and this forced me out of a mindset I had carried since childhood.
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Angkor Wat in Cambodia, 2014
Traveling abroad provided me with some of the greatest memories, most fun adventures and craziest stories. I think any chance to leave the country is an opportunity to learn, create relationships and to be a representative of the U.S. I can’t tell you how many times I have traveled abroad and groaned when hearing a loud American voice complaining about something or telling others that ‘this would never happen in the U.S.’ and if you hear yourself starting to say that, remember that you’re not in the U.S. and that is what is important. Instead, change your state of mind and be the person who listens to what others have to say in order to learn about cultures with an open mind, who learns the language (even if just a few words) in order to connect to the people, and who accepts the idea that the U.S. isn’t the best at everything in order to have a better understanding of the world. And travel, travel, travel!
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India - the paradoxes

8/7/2015

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Posted By Erik Remsen
First a disclaimer: the inspiration and thinking behind this post are not mine. Instead, the credit goes to Maya Menon, of the Teacher Foundation in Bangalore, who spoke to my TGC group about the paradoxes of India. She raised many interesting points that are worth sharing and I've tried to find some of my pictures to better illustrate the paradoxes. 
WEALTH & POVERTY
The two pictures above were taken in Delhi about a block apart from each other. The first is the lobby of the hotel that our group of teachers was staying in and the second is of two men carrying a small clothes dresser down the sidewalk next to a small slum area. While there is extreme wealth, there is also extreme poverty, and I often observed the two almost side-by-side throughout India. In this case, the posh hotel and ramshackle slum share the same street in the capital city.  
BEAUTY & UGLINESS
The picture on the left should be instantly recognizable as the Taj Majal, one of the most well-known structures in the world. The other picture is a roadside trash pile in Delhi that spills onto the sidewalk. This contrast between beauty and ugliness is another of India's paradoxes. The country has both man-made beauty (such as the Taj Majal) and physical beauty in abundance, and yet there seems to little interest in keeping public areas clean. I saw lots of litter, pollution, as well as public urination throughout my trip.  
URBAN & RURAL
India has 1.2 billion people, and in less than 15 years it will likely be the world's most populous country. The vast size of the cities and the cacophony of noise are likely to shock any Vermonter visiting for the first time. Despite the enormous population there are still places, such as areas in the Western Ghats between the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, that still retain natural beauty.
EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY
The picture on the left is a small cluster of shelters underneath the Delhi Metro. There is one child in the picture next to a man in what might be called an open kitchen. That child is unlikely to receive the same educational opportunities as the girls in the picture on the right at the Kendriya Vidyalaya Malapurram School. They have parents who could afford the expense of sending their children to this school. They attend a school with decent resources, SmartBoards and a computer labs, for example. It is a school that seeks to enhance learning through teacher exchanges; our host teacher had taught in Ohio for 5 months in 2014. It is a school that conducts instruction in three languages (Malayalam, Hindi, and English). Finally, it has a good track record at sending students to post-secondary education. All of these things help to ensure these girls will be able to succeed in the world once they are finished with school. What education awaits the child on the left? 

India has a track record of producing outstanding students who shine even when measured on the world stage. India produces some brilliant students, but it also offers little opportunity to those who do not have the means to access it. India has 450 million students under the age of 18 (that's larger than the entire population of the United States) and they do not all have equal access to education, yet. 
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School Facilities

23/6/2015

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Posted by Erik Remsen
Below are pictures from schools in India placed next to pictures from Rutland High School. As much as possible, I tried to group them like for like, classroom next to classroom, hallway next to hallway, athletic facility next to athletic facility. I’m presenting them without opinion, but below are a few questions to consider as you browse:

Does the quality of the facility influence the quality of students produced?

What do the facilities say about the priorities of the school?

How do the school facilities reflect the community that surrounds them?

Can facilities create a positive environment? Can they create a negative environment?
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Playing a good game

19/6/2015

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There is a lot of talk in the United States at the moment about the importance of global education. Schools like Rutland stress the need for students to recognize perspectives, communicate effectively, investigate the world, and take action. While we are saying the right things, do our actions actually signal a genuine interest in the wider world?

My week at the Kendriya Vidyalaya Malapurram School in Malapurram, India with fellow history teacher, Robert Lurie of Lansing, Michigan, has given me a new definition of what it looks like when a school community truly values global education. On day one of our visit to the school, we were the central focus of an all-school assembly. The assembly included their normal activities: singing the national anthem, the word of the day, news headlines, and birthday announcements. It was then followed by a welcoming ceremony specifically for us. We were presented with flowers, lit a ceremonial flame, and were treated to a traditional dance performance. We were also asked to speak about our teaching backgrounds and the purpose of our visit. One hour into our visit to the school and it was already evident how much they valued our presence. 
Since the welcoming ceremony, both Robert and I have been astounded at the attention we have been showered with by the entire school community. We have met several times with the principal and other administration members and discussed educational practices. (The principal has also provided tea and snacks each time we have met with him.) We have observed numerous classes and then been asked for feedback by the teachers. We have presented to several classes about our schools and communities. Students have then asked us questions about everything from cricket ("Why don't Americans play the sport?") to educational practices ("What are the major differences we see between the two countries?"). We were asked to present a lesson so that teachers and students could get a taste of American educational practices. Obviously, the school recognizes the importance of learning and sharing with others and has a desire to see things from another perspective. 


Additionally, we were asked by the Malapurram community council (a mix of school board and aldermen) for our input on a new interactive educational initiative being launched. (It looked good to us.) We’ve had our picture taken by local media and appeared in the local newspaper. Finally, three different teachers invited us to dinner so that they could talk with us more in order to better understand the United States and our educational beliefs. 

Clearly, this is a school and community that values global education. They have gone into the stratosphere and beyond to make us feel welcome. It is not an understatement to say that we are treated like celebrities here. This is a school whose actions show they see great value in global education. At Rutland High School, we are certainly saying the right things and talking a good game, but are we playing the game as well as the Kendriya Vidyalaya Malapurram School?
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