The World In a Nutshell
Today is our second day in Germany, the day we finally settle down enough to let everything sink in. We began the day with the best breakfast we've ever been served at a hotel chain complete with fresh baked breads, fruit, cold cuts, boiled eggs, and the most flaky and buttery croissants. It's hard not to feel like an outsider in a new country, especially when you don't speak the language and you are peering over your shoulder wondering how everyone seems to know that the tiny ice cream cones on the buffet are really for holding your eggs. After breakfast, we made our way through the streets and subways of Germany to the Bonn International School. I could feel the students and staff around the school looking at me like I did not belong, but not in a negative way. It felt as if I had been labeled with the scarlet letter "A," but unlike Hester Prynne, my "A" stood for American.
We were then ushered into a separate room and given a warm welcome by the Green School of Bali, shortly followed by a performance on the detrimental impacts of conflict palm oil industries. It was extremely eye opening to see how communities and ecosystems could be so quickly eradicated at the hands of one company or brand. I had no idea that a single ingredient in packaged products I buy regularly at the supermarket would have such negative repercussions in other parts of the world. I know I will definitely be checking the labels on foods I buy at the supermarket from now on to consume more consciously. Following the performance, we joined with students from the host school, the American School of Lima, and the Green School of Bali to participate in a climate simulation. We broke up into groups of interested parties including countries, governments, cities/states, and advocates for or against combatting climate change.
The goal was to work with your group and others to come up with your expected contribution to reducing carbon emissions. We ended up being very far from our goal, but we learned that it takes an immense amount of dialogue and compromise between nations and across every border imaginable. It amazed me how we could all work together despite cultural divides during the climate simulation. I also loved getting to know some of the international students because it made me realize that it really is the opportunity of a lifetime to be in this place.
Feeling lucky, we headed over to the Bonn zone of the COP conference and were let loose to explore for an hour. We interacted with so many amazing people in that short amount of time that it would take much too long to name every one. The highlights were getting my name written on a bookmark in Turkish calligraphy and taking selfies with the people at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature booth because THEY thought WE were cool! If all of that was not enough for one day, we continued on at the conference and a few of us attended a session about climate change based migration in the Asia Pacific region.
It was during this meeting that I truly realized we are at a conference meant for people from every corner of the world. Accepting others' differences is not forced; it is natural. From the small island nations of Fiji and Tuvalu to the large developed nations of Europe and the Americas, everyone is welcome and everyone's opinions have a chance to be heard. When Mr. Johnson told us that the whole world descends on one place I did not understand the breadth of that statement until I was right in the middle of it. You live it, you breathe it, and there is no way to avoid this grand spectacle of cultures. It is everything that I asked for and so much more, and I couldn't be happier to be here.
We were then ushered into a separate room and given a warm welcome by the Green School of Bali, shortly followed by a performance on the detrimental impacts of conflict palm oil industries. It was extremely eye opening to see how communities and ecosystems could be so quickly eradicated at the hands of one company or brand. I had no idea that a single ingredient in packaged products I buy regularly at the supermarket would have such negative repercussions in other parts of the world. I know I will definitely be checking the labels on foods I buy at the supermarket from now on to consume more consciously. Following the performance, we joined with students from the host school, the American School of Lima, and the Green School of Bali to participate in a climate simulation. We broke up into groups of interested parties including countries, governments, cities/states, and advocates for or against combatting climate change.
The goal was to work with your group and others to come up with your expected contribution to reducing carbon emissions. We ended up being very far from our goal, but we learned that it takes an immense amount of dialogue and compromise between nations and across every border imaginable. It amazed me how we could all work together despite cultural divides during the climate simulation. I also loved getting to know some of the international students because it made me realize that it really is the opportunity of a lifetime to be in this place.
Feeling lucky, we headed over to the Bonn zone of the COP conference and were let loose to explore for an hour. We interacted with so many amazing people in that short amount of time that it would take much too long to name every one. The highlights were getting my name written on a bookmark in Turkish calligraphy and taking selfies with the people at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature booth because THEY thought WE were cool! If all of that was not enough for one day, we continued on at the conference and a few of us attended a session about climate change based migration in the Asia Pacific region.
It was during this meeting that I truly realized we are at a conference meant for people from every corner of the world. Accepting others' differences is not forced; it is natural. From the small island nations of Fiji and Tuvalu to the large developed nations of Europe and the Americas, everyone is welcome and everyone's opinions have a chance to be heard. When Mr. Johnson told us that the whole world descends on one place I did not understand the breadth of that statement until I was right in the middle of it. You live it, you breathe it, and there is no way to avoid this grand spectacle of cultures. It is everything that I asked for and so much more, and I couldn't be happier to be here.
Julia M.
Great job crew... Keep making us proud!!
ReplyDeleteI am so impressed. I learned so much.
ReplyDelete