Slovenia: Elizabeth's, Davor's, and Rudraksha's Reflections
Elizabeth's final thoughts
As I am finally adjusting back to life in Columbus I can't help but reflect on what a whirlwind of a summer I have had. The 6 weeks spent in Slovenia and Europe begins to make you accustomed to the lifestyle and attitudes of Europeans, and its quite a shock coming back to U.S.
For me the adjustment was comounded by the fact that I left on another trip 4 days after getting off the plane and I came back to no apartment (just a storage unit). Thus even coming home I still feel like I am in that constant travel mode (in that I am basically still living out of a suitcase) but without the amazing travel experience of Europe.
As I have finally had the opportunity to catch up with friends and family, I realize how hard it truly is to expain the expeirences and differences that one gains from traveling out of the U.S. This summer trip was not the first time I had been over seas but each time I seem to take away a new appreciation for the benifits of seeing the world. As I have told all my friends, I encourage anyone with the opportunity to take advantage of trips over seas!
Davor's final thoughts
The Summer School 2007 is over. For me, the organizational problems and sleepless nights are over at least when it comes to this issue. It is time and place to thank to everybody for all cooperation and team work. I am glad we had no troubles except for one night in lousy hostel in Prague (that looks now as an interesting experience, anyway). Thank you again for a wonderful gift which I use when I have time (Martin backpacker, that is).
I am about to ftp digital format of students works to John, put together material for brochure, Prof. Drasler is preparing a booklet of his sketches that Dusan will hopefully bring to Ohio this Fall. At the end I would also like to share few group photos with you.
Picture 1: Group photo in Budapest, close to the Parliament Building
Picture 2: Participants of last excursion, Slovene and American students and teachers. Golden man in the middle is Johann Strauss.
Picture 3: Our guides in Vienna were Prof. Richard Stiles, professor at TU Vienna and president of LeNOTRE Thematic Network (network of European LA schools, see: http://www.le-notre.org/) and his assistant Ms. Dragana Djapa.
Picture 4: Participants of Summer School 2007 in front of their hostel in Ljubljana. First row (from left): Linden Babcock, Stephanie Donovan and Katie Simpson. Second row: Cheryl Huffman, Christina Burke, Christopher Piovarchy, Elizabeth Lagedrost, Goldie Ludovici, Ryan Booth. Third row: Jesse Nemec, Erin O'Rourke, Kelly Murphy, Rudraksha Jhaveri, Nathan Leppo and Prof. John Simpson. Last row: Justin Loesch and John Polsinelli.
John Simpson's final thoughts
As I've reflected about the trip several impressions come to mind. First, I was amazed at how generous and hospitable our Slovene hosts were to us. Davor, Lojze, Ana, Izi and Ana, Dusan and Tomaz all opened their hearts and minds to us with genuine friendship. Voluntarily hosting us was obviously a labor of love for them, for which they received virtually no compensation for the six-week disruption in their summer and the added workload needed to make our visit such a success. How can we ever repay their kindness? Would we be so giving were they to come here with 15 students in tow?
Related to this is my wonder at the friendliness of people everywhere we traveled. As we experienced on our other programs, armed with only a smile and good will, one can get along comfortably without speaking a word of the local language and with scant knowledge of local customs, cell phones and credit cards notwithstanding. The world is a big, diverse, and glorious place filled with fascinating and caring people.
My second impression is of how smoothly the program went logistically and how quickly the six-week period passed. The program design, starting with a week in the small village of Trzic to get acclimated to the foreign setting and to settle in as a group, followed by three weeks in Ljubljana partitioned into two stints bracketed by the week-long trips to Tuscany and Central Europe, and highlighted by three day-long in-country excursions, worked well at providing a sense of continuity while simultaneously maintaining a brisk pace of action/activity. Of course there were a few hiccups: the over-sized tour bus during our Tuscan trip, and the flophouse in Prague. But for moving so large a group through so many countries, our hosts did a fabulous job with the organization and their diligent efforts on our behalf.
Third, our travel experience and design projects again reminded me that we Americans have much to learn about our professional interests in urban design, landscape architecture, and land/environmental planning from the rest of the world. American cities, the American landscape, American planning policies, and the American lifestyle differ dramatically from our European (and Asian, etc.) counterparts. That's the underlying reason we offer such programs and give them a full term of academic credit. We went not as tourists on summer vacation to sight see, shop, talk on the cell phone, and drink into the early morning hours. We went to experience and study these differences so that we may improve how we practice our discipline here in the New World. Our work on local design problems was a vehicle to consider these differences, enabling greater reflection than would be the case had we only looked at the urban setting as tourists. Our work sketching and keeping a journal served the same purpose, while also developing critical professional skills and providing a lasting personal diary of the experience. Some students embraced these challenges more than others. Certainly one gains immeasurably just being in foreign places, even as a tourist. But I believe one learns substantially more from the experience related to our professional skills when we add a specific focus of study. One student commented in anger on a frustrating, hot day in studio that "I could be doing this [working on a design problem] back at OSU." To some, at times the design problems and structured "class" activities were obstacles preventing them from doing what they really wanted to be doing- being on holiday as a tourist. They still benefited from the program but I fear they may not have done so as much as the opportunity offered. Another distinct opportunity the program offered was the opportunity to meet and form friendships with local students, faculty, and other people. Again, some members of the group benefited from this rare chance more so than others, extending themselves, reaching out and growing. I applaud those who did.
And lastly, I was again reminded that design is a universal language of sorts. It's messy process, full of opinion blended with 'fact', but one that transcends nationality. The joy of working on design projects for a foreign setting conducted primarily by foreign professionals is the joy of wading into this mess in search of common ground and new insight among the differences of opinion and expression.
Be sure to check the program web site as more student comments and images have been added, as well as our detailed itineraries (complete with photos and background information). And images of the student designs for the projects will be added by month's end. Thanks to Matt Bernhardt for his great work on the web page. http://knowlton.osu.edu/?content=60&travel=slovenia
This article is part of an ongoing series of updates from the Slovenia study abroad program. For more information about this program, and a list of all the updates, please visit the Slovenia program page.
Posted: 10/10/2007 10:19:58 AM