I am finally in my beloved Sweden!!!

I arrived last night. Brenda my wonderful gamla lärare (old teacher) came to fetch me from the airport. I am now relaxing with her and her girls. I have so many plans these next 12 days, I hope it doesnt go too quickly because I am going to miss everyone once I am gone again. Stockholm is the most beautiful place, the best city I have ever been to. I will be going sometime this week, or next.

From Chester to London

I left Chester yesterday for london. It was a train trip that I will never forget. I cried a little throughout the entire experience because of the time that I had and the people I left behind. I was happy to greet my sister at the other end. London town today and until Saturday!!! Helen and I saw HONEY II! We got thai and froze yoghurt and it was really nice to just be with Helen because it has dawned on me that I am leaving Europe soon and that makes me sad.

Today I am heading to Oxford. So excited and Ill provide more pictures here of my experiences! Until the end of the day then!

Jordan; Top 5 places to see!... but there is so much more

I watched this video before I went to Jordan, last october. I never realised how amazing it really was until I stood where they filmed. Take a look at the video... its totally worth it!!

From Australia to Jordan, from Jordan to Europe

                                                                                        Jordan
Reflecting on my so far, 8 months away from home I wanted to pick somewhere that really struck a nerve and made think 'wow', but everywhere has been different and everywhere has had an impact on me in some particular way so I cant pick one and say its 'BEST'. However, Jordan did make me go 'BOOM'. I thought that I would write a few snippets of my experiences and show you all some photos of my adventures in the Middle East... so please read on.

On the first weekend I went to Aquaba. A resort where my godmother's friend was having an engagement part. This is what I saw. Spectacular!

JORDAN-- amazing, is the word that comes to mind as soon as someone says it. The biggest culture shock Ive experienced was definitely Jordan. I think more because of the veil wearing, the desert and politics that made me remove all expectations and just become still and listen so I could take in everything and anything. I wanted and still want to learn so much more about the Jordanian culture. Jordan is filled with abundant history, culture and religion. The language was so interesting and the people at the school as I think Im probably going to repeat myself but such lovely people. The country and people, I will remember forever. The difference is enormous and I experienced the biggest culture shock I have ever had. Ive travelled to parts of Africa, Asia, Europe and America but this was my first time to the Middle East. Aged 20 I flew there to help my godmother, Tessa with a Round Square Conference at the King's School in Mudaba, just outside the Capital of Amman, on the 23rd November 2010. I was in clothing that was far to warm for Jordan, I sweltered within 10 minutes of being outside. The weather was supposed to be cooler but the month that I lived there made me realise how strange the weather really was. On the first day that I arrived at the school I was greeted by a driver that took me to school, I met Tessa and I also was introduced to other teachers and students. I suffered greatly from insane jetlag, but tried to stay strong and push through it. The King's School is a school developed in 2000 by King Abdullah of Jordan. A replica of the school he went to in America. Most of the teachers are from there and the principal is also American. The principal is a nice man and has three small children.I babysat them a couple of nights a week. They were sweet children. I even learnt some arabic, for example Zahra means Rose. I love that name now.

From the memories of Jordan... these photos are of the school, the places I went including Petra ( the most beautifulest place on earth, a seven wonder of the world!!) the Dead Sea, Jerash, I even travelled up north and helped Habitat Humanity build a house and I went to the resort Aquaba. I travelled mainly on the weekends as during the week I helped mainly at the school and also participated in School activities. It was so interesting because many of these children were from Oil MAGNETS families, Princes of Kuwait and event the Prince of Jordan, Hussein attended the school. I did in fact meet members of the Royal Family, all of course devout muslims because they do in fact run direct linage with Mohammad himself.  Prince Hussein- I met him once and helped him with an English book, in the library. I am not sure if I was much help but he was a quiet, very appreciated and humble, 17 year old, who I must admit has a stressful life ahead of him, as he is crown Prince now.

In this photo I have just swum in the Dead Sea, about a 30 minute drive from the School. It was a sensational day but the water really does sting after a while, but it felt so moisturised afterwards, it was unreal!

Me at Ancient Roman city of Jerash, in Jordan below. 

The King's School was more an estate than a School. It had fields and land that seemed endless. This was taken in the late afternoon, it is the Clock tower. I loved walking passed this Clock because it made a nice chime every hour. I remember waking up to the men saying their prayers to Allah. There were seven mosques surrounding the school. Their sounds became soothing sounds to me and as Tessa can probably vouch for, I would stay in bed longer listening to them all chant. It sounded so nice.

These photos below are taken from my four day trip to Petra, with the school.

Beyond amazing. I felt as though I uncovered culture, within culture, within culture. It was scary!

Yes you are correct, Petra featured in the movie- Indiana Jones!

Here is a picture of two of the sacred camels that are used as wedding offerings and for festivals. 

 

This is me, just taking a walk through this 7 Wonder of the World!

This was taken from Amman, Jordan(capital)

 This picture above is to show the severe disparity between the rich and the very very well off, to the not and the traditional, tribal Bedouin families. I was fascinated by them all, such kind, helpful people who wander the land with all their lives in tow including their twenty camels!

The last picture I am going to put up is of Tessa and I standing at Mount Nebo. Mount Nebo is today the Mount Nebo Church and where many tourists come but was the place where Moses walked from Egypt to bring the jewish people out of the trials and tribulations that they had faced and into salvation. Mount Nebo is where he died. He had walked for 40 years. At the look out at Mount Nebo you can see Israel, the Red Sea and occupied Palestine.

Overall, an experience of a lifetime and one I will never forget. I hope to one day be able to go back there because I never got to Wadi Rum and would have loved to. I also need to visit the lovely people that I left behind, you know who you, if youre reading this, and you must come and visit me in Australia!!

For now I must get some shut eye,

Tisbah 'alal- khair

Good Night

Looking down on me

Tomorrow is the Anniversary of My Dad's Death. He died on July 10th.  My Dad, William Wallis Caldwell died in a plane crash when I was little and each year my family gets together and celebrate his very short lived life of 45 years. Not this year however, one sister is in London, the others are together and I am in Chester. Without a family member. I am always a bit sad when it comes to this day. I have to admit the memories are slowly becoming but one and I get sadder because memories fade and that is the reality. My dad was a a father of 4 girls, a great man, one of true integrity and genuine intelligence and also strength. He ran marathons, climbed mountains in New Zealand and other countries, worked as a Barrister in the Supreme Court and  was a Scholar who as my mum once said, 'excelled at mostly everything'. Something Ive tried to live up to and make him proud. So this picture below is of me and my dad when I was little. It makes me smile and cry at the same time. I look at it and hope that he is looking down on me with his wise eyes, watching with anticipation for my road ahead, but also looking down as a guardian with love, pride and  shelter.

Each day for the past 5 weeks I have woken up early and walked to work, 7 blocks from my college room at Eversley Lodge, on Eversley Park Road in Chester. This walk to work will cease tomorrow and I will have completed the subject of Work Based Learning. In a way I feel relieved but also stressed because the 4000report is due on Tuesday and I havent really made a good attempt to have it completed by Tuesday afternoon, at the earliest!

DET LOSER SIG.

That is all. This swedish phrase sums it all up. Det Loser sig  means, everything works out so there is no need to worry...

my mumma

"You always know where your feet are, when you speak to your mum. Everything gets put into perspective and your judgement is clearer..." - Olivia Newton John
--> well this  for me ! Im excited to be seeing my mumma in 1 month.

This picture was taken at in La Monet in Paris, April 2011

p.s I am posting this picture for my friend Mo, because he wanted me to,  so here you are...just to make you happy!

what helps me study and do an assignment

Beyonce singing at the American Idol Finale, May30th 2011.

England in a nut shell- Iconic images

The Beatles 

something to remember

Forget-me-nots

A dear Swedish friend would always say when I was around her, about two years ago. She'd say "Rose Stop worrying and remember this  Det Löser Sig"- Everything will work out fine. This has stuck with me. A great phrase that makes me feel good inside when I think about it. I do in fact think that everything will work out because I believe in fate. What is daunting though is how time travels so quickly as I travel so much its hard to keep track of where my feet are planted and really makes me think about how much I miss home.  In the next month Ill be leaving Chester. I will be leaving the city where I have lived in for 6 months. A scary thought but when is change always great anyways? I will be going from Chester to London, London to Sweden. Sweden to France, then to Switzerland and then back to London. Then two days in London to finally after all this Ill be making a stop in the Middle East before getting back to Australia. What a complete global tour Ill be having, something that makes me feel so lucky... and in a way want to treasure the small things in life, because they are in fact sometimes the most treasured.

on a lighter note - New Beyonce album out 27th june

Tonight, I spent time researching. Everything and anything. I should have infact been doing my assignment but it seemed researching and looking up other things, far more enjoyable and wait, oh my gosh.. definitely time consuming, its nearly 11pm and I havent touched my work. Oh well there is always tomorrow

 Two things I enjoy doing
1. reading about new trends, fashions, ideas, ways of thinking, current issues and societies
2. Listening to new music that has just been released. Being away from home has made me want to keep up with what friends back home are listening too. This includes Beyonce and her ever dominant presence on stage, first at the Billboard Awards and then at the Finale at American Idol... HER new album comes out on 27th June. A  friend informed me off this and I cannot wait. For those who know me... you wont be surprised that this is on my mind! But for now I am going to plan to start my assignment tomorrow and keep the distractions down a little, I thought I might just share this with you though AND await for the news of tomorrow.

Chester, on the present day

Today, I am at my internship, in Chester. One week left and then my life will be changing from what I know it as. Leaving this lovely town will be hard! Im then going on to visit my beautiful friends in Sweden. Im so looking forward to some sunshine and a bit of adventuring before heading home and knowing that reality is around the corner. I have to get a job, a real job involving developing a 5 year plan and ideas of future jobs. How will I do it? I hope to use my swedish in some way. But how, and with what is the question??

update on Extremism

According to Baroness Neville Jones, who told Today presenter Justin Webb-  A new prevent strategy which will aim to tackle extremism as well as terrorism is being launched by the British government.

This will lead to a change in funding policy."The government feels quite strongly that it is not the job of government to be financing groups, which it was, which espouse quite different values," to British ones, she said.
But Azad Ali, chair of the Muslim Safety Forum and an adviser to the previous Labour government, said the new policy was "a conflation between security and cohesion".The Prevent strategy, he said said, was supposed to be a "counter-terrorism strategy, it isn't an ideology strategy".

 The developments  of what the news have on Extremism today can also be listened to online from http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9506000/9506417.stm

The photographs that the BBC online articles have- include signs that say 'ISLAM WILL DOMINATE THE WORLD' further creating prejudice towards islamic religious groups. The backing behind this strategy grows stronger because of the media terminology used to describe Islam as a domination, a movement and an extreme group that should be de-powered. This is all speculation and propaganda.... what can the public do than to be ignorant about a religion that they know nothing about... their first instinct is to follow the direction of the media persuasion.... one area of the industry that I am about to enter that I do not approve of. Persuading the public, in an area that may be unjust and unfair to a particular group. Its not at all what I would call Fair.

CNN writer Tim Lister, writes well. I'd even vote for whatever he was running for!

Tim Lister wrote a piece about Yemen. On the similar topic of Extremism but also about a country that is seen as ' ungovernable' and similar to Somalia (as they are close neighours and Yemen have taken in thousands of Somalis as refugees after the bloodshed) as being unable to retreat from conflict, Tim Lister writes about the importance of Yemen and his simple, articulate and persuasive writing, made me want to read right to the finish. Furthermore, he even puts subheadings in to make it easier to understand, breaking each part up, further allowing me to want to know more.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/06/03/yemen.matters/index.html ( this is the article to refer to)

One final comment from Tim is that; " Growing instability in Yemen could lead to the nightmare scenario: a failing state and a failed state either side of important shipping lanes, and close to the world's most important oil-producing region..." 


Does this not scare you?

Why has this already gotten out of hand, that to an extent may not be able to undo? But Yemen are small players in the grand scale of oil exportation. Saudi Arabia on the other hand are.

Tim further highlights that Yemen has given rising to Al Qaeda recuiters. including - Osama Bin Laden's security. How have I not known more about Yemen? Now the research that I have done, you might like to know is that the US Agency for International Development funding increased from a meager $9.3 million in 2008 to $24 million in 2009.


Further contributing to our ideas about Yemen and the relationship they have with the USA government... can be seen from this lengthy depiction from a former U.S. ambassador in Sanaa, Edmund Hull, who wrote this week in Foreign Policy: "Left to its own devices, Yemen is unlikely to muddle through, with consequences that range far beyond the Arabian Peninsula. A concerted, multilayered diplomatic effort can succeed. Even a skilled political dancer like Ali Abdullah Saleh can't defy gravity forever."


What Tim also makes clear is the high uncertainty these governments are. The unrest, the conflict and outlook for these powerful countries are uncertain and therefore, the damage in which they will cause will be felt I believe, similarly to that of a Tsunami. 

Stories from a traveller, a student and more...

Stories from a traveller, a student and more...

my news source!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/

I dont know if anyone saw this... but the topic of extremism was on the BBC and many other newspapers. I have spoken to some friends about my blog and the intention that I have to continue writing about contemporary and news headlined issues. The development of my writing skills will hopefully follow. The stories from the BBC that highlighted different aspects of 'Extremism', were stories including; 'Is the fight against terror about violence or extremism?', this statement I agree with entirely.  please refer to this article from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4by0WxRzzOM. 


What is extremism and how has it shaped society, and in fact when I say society, I mean daily modern, but of course western. The relationship and difference in culture from the western to the Middle East is most confusing to me and different in terms of government regulations, societal codes and conducts, opportunities for all, children and human rights and the ability to write and speak your mind. This I can understand, as being 'Extreme thinking' for those who do not think there, on the other hand however, for those that have grown up in such a society, I can understand their sense of tradition, religious ruling over their life, sense of saving and keeping of their homes and surroundings and their own heritage because they have had so much taken than their ability to want to hold onto what they can and cannot have is much higher.


Can society ever understand the Extremism and what it means, because it could in fact be a media ploy??? 


It changes so quickly in nature and context that to an extent there are devout catholics that can be seen as Extreme but until the media, governments and the war on terror begins the 'stand and look at the middle east' stance that today much of the media and western world have, the term 'extremism' will always be connected to the Middle East and the religious followers of Islam. This ignorance, blaming game and secregation is coming from a so called 'democratic' government, is it not? By law are not allowed to discriminate nor segregate... is this right? Why can they segregate people for being Islamic, is it  'Extreme', by what the English Government is doing? Why is it that Universities can tackle Islamic Extremism? How and to what extent do they know what they're really talking about? How and why do they think they have any possibility of keeping the so called 'Extremists' from firing their ammunition on institutions because they have been targeted? I believe their attempt will not deliver a win, but we will have to wait and see. 


Please refer to more  http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/03/2006_27_fri.shtml- as you can listen to July 7 2006 radio recording from BBC website. That explores the role Muslim women can play in tackling extremism within their community. Martha Kearney is joined by Baroness Uddin, of the Government's task force and Zareen Ahmed, Chief Executive of the British Muslim forum. Muslim Leaders in Britain accounded a national task force to fight extremism after 13% of British Muslims refards the July 7th bombers as Martyrs. On the same day Tony Blair called for the Britain's Muslim Community to do more to combat not just the extremists' methods but their false sense of grievance about the west. He insisted government alone could not root out extremism/


 This I agree with entirely because I believe it is the nature in which each person who acts unlawfully, are treated and with education, allowing them to learn and create harmony and peace for all, extremism can be rectified but it is only the future generations that will be benefit from projects that begin today!

News: What do we think of the developments at Golan Heights? My ideas on the subject...

Sunday: As I am Communications student I should read more than one newspaper back to back daily. This however, is ambitious and a challenging target as life gets away with you. The topic of asking yourself, 'Are you informed about all news?' is a trick question and one I dont think I'll ever answer with 'yes!' I do think however, World News is a priority because this will affect not only what happens to me, but to future generations. I may not understand it all now but I can try . Reading the paper is a start and I am trying to get into a routine of following this target. Today, I am most interested in the developments in the Middle East. After living in Jordan for a month, with my godmother, the Middle Eastern stories that of course hit the papers, bang harder and a little closer to home. I am bewildered by the Israeli Government, the goings on and how I am only 21 and therefore cannot truly understand how those who have lived in Palestine or Israel, since 1948 feel or what they think about World War II. I have a somewhat subjective view from the media. I am however learning and I guess this removes the phrase of 'ignorance is bliss' because it isnt. I am wanting to know more!

The BBC reporter Kevin Connelly wrote today, in an article about what is happening with Golan Heights. A place, up until now I never knew existed. The fighting commemorates the 1948 developments of the Israeli border. (please refer to article http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13660311) What will happen now I think? Each day I wonder what is going through these people's minds? I wonder if  this all has been in the pipe lines for a while , and therefore exploded? or is more going to happen. I think both of these are correct. The  word 'extremists' is now an over statement, I think because most of those who fight are extremists in their own right.Fighting for something that is extreme and could in fact kill? Do you not agree? I therefore will develop my ideas on the concept of 'extremists' more throughout the week.

  Chester River Dee

Anna and me

weekend in chester

Living in Chester is so unique, different and amazing. Stumbling across a Roman Gladiator fight in the middle of the Ampitheatre one saturday is just one of them.There seemed to be over 5000 people there on Saturday 4th June. The Chesterfestival is one. I hope to see an open air cinema movie sometime this week. Theyre showing Dirty Dancing, a classic and one of my ultimate favourites! The city is surrounded by Ancient Roman Walls and connected through a canal and River Dee that run around. It is bordering Wales, and little to know surprise the Queen's richest cousin, and richest man in the world is the Duke. Duke of Westminster. He owns most of the land surrounding Chester as well. The Business Park and the villages, I was even told the park that I try and run in, near Handbridge is his.Nothing like a bit of royal and history about a town to start your sunday morning. haha

This weekend has flown by, unlike other weekends that I have been studying on an exam or an assignment, this weekend is nearly over and i want to pull the reigns and say 'HOLD ON!!' I feel like that with most things that I am doing. I was with Anna yesterday for most of it. Anna is from Hungary, a country that doesnt come up often, but an interesting one at that. One I do hope to visit one day. She is so sweet and we share a common love for Jane Austen books which can have us talking for hours. Even watching the 2006 BBC version of Emma on a Saturday night haha. It was great fun and I think these memories will stay with me forever. I am leaving you see, my six months is nearly over. I leave for London on 15th and then for Sweden on 18th June. These adventures are just beginning before I head back to Australia. At time Ive missed home but now I want to travel. Chester has been good, but the work experience that Ive been doing for the last 4 weeks has been mundane and at time mind numbingly boring!!  I cant wait to finish it and experience a good European. well Scandinavian  Summer. When you think European I think youre automatically thinking Greek Islands but the heat in Sweden doesnt unfortunately compare to that about of heat! 

Another day in Chester is about to start so I must get to it! 

Its only the beginning

This is the first time that I am beginning my blog. The first blog that I created I lived in Sweden and I used it to practice my swedish, I am now 3 years older  but the thought of writing daily and remembering to keep this going, is daunting, so to start Im just going to write something short.

I am interested in writing, in travelling, in new cultures and mainly everything that is exciting, new and vibrant. I am living in England on exchange at the moment, away from my home, Sydney Australia. Away from family and friends but England has been wonderful. Im staying in a small town called Chester. It is old but oh so very quaint and unique. Quiet but sweet. I am living here for another 13 days actually. Time has flown since January 8th, when I arrived here. So much has happened but it all seems to have squished into one single week for me. So, this is to be my first post on my blog, I promise to remember to write, maybe not daily but weekly!!

Until next time.... I hope I get the hang of this....