On December 2nd and 3rd 1989 Michael Gorbatchev and George H.W. Bush met on the Soviet ship TS Maksim Gorkiy south of Malta, mooring in the Bay of Marsaxlokk. The sea was choppy, which brought the meeting the name “Seasickness Summit”. It is often described as one of the most important summits since the Yalta Conference in 1945, …
Life is easy in Canada. Sure, moving to a new place across an ocean has it’s challenges. But Toronto is a good place to settle. It’s a vast land, and there is not much infrastructure. So one of the next tasks will be to find a good 4x4. But the main challenge lies not in Canada, but still back in Europe. There is a boat to store and potentially transport over to the new world …
It’s finally getting chilly in Toronto, and I decided to get shoes for my dog. Not so much because of the cold but more because of the defrosting agents on the paths. This morning, while walking along the Northern side of Lake Ontario, I heard some comments on the Index of Economic Freedom provided annually by the Heritage Foundation (click here) …
It has been a few days now, since I arrived in Canada. Eddie had to stay in his transport box for 14 hours but took it with ease, in both airports and then in the pressurized luggage space. On advice of my vet, I did not sedate him. She told me, that it may happen that dogs even panic more when they feel the non-familiar impact of medications …
Last night, I had the pleasure of joining the vernissage of the solo exhibition of Rosette Bonello at Rudy Buhler’s Art Gallery in Marsaskala. I walked along the coast from Kalkara, at the end of a stormy day, which expanded into the night. It is always impressive to see how the rock has been able to withstand the waves for ages. Rudy was a Swiss banker …
My time in Hong Kong was very condensed this year. My apologies to the friends I could not meet this time. Thanks also to the great students from the MBA programme of Hong Kong University and the GBA stream coming in from Shenzhen to participate in a 5-day intensive course on Turn Around Management and Corporate Restructuring …
Iceland does not feel like changing scenery - it is like changing planet. Going for a week off road in Iceland’s South is a good thing to do, while on my construction site the house foundation went through the finish line. April is a little to late for a good chance to see Northern lights. But Iceland has a lot to offer: glaciers, volcanos, waterfalls, geysers and all you need to push a 4x4 to the limit …
Recently, I enjoyed “Postcrossing” after I heard about it on a German radio station. It is a global platform organizing the exchange of postcards among enthusiasts. As I buy postcards in most places I go, …
As I continued coming to Hong Kong, even during the pandemic lockdowns, I could now feel the optimism of an awakening city after hard years. Troubles started in 2019 with violent riots on the streets and then two years of being literally cut off. Still, crossing over to the Mainland, has some quarantine regulations in place, …
In memory of the three heroes of the 1977 movie Mimino, set in Dilijan (trailer, see below).
My first introduction to the Armenian diaspora was in the early 1990s through Hasmik Papian, who was performing at the Bonn Opera. I also had the privilege of meeting some of her friends and family gathering in her home in “Weststadt” of the city with late “Gründerzeit” architecture. Back then, being a young science student, this was a formative introduction to an interesting and new genre. Since then Armenia stayed in my mind, and with the many tragedies and disasters, it faced since 1915, which probably have still not ended with the 2021 ceasefire agreement. Of course, I remember “Pour toi Arménie”, a charity song by the Franco-Armenian Charles Aznavour performed by a group of French singers, to gather relief after the earthquake in December 1988. Even though, I have to say this is a little too cheesy for my taste. For long car drives to the Netherlands recently, I do have some other songs sung by Charles Aznavour in my playlist, for example, “La Bohème” and others of his early chansons.
It took more than 30 years until I set my feet into Armenia for the first time, and I remain being impressed by the country and its people. I was originally planning to go to Moscow last week, but with recent events in Ukraine and the implications this has on logistics, activities have been diverted to Dilijan, a small town two hours drive from Yerevan. With a very tight schedule, I did not have the chance to travel around. But Armenia will be one of my coming destinations, to explore more. What surprised me very much to find in Dilijan was the United World College. Inspired by the UWC in Maastricht, Ruben Vardanyan together with his wife Veronica Zonabend, founded this very impressive initiative and I am happy to see it flourishing and alive.
Mimino (1977). The story of a big dream in Dilijan.
5 years UWC. Another story of a big dream in Dilijan.
It is always a nice and special perspective to approach a countryside or city by boat. It is a detached world from the buzz. Living on a boat, is even a step beyond, specially in the Netherlands. And then there is the second Dutch mode of transport: the bicycle. As my Marina is close to Arnhem, I explored the ride on my folding bike to the city. One objective is also to take the bike to the train station and then fold it up and take the train to Tilburg University. This sounds like a nice commute. The best mode of commuting, I ever had was taking ice skates in winter from my home to the office in Beijing. But also, now boat-bike and train sound like a good option.
