Ian Korn Photo Industries » holiday

Brussels: The Capital of Europe

Ian — Sat, 08 May 2010 17:06:53 +0000

This will be the last post relating to my Christmas adventures. Promise.

When I last left you, I was in Bruges. But it was Brussels, the so-called “Capital of Europe,” that I got to first and where I ended my trip to the Low Countries. Like Bruges, the city is charming, but it’s a much larger city. It is both the Capital of Belgium, where the King has his Palace, and home to the European Parliament, where much of the EU’s work gets done. Grand Place, the main square shown above, is a World Heritage site – yet another one I stumbled upon during this trip – and a great example of the way the old parts of the city look. But it’s such a hodge-podge of old and new and generally weird that I feel like it’s impossible to pin the city down. Maybe I just have to live there to get it. Anyway, enjoy the photos!

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Bruges, Belgium

Ian — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 15:42:19 +0000

Here’s some more from the Christmas-New Year’s Holiday trip. Leaving Holland, I worked my way south to Belgium. I started in Brussels, but took a side trip to see the town of Bruges – a much cooler city, in my opinion. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t inspired by a certain movie to visit. After all… “It’s a fairytale town, isn’t it? How’s a fairytale town not somebody’s fucking thing?” I was pleasantly surprised by how large the city was and how much there was to see and do, even though a lot was closed for a random holiday I couldn’t figure out. I kind of wanted a couple extra days there. More photos below the fold.

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Happy Easter!

Ian — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 18:00:22 +0000

Just got back from a week-long road trip across the north of Spain with Dietrich, from Barcelona to Santiago de Compostela. Good times! We got back to Martos just in time to see the Easter procession. Plenty more photos where that came from… on my computer desktop. (Gimme a break, I’m relaxing today!) This song has been going through my head all day. Happy Easter, everyone!

Christ, the Lord, is risen today, Alleluia!
Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth, reply, Alleluia!

Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Lo! the Sun’s eclipse is over, Alleluia!
Lo! He sets in blood no more, Alleluia!

Vain the stone, the watch, the seal, Alleluia!
Christ hath burst the gates of hell, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids His rise, Alleluia!
Christ hath opened paradise, Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once He died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ hath led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

Hail, the Lord of earth and heaven, Alleluia!
Praise to Thee by both be given, Alleluia!
Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia!
Hail, the resurrection day, Alleluia!

King of glory, Soul of bliss, Alleluia!
Everlasting life is this, Alleluia!
Thee to know, Thy power to prove, Alleluia!
Thus to sing and thus to love, Alleluia!

Hymns of praise then let us sing, Alleluia!
Unto Christ, our heavenly King, Alleluia!
Who endured the cross and grave, Alleluia!
Sinners to redeem and save. Alleluia!

But the pains that He endured, Alleluia!
Our salvation have procured, Alleluia!
Now above the sky He’s King, Alleluia!
Where the angels ever sing. Alleluia!

Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia!
Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia!
Who did once upon the cross, Alleluia!
Suffer to redeem our loss. Alleluia!

- Charles Wesley (1707 – 1788)

Holidays in Holland

Ian — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:26:01 +0000

After Ronda, the next stop on my travels was the Netherlands. I landed in Eindhoven and was there for three days over Christmas (overall, a miserable place). Then I spent a day in the unpronounceable city of ‘s-Hertogenbosch, home to medieval painter Heironymous Bosch. The highlight, however, was a week spent visiting friends in Utrecht, a seriously underrated city. Here are photos from my week y pico in Holland.

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Día de la Paz

Ian — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:41:16 +0000

On January 28th, schools across Spain celebrated Día de la Paz, or Peace Day. Perhaps its closest comparison in the United States is Martin Luther King Day, which occurs around the same time. Children focus on messages of anti-violence and anti-racism and celebrate with performances, readings, and a flotilla of white balloons. My school, CEPR Hermanos Carvajales, was no different. We were blessed with a sunny day for the celebrations and the whole school went out to the patio to enjoy them together. Some students read stories and poems. The first-graders danced to Michael Jackson’s “Black or White,” and then everyone sang and danced to his “Heal the World.” Here are some photos – and yes, these are my students. =)

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Ronda

Ian — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:48:03 +0000

The first stop on my 20-day journey after my friends left me in Málaga was the town of Ronda, in the same province but about 100 km (62 mi) northwest. This ancient town is built on either side of a deep gorge named “El Tajo.” On one side lies the ancient Arab portion of the town, and on the other is the new, Spanish quarter. The center is dominated the Puente Nuevo, completed in 1793 and rising to 120 meters (394 ft) above the river below.

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MLK Day: Letter From Birmingham Jail

Ian — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:00:28 +0000

Today is Martin Luther King Day. They don’t celebrate it here; in fact, many of them don’t know that it’s an actual holiday. I’ve prepared a few activities in English for the kids that are tangentially related, but only because they are preparing to celebrate their version of the holiday, Día de la Paz, on January 30th. So we’ll see what they know – and what they need to know that I can share with them. Should be interesting.

I know a lot of people haven’t really read or heard a lot of King’s writings or sermons or speeches apart from “I Have a Dream.” It’s sad, actually, because there is so much more that you’re missing out on. So I present here, in full, the text of his “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” the call to action for the Civil Rights Movement that he wrote while – surprise! – in jail. It’s a stunning indictment of the churches unwillingness to act that I think will resonate with anyone who reads it. And I think, particularly in light of Pat Robertson’s idiotic comments about Haiti, it’s worth it to remind ourselves that no, even though Obama is President, we still have a long way to go before racism is finally eradicated and everyone is equal.

The letter begins below the fold. Enjoy.

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News… Then Bad News

Ian — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:07:41 +0000

First of all… Gelukkig Niuewjaar, everyone! (That’s Happy New Year in Dutch.) I am done traveling and back home in snowy/rainy Martos. It’s nice to get back to something normal after being away for so long, no matter how awesome that vacation was. Much more to come on that, but it will take me quite some time to get to it.

Unfortunately, I do have some bad news: my computer has died, possibly permanently. I’m talking about the nearly eight-year-old Dell laptop that I’ve had since starting college. That was my computer here in Martos. Yes, it still worked fine, but it had it’s issues. Today, however, I turned it on only to find out that it didn’t turn on. Dan and I messed with it in every way we knew, and still nothing. So I’ve taken it to the computer repair place nearby and they’re going to check it out to see if they can do something with it. In typical Spanish fashion, it will take them two weeks to figure this out.

If they can fix it and if that repair doesn’t cost too much, I’ll be back to normal pretty quick. But if they can’t or it costs a few hundred euro, then you can forget that. I’ll take the contents of the hard drive and the memory and buy myself a notebook PC… which will have to ship from the US so I get all the right connections, keyboard, software and such.

So, for at least two weeks and an unknown future after that, I will be begging computer time from other people. This means fewer posts and probably a lot fewer photos. Sorry!

Merry Christmas from Eindhoven!

Ian — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 12:52:42 +0000

So, here I am on Day 5 of Holiday Break 2009. I’m in a hotel in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. It’s Christmas Day.

This is the 2nd time in my life I’ve ever spent Christmas away from my family, and the only time I’ve ever spent it by myself. Ironically, it’s also the only White Christmas I’ve ever had – there’s snow everywhere, and when I looked out my window it was falling on the few people ambling through the Square outside the hotel. Very nice.

There’s not much to say about the Netherlands so far… When I arrived at the airport last night, it was practically empty. I ended up splitting a cab with some people to the train station because we just missed the last bus. Almost everything is closed today, and a lot of stuff will be closed tomorrow for St. Stephen’s Day. So the city seems kind of dead. Everything is significantly more expensive than in Spain. Damn. I’m going to go see Avatar later on, assuming it’s in English. There’s a lot more in Dutch here than I remember from my brief trip to Amsterdam, but pretty much everyone speaks at least a little English, so it hasn’t been a huge problem. I’ll have to try the movie 3D, so we’ll see how that goes. Looking it up online, though, it sounds like they’ve changed the technology, so I should actually be OK, despite the whole lack of depth perception thing. Consider it an experiment. Nothing else to do today except sit inside and read the news or wander around in the snow, anyway.

Earlier this week I was in Málaga and Ronda. It rained almost all week. Frustrating. So I didn’t get much of a chance to see the sights of Málaga, but it seems like a nice enough town. The people in the hostel I stayed at were really cool, so I spent a lot of time hanging out there, in the dryness. I was determined to see Ronda, because I only had a little over a day there and didn’t know if I’d ever get a chance to come back, so I braved the cold, rain, and ridiculous wind coming off the gorge to see the sights. So worth it! There will be a lot of trips to write about in January, and a slew of photos to share with them.

So, for now, I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Los Tres Reyes

Ian — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:59:53 +0000

Hello from Málaga! I know I just posted a day or so ago, but I completely forgot to share about the Christmas tradition here in Spain.

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