Israel + Palestine + IRAN = ♥ ? - My take

I was pretty nervous about going to Israel with an Iranian Visa in my passport. Especially because loads of people fear mongered about tight security procedures up to denied entry.

Fortunately I stayed optimistic and it proved to be ok. Here's what I experienced:

Upon arrival

I asked the immigration not to stamp my passport, coz I love to travel and don't want to have problems. The officer found the visa and asked some questions, then asked me to go for an interrogation/interview. I had a rather comfortable 30mins talk with a young officer. She need me to give loads of details just about anything. In advance my friend and I had synced the story we'd tell.
Of course don't tell them you want to visit the Territories! Don't alter your story took much: It's their job to detect lies =) If you got to a point of no return =) change the topic!
We even talked about some everyday topics such as hitchhiking, CouchSurfing and Facebook. In the end they accidentally put the Israeli stamp. No worries, it's just ironic they put it next to the Iranian =)

At checkpoints (Rehan, Bethlehem, Hebron, Beit Jala)

Ok, we entered the territories at Rehan checkpoint - which was nuts to do. I cannot recommend it, because it's simply not allowed for Israelis nor Palestinians nor foreigners to cross here. It's only for the remote Palestian village that has been cut off by the fence. We somehow got in touch with the officers and ran through all levels of hierarchy and finally - after three hours - I convinced them with some Hollywood-like sentences about family, kids and stuff =) Wonderful moment, which proved there's humans everywhere, even at this inhumane concrete Checkpoint. Botton line: even at this no-go-no-chance situation they weren't put off by my Iranian Stamp.

Rehan checkpoint - not to be crossed by any other than certain Palestinians 

Upon exiting

Again, the officer instantly find my Stamp, asked some questions, and gave me and then of course my friend as well the worst security level number, which is "6".
They examined every single thing of our carry-on backpacks and gave us thorough, pretty intimate body checks behind closed doors. Nothing dramatic. The security process took us like 2 hrs. We arrived late at the airport about 2,5 hrs, which is too late on normal days! Plan for 4hrs if you expect to get a "6". On the other side u can gamble and come late, then they have to hurry to get u on the plane, just like they did with us. We had young, friendly staff.

Bottom line: Don't worry about traveling to Israel with Iranian Stamp! Challenge the situation with your sympathy and it's gonna be all right ;-)

Toda. Shukran. Thanks Israel & Palestine 

Love. Craig.

Kölle Alaaf! One whole City going Nuts

Alaaf! This is probably the most used greeting in these days in the Cologne area. All are celebrating the most important festival of the year. Cologne Karneval can‘t be compared to any other carnival not even with the Brazilian carnival in Rio that takes place on the same day.

The core idea of this long-established tradition is to enjoy life to the fullest, with exuberance, jollity and high spirits to indulge until Ash Wednesday. In the past Karneval marked the last week before the Christian Fasting time. The original keynote of this feast can be compared to the muslim Ramadan and the subsequent Idu Fitr-Fastbreaking celebration to give you an idea. The term Karneval is believed to derive from the latincarne vale, which translates „Meat, goodbye!“. Kölle Alaaf! translates as "Cologne over all" or "Cologne, get rid of the rest!"

The traditions were shaken up over time. Today one of the most obvious features of Karneval is the masquerading. All people disguise themselves. There are no limits to your imagination of costumes. Fortunately Kölner are open to an costume these days for they do in fact not necessarily reflect anyone's opinion. They're just for fun! For instance , last year I dressed up as a nuclear power plant. I was wearing neon color clothes and helmet. What the people liked most are the sayings and mottos on my mini-reactor. In German the word for radioactive and smiling is the same. So this adds humor. This year I dressed up as swine flu, using a German play on words again (Grippe is German for flu, while GErippe is German for skeleton). Nowadays the vast majority wears fabric-made costumes that are on sale just anywhere in town. Only theKarneval unions and some Karneval enthusiasts make the costumes on their own (like me hehe).

Karneval actually starts in mid November. Since then the Karneval unions gather regularly and hold their meetings. But the Karneval which most people know, only starts in spring or late winter. Then Cologne goes crazy for 5 days. Cologne is taken over by anarchy. The traffic doesn‘t flow, instead so does the beer and alcohol. But of course there are a lot of people enjoying Karneval without alcohol. The police and ambulances are extremely busy. On the starting days some roads are closed. These roads are packed with people and covered with shattered glass.

Now comes the good part: The celebrations proceed with the so called Schull- on Veedelszösch on Sunday and reach climax with the famed Rosenmontagszug. These two are the most important of thousands of parades around Germany. Both parades cover the same route through downtown Cologne. Hundreds of Karneval unions stage their costumes, their decorated vans and throw sweets, flowers and other small gadgets to their right and left, where small kids and adults will try to catch them. All sing along the traditional Karneval songs. The most famous probably being „Viva Colonia...“.

Obviously there are always a lot of people who don‘t know their limitations and loose control. In my favorite place, the Zülpicherstraße, some drunken tilted the plastic toilet booths and started to use them as toys, jumping all over the place and pushing the booths around. The atmosphere suddenly got aggressive with people kicking the booths and finally the police dissolved the mob.

However those are sad exceptions. They're way outbalanced by the overall positive atmosphere. During this time people loose any inhibitions, they cross lines and reach out to strangers. All come down to the same level of making fool of oneself. During these days people in Cologne are all the same: human beings in costumes! Kölle Alaaf!

Warum Malaysia? - Darum!

Ich bin viel in der Welt herumgekommen (von Vietnam bis Marokko und von Sri Lanka bis Ukraine). Malaysia ist für mich das lebenswerteste Land der Welt und deshalb empfehle ich jedem dieses atemberaubende Land und seine netten Bewohner kennen zu lernen.

Malaysia ist ein fortschrittlicher, islamisch geprägter Vielvölkerstaat in Südostasien. Schon die ethnische Diversität macht Malaysia einzigartig. Wo sonst in der Welt leben hinduistische Inder, buddhistische Chinesen, animistische Ureinwohner und muslimische Malaien friedlich nebeneinander. Auch wenn dies unbestreitbar zu Konflikten führen kann (Malaysia gehört zu den stabilsten Ländern der Welt), ist der Aspekt des multikulturellen Miteinanders ein viel beachtenswerterer. Jeden Tag erlebt man ein Fest einer anderen Kultur. Gestern war es das indische Lichterfest, heute der islamische Ramadan, morgen das chinesische Neujahrsfest und übermorgen der Dämonentanz der malaiischen Aborigines.

Im Englischen gibt es ein Wort für die Möglichkeit, zufällig glückliche und unerwartete Entdeckungen zu machen: Serendipity. Wegen dieser extrem vielfältigen und omnipräsenten Serendipität in Malaysia komme ich immer wieder gerne zurück und werde von meiner malaiischen Familie aufgenommen, als wäre ich nur kurz weggewesen.

Gesprochen werden hauptsächlich Malaysisch, Mandarin-Chinesisch und Tamilisch, während Englisch die meistbenutzte Verkehrssprache ist. Damit bietet sich Austauschschülern eine seltene Gelegenheit. Da man ohnehin nach kurzer Zeit ein hervorragendes Englisch spricht, kann man mit ein wenig Mühe eine exotische Sprache erlernen. Aus beruflicher Sicht ist Englisch heute keine Qualifizierung mehr, während global agierende Firmen um Sprecher exotischer Sprachen buhlen. An den weiterführenden Schulen werden landesweit sowohl in Englisch (Naturwissenschaften) als auch in Malaysisch unterrichtet.

Die Malaysier (alle Bewohner Malaysias) sind ein besonders gastfreundliches Volk (ich weise hier noch einmal auf meine Reiseerfahrung hin). Aufgrund kultureller Normen und Sitten genießt man weitestgehend Harmonie und Freundschaft. In Malaysia braucht man als Gast nicht unbedingt aktiv den Kontakt suchen (in Deutschland ist das offensichtlich der Fall), denn die wissbegierigen Malaysier kommen auf einen zu.

Aufgrund der topographischen Beschaffenheit (Malaiische Halbinsel und Borneo) finden sich in Malaysia facettenreiche Landschaften: Vom undurchdringlichen Regenwald bis zur Palmbestandenen Trauminsel und vom 4000m-Berg zur Kalksteinfelsen-Küste.

Auch wenn das alles sich anhört, wie im TUI-Prospekt vom Reisebüro nebenan, ich schreibe aus Erfahrung (alle 16 malaysischen Bundesstaaten besucht).

Ich denke es ist nun klar, dass Malaysia ein faszinierendes Land ist. Seit einigen Jahren arbeite ich für meine Austauschorganisation AFS und freue mich jedes mal mit Schülern, die das Glück haben meine zweite Heimat zu erleben - Malaysia zu leben.

Bitte kontaktiert mich oder lest meinen multilingualen Blog, der während meines Autauschjahres entstanden ist vollständig oder nur die Highlights.

Häufig versuche ich mit meiner Präsentation über Malaysia Schüler für ein Austauschjahr in diesem fesselnden Land zu begeistern. Interessierten empfehle ich deshalb, sich die Präsentation anzuschauen.

Couch Surfing - The Missing Quick Manual

What is CouchSurfing?

CS is an online social network dedicated to advance cultural understanding by sharing hospitality with one another. The experience is highly beneficial to all parties involved.

How does CS work?

Members that are about to travel search online for members that live near the desired destination. The travelers then send requests via the online platform. If the recipients are willing to host then phone numbers, addresses etc. are exchanged and the marvelous experience is about to happen. Members can decide if they want to host somebody or only want to offer a dinner or a sightseeing tour.

Is it free and safe?

CS is free. CS is voluntary and bases upon mutual trust and responsibility. There are several ways CS tries to show that members are reliable and safe to surf. Firstly references are written for both hosts and travelers and secondly can members verify their address and thereby their CS-identity.

How do I write a good request?

Read or at least scan the profiles and refer to statements to show that you are not simply sending a serial mail which are generally ignored. Address the host and say thank you. Tell what you can offer (present, skill, cooking). Say something about you. Specify meeting times and places. Exchange phone numbers. Ask if you need to bring something (sleeping bag). Say thank you in the local language to show your interest in the culture.

Your request should not be longer than 15 lines because people tend to be busy and refrain from reading long texts. To uphold the member‘s privacies use the implemented CS messaging engine to communicate.

Watch a movie (Morocco, EURO-Tour, Poland & the Baltics) about my CouchSurfing experiences!

CouchSurfing.org