punchline: norway in january
Posted by christolles | Filed under Norway
Yay! We are now in Oslo, Norway, and our adventure continues. Just a quick post to let you all know we’re here safe and sound, and yes, we know we haven’t posted about our Christmas travels yet. I (Chris) will be undertaking a short-term project here in Oslo in collaboration with the Norwegian Refugee Council (Flyktninghjelpen for all you Norwegian speakers out there).
The project is just getting under way, so there’s not much to report for the time being, but basically I’m working on NRC’s Core Activity Database (CAD), a sexy application that automatically collects data from field staff and helps give an overview of what’s going on at NRC programs around the world. NRC has five Core Activities: Education, ICLA (Information, Counseling and Legal Assistance), Emergency Food Security and Distribution, Camp Management, and Shelter.
Currently, CAD captures quantitative (numbers) data only - my ambitious undertaking is to begin to figure out how qualitative (good vs. bad) data can be standardized and incorporated into CAD v2.0, scheduled for roll-out sometime in 2010. For the pilot project, I’ll only be working with data on the Core Activity of Shelter. Yes, for all you designers out there, I agree CAD is a bad acronym.
I promise to actually keep you all updated as to the work I’m doing in Norway, but for the time being check out the very well-produced ad below. Before your media-oversaturation-fueled cynicism kicks in, try and remember the real people living day-to-day in fear for their lives in Gaza, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and far too many other places. NB, bli fadder means “become a sponsor.”
our christmas tramping…
Posted by christolles | Filed under Austria, Germany, Switzerland
Merry almost Christmas! As Tory and I will be on the road for a bit, we thought it would be of interest to include you in our plans. Though of course it’ll take us weeks to actually post about our travels, at least you’ll know where we’ve been :)
Below it a Google Map of our journey, Geneva –> Munich –> Burgkirchen –> Salzburg –> Vienna before back to Munich for a ride home (to Geneva). We’ll be staying at a combination of hostels, CouchSurfing, and our dear friend Nick Kole from RISD who lives in Vienna.
We miss you all dearly - Frohe Weihnachten!
brussels, belgium (tory edition)
Posted by torytolles | Filed under Belgium
At the end of November, Chris (and I) went on his first Official Business Trip. Although it was really nice to have all of Chris’s meals and transportation paid for by his office, his 7AM - 7PM days, with “mandatory” dinner and pub-networking afterwards, lacked a bit of the glamour Chris initially imagined. Above is Brussels’ Grand Place, which is almost all that’s left of Ye Olde Brussels. Our timing was perfect, as the crazy hanging lights you see above had just been installed as a lighting installation art exhibition. It was lovely. Despite the disappointment of Chris’ long days, the Belgian treats were even better than anticipated…
Mmm…. Waffles…
Mmm… Food coma… [For all of those unfamiliar with what happens to Chris after a large meal, here is the brief synopsis: Chris eats a bit more than he should. Then he gets very sleepy. And needs to lie down until his body has dealt with the necessary digestive processing, somewhat like a lizard on a sunny rock. Food comas were frequent on our honeymoon when I only had Anne's House of Dreams for company (who brings more than one book on her honeymoon?!). Now I know to bring multiple books on any traveling over twelve hours. This may not be the entire explanation why I read nearly the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy while in Brussels, but it definitely contributed.] [Note: that is not my hat. - Chris]
While Chris worked, I got to explore the city. At first I was a bit reluctant to explore by myself because I thought it would be a lonely process. A book and a day later, I went to the Atomium, a 335 foot-tall model of a single cell of an iron crystal. It was built for the 1958 World’s Fair in order to show that countries that still had colonies, like Belgium (until 1962), were not entirely barbaric, technologically challenged states. The Belgians even flew in an entire Congolese village to illustrate the point.
I have never been one to be super interested in anything related to the military, but Brussels’ Museum of the Army changed that. Unfortunately, my camera died after taking this picture at the entrance, but I wish that I could share the hundreds of airplanes, tanks, ships, and other paraphernalia (the tanks and ships are kept outside in little courtyards - I suppose even Brussels’ weather cannot do much to hurt a TANK). One exhibit reconstructed a WWI bunker that send me spiraling back to reading All Quiet on the Western Front in Mr. Kisch’s freshman English class. I did not realize it initially, but the museum is in the middle of an enormous reconstruction project; the WWII exhibit ended at the planning of D-Day. I spent 15 minutes frantically searching for the rest of the exhibit before I realized that it was unfinished - and I was genuinely upset 
NB: This post is being published in desperation before we depart on a Christmas voyage. Information on both our Yuletide tramping, and more about Brussels, to come!
Also, how cool is that snow falling on our blog? Thanks Able!
