After class we had a quick visit to the European Union Commission on our way out of town. The Commission is like the enforcement body of the EU (they bring cases against states), and they are also the only body able to introduce legislation. The speaker was interesting, just a spokesman for the EU, and very technical. We have not studied the EU directly. So, the lecture was quite confusing at first, talking away about various EU bodies, which we had never heard of. Although, after a half hour or so, things started to connect.
Right after the EU we headed for Luxemburg or Luxembourg. We stopped by Pizza Hut on the way out for a quick lunch, and the Pizza Hut was crazy. It’s a wanna-be fancy restaurant with nice seating and over-expensive food. Luxembourg is an amazing city. It’s very small but there is a large gorge through the middle of the city which creates a sort of town on the river (and) canyon feel. My view from the hotel is across the gorge, I can see homes down into the valley, a beautiful bridge, and castle structures across the way. The downtown area is amazing as well. Tonight we walked down for some Chinese food (also not good here), and there was a band playing movie theme songs in the middle of a large square full of terrace seating. We heard songs from Superman and James Bond movies while eating Gelato from a little stand, it was amazing (yes, third time I said it). There are not any soccer games on for the next couple days because it’s getting into the finals, so that has lessened my celebrating. Although, the beer in the vending machine(!) at the hotel is still the same price as water and soda.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
When in Rome
Hello. Friday after class I went to a wonderful open air market with literally everything you could want. They had all kinds of fresh meats, clothes from everywhere, dvd’s, even used washing machines. I tried Baclava, and it was delicious. We walked back from the market through what is probably the real Hague. Instead of the more tourist destinations there were many more apartments and (cheaper) small businesses. Then Friday night we went out to eat at a Mexican food restaurant. It was the worst Mexican food I have ever tasted. The food was basically microwaveable pre-packaged food, if it had been sitting out for awhile. Anyway, after that we wondered into a one room bar with a pool table and watched a soccer game. We stayed there for a few hours as I progressively drank darker and stronger beers than I had planned (FYI-the Guinness in the Hague is horrible, it is very thin and they mix it in one cup at a time, so it takes awhile to get the finished drink). On the up side, one of the guys in our group proceeded to beat everyone in the bar at pool, an old man started hitting on the girls with us in Dutch and was kicked out, and the (not old creepy) locals seemed to enjoy our presence as much as we enjoyed theirs.
Saturday morning we woke up around 830 a.m., which was not fun after going to bed late, and headed into Amsterdam. It’s about a 45 minute train ride into Amsterdam through the countryside. Amsterdam itself is awesome. It’s a big city, entirely an urban area. We walked through most of the city, ending by the Rijk and Van Gogh museums. We didn’t go into the museums because we only had one day here in Amsterdam and a few of the people in the group had seen them already. In between the museums is a park area with a large outdoor pool and the I AMSTERDAM sign. We stopped to relax and cool off in the water, it felt very natural to stop for a bit and just relax in the water (Disneyland should add this feature). We then rented paddle boats and went around the city a bit. The whole city has small rivers that run in between the walkways/roads. While we were there, a Saturday, there were constantly ‘party boats’ going around the city with people playing music and dancing.
We eventually made it to the Rembrandt square area where they have a variety of nice restaurants, a coffee shop called Smokeys, and another smaller park area. We eventually walked through the red light district (during the day, there was not much activity), and watched the US and Ghana game at a local bar. By the time it was over it was night and the crowd had picked up quite a bit, also, the ladies windows had filled up. As a side, they have urinals on the street, literally little kiosks with three urinals facing outward on random street corners, it’s awesome. Also, there are coffee shops that serve marijuana and various pastries with marijuana all over the city. Although, the regular bars only serve alcohol and seem to look down on their counterparts in the coffee shops. But besides that, a ton of people roam the streets in the red light district at night, it reminds me of Mill Avenue on a crowded night, but with a different variety of businesses and clientele. There were some rowdy people, as expected, and the crowd was mostly guys, also as expected.
Anyway, to catch up to today, on Sunday morning we travelled to Bruxelles and took a walking tour of some of the downtown area of the city. There are amazing buildings here and it is the largest city of the three we have been in so far. Sunday night we walked back downtown and had a great dinner at a little Italian place, it may be a tourist set-up, but it still feels more authentic to go to an Italian place where the employees speak Italian. After dinner we all walked to a bar called Delirium. The bar has won world records and such for most beers, they usually have something like 2,004 at a time. They had a 1.5 inch book of available beers, with some 90 or so on tap. I had a Chimay, which they brew here in Belgium, and some 12% ABV beer which tasted incredibly good for the high alcohol content. The bar itself was exactly what you’d expect, lots of wood and dingy walls. The roof was covered in oversized tin bottle caps from different beers. Interestingly, the light weight tables and chairs, plus the sparse set-up, made me feel like a giant bar fight would break out at any moment, full of flying people and breaking furniture.
Anyway, after that we headed to another bar to watch the Argentina and Mexico soccer game. I have been going to a lot of bars, but it’s the best place to watch the soccer games. This bar was extremely hot because of the crowd, a lot of places don’t have a/c here. The weather, at first, in The Hague must have been around 60, now it’s more like 90, quite a change. After the game we got a little lost walking back to the hotel, which is in a bad part of town. We walked by quite a few shady looking places (under some bridges), with groups of guys sitting around staring at you as you walk by. But, there were five or six of us together and we made it back safely.
That brings me back up to today, we had class this morning at the University of Bruxelles. To get there we took the trains and trams which were very hot and crowded, though not quite as packed as the trains in China. The class room was like a dungeon: brick walls, no windows, and the door was two inch thick wood. It was interesting to see the little drawings and scribbles on some of the desks, just like students anywhere. Someone had written “I Love J,” which I’m sure was meant for me. So that’s that, I just had a gyro for lunch, the cheapest meal I’ve had so far, only 5 euro for a giant gyro and drink. Plus, the place was situated so that the wind blew right in through the windows and made it a beautiful little café to eat lunch. Then I did some reading and watched the Netherlands and Croatia soccer game while sitting at the hotel bar. If you got a Delirium brand beer you could bet on the exact score of the game and win a free 40 oz beer. So, a few of us bet on the score and in the last couple seconds (literally a penalty in extra time) my number came up. So I got a free beer and we split it. Then we headed off to a nice little dinner on the terrace of a waffle restaurant, and walked to the giant molecule that is famous in Bruxelles, built during some old world’s fair and just left up, because it looks cool. Hope everyone is doing well. Love, Jeff.
PS. I am not going to post pictures because I haven’t taken the time to figure out how to do it, without uploading them one at a time.
Saturday morning we woke up around 830 a.m., which was not fun after going to bed late, and headed into Amsterdam. It’s about a 45 minute train ride into Amsterdam through the countryside. Amsterdam itself is awesome. It’s a big city, entirely an urban area. We walked through most of the city, ending by the Rijk and Van Gogh museums. We didn’t go into the museums because we only had one day here in Amsterdam and a few of the people in the group had seen them already. In between the museums is a park area with a large outdoor pool and the I AMSTERDAM sign. We stopped to relax and cool off in the water, it felt very natural to stop for a bit and just relax in the water (Disneyland should add this feature). We then rented paddle boats and went around the city a bit. The whole city has small rivers that run in between the walkways/roads. While we were there, a Saturday, there were constantly ‘party boats’ going around the city with people playing music and dancing.
We eventually made it to the Rembrandt square area where they have a variety of nice restaurants, a coffee shop called Smokeys, and another smaller park area. We eventually walked through the red light district (during the day, there was not much activity), and watched the US and Ghana game at a local bar. By the time it was over it was night and the crowd had picked up quite a bit, also, the ladies windows had filled up. As a side, they have urinals on the street, literally little kiosks with three urinals facing outward on random street corners, it’s awesome. Also, there are coffee shops that serve marijuana and various pastries with marijuana all over the city. Although, the regular bars only serve alcohol and seem to look down on their counterparts in the coffee shops. But besides that, a ton of people roam the streets in the red light district at night, it reminds me of Mill Avenue on a crowded night, but with a different variety of businesses and clientele. There were some rowdy people, as expected, and the crowd was mostly guys, also as expected.
Anyway, to catch up to today, on Sunday morning we travelled to Bruxelles and took a walking tour of some of the downtown area of the city. There are amazing buildings here and it is the largest city of the three we have been in so far. Sunday night we walked back downtown and had a great dinner at a little Italian place, it may be a tourist set-up, but it still feels more authentic to go to an Italian place where the employees speak Italian. After dinner we all walked to a bar called Delirium. The bar has won world records and such for most beers, they usually have something like 2,004 at a time. They had a 1.5 inch book of available beers, with some 90 or so on tap. I had a Chimay, which they brew here in Belgium, and some 12% ABV beer which tasted incredibly good for the high alcohol content. The bar itself was exactly what you’d expect, lots of wood and dingy walls. The roof was covered in oversized tin bottle caps from different beers. Interestingly, the light weight tables and chairs, plus the sparse set-up, made me feel like a giant bar fight would break out at any moment, full of flying people and breaking furniture.
Anyway, after that we headed to another bar to watch the Argentina and Mexico soccer game. I have been going to a lot of bars, but it’s the best place to watch the soccer games. This bar was extremely hot because of the crowd, a lot of places don’t have a/c here. The weather, at first, in The Hague must have been around 60, now it’s more like 90, quite a change. After the game we got a little lost walking back to the hotel, which is in a bad part of town. We walked by quite a few shady looking places (under some bridges), with groups of guys sitting around staring at you as you walk by. But, there were five or six of us together and we made it back safely.
That brings me back up to today, we had class this morning at the University of Bruxelles. To get there we took the trains and trams which were very hot and crowded, though not quite as packed as the trains in China. The class room was like a dungeon: brick walls, no windows, and the door was two inch thick wood. It was interesting to see the little drawings and scribbles on some of the desks, just like students anywhere. Someone had written “I Love J,” which I’m sure was meant for me. So that’s that, I just had a gyro for lunch, the cheapest meal I’ve had so far, only 5 euro for a giant gyro and drink. Plus, the place was situated so that the wind blew right in through the windows and made it a beautiful little café to eat lunch. Then I did some reading and watched the Netherlands and Croatia soccer game while sitting at the hotel bar. If you got a Delirium brand beer you could bet on the exact score of the game and win a free 40 oz beer. So, a few of us bet on the score and in the last couple seconds (literally a penalty in extra time) my number came up. So I got a free beer and we split it. Then we headed off to a nice little dinner on the terrace of a waffle restaurant, and walked to the giant molecule that is famous in Bruxelles, built during some old world’s fair and just left up, because it looks cool. Hope everyone is doing well. Love, Jeff.
PS. I am not going to post pictures because I haven’t taken the time to figure out how to do it, without uploading them one at a time.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Thursday night out
[Yesterday] This morning we had class, The Future of International Criminal Justice. The professor for the class (with us for a short while) is actually the author of the textbook. He is very intelligent and has worked as defense counsel for some of the men on trial in the Yugoslavia Court. After class we visited the Peace Palace. Apparently it was originally called a peace temple and was built with donations from Carnegie. The place is gorgeous. The outside looks something like a church with security, and inside is all marble and works of art. The floor is mainly some kind of mosaic all assembled by hand. The floor is covered in paintings just like a chapel. There were Ming Dynasty vases, incredibly old Indian tapestries (which gave the rooms an odd smell), and a variety of other gifts from countries (including security and building ornaments). Unfortunately pictures inside the Palace are 'verboden.'
We received a presentation from one of the sitting judges of the International Court of Justice, which handles more like civil issues (arbitration and money reparations). The ICJ was started around 1948 and has heard about 100 very large cases. Apparently the ICJ is backed by the UN, and according to the judge no country has outright defied a decision by the ICJ, although the US has come close. Interestingly the ICJ has some teeth in that it can refer matters to the UN security council which could, at least on paper, use force to impose a judgment.
Anyway, I was able to stop by a café for a minute today and have a delicious sandwich with smoked salmon. Everything here comes in smaller sizes. Coke glasses, food, even alcohol is served in smaller servings. Also, the restaurants don’t come to your table unless you ask them to, which is oddly kinda nice. You can sit at your table all day if you wanted to and they would not ask you to leave or buy anything. However this also means the service is very slow, by our standards. At night a group of us went to the center of the city to walk around (the shops stay open late on Thursday night). We eventually ate outside, interestingly all the restaurants have outside seating so all of the seating runs together. We stayed for most of a soccer game between Holland and Camaru. It was fun to see all the people come together to root for their home team, it’s like the super bowl except it lasts a few weeks. The bars here are rowdy but everyone is very respectful. The atmosphere is festive but not hostile. Well, I’m learning a lot and having fun, hope everything is going well at home.
We received a presentation from one of the sitting judges of the International Court of Justice, which handles more like civil issues (arbitration and money reparations). The ICJ was started around 1948 and has heard about 100 very large cases. Apparently the ICJ is backed by the UN, and according to the judge no country has outright defied a decision by the ICJ, although the US has come close. Interestingly the ICJ has some teeth in that it can refer matters to the UN security council which could, at least on paper, use force to impose a judgment.
Anyway, I was able to stop by a café for a minute today and have a delicious sandwich with smoked salmon. Everything here comes in smaller sizes. Coke glasses, food, even alcohol is served in smaller servings. Also, the restaurants don’t come to your table unless you ask them to, which is oddly kinda nice. You can sit at your table all day if you wanted to and they would not ask you to leave or buy anything. However this also means the service is very slow, by our standards. At night a group of us went to the center of the city to walk around (the shops stay open late on Thursday night). We eventually ate outside, interestingly all the restaurants have outside seating so all of the seating runs together. We stayed for most of a soccer game between Holland and Camaru. It was fun to see all the people come together to root for their home team, it’s like the super bowl except it lasts a few weeks. The bars here are rowdy but everyone is very respectful. The atmosphere is festive but not hostile. Well, I’m learning a lot and having fun, hope everything is going well at home.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Interesting ICC, day three
I have a little more time today but no real internet access; I am sitting at a restaurant where you get 1mbps internet, intermittently. I am eating alone today because we have been travelling as a group for the last couple days and it’s kinda nice not to be making small talk.
Today we went to the International Criminal Court. I don’t have any pictures of the ICTY or ICC because the security is very tight and we are told not to bring anything we wouldn’t be willing to leave at the court if they decide we can’t take it in, pictures inside are prohibited anyway. Also, we are usually taken to a restricted area of the Court, just a meeting room or what not for our talks with the Court members. This court and the ICTY are guarded very heavily. Although, the ICC has better funding and actually has Jurassic Park type security, with electrified fences, tons of cameras, and electronic doors.
We were given presentations by a special counsel for the president, a prosecutor, and the president of the ICC. All of them were very interesting and hopeful for the future of an International Court that is entirely up to the voluntary participation of states, with no ‘teeth,’ or police type enforcement to back up decisions. This strikes me as ineffective, but the common and understandable refrain is that state sovereignty (when a state is ‘alive’ anyway) is too important to force any time of decision. A few of the speakers mentioned how militia members are currently refraining from hiring child soldiers, so the court is having some direct effect, but the wars and murders continue. Also, some men who have warrants from the court will outright defy them because there are very limited impacts (outside of diplomatic pressure and limited sanctions). But, the ICC is still new and the largest powers have yet to join (only somewhat participate), ie. China and the US.
The ICC is currently trying the first of its main cases since its birth in 2002, so we sat in for a little while on one of the court proceedings, questioning of a witness. It was very interesting. The witness had worked as a child soldier (under 15) in the militia of the man on trial, and he described how he stopped a military truck and killed all of the people inside, of whom were of a certain background. It is very interesting to see the men who are on trial, accused of crimes like genocide (they look so normal). The public room for viewing the trial is separated by a sound-proof glass partition, just like at the ICTY. A camera records the proceedings and you can see in through the large glass wall. Also, the entire proceedings is translated into English and French via little receivers and a team of two translators per language, which must be no easy feat considering everyone is speaking variations of African languages or French/English (sometimes) hybrids.
We then had class again, the usual reading and discussion, very interesting but focused mainly on small details. International law is very interesting, because there is no solid set of statutes or what not to which all countries agree. So, for the most part, an international court has to apply norms/customs that are ‘generally understood by most nations,’ then apply them somewhat retroactively to those who have committed massive (war) crimes. Interestingly, when small countries violate these norms (ie. torture), their leaders are prosecuted and imprisoned. But, when large and powerful countries (China/US) do similar things (not genocide but Human Rights violations), they are just ‘bullies’ who receive no repercussions.
Anyway, it is very interesting that no matter where in the world you are, so far from my experience, people are people. I am on the beach in The Hague, yet if I spoke the language it could be a beach in California. They may speak a different language, be war criminals, or beach bums, but they still have the same general attributes, needs, and a sort of common understanding.
Today we went to the International Criminal Court. I don’t have any pictures of the ICTY or ICC because the security is very tight and we are told not to bring anything we wouldn’t be willing to leave at the court if they decide we can’t take it in, pictures inside are prohibited anyway. Also, we are usually taken to a restricted area of the Court, just a meeting room or what not for our talks with the Court members. This court and the ICTY are guarded very heavily. Although, the ICC has better funding and actually has Jurassic Park type security, with electrified fences, tons of cameras, and electronic doors.
We were given presentations by a special counsel for the president, a prosecutor, and the president of the ICC. All of them were very interesting and hopeful for the future of an International Court that is entirely up to the voluntary participation of states, with no ‘teeth,’ or police type enforcement to back up decisions. This strikes me as ineffective, but the common and understandable refrain is that state sovereignty (when a state is ‘alive’ anyway) is too important to force any time of decision. A few of the speakers mentioned how militia members are currently refraining from hiring child soldiers, so the court is having some direct effect, but the wars and murders continue. Also, some men who have warrants from the court will outright defy them because there are very limited impacts (outside of diplomatic pressure and limited sanctions). But, the ICC is still new and the largest powers have yet to join (only somewhat participate), ie. China and the US.
The ICC is currently trying the first of its main cases since its birth in 2002, so we sat in for a little while on one of the court proceedings, questioning of a witness. It was very interesting. The witness had worked as a child soldier (under 15) in the militia of the man on trial, and he described how he stopped a military truck and killed all of the people inside, of whom were of a certain background. It is very interesting to see the men who are on trial, accused of crimes like genocide (they look so normal). The public room for viewing the trial is separated by a sound-proof glass partition, just like at the ICTY. A camera records the proceedings and you can see in through the large glass wall. Also, the entire proceedings is translated into English and French via little receivers and a team of two translators per language, which must be no easy feat considering everyone is speaking variations of African languages or French/English (sometimes) hybrids.
We then had class again, the usual reading and discussion, very interesting but focused mainly on small details. International law is very interesting, because there is no solid set of statutes or what not to which all countries agree. So, for the most part, an international court has to apply norms/customs that are ‘generally understood by most nations,’ then apply them somewhat retroactively to those who have committed massive (war) crimes. Interestingly, when small countries violate these norms (ie. torture), their leaders are prosecuted and imprisoned. But, when large and powerful countries (China/US) do similar things (not genocide but Human Rights violations), they are just ‘bullies’ who receive no repercussions.
Anyway, it is very interesting that no matter where in the world you are, so far from my experience, people are people. I am on the beach in The Hague, yet if I spoke the language it could be a beach in California. They may speak a different language, be war criminals, or beach bums, but they still have the same general attributes, needs, and a sort of common understanding.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Quick Day 2
First class today was very interesting. Our teacher has been involved with the UN and human rights for a long time and is very knowledgeable. Yet, befitting a human rights professor he is extremely kind and has a good sense of humor. We walked to the market today to buy some lunch food and of course some beer.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia was very interesting. We had to sit in a separate room with armed guards. Then, when the witness entered they closed shades over the window, distorted his voice and image, and used a pseudonym. Crazy. Plus, we met with a presiding judge and one of the prosecutors who gave us special presentations in the prosecutor’s meeting area, an area of the court where the public is usually not allowed. It is actually a historic place where they decided to bring charges against the Yugoslavian political leaders for genocide, murder, and persecution. Plus, the prosecutor showed us some video they used as evidence; video of leaders and soldiers murdering people, it was very intense. Anyway, I have to get going, it’s late here and I still have to read.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia was very interesting. We had to sit in a separate room with armed guards. Then, when the witness entered they closed shades over the window, distorted his voice and image, and used a pseudonym. Crazy. Plus, we met with a presiding judge and one of the prosecutors who gave us special presentations in the prosecutor’s meeting area, an area of the court where the public is usually not allowed. It is actually a historic place where they decided to bring charges against the Yugoslavian political leaders for genocide, murder, and persecution. Plus, the prosecutor showed us some video they used as evidence; video of leaders and soldiers murdering people, it was very intense. Anyway, I have to get going, it’s late here and I still have to read.
Monday, June 21, 2010
First few days
This whole place is amazing. The Hague (or Den Haag) only has about 500,000 people and all of the architecture is gorgeous. People literally stay in beautiful homes inside of parks. Yesterday after dinner we slightly got lost walking back to the hotel, and wandered through a park (our hotel is in a park) with the homes of foreign diplomats, all of them were amazing. The people here are very nice, a few of them are somewhat snobby. I accidently nudged an older lady on the train coming from the airport, and I apologized but she gave me a ‘half’ rolling of her eyes, I didn’t merit the full roll. The younger generation is amazingly helpful for the most part, although many of the guys remind me of the movie “Snatch.” Everyone dresses very very well, suits and fancy shoes. According to our walking tour guide The Hague used to be made fun of in other cities for its people who put out fake hams or used thinly cut cheese to try to appear opulent; the symbol of the city is a stork—which is supposed to mean wealth.
Anyway, this morning’s breakfast at the hotel consisted of cold cuts, a half-boiled eggs, fruit, and beans, all delicious but an odd combination. We took a walking tour of the downtown city area where the government meets and where the old time kings and queens lived. I have pictures that will do the city more justice than I can here. Even in the middle of the ‘city,’ the buildings are surrounded by water and trees. Apparently a small river runs under the homes, and back in the day people would just dump their ‘extras’ into a small door in the floor and let the river take it away. It’s amazing, all of the buildings are from the 15-1700s yet people still live and work in them as casually as ever. Everyone here is very laid back, the shops open ‘around’ eleven and close around six, and the restaurants/bars stay open ‘til whenever. It doesn’t even start to get dark until about eleven then the sun is right back up at five.
This afternoon we started a crash course in the courts and institutions we will be visiting over the next couple weeks, all very interesting. This evening we took a walk along the beach boulevard again and through the neighborhoods. All the neighborhoods are kinda like San Francisco, but with shorter buildings and mostly narrow streets. Tomorrow we will be visiting the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia to watch some of the trial proceedings for one of the last two defendants to be prosecuted.
I will try to post and put up pictures when I can. There isn’t much extra time. Well, off to read for the night then bed, it’s 11:00 here but it's just now dusk.
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