Jessica Thorning

This summer has been truly a once in a lifetime experience – no one will ever have this same trip and neither will I. As someone who first travelled only this year, I was really jumping into a new experience without much of an idea of what to expect. I am so glad I made the choice to do this huge trip. That being said, it is a tiring activity. After I got home I had to really relax and get myself used to being on a schedule in the US again. It is quite shocking for one’s mind to jump around so quickly and have so much new information overloading your brain in such a short amount of time.
I was very lucky to experience having both familiar faces and unfamiliar faces on this trip as well. They are two totally different experiences. Traveling not only allows you to meet locals, but people from all over the world. I really enjoy meeting new people and have become a much more open person because of it, which I am grateful for.
I really want to stress to other students and people interested in traveling to other countries that it is so important to go and put yourself out there to try new things. It wouldn’t have been such a great experience if I weren’t willing to try an activity, food, place, etc. that I had never heard of. It is so important to be open-minded and keep in mind that things will not always be on your schedule and that’s okay.
The three countries I visited all taught me uniquely important lessons. It has made me more antsy to visit more places and I’m sure that I will also be back to China, Germany, and Finland. I want to thank the Department of Landscape Architecture, SEBS Office of Global Engagement, and other faculty, staff, my family, friends, and people I have met abroad for helping, supporting, and allowing me to partake on this crazy three-month trip. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you all!

This week I had a bit of a scare, when I found out my passport was turned into the embassy in Helsinki. I am very lucky that it was found, but unfortunately, I had to work very hard for a few days to get my passport back to Essen. I had so many supportive people around me helping, and it worked! I am currently on the plane back home to the US.

This week at work was mostly filled with finishing up my work to make complete spreads for the department to present. I am happy with my work and what I’ve completed in six weeks, and am proud that the EGLV will use it to present to the regional planning association for the Ruhr. On my last day, we enjoyed some delicious raspberry cake and we all said goodbye. I also really took the week to fix the passport situation and get prepared to fly back, so my evenings were spent visiting with people I’ve met in the area and saying goodbyes. Although it is a bit difficult to leave so many things behind, it is still really easy to keep in touch, and I have been SO excited to see my family again. Only a few more hours!

This week I experienced a different side of the working with the public sphere, which was participating in outreach and holding programs for. I attended a “Sommer Akademie” in Castrop-Rauxel, which was basically a week-long day camp for younger children during their break from school. I didn’t know what to expect – there were assorted activities all week. For the one day that I attended, we went on a nature walk near the Emscher, and experienced the naturalized area in Dortmund, as well as (an underground treatment plant?) near the Winterdienst tributary. I got to see a lot of the Emscher that I had never experienced, and also learned about the culture of ecological education in the Ruhr. The class wasn’t huge – maybe around 20-30 children, all around eight years of age or younger. The kids were a bit timid of me at first, since I can’t really speak German, but they eventually started holding my hand and talking to me. We had a great time and went back to the Akademie afterwards to have some lunch and play, at which time I also saw the extensive garden community next to the school. It had some of the most beautiful residential gardens I’ve ever seen.

Additionally, I was allowed to take some vacation days this weekend. At Emschergenossenschaft, employees are allowed two vacation days a month, so I decided to take a trip to Finland. It has been a place I’ve wanted to visit since fifth grade, when we all chose countries to make a presentation about. I of course chose Finland, wrote the Finnish embassy in DC, and it has always stuck with me. I had a wonderful time in Helsinki. I got to experience the beautiful architecture, specifically Alvar Aalto, beautiful nature, leisurely lifestyle, and my favorite – the Finnish sauna. In my three day trip, I spent quite a few hours in the sauna, meeting people from all over Finland and the world, relaxing, and jumping into the Baltic Sea. The sauna is a very safe feeling space – there is no hierarchy, everyone respects the rules and works together to keep the saunas running. And it is the most relaxing feeling to go from sauna to sea and back. It was a wonderful experience!

Pictures below:

 

I am officially two weeks away from America… it is a little weird thinking about going back. I hope to bring back some good habits I’ve made while here. I will only have a week to prepare for school, so it’s right back to work!

My fourth week has been exciting – I have been continuing work on the Emscher mouth area in Dinslaken, which is currently under construction. Things are starting to become more finalized, and I have been compiling ideas from the studio I participated in during the past semester.

I have become closer with my coworkers during this time, and am glad I get to work with great people. I visited a coworker’s garden cottage to see his bees and apple orchard, and really enjoyed experiencing the proximity of nature to the largest city within the ruhrgebiet.

In terms of everyday life, I have been keeping extra busy with work for both the internship and school, so I am constantly on the move. This week, I visited Wuppertal again and saw the Schwebebahn, which had been under construction for the past few months. I’m glad I got to try it before I went home. It is the oldest and largest suspended railway – it operates over the Wupper, and has beautiful views. It also goes through the Bayer campus – an interesting and large industrial space still in the Ruhr.

In addition I visited the Folkwang museum in Essen… one of the nicest and most interesting museums I have been to. I really enjoyed the variety of art there, the gorgeous building, and being able to sit and sketch art.

As for this coming week – I booked a flight to Finland! I am so excited to go to Helsinki and experience nature, design, and relaxation. I will be traveling over a long weekend, as every worker gets two vacation days per month.

I will post about my experiences on the Baltic Sea next week. Pictures below!

 

My third week in the internship phase started with an adventure on Sunday. My next door neighbor from my home recently moved into a flat in Frankfurt, and my childhood friend was visiting during a break in her study abroad adventure in Dublin, Ireland! I got to see some familiar faces and enjoy a little tour of Frankfurt for the day. We saw the River Main on a boat tour, which is a beautiful.

A huge benefit of the travel in Germany is that there are ample options of places to go, and they are all relatively cheap! Busses and trains are always available to go to other countries, and flights aren’t expensive either. It is really easy to explore without any access to a car and on a budget. I have learned a lot about saving and having fun at the same time, and hope to bring some of these lessons back with me.

After getting back from my Frankfurt day trip, I had a very exciting week at work. I met with some Masters students from the Technical University Dortmund, and we toured the Kaisergarten in Oberhausen with my boss, Dr. Oldengott. I really enjoyed seeing the art piece/bridge “Slinky Springs to Fame,” which connects the old Emscher to the current engineered Emscher, and looks over the Rhine-Herne Canal. It is a super funky bridge, with bright colors, and it lights up at night. It also bounces a little bit when you are on it, looking and feeling like a slinky.

One of the highlights of the whole praktikum was attending the UNESCO World Heritage proposal meetings for the Ruhrgebiet as a UNESCO Cultural Landscape. These meetings took place all day for three days, and I was able to meet some really interesting and wonderful professionals trying to get the Ruhr region recognized by UNESCO as a special heritage site. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I really learned how tedious and difficult it is to create a proposal for a cultural landscape. Every element of your proposal needs to ensure protection, and the Ruhr is a huge area.

Since the meetings took place at the Hansa Kokerei in Dortmund, I also was able to get a private tour of the formal industrial site. It is so beautiful and unique, due to the way it is preserved. Unlike a place like Landschaftspark, where many structures are repurposed, the Cokery was left as it is, with less restoration and repurpose, allowing it to show itself for what it is. The outdoor areas were redesigned, but some insides of buildings were eerily unchanged, and the stench of coke oven gas still lingered.

As for my weekend activities, I enjoyed hanging out in the city of Bochum, watching the Supercup Soccer game, rooting for Dortmund, and meeting new people.

Currently, I am halfway done with my praktikum – which means I have been away from the US for a total of 11 weeks… It’s been a crazy ride so far and has gone by so fast. I’m excited to go home, but will miss this way of life.

Pictures Below!