Constant travel

Global view in Amsterdam.

Travel became so much the norm for me now, that most of the path is described in my normal blog. There is no base from which I do "trips" now. But it is all one long journey, since the end of November 2014. Starting from Beijing, first some places Germany, then Amsterdam, Copenhagen. Then one month in Hong Kong, 6 weeks in Australia and New Zealand. Back to Germany. And now as I write these lines, I am sitting in London.

Sydney Rawson Institute for Seamen

Sometimes I try to make an analytical judgement on which might be a place to settle. But there are so many factors, which are completely random, but still making a deep impression. In the end it is more the what than the where, on which the decision will be based.

But a few things, I learned about travel itself. For example to stay in every place at least a week, if not a month. If you move around too much, you don't find the time to get things done, and you stay a tourist. Also it became quite conscious, that I don't like winters. They are cold, dark and you have to carry a lot of clothes. Traveling light is important: rather 15 kilograms, then 20. Also when you mix urban and real outdoor trips in one bag, this will get quite bulky and not appropriate for any of the two purposes. As we had to repurchase a lot of things, after our destroyed container from Beijing to Germany, this also lead to quite a "modernization". There are no heavy leather good or business suits any more. And when you live so minimalistic, you think twice, whether you buy a book on paper or electronically. I even have a luggage balance, with which I scale a pair of socks before I buy them. 

Poem of the week: Sonnet XIV

Arrived in London. Quiet weekend, working on lecture preparations. Tried whether the coffee shop of the British Museum or Tate Modern are more conducive to do such thing. I preferred the British Museum for the spirits living in the walls, and Tate for the esprit (that't more French, isn't it?) in the halls. Another thing I noticed, was that I completely forgot over my years of corporate brain drain, the poetry which was so present to me ages before. So, from now on I will recite and remember one poem per week. Will start with the ones which I knew by heart before. That's easier. I commence with Shakespeare's Sonnet XIV, as this always reminds me of the limits of my mathematical models. And I am not so far next week from Stratford upon Avon. 

View on St. Pauls from Tate Modern

B-05 Arts and Design Center

About 2 weeks ago, we had the chance to visit the former Horressen Ammunition Depot, which has been converted by Jan Nebgen and his wife Leisa in 10 years of hard work into an Art and Design Center. I was serving there in the mid 80s, at the end of the cold war, in the Rak. Art. Btl. 350 which was operating MGM-52 Lance Rockets and missile launchers for conventional and chemical warheads, as well as for the nuclear W70 warheads of our American allies. The W70-3 was a warhead which had enhanced nuclear radiation, and was often described as some kind of neutron bomb. But while the real neutron bomb was designed to discriminate between people and hardware, and only kill biology by radiation, the W70-3 actually destroyed everything and by radiation just "made sure" nobody was left behind alive. The conventional heads were designed for fire support and carried so-called "cluster bombs" which have the purpose of devastating indiscriminately large areas. As the Lance rockets only had a medium range, our potential targets were in the Communist German Democratic Republic, today the "Neue Bundeslaender", and for many of us aiming at our family members who remained East of the Cold War's Iron Curtain. As I was serving in encrypted communication, I knew what our Commanders were talking about during maneuvers. We sometimes called Dresden "Slaughterhouse Number 6". It was meant to be a kind of humor. And I think when you put 19 to 20 year olds in such an apocalyptic scenario, regularly at three in the morning, they tend to make bad jokes to cheer themselves up a bit. We were not there to maintain peace in the way it is tried today in some unfortunate countries. We were the threat of total destruction of all life on earth. And we hoped that we were scary enough, that nobody would every try it out. So far my little personal history with this place.

Last time I crossed this gate, I was in a different movie.

Since the depot is abandoned, Jan & Leisa found this a perfect site to be converted into an Art- and Design Center. And it is. The region is developing economically quite well, but when we are there, we always look for something cultural, and find there is a serious under-supply. This is where B-05 could play an outstanding role. There were excellent events there, for example the Apocalyptic Opera with Werner Herzog. But there are many problems the two are facing. First of all the former top secret site, is obviously not easy to find. But even more, the extremely tight budget, has been dropped by the main sponsor (Skoda) recently. It is a gloomy place, yes. And for a car brand, I understand that marketing departments are questioning whether this is doing their positioning good. The government budgets are small and not available. The public institutions spend their time on talking about the problem and are (again) pretty useless. And the local business people don't understand what's happening and are too busy building shopping malls. If this place would be close to Berlin, it would have a great future. But out here, it would need committed financial support to launch something which is not a missile.

Bremen, in a Seaman's Mission

We are exploring Bremen. Staying in a Seaman's Mission. Feibai always likes a bit of nautical flair. It is her way of getting an impression how her father's working life on a Chinese Containership (registered in Panama) might be. Languages spoken here are mainly German and Russian. I am guessing, just guessing, that latest in the dining hall, she will realize, why this is called Sea-man(!)'s Mission. No problem. As long as my favorite Gerber knife (for introduction click here) is in my pocket and a chair or broken glass bottle are in reach, I usually can handle group dynamics quite well. Just joking. They are nice neighbors, right?

Bremen, Altes Rathaus

Cleaning up the glass ball

Last week the Westerwald showed itself from its best side, with blue sky and daytime temperatures around 24 Celsius. April weather in Germany is said to be unpredictable and highly volatile. But we have been really lucky. There was a bit of administration to do, and there after now we are working in Bonn on predictive modeling for the construction industry. It is a challenging task, specially as in current times, government interference into markets is intense. But it is hugely interesting to see, how markets would develop without this modification and estimate the effect of government incentives. The most recent and interesting case is the is the pre-election UK. Democracy is becoming a funny animal in Europe and you don’t have to go to Greece to see that. In the course of this project, I am also looking at real estate market reports of the major companies. Obviously, they have a lot of market transparency and enormous information on the construction pipeline. But transparency itself, is not insight. The explanatory value they provide, is often just anecdotal. The academic world, also does not produce much of practical value. Unfortunately, this does not come as a surprise to me any more. So our work here is to clean up the glass ball and have a clearer glimpse into the future than all the others. And we are quite good in that.

Evening walk at the Rhine River in Bonn.

Auckland - Last stop in New Zealand

We are spending an "urban weekend" in Auckland, which is our last stop in New Zealand. It is a nice city, and as everywhere in this country, people are very friendly. I am a bit troubled with wearing leather shoes. They just don't have the grip, like Vibram soles. But otherwise, I enjoy the town. Learned today about Scow Ships, which are designed with a flat bottom and were used for transportation along the coastline, where there are no ports. Due to their construction, these ships can during high tide sail on the beach and fall dry when the water is low again. During this time they do the loading and at the next high tide they sail off again. I also learned about Sir Peter Blake, his amazing achievements and legacy. I am impressed - also by his red socks. Time to say goodbye to New Zealand. Soon we will take the trip around the globe by plane. Remember what we learned in Germany in the primary school: when you put a knitting needle through the globe in Germany, passing the centre of the earth, then the other side will come out in New Zealand. Well, that's actually not exactly right, like many other things in primary school. But it is a long trip. That's what it means. Goodbye New Zealand. We will be back.

View on Auckland from the harbor.

Back online, but with my mind still out there

Sorry, for the reduced frequency of posts recently, but I have been enjoying the (mostly) offline wilderness of one of the planet's most Southern tips. We today arrived Thames on New Zealand's North Island, after a journey through the stunning beauty of this country and are now lodging in a very nice and civilized accommodation called Grafton Cottage & Chalets. I caught myself, having my first shower here, that my hand did not reach for the nice and ecological shampoos provided, but grabbed the antibacterial hand wash with which I ended myself smelling like a biogas plant. Chlorine actually can smell nice, believe me.

View from Ben Lomond Summit (1700 m).

Since the last time a message appeared on this website, we have been exploring the mountains around Queenstown as a warm up. Then we took the coastal route through rainforests, which appear on first sight Mesozoic, along the glaciers Rob Roy, Fox Glacier, and Franz Josef, with small detours into landscapes like the azure blue Hokitika Gorge. Like with many glaciers, it was amazing to see once more, how much they actually retreated in recent history. Around Murchison we followed the Johnson Creek to the site where the 1929 Murchison Earthquake left amazing traces by bending and breaking rocks in a manner that put for me the term "earth quake proof" into a new perspective. When it comes to something like that, nothing is earth quake proof. Never seen anything like it. The site is not easy to find, and you may want to download the GPS-Track (click here to download).

Franz-Josef Glacier

Leaving the alpine region of New Zealand, we took the ferry from Picton to Wellington which is a very scenic cruise through islands and peninsulas. But we did not stop in Wellington, but headed further to the Tongarino National Park (a volcanologist's paradise), and then to Thames, chilling down today the outdoor time with a hike to the Pinnacle. 

Hokitika Gorge

Browsing through the "documentary footage" of my small pocket camera, literally hundreds of questions come back to my mind. Like, why did the minerals and metals fall out in this sequence at the Silica Rapids? Or, what was the chemistry again which made this water so blue? Plants I have never seen, birds I have never heard, and wild footprints I can not recognize ... I will keep my mind a bit longer occupied with these questions and note down the explanations. For now, I am back to a hot shower. It is nice. But not for too long. Then its boring. Too many things to see out there.

Both ends of the rainbow above lake Wakatipu.

Walking in a painting

There are not many places, where I reconsider the possibility of the existence of fairies, draws, hobbits and unicorns. But New Zealand is one of them (the other one is Iceland). Feibai said it with: "It feels like we are walking in a painting".

Evening view on Mount Cook

We arrived the South Island of New Zealand in Christchurch. The scares of the 2011 earth quake, which flattened most of the city, are still very visible. But the new Christchurch will be modern, quake proof and is aiming to be an inspiration for the world. And I think it really can be, once it is finished. It is an amazing financial and spiritual effort to rebuild the city. Also the quake left scares in people's souls. But they have a great spirt to deal with it. It was touching to hear the comment of a museum staff, saying: "Oh, I wish the city could be ready for Christmas". It will not be. But it is improving every day. And even it is becoming a modern town now, the heritage around. 

We drove from Christchurch to Mount Cook and had one overnight before reaching Queenstown. This is a beautiful place, and we will stay a few days, exploring the mountains around by foot. We already hiked up the Shotover River, looked a bit into the old gold mining projects, like the Oxenbridge Tunnel at Arthurs Point, and learned about the Chinese gold trader Sew Hoy, who was active in this region around 1885. Today took the Fernhill Loop Track through the forests up to about 1000 meters. Again, a beautiful view. This was a warm up, to get a bit higher in the next days.

Lake Pukaki

The predominant mushroom in the forests around. A pity, the Brothers Grimm missed New Zealand. 

Hanging around in Cairns

Flying Fox, or Fruit Bat (Pteropus) hanging around in the trees in Cairns.

We decided to drive to Cairns a few days early, as there was the potential that Cyclone Nathan makes landfall where it would either flood or blow away our road. Luckily non of this happened and the storm hit about 100 km North of Cairns (strange to think that way, because lucky for us means bad luck for somebody else). But one thing is sure: we are happy, it did not flood Thomas' and Lina's new Butterly House in El Arish (Australia). Now we are having more time ein Cairns than planned and the city is quite a sleepy one: get a haircut at the night market, go for a swim in the lagoon. The reef is not that easy to reach and waters are still rough from the storm. Cairns is an "old" sugar town, and quite nice. There are free barbecues along the sea side. Eating is important in Cairns. Should you consider to go and swim in any of the natural waters here, you might end up as a meal for a salt water crocodile.

All flights are up and running again, so that tomorrow we can leave on time via Sydney to New Zealand. 

Dundee Park and Kirrama Range

We arrived in Dundee Park, El Arish (named by Australian soldiers who served in North Africa and received this land plot to settle). Staying here with long time not seen friends: Thomas and Lina Baur bought the former crocodile farm and converted it into an Ecotourism Education Centre. It is a wonderful estate, but huge amounts of work for the two of them. Labour is expensive in Australia, and trade unions make it an entrepreneurial nightmare for small businesses. So some need to work much harder. Feibai had her “re-education” with shovel and pick on the construction site of the large butterfly house. She could have modeled for one of Mao’s Communist propaganda posters. The butterfly house will be really wonderful. I can already imagine it full with tropical butterflies. Thomas took us in his 4x4 up to the Kirrama Range (download track here). It is amazing how quickly vegetation changes in different belts from the tropics to savanna land. Up on the table lands, if imagine different trees, you could think you are in East Africa. On the way there are amazing waterfalls. And nobody makes it there. It only costs you the effort to go there. The Herbert river flooded the track in the end. After a quick inspection (crocodile country!) of depth and the strong current we returned and did not make a full 400 km loop. Tropical Cyclone “Nathan” (a Hurricane or Typhoon, however you may call it), after making strange turns in the Coral Sea for more than a week now, is now heading back for North Queensland and has built up its strength to a Category 3. It is forecasted to hit land at Cooktown, North of Cairns, on Friday. But who knows? We should fly out Cairns on Monday via Sydney to Christ Church, New Zealand. It is a bit tricky to plan the travel, as the coastal road to Cairns might get flooded, and the mountain routes might get blocked by falling trees. We are traveling light and without a decent chain saw, which limits this choice. Just hoping Dundee Park will not flood and that Nathan is wise enough to make another turn back to the Corals Sea. But this seems unlikely. So let’s wait and see, as the forecast is getting more and more accurate by the hours now.

"Table Lands" travel height log

Gold Coast Days

If you give me a map and ask where "the comfort zone" lies geographically, I would point at the Gold Coast: perfect temperature, blue sky, the ocean at the door step, excellent food. Life is easy and people are very friendly. I was teaching on Sunday a preparation lecture for an upcoming China Field Trip at Bond University, which is headed by Keith Duncan. Thereafter we had an excellent seafood dinner with view on the surprising skyline of Surfer's Paradise. While teaching Australian students about China, I actually learn a lot about Australia. There are a few more guest lectures and chats with the faculty colleagues coming this week. And then we already pack up and travel North. Time flies.

Balance of Power as a Domestic Concept

Tried the Glock 17 (9mm), STI-Spartan (.45 ACP), Ruger GP100 (.375) and finally Dirty Harry's .44 Magnum size Ruger Super-Redhawk. Because Feibai was so good the bonus was two rounds with a shotgun. I did only marginally better, so we agreed on trying to resolve all domestic affairs non-violenty. The next exercise will be shooting a beer can with the Magnum in one hand, while eating a hot dog. I might be better on that one, because she is vegetarian and will be scared by the hot dog.

I still have some small advantage in accuracy and speed (left Feibai, right Marcus)

Visiting Bond University (Gold Coast)

Arrived at Australia's Gold Coast - not for holidays, but as a guest lecturer at the Business School of Bond University. It seems mind boggling to pass by places like Surfer's Paradise on the bus to head for an academic institution. But then really it appears: a small but very fine University under a stunning blue sky. The first thing I noticed was that the library is on weekdays open until 1 am. For those of you who stereotype Bond with surfing and barbecue: does 1 am in the library sound like vacation? 

I had a very nice welcome by faculty and students on campus yesterday and gave my first guest lecture in the class of Lars Isaksson. Today I spent with preparing more and meeting students. Excellent environment and excellent people.

In a "Slam-Bang" from Adelaide to Melbourne

After two marvelous weeks in Adelaide, we drove with a Wicked Camper van to Melbourne. These cars are quite iconic for Australia and ours was a Mitsubishi, with a sliding door. When you close it, you have to use some force and it makes a sound, which gave these vehicles their nick name: "Slam-Bang". The road trip took a week and the nice thing with such a car is, that you are very self sustained and can stop and stay anywhere. The Great Ocean Road was actually not what impressed me most. But I was thrilled by the volcanic geology and landscapes, as well as by the coastline. When watching the ocean swells (which only make 1 % of the sea's surface, but 50 % of marine life) you can feel not just the enormous power of these currents, but also that they are some of the most venerable point of our planet's ecosystem.

Rediscovering SCUBA diving

So many things have changed in the world of SCUBA diving. First of all, for me and just right now, I am not only around flooded quarries and with the Indian Ocean in front of my nose, it would be a strange not to go and have a look how it looks like. Secondly, Feibai found a very good Diving School (Diver's Delight). After so many years, I found it best and safest to start as a beginner - because that's what I technically am. So, I learned about PADI (which did not exist back in the late 1970s and early 80s), and new tools and equipment. I started looking at things, still coming from the world of Hans Hass and Jaques Yves Cousteau. Sure, some things are like riding a bicycle and you never forget them. But better to find that out slowly. Scott and Steve from Diver's Delight were brilliant teachers and yesterday we had our final training dive in Rapid Bay, South Australia (download GPX-file by clicking here). Feibai joined also, and it is the first time we were dive buddies. Great fun. Now we are ready for more.

Driving from Adelaide to Rapid Bay.

No worries

After SCUBA-Diving last Thursday, I had a good mix of work and leisure. Friday night the Fringe Parade opened the festival in Adelaide, which is a very broad and nice cultural event. We had great fun, and the whole city was partying. The last few days then were quite hot and beside a weekend stroll over the beach, we did a small trip up to Port Adelaide, where there are quite a few efforts going on to attract visitors into markets, events and museums. I liked the South Australia Maritime Museum, which combines its topic naturally with immigration and how it partly formed Australian culture, while the South Australian Aviation Museum displays quite a bit of pioneering spirit. Starting the week at Adelaide University and in the State Library with meetings and preparations. Unfortunately, the library had to be evacuated due to a failure of the fire alarm system. But just a few hundred meters on, is already the City Library. No worries. Also nice, with a large rooftop terrace, and more of a community flair: kids doing homework, far sounds of electric guitars from the street artists, people coming up from the computer store and setting up their new laptops.

Olympus Tough 2.0 (TG-2)

When we were in the Netherlands in December, the Olympus Tough 2.0 (TG-2) was promoted. And as the Euro already was quite down (thank you Greece), I bought one thinking of rough weather and a bit of snorkeling ahead. I had before, one of the previous models, which was quite good, but had sometimes problems with the lens protector opening in murky water. But this new model really goes beyond my expectation. It seems to keep its promise of 15 meters submersible depth and the f/2.0 is really great at low light. I am impressed.

Snapshot with my Olympus Tough 2.0 in the Indian Ocean close to Adelaide.

State Library of South Australia

Here it is, where I spend my days recently: the State Library of South Australia. I am very convinced that the Public Library of a city is somewhere in the foundation of my Maslow Pyramid. The new wing of the library at North Terrasse is less stylish, but also well assorted and functioning. Very nice.

Office Hours

Hong Kong was busy and somehow over a month time you catch up with the speed. It does not mean you work more, but actually less. Now we are already a week in Adelaide, South Australia, staying in a very nice place in Carrington Street. The city is slow, and I get much more "done" here. Undistracted I prepare lectures and sit for hours in libraries working on publications. And the rest of the time I spend outdoors, out of which even some hours under water in a PADI diving school. I always found short office hours very important to work efficiently, since I booked on my time sheet "Office & Administration" together in the same category as "Sick Leave". Anyways, new things are not discovered in offices, but in labs, workshops, libraries, and perhaps even in a coffee shop or beer garden.  

Opening hours of the Royal Geographical Society, North Terrace, Adelaide (South Australia). 

Impressed by EMBA Global Asia

Yesterday night I was invited to to the Hong Kong Four Seasons Hotel, and talk on the future of the Chinese Auto Industry. This was for the information session of EMBA Global Asia. It is a joined Executive MBA Programme of London Business School, Columbia Business School, and The University of Hong Kong School of Business. Back in 2008, when I was the Programme's Dean in Hong Kong, I already believed that we are creating something exceptional in Business Education: truly global, academically rigorous and a life changing experience far beyond the classroom. And when I met yesterday some of the alumni and prospect students, I was literally blown away. Under the restless effort of many people after my time involved, this has developed into one of the world's strongest Executive MBA-Progammes. It will be interesting where it will be in the rankings, once the time has come. The mother programme, EMBA Global, which is run unitedly by London Business School and Columbia University Business School, has been ranking world's number one in the Financial Times, just when EMBA Global Asia was launched. At that time, we always comforted ourselves that the ranking of the Asia stream will be still years ahead. But soon this time has come. And I am very confident, that the quality will be recognized also in the rankings.