Dutch light

There is a myth around a special kind of light, which is said to have been the greatest source of inspiration for the painters of the Dutch golden age from the 17th century. In the 1970s the German artist Joseph Beuys postulated that this light has lost its radiance for good in the 1950s and with its disappearance it ended a special visual culture which lasted for centuries. Beuys saw the reason for its disappearance in the massive land reclamation project in the Zuyderzee (also Zuiderzee), which was a shallow bay, cut off the North Sea by a man made barrier which turned parts of it into the freshwater lake IJsselmeer. In a massive land reclamation project, the Netherlands gained a new province, called Flevoland. Peter-Rim DeKroon and Maarten DeKroon produced the documentary movie Dutch Light which compiles views on the subject, for example by the arts historian Svetlana Alpers, the painter Jan Andriesse, Jan Dibbets, as well as the astronomer Vincent Icke, who often refers to Marcel Minnaert, also an astronomer and author of The Nature of Light in open Air. There are numerous articles exploring the field, like for example Robert Greenler and David K. Lynch in 30 OPN Optics & Photonics News on A Return to Optics’ Roots. A special Dutch light on paintings might have also been a certain technique and skill, which was more strongly represented by the Dutch painters' style. When browsing through paintings of that period, I also noticed quite a few indoor scenes and portraits which are very deceptive in terms of light and brightness. But it could as well be an atmospheric phenomena, as some claim. To me the land reclamation of the Zuyderzee, which is said to have changed atmospheric conditions, albedo and reflection in a way that the Dutch light might have disappeared, seems, even given its size, too small to cause such changes on a broader level. The physicist Günther Können, who is the head head of the climate analysis department of the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, is also skeptical that there is anything like a Dutch light today. It is likely that it was not the light, but the flatness of the landscape, the low clouds and the steady line of the horizon which gave a special perception of light in the Netherlands. The "low sky" (meaning the clouds) is really one of the things I noticed in my month here in the Netherlands. And when the sun breaks though the clouds, the landscape looks sometimes very dramatic. Perhaps that's what makes the light appear more radiant: the contrast.

IJsselmeer by LANDSAT (Public Domain, NASA, https://zulu.ssc.nasa.gov/mrsid/)

Arrived Tilburg

A few months ago, I received a surprise invitation to come to Tilburg University and teach in the Master in International Management Program. Luckily the program team could schedule the course very compact in one month, and after I cleaned up my calendar own a bit, we could fit it in. A few days ago, we arrived from London, had a very warm welcome and are very happy to be here. In the Netherlands, Tilburg University is, aside the Erasmus University of Rotterdam, very well represented in global economics and business research. It is a small place with a big punch. Already in my first days here, I experienced a very nice and open working environment, and taught my first lectures to very bright students. What is further remarkable, is the high degree of interaction, and the resulting spirit. I have been to the Netherlands as a visitor before and was in contact with people and culture. But this is the first time, I have a little bit of a deeper insight into the work life. And it is very enjoyable, practical, strait forward, and well managed. The city of Tilburg itself, also is also in this spirit. At the end of the 1800s it developed into the "Wool Capital" of the Netherlands and build up a strong textile industry. It was only in the 1960s that this industry collapsed and the economic mix is now leaning towards services - mainly logistics. During the first phase of economic and urban renewal, many old buildings, including monuments, were demolished. These measures seem very disputed until today. But for me, who does not know the old Tilburg, the city has its charm and represents a very successful case of such transitions. We definitely enjoy being here.

A morning view on the Tilburg University campus

Six Island Weeks in Britain

We have spent 6 weeks in Great Britain (not really that great), also called the United Kingdom (neither really a kingdom, and not united at all). For that period we have been splitting the time of our stay about equally into a hideaway period in Western Scotland and a very active one in London. In the latter, Feibai joined a Summer School at The London School of Economics (LSE) for qualitative research methods. It is very interesting and being a "number person" and seeing how artificially sometimes quantitative methods are applied to problems in social sciences and business. Good to learn more about better methods that make sense of data which does not mathematically add up. I spent most of my London time in the Royal Geographic Society (RGS) and worked in the reading room, or strolled around the University Campuses, where during the summer break I often had the library nearly for myself. In a lively and vibrant city like London, you need to know your islands of solitude. Otherwise it gets tiring. London is a great cultural place and one of my favorite cities. But we only like visiting it, and living not here.

St. Paul's from Tate Modern. Our first neighborhood in London.

We also spent 2 very remote weeks in Kilberry, in an old stone cottage called The Gables. It is located North of the Mull of Kintyre in West Scotland, and was part of the Kilberry Estate, which still has the remains of a castle. It is a wonderful place with a rough coast line. No no sand beach, few tourists, no mobile phone network, no internet. The next grocer is a 20 kilometer drive to the South. That's what I call being offline. But there are dolphins, seals, and even whales, in a beautiful and wild landscape. We enjoyed that a lot. It was nearly like a retreat. Also we spent a week in Glasgow, for ambulating on paths of memories when I did field work there in the Motherwell coal mine, about 25 years ago. The mine is closed. But Glasgow has still the same character of a broken city. When the retailers become the largest employers, that usually is the end. And that's what it is there: my true and only friend, the end. 

Captain Linnaeus Tripe's photos of India and Burma, 1852-1860

The banner of the Linnaeus Tripe photo exhibition in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

How often over the years, did I run into an officer, a teacher, or priest who turned out to be an excellent anthropologist, archeologist, zoologist or photographer? And this list of professions and fields of expertise is far from being complete. To my surprise very often these people are English, Welsh or Irish. This might have to do with the places I went and a correlation to the parts of the world they explored historically. But I gained the impression, that there is something in anglo-saxon culture and history which appreciates the development of excellent amateurs with wide fields of interest and amazing skills in some fields. If you don't know what I mean, join an English bird watching society. 

Today I ran into another one of these gifted "amateurs" by accident. I wanted to drop into the Natural History Museums Coral Reef exhibition in London before my lunch break from the Royal Geographic Society. But the waiting line was so long, that I found it much easier to have another look myself when I go diving at the Great Barrier Reef next time, than standing in the queue with school kids and tourists. So, as these days I commonly have the soup of the day in the Victoria & Albert Museum for lunch, and it was still a bit early for that, I dropped over to the other side of the road and bumped into another one of these people. This time a historic figure, and officer and in service of the Eastern India Company: Captain Linnaeus Tripe. The rather small exhibition of his photography in India and Burma kept me for 2 hours enjoying every photo shown. It spans from his beginning of picking up photography in England after his return from a first period of military service, until the end of his career which was the result of a budget downsizing in the Eastern India Company. It is a small, but very enjoyable exhibition and still on until October 11th. The photos are both: a record of Burma and India of that time, and also excellent pieces of fine art photography.

What I found most striking, is that the impression of many scenes, monuments and landscapes on his photos remain exactly the same until recent times. You often feel, he is just standing there today and takes the photo. 

The exhibition hall of the India and Burma photos of Linnaeus Tripe in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Travel Photographer of the Year 2015 Exhibition in the RGS (London)

In a busy city like London, you need to know your islands of solitude. For me, one of them is the Royal Geographic Society (RGS) in Kensington, of which I am a lifetime fellow. It has everything I need: an excellent collection, a good creative spirit living in the walls, quiet corners, and of course interesting fellows to talk to. Until September 5th, there is also the Travel Photographer of the Year 2015 Exhibition on show. Admission is free. The exhibition has attracted nearly 130 thousand visitors in the last three years. It is an interesting setting, because beside the excellent photographic work on parade, also the way of making this partly a rainproof outdoor exhibition in the Society's garden, is quite creative. From the desk I sit during the days, I can observe the visitors walking through the courtyard. There are always nice scenes in front of me, when I take my eyes up from the texts and maps in front of me and refocus. The photos are excellent. The submissions are from photographers all over the world. Also, the way the competition is structured, is very interesting. Perhaps some of you want to enter next year?

Shot with my Blackberry

The Glasgow Effect

We spent a week in Glasgow, before heading for the Western Scottish countryside. There we will hide in an old stone cottage for two weeks and crunch numbers on our laptops. About 25 years ago, I have been doing fieldwork in the Motherwell opencast coal mine, monitoring the particle emissions from excavation, haul trucks and blasting operations. I remember that I had to give up my running shoes to what I thought was a vicious dog. It stopped me rather fiercely in my running exercise. But it just liked to play with these shoes, and when I left them behind, it did not attack me further. Now I was back for a few days. I don't really know why. We just thought: why not? And knowing that this will be a bit of a rough place, we went to have a look. Of course we knew, it will not be pretty. But it is interesting. And here is why.

The so-called "Glasgow Effect", is a term describing the interestingly poor health of people in this city. Premature mortality rates were in 2010 about 30 % higher than in similar cities, like Liverpool and Manchester. In 2008 the male life expectancy in Carlton, was down to 54 years. Alcohol, drug abuse and violent gang crimes, were often attributed to this. But also Vitamin D deficit, and poor nutrition was hypothesized to play a role. Generally, people seem to make very unhealthy lifestyle choices. Obesity is a problem in all Scotland though (even the entire UK), not just in Glasgow. To see the situation in numbers, I found the Glasgow in Indicators Project very insightful. But also, I found it a bit depressing. What's wrong with this place? If you don't look at it scientifically, it nearly feels like it is haunted with something.

But then there are the lovely sides of Glasgow's culture too. The roughest looking guys maybe "good lads" when you talk to them. Grannies which can't move their little fat bodies, but help somebody in a wheelchair mounting a public bus. And also to mention the little "romances" between the tire fitting and tattoo shops, when he takes her out to the "Blue Lagoon" (you don't want to know the menu). The Glasgow Effect has attracted a lot of attention, and is well researched, even though not fully understood. There have been improvements. But still it is hard to translate facts into policies. It would be interesting to have a view, perhaps not of a statistician, but of a writer like George Orwell on today's Glasgow. Something like a contemporary The Road to Wigan Pier. Even though, I don't think you can treat it with the same logic. Perhaps this even already exists. I have not followed contemporary English literature in recent years. I will have a look. Might be better than another spreadsheet.

White nights in Tallinn

Since June 21st the nights are getting longer in the North again. But still in Tallinn ours were short and only very briefly around midnight to three in the morning, it fell dawn (not dark). Now is July and we spent a week in Estonia. Holidays, festivals, cultural events, eating out in the mild sun and being out with friends in the white nights of Tallinn - all this is concentrated in this month. When the wind turns North again, then the temperatures will drop sharply and another long, freezing and dark winter is ahead. That's pretty much true for every Scandinavian country. But here we felt it most. Now you might think, this sounds harsh. But somehow it isn't. We have met the most wonderful and kind people, experienced warm hospitality, and have seen a great and defiant culture.

Estonians generally don't talk much. But if they do, they know what they say. Reaching independence from Soviet occupation in 1991 by what is called the Singing Revolution (have a look at the trailer of a documentary), was a start for everybody with empty pockets. Now Estonia is a prosperous little country, member of the European Union and the Eurozone, and has one of the smartest governments when it comes to economic policy and public administration. From the beginning everything was set up paperless. And in 2011 Estonians even the first time has elections where you could vote by SMS. 

View on Tallinn

Tallinn, Estonia's Capital, has a very pretty old town which shows traces of all the powers which came here and left again. Only the Soviet occupation luckily did not leave many traces in the old core of the city. But it did, in the suburbs where you find the kind of architecture which was left by the communist rule. However, the buildings are made good use of. And of course the housing capacity is needed. So Estonia made the best out of it. A few years ago, there was a discussion whether Tallinn would be flooded by Casinos and franchise and chain stores destroying the pretty atmosphere. But the main Casinos integrated quite well, and so did the CI of the stores. The centre, which is also UNESCO World Heritage is protected very well. Even after 10 a.m. cars are not allowed in. 

By invitation to visit Silport, we also had a quick visit to Narva Castle, which was founded by Danes in 1256. In 1346 it was purchased by the German Livonian Teutonic knights order and converted into a stone castle. It stayed Teutonic German for most of the time. It is a very nice place to visit, around two and a half hours by train from Tallinn. 

Hermann Castle (also Hermannsfeste, Herman Castle, Narva Castle, and Narva fortress) (Estonian: Hermanni linnus) is a castle in Narva, Eastern Estonia.

Just across the Narva River, which marks the border to Russia, there is Ivangorod Fortress which is a medieval castle established by Ivan III in 1492. Borders to Russia often look quite empty on the other side. But here you see the town of Ivangorod which is the partner city of Narva in many respects, when it comes to the well organized border crossing. However, this border is heavily observed and guarded, not just since the Ukrainian conflict. Similar to Easter Ukraine, there are Russian speakers living in Estonia. But unlike Ukraine, they have a much better economic conditions in Estonia, than they would have in Russia. So there are currently more Russians who would like to immigrate into Estonia, than those who have a radical urge to return to their motherland - luckily.

Ivangorod Fortress established by Ivan III in 1492 (Russia).

High Tech Estonia

Some people say, that developing a successful high tech cluster needs the weather of California. Obviously, it doesn't. Talents don't care about the weather, and also investors don't. You could even argue that a short summer and a long freezing and dark winter does the trick, by making your lab the only cozy place to be. But what ever it is, here we have a small country in Northern Europe, which started in the 90s by not even having telephones at home, re-gained freedom from Soviet occupation by The Singing Revolution, and headlines its heritage in its History Museum with "11 000 years spirit of survival". Welcome to Estonia.

The Skype Headquarter at the Tallinn Technical University

A few weeks ago, sitting over breakfast in Palermo, an article on Estonia's start up culture caught my attention (The Economist, Jul 11th 2013), and I decided to go and have a look. Thankfully, Holger Weiss fueled my excitement and helped opening doors. And so I went there, had an an interesting time, met wonderful people, discovered challengers in the old industries, as well as the movers and shakers in the new ones. It is a distinct way of moving and shaking though. Estonians generally don't talk much. And only do it when they know what they talk about and when it makes sense. This is already the first difference to Silicon Valley, you will notice.

Feibai and I went together, but had different missions. She is looking for diversification options and potential investments for a large Chinese building material conglomerate. And I wanted to know how things work, in relation to my projects related to the set up of high tech parks. We had a week of back to back meetings, and talked to a wide spectrum of people, from "start up kids" to technology millionaires, from CEOs to advisors to the Prime Minister. We saw start up incubators, university initiatives to commercialize research, the Investment Agency and the EU's closest port to Russia, which has a free trade zone and transit facilities. 

For my research on the success factors of Estonia as a technology hub, this was an excellent visit to form hypotheses. One of the most interesting paradigm discussed, was that if a country has a small number of citizens, it needs to make sure it has a large number of users. And technology is one way to achieve that. A thing to watch, is for sure the Estonian e-residency, which is also available for non Estonians in any country where Estonia has an Embassy. Just apply online by clicking here, puck up your chip card from the nearest Estonian embassy (does not have to be yours), and then register an Estonian company in 10 minutes online. Corporate tax only on dividend, income tax flat, no National debt ... Here we go.

Now the verification of ideas and the number crunching starts. And quite a few Skype calls to follow (the core code of Skype was made in Estonia). But we will be back in person also. Thanks to everybody for now.

Our new Winter Residence will be Stockholm in Summer

A few weeks ago, thinking about where to potentially settle for a while, I drew the preliminary conclusion, that there are places where you can work productively, and distinctly other places where you can trade. "Nylonkong" (New York, London, Hong Kong) would be the kind of market places: busy, expensive, noisy, high demand, but also high competition. By contrast a mountain village in Sicily could be a production base: quiet (well not so, always), timeless and slow. One aspect missing in the mountain village, would be inspiration by others who are in the same trade. This is something New York and London definitely have, just by the fact that they attract a lot of talent. Hong Kong not so much, because it is only a hub between the worlds. Now all these thoughts, as said, were preliminary. And there seems at least one place, which has it all: Stockholm.

Detail from the 2015 summer season poster of the Viking Museum in Stockholm

I actually also liked Copenhagen during our visit in December 2014, dropping by the Copenhagen Business School, where we met friends who inspired us to explore Scandinavia a bit more. And this was a brilliant idea. I can well imagine that Stockholm is "one of a kind", and other Scandinavian cities have similar qualities - or Baltic ones, which we will explore next week.

We are staying in the South of the city of Stockholm in the flat of Karin Skelton, a yoga teacher who is out of town, and kindly let us her home. It is a very nice place and we spend many hours of exercise and work here and around the nearby lakes, before we sometimes take the short subway ride to town. 

Stockholm (in July 2015). I like entering cities from the seaside and not from the airport.

Earnest Hemingway once said, that he can work anywhere, where people don't interrupt him. And in Stockholm nobody bothers you. But people are very friendly. Just they don't talk more than necessary. That was something, I also enjoyed in Amsterdam: the minimalistic directness with a very low "power distance" (which means competence goes before hierarchy). But here it has a bit more nonchalance than in the Netherlands. What I professionally really like here, is that people know their stuff. Even amateurs reach levels, which you don't see many professionals operate on in other places. And I see people having very (very!) good ideas. Perhaps this is because they actually can think cross disciplinary, as they know more than just one thing. It is a "no bullshit place". Of course my impression might be a bit superficial, in such a short time and with limited exposure. But then let's just call it "my first impression".

The only thing which would scare me a bit in Stockholm, is the darkness in winter. Not the temperatures. They are fine. But the long darkness. The winter is very different from the summer (you may take the sunrise equation to make your own calculations). But then, while we walked along the inner city harbor, it suddenly made click. There was anchoring the large sailing ship Sea Cloud II from Valletta - another city we like very much. A sign, haha. Perhaps the combination can work. And we thought, should no other obligations arise during the year, then we could try it out. Sounds like a good plan. Let's see, how the year proceeds.

The sailing vessel Sea Cloud II from Valletta in Stockholm harbor (July 2015).

Nick Brandt's "On this Earth a Shadow Falls Across the Ravaged Land"

The exhibition of Nick Brandt in the Fotografiska Museum Stockholm is absolutely magic. I walked in with "wildlife photography" in my mind. But this is far beyond just that. The exhibition is on until September 13th, and if you are interested in photography and have the chance to see this, you must go. I have been to these places. But the way he took it, is really humbling for anybody who holds a camera looking at the same scenes.

A snapshop in the exhibition ""On this Earth a Shadow Falls Across the Ravaged Land" by Nick Brandt. Please go to his website for more.

The Fotografiska Museum in Stockholm is a very fine place. I also liked Inez & Vinoodh's "Pretty Much Everything 2015", even though fashion photography is not my thing. But I liked the take on it: "At its best, fashion makes it possible for a wider audience to discover what contemporary art and design is all about". Nice also to see the exhibition of photos by Andreas Zorn, of whom I was only aware of his watercolors, but not that he also was a keen photographer. 

Andreas Zorn: Sommarnöje, 1886 (copyright public domain)

A looping is not a crash

Call Options: Beijingers "trading" sons and daughters for marriage (Temple of the Earth Park, on a Sunday in 2014)

China runs its largest casino not in Macao, but at the Shanghai Stock Exchange. In about the last month the CSI 300 Index dropped around 1500 index points. It is still 80 % higher than same time last year. It is estimated that 85 % of the money in the Chinese Stock Market, is not form institutional investors, but from the retail market. Now, who cares when gamblers in a Casino loose money? Normally only the gamblers (and the casino is happy). As this is mostly secondary market, the impact on companies which are not just now raising capital by issuing shares, is nearly non. Looking at the numbers, this merely looks like a downward "correction" of an overheated retail market. No "crash". It's a looping. There is a lot of shrieking, but it won't hit the ground. That's the fun of it. Otherwise its a tragedy. 

The Chinese Government did everything last week to support the stock market. And first it does not appear obvious why. IPOs were suspended! Sounds like a serious measure? Why should anybody, who is sane, go for an IPO in such a market downturn? Further measures were not just the drop of interest rate by the central bank, but also the "instruction" for state owned companies to keep their stocks, or even to buy. It went so far that even Social Security Funds claimed not to sell, which should not make a big impact, as most of their portfolio is not in stocks anyways - I hope. All these claims, had the purpose to look invincible, but also caused quite some panic, because it put the focus on the "seriousness" of what is happening. Not clear to me why the Chinese government's intervention was verbally so heavy. Perhaps to show support to the "common people" who now maybe loosing a lot of money. "Harmony", social stability, are terms which are very high up on the agenda. And loosing lifetime savings, does not help harmony too much. But what can you do, when people put all they have into a risky gamble? It is very clear that the Chinese stock market is pretty detached from fundamentals, and as long as these kind of trades take place, it will be hard for any government to protect people form their own foolishness. The bad news is, that this money which is now burned, could have well been used in real investments, or even just consumption, and not speculation. On the other hand the Chinese stock market is an excellent tool to take money out of the system, which has been pumped into it before. 

The stock market is a boring topic, and I promise not to comment on it too frequently. In China it is though, quite a form of entertainment. Like the horse races. Just not that stylish. The easiness with which top managers, often drunk, spread insider information at the dinner table, and people immediately act on this with their smart phones, is quite exceptional. I mean, that's as illegal in China, like anywhere else. But nobody cares. Buy on rumor, sell on facts? There are just rumors to buy and to sell on. So, just listen to the drunk guy and spread his wisdom on WeChat. Then it becomes some form of truth. And even when there are facts, not many understand them anyways. One thing is right about that: facts don't matter very much. That's even quite good. Because the fundamentals of many Chinese enterprises are pretty bad. But that's another topic, much less entertaining than the stock market. Though much more serious. And changing that, is much more interesting.

Sicily

We have spent a month in Italy, out of which three weeks in Sicily. A week in Rome, was a nice start. Always good to have a stop over in the Eternal City. Then we took the train to Palermo and stayed there for a week, spending a lot of time in the magnificent library. But the major part of our escape to Sicily we spent in the island's South, in the village Cianciana. We were kindly invited to stay in the studio of our friends Elizabeth Briel and Roy McClean, who have been refurbishing the old village house into an artist's studio. It is a wonderful place and here I got more work done, than in the months before.

One of the three entrance doors to ElizabethBriel's studio in the old part of Cianciana.

There is a lot to learn from an artist's life style when it comes to productivity, not just creativity. When I think of the dimension, in which I will create my future work space, it will be a blend of a studio, a laboratory and a library. I have learned in the last two weeks what a studio can do to you. My summer project is to sort my photos. Not quite finished yet, but I am working on the photos every day. It is a very long and deep journey back to far away places and far away people. Also this website had quite a make over, and I prepared lectures and laid the foundation for a research project on what some people call the "Silicon Valley Business Model" - but this time from a quite different angle. 

Morning hike in the surroundings of Cianciana

Cianciana is located in the South of Sicily and North of Agrigento, and is part of the province called after that town. You can actually reach it by bus, but we decided to rent a small car for our time here. This allows also to see the little corners around, and the other lovely mountain villages here, like Sant Angelo Muxaro. 

Surroundings of Cianciana. Sicily is a quite large island and there is lots to discover. But we mainly stayed in this area.

One place to visit for sure, is the Valle dei Templi at Agrigento. It is a Doric style temple cluster founded 580 BC which is in the United Nations World Heritage List. Another site with Greek remains is Selinunte, which is about 90 minutes drive of Cianciana. It is based on population of the Sicilian Greek colony Megara, daughter city of the Greek Megara. Founded between 628 - 654 BC. Captured by Carthage in 409 BC and destroyed around 250 BC. There were later Arabian fortifications and even use of the Acropolis by the Barbary Pirates in the 16th century. But city has never been rebuilt. 

Satellite view of the Selinunte Archeological site. You see the two main temples, the Agora, the city settlement and fortification.

We will not drive over to the Etna this time, as it is a three hour drive and we have many things to do in our village. But we are very confident that we will come back to Sicily and have other opportunities to do so. Perhaps later this year, when we also stay in Malta. 

Who is living in these walls?

Palermo's (former) National Library

I am spending my mornings in the Public Library of Palermo. You first have to overcome quite a Cerberus who is guarding the entrance to the reading hall. He will do everything to make you go away. But if you don't, and insist, he will welcome you as a friend and even take care of you and your belongings (which is important in Sicily). This library reaches back into a time where Sicily contained a dual kingdom which reached up to the middle of what we call Italy today. That's when it was the "National Library". The chairs are crappy and the Internet is fast (sometimes). But this is not what makes this place special. After sitting there for ten minutes, you will not hear the two stoke powered scooters and the honking cars on the street any more. You will be gone from this time and this planet. It is wonderful. Over the morning, the reading room will slowly fill with students reciting basic analysis and function theory. It will not fill up though. There must be an exam coming up on that. If I only could tell them, that reciting this does not help. My Italian is too bad. You have to understand it! Repeating it useless. I tried to tell one, that for praying there is a Cathedral next door. The poor guy thought, I meant he is too loud. He was not. Never mind. Misunderstanding. They will figure it out. Maybe not. 

I was reminded of the TED Talk Elisabeth Gilbert gave, and how she elaborated on how we can guard ourselves from the responsibility of having good ideas or not, by projecting this to someone else who is fictional. In Ancient Greek times, she says, they were called "genius" and  lived in the walls. Or they were called "muse", and had the ability to spark creativity and inspiration. Feibai was also working somewhere in the library (close to a power socket, as her laptop battery was getting weak earlier). By that, the muse was given. Now I am wondering who lives in these walls. 

Travel tips

Recently, I am often asked whether I have “travel tips”. Such advise is provided on Tripadvisor, Lonely Planet and other publishers and platforms of that kind. They also have the “insider tips” for outsiders. So, I can’t comment on that too much. Don’t know enough about it. Still I am sometimes asked what travel resources I use. That's a bit easier.

Resources? Most importantly, when you travel, you want to have people to talk to and who can explain cultures and places. You want to form your views with own impressions but also in exchange with others. So you do need friends all over the world, if I may call this a resource. You obviously know, that you can’t “make friends”. It is like you also can’t “make money”. Friendship is earned. So the first travel tip I could give is to be worth being a friend yourself. And never network! Networking is a complete waste of time and annoys people. It annoys me, at least.

Serengeti Airstrip. Main parking lot and runway (2011).

Travel is not equal to transportation. But of course without logistics there is no travel either. I personally do not like large airplanes very much. And it is less the airplane itself (which is a wonderful machine), than how airlines operate them and how airports are today. A small plane or helicopter bringing you to a place which is out of reach somewhere in the wilderness, is a completely different thing. But when I have to spend time in an Airport Lounge, I usually just want to take a whole bottle of wine over, pull a blanket over my head and continue reading in there with my headlamp on. Like this, I do not have to interact with these people around me at all and my brain dims away for the case somebody wants to network. There is only one nice lounge experience I ever had, which was in 2003 when I met Sir Peter Ustinov sitting in a wheelchair surrounded by stewardesses and telling them stories. I am glad, I did not miss it. He was one of my great childhood story tellers and soon after this encounter, he passed away.

Jordan, towards Wadi Rum.

Long haul travels are much better with trains and by ship, than by plane. For example right now, as Feibai has her passport with the UK Embassy and her Resident Permit is accepted by countries but not airlines, we are banned from air travel and took the train from Rome to Palermo. Wonderful. Our way back North will be by ship through the Mediterranean Sea. You might say that this is very slow. Well, if you don’t have time, don’t travel. A very good resource on train travel all over the world is “The Man in Seat 61” (www.seat61.com http://www.seat61.com/). Railways have been for long the very axis and frontier of economic development, and they have stories to tell about this time and these places. As most of the planet is covered by water, obviously ships are essential for traveling to most of it. There are rumors that you can board cargo ships and travel on them for free. The truth is, that due to issues of human trafficking in some of these ships, regulations have become very strict. A captain would not take the risk to be mistaken to carry blind passengers. And the better way is to stay within these rules. For sure, sailing yourself is what makes the real connoisseur. Leave the large motor yachts to the Nouveau Riche. Ever thought why there are nearly no sailing yachts in Hong Kong waters? Because they need more than just money to be understood and appreciated. There is also short range water travel of course, which brings you for example on land from a larger vessel, or deep into a jungle river system. There are two versions of that which I like very much. One is the legendary Zodiac. Highly motorized this is the machine for any job. And when you want it quiet, there is the Klepper Aerius. This one you can even carry over some barriers, and in the worst case disassemble it for that. There is a reason, why you find this boat exhibited in the German Science Museum in Munich.

The Zodiac with which I made my first landing on Antarctica.

Where trains cannot reach, land travel is the most rewarding when riding horses, elephants and camels. Also a donkey might do, when crossing extremely rocky terrain. All these animals have their natural habitat and have been used for travel for centuries. Of course, forget “cabin luggage” for that. In the past Luis Vuitton made very good travel luggage. Just remember the old wardrobe trunks. But that’s more than a century ago. Now it is different. But over time you will find what luggage suits which travel. When you choose motorized land transport, the best payload ratio and off road capabilities you get with a motorcycle. I personally am very fond of the BMW G650 GS. It does not have the typical BMW boxer like the larger models. But it is a very powerful and robust piece of gear, with only 192 kg (fueled up) and a very economical 48 BHP engine. I had an overdose of cars in my previous professional life and as many car brands are going the way of Luis Vuitton or the airlines. There is only the Land Rover Defender (which has been recently discontinued) and the G-Class Mercedes left. For a Safari also the Toyota Land Cruiser is a choice. But the 2 x 90 Liter dual fuel tank (which you need) scares me a bit. For hopping around also the older Suzuki 4x4 Models are quite handy. But normally, if you don’t live in the countryside (which less and less people do), cars are something you rent or share. Unless, of course, you are really interested in them.

Breakdown of the axel, unload and repair by the local blacksmith. Only Land Rover can do that.

Stuttering engine over East Africa. Before the take off further, Zanzibar runway had a power blackout.

I am sometimes asked about my opinion of travel gear. Well, there is so much these days and I am sure most of it is bought by people who dream of escaping their cubical office with it. Travel clothes are for me only different from normal clothes when you are heading for extreme terrain or climate. Running around in an alpine goose down jacket in a city is about as silly as wearing SCUBA diving gear there. Something annoying me personally very much, is the amount of electronics which I carry. This is the downside of having all these possibilities of the digital world these days. So I accept it and try to manage all these chargers, cables, adopters and batteries efficiently. Generally, in terms of luggage, it is best to have non of it. But that’s hard to achieve. What else? Oh yes. I am sometimes surprised that people have the most fancy travel insurances, but don’t carry a first aid pack. Sure, insurances are important, and I experienced that myself. But then the same silly kids are taking risks doing extreme sports, wearing no helmet or seat belt, going into unsafe locations and even try their manliness by looking actively for trouble. The best insurance policy is first to stay out of trouble, and second to know what to do when you still got in. I have seen people doing quite extreme ski on the Antarctic Peninsula. The ship did not even have an x-ray and it would have taken at least 5 days to reach Ushuaia (the world’s most southern urban settlement) - through the Drake Passage and around Cape Horn! At the same evening they were talking about the (excellent!) travel insurance policies provided by the British Mountaineering Association. Hello? Get real!

Engine failure close to the Polar Circle.

Actually, I was very surprised when I was in a German book shop last time. The largest proportion of the assortment was in the sections for travel, self help and cooking. And having a second look at the cooking and travel books offered there, I found that they are really also about self help. My conclusion was, that the real value of travel books, is to see what places they cover and then go exactly the opposite direction. There are only very few exceptions. And that’s exactly what makes it for the real travel books so complicated to sell these days. I love the books published by my friend Magnus Bartlett (Odyssey Publishing Limited, Hong Kong). And there are some others which are timeless and very good. Mostly, what to read when you want to know about travel, is to read the narratives of life itself. That’s called literature, and it is by far the better “travel guide”.

On the way to Ash Kabat.

Arrived Sicily

This morning I first had to confirm where we actually woke up. At the beginning the GPS did not get a useful signal to elaborate meaningfully on the satellite configuration, as its electronic memories were still in Rome. But then, after a few minutes having on the laundry rack outside the balcony, it was clear: we are in the center of Palermo, just a few minutes walk from the Cathedral. By the time this location was produced, I did not need a GPS anymore to come to the same conclusion. This city is quite a beauty. I really like it here.

Daquinghe ends service

A last picture of ship, captain and crew of the "Daquinghe" Container vessel. These days larger ships are more economical and this ship now has been handed over to the scrapyard, after having served as one of the first ships "Made in China". Captain Zhu, my father in law, wears his captain's uniform with running shoes. As if he wants to get used to waking on land.

Captain Zhu and crew posing for a last photo together on the Daquinghe.

Farewell.

The Eternal City

Lively mix of centuries.

Back when I had my first corporate science job at Wardell Armstrong, a geotechnical company in England, a senior engineer had his own way to motivate us then junior folks to overcome problems with the delays caused by sudden archeological discoveries during mining activities. I remember that one day when I was pulling my hair trying to keep my budget and timeline he said: "If you think that's bad, I send you to build a subway in Rome". And this was also the first time I came here - not for the subway, even though I immediately understood why there is not much of a network. 

It is always nice to be back to Rome for a visit. After a bit of work and a Webinar (just learned today what that is) in the morning , we strolled a bit around the city centre. I specially like the lively mix of centuries, some of them remains and others in use, as if it would be normal to have a flat or office on a two thousand year old foundation. 

"If you think this is bad, I send you to build a subway in Rome"

"Critics may live in New York, but writers don’t"

W.H. Auden (1980) quoted Charles Osbourne with “Critics may live in New York, but writers don’t”. I myself found this again complied in Paul Theroux’s ‘The Tao of Travel - Enlightenments from Lives on the Road’ (2011), which is a book I enjoy a lot giving me Eureca moments since it was recommended to me by my friend Thomas Baur back in Australia, before I moved to Beijing. Since we started our travel over six months ago, I am constantly evaluating the polarity of (big) cities and the countryside under the aspect of finding a good environment to work. Though it appears generally, that cities are where you deliver your goods to the market, trade them, and may be inspired by the work and comments of others. This is why cities emerged in the first place: to trade the surplus of the rural surrounding and provide services which need a concentration of knowledge and capital. But they are often not conducive to creative work itself, as their business and their people are disturbing. It is very rare to find both in one place, or located so closely together that you can enjoy a balance of both. Since my five years living on an Island in the South China Sea, with Hong Kong just a short boat ride away, I always look for such islands. I do not mean the strict geography of a small land with water around, but some place of solitude which can be sustained while still close enough to some kind of metropolis. I am also wondering whether with the current changes in communication, whether it maybe possible in the future to be in such metropolis without being there physically. At the beginning of the year, for example, I enjoyed very much a performance of the London National Theatre into a cinema to the other side of the planet. Even tough, I cannot imagine that media will ever substitute the “real thing”, they may stretch the boundaries and blur the line between places to produce and places to deliver.

German Field Trip

Since coming from London to Germany I have been busy and was rarely online. Landed in Berlin more than two weeks ago, and met friends there in the first of these. It was really nice to catch up and I enjoyed to see people which I was accustomed to in front of a Chinese backdrop, now to be in Germany. Sometimes it looked like a collage of different worlds. Berlin has become a very international city. There is a lot of talk about innovation taking place there. Maybe that’s true. But as I came in from London, I was not utterly impressed. My feeling is that London still attracts far more talent and a good global network. But the low cost level in Berlin, allows for more experiments. The mayor of Berlin once said, that the city is bankrupt but sexy. I can relate to what he means with that. But, to stay with this metaphor: Berlin also looks like carrying a few STDs. So better just look at it, but don’t engage too closely. It seems that the scandal which happened to the construction to the new airport is somehow symptomatic for a complete incompetence of the Berlin municipal government to manage anything. No doubt, Berlin is very special.

A bit more than a week ago then, more than 60 EMBA Students of the bilingual (Chinese and English) programme of the Business School of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) landed in Berlin on a field trip I had the privilege to lead. It was a great honor that the Dean of the School, Professor Jitendra Singh, also joined and it made discussions and conversations extremely interesting. The trip was titled “German’s Hidden Campions” and I had the challenge to show exactly that when we visited companies and Universities. It was great. More than once, the students - which are mostly senior Chinese executives - were interested not to buy a product, but a share of a company. And this somehow became an underlying mood of the trip, even it was not the official topic. From Berlin, we drove to Wolfsburg, Dortmund, the Sauerland, passed the Rhine-Ruhr-Area to Cologne and finally in Frankfurt they took off back to China again. We had wonderful hosts and speakers, and it could not have been a deeper insight. And of course, the logistics challenge was handled extremely well by the HKUST team and their support. On Friday night I arrived exhausted but content in Montabaur: my meeting point also with Feibai, who has been traveling separately since I was engaged with the students. We now spend time with the family and enjoy the early summer in the green Westerwald. What else can you wish for?

Group photo at the end of our field trip.

Butterflies

Yesterday I visited the 2015 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London. Amazing pictures. Wildlife photography today is far more than "only" documentary. On the lawn of the museum, they installed a butterfly house, which reminded me of the one in the making at Dundee Park, Mission Beach (Australia). This is the forth time, I came across butterflies. First of course, like every boy in the countryside, I had a little collection of species which I caught back in the fields in the Westerwald and pinned them to a wall. Then I got quite interest in tropical butterflies, when living on Lamma Island in the South China Sea (see the photo gallery below). Earlier this year, we helped a bit our friends Thomas and Lina Baur in Dundee Park with moving earth inside their butterfly house under construction. It was amazing for me to learn, how picky butterflies are on plants for feeding and breeding, and I realized how important floral diversity really is for them. I was frequently told by Chinese silk producers that this is a big problem on the Chinese part of the Silk Road, where the mulberry trees are cut down and there is a shortage of feed for silk worms now. Instead the farmers grow nuts.

Butterfly house on the lawn of the National History Museum in London

Butterfly house in the making at Dundee Park, Mission Beach, Queensland, Australia

The few butterfly shots below are taken on Lamma Island in 2008 - 2011.