worldfeat-blog

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STOP THE HATE

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World feat. Tom (UK) I met Tom at the most relaxed place I've possibly ever been to. It was a nice bar and hostel directly at the riverside in Kampot, Cambodia. They had big pillows and hammocks everywhere, so you could just lean back or have a swim in the river. Tom travelled with his best friend for a few months already. Back home, as he told me, he quit his well-paid job, left his appartement and sold the most of his personal belongings. He was not always a traveller: Wanderlust hit him one year ago when he was in Thailand for two weeks. Being 22, he decided the best time to travel was now and so he hitchhiked all the way through Vietnam. He has no idea where he might end up or how long he'll travel, but "in the worst case he'll go back home", as he told me.

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Und wenn du den Klang fremder Sprachen nicht mehr hören und das Lachen eines Kindes nicht mehr sehen willst, dann frage ich dich: was hat dieses Leben mit dir angestellt, dass du so traurig, so zerrissen bist? Warum können dir die einfachen Freuden dieser Welt nichts mehr anhaben und keinen Glanz auf dein versteinertes Gesicht zaubern? Gib diesem Leben eine Chance, du hast schließlich nur eins davon.

worldfeat.

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World feat. Thy Thy is a Vietnamese student who provides guided city tours in Ho-Chi-Minh-City. She takes part in the SAIGON HOTPOT organisation. This NGO was found in 2006 and it has the missions to "provide treasurable experiences for foreigners when travelling to Vietnam, create proactive environments for local students to improve communication abilities, promote cultural exchange and the beauty of Vietnam to the world". (For more Information see: http://saigonhotpot.vn/about-us.php) Thy studies International Relations and she has been living in Ho-Chi-Minh-City for her whole life. When she'll finish her Bachelor, she'd like to do her Master somewhere abroad, maybe in Canada, as she told me. That's only one of the reasons she participates in SAIGON HOTSPOT for already 2 years. Moreover she likes the cultural exchange and so we spoke a lot about the differences about our countries, politics and way of living. Her city tour was great. She did not only show us the most important sights of Saigon, e.g. the Independence Palace, but she also told us a lot of information and tiny details you could never find in tour guide books. She took us away from the touristic centre to nice and hidden places such as the book street. It turned out she loves reading biographies and as I am willing to read something about the Vietnamese history when I'm back home, she gave me a lot of inspiration. Talking about music, she said that she really likes musicals such as Les Miserables or Gipsy. Lately she started listening to classical music, e.g. Beethoven 7th. She'd like to play the piano but lessons are quite expensive and so she has to save more money to be able to take them.

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World feat. Wiebe (Holland) I met Wiebe in Hoi An and had a great time with him. We spend two days together and even regarding the short time I consider him a friend. We have a lot of things in common, not only taste in music, but also hobbys such as winter sports or just daily life stuff. As he lives in beautiful Amsterdam, I hope to see him soon again.

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World feat. Jane (Australia) Jane was the first person I spoke to. She was sitting next to me in the bus from Hue to Hoi An. She told me that she was a therapist working at a NGO called ORPHAN VOICE. This NGO provides special wheelchairs for disabled children. In Vietnam, many streets are narrow or damaged, so people in wheelchairs have quite a lot trouble moving along. Furthermore, many families are too poor to afford proper therapies or auxilities for their children. Orphan Voice is foundraised by Australian peoples' donations, so the wheelchairs will be given to children in need for free. Jane told me that there was this child who had to lay down on his back for his whole life and after getting his wheelchair he was able to interact with his family and his siblings for the first time. These were very touching moments, as Jane told me. Jane is from Australia but she was writing her PhD ("Lived experience of physical disability in Timor Lestre") in Timor Lestre. While writing her thesis, she often listened to the African national anthem. That's why she considered it her "PhD theme". Besides the African music, Jane likes classical music such as Beethoven or Mozart.

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World feat.

Die Idee zu World feat. kam mir am 22. April 2017 in Vietnam. Ich saß gerade in einem Mini-Van, der mich von der Kaiserstadt Hue über den sehenswerten Ha Van Pass nach Hoi An bringen sollte. Vor mir saß ein vietnamesischer Mann mittleren Alters, der über ein gewaltiges Stimmorgan verfügte. Da mir sein lautes Getröte zu früher Stunde nur wenig zusagte, beschloss ich, meine halb demolierten Kopfhörer aus der viel zu vollen Tasche zu friemeln und ein wenig Musik zu hören. Und wie ich da so saß, westliche Klänge in den Ohren und südostasiatische Landschaft vor meinen Augen vorbeiziehend, kam mir plötzlich ein simpler und doch überraschender Gedanke: All die Menschen, die ich in den vergangenen Tagen getroffen habe, hören Musik. Sie haben Vorlieben, vielleicht ein Lieblingslied, Musik, die sie traurig macht oder Musik, die ihnen über eine schwere Zeit hinweg hilft. Lieder, die ich nie zuvor gehört habe, Genres, deren Existenz mir bisher vielleicht gänzlich unbekannt ist. Und so beschloss ich, meinen musikalischen Horizont zu erweitern, um mehr mit nach Hause zu nehmen als einen Stapel dreckiger Klamotten und einen Sonnenbrand.

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