We're Going to Europe! Now, How Do I Pack?

I'm studying and touring in Europe for nearly three weeks and you want me to take just one checked bag?

Yes!

But you can use a carry-on bag, too.

A few weeks ago, Professor Crowe and I were lucky to be part of a group hearing a lecture by travel expert Rick Steves.

Professor Pisarski with Rick Steves in Des Moines, October 2014

During the lecture, we learned a lot about best practices for travel and travel seminars.  Rick is a proponent of immersive experiences.  He believes, as we do, that being a tourist implies that you should try to fit in with the natives as they live their everyday lives. Travel is a a great learning experience but only if you are willing to let go of some preconceived notions.  Rick has a philosophy that everyone can learn a few key words in another language, and then use problem-solving skills to "understand" the rest.  He believes, as we do, that travel requires an open mind.

Here is a link to Rick Steves' philosophy about packing for foreign travel.

https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/packing-light


And here is a link to a USA Today article enumerating weight and size limits for luggage used for foreign travel.  Remember, size of the luggage includes adding together the dimensions for length, width and height.  If your luggage has spinners (not just rollers) then the dimensions have to include the size of the spinners (in other words, your suitcase's interior dimensions will be smaller).

http://traveltips.usatoday.com/baggage-requirements-international-airline-travel-12505.html

The article has some sponsored links that remind us about Cyber Monday deals, in case you don't have luggage sturdy enough for international travel.


Our next post will be about passports and travel documents.

How to Pay your Trip Deposit

Now that you have applied for a spot in our travel seminar, what happens next?

The International Office reviews each student's application, which takes about 10 days from the time you complete the application.  Once they are done and you receive a message that you are "approved" you have 10 days to pay your $500 deposit.

Deposits can be paid in these ways:

1.      Pay in person at the Cashier’s Office (115 Old Main), hours are 8 AM – 4:30 PM

a.      Cash

b.      Check (provide ID, trip destination on Memo line)

c.      Debit

2.      Pay online via the My Drake Account tab in blueView

*Click on Pay Your Bill

*Click on eDeposit

*Choose Summer 2015

a.      E-Check

b.      Debit

c.      Credit (2.75% fee assessed)

3.      Mail a check (provide ID, trip destination on Memo line) to the address below

Drake University – Cashier’s Office

115 Old Main

2507 University Avenue

Des Moines, IA 50311

How to Register for Our MayTerm Travel Seminar

Drake University's travel seminars are not accessible by the DUSIS system.  Instead, students register by a separate system called Horizons.  Here is a snapshot of what the logon screen looks like:

You can register in the system even before you are ready to commit to our class.  Access the site here:  https://drake-horizons.symplicity.com/student Log into the system using your Drake email address and password.


Your MayTerm tuition is covered for the travel seminar, thanks to a tuition adjustment Drake made about two years ago.  Your travel cost is just the cost of the travels.  If you have a friend at another university who is interested in this travel seminar, that non-Drake person would pay both the travel and the tuition.  No one can travel without paying the tuition.  Learning is integral to every activity and every event, so we cannot have non-students accompany us.

Scholarships are Available for this Travel Seminar

Interested in this travel seminar? Your next step is to apply to go at http://drake-horizons.symplicity.com/student​

A $500 non-refundable deposit is due 2 weeks following acceptance into the program.  The deposit is what will hold your spot.

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Drake University students can apply for several scholarships identified for travel seminars.  Applications are due 10/22/14.
Here is the list of all scholarships available; the Thibodeau Travel Scholarship is the one available for this travel seminar.

GLOBAL LEARNING SCHOLARSHIPS are available for students planning to study abroad or participate in global service-learning.  Please read the scholarship descriptions to understand which scholarship(s) are appropriate for your students. Encourage students to check their blueView announcements and apply before the deadline on Wednesday, October 22, 2014.

Thibodeau Travel Scholarship for Global Citizenship

This award, funded by Drake alumnus Paul Thibodeau, helps students fund the costs of an education abroad experience.  Preference may be given to students participating in Drake faculty-led or summer programs.
Zimpleman Scholarship for Global Experiential Learning
This scholarship, funded by Kathleen and Larry Zimpleman,  provides financial assistance to students who will participate in a substantive and applied immersion experience at a business, health facility, school or other organization abroad.  (Experiential learning is "learning-by-doing" and includes internships, rotations, research or service projects, teaching, etc.)

Olson Global Service-Learning Scholarship

This scholarship, funded by alumnus Ron Olson and his wife, Jane Olson, supports students engaged in global service-learning, either in the US (for example, service within the Des Moines multicultural community) or abroad. (Service-learning involves meaningful community service and intentional reflection.)

Allen Service-Learning Travel Scholarship

This scholarship, funded by Doug Allen, supports students engaged in service-learning that requires travel, either in the US or abroad. (Service-learning involves meaningful community service and intentional reflection.)

Students can apply and learn more about their eligibility, at http://drake.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_5iIU0ZxZpX8ytkF.

All applications must be submitted no later than 11:59 pm on Wednesday, October 22, 2014.

Questions? Contact Maria Rohach, Global Learning Program Coordinator

European History makes Today More Special

To study advertising is to study people. For this course to be successful, we have to start with the people, and we have to start at a point in time that predates our current college students.

Following the end of the Soviet era, capitalistic retailing and marketing have been reintroduced in the geographies we're visiting. College students there have grown up with the new economy, but their parents didn't.

How does that impact the way products are introduced, the way media is used for advertising, and how social media is embraced?

You'll need to sign up for the travel seminar to find out.

To provide some insight into wartime life in Poland, we've selected The Zookeeper's Wife as a pre-trip reading.  You can find the New York Times Book Review about it here:  http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/09/books/review/Max-t.html?_r=0

Meanwhile, know that the book reviewer wrote "At her lowest moment during the war, Antonina wonders whether the horrible period she was enduring wasn’t 'a sort of hibernation of the spirit, when ideas, knowledge, science, enthusiasm for work, understanding and love — all accumulate inside' where 'nobody can take them from us.'"  The book is not a Holocaust story per se, but it certainly provides the reader with views into life during the Holocaust and the Occupation of Poland.

Another reviewer writes "With her exuberant prose and exquisite sensitivity to the natural world, Diane Ackerman engages us viscerally in the lives of the zoo animals, their keepers, and their hidden visitors. She shows us how Antonina refused to give in to the penetrating fear of discovery, keeping alive an atmosphere of play and innocence even as Europe crumbled around her." http://www.us.worldbooknight.org/books/2014/item/449-the-zookeeper%E2%80%99s-wife-a-war-story 

Learning the history is the key to learning about the consumers. And yes, we certainly will go to see the zoo when we are in Warsaw.

Course Curriculum

Course Number: JMC 133 / HON 131
Course Title: International Advertising: Ethnographic Exploration and Cultural Immersion
AOI: Global and Multicultural
Honors: cross-listed with Honors curriculum

How is course content and delivery enhanced by the international location?

The course requires ethnographic exploration and personal observation to understand consumer behavior in the chosen locations and make educated comparisons. Unique comparisons of similarities and differences of the cities in Poland to the cities in Germany are enhanced by observing them in context of their individual histories. With an emphasis on the study of consumerism since World War II this context includes the effects of the war on economies, lifestyles, government, infrastructure, and more. Prague, CZ, was added to the itinerary to provide additional contrast, which will be best understood by personal observation, as well as interaction with students and others in a university, agency or corporate setting. Because students will have a specific product category to follow and research, they will need direct observation to understand promotion and consumer behavior around it. An added bonus of historical perspective will be to visit and understand the sites described in the required reading in the book, The Zookeeper’s Wife. 

How does the course propose to integrate students into the host culture?

Students will visit areas where local residents shop, eat, work, study and relax, not only areas where tourists visit. Shopping areas will be particularly important and may include neighborhood markets, “surburban” or urban malls, and trendy shopping areas. Students and faculty will utilize mass transit, and each day a pair of students will investigate the best mode of transportation and which stops to utilize, thus integrating the group to ways the local denizens commute to work and school. Students will have sufficient time for individual exploration and observation that will contribute to the research and reporting of each group. Students will write blog reports individually and as a group for daily reflection in each city. 

How do proposed excursions or site visits link to the learning objectives of the course?

With the focus of the course being a comparison of consumerism in the chosen countries since WWII, understanding the scope and effects of the war is imperative. Excursions include trips to a concentration camp, Jewish neighborhoods and museums, military history museum, etc. that will give context to the plight of the residents of these countries.

Students will read and discuss The Zookeepers Wife before travel. The book is a true story of a family in Warsaw who were the owners/caretakers of the zoo and their plight during the war. The itinerary includes a site visit to the zoo as well as other sites mentioned in the book to bring the reality of this one family’s situation to light.

Other site visits relate directly to advertising and consumerism including visiting at least one ad agency with international ties, university visits where our students can meet with students and attend a lecture, and visits to a variety of shopping venues and media outlets. 

Tentative Itinerary

Warsaw: Wawel Castle and Wisla River, photo taken during JTerm Course 2013

The Perfect Time to Study in Central Europe

Central Europe is rich in history and culture. 

After careful consideration, Professors Dorothy Pisarski and Carlyn Crowe have prepared an immersive course leading through Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic. 

Join us for May Term 2015 in Krakow, Warsaw, Berlin, Dresden, and Prague.

Students can travel in these three countries more economically than in Western Europe. When you consider that your credit costs are covered by your Drake tuition and you are only paying for your travel expenses, you will be excited to know that Central Europe is gentle on your wallet.

Consumer prices in Krakow, Poland are just 56% of the same costs in London, so your money goes much further.

Similarly, consumer prices in Prague, Czech Republic are 52% lower than London and pricing in Dresden, Germany is 31% lower than London. 

Source: http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/comparison.jsp

You can travel very safely in Central Europe. The U.S. government has no warnings here.  http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/alertswarnings.html 

Your Cultural Immersion

Professors Crowe and Pisarski invite you to see both the very old and the very new.

You will be learning by exploring, comparing and reflecting. We will lead you to experience magnificent and important historical and cultural sites, from 8th Century castles to ruins from World War II to very modern and very new city business hubs.

Rick Steves, the travel expert, recently traveled in Central Europe to produce new episodes of his travel shows.  In a recent interview, he said "If you looked at our Ireland show from ten years ago, you'd see the same things now in Ireland.  If you looked at our Central Europe show from ten years ago, you'd find very different things today."

Here are some quotes from Rick Steves
KRAKOW:  Kraków is the Boston of Poland — a charming and vital city buzzing with history, college students, and tourists. Though not the capital, Kraków is the cultural and intellectual center of the country — and easily Poland’s best destination.  https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/krakow-poland-historic-and-cultural-gem

DRESDEN:  Today’s Dresden is a young and vibrant city, crawling with proud locals and happy-go-lucky students who barely remember communism. While the city is packed with tourists, most of them are German or Russian. Until Americans rediscover Dresden, you’ll feel like you’re in on a secret.  https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/great-sights-and-new-insights-in-dresden

PRAGUE:  Few cities can match Prague's over-the-top romance, evocative Old World charm...and tourist crowds. Prague has always been historic — but it's fun, too. No other place in Europe has become popular so quickly. And for good reason: Prague — the only Central European capital to escape the bombs of the last century's wars — is one of Europe's best-preserved cities. It's filled with sumptuous Art Nouveau facades, offers tons of cheap Mozart and Vivaldi concerts, and brews the best beer in Europe. https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/czech-republic/prague

Photo of Prague. Source: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/czech-republic/prague