Small German Cuckoo

Teaching Small children about Countries of the World is as easy as a trip to EPCOT

EPCOT is short for "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow" and as Walt Disney had envisioned was supposed to be an actual city where people lived and worked. It didn't turn out that way. Walt died in 1966 and the vision changed a bit. No longer was a city planned, but a theme park was put on the drawing board.

While the entrance to EPCOT called "Future Word" has many wonderful rides such as Test Track, Mission Space, and Spaceship Earth, the truly educational part of EPCOT is what is known as "World Showcase". Here you can find a lake rimmed with various pavilions each themed as a different country.

Your kids will want to stay in Future World and enjoy the rides. Most kids think World Showcase is boring. It has very few rides but is full of culture. You're going to have to be inventive to keep the little ones interested. Bribe them with candy, promise you'll go on Mission Space, or make a game out of learning words from each language. However you do it, make sure they partake of the rich learning experience.

When you enter World Showcase from Future World it just seems natural to turn right and walk all the way around the lake in that direction. At least that's what I do 90% of the time.

The first country you'll come to is Canada. In Canada you see a large building known as "Hotel du Canada". Canada has a wonderful show called "O' Canada" which is a 17-minute Circle Vision 360 film showing the culture of Canada.

Each country you visit has shops and these shops have authentic goods imported from that country. It's over the top that these shops are staffed with people from the country. These are usually students who have come to Disney World to work for a bit of time and see our culture. It's amusing to me that we are watching them, but they are watching us as well and learning how Americans behave. I hope that's a good thing.

Your next country is the United Kingdom with its shops and pub. You can get real fish n' chips here.

On to France with its replica Eiffel Tower. In France you'll find French restaurants, shops and if you are lucky, mimes teasing guests with their show. Make sure you see "Impressions de France" another fantastic moving film.

Just right next door to France is Morocco and its shops. You feel like you've transported back in time.
Now we go to the Orient, Japan and a large shop with wonderful goodies from the orient. The Bijutsu-kan Gallery there always has interesting displays in its changing exhibit.

After Japan we are suddenly back in America at the American pavilion. Here you can watch an animated show with Mark Twain and Ben Franklin. I almost forgot the most import part. Between Japan and America is a little stand selling funnel cakes. Oh the kids will love them.

Now to Italy. The music, the shops and chocolate, all tease your senses. Italy is relaxing and wonderful.

Each of the World Showcase countries has a special "KIDCOT" area that provides an opportunity for your child to interact with a native of the country you are visiting. Make sure you take advantage of that.

Now we travel away from Italy and on to Germany in just a few steps. In Germany you'll find Hummel and Goebel collectables as well as German steins and cuckoo clocks. If you like German food, this is the place to stop and eat. The Biergarten is a German style buffet with entertainment and good times. You'll eat German style which means you sit with other people at the same table.

China is next and not to be missed is "Reflections of China" another 360 degree movie. The shops at China are fun too.

Tired yet? Just a few more countries to go. Norway is next on the tour. Here your kids will love one of the best rides in EPCOT. "The Maelstrom" is a boat ride through the history of Norway. After you'll be treated to a film about Norway. The shops of Norway are full of trolls. Big Trolls and small Trolls can be purchased. Your kids will like this country.

The last country we come to is Mexico. Featured is an Aztec Temple of Quetzalcoatl and inside you'll find a wonderful Mexican restaurant, shops, and another boat ride. This time the ride takes you through Mexico's culture. I doubt you can stop from smiling as you ride trough.

EPCOT can be a rich experience for your children and as you leave World Showcase there is one more learning adventure to be had that is fun for you and for the children. Soarin is a film/ride that makes you fly over California's changing landscape. You feel, you hear, you see, and yes, you smell California. This is not to be missed.

Enjoy teaching your children about the world. It's only a trip to EPCOT away.

About the Author

Scott Ames owns a vacation home near Walt Disney World and has been going to Disney Theme parks since 1971. His vacation home is for rent by the week and more information can be found at:
http://www.orlandogatherings.com

Is Water the Solution to a Holy Land?

Walking through Korazim, a small national park on a hillside overlooking the Sea of Galilee, I met Brigitta, a German economist and ex-resident of Bethlehem, with an unparalleled knowledge of Israel. It was a hot summer day and we sat down under a tree to talk. The tree happened to be a Zizyphus spina Christi, from whose branches it is said that a crown of thorns was prepared for Jesus. Not just any shade. Biblical shade.

Brigitta was of the opinion that the patchwork that is Palestine cannot last. The economy, the statal system, the land itself cannot support the nearly ten million people that live in Israel and the Palestinian Authority, yet Israel continues to encourage immigration. The country's present course is unsustainable.

WATER FLASHPOINT OF THE FUTURE
Up there in cloud-cuckoo land, then, what is her solution? A holy land, comprising Israel, Palestine and Jordan, in which power and resources are shared. Chief among the resources is water, now in severely short supply. Water is the oil of this geographically unpromising and politically uncompromising corner of the Middle East. Both Israel and, subsequently, Jordan have been systematically draining the Dead Sea for irrigation. Its level has fallen ten metres in the last thirty years and at the present, faster rate it will fall a further 100 metres over the next century.

Palestinians and Israelis alike want land, livelihood, security and neither side has anywhere else to go. Water will be the flashpoint of the future.

WATER AROUND THE SEA OF GALILEE
There's not much water at Korazim now, that's for sure. But it wasn't always so. Up until about 1,500 years ago, this whole region was far wetter and more fertile. There are ruins of a ritual bath and an oil press.

Korazim is one of Israel's 54 national and nature parks. We were trying to see as many as we could in the two weeks we were spending there. Most of the parks are archaeological sites. But then, so is much of the region itself. There are sites dating back to Neolithic times, there are wonderful fortresses and palaces from the Crusader period Yehi'am, Belvoir, The Castel, Nimrod and Herodion. Although most of the parks are havens of peace and beauty, even at the worst of times, some of the national parks are in Palestinian territory and it is wise to take advice before going there.

The synagogue at Korazim is a monumental structure with broad stairs and a huge pediment (now resting on the ground beside the entrance). It is made of hard black basalt, a stone that is difficult to carve, yet it was impressively engraved with many patterns. Unlike later synagogues, which usually had mosaic pavements; early ones like this had floors of stone. And although the Jewish Commentaries (tosafta) prescribe that doorways to the synagogue should always face east, most of the synagogues in the Galilee, including this one, face south towards Jerusalem.

According to the New Testament, Korazim was one of the villages whose inhabitants refused to accept the teachings of Jesus and was cursed by Him.

WATER AROUND EASTERN GALILEE
Kursi, on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, is also directly associated with the life of Christ. The place is mentioned in the New Testament as the scene, 'in the country of the Gadarenes', at which Jesus exorcised the devils from the body of a man and transferred them to a herd of pigs. The pigs then purportedly hotfooted it down to the water, where they drowned. Left at the site today are the remains of the largest known Byzantine monastery in the Holy Land, measuring 145 by 123 metres.

WATER AROUND LOWER GALILEE
Zippori, in lower Galilee, 'perches on top of the mountain like a bird', according to the Talmud (zippor in Hebrew means 'bird'). The chalk hill was described as 'as most assuredly a land flowing with milk and honey'. A settlement is confirmed from the days of the First Temple (eighth to seventh century BC). But the city had an extremely troubled history and changed hands several times. It became a Jewish city, a bishopric, a Crusader stronghold and an Arab town before falling to the fledgling Israel Defence Force in July 1948.

Zippori's Christian significance lies principally in the fact that it was the birthplace of the Virgin Mary, whose parents, Ann and Joachim, lived there. Today its most remarkable artefacts are the coloured mosaics dating back 1,700 years. One depicts the life of Dionysos and measures 1.5 metres across. Another, the Nile Mosaic, depicts Egyptian festivals celebrating the high-water peak of the Nile, coupled, unusually, with a variety of hunting scenes. Most famous of all is the mosaic portrait of a beautiful woman, nicknamed the 'Galilean Mona Lisa', framed with medallions, on the floor of a luxurious Roman residence.

WATER-SUPPLY SYSTEMS
A testament to the technological skills of the residents in the second century AD is the water-supply system, consisting of two aqueducts and an enormous reservoir 260 metres long, between two and four metres wide and about ten metres deep. The capacity of the reservoir was 4,300 cubic metres, and at its end was a gate valve which regulated the water flow passing into the city through a tunnel 235 metres long., You can climb down some steps and walk through the reservoir, which winds through the Tunnel of the Shafts, its golden stone walls worn smooth by the action of the water.

At Tel Hazor, Tel Megiddo and the still more famous Masada, gigantic water systems are also among the most stunning features with cisterns as big as aeroplane hangars sunk into mountaintops or carved into hillsides and openings the size of the First Temple itself.
At Masada the thirty or so cisterns kept the 968 Zealots supplied with water throughout the four-year Roman siege that eventually ended with their mass suicide.

On Brigitta's advice, we visited Bet Shean, where excavations have revealed this ancient city dating back to the fifth millennium BC. The area, it is said, once enjoyed plentiful water and the first Hebrew historian wrote, as recently as 1322, that it 'is situated on many sweet waters ... and is fruitful like the Garden of Eden.'

Albeit dry as dust now, the city boasts glorious, mosaic-floored bathhouses and a hypocaust bigger and better-preserved than any I've seen.

ARMAGEDDON
Traveling back again another six thousand years, you may come to Tel Megiddo, or Armageddon, a hilltop city that commanded the strategic highway from Egypt to the north. It was fortified by King Solomon and turned into a chariot centre by King Ahab in the ninth century BC. The excavations look like a broad, gently rising staircase, representing twenty-five layers of civilization, with the oldest structures at the foot of the flight. At one point there are three temples, one on top of the other.

Christian teaching holds that Armageddon is the place where the battle of good and evil will be fought 'at the end of days'. As we strolled down the hillside, a couple of doves flew over our heads a sign, perhaps, that the end is not yet nigh. 

TRAVEL BRIEF
When to go: Spring, when flowers are in bloom, and autumn are the best times. Not only is the weather extremely hot in summer (minimum daytime temperatures in August around 30°C) but also the countryside is not at its best, looking brown and parched. Also avoid times of war.

Where to stay: Youth hostels are basic but adequate and cheap, from about £32 per night for a double room with breakfast. For information www.youth-hostels.org.il; for reservations e-mail samy@iyha.org.il. Many kibbutzim offer accommodation too, e.g. Ginnosar Inn on the Sea of Galilee (fax 00 972 6 672 2991).

Further information: General information: Israel Government Tourist Office (tel. 020 7299 1111; fax 020 7299 1112); www.holytravel.com; www.inisrael.com; Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority (tel. 00 972 2 500 5444; fax 00 972 2 652 9232; www.parks.org.il) offers various deals, including the Green Card, which costs $40 and permits entry to unlimited parks within a 14-day period. Admission to the parks otherwise costs between about IS8 and IS18 (£1.30-6.00).

About the Author

© Harish Kohli (2006).
Harish Kohli is an avid traveller and author of a book ‘Across the Frozen Himalaya’. He has travelled widely across four continents and shares his experiences in his many articles he writes for various magazines. He is CEO of AwimAway.com. You can tailor-make adventure holidays and activity travel from quality tour operators from around the world.