Norway

Our final stop on this journey is Norway.
The first thing that stroke me while staying in Norway was that the sun never really descended. We had almost 20h of daylight a day. That’s why Norway is also called the "Land of the Midnight Sun".
From late May to late July, the days are long and bright. from late November to late January  daylight hours are very short.
But the most fascinating thing that I experienced during this stay was without any doubt the

Northern light which is  a natural light display in the sky. The northern light occurs during solar
explosions which causes small particles entering our space, when these particles are thrown into
Our space they interact with the upper layers of the atmosphere. The released energy is the
Northern light. It was magical to witness.
Norway possesses one of the world’s most beautiful sceneries.  Most of Norway is dominated by mountains, but you can also find glaciers and fjords, remains of the ice-age. Throughout Norway there are at least 450,000 fresh water lakes. Norway has an impressive coastline, along which you may find several islands. Like Denmark, Norway also invests many efforts in maintaining the environment. Norway takes the third place in the 2012 Environmental Performance Index, which is based on the environmental performances of a country's policies.

Contradictory to these facts, Norway is the world’s third-largest natural gas exporter; and seventh largest oil exporter. Needless to say, Norway is making huge sums from those exports. So while building a greener future in their own country they obviously contribute to the pollution of the rest of the world.
Norway didn’t want to join the EU in 1994 but it is a member of the European Economic Area and it delivers a great financial contribution to the EEA’s budget.
Norway is listed the second richest country in the world and according to the Foreign Policy Magazine Norway is the world's best functioning and stable country.
According to the UNDP, Norway is the world’s best country to live.
Tonight I'll be taking off to Belgium but I'm sure that crossing all these boundaries has enriched me in several ways.
As this was our final stop on this journey, I would like to thank you all for following me on this blog.


http://www.visitnorway.com/en/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway
http://www.economist.com/node/12970769

Denmark

Denmark was once the home of the Vikings along with Norway and Sweden. Nowadays Denmark is a prosperous country with a developed economy. According to the world bank Denmark has the most free labor market in Europe. Emloyers have a tremandeous flexibilty in hiring and firing employees and between jobs the unemployment compensations are very high. Denmark is ranked as one of the countries where you can easily do business. Establishing a business in Denmark can be done very quickly at a low cost.
Denmark is a member of the European Union and follows the policies set forth in the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union, but they didn't adopt the Euro. Their currency is still the Krone.
During this journey we stayed in Copenhagen which is the center for the bright green environmental movement in Denmark.(Bright green environmentalism aims to provide prosperity in an ecologically sustainable way through the use of new technologies and improved design) In Copenhagen you'll find some of the most important environment research institutions such as the Copenhagen University.

55% of Copenhageneres commute by bycicle every day and 65% of all hotels have environmental certifications. Denmark also invested a lot on sustainable energy by using energy sources such as wind power.
While staying in Copenhagen I've had some interesting conversations with some students. It appears that university education is free of charge. Furthermore students in Denmark receive finiancial support up to $1000 per month. Denmark attracts international students every year due to the high standart of their education and the fact that almost all courses can be followed in English. On the other hand living in Copenhagen can be expensive. Renting a room will be more expensive than in Belgium but the rooms will be of a higher standard.
If you are subscribed as a student in Denmark you are automatticaly granted acces to free medical treatments except for dental care.
In my opinion Danish have a very high standard of living and Denmark is an example for all other European countries.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/da.html
http://studyindenmark.dk/study-in-denmark/tuition-fees-and-scholarships
http://www.meetincopenhagen.com/green-meeting/green-copenhagen/how-to-do-a-green-meeting

Germany

Germany is Europe's largest economy and has the largest population after Russia. It has the fifth largest economy in the world. Germany is most known due to the two world wars in the first half of the 20th century. Due to the advent of the cold war Germany was divided into two parts: the western Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the eastern German Democratic Republic. Germany was reunited at the end of the cold war, in 1990 which lead to the fall of the Berlin wall.
According to the Fortune Globe 500 (an annual ranking of the top 500 corporations worldwide) 37 of those companies are headquartered in Germany. Amongst them companies such as, Audi, Mercedes, BMW, Volkswagen and Nivea.
During this journey we stayed in Berlin, the capital of Germany. Many of German buildings were devastated during the Second World War and the remainings were demolished during 1950-1960. Afterwards new residential and business quarters were built along with new roads. Due to these demolishing a huge part of Germany's architectural history was erased.
While my colleagues were attending a business meeting I took the opportunity to explore the city. My first stop was the The East Side Gallery which is an open-air exhibition of art painted directly on the last existing portions of the Berlin Wall. The Gallery consists of 105 paintings by artists from all over the world, painted in 1990 on the east side of the Berlin Wall. It is a memorial for freedom and a reminder of the division of Germany.

Afterwards I spend the afternoon strolling through the The Kurfürstendamm, which is a boulevard comparable with the  Champs-Élysées. This boulevard houses some of the world famous designers shops and again I did some shopping. I've bought two pair of jeans at  7 for all Mankind reminding myself that our next stop was going to get colder. We still have two stops on our schedule: Denmark and Norway and then we are going back home.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gm.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin

France

The French Republique is the third largest country in Europe and is a leader among the European Nation. It is a member of the United Nation Security Council and it has the largest military in the EU.The last decade it had an important cooperation with Germany on the economic integration with Europe due to the Eurozone crisis, and had a great influence on European political decisions.
France is located in Western Europe but still has some entities overseas like: French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, and Reunion.

The capital of France is Paris and this is the city where we stayed during this journey.
After Milan this was the second city with some real life fashion temptation. Nevertheless I've managed to resist the temptation and explore the city. I went for a boat trip on the Seine and I saw some of the most beautiful monuments that Paris has to offer, like the Eiffel Tour, the Louvre and the Notre-Dame.
After this boat trip I visited the Eiffel Tour and I even went to the top of the Tour where I had an amazing view over Paris.
I really enjoyed the baguettes and the morning croissants. They are delicious and totally different than those in Belgium.
The temperature was bearable and almost the same then at home. Our next stop on this journey is Germany, then Denmark and Norway. I have the feeling it is going to get colder. Fortunately I've already bought I scarf in Milan

http://www.vedettesdupontneuf.com/
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/fr.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France

Italy

Our next stop was Italy, the booth-shaped country, better known as the mecca for all fashionistas.
Whilst my management team was negotiating on an important business deal I had the opportunity to shop in my personal Walhalla, Milan, where I visited several designers houses in the  Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, like Roberto Cavalli, Dolce & Gabanna, Gucci,Prada and more. Unfortunately they were also very expensive and I had to be containt with a new pair of Prada shoes and a Gucci scarf.

 After my shopping hunger was satisfied I enjoyed the enormous amount of culture that Milan has to offer. I've visited the  Duomo di Milano which is the fifth biggest cathedral in the world. They started the construction in 1386 and it took nearly 6 centuries to complete it. If you look at the cathedral today it is almost unbelievable how they were able to construct such a building in that time. On the top of the cathedral you have an amazing view over Milan. The handmade sculptures on the cathedral looked very fragile from up close and it felt almost impossible that somebody at some moment in time made and put them at such a height without the modern construction equipment.  At lunch time I ate a Panini  in De Santis, located near the Duomo where I had the best Panini ever. I didn't even new that it was possible to make such a good Panini. They also offer a varied range of wines. After I fully discovered the center of the city I went back to my Hotel where my colleagues and I were meeting for dinner. We stayed in hotel Scala which was a very nice accommodated hotel. We had a five course dinner and I have to admit that it was all delicious.
The weather in Italy was good during our stay. We had temperatures between 17 en 23 degrees which was very pleasant after the high temperatures in our former destinations.
Tomorrow morning we are already leaving for France, I will certainly come back to Italy to explore more but for now, Paris here I come!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milan_Cathedral
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g187849-d1069435-r31245660-De_Santis-Milan_Lombardy.html
http://www.hotelmilanoscala.it/en/

Tunisia

Politics

Nowadays, I think that Tunisia is best known as the country where the Arab spring began.

On 17 December 2010 Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26 years old street vendor, set himself afire in protest of the confiscation of his goods and the humiliation by a female police officer. What followed were massive protests and the well-known Tunisian revolution which led to the resignation of the long time leading president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. After democratic elections  Ennahda gained political power. As Ennahda is an Islamic group the main fear of the secular parties was that Ennahda would include the Sharia in the constitution but they maintained the secular nature of the state and no Islamic laws were introduced.

Economy

The main challenge for the new president is the high unemployment rate, especially among the young.  Tunisia has a very diversified economy ranging from agriculture, mining, manufacturing, and petroleum products, to tourism. In the last decade it managed to establish a growth of 5% but this growing economy also suffered from corruption during that decade. Despite of this corruption Tunsia has managed to attract plenty of foreign companies such as Hewley-Packart.

Language

Arabic is the official language and Tunsian Arabic is the local language. While travelling through Tunisia you won’t have any language difficulties.  Like Algeria, Tunisia was also occupied by the French and the French language is still very important in Tunisian education. From the age  of 8 children are taught French and from the age of 12 they are taught English.Since 1991 a basic education for children between 6 and 16 is obliged.

Tourism

Tourism plays a huge role in today’s Tunisian economy. Tunisia has plenty to offer. It has a rich history, beautiful beaches and a magnificent dessert . Tunisia is a very modern Arab country due to the occupation of the French and  the adoption of a gender equality law in the constitution by the former president Ben Ali.(perhaps one of the few things the former president Ben Ali has done good for his country) 

Sources:
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/03/27/203529.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunisiahttps://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ts.htmlhttp://www.hrw.org/world-report-2012/world-report-2012-tunisia

Algeria

As my father was born in Algeria and I never had the opportunity to visit this country, this journey was very interesting for me. My father left Algeria in the late seventies. He grew up in a military school in Laghouat, 400 km south of the Algerian capital Algiers. My father always loved being artistic, he made paintings and sculptures but after Algeria gained independence from France( Algeria was colonized by France from 1830 to 1962) Islamic groups such as the Front Islamique du Salut gained power. Therefor my father felt Algeria was no longer safe for open minded people and he came to Belgium. First he went to school in Belgium during which he met my mother. They married and my sister and I were born so my father kept living in Belgium.

Algeria’s black decade

When I was a young child my mother wouldn’t let us visit Algeria and starting 1992 there was a civil war in Algeria so we couldn’t go even if we wanted to. The Algerian government and various Islamic armed groups( such as the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) clashed. when the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) party gained popularity amongst the Algerian people the military took over control of the government. The Islamic groups first targeted the army and the police but soon they started targeting civilians such as journalists and other high educated people. During this period entire villages were attacked and butchered (List of masacres in Algeria). In some cases government involvement was suspected as there were military posts nearby who didn’t intervene during these actions. Legitimate self-defense groups arose and the government gained the upper hand by the late 1990’s.
The AIS (Islamic Salvation Army), under attack from both sides, opted for a ceasefire with the government in 1997 while the GIA was torn apart by internal splits leading to a victory for the government. In 2007 a splinter group of the GIA made a union with Al-Qaeda and changed their name into ‘Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb’ they dissociated themselves from the previous killings of civilians and only targeted military forces.
In response to the Arab spring the government introduced some political reforms in 2011, such as lifting the 19-year-old state of emergency restrictions and increasing women’s quotas.
Nowadays Algeria economy is dominated by the state. Its main challenge is to reduce the high youth unemployment rates by encouraging the private sector, attracting foreign investment, and providing adequate jobs for younger Algerians.
Unlike other Arab countries the tempers in Algeria remained quite calm during the Arab spring. The government immediately promised political reforms and in my opinion after years of war with the French and afterwards the civil war, the Algerian people are not interested in new conflicts.

Sources:

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ag.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algeria
http://wikitravel.org/en/Algeria
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algerian_Civil_War
http://mondediplo.com/1997/10/alger1
http://www.npr.org/2011/04/25/135376589/algerias-black-decade-still-weighs-heavily

Nigeria

Safety

I have to admit I was a bit nervous about going to Nigeria. I’ve checked the ‘Foreign and common wealth’ website before taking off to Nigeria and I was really concerned about our safety. As you can see in the map enclosed in this blog certain parts of the country are to be avoid.

After the French intervention in Mali there was a serious treat for terrorist attacks, there even was a recent bomb attack at a bus station in Kano.

There’s a criminal and terrorist kidnapping treat all over the country. As foreign visitors we were at high risk of being street crime or scam victims. We were advised not to go out after 10 P.M. and to remain in the center of the city.

Around 8 weeks before we started this journey we received our vaccinations. Nigeria is a country were deceases like Polio, Measles and Malaria are still reported.

Because of the abovementioned risks I couldn’t fully discover the country.

During this journey we remained in the Capital of Nigeria (Abuja) which was relatively save according to our travelling guides.

Cultural awareness

Before travelling to an unknown country I always like to inform myself about the local customs and habits.

In Nigeria it is considered as an insult if you hand over things to people with your left hand. It is disrespectful to shake hands with older people, it is better to bow your head a little bit. In the Islamic parts of the country you’ll have to wait before entering someone’s home because women have to cover their hair and body and they would need the time to do so if someone visits their home.

Economy

In spite of the high crime levels and the treat for terrorist attacks Nigeria is one of the two countries from Africa among 11 Global Growth Generators countries. This means Nigeria has growth potential and profitable investment opportunities.
Due to the restoration of democracy and economic reforms Nigeria is heading towards a full economic development.

Nigeria is one of the largest producers of Petroleum and it is member of the OPEC countries. The country also possesses a variety of natural resources like natural gas, coal, gold etc.

Nigeria is also the first African country who completely paid off its debts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigeria

http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/sub-saharan-africa/nigeria

http://wikitravel.org/en/Nigeria