I was re-joined in Helsinki by my partner Chris which was very lovely and after settling into our Airbnb we even managed to find a Finnish restaurant, The Sea Horse for dinner, which is a rarity.
Once again the blue skies were following me so we were able to explore the seaside of Helsinki and the ice on the beach, a first for me.
Kaarin Taipale recommended Edberg Cafe as our Helsinki gathering point as it is one of the oldest cafes in town, founded in 1852. So perhaps Harry would have visited it on one of his trips here. She also advised I book which was lucky as is particularly busy at weekends.
Ekberg Cafe opened in 1852
There are probably rarely more than two Finns at any one time in the New York I-House so the numbers of alumni are small and many of them also live outside Finland, so I was very happy to have Anna-Maija Lindholm and Kaarin agree to meet me. I was especially touched as Anna-Maija and her husband Pekka (who has now been to so many I-House events and stayed there many times that he really is an honorary resident) delayed their trip to Spain to escape the Finnish winter so they could meet me.
Kaarin and Anna-Maija’s have both been long term I-House supporters and members of the World Council of Alumni but had never met before. Both had lots of memories of creating new international friends and developing new interests. For Anna-Maija, it was the many contemporary dance performances, that she attended with a fellow resident who was studying dance notation.
Kaarin Taipale, Pekka Lindholm, Anna-Maija Lindholm and with coffee and cakesFinnish Laskiaispulla – which comes in two versions with Jam or Almond paste and according to all Finns in my party the Almond one is the best so that is what I chose
The Ekberg waitress was very helpful and offered to bring dishes for the candles to sit on and provided very smart Ekberg matches in a good old fashioned box.
Anna-Maja bought the Finnish candle, handmade, white heart shaped, lovely!
My library quest in Helsinki continued to be interesting as Oodi the Helsinki Central Library only opened in December and it is an amazing space. The whole 2nd floor is devoted to meeting and working space along with the provision of other resources such as sewing machines, 3D printers, poster plotters or computer gaming rooms, which the locals can use.
The new Oslo Central Library or Oodi – amazing space to just hang out in
There was a more limited selection of digitised newspapers and they only run up to 1950 so sadly no opportunity to look for Harry’s 1966 trip, but the librarian did find an article from 1928 about the New York House referring to the Cosmopolitan Club which was the club Harry and Cleveland Dodge started in 1910 after Harry met the Chinese student.
Helsingin Sanomat Viikkoliite 30th December 1928
Story Snippets…
Saint Lucia Day at I-House – Anna-Maija Lindholm – In December Finns and other Scandinavian countries celebrate St Lucia Day. Whilst at the House Anna-Maija and the other Scandinavians decided to put on a St Lucia celebration. A suitably blond lady of the group was chosen as St Lucia and dressed accordingly with the headdress of real candles and her court of ladies were dressed in white sheets to escort her to the gathering. They started singing, accompanied by Anders Paulsson (see my Swedish Post), at the top of the grand staircase and with the enclosed acoustic sounded wonderful. They had also made Glögi, which is the Finnish version of mulled wine, which not only includes wine but often Vodka or other spirits to give it a greater kick. It seems that this batch had definitely been given the extra kick as Anna-Maija recalls those not aware of its potential strength, getting drunk very quickly! Anna-Maija was also the donor of the Finnish flag to the House as there was not one before she arrived.
The Wrong Bus – Kaarin Taipale – Kaarin recalled being out in the winter coming back to the House from down town and realising too late that she had managed to get onto an Express bus that went sailing past the House and into the areas that were a definite no go in those days. Kaarin recalls being in a very distraught and tearful state and not knowing where she was when suddenly a police car appeared as if by magic and she was rescued!
Semla are a special bun eaten in Sweden and also other Nordic countries (although each is a little different) originally just on Shrove Tuesday before Lent started, but was expanded to every Tuesday during Lent at some point in its history. They have nothing to do with Harry and his trip but as I am here and they are available, in the spirit of international food experiences, obviously I had to try one. It is a cardamon flavoured bun filled with almond paste and topped with whipped cream. According to Jussi Karlgren, who I met for breakfast (note the bun was eaten later as it is a bit much even for me at breakfast time!) the really authentic ones have a triangle shaped bun cap dusted with icing sugar perched on top of the mountain of cream. So this is a good one.
As I have pretty much no information about Harry’s time in the Nordic countries I thought I would see if he had had any press coverage as he seemed to in many of my previous stops, so I headed to the National Library of Sweden.
The Swedish National Library in Stockholm
It is a while since I have been to a big library, so once I had navigated the system to leave your belongings in lockers and take your essentials in a plastic bag into the area where the books and media are, I headed down to the Newspaper Archive section. A very charming lady helped me get set up and search the digitised archive of Swedish language newspapers. Sadly the search did not come up with anything from Harry’s 1966 trip but it did come up with lots of other references to International House, Harry and also Rockefeller’s involvement. It looks like they did a good job of PR at the opening of the House in 1924 with quite a bit of coverage and further coverage in the late 20s and 30s.
Article from SVENSKA DAGBLADET 7th October 1928 – four years after the NYC House opened
It looks like Harry probably visited Stockholm whilst he was in Europe around 1935/36 and again in 1953. One thing about Harry was that he never gave up and I think he lived his life in optimism that in every country he would find the people who would facilitate the opening of a new House. In Sweden it looks as though his efforts focused around a club for International Students being run by the business school now the Stockholm School of Economics.
Article from DAGENS NYHETER 14th October 1953
It seems that a lady called Ingeborg Axén was involved in the plan and that money was not the issue but land was. Much of Stockholm was re-built during the 50s and 60s to a master plan and getting access to land to build things that were not on the plan was a challenge. As there are no more references to this potential House that I could find, I can only imagine that it never happened.
Stockholm School of Economics
There may also have been a plan in 1960 to have an International House funded by the Rotary in Goteborg, there is no reference to Harry being involved so it may have been completely separate, although it is interesting that it was Rotary funding that helped build I-House Sydney.
Article about Goteborg plan SVENSKA DAGBLADET 12th October 1960
Looking for articles about Harry’s 1966 tour I also came across articles documenting the visit of the two Swedish Princesses, Desiree and Birgitta, to Chicago in November 1960 which tells of them having lunch at the I-House.
Article about Pricesses Desiree and Birgitta visiting I-House Chicago on a visit in 1960 – SVENSKA DAGBLADET 13th November 1960
Those of you following my trip will know that Stockholm has been one of my more challenging places to find people to meet, so no big gathering was possible here, but I was able to connect over email with a number of alumni and meet with two of them separately.
Jussi Karlgren had two stints at I-House NYC one when he was a bachelor, 89/90, and a later one, 95/96, when his wife and two very small sons came with him and lived in one of the flats. He is actually 1/2 Finnish and told me how with another Fin they had the Finnish stall at All Nations. They managed to get sponsorship from an importer of cheese, who provided them with a mountain of Finnish cheese (yes apparently it is a thing) and they found some black bread and did a roaring trade in cheese sandwiches.
His other recollection was of parties thrown by a young trustee of I-House at his very cool Central Park West apartment. Every month the trustee would put up a sign up list on the Claremont side notice board and when the numbered slots were full the list came down and those on the list were invited to the party. It was Beer and Pizza and also some additional lady guests from Barnard college! Somehow Jussi managed to get on the list a number of times….
Not the best picture of me with Jussi Karlgren – we had to resort to a selfie as unlike in Asia there were no photographic ready waiting staff or other volunteers to take it for us
My second rendez vous was with I-House NYC alum Anders Paulsson, who is a wonderful saxophonist and also passionate advocate for the preservation of coral reefs. He has managed to combine coral reef preservation, music and science in projects in Hawaii, Philippines, Stockholm, Costa Rica and Zanzibar and this year he will travel to Liberia to work with musicians there too http://www.coralguardians.org
The strangest thing meet Anders was that we quickly found out that both of us had volunteered in the 1990s for the same UK NGO, Coral Cay Conservation, which had taken us both to dive for extended periods in Belize and also the Philippines off Negros on Danjugan Island. We obviously had not done it at exactly the same time and Anders’ experience has inspired him to found the Coral Guardians project and also to compose related music. My diving was curtailed by the arrival of my children but meeting Anders has reminded me of how important this part of my life once was so one I must revisit.
Anders Paulsson with me passing the light on in Wayne’s coffee at the Concert Hall
Anders was a Fulbright Scholar and went to NYC to further his music studies on the soprano saxophone through the study of Jazz at the Manhattan School of Music. Arriving in 1985 at the House, he was presented a booklet on how to be streetwise in New York City, the contents of which were somewhat alarming. So much so it was about a week before Anders ventured out of the House. Being a lover of nature, Anders had a room over looking the park, unlike Jussi, who said that he had one of the cheapest rooms in the House but did have a distant river view courtesy of the guy in the room across from him who never drew the curtains!
One of Anders’ precious memories is of tutoring a young man in English spelling as part of the Harlem Tuition Program and of taking his tutee and mum onto the roof of I-House to show them the view. His other vivid recollection was of being stopped in the hall by a fellow Swede and being told the news that the Prime Minster of Sweden, Olof Palme, had been assassinated whilst walking home from the cinema with his wife. (Feb 28th 1986).
Anders had the privilege of playing for Nelson Mandela and also to compose a CELEBRATION SUITE for South Africa Celebrating 20 years of Democracy. http://anderspaulsson.se/site/tag/south-africa/ He said to me that in South Africa they had taught him that we are all one race – human, just with different ethnic origins, so the concept of racism is therefore absurd. Harry would have liked that thought.
Postcard Postscript…
As some of you know I have been trying to send my children postcards from every destination which has almost been harder than finding alumni to meet with! Two Postcard related things from this stop, first once I had finally found a post office which was in itself a challenge, Sweden turns out to be my most expensive postcard sending yet. 21Kr for each stamp which is approximately $2. The young lady at the counter said it is because they upped the stamp cost to handle things up to 50gms?!? It is a very pretty stamp though, in fact I was offered the choice two either the Tulip or the Queen.
21Kr about $2 for a postcard stamp! It is a pretty stamp but still…
The other news is that the handprinted card of an elephant bought in Mumbai and posted in Beirut at AUB (see post about postcards) did actually arrive in the UK! It took 19 days but it got there.
Where we ate – Vete-Katte, a wonderful old pastry and coffee shop, has two distinct halves to it and in fact two counters. The front is shiny and new and the back is quaint and cosy – definitely go to the back http://vetekatten.se/en/
The picture for this blog is the back of Quentin Dumont’s phone on which is a well worn I-House sticker, which I thought summed up the continual presence of time spent at I-House even if people are not totally aware of it.
Hello Our restaurant for our Paris meet up, Flam’s was a great choice as we got to work our way through unlimited Flam’s (french version of pizza done on very thin pastry) which we shared trying all the flavours on the menu. It also turned out to have an I-House connection as the daughter of the owner of the chain of restaurants is a current I-House resident. We did not know this when a helpful alumna found it but it seemed to confirm it as the place for us to meet when Quentin shared this with us.
It has been some 10 years since there was last a gathering of I-House alumni in Paris. Towards the end of our evening Virgine Pez Perard found the photos of that dinner and there was amusement from Isabelle and Claire Lauper as they looked at their younger selves.
Paris I-House dinner in 1998.
At the dinner we had I-House NYC represented from Quentin who left only last year to the Salomon sisters, Pat and Carole, who were there some 30 years ago.
Pat Salomon, Olivia Le Horovitz, me, Virginie Pez Perard, Makiko Shigemitsu, Quentin Dumont, Pierre Gottraux, Claire Lauper and Carole Salmon (just out of the picture)
We also had Pierre Gottraux who was flying the flag for ISH London and he had carefully bought along his GOAT (what ISH London alumni are called) reunion 50 years of ISH celebration bag to show us.
Pierre shows off his ISH London GOAT reunion bag from 2015
Isabelle was the donor of the Paris candle and being a gold star shaped one it was a great match for the silver one from my Roman friends. She had chosen the star shape to represent the stars and stripes of the USA.
Exchanging candles with Isabelle, with Piere Gottraux in the background
Story Snippets….
Admission by TELEX – Pat Salomon – The parents of Pat and Carole Salomon were not willing to let one of them go to study in NYC alone, so Pat and Carole went together. They started and finished living at I-House NYC together, however their road to living a the House was a bit last minute. The time for them to go to New York was rapidly approaching and still they had no accommodation sorted. With only a week or so until their departure to the US, there was no time to write and there being no internet or fax the only option was to use TELEX. Luckily their father’s secretary was willing to help and sent a TELEX to the head of their future program at Columbia. He said he would see what he could do but would need more information, which was duly dispatched bit by bit over the wire. Finally practically as they were leaving Paris for NYC they got the confirmation that they would be accepted to live at I-House. When Pat arrived in New York she decide that they should thank the helpful gentleman from Columbia and so took a bottle of Champagne to him. Arriving to give it to him she asked why he had bothered to help her and her sister, to which he replied that he had seen they were French and as he had been in the US Army in WWII and had been the first allied soldier to arrive to liberate Nancy he felt a strong bond with the French.
A series of fortunate mistakes – Isabelle – Isabelle came to New York with a desire to learn and find work. Her paperwork made that difficult but despite that she gave French lessons to kids and worked in a variety of jobs whilst sub letting a flat. Whilst politely declining a nannying job from 5am until late in the evening each day to the mum who had offered it to her, she was connected to the father of the same family who it turned out would be willing to have her as an unpaid intern for a number of months. At around the same time a friend who knew of Isabelle’s challenges with her immigration status told her about the Green Card Lottery and encouraged her to apply. One of the places to do so was on Riverside Drive, however Isabelle did not quite get the address right and ended up going into I-House by mistake. Noticing the keys all hung up she wondered if this was an accommodation option (as her flat had come to an end and she was in need of somewhere to live). The resident manning the desk was not French but was learning French and was keen to practice so they fell into conversation. She explained that Isabelle could live there if she was a post graduate student or an intern, and so everything fell into place and Isabelle spent 18 happy months as a resident. One of the things that she took up whilst at the House was Ballroom dancing, which gave her continued pleasure for the next 20 or so years.
Giving and receiving – Clair Lauper – Arriving home after the dinner Clair sent me these three photos with the following explanation “coming to my door and fetching my keys to unlock it I smiled… the key ring is a gift I received from PS 306 (a school in the Bronx) in 1996 when I visited them with a group of I-House students to tell the kids about the countries we were coming from. A very poor neighborhood and really emotional memories from this visit… still have the drawings of the kids!”
It seems that Harry unlike parents was quite willing to declare a favourite, and it was France that won his favourite country vote. In some ways it is not surprising as it seems like the country after the US where Harry spent most time. In fact he lived in Paris from September 1935 to August 1936 whilst he helped realise the Maison International project.
Part of the draw was Monsieur Auguste Desclos, who was a key player in the starting of the Maison in Paris, and became a very close life long friend of Harry’s. Desclos had grown up in England and spoke perfect English and French and it seems was an engaging soul. He first met Harry in 1927 when he was in charge of all the universities and schools in France came to the US and visited International House in New York.
Harry aged 78 and Monsieur Desclos aged 84 c1961 by the statue of Monsieur HonnoratMe by the same statue
The Cite Universitaire had been started after WWI by Andre Honnorat with the first ‘maison’ being funded by Emile Deutsch de la Meurthe. This was followed by individual ‘houses’ funded either by wealthy donors or countries including Argentina and Canada. Today the Cite houses around 12,000 post graduate and research students each year and is expanding to add a further 1800 beds through a number of new Houses. Similarly to the International House idea, the underlying philosophy is all about living and working together to create greater understanding. From the start the ‘country’ houses had to mix up students with other ‘countries’ houses so there was some diversity in each house and a huge diversity across the whole site. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cité_Internationale_Universitaire_de_Paris
The back of Maison International looking out over the large lawn – the Maison was modelled after the Chateau at Fontainebleau
When Desclos visited I-House NYC in 1927 they were looking at how to have a communal building and thought that modelling it along the lines of International House would be beneficial. They were also in need of a donor to fund it so the close relationship between Harry and J.D. Rockefeller would have been a consideration. In fact our tour guide had found the letter in the Rockefeller archives where Mr Desclos asks Harry to approach J.D. to fund the Maison.
The grand entrance hall
The House was finally opened in 1936, this was nearly decade after Rockefeller had originally agreed to fund it. There were a number of false starts and although Rockefeller did not want to get involved in the project, in the end he decided that he would have to and assigned a whole team to its completion, which then happened within two years. The land was given for the site, Rockefeller funded the building of the Maison and then handed it over to the Cite Universitaire Foundation to run it.
In the hallway
The Maison International was to be the central communal building amongst the individual ‘country’ residences and to provide the canteen, sports, arts, practical and library facilities.
The canteen could feed over 5000 students a day and was one of the first self service restaurants in Paris so considered very modern. The pool too included technology from the US so was one of the best in Paris when it opened.
Today the Maison is open to the public as well as students. There is a thriving Theatre, lovely cafe and sports facilities. The Biblioteque (Library) is free for students and open to other paying customers. We were lucky enough to meet Marie-Dominique Loustalot who has been Directrice du Biblioteque for some 30 years. She explained that the library is focused on the study of the French language and literature and they have every type of resource you could imagine along with also having recently acquired, thanks to a large capital donation, an extensive collection of French literature from the former French colonies in Africa and Middle-East.
The Biblioteque (library) Avenue RockefellerThe Maison Etas Uni (US House) on the Cite
We were given an excellent tour by Eglantine Pasquier, who is doing her PHD on the philanthropic work of J.D. Rockefeller in France (which includes restoration at Versaille and other key sites as well as funding Maison International). I was joined by Francois Rey who had lived at I-House NYC whilst doing his MBA at Columbia in the 90s and Pierre Gottreaux who has a long association with International Student House London.
If you live in Paris or visit Paris, it is well worth visiting the Cite, the history is fascinating and the park is open to the public all year round. The 40 + residences all have different architecture and many are by now famous architects such as Corbusier.
Pierre (ISH London) and Jany Gottreaux, me, my daughter Millie and Francois Rey (NYC IH)
Harry was also great friends with Jeane Thomas who started as assistant to Monsieur Honnerat when he was overloaded with work and was so capable expanded her role over the years. So when he came to Paris, as he seemed to do frequently, he stayed with either Desclos or Mme. Thomas. The Maison International was always a slight source of frustration to Harry as it was never quite as he had hoped. In his view they never maximised the possibility of interaction between nations and did not have the extensive cultural program of the I-Houses in the US.
Visiting the site I am not sure I agree with him, I think it is a wonderful place offering many opportunities to build international friendship and understanding, it is just being done in its own way.
Beirut was one of the stops I was most looking forward to when I set off, not only because I had never been to Lebanon, but also because it was not so long ago that sadly the war prevented all tourism here and still when you tell people you are coming they ask if it is really safe.
It, along with the other middle eastern countries were also important in the International House story as from the beginning of the Houses they have had Arabic, Jewish, Sunni, Shia and Christian residents from the region all living side by side. This has often involved heated debates but at the end of the day they have shown each other respect and sought to understand and developed tolerance and friendship within the I-House context.
For someone who has been lucky to live in relative peace in the UK, seeing the bombed out and bullet hole ridden properties around the city was disconcerting and sad. My taxi driver told me about how he and his wife escaped to Saudi during the war, but when they had children they could not afford the schools in Saudi and his wife and 3 children returned to Lebanon in the midst of the War, I could not imagine the daily worry for him and his wife through that period. Thankfully they all survived and he now had 5 grandchildren.
It is nearly 30 years since the fighting stopped and restoration and regeneration are also everywhere. There is a focus on design and elegance, art and food and the long and fascinating history of the country. More than this the people are charming, we were welcomed and helped by everyone we met.
Sandy Edmonds, Harry’s granddaughter
This stop was also special as Sandy Edmonds, Harry’s granddaughter, joined me from her home in Vermont. Sandy is my father’s first cousin, but family politics meant that they only met a very few times. She is the most wonderful woman, a true lover of art and people, having been an art teacher for many years in US Public Schools. So, it was a delight to explore Beirut together.
Main gate AUB
I do not have any information about what Harry’s actually did on this stop, but with his close connection to the Dodge family I imagined that he would have visited AUB (American University Beirut) as Bayard Dodge, was president from 1923-48 and Dr. David Stuart Dodge held various positions from 1961-97. http://www.aub.edu.lb/President/Pages/history.aspx
Ada Dodge Hall named after Dr. D. Stuart Dodge’s deceased daughter
Harry may perhaps have met with Samuel B Kirkwood the president at the time. Originally, we were going to have the honour of meeting Mr. Khouri, the current AUB president, but he was called away on business so we did a campus tour instead.
AUB tour by Ali, in the pouring rain, they gave us some very smart AUB umbrellas!
Our guide Ali, a current AUB student in Finance was utterly charming and showed us around the beautiful campus.
The re-built main College Hall at AUB
The University kept going as far as possible through the war and he showed us the tunnel that allowed the medical students to get to the hospital from the campus to go on duty without going up onto the street. Parts of the campus were destroyed including the main hall, but have been re-constructed and they even have a very funky building by Zaha Hadid http://www.zaha-hadid.com.
Zaha Hadid building at AUB
There is an cedar grove in the middle of the campus that were planted by the founder Dr Bliss and are still standing. I imagined Harry standing by the President’s House which has the most wonderful view out to sea, or perhaps he even got to go in!
View from the President’s House at AUB
After our tour we met up with Chicago I-House Alum Rajab Ghazzaoui, who is currently working at the AUB business school. Over coffee he was able to explain more about the complex politics of Lebanon and the region and also the challenges of daily life in Beirut. These include electricity being rationed to 3 hours a day for most householders, unless they have a generator, the traffic and lack of public transport. The newly formed government is a welcome sign, but the continued corruption that is endemic makes it hard to keep hope of real change, good jobs and growth. The war forced many to experience living overseas either, mostly in Europe or Saudi Arabia so they have a broader perspective that you might find in other countries.
Coffee with Rajab Ghazzaoui
My event at this stop was to be hosted by Dirk Kunze, I-House NYC alum and his team at FNST Lebanon & Syria in their very funky office space Garage 664. FNST is a German not for profit focused on liberal principles and political education. They operate in around 60 countries and focus on promoting freedom and dignity in all areas of society and hold events that encourage international dialogue, rights for minorities and democratic control.
Dirk Kunze being interviewed by the media at my event
This event was to be very different to all the others on my trip as it was open to the wider public as part of FNST’s Alphabet Series of events. We were letter ‘H’, fitting for Harry! The title of our event was ‘Humanity in the times of populism, the value of international networks’. So we could weave together my event and what FNST do in their work.
Raya Haffer El Hassan, Minister for the Interior Lebanon
On my quest to find attendees at the Beirut event I had contacted an alumna of International Student House DC, which is part of the World Wide International Houses group, Raya Haffar El Haasan. Raya had been Finance Minister of Lebanon and I though it would be wonderful if she could come. To my delight she said she would.
The panel for the discussions including 2nd from right Omar Chatah (IH NYC)
Last weekend Dirk emailed me to say that in the formation of the new and long awaited government Raya had been made the first woman Minister of the Interior. He thought that this would probably mean that she would not be able to attend. However, this proved not to be the case. Raya amidst the whirlwind of her appointment, made time to come because she wanted to tell the audience how important her time at ISH DC had been in shaping her understanding of the other and how she applies this to her work. She was totally delightful as we chatted before the event began and she and Dirk helped light the candles at the end.
We had 50 people attend the event, I would love to say I was the draw but Raya in her new role, was that, but I got to share Harry’s idea, the I-House story and also welcome the other alumni in the audience, Omar Chatah and Naoki Takyo from I-House NYC and Rajab Ghazzaoui from I-House Chicago. It was so lovely to have Sandy Edmonds there too to hear both from Raya but also others about how impactful their time at the House had been on their outlook and lives.
Alumni, Raya El Haasan (ISH DC), Dirk Kunze (IH NYC), Rajab Raab Ghazzaoui (IH Chicago), Naoki Tokyo (IH NYC)
I will definitely be coming back to Lebanon, I want to see all the other things it has to offer outside of Beirut and truly hope that with continued dialogue and perseverance, the Lebanese people will feel they are living in a thriving and stable country. If you haven’t been do put it on your list.
Story Snippets….
Surrogate Mothers of I-House Chicago – Rajab Ghazzaoui – Having been used to living at home whilst studying for his undergrad, when Rajab was accepted to UChicago for his Masters the thought of finding an apartment and all that entailed was daunting. So he phoned the accommodation office and they gave him the options including the I-House. He called them back to ask ‘one flat fee and everything is included?’, ‘Yes’ they said. He was instantly sold. Arriving at the house he decided to take one of the student jobs and ended up working in the office of the Director Denise Jordan and her team. They instantly took a shine to him and he ended up with not one but three surrogate mothers, who helped him navigate his time in the House. From explaining how the washing machines worked to ensuring he was eating properly or up to date with his admin, they were there to support him. He says that he really grew up whilst he was there.
Challenging stereotypes at Fall Fiesta– Naoki Takyo – Every year at I-House NYC they hold the Fall Fiesta, where the residents showcase culture and food from their countries. Naoki, said that he had recently found the VHS tape of his Fall Fiesta at the House (I am impressed he still had something to play it on!) and that re-watching it he was reminded how he wanted to break the stereotype that all Japanese are very serious and have no sense of humour. He and his fellow Japanese residents were dressed in Kimono and it seems that Takyo raised more than one laugh from the audience, achieving his goal. When I asked him and his wife about how he had done this it seems that “what happens at Fall Fiesta stays at Fall Fiesta”, but I think it involved some dance moves and showing more leg than you might normally under a Kimono!
Appreciation of the ‘other’– Raya Haffar El Hassan – Excerpt from her speech at the event – “For us residents, ISH (International Student House DC) was a home away from home. It provided a safe shelter from the harsh realities we, as international students, had to confront in trying to adapt to new surroundings and environment. During my stay I was fortunate to have built strong and lasting friendships with many of my co-residents. Friendships, I am happy to say that I still have to this day. These are the kinds of bonds that survive the passage of time. My friends were from all over the world – Nigeria, Colombia, Peru, Morocco, Eritrea, US, Denmark, just to name just a few. What a wonderful place ISH was and I am sure it still is. The bonds I was able to form lessened the feeling of homesickness and were essential for my mental and emotional development and wellbeing. I cannot begin to explain how important and life changing living at ISH was for me. The House offers a crash course in the importance of cultural diversity and appreciation of the ‘other’. It makes one re-examine engrained political and religious views and allows for the better acceptance of one another. So when I received Alice’s invitation to attend this event I did not hesitate for a minute, it instantaneously unlocked all the cherished memories I had from my time at ISH and made me jump at the opportunity to re-live them again and to meet other residents in Lebanon who might have shared similar experiences…. I believe this prepares us to become international citizens better equipped for careers in the Global market and provided us residents with a much larger perspective on life.”
Post office PS – for those that are following the Postcard saga (see Postcard blog post) – Lebanon proved the most challenging to date. Every request for stamps was met with a blank look. Whilst I was at AUB, our guide Ali said and there is the Post Office on Campus. So I popped in full of hope that they would have stamps. Well I may as well have asked for transport to the moon as I showed the man behind the counter the postcards. He asked a colleague and they decided eventually that the franking machine could provide the postage and I handed over $3. He promptly put my postcards in his drawer. I protested and he took them out and put them on his counter nodding that he would do the franking and put them in the post. I had to leave then, so I did not see that done, and I very much doubt they will ever arrive in the UK! Leaving Lebanon, I spotted a post box in near my departure gate at the airport. The only one I had seen in my time there. I made enquiries at the newsstand nearby about stamps pointing at the box and once again a look of incredulity from the cashier. After a lengthy explanation about what a stamp was, he went ‘ahh stamp, NO only outside at Lebanon Post!’
Way back in the mists of planning this trip, I contacted the Executive Director of I-House Chicago, Denise Jorgens. She is truly an embodiment of everything my great grandfather would have wanted for someone running one of the Houses. She immediately embraced my project and when she saw that one of my stops was Delhi, offered for the University of Chicago Centre there to host a tea as my event. https://www.uchicago.in/about-us/
Aditi Mody, who runs the Centre, is an I-House Chicago alumna and so here and her team were equally enthusiastic.
So, it was that I was warmly welcomed to the U-Chicago Centre. Being India where attendance is sometimes problematic, even when people have said they would come, Aditi and I were quite prepared for it to be just the two of us having a lovely cup of tea. However, we had the most delightful crowd of alumni and friends of I-Houses join us as well as Bill Mitchel Associate Provost and Exec Director of UC Arts, who was visiting India for the first time.
I had been particularly excited about meeting two of the I-House NYC alumni, Mr Narendra Jain, who had emailed me that he had met Harry in 1966 when he came to Delhi on his world trip and also Professor P.B. Mangla who had also met Harry when he was at the I-House in the early 1960s.
Mr. Narendra Jain
Mr Jain, arrived looking about 20 years younger than his 91 years, clutching a plastic folder of carefully preserved papers that he had saved since Harry came 53 years ago! It turned out that Harry’s visit to Delhi was his first ever to India. It was used to inaugurate the Delhi alumni chapter of the I-House and Mr Jain, had the list of names and addresses of the 60 people who became members at that time. He also had press clippings and the letter outlining Harry’s arrival and the dinner that Harry was to attend to inaugurate the chapter, of which Mr Jain was going to be treasurer. Finally, he shared a hand written Christmas letter from Harry which had been sent to alumni which he wanted me to keep. I was quite simply overwhelmed and touched by this wonderful man and the fact that he had so carefully preserved these memories over all these years.
There used to be a passport to the world of alumni you could visitHarry’s Christmas letter to Friends around the World in 1977
I have been staying at the YMCA Tourist Hostel which is perhaps not what one would call luxurious, there is a bed and hot water and a simple breakfast. However, it must have been fate to choose there as it turns out from the letters that Mr Jain shared that that is where Harry’s dinner was held in 1966, with the US ambassador Chester Bowles and his wife attending. The dinner cost 15 rupees per couple! (Harry had worked for the YMCA in his early career so that may have had some link too.)
Prof. P.B. Mangla, had come to study at the Library and Information Technology school at Columbia on a scholarship in the early 1960s which set him off on a career that saw him live in 8 countries and travel to over 50. He has long been associated with University of Delhi and held many positions including Dean of the Faculty of Arts. His time at I-House helped him navigate the cultures of the countries he worked in and visited and as he recounted often found him meeting I-House alumni in far flung locations.
Vikram Mathur (ISH), Prof. P.B. Mangla (IH NYC)
It was very lovely to have a mix of I-House NYC and Chicago alumni which allowed them to share stories and similarities and differences between the Houses. We were also joined by Vickram Mathur who lived at ISH London and is now one of their Trustees. The ISH alumni are very active still in Delhi (and elsewhere), at a recent event they had around 60 attendees.
After I had shared some of mine and Harry’s story, we went around the room so everyone could introduce themselves and share some of their I-House stories. I always love this bit as with a range of ages and careers it is so fascinating. Once again the emotional connection to the Houses as a homes away from home, even many years after leaving was washing around us as well as the images and stories from lifelong friendships made over food, whilst dancing, playing ping pong or surviving snow storms in Chicago.
Lots of candles at this stop, we had Mr Jain and Prof Mangla light them Arant Nath – Editor of the Caravan giving me his book
I left the U-Chicago event with a huge smile on my face, so glad to have met such wonderful alumni and so touched that Harry meant so much to those who met him.
My next stop was a Speakers Dinner for the One Globe Forum https://www.oneglobeforum.comwhich was being hosted by Harjiv Singh an NYC alum. He and his German Sakura Sweetheart wife, Julia, met at I-House in the 1980s. Julia had taken me out to lunch the previous day and had shared their love story, which has partly informed her first novel ‘Leap of Faith’. https://www.amazon.com/Leap-Faith-Julia-Regul-Singh/dp/8129124807?fbclid=IwAR1lRftV0nlwfyqdWvrJjACaK5iGwmhwx_R-Bjp7TEZo5w3rGWQZ70h6uGg Julia was 24 and coming to do her Masters in Urban Planning at Columbia. Arriving at I-House the first person she met after being greeted by Romeo on reception was Harjiv. She went up in the elevator to her floor and as the doors open there was Harjiv and his roommate in their room opposite ‘checking out’ everyone arriving on the floor. Despite Julia’s view that she was too young to get into a serious relationship and consider marriage, romance blossomed and they now have 3 children and are happily navingating a wonderfully complex cross cultural life in Delhi. Because Julia was not always to be found in her room at I-House, it seems that it was used to accommodate a variety of visitors, many of whom I met during the evening, which gave others the opportunity to experience the House even if not official residents!
Harjiv and Julia Singh
I must also mention the lovely dinner that Anil Chauhan and his wife took me for the night I arrived in Delhi. Anil, also a NYC alum, was off to Bangalore on business so could not attend the other events. Anil promotes India Biotech and was wonderful at bringing me up to date with India politics and economics. Anju teaches home economics and so was a brilliant guide to try all the things on the buffet that I would not normally have done. I went back to my hotel feeling very full.
Anil and Anju Chauhan
In the press article Mr Jain shared, Harry is quoted as saying “This is is my first visit to India. I have been round the world three times by ship but never touched an Indian Port. I now regret not having been here before and not being able to stay long enough now. I’m too old to cover the whole country, but perhaps in a year or two I will make a special trip to India.” Sadly, I don’t think he ever did but he was certainly warmly welcomed on his visit.
Story Snippets…
Chai and Samosas– Shahana Basu – Chicago I-House has culture hours and one of the ones in Ishaan’s time that was most popular was the ones hosted by the Indian residents which featured Chai and Samosas. She also recalled how when the I-House Chicago was under threat of closure the alumni rallied round and reversed the decision through a concerted campaign of letter writing about the importance of the I-House to the student life at the University.
International Students’ House Delhi– Tista Bagchi – Tista shared the work of Anjani Kumar Sinha Ph.D (1935-2018) who set up International Students’ House at Delhi University and modelled a lot of activities on the I-House in Chicago where he was a resident in the late 1960s. Mr. Sinha died in 2018 after a career which saw him promote the I-House ideals of tolerance, understanding and international friendship.
House Hunting – Sonal Shah – When Sonal arrived in NYC to study she was all set to find a flat to live in for her time there. She had looked around and had found a potential flat mate. However she then heard about I-House from friends. Encouraged to apply she was excited when she got a place, but slightly worried that the potential flatmate would be annoyed, however apparently she was very understanding and so Sonal was able to go off and enjoy her time at the House without feeling bad.
A Bengali Welcome – Aditi Mody – When Aditi arrived at I-House Chicago on her first day to her surprise she was welcomed by the then President of the I-House, Professor Ralph Nicholas, in perfect Bengali. Aditi had grown up in the State of West Bengal speaking Bengali so Prof. Nicholas made her feel immediately like I-House would be home for the next few years. Prof. Nicholas area of expertise was in South Asian societies and cultures with an emphasis on Bengal. Aditi did say that her Bengali heritage may have been why she often enjoyed meals with the Professor and his wife during her time at the house, creating warm wonderful memories. https://anthropology.uchicago.edu/people/emeritus-faculty/ralph-w-nicholas
Bangkok has been one of my tricker stops to find alumni, so when I made contact with Jyoti Sarinthorn an alumni from I-House Sydney, I was very excited. I prepared her for a dinner a deux, however in the end we mustered 4 alumni for dinner.
As my ‘Thai Trip Inspiration’ blog post describes, Bangkok was a significant stop for Harry. As I do not have edition No. 2 of the iHouse World Newsletters for the stops beyond Hong Kong, apart from staying with Vidura for two weeks I do not know much about Harry’s time here. There was no I-House to visit but I am assuming there were Thai alumni to meet.
Bangkok was a first in that I had my first ISH alumni, Charles (originally from the USA) join an event. Charles studied for his undergrad in NYC so had also visited I-House NYC to listen to illustrious speakers meaning he understood the set up there. Book and Jomphong from I-House NYC completed the party.
Jomphong & Jyoti
Charles
Book
Whilst eating the delicious Thai food, the facilities, activities and layout of the different Houses was compared. It seems that ISH and I-House both have the all important Pub, whilst I-House Sydney residents, having none resort to taking over the Pub across the road!
I passed on Nelson Fung’s Hong Kong candle with its delicious sent to Book, who gave me a very interesting candle to take on to Delhi. It is a candle from his friends wedding. They are a couple who met doing Cheer-Leading and married in 2015 – which in Thai years is 58.
The candle has some Buddhist thoughts for both husbands and wives – a top 5 for each which go something along the lines of…. (for those who speak Thai you will be better off reading what it says!)
For the Women 1) Be a good organiser of the household, 2) Be supportive of your husband, 3) Don’t cheat i.e. have an affair, 4) Keep the property and money you have safe, 5) Work hard
For the Man 1) Give complements and support, 2) No sarcasm, 3) No affairs, 4) Give respect, 5) Give jewellery!
Thank you to my Thai Gentleman and Lady for continuing the hospitality of Thailand that was shown to Harry on his trip.
Story Snippets…
Thai Boxing – Book Mongkol Jarujanya – I was asking questions about the different Thai sports and Jomphong was trying to persuade me that I should go to a Thai Boxing lesson at the Gym before I leave, when Book shares with us that whilst at I-House NYC he learnt Thai boxing from a Mexican! Not something he had done before in Thailand and it helped him feel confident walking the streets of NYC late at night.
Turning a London Experience Around – Charles – When Charles arrived in London for his Post Grad study, he was assigned accommodation by the Institution he was studying at. However when he arrived and went to see it it was grim, dirty, miles from anywhere, no other student near by and generally miserable. Charles went back to the accommodation office and said that he could not live there and they said they would pay him to live there (which shows how bad it must have been). Charles was depressed as his time in London was not working out as he had visioned it. Shortly after he came across International Student House by Regents Park. It was evening but he went in and got chatting to the residents and decided this was the place for him. Approaching the admissions team, he was told that there were no places so he would not be able to escape the dreaded student housing he was in. He stood firm and insisted that he really did need to move and they then said that if he was willing to share in a double or triple he could come. Charles goal was to meet people so this was ideal! He had a very happy time at ISH and learnt how to drink like an Englishman at the Pub amongst many other cultural lessons.
When Harry got to Hong Kong, it was Lunar or Chinese New Year and it was year of the Horse. I have arrived just before the New Year and this year it is year of the Pig. So every shop, housing complex or school is decked in red decorations and pigs in all shapes and sizes abound. Whilst I would love to be here to experience the New Year’s celebrations, the mass movement of literally millions of people across the region or Chunyun, had made me think carefully and plan to avoid the main rush. I don’t imagine that in 1966 when Harry was travelling that the transport links allowed for the millions of journeys taken today at this time of year.
A welcome gift from Joanna Lee to everyone attending
My event in Hong Kong was organised and hosted by Frank Wong, a NYC alumni and long time supporter and organiser of gatherings here. Suitably for 2019 and the Hong Kong shopping obsession, the venue was a restaurant in one of the high end shopping malls, Pacific Place.
Frank Wong signing my scarf that I have been collecting signatures on (when I remember to!)
From the moment I met Frank at the venue to the moment I left, the event was high energy and high volume. About 20 people attended a mix of I-House NYC, Berkeley and Larry Kwok representing I-House Sydney. As ever there was a range of ages, locals and expats. We had lawyers, architects, film festival organisers, publishers, entrepreneurs, bankers….
Not quite all of us as some had to shoot off and some arrived after…. Nelson Fung on the left proudly sporting his IH Berkeley Tee, with K.Y. with his IH NYC Tee (also in main image if you want to see what they actually look like!)
We continued the candle relay with me giving Nelson the Manila candle that Leah had bought and he gave me the Hong Kong Candle to take onto Bangkok. It is my first scented candle with the scent of white Micheila and smells wonderful. It was produced by a company in Hong Kong of beeswax and has a wooden wick. On its label it depicts Pottinger Street (stone slab street) which has always been a place where small traders sold their wares including candles. Nelson had certainly put a lot of thought into his choice.
Pottinger Street today decorating for Luna New Year
For those following the lonely Chinese student thread, I received new information, from Joanna Lee, that there is a Boxer Indemnity Scholarship recipients relatives association in Zhuhai in southern China. So that will be a line of investigation to follow up.
Hong Kong has been fun as I have also been able to catch up with family, my first cousin lives here, as well as family friends who kindly had me to stay and friends from my MBA at London Business School. The weather has been perfect, as in sunny and not too hot and I have the most had delicious food, particularly my lunch with Larry Kwok at the Mandarin Oriental.
Next stop Bangkok, which is promising a small but perfectly formed gathering.
Story Snippets…
Thirty years later – Arlene Barilec and Joanna Lee – When at I-House New York in the 1980s, Arlene and Joanna attended a Sunday Supper. The speaker was an eminent I-House alumna in her 70s or 80s and one of the things that she spoke about was how her friends made at I-House were still her closest and dearest friends. John Wells was then the Communications Manager of the House and Arlene and Joanna, remember saying to John that they couldn’t imagine that would be the case for them, in fact they could not even imagine staying in contact for a year, but now 30 years on they absolutely agree with the speaker that night.
Welcome to your new country – Joanna Lee – Joanna was telling me how if the I-House NYC alumni based in Hong Kong know a new I-House alumni is coming to live there they will arrange a welcoming committee for them. They will create a welcome pack and ensure that the new arrival, knows where things are like supermarkets, doctors etc.. and how to get around and who to call if they have a crisis. This is really passing the light on as Harry would have wanted and it is similar to what the Intercollegiate Cosmopolitan Club offered newly arrived international students in NYC from 1910 when it was set up after his meeting with the lonely Chinese student. They would help them get established in NYC and make sure that they knew someone cared even though they were feeling far from home.
Best and worst experiences in the dining commons – Nelson Fung – It seems that when Nelson was at I-House Berkeley the food quite up to the high standard now lovingly prepared by the executive chef Todd Koenigsberg for current residents. Whilst Nelson perhaps did not delight in the food offered, he did enjoy the wonderful company and it was definitely dining together that he enjoyed. He described, the joy of striking up conversations with people studying topics he had never even thought about or from countries he had never visited. Definitely where he made some of his life long friends.
When Doris Ramirez from the Phillippines applied for a place on the Human Rights Advocacy Program (HRAP) at Columbia University in 2014 she was not thinking about starting a family. However by the time she was awarded the place and a scholarship that helped fund it she was pregnant so she was faced with a difficult decision about what to do. She decided to join the program as it was an opportunity of a lifetime and was due to finished one month before her due date.
All 10 of the students on the HRAP program get admission to live at I-House so that is where Doris found herself living when she arrived in New York. All was going well until her waters broke unexpectedly when she was 5 months pregnant. She was rushed to hospital and spent the next few weeks there as doctors tried to give her baby a better chance of survival by delaying its birth.
Far from home, it was her I-House friends and the Filipino nurses at the Hospital who befriended her and kept her spirits up. Her I-House friends bought her food to the Hospital to try and keep her eating well as the American Hospital food was not tempting her.
On the 31st of October 2014, Maria Angelina Fatima was born weighing just over 3lbs. Amazingly just two days later Doris was back at Columbia determined to complete her program. Fatima was in the Hospital for another month in the special care baby unit before she was allowed out. So Doris juggled her studies with spending time at the Hospital with her baby.
By this point it was December and Fatima was at last discharged from Hospital but was not allowed to fly home to the Philippines for at least another month. The I-House team allowed Doris and Fatima to take up residence in a slightly larger room at I-House. Being a new mum is never easy and it was particularly hard for Doris trying to complete her program and care for Fatima. It was a snowy winter and often as the snow fell so did her tears of exhaustion as she looked out of her I-House window. Whilst it was tough there were also great acts of kindness and care by both I-House residents and also the Filipino nurses who had met her at the Hospital. The nurses seemed to be able to miracle up baby formula and other supplies when they were needed.
Fatima’s father was able to come and visit for long enough so that he could look after Fatima and Doris could complete her program, so he too became an I-House resident.
Just before they left to go home to the Philippines, Fatima was baptised and the party afterwards was held at I-House and there were special invitations to all the wonderful I-Housers who had lived on Doris’ floor and supported her so well. There were also plenty of others who came to see Fatima as a baby at I-House is not a usual occurrence and particularly one with such a story to tell. The HRAP program that year had 10 participants from all around the globe. Doris and Henry made them all godparents to Fatima.
Fatima’s birth certificate states 500 Riverside Drive as her address, I am not sure if anyone else has I-House as their birth address, I would love to hear if there is.
Doris told me hers and Fatima’s story over dinner in Gerry’s Restaurant in Quezon City where she and Henry live. Doris is a Lawyer specialising in Human Rights and never one to make her life easy is trying to work out how to get her Masters in Migration Studies.
She told me that they call Fatima their miracle baby as had she been born so prematurely in the Philippines it would have been very unlikely that she would have survived as the neonatal care is just not as good, a sobering thought for all of us who are parents. Their dream is to take Fatima to visit all of her 10 HRAP Godparents in their home countries which will be quite a trip.
My children are now 18 and 17 and I certainly still remember the first few weeks after my eldest was born as being utterly exhausting and confusing as I got to grips with being a mother. I can’t imagine trying to complete a university program at the same time! Spending the evening with Doris, Fatima and Henry was such an unexpected delight and Doris’ resilience was inspiring.
We have plans to meet at the NYC I-House 100 year celebration and Doris is going to bring a special candle with her as her family owns a candle making business. That really will be passing the light on….
Bonifacio Global City has sprung up in the 20 odd years since I last visited Manila. Sitting in the 9th floor apartment of a friend from my MBA, I can see out over a park which seems to have trapeze and circus skills being taught at all hours of the day, I can see fancy restaurants, an art centre and shiny offices, not necessarily the image that some would have of Manila.
In the Early Bird Breakfast Club restaurant, I was joined for brunch by three alumni from three houses. Leah Jordano from NYC, Neil Tan Gana from Berkeley and Virginia Teodosio from Sydney.
Professor Virginia Teodosio who is still passionate about her work on cooperatives and sustainable farming
We were reflecting on Harry’s arrival in Manila as reported in the iHouse World Newsletter Vol 2. no 1. He was met by 28 alumni at the airport and amongst his visits was ‘courtesy call on President Marcos’! I am told by my new Filipino friends that President Marcos was very early in his tenure and at that point things were looking positive as to his outlook and leadership of the Philippines so it would have been a great honour for Harry indeed.
He had a packed schedule with visits to the President of the University of the Philippines, the Rice Research Institute, a dinner at the Commercial Bank & Trust Co. Building and a farewell party!
We were also reflecting on the challenges of gathering a group of I-House alumni in Manila today considering that the Filipinos have been a strong presence in the resident group right from the start of I-House NYC in 1924. Filipinos students started to arrived as pensionados (or sponsored students) in universities like Colombia and NYU in 1903. Between 1910 and 1948 14,000 Filipino students came to study in the US, with many choosing the West Coast universities, and so some would no doubt have lived at I-House Berkeley.
In Chicago the 1940 census recorded 1,740 Filipinos living there and the majority are cited as having come to study “to acquire the American Diploma they believed would boost their place on the Islands’ ladder of success.” So all three original I-Houses have strong Filipino connections.
We continued my candle relay handing over the Taiwan candle in a Taiwan Beer Glass that Grace Hong gave me in Taipei, to Leah who had bought my Manila candle. It seems that Manila Wax Commercial have the monopoly on candles in Manila and Leah had chosen one of their Yellow ones (they come in White, Red or Yellow). I was also able to give Virginia and Neil one each of the tea light candles that Tudor had bought to the Taipei event.
Leah had also kindly bought me some very tasty dried mango…
I then had a very lovely and unexpected afternoon of sightseeing with Neil, who took me to the newly refurbished Natural History Museum and to see the sights of Rizal Park, which on a Sunday afternoon was packed with families enjoying their afternoon. Our trip led us to discuss the joy of spontaneity which Neil said is a big feature of the I-House experience, where by joining up with people and saying yes to doing things it opens up new understanding and builds international friendships. Just as Harry had imagined it would.
Sources: Unintentional Immigrants: Chicago’s Filipino Foreign Students Become Settlers, 1900-1941, Barbara M. Posadas and Roland L. Guyotte, Journal of American Ethnic History Vol 9, No. 2 pp. 26-48
The Filipino Diaspora in the United States July 2014
Where we ate – Vete-Katte, a wonderful old pastry and coffee shop, has two distinct halves to it and in fact two counters. The front is shiny and new and the back is quaint and cosy – definitely go to the back 
100,000 Grains of Sand 