Instead of going to class today we took a tour of the UN headquarters in Vienna. We had to go through security, which you would think would be very heavy, but the security at the airport is much worse. Once we got inside the grounds, we were warned by our tour guide that we were no longer in Austria, but on international land, so Austria’s laws no longer applied. He also told us that if we wandered away from the group then we would be arrested. So, this tour was very serious. Anyway, when we first walked on the grounds we saw a large fountain surrounded by the flags of all 194 countries that are part of the United Nations. We also had a good view of all the curved UN buildings. We were told that the buildings were made in this curved design so that every employee could have an office with a window. Apparently, sunlight makes workers more productive and happy. While standing around the fountain our tour guide told us about the UN’s mission, and how this Vienna UN headquarters is one of four UN duty stations around the world. The other UN headquarters are located in New York, Geneva, and Nairobi. After walking around outside, our tour guide took us into one of the buildings and showed us a model of the entire complex. He described some of the things that the UN workers did there, and he then showed us some of the various Nobel Peace Prizes that the UN has won over the years. We were supposed to go up to the large conference room next, but it was occupied so we went in a smaller one instead. I noticed that interior of the building looked a little like our 1970’s bus from the other day because it was decorated in brown and orange also. These buildings were actually built in the 70’s, so that explains the ugly color scheme. Anyway, the conference room was cool, because all the chairs were facing each other to make for an easy dialogue and each person’s station was equipped with a listening device that allowed for each person to hear a translation of what everyone was saying into one of the five main UN languages. These languages are English, Russian, Chinese, French, and Arabic.
After our tour, we went to listen to a lecture on the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). The employee who gave us the lecture focused his presentation more on the types of nuclear technologies that don’t have anything to do with weaponry, so that we could understand that Nuclear Energy is not just used in weaponry. The IAEA was first set up in 1957 as “Atoms for Peace,” which was created to promote safe and peaceful nuclear technologies. The 3 main pillars that underpin the IAEA’s mission are safety and security, science and technology, and safeguards and verification. In the lecture we learned that the number of declared nuclear weapon states is 5 (USA, Russia, UK, France, and China), but there are other countries that have it such as India and possibly Iran and North Korea.
We didn’t actually get a chance to ask many questions on the tour or during the lecture, but some of the questions that I had were: How closely does the IAEA work with other programs at the UN?; What is the UN and the IAEA doing about the nuclear weapons manufacture in Iran?; How closely do the 4 duty stations of the UN work together? None of my questions were really answered because we didn’t have time to ask them, but the lecturer on the IAEA talked briefly about nuclear weapons and Iran.
After visiting the UN, I went to the Naturhistorisches Museum with Stephanie and Jennifer. It wasn’t required that we go there, but I just wanted to see it. It looked basically the same as the Kunsthistorisches museum on the inside and outside because the two museums were built to mirror one another. Anyway, there were many cool things to look at here, such as the 25 thousand year old Venus statue, the dinosaur skeletons, and lots of nice jewelry and crystals. I didn’t spend loads of time her though, because it was ridiculously hot.
The German word of the day is Fussball, which means “soccer”.
After our tour, we went to listen to a lecture on the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). The employee who gave us the lecture focused his presentation more on the types of nuclear technologies that don’t have anything to do with weaponry, so that we could understand that Nuclear Energy is not just used in weaponry. The IAEA was first set up in 1957 as “Atoms for Peace,” which was created to promote safe and peaceful nuclear technologies. The 3 main pillars that underpin the IAEA’s mission are safety and security, science and technology, and safeguards and verification. In the lecture we learned that the number of declared nuclear weapon states is 5 (USA, Russia, UK, France, and China), but there are other countries that have it such as India and possibly Iran and North Korea.
We didn’t actually get a chance to ask many questions on the tour or during the lecture, but some of the questions that I had were: How closely does the IAEA work with other programs at the UN?; What is the UN and the IAEA doing about the nuclear weapons manufacture in Iran?; How closely do the 4 duty stations of the UN work together? None of my questions were really answered because we didn’t have time to ask them, but the lecturer on the IAEA talked briefly about nuclear weapons and Iran.
After visiting the UN, I went to the Naturhistorisches Museum with Stephanie and Jennifer. It wasn’t required that we go there, but I just wanted to see it. It looked basically the same as the Kunsthistorisches museum on the inside and outside because the two museums were built to mirror one another. Anyway, there were many cool things to look at here, such as the 25 thousand year old Venus statue, the dinosaur skeletons, and lots of nice jewelry and crystals. I didn’t spend loads of time her though, because it was ridiculously hot.
The German word of the day is Fussball, which means “soccer”.
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