German-French germane friends

In 1945, right after World War II, some German and French citizens founded the 'society for supranational cooperation' (GUEZ) to promote reconciliation and mutual understanding between the two people. GUEZ has as one of its main goals the organisation of bilingual holiday trips for teenagers of both nationalities. For this purpose, GUEZ operates several hostels in the two countries where the groups gather during Easter or summer holidays.

GUEZ is co-chaired two presidents, one German and one French. Franz Schoser has been the German president of GUEZ for more than three decades. As he grew up in post-war Germany in the part occupied by French troops, the reconciliation between the two people has been his personal cause ever since. 

Franz Schoser (2nd from right) at the signature of the Guidel lease contract

Franz has therefore been particularly proud to announce the further extension of GUEZ's activities. GUEZ will take over the management of another site in France to host youth trips. The organisation will lease for 20 year a hostel in Guidel in Brittany at the Atlantic Coast. The hostel offers 20 rooms for up to 80 guests. A person who appeared particularly pleased with the arrangement is GUEZ's French president whose family origins go back to a neighbouring village. 

Flower Power

When the corona pandemic hit in early 2020, the unthinkable happened: Numerous governments ordered a general lockdown of retail businesses. In Germany, as of 23 March, restaurants, bars and non-essential shops had to close for several weeks. Especially businesses dealing with perishable goods were severely affected. Notably, the flower industry faced serious difficulties as flower shops had to close at the beginning of the spring season and millions of flowers had to be distroyed. It was not until several weeks later that the industry discovered that there was also a positive side to the crisis. With people spending more time at home, they started caring more about their gardens and balconies. As the garden magazin for professionals TASPO noted in July, flower sales picked up again and flower storages emptied at a breathtaking pace. In an interview with TASPO, Michael Schoser reported from his experience as head of the flower wholesale market in Frankfurt.

"The flower season simply started later this year."

As typical plant for balconies, geraniums were most popular. Due to their rather easy handling they appeal particulary to newcomers who may not have cared so much about their window view before being confined to work from home. Finally, Michael notes that the pandemic may have a lasting positive effect on the flower wholesale business. Retail customers have appreciated the value of the local sourcing of flowers and have turned increasingly to the regional wholesale markets.

Rocket Science

The Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands is the oldest and largest technical university of the Netherlands. It is particularly well-known for its Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, one of the few faculties in Europe to specialise entirely on aeronautical and astronautical engineering, in other words the construction of aircraft and spacecraft. The university tries to teach and motivate students by offering them possibilities to participate in practical research projects. An example are solar-powered vehicles that have regularly won prices at the World Solar Challenge in Australia. 

Phoenix prototype

In Aerospace Engineering, students are currently working on Project Phoenix, the world's first liquid hydrogen fuel cell aircraft. The idea is to develop the first emission-free aircraft. 

Jakob Schoser is second year student in aerospace engineering at TU Delft and part of the so-called 'dream team' of 40 students currently working on the prototype of this aircraft. He is in the electronics & control sub-team responsible for IT. The prototype is supposed to cover a range of 500 km and to fly for up to seven hours. The maiden flight is scheduled to take place still this year  to demonstrate that sustainable air transport is possible! 

Vlog lesson

Due to the Corona lockdown and the temporary closure of schools, teachers have become more creative to use modern teaching methods. Why not ask students to think of a topic they could cover in a video? Why not do so in a language lesson? 

This vlog (video blog) was made by Emil Schoser for his Dutch course. He chose to bake a marble cake and explains the various steps. The result is not only informative but also tasty. Eet smakelijk!

Help in the time of Corona

It is the spring of the year 2020 and the Corona pandemic is sweeping across the globe. What started in a faraway city in China has spread at breakneck speed to every part of the world. The first European country hit by the pandemic was Italy. As it was the first, there was almost no time to prepare. The Italian people and health system came under great distress before they really realised what was happening...

Joachim holding the donation cheque

Joachim Schoser has very close business links with Italy. His very business is the import of food products from Italy, especially from Northern Italy were the pandemic struck hardest. In view of great strain on the population, he therefore decided to take action and to organise a donation for Ospedali Santa Croce in the Italian region of Piemont. The customers of Joachim's shop Via del Gusto donated in total €10,000 to the three hospitals in Monacalieri, Maggiore di Chieri and San Lorenzo di Carmagnola that form the Ospitali Santa Croce group. 

"We know our suppliers personally. Often, they are small family businesses with only two or three employees", explains Joachim. "It became very quickly obvious that the hospitals would not be able to manage the situation and needed support. By helping the hospitals, the action would benefit all inhabitants of the region. We are very, very proud of our customers who together have donated such a large amount", concludes Joachim.