Ping Pong Leuven

[Elenor Waas]

PeterLievens, vice rector of KU Leuven University in Belgium, accompanied by the university's international affairs officer Kristien Stessens and Roel Leus, chair of its Advisory Committee for China Region, paid a visit to China recently, sending out a warm invitation to its alumni to return to the university in 2025 for a celebration of its 600th anniversary.

In Shanghai, they had exchanges with representatives from the KU Leuven Shanghai Alumni Chapter, the Benelux Branch of Shanghai Overseas Returned Scholars Association and United Business Institute of Brussels.

More than 4,400 Chinese students have obtained degrees from the university and 1,609 are currently studying in it. China is also the only country where the university has two alumni chapters: one in Beijing and the other in Shanghai.

The delegation also visited Tsinghua University, Peking University, Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Nanjing University to explore opportunities for cooperation in education and research areas.

Earlier, Carol L. Folt, president of the University of Southern California in the United States, made her inaugural visit to China with her colleagues. This was part of USC's commitment to fostering collaboration and educational exchange between China and the US.

According to Folt, the university is collaborating with esteemed Chinese institutions such as Tsinghua University, Peking University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and ShanghaiTech University on various projects related to data science, journalism and communication, health care, cinematic arts, and the creative industry.

"China boasts excellent universities and talented, hardworking students," she said. "We welcome Chinese students to pursue their studies at USC. We have full confidence in the educational collaboration between China and the United States."

Stephen Mull, former US acting undersecretary of state for political affairs and now vice provost for global affairs of the University of Virginia, said China is the university's No. 1 partner, during his visit to Shanghai earlier this year.

"In the spirit of Ping-Pong Diplomacy, I want to send the UVA ping pong team to China," he said. "I hope we'll be able to bring part of the team here in January for both a series of matches in ping pong, but also to learn about China."

"While politicians and diplomats sort out how to do that cooperation, we can start very quickly on something that's easy for both of us and that's in education, because the key to reducing tensions is to understand each other. So I'm optimistic that we will succeed as long as we work hard on the things that we both agree on in education."

Christian Guellerin, executive director of the French school, said Nantes Atlantique has been in China for 12 years, with a China Studio in Shanghai to bring about 30 French students to China every year to study a two-year master program, permitting them "to discover the world, to discover China, and to discover Shanghai."

Under the program, the international students not only have classes, but also take up internships at design agencies and participate in real design programs. These include painting a metro station and making designs for hospitals for the elderly.

"It's very important for my school to be here in terms of international recognition because when you are in France, you are not sure to be recognized by the biggest design agency in the world," he said.

"When I came in Shanghai for the first time 15 years ago, I had the same feeling that the first time I was in New York City when I was 20 years old. The mood is fantastic. It vibes everywhere and you have a lot of marvelous things here. My responsibility now is to send my students here."

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There is a communal kitchen, living room and garden and there are also 2 bathrooms to share. There is also a washing machine and dryer. You can park in front of the door and put your bike.

There is also a ping-pong table for the summer, a record player to play pictures and a large TV to watch movies together.

We are Rosa, Nel and Robbe and are all working or at the end of a study.

Nel: 25 years old and completed a music management course in 2020, after which she started a second study (law) as a working student.

Rosa: 23 years old and studied occupational therapy and she is currently working in Bierbeek.

Robbe: 24 years old and currently works as a geography teacher with a view to a master's in history next academic year.

We like to eat together every now and then and we do enjoy a pleasant evening hanging out together on the couch or in the garden. Although we think it is equally important that you can also do your own thing.

We are looking for a roommate between the ages of 22 and 28 who already (partly) works or is at the end of his studies. We are looking for a social, open-minded boy or girl who likes to have a nice chat, watch a movie or play a board game.

Domicile is mandatory and a fire insurance contribution of 150 euros is requested once a year.

Around the corner you will find a bus stop with buses to Leuven and Brussels. Several lines pass by, so there is certainly a good connection to Leuven.

You can also easily be 10 minutes by bike in the center of Leuven and 15 minutes at Leuven station.

For the first time, scientists from the Royal Observatory of Belgium and the Royal Meteorological Institute compare the data of a meteorological radar with those of a gravimeter, which measures changes in gravity. In a joint study published in the journal Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, they showed that a superconducting gravimeter detects precipitation as a giant rain gauge over a 400 m radius. This instrument is a new source of in-situ observations to validate precipitation observations from weather radars and meteorological satellites.

Levitating in a magnetic field for more than 23 years, a metallic sphere as large as a ping-pong ball detects the slightest variations in gravity at a depth of 48 m, under the High Fens plateau. 85 km away, in the province of Luxembourg, a 7-meter diameter sphere standing at the top of a 46-meter tower houses a parabolic antenna that constantly sweeps the horizon and has been observing rainfall within a 250-km radius for over 17 years. These two instruments, the superconducting gravimeter of the Royal Observatory of Belgium and the Wideumont radar of the Royal Meteorological Institute, are the basis of a surprising study carried out jointly by the two institutes.

The radar remotely detects precipitation by emitting electromagnetic waves. Echoes from drops, hail or snowflakes are used to estimate the intensity of precipitation. The Wideumont radar, combined with the other radars covering Belgium, provides an overview of precipitation every 5 minutes.

The following radar animation shows a stormy episode that hit Belgium on July 24, 2017. The black cross indicates the position of the Membach gravimeter. Between 13:00 and 14:00, the radar observed very intense precipitation above the underground gravimeter.

The figure below shows the evolution of gravity measured by the gravimeter and the intensity of precipitation estimated by the radar during the day. As the storm passes, the gravity decreases rapidly. Why? Simply because precipitation accumulates at the surface and increases the mass above the underground gravimeter, exerting a counter-gravity. Variations in gravity literally make it possible to weigh the accumulated mass of water and therefore the amount of precipitation. The figure evidences a nice agreement between the cumulative precipitation over the day (22 mm of water in total), estimated by the gravimeter and the radar. These results show that rain and hail are not without gravity!

Data from both instruments were analyzed over the period 2003-2017 and more than 500 episodes of intense precipitation were identified. The results show that the gravimeter is valuable for estimating the amount of precipitation accumulated over a large area. Indeed, like a gigantic rain gauge, it captures precipitation within a 400 m radius. Directly sensitive to the mass of precipitation, the gravimeter also has the advantage of detecting rain, hail or snow. This instrument is, therefore, an interesting new source for in situ observations to validate precipitation observations from remote sensing instruments such as radars and meteorological satellites. Precipitation measurement is essential for monitoring and refining weather forecasts and for studying the impact of climate change on the hydrological cycle.

For the first eight years, he worked on the project mostly by himself, envisioning big plans for the property including community gatherings, festivals, parties, educational opportunities, kayak rentals, tours, and more. Two years ago he met his partner Cindy, who arrived with her camper van to rent space on the property, fell in love, and never left! In November 2021 Hendrik started accepting Workaway volunteers, and now he hosts as many as a dozen at once. When I arrived, there were ten Workawayers living in the castle, from many different countries. There was even one Italian guy who is almost a clone of my cousin Tyler!

The brewery is enormous; Nele and I received a tour when we arrived, and the building went on and on! There is SO MUCH to be done at the brewery, and Hendrik has his sights set on using the entire space, and renovating it all simultaneously. As you can see in the photos, there is a ton of potential for this project, but it requires a lot more work. I truly hope it is successful.

Everyone works until 2 PM, with a break around 12 PM. Hendrik is lenient about hours; I spent a long weekend away (hence the gap in dates at the top of this post), so I squished hours into other days. Typically everyone spends the second half of each day doing their own thing; some hang out inside, some borrow bikes to explore, those with cars drive somewhere, some walk the 1 km to the French border, etc. We gather in the evening for dinner, wash dishes, and are free to do whatever we want the rest of the night. Mostly everyone hangs out by the fire, but sometimes ping pong and pool games are organized in the brewery, and a sauna is available. There is one shower and one laundry machine, so everyone works around each other to wash their clothes and themselves.

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