Cameron’s Chateau Duffy Experience

So, What was been happening.

A lot, is the short answer.

In this post, I am going to write about my time at Chateau Duffy.

One of the highlights, PUPPIES!

One of the highlights, PUPPIES!

Any time you are offered the opportunity to go to France, say yes, at least that’s what I do, not that the opportunity does come along that often. My journey to Chateau Duffy was a long one. I took the bus overnight to Paris and then a train to Limoges, both were surprisingly nice. I especially enjoyed getting to watch the sun rise on the ferry crossing.

Admittedly, by the time I got to the gite even my young college age body was exhausted (hey, I had been awake for almost 36 hours). But, only a fool would not take the opportunity to run around and play some Frisbee and football (proper football, not this ridiculous American thing where your feet don’t do anything). The week frankly, was an opportunity for me to run around and enjoy physical labor.

As humans, we for some reason, benefit by being active. Obviously, there are health benefits, but I think our souls are refreshed by a good days labor. Having a week of mixing concrete, assembling scaffolding, and all the other things I got to do was a wonderful reset.

I even got to see a 2CV!

I even got to see a 2CV!

Greenbelt – 2014

This last weekend, I went to a festival called Greenbelt. It was awesome.

That’s all.

Greenbelt Pano


Okay, I do have some more about it.

First, let me start with the weather. It was a peculiar mix of cold, warm, and wet. Frankly it was mostly cold and wet. Being that it is England in the summer, inevitably, it rained. The first couple days were nice and dry, but then it got cloudy, then cloudy turned to misty, then misty just never went away. Literally, it just never stopped misting. I don’t want to sound like I am just whinging about this, because I really enjoyed the rain, right up until I fell in the mud, coating my side in very clingy mud. From then on, I simply survived the cold.

The location was truly amazing. I hadn’t been to a home like this since I was a small child. Now, as a point of reference, this estate had 100 acres of landscaped lawn (pause and let that sink in), and then there is all the non-landscaped land. And most of all to this Californian, the grass was this strange color that I have heard of, but never witnessed, it was green, fields of green grass!

Greenbelt House

Now to the festival itself. I really enjoyed the mix of people. Greenbelt does a good job of bringing together people from different views or sects, but in general the common theme is that people are not interested in why they are different to each other, but instead focus on what unites them. I really enjoyed getting to see the community and conversations which were brought about.

The talks also covered an astonishing range of topics. I got to hear talks about steps for university students to talk to influence their universities, the Israel-Palastine conflict, and stain glass in old churches. Many of the talks took on a somewhat lecture-like structure (given if my professors were this throughout provoking, my grades would likely be better) and many others were panels often filled with people of differing opinions.

Since many of the people involved, and especially the vendors, seemed to be what in America would be classed as reformed-hippies the things you would buy were stellar. I loved the creativity that some of the vendors used to avoid using plastic bags (sewing their own cheap cloth bags or making them out of newspaper).

Most of all what stuck with me was the last point. Greenbelt brings together a group of people that dream, and then take the steps necessary to move towards that. The results aren’t perfect, but the focus on improving is palpable.

Beginnings of the London experience


It has been an amazing whirlwind so far. I am living in Bethnal Green, an amazing part of London. The area reminds me very much of San Francisco as it is an interesting mix of houses, row houses, and tower blocks. I am walking distance from multiple tube stations and literally a 30 second walk from the nearest bus stop. The area itself is in the middle of a transition to being extremely desirable, as a result many buildings are being renovated. As a result of the change, many of the new buildings are right next to graffitied commercial kitchen consignment shops (I have seen two in my area, not sure how that business is so good). I personally really enjoy this mix of polished and gritty environments.

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(Some of the rather stunning graffiti)

I have really appreciated that even though London is so built up, they have preserved green space very purposefully. There are at least 6 parks or grassy spaces that are within a short jog of my house, which is always wonderful to go and enjoy. I have been enjoying being outside very much, even convincing a number of Brits to play Frisbee with me.

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(The church in front of my house and the beautiful greenery around it)

It hasn’t been all games though. I have been generating marketing material for a number of different projects that Matryoshka Haus is responsible for.

One of my projects is for a course that Shannon teaches for a school in London, which is now being packaged up as a separate workshop. The course covers what successful social justice projects look like and how to get from the initial concept (where people often get stuck) to a finalized plan with actual mechanics for success.

My next marketing project is for the Transformational Index, a tool that was developed because of the realization that many organizations don’t actually know what it is they are attempting to achieve, much less how to measure it. The workshop takes both for-profits and non-profits and connects them with what they really value and then pushes them to create metrics by which they are able to tell if they are actually moving towards their goals.

Lastly, I am also working on the marketing material for two other games that, as far as I know, I am not allowed to share publicly about yet. However, as soon as I am, I will let you know.

I am also taking control (mwhahaha) of the social media of Matryoshka Haus. If everything explodes, you will know why. Hopefully though, I will gain real experience in developing an organization’s social media presence.

I have really enjoyed getting to be a part of the community of Matryoshka Haus. Every Thursday is a community meal, which I as an intern get to prepare (all part of my mission to learn every strategy on how to be a good husband). I have really loved this event because I get to meet many of the extremely different people who make up MH. The conversations that rise up have been rather enthralling. The meal is a truly unique experience since it is a recurring event. Even though the attendees change, the goal stays constant and the community grows deeper and wider as a result.