tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-272630532024-03-12T20:17:03.210-07:00Xpat RoamingGeri Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00885866051833567744noreply@blogger.comBlogger90125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27263053.post-74646911978641149952020-01-20T03:52:00.001-08:002020-01-20T03:52:17.804-08:00A Shaggy Dog Story--And a Cautionary Tale!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I moved to Nürnberg for the summer. I rented a newly-remodeled apartment in the Old Town, the historic district, in March so I would be sure of an interesting, good, place to live. <i>However....</i>that is not what happened.<br />
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<b>TIMELINE</b><br />
<b>May 29th </b><br />
On my way to the place Patrick sent me a text telling me that the apartment had been water damaged but that I could go to a bigger, nicer place, closer to the center of town, and sent me the address. I texted back OK and sent the new address to the movers. <br />
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It was not "nicer." It was one extra floor up, old, dirty, did not have the promised wash machine, and had no parking. Also, he did not meet me there as he had promised. I opened the key box and was very disappointed--even the hallways were filthy! When the movers came, two women, the 4th floor was almost too much! (Patrick had offered to come and help unload--he didn't.) <br />
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<b>May 30th</b><br />
The next day I tried to figure out parking and realized I needed a resident's permit or face being fined/towed--another thing that was different. When I returned from the office, a young lady was standing outside the building looking at the key box. <br />
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It turns out that she manages the apartments for Patrick's FATHER. Patrick, the person who listed the apartment online, OWNS NOTHING! He uses the pictures of the newly-remodeled flat on Air BnB to scam people, putting bogus availability dates! Furthermore, the flat where I was was booked all summer long with various groups. The young lady let me know that Patrick is a trouble maker and this isn't the first time he'd done something like that! She promised to go to her boss, Herr Lederer, and ask him what to do. <br />
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<b>May 31-June 1</b><br />
Meanwhile, I'd arrived a week before my work started to prepare so I continued to unpack and prepare to teach my university classes. She returned a couple of days later with the "perfect" solution. I was to move to another place, not far from the city center. I asked to see it. <br />
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Another dirty apartment building! Too far away from the city center to walk, the whole point of my first rental. It seems Herr Lederer is a slum lord. The "laundry room" in the basement was filthy with broken machines. It was clear that the apartment, full of spiders, was being kitted out with bed, new linens, apartment-sized refrig., TV, and furniture from IKEA. I told the young woman I would go there temporarily but I couldn't stay there! She was at her wit's end. I also said that Herr Lederer needed to move me there.<br />
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<b>June 2-9th</b><br />
Meanwhile, I found a hotel where I could live for my first week of classes, with parking, breakfast, in Old Town. I took what I needed and left. 900+€ later, I moved out and spent the weekend away, visiting my former landlords and celebrating Karl's 80th birthday.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Karl</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Table for 11, 5 full tables in all!</td></tr>
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I had found a serviced apartment (BRERA) just outside the Old city walls but had to pay 1550€ and find my own parking, as it turned out, 700 m. away in a city lot. Herr Lederer sent his people and moved me in on June 12th. He said he was on holiday and promised to repay me yesterday, the day he would be back. I have twice requested his email so I could send him a PayPal invoice but he has ignored that. Now that the agency is involved--and very concerned, contacting me several times/day, I expect things to happen very quickly!<br />
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<b>Climate change?</b><br />
Germans are highly energy conscious. Also, they, like the Canadians have always said, "Why do we need air conditioning? It's only hot here a few days a year!" That is no longer true. My apartment is not air-conditioned and sits on the sun side of the street, getting hotter and hotter. The managers have brought in a new fan and installed sun-blocking shades. It already feels better in here.<br />
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<b>Much, Much later--and much has happened!</b><br />
It is now 2020, just, and I plan to post some pictures and write a much-needed update to this! Apologies to my readers.<br />
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Gerihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810895925900308438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27263053.post-6826414758199413942017-03-26T16:37:00.001-07:002017-03-26T16:37:49.059-07:00Two Countries Later--It's about time!<b><u>Okinawa</u></b><br />
I returned to Okinawa, to the apartment I had so enjoyed before and, by a strange fluke, based on the strangeness of UMUC scheduling, was able to stay put for over a year! Of course, the fact is that the longer a popular professor is in place, the more students will sign up for her classes. It doesn't seem to make much difference to the administration, however. The craziness of moving one English/Writing prof out so you can move another one in, doesn't make any sense to us faculty--financially or professionally--but, in hiring, they sell "the experience." It was really comfortable for me to return to Okinawa and saved on my emotional and physical stress too. My Japanese, however, did not improve one whit. The likelihood of being transferred to Europe destoryed my motivation, I must say!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lilli and Karl discuss an old flyer</td></tr>
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<b><u>Germany</u></b><br />
Finally, in August, I was able to relocate in the European division and began teaching in Germany that month. There is much less administrative support in Europe. I'm not sure why. Faculty have formed a closed FB group where they ask each other questions and about all sorts of things--purchasing cars, finding apartments all over Europe, administrative puzzles, and so on. However, I found the lovely apartment I have lived in since September. It is spacious, costs less than 1000€ with the Internet and all utilities included. But, that's not the best thing! Let me introduce you to Lili and Karl, my Vermietere (Landlords). Lili now calls me her "Schwester" (sister). She says she's never had a sister and now she does. They live "oben," above me in a big old farm compound with a courtyard that is already being re-beautified for spring. I am frequently invited up for coffee or even lunches, their big meal of the day. They have made a huge difference in my German since neither of them speaks English. But I also very comfortable here and they have gone out of their way to do many things they know I might like--such as clearing out the picnic area so I can park my car there in the winter. Lili does the cleaning which, she says is her "duty" but I rather think she doesn't trust anyone to clean like she does and, from what I can see, she is right. We live on the main street of a little town near Ramstein and my front door is barely 3 feet from traffic. She cleans the steps, the windows, and the door because the exhaust discoloration makes her crazy!<br />
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This month, when I left for a week to visit my mum in Nebraska, Lili said she was sad and lonely. It was too quiet. Generally, when she needs to tell me something, she knocks and immediately says, "Ich komme" as she walks in. That might make some people nuts but I live alone and it's usually fine.<br />
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The house is a large, old farmhouse with a courtyard, a huge vegetable garden, a large cellar, a very old stone grain mill, and other out buildings. Unfortunately, Karl was just taken to the hospital tonight and Lilli and I discussed the fact that at 80, he should probably slow down, get someplace smaller. I've never seen Lilli so close to tears. I feel sad for them if it comes to that. They love this place, all the flowers, fruits, berries, vines, vegetables. As you can see, the courtyard is beautiful.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My "granny" car, a good, solid Mercedes,<br />
capable of handling the rigors of the Autobahn.</td></tr>
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<b><u>Idiosyncrasies?</u></b></div>
I am sure some of my friends have questions about my speed on the Autobahn. There are not that many places, where I drive, that the speed is unlimited. When it is, I do about 100 mph, 160 kph in daylight and 140 kph in the dark. There can be absolutely no inattention at that top speed, of course. Approaching slower traffic from behind comes much more quickly. No wonder car inspections here are such a big deal. Older cars like mine must be tested every year to meet German road standards. Good brakes are essential, as are good eyes. My assessment of road safety in Germany is that it is safer than it is probably anywhere else. The safeguards are numerous. The warnings in and around work zones are longer and the space allotted the workers, greater. Speed cameras, not police cars are usually the methods speeders are caught, tickets arriving in the mail. Most can spot the cameras right away but I've never seen even one! It seems to me that of the hour and a quarter it takes me to get to Wiesbaden every working day, only 30 minutes, at the very most, is unregulated for one reason or another and when it is, the speeds are quite a bit slower than in the US.<br />
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I returned after hmmm...let's say, several? years (more than 30) to my study of German when I came. I really enjoyed it and managed to quickly remember much I'd lost. After 2 semesters however, I had to take a break. Prepositions and the grammatical rules around them caused a pause. I plan to pick up where I left off in the summer, while I'm in Nürnberg when I'm teaching only 3 days a week. Today, Lilli invited me up for coffee and cake with their long-time friends. I was able to hold my own and realized, I'd learned more than I'd thought, a real accomplishment.<br />
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For people who've followed this blog awhile, you will know that I have discussed ideas of service here before. German ideas in this area are similar. I teach business writing sometimes where we talk about "tone" in writing. There are certainly no worries about this in the German culture. Like it, lump it, or forget it! When I first moved in, I had terrible problems with the wireless connection downstairs. My German does not include a bunch of technical words and I was so sure that it was the company's fault if only I could communicate with them what the problems were! However, there is a sweet neighbor who has fairly good English. Even she was swearing before it was over. In the meantime, I was driving to the air base to sit for hours in the cafe lounge where the Internet is stable and reliable, one of the few places I know. The situation between my neighbor and Vodafone became so rancorous that the company just cut off our service entirely (not that I noticed, of course)! It was a month + of calls to the company that produced nothing until finally, they scheduled a technician to come with the dire warning that we would Pay, Pay, Pay if it was <i>not</i> their issue. Imagine their huge surprise when they discovered that they'd given us a router, one they'd purchased from another company, that was not configured for their company! Hmmph!<br />
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There are wonderful things too, of course. I went to <i>three</i> Weinachstmarkts, yes three! And drank Gluhwein at each one. There is a medieval one in a castle in Lichtenberg that was a great deal of fun, one in a little town next to ours, and our teeny-tiny cute one a few blocks away. Each one was jam-packed, filled with crafts, food, and music. In Weilerbach, the choral group sang American pop from the 60s-70s, which was a bit of an anomaly.<br />
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Yesterday Lilli asked me to go with her to tend the flowers on her mother's grave. The small cemetery is full of carefully tended gardens cut into the middle of the large marble slabs. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><u>Lill<span style="color: #0000ee;"><u>i, tending her mother's grave</u></span></u></span></td></tr>
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Fasching, like Mardi Gras, only it lasts longer, is a very big deal. In the larger cities, the costumes and parades are elaborate. Cologne, for example is known for their Fasching celebrations. Lilli and Karl attended the local gathering at the Burgerhalle.<br />
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<b><u>Paris</u></b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At 11:00 pm. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View at Sunday brunch.</td></tr>
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One of my first excursions was a weekend trip to Paris, a little more than 1.5 hours away by train. Since my colleagues had never been, Maria was determined to see everything! After a 12-hour day and, according to my iPhone, 14 flights of stairs, up and down to the Metro, I almost felt ill. The next morning as my colleagues left early for the Louvre, I took my time, made my way to the Louvre for brunch, and enjoyed my coffee right in front of the I. M. Pei pyramid. I finally felt human. We traveled back home in the early evening.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Paris buddies.</td></tr>
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<b><u>Burgundy</u></b></div>
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A former colleague from Lithuania, living in Berlin, wanted to take a grand tour of Romanesque monasteries, convents, and churches in Burgundy. She planned the whole trip, chose the B&Bs/Hotels, and we took my car. I was excited about getting to see places that had figured so large in Hildegard of Bingen's correspondence but I wouldn't have thought of wandering around eastern France by myself. Thank goodness for Google maps, without which I would be lost on a daily basis. We made the rounds of the Romanesque Abbeys, monasteries, and cathedrals in the area within about 3 days ending our tour in Strasbourg at the wonderful Gothic cathedral in the center of the city. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><u>Abbey of Fon<span style="color: #0000ee;"><u>t<span style="color: #0000ee;">énay</span></u></span></u></span></td></tr>
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After visiting this abbey for awhile, we drove to St. Rémy-Martin to find our B&B. The town is quite small and yet we drove around and around with our GPS telling us we were very close. There was no sign but for the warning of the dog--and there was no dog either. The owners live in Paris and open this guest house on the weekends.<br />
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At breakfast we met a charming lady whose English was excellent and had a lovely chat with her at breakfast the next morning.<br />
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Dinner that night was in a Michelin-recommended restaurant and, of course, it was excellent!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I forget the name of the place but there was a sign in French</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">warning us about the dog. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vézelay</td></tr>
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We did get to the huge Cathedral and monastery restoration in Cluny. The restoration work there will be ongoing for a very, very long time. </div>
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Overall, I am enjoying my time in Germany very much including the fact that getting back to the States to see family and friends takes half the time and money it did from Japan. </div>
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I confess that this much has already taken me a week and a half of writing and locating photos. I am going to post this and consider shorter posts, more frequently, in the future....I hope!</div>
Gerihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810895925900308438noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27263053.post-37657190525512388422016-02-14T03:02:00.001-08:002016-03-30T07:15:53.872-07:00Okinawa in the Winter<h2 style="text-align: center;">
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HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY, 2016 </h2>
I arrived back here on the 14th of January, having left Nebraska and the States on the 12th. However, de-icing took so long in Chicago that there was no chance of making the Tokyo connection. By the time we arrived, United's agents were at baggage collection, waiting with our hotel accommodations, meal vouchers, and shuttle bus. The number of Americans returning after the Christmas holidays was more than the number of Okinawan-Japanese. I was so exhausted by that time that as soon as I saw that the tap water was safe to drink, I didn't bother with the meal voucher for dinner. It was time to shower, wash out and start drying some clothing, easier than unpacking and packing for an early flight the next morning. I thought I was rather loaded down, bringing back some teaching materials and a few warm things but that was nothing compared with the solo mom and 2 young children, stroller, bags, luggage. Her husband had remained in the States for some training and she returned by herself. Together, with two luggage carts and two tiny children we walked about 3/4 mile between terminals in the cold but the sack lunch/breakfast the hotel provided wasn't bad and by the time we arrived in Okinawa, I was very, very grateful to be home.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--I136uAa60w/Vr_xhsb9bsI/AAAAAAAABGM/czxfW37mZ0M/s1600/IMG_0880.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--I136uAa60w/Vr_xhsb9bsI/AAAAAAAABGM/czxfW37mZ0M/s320/IMG_0880.JPG" width="240" /></a>It has been cold, rainy, and cloudy since returning. I realize that this is weather most of you would be happy to have but our tropical homes, cement block, are made to be cool, not insulated against the cold. Thus, here I am, attempting to get warm, indoors! The temperature has dipped into the 30s F and frost was reported somewhere on the island. What happened to our tropical island? Is Jamaica this cold?<br />
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The term has gone well, despite the constant driving--Mondays and Wednesdays to the south for 45+ minutes or more and Tuesdays and Thursdays up the toll road to the north for about the same length of time though the distance is further. Driving here has it's challenges and can be stressful. I have taken listening to books to help me stay calm. For sure the news wasn't the answer!<br />
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I have enjoyed the "only" 2 classes, one of Writing 101 and the other, a writing-literature mid-level class, both small. Over the Christmas break, I asked a friend, a writing specialist prof. to help me get a grip on my marking issues. She did and I can report that for the first weekend in too-many-to-count I have had the time to update this blog and rest. (Thank you Marty!)<br />
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Driving on the toll road, most drivers exceed the speed limit by over 20 kph, traveling at 100 kph. However, that is only a bit more than 60 mph. The reason it feels so very unsafe here is that I'm convinced my fellow drivers still believe they are on kamikaze missions. Why else would they zoom in and out of lanes, even when a cautionary sign denoting a construction zone looms? And this has nothing to do with the fact that we drive on the left here. (Because everything else is backwards on the steering column, the "Okinawa Wave" is the windshield wipers going in full sunlight rather than the turn signal. So embarrassing!) I have never seen motorbikes on the toll road but they are endemic to every other road and the rules simply do not apply to them. They thread themselves between fast-moving multiple lanes of heavy traffic so they can be ahead of everyone else when the traffic light turns. Being granted a SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) license includes dire warnings of what happens should you injure or worse, one of these daredevils. Apparently, much more than hospital costs are involved. Any income lost, the amount depending on whether the victim was the sole breadwinner, must be paid and should the victim die, his/her potential lifetime income is included in damages to be paid. So, as annoying as they are, I make sure they have whatever space they want to claim on the road.<br />
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<b>Moving</b><br />
Yes, I have been told I will be in Europe beginning on August 1. As most know, it was my first preference though I have had some great experiences here in Japan and Korea and been privileged some sights, sounds, and cultural education I have appreciated. I have no Korean to remember but do have some basic Japanese phrases that have kept me on the right side of polite. Here, in short paragraphs are the things I will miss (and some I won't!)<br />
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<b>Japanese politeness</b><br />
This could actually be a lengthy section if I went into detail about each and every common practice that is considered correct for avoiding the behavior of a cultural clod! I will miss many of these little niceties.<br />
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<ul>
<li>Money--The giving and receiving of money, bills, credit cards is a matter of great importance and is only, ever done with both hands. This is tricky for Westerners who are always attempting to carry more than they can hold, never mind attempting to have both hands free. The other challenge is that when approaching the toll booth, with a real person, one must twist in the driver's seat to get both hands out the window at the same time, or at least appear to be trying. This is accompanied, always with a slight head bow, when seated, or torso+head bow when standing. </li>
<li>Driving--Drivers will zoom forward into what will become an obviously blocked lane and then jump the line to get back into the open lane. You must let them. One set of rude behaviors is not repaid with another. Construction zone signs include one with a worker, in hardhat, bowing, as if asking permission for the inconvenience of needing to slow down, block a lane, or whatever else bothers you about the zone.</li>
<li>Recycling--Detailed descriptions of exactly what and how each category must be recycled in full-color brochures--are provided tenants. I have heard dreadful stories of Americans having their recycling refused and so it is with some trepidation (and in the dead of night, around midnight) that I take the elevator downstairs to leave my recycling and trash in the little covered area out front that is, otherwise, spic and span. This includes all milk, cream, etc cartons that have been soaked open and laid flat with the plastic spouts trimmed out, tied together in a neat parcel; all paper and boxes bundled together in a parcel and tied with string; #1 plastics in a clear, plastic bag; glass in another clear, plastic bag; cans in another, and burnable trash in a clear bag with red printing denoting the area of the island where it was collected. Unburnable, non-recyclables are put in another plastic bag. Of course, when it is raining, as it has almost every day since January 14th, paper recycling is out of the question. Thus, last Monday evening, with everything prepared, representing several week's worth, I stuffed myself and parcels and bags of "this and that" into the elevator, praying that none of my fellow apartment dwellers, who are so proper, and who would never think of putting the trash out much before the the trucks actually arrive in the early morning, wouldn't see me. </li>
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<b>Korea</b><br />
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I will miss the Seoul Arts Center but not kimchee or the smell of it. </div>
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UMUC has created the Collegiate Traveling Faculty in order to be adept and agile, matching faculty to military movements throughout the world. I do not know, really, where I will end up next year. Europe and the chance to attempt more than minimal communication, as well as the opportunity to see my many friends who live there, the lower expense and shorter time of getting back to the States would be great, of course. </div>
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I am apologizing for the lack of photos. I rarely get out but, in 3 weeks, during my week off, I plan to take one of the many tours provided by guides and bus companies that work with the military bases. The reason for that is that my car needs to go back into the shop...again! I've never had so much trouble communicating basic information! More than $700 later, and 3 trips to 2 different mechanics, it is again lurching (or creeping) forward during acceleration. One never knows. It idles so roughly I think it's going to shut down altogether! This time, I'm going to get my brother-in-law to give me the best words he can for describing this issue and send it to a professional translator. The car, a Honda Air-Wave is literally "lost in translation."</div>
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I do <i>not</i> apologize that most of the pictures on my phone and computer are those sent to me (or purloined shamelessly off of FaceBook) by my nieces and nephews of their children who are all gorgeous, intelligent, and delightful...of course!</div>
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<br /></div>Gerihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810895925900308438noreply@blogger.com0Okinawa, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan26.3344266 127.805583226.2206081 127.6442217 26.4482451 127.9669447tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27263053.post-32768750801721603852015-11-21T23:42:00.000-08:002015-11-22T04:14:22.193-08:00Spring in Seoul, Summer and Fall in Okinawa<br />
<b>Spring in Seoul, Break in the US, and Back to Okinawa...and a Typhoon</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Palace musicians, 16th C.</td></tr>
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As this post suggests, I have been almost around the world and back since I wrote. The promised pictures of my peregrinations through South Korea, well, just Seoul and the DMZ and JSA, are below and captioned rather than very much text since I really need to get caught up in a hurry. Just to orient you to my exact, current location, I am in my old (new, actually) apartment in Okinawa City, waiting out the first typhoon of the season. This makes my second in one year in this area. In all the years of living in the tropics growing up I can only remember one direct hit hurricane. The weather these days is certainly extreme!<br />
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That was then. Now, we are enjoying mild days in the 70's but strong winds! I have taken to pulling my hair back, military style, having gotten horribly tired of trying to control it or finding it in my face. I guess everyone's gotten tired of it since even the salon likes it. Of course the "do" is indistinguishable from that of any other military female around here.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail of Eaves, Buddhist Temple, Seoul</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lighting Fixture, Buddhist Temple Gift Shop</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Geri and the Baby Buddha</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buddhist Temple, Seoul, Front Steps</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panels, Life of The Buddha</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail, Eaves of The Buddhist Temple</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail in the Eaves of the Palace Halls</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Throne Room </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ceiling, Palace Throne Room</td></tr>
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Palace musicians playing 16th C. traditional instruments.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3cevlehecHY/VZ9zsILPhCI/AAAAAAAAA1Q/n0HLToqZwts/s1600/IMG_0263.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3cevlehecHY/VZ9zsILPhCI/AAAAAAAAA1Q/n0HLToqZwts/s400/IMG_0263.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Royal Casket</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Uut3PurGA1E/VZ9z6H_UC8I/AAAAAAAAA1o/xMU1SasVNPI/s1600/IMG_0274.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Uut3PurGA1E/VZ9z6H_UC8I/AAAAAAAAA1o/xMU1SasVNPI/s320/IMG_0274.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sculpture, Children's game</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sjMrGzFOZbU/VZ9z6A38PNI/AAAAAAAAA1s/FOYCAKkLJlw/s1600/IMG_0275.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sjMrGzFOZbU/VZ9z6A38PNI/AAAAAAAAA1s/FOYCAKkLJlw/s400/IMG_0275.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">S. Korean "White House"</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9XIM6uZlmYU/VZ90A6s9X7I/AAAAAAAAA10/I_EVZZU_PcQ/s1600/IMG_0290.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9XIM6uZlmYU/VZ90A6s9X7I/AAAAAAAAA10/I_EVZZU_PcQ/s320/IMG_0290.jpg" width="253" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Young Women in traditional dress, happy to pose</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1nHtrAw11xw/VZ-n8fypCpI/AAAAAAAAA2Q/9Yycwf13eUI/s1600/IMG_0262.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1nHtrAw11xw/VZ-n8fypCpI/AAAAAAAAA2Q/9Yycwf13eUI/s320/IMG_0262.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Main Palace building with a moat?</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ImG8mbuNhFg/VZ-oTp7-zsI/AAAAAAAAA2s/rxvVsx-Cd3g/s1600/IMG_0295.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ImG8mbuNhFg/VZ-oTp7-zsI/AAAAAAAAA2s/rxvVsx-Cd3g/s320/IMG_0295.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">UN Peacekeepers in the JSA - Joint Security Area, UN, USA, S. Korea, North Korea</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BgMY6vfY5I8/VZ9zLmNMGjI/AAAAAAAAA0c/MJ9CVmgqo30/s1600/IMG_0347.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BgMY6vfY5I8/VZ9zLmNMGjI/AAAAAAAAA0c/MJ9CVmgqo30/s400/IMG_0347.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">North Korean Building, JSA</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KKa_xIASxEo/VZ-oTh_w8II/AAAAAAAAA2w/c2UUDiuKttQ/s1600/IMG_0296.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KKa_xIASxEo/VZ-oTh_w8II/AAAAAAAAA2w/c2UUDiuKttQ/s320/IMG_0296.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Standing in the S., Looking to the North</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Cj79uBt2zzc/VZ-oeZYhSRI/AAAAAAAAA24/7eUCeGLib7E/s1600/IMG_0304.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Cj79uBt2zzc/VZ-oeZYhSRI/AAAAAAAAA24/7eUCeGLib7E/s320/IMG_0304.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Conference Building, Split, N. and S.</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AS8bESynOw4/VZ-okrBJ07I/AAAAAAAAA3E/r36Fx4wd_HA/s1600/IMG_0306.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AS8bESynOw4/VZ-okrBJ07I/AAAAAAAAA3E/r36Fx4wd_HA/s320/IMG_0306.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Conference Table, Split, N. & S.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sGcrAQWAk0k/ViePsJkI8XI/AAAAAAAABA8/EmleMY-sibY/s1600/IMG_0330.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sGcrAQWAk0k/ViePsJkI8XI/AAAAAAAABA8/EmleMY-sibY/s400/IMG_0330.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Obviously, the DMZ - De-Militarized Zone. Tunnels from the North into the South have been and are being discovered, regularly</td></tr>
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It has taken me many weeks to update this blog! Loading the pictures, organizing them, and the captions...Whine, whine, whine! I apologize.<br />
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Now it is Thanksgiving Week and I am wishing all Americans anywhere a great time of fellowship with friends and family.<br />
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I will be back in Nebraska from Dec. 12th-Jan. 12th, visiting mostly with my mum, family, and friends. Our work here is very intense. UMUC gets faculty to sign on and then expects we will be cheerfully accepting of continuous overloads. From a traditional university standpoint, 2 courses at 6 class hours/week in 8 weeks is equal to 4/semester, 16 weeks. My overloads are therefore crushing with so little time to complete marking that would have been spaced out over 16 weeks and fewer students!<br />
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I must say though that my students continue to be a great joy to work with. I look forward to our times together and respect them so much for the work, class, and family obligations they bear to make better lives for themselves and their children. Nevertheless, a break will be good! I will remain in Okinawa for the first Spring term, at least.<br />
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<br />Gerihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810895925900308438noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27263053.post-60250967416744175722015-08-02T07:25:00.001-07:002015-09-05T09:32:07.418-07:00A Cruise and Two FriendsIt has been awhile since I actually put a blog together. I had some great pictures and interesting site visits in S,. Korea but could not get the correct photos uploaded here. I will try at my next break.<br />
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Thanks to #MTXConnect, I can stay online anywhere in Europe for a very low cost. Check them out for your next visit. They'll send you a SIM card--thus the blog update. </div>
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I am getting the chance to spend more time and see new places in Europe I hadn't seen before now. Charlie and I added the Prague pre-cruise extension and enjoyed it very much! HOWEVER--we have have spent 3 days NOT cruising on the Danube. We have been on board but bussed to the first 2 days of the cruise as the Danube is too low for the ship to sail from Nuremberg to Regensbeurg to Passau. This has meant really long bus rides and truncated times for touring. As of today we are (and have been) where we're supposed to be by the 4th day. In 2013 Europe's flooding was only surpassed by an even greater flood in 1501. Now the drought is so awful they've not experienced anything as dry and hot since the late 1800s.</div>
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We will continue on to Melk, Vienna, and Budapest and, when I'm not on my iPad, I will include pictures. Charlie and I are having a wonderful time--both on the trip and together. I will leave Budapest for Berlin to see a friend from LCC days and from there back home to Okinawa and the start of a new term. </div>
Gerihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810895925900308438noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27263053.post-85109033542674660422015-03-08T07:42:00.000-07:002015-03-08T07:42:04.675-07:00Winter in Seoul<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Christmas Break</b></div>
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Yes, it has been since well before Christmas (October) that I have updated this post. I sent my household things to S. Korea, while I traveled back to the States for the Christmas holidays--3 weeks-- to visit my mother, enjoy family and friends, take care of some medical things, and have a good time in general. I did! I also needed to fill my nearly-empty suitcases with some winter clothes. I finished marking, grading, and recording grades on the long trip home and then could look forward to the music and services, and some of the social activities of the season. </div>
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<b>Arrival in Seoul, Inchon Airport, and Apartment</b></div>
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I had a weird return schedule since my Christmas break trip had been booked ahead of my new appointment. Therefore, I had to fly back into Okinawa, spend the night, and fly to Seoul the next day. In the end, it was a good idea. A van driver picked me up and took me to the Dragon Hill hotel on Yongsan base since it was the weekend. The R&R at the Dragon Hill was welcome. It looks quite a bit like a Marriott; I'm sure they're related. I was very disoriented, not realizing I was in the heart of Seoul and would be living right next to the base, almost. After a couple of lazy days there and my last look at television for the next 4 months, the local rep picked me up to show me around and help me get my previously mailed household things to the apartment I would rent for my time here. </div>
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To say that I was dismayed is probably an understatement! But it was clean and that's absolutely critical. It was also easy to see that the landlord, Mr. Kim, was very accommodating and anxious to please. The disappointment was in the discovery that my windows are all frosted, there being zero view. Furthermore, there was a lovely desk and office chair, a kitchen table and 2 chairs and that was it for anywhere to sit, other than on the bed. But, that was not the worst discovery. Opening the door, a horrid odor hit us and wafted into the hall! Yuck. Mr. Kim was apologetic and over the next several days explained that he couldn't find the source. However, we eventually discovered that it's coming from the drains, especially in the tub. Making sure that they're closed unless in use, is the only way to be sure it is tolerable. I have also left one window open, except when another horrible odor comes in from outside--the smell of sewage! I wouldn't speak of the whole of Korea but this area of Seoul seems to have a real problem. There is almost no day on my walk down the hill from the neighborhood and up the next hill to the base that I am not running the gauntlet of garbage piles in the streets, much of it uncovered. </div>
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There is a huge positive about this place however. It is small and can be cleaned, top to bottom in an hour and a half. Also, the university has purchased a recliner that fits in the study room and Mr. Kim brought a side table and lamp so I now have options and a comfortable place to sit when I like.</div>
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<b>Classes</b></div>
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Because of the military tuition assistance schedule, the first term at UMUC was delayed by one week in Asia, perhaps everywhere, shortening the term from 8 to 7 weeks. Then, at Osan Air Force Base, the annual exercises were scheduled for the final week of classes further shortening the term to 6 weeks. The resulting classes were about 4 hours in length requiring some highly creative methods for keeping us all alert, me teaching and them learning. I was just getting the hang of managing ways to teach within 8-week terms. My Osan students and I survived in fairly good shape, none the worse for wear in the battle to finish. I have just completed the 7th week with the Yongsan class and, within 48 hours will have a about 8 days break before Spring II term starts. While I can extend class times to satisfy the military requirements of face-to-face time, abbreviated schedules have two rather major drawbacks: I have half the number of weekends for marking and worse, students have half the amount of time for study, even less than that given their grinding work schedules. I think the general attitude of the all-male class in Osan is that they were "cursed" with a half-crazed professor who seemed to race ahead, and then turn around and jerk them forward --a very ragged approach to what should be a solid foundation for future college writing assignments. Never mind. We all did our best and, at our final wrap up class, I was presented with one of the nicest expressions of appreciation, this card they'd all signed. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Rrwd_YIaVXI/VPqdo0pRnPI/AAAAAAAAAp0/N6wWH4ER8vw/s1600/Osan%2BCard%2BS.%2B1%2B2015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Rrwd_YIaVXI/VPqdo0pRnPI/AAAAAAAAAp0/N6wWH4ER8vw/s1600/Osan%2BCard%2BS.%2B1%2B2015.JPG" height="400" title="" width="258" /></a></div>
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Perhaps it was a consolation card. "See! It wasn't as awful as you thought." Anyway, I made sure they knew how much I had appreciated their hard work, their willingness to suffer the lengthy classes, the piled-up assignments, and other hardships.</div>
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For the Yongsan class, there was a different dynamic altogether--probably the result of the 4 girls in attendance of whom 3 remained by the end. Even so, there were several in both classes who just couldn't manage and had to drop out. This represents real difficulty for the young men and women (and even those more mature students) as they have to repay the $600+ for any course that is withdrawn or failed.</div>
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Over time, I've realized that my teaching philosophy is not a static document. As I approach what may be the final 15 years of this particular career I have decided that there is nothing more important to me than seeing students succeed. Curve? I don't believe in it. I want to teach and if students want to learn, then "let's find a way to work this out so you can be successful" I tell them. I'm way past being naïve about this however. I've had students this past year who were not motivated and who didn't want to share equally in the process. Given the military system, they can withdraw up until the final week of classes and they usually do, knowing that a half-hearted effort will not be a passing grade. When the dean questioned my above-average grades I said with a smile, "That is because I'm a good teacher and these students are motivated. The ones who aren't, who would give you the 'balance' in the grade sheet you want, are already gone." Overall, however, the S. Korean grades will not be as high as those in Okinawa and I'm not sure why. I was warned about this from other faculty though many of their dire warnings about work schedule interference and general attitudes and effort were not in evidence. </div>
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<b>Culture and The Arts</b><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pVjI43VCGOA/VPxS3AObCeI/AAAAAAAAAqw/0VoiMWB9mRg/s1600/Cafe%2BMozart.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pVjI43VCGOA/VPxS3AObCeI/AAAAAAAAAqw/0VoiMWB9mRg/s1600/Cafe%2BMozart.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cafe Mozart (SAC)<br /><div style="text-align: left;">
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It took me at least 2 weeks to realize that, being in Seoul, there were probably cultural events I should attempt to find. The search term "concerts" revealed a full calendar of rock concerts but not the orchestral, chamber, or vocal concerts I had hoped. An "arts calendar" led me to the SAC, the Seoul Arts Center, which has become my home on most Friday evenings.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D3gIIOLRpig/VPxSyJR8gwI/AAAAAAAAAqo/_nPy14dx5-w/s1600/Menu%2Bat%2BSAC's%2BItalian%2BRestaurant.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D3gIIOLRpig/VPxSyJR8gwI/AAAAAAAAAqo/_nPy14dx5-w/s1600/Menu%2Bat%2BSAC's%2BItalian%2BRestaurant.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Italian Restaurant (SAC)</td></tr>
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I begin my evening at one of these two restaurants as they are generally quiet and have good food. Then, I walk around, inside SAC to the galleries and shops, always stopping by the ticket booth to find out what is on offer in the next month. This Friday I will attend a violin concert in the lovely chamber concert hall, attached to the large hall in the complex.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5IXwyGs6wRE/VPxSut5t_VI/AAAAAAAAAqY/jFUWnkLglWQ/s1600/Sheet%2BMusic%2BStore%2Bin%2BSAC.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5IXwyGs6wRE/VPxSut5t_VI/AAAAAAAAAqY/jFUWnkLglWQ/s1600/Sheet%2BMusic%2BStore%2Bin%2BSAC.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sheet Music Store (SAC)</td></tr>
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This sheet music shop is one of the most amazing I've ever seen. It is beautifully organized and has every score one would usually have to order at most other places. I wanted to buy some music but, there is no longer any need, unfortunately. Still, it was tempting, just because I could. SAC has a conservatory on its campus as well as an opera theater, the large concert hall below, the chamber concert hall, and one other I've not seen. I have a ticket for <i>Aïda</i> next month. Musicals are in Korean but, looking over the soloists for <i>Aïda </i>it's clear it will be in Italian, mercifully. The SPO--Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra is world class! It has been years since I've heard an orchestra with the kind of range this ensemble has. I am delighted every time I go by their artistry, the soloists they feature, the guest conductors, the enthusiasm of the audience and the wonderful programming. Since finding the SAC, I must say that the quality of my life has improved tremendously!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--4EHbmq4WTM/VPxStk6f3CI/AAAAAAAAAqQ/yn2ZWr2vZ8E/s1600/SPO%2C%2BOrchestra.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--4EHbmq4WTM/VPxStk6f3CI/AAAAAAAAAqQ/yn2ZWr2vZ8E/s1600/SPO%2C%2BOrchestra.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SPO, in SAC</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w9GI71Wzugo/VPxSv2czhVI/AAAAAAAAAqg/5QGskf33Wg8/s1600/Main%2BConcert%2BHall%2BLobby%2C%2BSAC.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w9GI71Wzugo/VPxSv2czhVI/AAAAAAAAAqg/5QGskf33Wg8/s1600/Main%2BConcert%2BHall%2BLobby%2C%2BSAC.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Main Lobby of the concert hall.</td></tr>
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<b>Manners and Sensibilities</b><br />
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I believe I have established some of the differences between my experiences in Okinawa and Korea. Other things to note are that while the Japanese demonstrate unfailing politeness, the Koreans are much more aggressive. For shopkeepers, people at the salon, and some waitstaff in restaurants, it is normal to be accosted and asked directly if one wants more or anything at all. It seemed to me that the manager of the salon was clearly disappointed on Friday that I hadn't planned to spend the morning and all my cash in his establishment for every service they offer.</div>
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<b>Next Week</b></div>
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We have next week off and so tomorrow, I am going to the USO to see what tours I can fit in this coming week amidst preparing for the next two classes, which will run for all 8 weeks this term. For the first time in all my professional life, I have completed all my grading with exception of 2 students who are working hard to finish. I am not under any delusion that I have cracked the code of quick marking however, but rather understand that I had a larger than usual attrition rate this term with 12 in each class. What a huge difference that makes. </div>
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One tour that is apparently a do-not-miss for historical reasons, is the tour to and of the Demilitarized Zone, the DMZ. I will go but I am most anxious to see some truly Korean sights and perhaps taste something other than kimchee, a national dish for which I have generated little enthusiasm. </div>
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I will return to the States on the 9th of May, having sent my things on to the next posting, as yet unofficially announced as a return to Okinawa. </div>
Gerihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810895925900308438noreply@blogger.com1Seoul, S. Korea36.5978891330702 126.914064514.115457633070196 85.6054705 59.0803206330702 168.2226585tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27263053.post-20017236857205880492014-10-26T05:01:00.001-07:002015-03-06T23:09:06.296-08:00The First Week of Classes and Other EventsHello Again! <br />
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Now the first week of classes of the second fall term has passed already. In 7 weeks I will be back in Nebraska for over 3 weeks over the Christmas break before I move on to Korea for Spring 1 and probably Spring 2. I have enjoyed and am enjoying my teaching very much. Students are motivated, in general, and our classes are lively from the beginning. I suppose one reason for that is that there is no language barrier here. </div>
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I kept dropping topics into the blog post so I would remember them and now must choose a few topics and a few pictures to share otherwise, it won't get written at all!</div>
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The whole issue of driving here is multi-faceted. First of all, one must somehow learn to drive on the left. Since I'm never really certain where that is, I try to follow traffic, which has worked out rather well, unless I'm first in line and turning a corner. I do know that it's never good to find myself going alone in one direction. Whether I'm right or not does not matter. The panic that I'm on the wrong side is instant. On the military bases, there is a certain amount of understanding with nods and smiles. That wouldn't be so, off-base, where traffic moves fairly swiftly and motorcycles are unregulated, as far as I can tell. They weave in between the lanes which is entirely legal. The rules of the road are fairly standard but a vehicle homicide would financially destroy you because you must make reparations to her/his family for whatever s/he would have earned over the course of her/his life! </div>
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I did have a new experience during a time of base action (or something like that). Apparently, everyone must participate so the traffic folks get in on the action by creating roadblocks to check...whatever they want to check. This time, the 2 military guys approached my car and asked me if I would submit to a breathalyzer test. You can't really refuse so, of course, I said yes. The problem is, I didn't have enough breath to allow them to get a reading. As traffic backed up behind us, the young man at my window said, on the 6th try, "One more try ma'am, please." His colleague had, by this time, run away, hiding his face. Actually, we were all starting to laugh. I don't know if my final effort was any better than all the others but he did let me go. My students were highly amused.</div>
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<b>Manners: </b>In traditional shops as you give your card or cash, it is proper to do so with both hands and a slight bow. It is also correct to receive your card or change in the same way with, "Areeghato gozymaaahs." (Okinawan accent). I never realized how full my hands were and what a hurry I must be in, already holding car keys, etc., etc. Salon services here are so gentle and respectful. There are tiny ear covers for hair coloring, warm eye masks for reclining back into the shampoo basin or eyebrows, and your head wrapped in a towel while you wait. I never saw women waiting for their hair color process with uncovered heads. The massage therapist I found has kept me upright and moving and always begins on her knees, in front of me, washing my feet in warm, blue bath salts.</div>
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My apartment is as lovely and comfortable as the pictures were that I posted last time and I've been very happy here. Chopin plays in the lobby, ALL the time, the security is absolute, the apartments so well-built that they are completely quiet with the balcony doors shut (and that included typhoon wind sounds), and the conveniences are very....uhmmm... convenient. The one thing that might distress some folks is that there is not one English channel on the TVs. This doesn't bother me since I have always gotten the bulk of my news from NPR and NET. I also subscribe to multiple podcasts, have an endless supply of music on my iPod, and so really have not missed the lack of a TV. I didn't grow up with a television; Jamaica eventually had 1 channel that came on at 5 pm and went off at 10:30 pm and I never developed the habit of watching it. For whatever important news that is not on NET/NPR there is always Facebook to tell me what the Huskers are doing (or not doing) and what has been happening in the World Series. (Weird name for it since other big baseball countries--Cuba, Japan--are not there, as I understand it.)</div>
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I will be moving mid-November because the university has decided (finally) that they need to provide furnished apartments that will be less expensive (and certainly less trouble for them). I will save several hundred dollars in one month alone. </div>
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<b>A Break in Work: </b>The week before last was a "break" but with grades to turn in and preparations for the next classes, I only took one day off for a tour to the north of the island. I am going forego comments and just caption the pictures.</div>
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<b>Nago City and The North</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The stone walls are not stable and falling down the sheer drop on the other side would be fatal</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Castle Walls, rebuilt</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">China Sea</td></tr>
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<b>The Glass Factory</b><br />
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I took pictures of a colleague who did the same things I did when we went. I too made a glass but have no great dream that it will arrive back in Grand Island intact.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finished product</td></tr>
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<b>Orion Beer</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I drank the tea. It was OK.,</td></tr>
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This beer is only made here though it is exported around the world. Okinawans are proud of the fact that good beer can be made from their fresh-water springs here.<br />
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<b>Back to Work</b><br />
I really don't do much but work and, outside of class time, spend hours and days alone preparing and marking papers. However, thanks to Skype, iMessages, email (So Old School! :-), and, of course all the Nebraska news I get on NET, I sometimes feel more connected there than here. I am never bored though I sometimes wish there was someone physically present as almost everyone else's spouses have arrived by now. I have taught only writing and more writing as of now. Shouldn't they pay to have one of my family or friends come over since I don't have a spouse? Yes, I think so. <br />
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I am looking forward to being with some of you soon!<br />
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Geri<br />
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<br />Gerihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810895925900308438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27263053.post-73907725485386603852014-10-10T00:38:00.001-07:002014-10-10T00:38:14.306-07:00Typhoon #19--Vong Fong<br />
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This one appears to be headed our way It will hit us on Saturday-Sunday our time, Friday afternoon-Sunday morning CDT. People here are fairly used to them and are doing all the normal things to get ready. Of course the commissary (grocery shop) was crammed with people stocking up. The problem is not the 2+ days of rain and wind but the aftermath of power/water loss. I have cloroxed the bathroom tub and filled it. The shower/tub room can still be used without disturbing the water in the tub since the whole room is waterproof and meant for showering outside the tub. I will draw filtered water for cooking (gas) and drinking, later on. I have pulled the balcony furniture indoors since I am liable for any damage caused by flying items from my balcony. I have closed the air vents and put the magnetic covers over the keyholes in the outside door, protecting them from saltwater. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uncovered</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Covered</td></tr>
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Those of you who have followed this blog for several years have seen the pictures of the power lines I have taken--especially the ones in the inner city of Tripoli, Lebanon that were all strung dangerously together, people grabbing power off the grid however they might, legally but usually illegally. It is not as bad here but all, I mean ALL, the power lines are above ground. The chances of losing power are fairly high, I would think. <br />
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The military base has just issued a directive that all nonessential types (like I am) leave and go home. I'm already home and the "hatches have been battened down." (Not sure what that means--sounds like a submarine term.) Speaking of which, the loss of the 3 upper-level airmen last weekend was altogether dumb and maddening. They were on the road, close to the ocean, taking pictures! While the typhoon of last week did not come here, the sea was rough and the waves grabbed them and washed them away. <br />
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I have taken time out of my marathon marking to send this update as I may very well be offline until Sunday or later, your time. I am confident that all will be well. The wind is already howling, the water is choppy, and further out, the waves are getting higher. However, Okinawa is in typhoon alley, right in the path of most of the typhoons (exactly like hurricanes but in the Asian Pacific), and their buildings are build of coral and cement--to weather this weather. I have no doubt that it will be interesting to witness and completely safe.<br />
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I will update this when I can.<br />
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Irie! <br />
(Jamaican for "No worries!")<br />
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My current schedule: 1 week "break" and then Fall 2 Session starts. Back in NE on Dec. 13th, evening, leaving on Jan 8th for Seoul, my next posting.<br />
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GeriGerihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810895925900308438noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27263053.post-43540707277678184122014-08-15T02:25:00.000-07:002014-08-15T06:49:38.752-07:00First Impressions: Okinawa<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yuJlKhw1S-U/U-3JUjMl1yI/AAAAAAAAAY0/tVOpAGrA8cU/s1600/Orchids%2Bin%2BOkinawa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yuJlKhw1S-U/U-3JUjMl1yI/AAAAAAAAAY0/tVOpAGrA8cU/s1600/Orchids%2Bin%2BOkinawa.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
Orchids greeted us at the Okinawa airport. I know these are probably not orchids--but there were lots of these flowers too. I hadn't realized how different Okinawa would be from Japan. I love seeing hibiscus, palm trees, and beaches. But another greeting was the guard at the door to the baggage claim area. He bowed with each new wave of debarking travelers and, as I rode down the escalator, I watched him, smiling and bowing, smiling and bowing, smiling and bowing. Either he has an excellent back health or heads for his chiropractor at the end of every shift. It was such a stereotypical Japanese sight that it was hard to believe it was real. Upon leaving the baggage area, the champion handball team was being greeted with flowers, signs, and the media. It was all very exciting.<br />
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The weather here is not unlike Jamaica's. It is so humid that about 2 gallons of water must be emptied from the dehumidifiers in our rooms every day. There is no way the AC would keep up without them, I imagine. However, the season is already changing and the evening temperatures seem to be lowering. We are in the typhoon season until Nov. 1 so there is intermittent rain at the moment but the cloudy days help keep the temperature down and the sea breeze is welcome.<br />
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Our first introduction to life with the military had begun in Japan, on Yakota Air Base where coming and going is so highly regulated that one of our number asked today if I thought he'd get back on base by himself if he left. Because we all will be traveling to various bases by next week, I sincerely hope so! I suspect he decided not to leave. Our "unescorted passes" are tied up somehow, somewhere. I hope to get a lease car by the weekend so I can drive my colleague and I, with whom I'm sharing the lease, to Foster, to our intended flats in a high-rise on the sea, and to Kadena, where we live now and will be teaching, at least for Fall 1. Otherwise, Monday will be very, very exciting (and not in a good way!). The cars available are usually very boxy-looking, not aerodynamic but space-saving for their size.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WXO09JI-qHo/U-3LG6TaJvI/AAAAAAAAAZE/DybtUH9RTGY/s1600/Grey%2BBox%2BCar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WXO09JI-qHo/U-3LG6TaJvI/AAAAAAAAAZE/DybtUH9RTGY/s1600/Grey%2BBox%2BCar.jpg" height="246" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yellow Tag- 2-cylinders!</td></tr>
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One of my colleagues got a great deal on a wonderful car. I'm sure he's excited for his wife to get here to drive it! It's baby pink and very cute.<br />
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Despite the probability that someone will get stuck outside a guard gate at one of the many bases where we teach, by next week we're all supposed to be driving our own cars to all the bases where we're scheduled, in our own cars. Getting through security check-points is not my biggest fear however. I will be relying solely on GPS to prevent my being lost. I hate being late to class, much more than I hate being lost. Another acclimating element is missing too. I generally have enough of the language to be polite but I have not had the kind of focus time and energy language learning requires. I plan to spend the weekend reviewing the basics, in between prepping for classes. I have started using "Ahr/lee-gato Gozymas!" with a small bow, hands in front. (Men, hands at sides.) People seem very appreciative so I guess they understand my "Thank you" is being understood and well-recieved. </div>
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I have slowly recovered from jet lag but it has been a much slower process than usual with 14 hours difference between CDT and here. I knew it would be. However, I've been here 2 weeks now and my internal clock seems to have adjusted completely. <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wwjevDIYDvg/U-3On_7KMRI/AAAAAAAAAZg/SOCpmK1NuLs/s1600/UMUC%2BApt.%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wwjevDIYDvg/U-3On_7KMRI/AAAAAAAAAZg/SOCpmK1NuLs/s1600/UMUC%2BApt.%2B2.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a>For two weeks we have been doing things in herds and I've had quite enough! I am desperate to be on my own and out of this need to do things together. (I guess I've always been that way.) I'd rather figure things out on my own, and alone, even if it takes a bit longer. I don't think that the things that are left to figure out are beyond my ability to cope. For one thing, there's the web-course orientation. A faculty member here has generously offered to run a group help session next Friday. I will not be attending. My experience with "The Phone Lady" was ample opportunity for me to see what happens with this group and technology!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Living/Dining room</td></tr>
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I have finally reserved an apartment and will move around the first week of September when I have time. It is within my housing allowance and has the wonderful convenience of being within walking distance of almost anything I might need (and several things I don't). Here are some pictures:<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Zg6gVPnONFI/U-3On2-hR9I/AAAAAAAAAZc/I_vk7VUcLzI/s1600/UMUC%2BApt.%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Zg6gVPnONFI/U-3On2-hR9I/AAAAAAAAAZc/I_vk7VUcLzI/s1600/UMUC%2BApt.%2B1.jpg" height="133" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Living room--Please note, everyone--the<br />
large ottoman/futon/bed possibility!</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-77GUrMBlqcE/U-3Oo6vKChI/AAAAAAAAAZs/3G-b9bUHkhQ/s1600/UMUC%2BApt.%2B4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-77GUrMBlqcE/U-3Oo6vKChI/AAAAAAAAAZs/3G-b9bUHkhQ/s1600/UMUC%2BApt.%2B4.jpg" height="133" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tatami Room, If you are Japanese, you<br />
would consider this a must-have<br />
sleeping area. Any guests are welcome<br />
to try it!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hrtnJZQxIDs/U-3OpO9yJQI/AAAAAAAAAZw/BCTec5Uq5v4/s1600/UMUC%2BApt.%2B5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hrtnJZQxIDs/U-3OpO9yJQI/AAAAAAAAAZw/BCTec5Uq5v4/s1600/UMUC%2BApt.%2B5.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kitchen</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jzFGUBQB_3s/U-3OpkSLvNI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/m3Nk7S23MnQ/s1600/UMUC%2BApt.%2B6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jzFGUBQB_3s/U-3OpkSLvNI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/m3Nk7S23MnQ/s1600/UMUC%2BApt.%2B6.jpg" height="133" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bedroom--Please note, female friends--2 beds!</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x4IX2-DrHqY/U-3Op9YRB2I/AAAAAAAAAaA/57lJlevOFZQ/s1600/UMUC%2BApt.%2B7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x4IX2-DrHqY/U-3Op9YRB2I/AAAAAAAAAaA/57lJlevOFZQ/s1600/UMUC%2BApt.%2B7.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bathroom with washing machine. The "dryer" is a<br />
setting in the bathroom that dehumidifies the laundry<br />
until dry!</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xpYPxToBIqo/U-3Oqg1PpUI/AAAAAAAAAaM/fTBjygiMq3k/s1600/UMUC%2BApt.%2B8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xpYPxToBIqo/U-3Oqg1PpUI/AAAAAAAAAaM/fTBjygiMq3k/s1600/UMUC%2BApt.%2B8.jpg" height="133" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Toilet/Bidet This is a genius arrangement and<br />
demonstrates Japanese fixation with<br />
cleanliness!</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FZUQ8P69_U4/U-3OqpPl_7I/AAAAAAAAAaQ/tXcWDY_Sggg/s1600/UMUC%2BApt.%2BLobby%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FZUQ8P69_U4/U-3OqpPl_7I/AAAAAAAAAaQ/tXcWDY_Sggg/s1600/UMUC%2BApt.%2BLobby%2B2.jpg" height="214" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lobby</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EMo0Je5J4do/U-3OnzaLAbI/AAAAAAAAAZY/MzQCzr5njUk/s1600/UMUC%2BAPT.%2BLobby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EMo0Je5J4do/U-3OnzaLAbI/AAAAAAAAAZY/MzQCzr5njUk/s1600/UMUC%2BAPT.%2BLobby.jpg" height="133" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More lobby</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HhPrz0lJomE/U-3OrOh6q8I/AAAAAAAAAaY/DR22SpV7K_k/s1600/UMUC%2BApt.%2Boutdoors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HhPrz0lJomE/U-3OrOh6q8I/AAAAAAAAAaY/DR22SpV7K_k/s1600/UMUC%2BApt.%2Boutdoors.jpg" height="133" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Outdoor Patio</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CzZmhJIGxVA/U-3OrPj6PxI/AAAAAAAAAac/hl5Udai9c2M/s1600/UMUC%2BApt.%2Bpool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CzZmhJIGxVA/U-3OrPj6PxI/AAAAAAAAAac/hl5Udai9c2M/s1600/UMUC%2BApt.%2Bpool.jpg" height="214" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pool-My favorite place!<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">I will be here until December, as far as I know.</span><br />
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Gerihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810895925900308438noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27263053.post-48598423826664117172014-08-03T05:36:00.000-07:002014-08-03T05:43:17.946-07:00A Long-Overdue Update<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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World Traveler?</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RuIO-1IbxRk/U7cTLy60RZI/AAAAAAAAFO8/U9qV4IVZFiQ/s1600/IMG_0630.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RuIO-1IbxRk/U7cTLy60RZI/AAAAAAAAFO8/U9qV4IVZFiQ/s1600/IMG_0630.JPG" height="320" width="307" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A little over a year ago</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pjMA74i5Z_M/U94dbLUz8VI/AAAAAAAAAXc/Eaa8V_-dTgc/s1600/IMG_1017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pjMA74i5Z_M/U94dbLUz8VI/AAAAAAAAAXc/Eaa8V_-dTgc/s1600/IMG_1017.JPG" height="121" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Began this year here, in Japan.</td></tr>
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People have often introduced me as a "world traveler," an appellation I often question. Aren't world travelers people who go to the most remote places of the earth, endure many hardships, and bring back tales of foreign cultures? I realized though that I might just qualify. I hardly think I bring back tales of foreign cultures--these places become my home, the place where I work, make some friends, and deal with daily life. Different, probably, from the way things are done in the US and other places where you live, but not "foreign" to me. This time I feel less prepared to manage life in a new country. I have spent very little time studying common phrases in Japanese. I plan to take Beginning Japanese when I start teaching. </div>
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Upon leaving Lebanon a little over a year ago, I met a friend in Rome and spent a wonderful 2+ weeks seeing the sights of Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre, Venice, and Cologne with her. While I came to the States, she remained in Germany visiting godchildren and friends.</div>
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This year has been a roller-coaster ride of job applications, interviews, multiple visits with my mother, substitute teaching assignments, and involvement in church music, chances to visit with friends, and the birth of a great niece. I am grateful for each moment, each conversation, and every opportunity to play music. Though the year was stressful in many ways and certainly one of the stresses was the fact that I was not working full-time However, it was also very fulfilling. </div>
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I couldn't have done it without the help of my many friends. One in particular invited me to live with her. She said she was lonely but I also know that she has a very generous heart. I will remember the fun we shared because of her intelligence and sense of humor. She did everything she could to make me feel physically comfortable. Other friends showed me many kindnesses all year long. In that sense, the year was far, far too short. But, I was getting spoiled! I was surrounded by friends, getting to see my family whenever I wanted, driving around as I pleased, without the fear of chaos and mayhem on the road. </div>
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So, when UMUC (University of Maryland University College) hired me to be one of their traveling faculty, I was very pleased. UMUC's mission is to provide college courses to active military. Traveling faculty teach 8-week sessions and are possibly moved from one country to another depending on which bases require which courses. I found out today that the main sites are in Okinawa, Japan, and S. Korea. Guam is not counted because it is an American territory and served by resident faculty. The demographics of the military change and that changes the needs for faculty. It is obviously a very unique and fluid situation. Flexibility is critical. I also found out that many of the new faculty are seasoned travelers, many have non-American spouses, and some have lived overseas longer than they've lived in their home countries. Overseas experience is a premium in hiring. I understand they have had a few disasters with a few who couldn't understand why things couldn't be "done properly!"</div>
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Overall, I have been impressed with the enthusiasm, diversity, and accomplishments of the new faculty. All the military protocol is a bit onerous for me, as you might expect! But, as it's all digital, virtual, and so on, I guess it cannot be called "paperwork."</div>
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After a morning session of information and a lovely Sunday brunch at the Naval Hotel here, we had a walking tour of a Shinto Temple Here are a few images.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ySqbckUnsdY/U94qi1s0roI/AAAAAAAAAX0/iRL0WXuGTBs/s1600/IMG_1012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ySqbckUnsdY/U94qi1s0roI/AAAAAAAAAX0/iRL0WXuGTBs/s1600/IMG_1012.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just outside our hotel elevator</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A place to hang prayers</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ritual Purification (but I think it was because we were <br />
all so very, very HOT!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After the wedding</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Entrance to Jeiji, Shinto Shrine</td></tr>
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Geri Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00885866051833567744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27263053.post-21432663173279848182013-05-25T09:00:00.003-07:002013-05-25T09:00:56.551-07:00Changes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Surely there's a post missing! It cannot be that January was my last post! Google, you wouldn't steal my post and give it to someone else's blog, would you?</div>
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But, if it's true that you haven't heard from me since January then I'll try to catch up--backwards--so that the latest news is posted first.</div>
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My mum's been ill and shortly before our Easter Orthodox break had been in the hospital and extended care for quite awhile. I could tell that my sisters were worried and very tired. When I offered to come home for a week they accepted gladly. The time I spent with my mum was really very good and by being there every day for 5 days I was able to see and sometimes change some things to help her. My sisters and brothers-in-law and I had several good chats and I asked them for their prayers and advice about what I should do next. When I had been back for less than a week, I really felt the need to resign my position here at Balamand. So, I have done that and have begun the process of sorting, giving, and selling the things I have collected in 9 years overseas. By Friday I will have the estimates of shipping costs from two movers at which point I'll probably get rid of a few more things!</div>
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From the time I began telling folks, a couple of weeks ago, there has been real surprise and some sense of loss, on both sides. I guess I managed to fit in pretty well after all. One of the Deans said, "You can't leave! You're practically Lebanese now!" I take that as a real compliment but I'm not sure I could ever be Lebanese. It is a difficult culture for a Westerner and even though my Arabic lessons were going well, I cannot imagine ever feeling completely at ease, like on the highways, for example.</div>
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Now that the fighting in Tripoli has increased, even more intensely than before, and we know that it is related to the quagmire that is Syria, it is a good time to leave. There is a street in Tripoli called "Syria Street" that divides Sunni and Alawite neighborhoods. From sniping to rocket-propelled grenades and bombs this week, the area is so dangerous that even the army is unsure they can establish peace there. Of course, to be fair to the army, it does not have the backing of a functioning government so if they are not really welcome and are, themselves, in danger of fracturing along sectarian lines, it is not necessarily a solution. Given the ineffectiveness of the army, Hezbollah is much more powerful and has created their own "country" within Lebanon, operating where they wish with impunity. The fact that they're supporting the Assad regime in Syria is applauded by certain parts of Lebanon and strongly criticized by others, creating more reasons for Tripoli to continue to be violent. </div>
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My work with the students in the Anti-Discrimination Group has been rewarding this term and I am truly sorry to leave them. As a young and developing group I am not sure there will be much continuity after I'm gone. Recently, they specifically said they didn't want a student president just yet. I hope I can help them see that this is what they will need for next year.</div>
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By now, I'm sure you're wondering what my own future plans will be. On June 2nd I will begin an online course in "Human Relations" through Chadron University's Certification program. This 1-credit, 4-week course is what I need to become re-certified in Nebraska for the public schools. I have heard that they're desperately in need of substitute teachers and that is what I plan to do, once I'm re-qualified. I will apply to GI Public Schools and Kearney when I get back on July 11th. There are other overseas possibilities too but nothing is certain. What seems certain now however, is that my years working overseas have almost guaranteed that I am no longer relevant in US institutions. Academia is a funny (not hilarious, but odd) kind of culture. Deviations from what is perceived to be a traditional academic trajectory are viewed as problems, as is one's age. We will see. Nevertheless, I will be happy to be back, close to my family and many friends for awhile.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MJdxNdFodG8/UaDYd1kmyzI/AAAAAAAAFE8/Nk58IzUkN60/s1600/IMG_0407.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MJdxNdFodG8/UaDYd1kmyzI/AAAAAAAAFE8/Nk58IzUkN60/s320/IMG_0407.jpg" width="240" /></a>I have not spent the whole year bereft of family and friends. My little sister and I met in London for my semester break where we spent several days before taking the train to Edinburgh. There we connected with a friend from our school days in Jamaica and, spending a day at St. Andrews allowed me to introduce my sister to some dear LCC friends who are working and studying there. What a great trip that was! We were only sorry that my middle sister was not with us, remembering the great time we always have when we travel together.</div>
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(I wonder why I cannot share some of my best pictures with you? I will have to use Picasa to work smoothly with this blog, I think.)</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mU2nIt6fQe0/UaDaAOu-5oI/AAAAAAAAFFY/MLEVn6_99QA/s1600/IMG_0468.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mU2nIt6fQe0/UaDaAOu-5oI/AAAAAAAAFFY/MLEVn6_99QA/s320/IMG_0468.jpg" width="240" /></a>The next treat I had was that a friend from my UNL days came and gave a Writing Workshop and a couple of other talks. She was here for a week and worked hard but we went to Beirut for her last day and a half. This picture is taken in the mosque downtown where Lydia, who is a wonderful photographer, was attempting to capture the ornate ceiling and chandeliers. I don't know if she did before one of the caretakers came to tell her to get up! The minaret outside is just part of the beautiful mosque, the one all the journalists like to have as their backdrop when reporting from Beirut.</div>
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I have applied to the Global Entry System for the speed lane when re-entering the US. While filling out the forms I realized that in the past 5 years, I'd traveled to eleven countries. Then I was struck by my good fortune--to travel, to see, to learn. It is such an enriching life and one I could not have imagined. What a lucky woman I am!</div>
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Best and blessings to all of you. It won't be long now before I can see many of you in person!</div>
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Geri</div>
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Geri Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00885866051833567744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27263053.post-20639654293706442962013-01-04T10:44:00.001-08:002013-01-04T10:44:53.780-08:00Christmas In Beirut<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">It is strange, perhaps, to sit alone in a hotel room in downtown Beirut listening to a Christmas program, sung in English with distinctly Arab accents and still feel the specialness of the season. I can't shake the feeling though that even without a tree, without friends or family, without warpped gifts, this is indeed a special time of the year. There are so many wishes from friends and family for a Happy, Merry Christmas and New Year. Who couldn't be cheered by all those reminders of goodwill and love? The truth is, the gifts I do receive, so thoughtfully packed and sent, and bring back for family and friends are still appreciated. They're just not exchanged in the way I used to. I was reminded today, as I walked to Starbucks, how blessed I am. I wore a beautiful shawl from my Uzbek "daughter", a gold pendant from my Iraqi "daughter," and carried an iPhone from my Libyan "son." What a rich and wonderful life I have! And all these children adopted me--even more amazing.</span></div>
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For the first time in 3 years I will attend a church service tonight, the midnight mass at All Saints Anglican, in English. I am looking forward to that so much! The lack of all the things I used to associate with Christmas has distilled the meaning of the season to what is most essential and most meaningful. Peace and Goodwill to all in this part of the world is more than a nice greeting on a card. It is life itself to our neighbours in the south, the east, and the north. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NjDWcV11BC8/UNr3GOM9OtI/AAAAAAAAEwY/rzzFRteBb0g/s1600/photo+(2).jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NjDWcV11BC8/UNr3GOM9OtI/AAAAAAAAEwY/rzzFRteBb0g/s320/photo+(2).jpeg" width="240" /></a></div>
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It was amazing to me how fully Christmas is embraced by people of all faiths but I think I understand. It's the music, the family gatherings, the generosity, and, even the meaning for Christians that is appreciated and celebrated. I have had Christmas wishes from people of all faiths who seem to understand its importance on a certain level. I suppose it's a bit like wishing Muslims, "Eid Mubarak" at the end of Ramadan but the celebration of Christmas seems to happen in both houses. I have done one other new thing this week--gone to a mall for the first time this term. Because of the Christmas program I've been tied to the campus full-time since September. My colleague and I hardly shopped at all but we enjoyed being in the mall, seeing the decorations, and being off campus for a bit. Here are some pictures of the ABS Mall's Christmas tree and Santa Village There was a Santa, Father Christmas, there and a frightened child being held close to the Ho-Ho-Ho-ing Santa for a picture.<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-73V81pQGoHo/UNr3FbD0YVI/AAAAAAAAEwU/WOHjNmbTIDs/s1600/photo+(1).jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-73V81pQGoHo/UNr3FbD0YVI/AAAAAAAAEwU/WOHjNmbTIDs/s320/photo+(1).jpeg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9nxI_Q-L_Zk/UNr3HMcze1I/AAAAAAAAEwg/XNmKUNJ42ac/s1600/photo+(3).jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9nxI_Q-L_Zk/UNr3HMcze1I/AAAAAAAAEwg/XNmKUNJ42ac/s320/photo+(3).jpeg" width="240" /></a><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">Later, I arrived at church after many "Yameens, Schmels, and Doghris" (Rights, Lefts, Straights) to the taxi driver. I was early and there were guards standing there from the Lebanese Army. One said, "No one told us there was church!" I said, "Well, there is, at 11:30. I SMS'ed (texted) the vicar." He replied, "Hmmm...." and "Well, you know, the Christian situation in Lebanon is ... complicated." I answered, "yes, I know!" And we all waited together for others to arrive. They soon arrived and we went in. We sang the carols with gusto, there being no other music, we shared the Eucharist, heard the sermon, and found the guards still there when we finished at 12:50 am. As people left, the guards gradually dispersed. Peace on Earth.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">I was wide awake and so listened to my home church's Christmas Eve service on Skype with my sister and brother-in-law (and quite a few other people too, from what I could hear). Their music was more professional but no less enthusiastic than that of the Beirut church.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><br /></span>This evening I have made an early reservation at "21" in the Crowne Plaza, a short distance from my hotel. There I will be treated in the way I have always wished--with deference and solicitude! Hehe... And I will be back in my room in time for more Skype calls with family and friends. In this day there is hardly any reason to be be totally alone!<br />
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I will return home tomorrow for a little marking and to prepare a dinner for some foreign grad students who couldn't get home--1 from Syria, 1 from Iraq. We have been granted 1 extra day off (after our syllabus/schedules were in place, of course) so will start classes on the 3rd. Then there are just 2 weeks of classes left before exam week and a break between terms.<br />
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Love and Best Wishes for a Great New Year!<br />
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Geri<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b><i> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: lime;">Merry Christmas everyone! </span></i></b></span></div>
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Geri Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00885866051833567744noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27263053.post-26145802529331929082012-12-08T13:54:00.000-08:002012-12-08T13:54:22.922-08:00Who knows?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Don't ask me what's going on! I really don't think I know much any more. Even my Lebanese colleagues seem fairly vague about the status of things in Lebanon. My Twitter news feeds say things like "Situation Fragile in the ________ (north, south, border)" and "Lebanon struggles to hang on to neutrality amid the widening Syrian war." Someone asked me if WMDs, such as Sarin and others would affect us. No, I don't think so. We're on the coast with two mountain ranges between us and the Syrian trouble. While the distance is not far, as the crow flies, chemical weapons would not reach us and the crow doesn't fly that far and never over mountain ranges. What's worrying is that if the allies threaten action against chemical weapons they might be fighting Al Qaeda, who have been threatening to use them against the Assad regime. The length of this conflict has created an open door for the terrorists Assad was complaining about. Now they really are there.</div>
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Speaking of crows, Lebanon's lack of law and order has meant that it has had an endless open season on the many migrating birds that have stopped here for centuries on their way to/from Africa. Thanks to Facebook and other social media sites, our proud hunters have published their photos with heaps of birds, songbirds, some endangered birds too. Organizations such as "Animals Lebanon" are letting people know what is going on. Songbirds, despite being against the law, are to be seen on some menus in rural areas. They're considered a delicacy in those restaurants though I would not expect to see them on any menu in the coastal cities.</div>
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And speaking of organizations, I have recently organized a group called "Anti-Discrimination Student Group." We received permission from Amnesty International to use this logo:</div>
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Until we get some interested art students, we will use this one. Our Facebook page is: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AnitDiscriminationStudentClubBalamand?ref=hl">https://www.facebook.com/AnitDiscriminationStudentClubBalamand?ref=hl</a>. At our first meeting we had more faculty than students show up. However, we have since gathered a number of undergrad and grad students who are very keen to see this group be successful. I am keeping my expectations low (realistic). If the US can erupt in such hate rhetoric as I saw before our last election then what can we hope to accomplish here where the distrust, dislike (hate?), and discrimination have been embedded in religion and politics for centuries? Nevertheless, perhaps a few students will tell other students and perhaps a few students will tell their parents. I have contacted another group in Beirut, the Anti-Racism Movement, who work especially for the causes of foreign domestic workers who have been horribly abused in Lebanon. They told me that, as far as they know, there are no other such groups on the other Lebanese campuses. But I have already been warned to be careful. Caritas, another group, Catholic, works with refugees. Sadly, refugees are not very welcome here and, of course, Syrian refugees bring with them memories of the long-time Syrian occupation. Our first screening went well. We watched <i>Freedom Writers</i> and then discussed the possibilities of showing it to the whole campus. Overall, there was approval with the worry that some might be offended because the teacher in the highly-racist atmosphere in the story uses The Holocaust as a way of teaching about discrimination. I suggested that we cannot start by filtering history, no matter how we feel about the current situation to the south. We shall see. I don't care too much about numbers but rather, meaningful conversations and discussions that take place in a safe and respectful atmosphere. Members of the Anti-Racism Movement have agreed they will come and talk to our classes or groups of our students. There is a great deal of interest from the President, the Dean of Students, and faculty.</div>
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Of late, I have become rather discouraged with things here. Perhaps it's because of being so isolated for so long. I go grocery shopping off campus but, other than that, I haven't gone anywhere or done anything outside of work. I could ride with my friends to Beirut if only I didn't have a Christmas Concert coming up. I'm tied to the piano on campus and can only get practice time when the piano teacher is not using it. I guess it will be an enjoyable concert but our rehearsals haven't been as frequent as I think they should. I was drafted by our Associate Dean, a soprano with a beautiful voice and 4 children who play and sing as well. There are others involved, a classical guitarist from our faculty, a violist, and various alums to fill out the vocal ensemble. </div>
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I have a tree and a crèche. They're very tiny but, they give a kind of impression of Christmas. </div>
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<img src="http://distilleryimage11.instagram.com/fb290984417811e2b39e22000a9d0df1_6.jpg" style="margin-bottom: 0.4em;" /><img src="http://distilleryimage8.instagram.com/0be1398a417a11e2bfbf22000a9f1935_6.jpg" style="margin-bottom: 0.4em;" /></div>
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Perhaps I'm also feeling a bit nostalgic for the many wonderful seasonal events shared with friends and family over the years. My niece was my Christmas Angel for many years because she enjoyed the season so much, she made it special for me. I have decided that this year I will go to Beirut for 3 days so I can attend an English service and get off of this mountain for awhile.</div>
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I guess I will never understand (or appreciate) the way things work (and don't work) around here. It's always important to remember that words mean little and promises are easily made and rarely followed by the action expected. That is tough and leads to disappointment all around. Many of my colleagues feel the same way. One probably cannot expect that the institution can behave extra-culturally. And when students don't believe that you will enforce deadlines and standards who can blame them? The complete disregard for the law may be incomprehensible to stable countries where there are laws with real consequences for breaking them. I did see a police car yesterday, my second one in two and a half years. Everyone was passing him. His car wasn't nice enough to warrant notice or respect I guess.</div>
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On Wednesday of last week our Patriarch died, His Beatitute, Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East. He was 91. Immediately the school closed. I was at my door when my phone rang. Students received cell phone messages and all activity ceased. As a matter of fact, when the tennis coach tried to come to campus to practice the next day, security turned him away! They told him that the President had decreed "No Activity." One of my colleagues wonders if that means no practicing the piano either. Well, my music is pretty sad so I think it counts as a mournful activity in keeping with the week of grieving. Classes will start again on Tuesday because on Monday they will take his "blessed body" to Damascus for final burial. Damascus! Some of our theology students have been involved and will probably be in the entourage going to Syria. I pray they will all be safe. In the meantime, we are all catching up on marking, another activity that makes us sad.</div>
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<u><b><span style="color: #38761d;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Merry Christmas Everyone! <span style="font-size: large;">Pray for Peace on Earth and Goodwill to All Me<span style="font-size: large;">n<span style="font-size: large;">, Women, and Children<span style="font-size: large;">.</span></span></span></span></span></i></span></b> </u></div>
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Geri Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00885866051833567744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27263053.post-79831142784562430002012-09-25T13:35:00.001-07:002012-09-25T13:35:07.055-07:00A good Analysis of the City to the North<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://www.merip.org/mero/mero081312" target="_blank">Tripoli's Troubles To Come</a></div>
Geri Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00885866051833567744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27263053.post-9708289025225458332012-09-20T02:43:00.000-07:002012-09-20T02:43:36.266-07:00The Views from F3, Balamand, The new apartment<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Overlooking the University, to the SW</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NNW</td></tr>
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Geri Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00885866051833567744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27263053.post-56040041781205480212012-09-14T13:44:00.000-07:002012-09-14T13:49:56.578-07:00Moving...again and other things<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Family and Friends:<br />
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Instead of trying to beat jet lag, I'm going to write this tonight so I don't have miles and piles of emails from concerned folks when I get up in the morning.<br />
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I've just watched the moving ceremony of the State Department's return of the remains of the 3 embassy employees and ambassador to the US. I can understand how seeing the images of the past week might be alarming to many of you.<b> </b><br />
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<b>Tripoli</b><br />
I've written earlier about troubled Tripoli and the desperation of a poor, uneducated populace there only increases. They have nothing to lose either so using a film produced and directed by an American-style extremist as an excuse to riot and burn places down, in this case the KFC and Hardees, is as good an excuse as any I guess. The problem with all these protests is that I am sure that 99% of the people have not seen the movie. Extremism on either side is irrational. In the States, the West, it produces horrible things like the film everyone's upset about or the Koran burning and over here in the Middle East it produces other kinds of irrational behaviors. <br />
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I'd heard from a colleague today that as long as the Pope was here on his "peace" mission, Lebanon would be quiet. He thought the Pope should live here always but, the truth is, that hasn't helped keep things quiet in Tripoli. What happens in Beirut often has little to do with Tripoli, just 65 km. away. So, we went up to a mountain village to do a bit of shopping. It has always been quiet there, a mostly Christian area. Below I have written down the practical issues of remaining or leaving here. I am not being foolhardy. <br />
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<b> Moving---Moved</b> <br />
How many times have I moved? I just counted them up, 23 times, so far. But in all the moves I've made, this one was by far, the most physically demanding. First, I couldn't find boxes and, even if I had, I woudn't have been able to move them all by myself. Second, I was living on the 3.5 floor. Third, I needed to walk up an incline. Fourth, I moved to the 3.5 floor! Let's add that the "new" apartment was not cleaned, per my instructions. I have seen the cleaning job of the crew here and could not imagine them doing any good at all--with their dirty rags and mops they could actually make things worse. I began on Sunday and finished on Thursday evening. It felt like a pre-sports conditioning week, hauling a backpack full of books and two hand-carry bags full of other things each time. On Tuesday evening I found some boxes on my doorstep from housing so I filled them. On Wednesday morning housing took them all, the TV, the mircowave, and the hanging clothes (flung in the back of the old pickup truck on top of the boxes) and hauled them up the stairs. I emptied many of the boxes and brought them back to fill. That evening, I looked at what was left and thought, "There is no way I can make this many trips up and down the stairs to finish this job!" On Thursday morning I called a colleague and her husband and they cheerfully agreed, bringing the family van with them. In short order, we loaded the van, followed it up the hill, and unloaded it. The second load was much smaller, leaving me the recycling to deal with.<br />
<br />
Though I am sitting amidst a few remaining boxes and bags to unload, I am very pleased with the new apartment. I have my fingers crossed that this 3rd apartment is the answer to my allergies. Besides that, the view here is stunning, there's no burn pile or caretaker's cottage immediately behind me and my desk looks out over a beautiful valley, harbor, and mountains. Because this is a newer apartment things work here much better than they did in the older apartment. There is real hot water that arrives in a timely fashion in the kitchen. The refrigerator is not moldy. They scraped away the mold in the back bedroom and repainted it so that should help...until it gets moldy again. Of course there is a list of things I've found that were simply neglected. The hassle of getting help for these things is pretty exhausting at times. I don't have enough <i>wasta</i> (power/influence) to make people care!<br />
<br />
<b>Next Semester</b><br />
I am somewhat prepared but must work fairly intensively next week to create the coursebooks for two courses in lieu of textbooks that students wouldn't purchase anyway. Then there is the schedule, filled with holidays (holy days) for two separate religions that makes Swiss cheese out of any schedule. Finally, there is the uncertainty about whether or not students can get to classes from Tripoli and elsewhere if the disturbances spread. We shall see. <br />
<b> </b><br />
<b>In the Meantime</b><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>I keep my computer backed up on a hard drive.<b> </b></li>
<li>I have a small bag with a list of essentials</li>
<li>I took my violin back to the States this summer</li>
<li>I pay attention to the news.</li>
</ul>
I must work and this is where my job is.<br />
<br />
Geri </div>
Geri Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00885866051833567744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27263053.post-89117869919432293232012-06-11T01:07:00.002-07:002012-06-11T01:07:40.523-07:00Birthday Celebration<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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This guy offered to sing for us, his own American/Lebanese version of "No Woman, No Cry" mashed up with "Happy Birthday." Yes, unique!<br />
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What a wonderful Birthday dinner I had with friends at Jammal's, Batroun, Lebanon! Friday, June 2, 2012<br /><br /></div>Geri Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00885866051833567744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27263053.post-9199039348911577502012-06-10T04:43:00.002-07:002012-06-10T04:44:20.585-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>Bits of This and That</b><br />
The title of this post tells all. That's how my brain is responding to the end of term, unsettling news here and next door, uncertainty about what I will do next--return or sit out a term--and the way all of this and more is affecting us and our students.<br />
<br />
When Tripoli, just 10k away from here, erupts in violence, our students are often prevented from coming to classes. Of course these are excused absences and so the progress of the class resembles the sand prints of a crab, scuttling side to side, but hoping to reach the ocean or the nest. I'm not sure we've arrived at one place or the other but the term has ended nevertheless and, for good or ill, final exams will take place in the coming 10 days.<br />
<br />
"Really?" I said. "You mean to tell me that "third parties" find it worth their while to come to Tripoli, insert themselves between the pro-and anti-Syrian factions and stir up trouble so the focus will be averted from Syria?" I have to say that several people are saying this even though it makes absolutely no sense to me. If no one knows who started it, then how do they know why they're fighting? But they do fight and people die, and then there are peace demonstrations, all of which indicate that this is not a pressure valve that needs release but rather a lit fuse that slowly inches its way toward the explosive event that will bring the firestorm down on the heads of the Lebanese once again. People are holding their breath, hoping for calm, praying, demonstrating and talking about peace but the poorest people in Lebanon with the highest illiteracy rates face each other, sure that the other is the reason for all their problems. The ignored north refuses to be ignored and yet never gets the kind of attention that really matters-- in health, education, proper nutrition that would provide a way out of the cycle.<br />
<br />
And what are people saying about Hezbollah in the meantime? The "what ifs" are endless. If Syria's regime falls, then Hezbollah will have little to control it and Iran's influence in support of it will increase. Iran's interests are many but in terms of Hezbollah, definitely destabilization of Lebanon and, at the very least, annoying Israel. Annoying Israel has never been a good idea for Lebanon, caught between these entities, they always lose.<br />
<br />
My (very personal, unscientific) opinion is that as long as there is no international solution or will for tough decisions multi-laterally, something serious will occur in Lebanon this summer. I will not be here but the heat of summer and the definite sectarian escalation next door are angering the parallel sects here. The Alawite militia, apparently responsible for the massacres of horror in Syria recently are, by association connected with Lebanese Alawites. <br />
<br />
Personally, the political situation is not the reason I am considering a longer stay at home. I have had a second round of severe allergic reactions to...something. I can't imagine what. It's been difficult to keep going. On the one hand, a strong mix of antihistamines will quiet the reaction and puts me to sleep. On the other, the reaction (uncomfortable hives) doesn't allow me to sleep or do much besides trying to copy. Either way, it's impossible to work. I do not have a plan, other than getting back to the States and then seeing what can be done.<br />
<br />
Speaking of which, I will arrive on the 26th, June, early in the morning on Amtrak from Chicago. I am really looking forward to catching up with all of you.<br />
<br />
Love and hugs,<br />
Geri</div>Geri Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00885866051833567744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27263053.post-78137111413735169332012-05-14T23:04:00.004-07:002012-05-14T23:04:57.256-07:00Latest news<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
From "Now Lebanon" <i>The Daily Star</i><br />
<a href="http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/May-15/173433-tripoli-clashes-subside-after-lebanese-army-deployment.ashx?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter#axzz1uuoYpKru"><i>http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/May-15/173433-tripoli-clashes-subside-after-lebanese-army-deployment.ashx?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter#axzz1uuoYpKru</i></a><br />
<i> </i></div>Geri Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00885866051833567744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27263053.post-36829201723607766302012-05-14T06:19:00.000-07:002012-05-14T23:09:01.515-07:00The news you might hear<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-GB">Hello everyone!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Just when I’d finally decided I needed to say something about what you may hear on the news, the Internet keeps going down and all the IT folks have fled the campus to be with their families. I guess our families and friends, along with any English news I get on Twitter, will have to wait. We still have cable TV with CNN, BBC, and a whole host of Arabic channels that my colleagues are watching and translating for me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I heard about the fighting on Saturday night when my former students, students who live close to Tripoli, started asking each other whether they were hearing the gunfire and bombs. I discounted it then because gunfire (not bombs) is very common here—bird hunting, neighbourly quarrels, weddings, a wide spectrum of casual and serious need for gunfire. However, the incidents increased into Sunday and were, at first, based on the arrest of someone who seems to have been supplying arms to the rebels in Syria, against the law here, of course. What that means is that silly protests, erupting into gunfire and death, can light the fires that have remained smouldering embers in the sectarian fireplaces around this country. It sometimes seems as though hotheads are watching for any excuse to reignite hostilities between Sunni/Salafis and Alawites. Now, of course, there is even more reason since the Alawites are the party and roots of Asaad, Syrian president. They aren’t happy to know that people here are helping the rebels since they are loyalists to the Syrian regime.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">What is distressing is that CNN & NPR are reporting: “Syrian violence has spread to Lebanon.” That is much too dramatic and really incorrect as well. As I said, these allegiances have been long-held and are barely under the surface in the best of times. These are not the best of times! </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Still, what you need to know is that I’m very safe. Sometimes our isolation here is a good thing. To even get up this mountain someone would have to get through a checkpoint. I cannot hear the gunfire or anything else. There is a humorous side to all this. The Ministry of Education cancelled classes in all schools and universities in the north but Balamand, a private university, never observes those announcements. Students do, of course, as do their parents, with the result that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">they</i> cancel classes, not the president. By staying home or having their parents keep them home, they effectively cancel classes and, the students living in the dorms don’t show up either (as a show of solidarity!...or just so they don’t waste time coming). What we, who live on campus, have discovered is that everyone else has left the campus except for the few IT folks attempting to restore the Internet. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">This is all the more annoying because a colleague was going to take me to her favourite optician in Tripoli to replace the sunglasses that I’d lost a few weeks ago.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">The other thing you should know is that I am not afraid or concerned in the least. My only concern is for you—knowing that unless you’re here, you cannot really understand from news reports what the reality is. We are fine. Or, if this continues awhile, bored!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">In my uneducated opinion, the Arab countries moved from a tribal directly into a sectarian culture or a mixture of the two with the same kind of loyalty to the sect rather than a civil society, government, and country. When you think of the Islamic calendar date (1433) and where Western culture was at that time, perhaps this is not too surprising. I realize I have simplified the analysis, giving the impression that I am incredibly naive. I am not but sometimes, the larger view helps me get some perspective.</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB">Until later,</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB">Geri </span></div>
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</div>Geri Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00885866051833567744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27263053.post-50112262621463018402012-03-11T01:30:00.003-08:002012-03-11T03:23:03.541-07:00Christmas in Istanbul, Albums one and two<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/107586639743599786150/albums/5718564830428802033?authkey=CJPykZKK2KS86AE">Album 1, Christmas in Istanbul</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/107586639743599786150/albums/5718576053602677729?authkey=CLST-qaiyfGIvgE">Albim 2, Christmas in Istanbul</a></div>Geri Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00885866051833567744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27263053.post-89843324631338218922012-03-05T03:56:00.000-08:002012-03-05T03:56:23.895-08:00Syria-Lebanon-Syria-Lebanon, etc.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Hello everyone! It's been awhile.<br />
<br />
I know that I have some wonderful pictures of my Christmas Turkey adventure. No, I did not burn the bird. I went to Turkey over Christmas but I would not expect you to remember this after all this time. I will attempt to make that my next posting. Many apologies! <br />
<br />
This is an update about what has been going on from a strictly uninformed, desperate-for-more-credible-information professor. There is a great deal of chatter around about how Lebanon is and may be affected by what is going on in Syria. <br />
<br />
All I know is this:<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I have been involved in helping collect needed supplies for the refugees. It is dreadfully cold now and Syrian refugees are fleeing for their lives. If they make it over the border, they carry nothing with them. What is Assad doing? Why?</li>
<li>At the moment, there are people down on the coastal plains, and probably in the Bekaa Valley, who are deeply divided on their support for or against the Assad regime. It has come to blows (well, shootings) in a couple of the more conservative and intransigent areas. That is, they are holding to their positions despite any news that might suggest that Assad is killing his own people--women, children, young men, all men. There is fear and expectation that whenever the Red Cross/Crescent does get in to Baba Amr and all of Homs there will be horror and shock at what they see. I cannot imagine it.</li>
<li>Everyone seems to have some suggestion for a good plan of action but I do not see one that will not result in more bloodshed. It looks to me that Assad is not much different at all from his father.</li>
<li>I am safe. All is well up here on the Balamand mountain where, without cable news, we would never know that the rest of the world, even the next-door world, is in trouble.</li>
</ul>I do listen to Fareed Zakaria's analysis. He is intelligent, insightful, and about as evenhanded as any commentator I know. Please see: <a href="http://www.fareedzakaria.com/home/Home.html">Fareed Zakaria</a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The other worrying bit of local/regional news is the possible strike from Israel on to Iran's nuclear "installations." Does anyone really know what they are? Is this another WMD scare? Here is what we see in Lebanon, should that happen:</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Israel is nervous, of course. If they strike they will need all sorts of support (refueling) and airspace clearances. </li>
<li>If Iran retaliates, their allies are closer to Israel than Israel is to Iran. Hezbollah, funded in part by Syria and Iran sits, partially on Israel's northern border, in Lebanon, unfortunately. </li>
<li>The last time Israel retaliated, attacking Hezbollah, Lebanon paid a steep price. The whys and wherefores of Hezbollah's presence here are not worth discussing. They are a strong political and military force here and even a force for good, helping poor Islamic areas with schools and hospitals, things that Lebanon cannot supply. </li>
<li>If all the above happens, Syria will be involved as well, if they are still a viable power in this area. Who else? I'm not sure but I can see the Middle East in ashes when all is said and done.</li>
</ul>The whole thing makes me sad--all of it--and it doesn't matter whose politics you espouse, ugliness, mayhem, killing (with words or swords) demonstrates that we so-called civilized folks aren't. We go around in circles, it seems to me--circles of repeating history.<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I'm sorry for this post. It reflects the hopelessness I feel for polite, respectful discourse here or in the US about important issues. I wish I could believe otherwise.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Geri</div></div>Geri Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00885866051833567744noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27263053.post-86709527813736039102011-11-20T12:19:00.000-08:002011-11-20T23:34:43.074-08:00Fall into Winter<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b><u>Ironing Sheets? Ironing Pajamas? It Must Be Winter</u></b><br />
Winter is indeed here. The mountain has been rainy, cloudy, chilly, thunderous, dark, ominous, windy and almost all of these at the same time. You may remember that, since coming overseas, I haven't used a clothes dryer. So, despite racing to pull the sheets off the bed and, with the pajamas, throw them in the washing machine, hang them up, and hope, they are still quite damp at the end of the day. So, yes. I've been ironing them all to get them dry. I can resign myself to months of laundry that take 2 days or more, for each load. Besides, it's chilly and never seems to be warm as I try to do my part not to raise the fuel bill for my block. No, we do not have individual meters. All 3 apartments, no matter how many occupants, split the heating bill 3 ways. And no, they cannot change it.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Down to the Southern Border: I can see Israel from here.</u> </b><br />
Two weekends ago I was invited by a colleague to travel with him and another couple to the south. We needed special permissions to pass a military checkpoint so we could get into a protected area that is just a few miles from the border with Israel/Palestine. His parents have several olive groves down there and were our hosts for the almost two days we were there. Lebanon itself, is not very big and this area is quite small but it's amazing how many thousands of UNIFIL (UN Interim Force in Lebanon) troops can be stationed there from all over the world. Of course they were very visible, which, in a way, appears to lend an air of safety to the region. But my colleague would say, "Oops, UN, need to avoid them. They're targets." There really was no way to avoid them AND he was joking.<br />
<br />
But I found driving around the area was not a joke, nor was it even a place for taking pictures. There are only 3 below. I will do my best to describe what I saw. First, our colleague's father was our "driver" in his very old (the oldest I've ever seen) Mercedes. We drove around, through his olive groves, and on the way to and from the border areas. He treats his old car as if it's an off-road jeep with the result that, in the rain, we got stuck as he attempted to turn around in the middle of an olive grove. We all got out an pushed the car forward, successfully if you don't count the mud baths we all took. We're too far north of the Dead Sea for it to have had any health value. We hurried back to our hosts house to get cleaned up, fresh, dry socks. The little wet wipes I always carry were completely inadequate for this mess.<br />
<br />
Each time we got in the car, our host would yell, "To Yisrael!" and drive like a madman for the border. His son, I noticed, became very quiet in the back seat and was much more nervous and frightened than any of the rest of us, including his father but the truth is, as a boy, he and his father, watched the bombs drop around them from the roof of their house. I am sure he's never felt comfortable there since that time. It was, "No, no, we can't stop for pictures." "No, don't raise your camera." "Father, drive out of here now!" At one point, Sammy, our host, kept driving until a soldier, Lebanese, ran up to the car. Sammy told him he thought this was where his nephew, a soldier, was stationed, but I know, he thought nothing of the kind. In any case, the soldier laughed at him as we turned around, away from the high, coiled, concertina-wired fences. <br />
<br />
Passing this or that field, our colleague would say, "Oh, you can't hike there. That field is still mined" or "that's not safe, to a certain extent." He seems to add this phrase frequently but in this situation, it seemed particularly out of place. "Unsafe, to a certain extent?" What on earth and to which extent <i>is</i> it safe? After awhile, the minute he'd start with the "to a certain extent" phrase, we would all, including him, laugh. He started to see how nutty the whole thing was. <br />
<br />
And the difference between the highly manicured, irrigated fields of the settlers over the border and the erratic rows of the groves and fields on the Lebanese side was obvious and remarked on by our host. At one point, close to a village, Sammy looked over the fence and said, "Over there, they have electricity all the time, high-speed internet, whatever they want, and over here, no services." An advantage of staying in the hotel was the non-stop generators through the night. It seems to me that the area has been under a kind of siege between wars and battles throughout most of the 20th century. I hope the 21st can be quieter for everyone on both sides. <br />
<br />
For the first time, I experienced extended, unremitting, "aggressive hospitality" as my friends here call it. Fortunately for me, I was staying in a hotel down the road so the last morning, I had breakfast there rather than spend one more meal with Sammy on my left, adding food I didn't want to my plate, every time I wasn't looking. The constant "no, thank you" in a sweetly, polite voice was exhausting. "Aggressive" indeed! I have discovered that when you take what you think you want and can manage and eat it all, that is a deadly mistake. An empty plate is an invitation for your hosts to make sure you've tried every last dish. "No" does not mean no. The kitchen has a central coal heater and the rest of the house was chilly so we all sat in the kitchen/sitting area, leaving a beautiful house untouched, hours on end, while various guests came and went. By the end of the day, I was tired--not from hiking but from sitting for several hours trying to figure out how to stay mentally alert with Arabic swirling around and nothing else to do, never mind being told all the time not to help.<br />
<br />
We 3 guests, rode back to Balamand on the wildest bus ride--probably wilder because we were in the back, but I was really grateful to be unable to see what was going on around us. It was a military bus and the 3-hour ride cost $3.50. The men were very respectful, moving to the front of the bus to smoke, opening the windows when they did. The driver did get yelled at by the guard at one of the many military checkpoints around here. Who knows what was going on? I know he didn't see us but whatever it was made the guard really angry. Nevertheless, we were happy with the speed at which we got through Beirut traffic and back home. Very slick, I say, even though the bus didn't look too reliable when we got on. Once settled, it was easy to forget about it.<br />
<br />
This week, I was reminded, is Thanksgiving and I'm thankful for all of you. I enjoy hearing from you and knowing just that you're "there" somewhere. I will travel to Jordan on Friday-Sunday to see some friends and former students, also friends.<br />
<br />
Over Christmas, I will travel to Istanbul for a few days since I cannot get home and back in the time we have and justify the expense. In looking over the guidebook, I am really pleased, anticipating what I'll be able to see at last.<br />
<br />
Love and Hugs to you all,<br />
<br />
Geri</div>Geri Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00885866051833567744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27263053.post-16283163821814136612011-11-20T12:00:00.000-08:002011-11-20T12:00:14.028-08:00S. Lebanon, Israeli Border<a href="http://goo.gl/photos/xyA967uLqi" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:1em"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Gob9_085hPk/Tslb0cG0NQE/AAAAAAAAEAE/Qjw7Yr-sZFo/s160-c/SLebanonIsraeliBorder.jpg" /></a>Geri Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00885866051833567744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27263053.post-76697423165138843302011-10-01T12:42:00.000-07:002011-10-02T12:42:57.946-07:00XII, Spring and Summer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;">The school year seemed very, very long--probably because the breaks between semesters and Christmas are so short it is almost impossible to be prepared for the next term, much less rest. What brought special excitement to the Spring semester was the arrival of my second guest, Marty Townsend. She was also a guest of the university and I'm not sure they believed she would really come. Of course, it was not an easy decision on her part with Arab Spring popping up all over the Middle East. Even yet, it is hard to tell what will really happen in Syria and what that will mean for us here in Lebanon. But Marty's visit was a wonderful time for seeing the sights here again, having a close friend nearby, and great chats. I think I have already shared almost all the best photos of the university and the country, but I added many more during Marty's visit. Given the fact that her university lecture/meeting schedule seemed to grow like Topsy after she arrived, it's amazing she had any energy at all for sight-seeing. The day we attempted to drive up into the mountains was the only day we didn't accomplish all we'd planned. We had gotten a later start and, I must say, it is not easy to be a passenger. There is no way to believe that the driver can gauge the distance between herself and the edge of the road and the breathtaking drop below. I have sat in that seat! Finally, Marty said, "Is it just gorgeous landscapes and charming villages all the way up?" I said, "Yes." She said, "Let's turn around and go back." She was here more than a week and it was good to laugh and have company. We spent a couple of days in Beirut before she had to leave. Two weeks after she left, the semester was over and I went back to the States for a nice, long visit (June 21-Sept. 12th). <br />
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<b>Below: Some new pictures, taken when Marty was visiting</b><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Sf9Eym0Ng08/TodZEoBTQ0I/AAAAAAAAD5M/y5Ww5jngzYs/s1600/DSCN3007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Sf9Eym0Ng08/TodZEoBTQ0I/AAAAAAAAD5M/y5Ww5jngzYs/s320/DSCN3007.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Salted, vinegar carrots, street snack</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IuxzaRk7t_4/TodZJ0moPWI/AAAAAAAAD5Y/UkOC26MJQYw/s1600/DSCN3011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="307" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IuxzaRk7t_4/TodZJ0moPWI/AAAAAAAAD5Y/UkOC26MJQYw/s320/DSCN3011.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Souks in Tripoli</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--h0eli-pqQ0/TodZOqeSU_I/AAAAAAAAD5k/WK8sFAB6iuk/s1600/DSCN3039.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--h0eli-pqQ0/TodZOqeSU_I/AAAAAAAAD5k/WK8sFAB6iuk/s320/DSCN3039.JPG" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the entrance to the Crusader Castle</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o9P5jjA-958/TodZMhh2PAI/AAAAAAAAD5g/knrncEB42bU/s1600/DSCN3053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o9P5jjA-958/TodZMhh2PAI/AAAAAAAAD5g/knrncEB42bU/s320/DSCN3053.JPG" width="235" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tripoli Baby</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dmHwKTxxcwQ/TodZRL_PWII/AAAAAAAAD5o/ZzpJNPNrx4k/s1600/DSCN3075.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dmHwKTxxcwQ/TodZRL_PWII/AAAAAAAAD5o/ZzpJNPNrx4k/s320/DSCN3075.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Altar in Greek Orth. Church, Mina</td></tr>
</tbody></table>These were taken on the tour Samir, a colleague, offered to give us of Tripoli. Just about every other person in Mina, a coastal city adjacent to Tripoli, greeted him personally so that we began calling him the Mayor of Mina. <br />
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Here are more pictures of the Monastery and a lovely restaurant we like because of the setting.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qjStPBB3SsU/TodbBEETFGI/AAAAAAAAD6I/6cKOHJlpbiw/s1600/DSCN3161.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="204" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qjStPBB3SsU/TodbBEETFGI/AAAAAAAAD6I/6cKOHJlpbiw/s320/DSCN3161.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Bell and The Cross, Balamand</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gvG1jmUqe9U/TodbCRd7zyI/AAAAAAAAD6M/ZOhzc-ViZYc/s1600/DSCN3162.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gvG1jmUqe9U/TodbCRd7zyI/AAAAAAAAD6M/ZOhzc-ViZYc/s320/DSCN3162.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Altar in the Monastery Church</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3ZomNLWahwk/TodbJ71R4uI/AAAAAAAAD6g/4yMWn7Cc6I0/s1600/DSCN3170.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3ZomNLWahwk/TodbJ71R4uI/AAAAAAAAD6g/4yMWn7Cc6I0/s320/DSCN3170.JPG" width="278" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Damascene Iconography</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QwSyW4ylLxQ/TodbN7vOU_I/AAAAAAAAD6s/HuWSV1jS48Q/s1600/DSCN3175.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="247" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QwSyW4ylLxQ/TodbN7vOU_I/AAAAAAAAD6s/HuWSV1jS48Q/s320/DSCN3175.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chapel Altar</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vVcvB5x4v2k/TodbZOgyY8I/AAAAAAAAD7M/MRMsf52zI4s/s1600/DSCN3185.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vVcvB5x4v2k/TodbZOgyY8I/AAAAAAAAD7M/MRMsf52zI4s/s320/DSCN3185.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Monastic Apartment</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--OP4kklU7ts/TodbcmmTMyI/AAAAAAAAD7Y/6rxj3ODIK34/s1600/DSCN3191.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--OP4kklU7ts/TodbcmmTMyI/AAAAAAAAD7Y/6rxj3ODIK34/s320/DSCN3191.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Balamand Class Marty Taught</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--ioh2MHfigk/TodbgBIe4xI/AAAAAAAAD7g/xkwMiENqX3E/s1600/DSCN3194.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="315" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--ioh2MHfigk/TodbgBIe4xI/AAAAAAAAD7g/xkwMiENqX3E/s320/DSCN3194.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marty, Dinner with Colleagues at Jamil's</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1W66BFreRKI/Todbiz3_mSI/AAAAAAAAD7o/o0Z73mq9loI/s1600/DSCN3196.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1W66BFreRKI/Todbiz3_mSI/AAAAAAAAD7o/o0Z73mq9loI/s320/DSCN3196.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jamil's</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VueEUn7AY1E/Todbq-lI6JI/AAAAAAAAD78/fgiMKWIDj6c/s1600/DSCN3203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VueEUn7AY1E/Todbq-lI6JI/AAAAAAAAD78/fgiMKWIDj6c/s320/DSCN3203.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Within 24 hours of arriving in the States, I had decided on and signed papers for a car, thanks to the help of a friend who really gets a kick out of shopping for cars. Can you imagine? By the time I arrived, she'd parsed the market (not so good for used cars after the "Wreck-the-guzzlers" program, or whatever it was called), had her favorite dealers and salesmen chosen, and was able to show me the best choices within 2 hours or less. And that, my friends, is how you buy a car! It has been 7 years since I've had that kind of freedom and independence and I made very good use of it, driving all over the Central States: Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and back to Nebraska. What fun it was--really! A stack of good books from the library, good music, and the open road not to mention all the new things I could really appreciate: Drivers who use lanes and signals, who observe the speed limits (mostly), and who stop and start in predictable ways. Driving up and back to Steamboat in CO helped me understand the huge difference between mountain driving there and here. Oh my! No wonder my guests have been scared out of their wits. In Colorado there are four-lane interstate highways <i>in the mountains!</i> Amazing. My guest last year, Marlene, replied, as I tried to point out scenery, "NO! I can't look. I have to look at the road because you're not!"<br />
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But, most amazing of all was that I found all my friends, right where they were supposed to me, usually. Even getting lost is not a big deal these days with cell phones. I must say though that was a bit disconcerting to call my Tulsa friend and say I didn't know where I was and have her tell me she could see me out her front window. I think a GPS is in order for the future. After driving with friends to Chicago for a wedding, I am convinced that is better than sheets of Mapquest printouts flying all over the car. I was fascinated by it and, because they let me program it, I set it with a British accent and started calling it The Road Nanny. That has a comforting sound to it, doesn't it? I mean, how far wrong can you go when the Road Nanny is telling you what to do all the time? Perhaps I should have stapled all those Mapquest papers together in groups for the various destinations, or something. Anyway, I had a wonderful time and had the bonus of seeing even more people who happened to be around when I arrived.<br />
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Other than my Great American Road Trip, I stayed with my sister and her husband Murry, except for a few nights in Lincoln with friends. Since I don't get to church here, I went to church at least twice and sometimes three times on Sundays. (I know, there's a monastery and church part-way down the mountain but it's all in Arabic and Greek and the monks sing monophonic, off-key chants. I really don't think God is upset with me for staying home from something I can't understand or appreciate.) I wasn't really trying to do make-up work but I did enjoy playing and attending. It was also very good to be with family and friends for several weeks. Besides the lack of close friends here, I find Balamand to be very isolating in ways that Beirut is not. One does not "go for coffee" with friends, or to the mall, the movies, or anywhere on the spur of the moment and I can spend consecutive days at home, never seeing another soul, when there is no school. <br />
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I have taken up my violin again, almost every night, and so far, the neighbors have not complained. The truth is, I hope they're not hearing it! The endless repetitions, the finger-slides, the pitch-adjustments. Good grief, and the out-of-practice vibrato that is none too reliable. It can't be good.<br />
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Next week classes start in earnest. No one can really tell me why we have a bogus half-week of classes, no teaching this week except to say that 20 years ago, they did it that way for the sake of their unautomated registration. Oh well, I discovered that I have a good schedule and a private office so, for the most part, I am and will be ready to go on Monday.<br />
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I describe, in the post of August, a couple of incidents from last spring that are unique to this culture. <br />
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Blessings and Hugs to all,<br />
<br />
Geri</div></div>Geri Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00885866051833567744noreply@blogger.com0