Things I found on a Sunday morning . . .

Pizem decked six times from the first crux, about 12 feet off the ground, when gear ripped out. “The landing is very soft in fine-grained sand,” he said, “and I made a point of making sure that the rocks had been moved after my first fall. I debated on adding a bolt to prevent the cam from blowing, but decided that I should just stop falling there.”

-climbing.com-
I like this quote; I think that it applies to a lot of different difficult scenarios.



"The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner"

From my mother's sleep I fell into the State,
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life,
I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.

-Randall Jarrell-

This was a poem referred to in the comic strip Frazz today, the 23rd. If you do not read this strip, you should start. I am a big fan of the disillusioned soldier; mainly because I cannot believe that there exists any other kind.

*For more, see also:

1. All Quiet on the Western Front- Erich Maria Remarque
2. "The Sniper"- Liam O'Flaherty
3. "Dulce Decorum Est"- Wilfred Owen
4. "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda"- The Pogues
   

The Downfall of the Modern Student. . .

As told by a man who wrote over half a century ago,

“Passive acceptance of the teacher's wisdom is easy to most boys and girls. It involves no effort of independent thought, and seems rational because the teacher knows more than his pupils; it is moreover the way to win the favour of the teacher unless he is a very exceptional man. Yet the habit of passive acceptance is a disastrous one in later life. It causes man to seek and to accept a leader, and to accept as a leader whoever is established in that position.”

-Bertrand Russell-

As always no complaints, or at least none too serious.

Time flies when you’re having fun. That’s how the expression goes, and I would argue with anyone who says that it is not true. I have about five weeks left for student teaching and then another four for travel. I do not know where the time has gone; out the window I do suppose.

Guests, guests, and more guests:

I am not sure that I have any earth shattering news, I should be doing school work right now, but like Adam I am a seasoned procrastinator. I have really not been doing much of anything except for school, running, eating, and sleeping. We do have guests staying with us this week as Anna (the new French resident) has invited her boyfriend to stay for a bit and massive group (11 people) has come from Reading (England) to visit Caty and Mauro. 6 of the Readingers are staying with us as we have the largest flat here in Thessaloniki. So, for those of you having issues with the math, there are currently 13 people in our five bedroom flat. Luckily everyone is super cool and I am making contacts in Italy and adding to those I have in Spain and France

Random school stuff:

School continues to keep me very busy and has made me the loser (I know I already was one) who stays home and works instead of going out and having fun, I catch a lot of flak for it from the flat mates. I have quickly grown to hate grading and will hire someone to grade for me as soon as I have my own classroom. Soula comes for her second observation on Wednesday so I have to gear up for that excitement and I am still waiting to hear about a possible job placement at Pinewood.

My only complaints:

I have not read a book with a reading level above the 9th grade in weeks, other than the blog I have trouble finding time to write, and I have yet to climb. These are my only complaints and the only one that really worries me is the lack of climbing. I can run forever up hill, but I am not sure that I could hang on to a crimp for more than a few second; Adam will be disappointed in me. I would like to be able to climb in May when I am traveling but I do not think that anyone in Europe climbs below a 5.13 anymore and I will not be able to climb 5.10 so it should be a trick to find a climbing partner.

Fortunately, these are my only complaints and in the grand scheme of things it could be worse. As I have said before I really love it here and I cannot wait to start traveling to see what it is really all about. I hope that all of you are doing well and I apologize for the randomness of my post.

Sunday Morning Blog Files:

Finally some time to sit and write. This is difficult to find these days as I think that I am busier than I have been at any other point in my life.

Here in Greece, Carnival is coming to an end for the Orthodoxy; it started about a week ago, but since I wasn’t writing I could not inform you. Basically, the church is gearing up for the 40 day meat fast which leads up to Easter (they celebrate Easter at the end of April). This past week the Greeks have been going out and eating mass quantities of meat and having parties that mix our notions of an arts fair with Halloween (how’s that for imagery). Now, on Monday they will give up all meat products to cleanse themselves for the crucifixion of Christ.

Listen, I don’t mean to be a heretic and I certainly do not pretend to be a religious scholar, but this seems counter productive to me. If you eat as much meat in a week as you would in 40 days, how is that then a sacrifice? Not to mention, giving up all of your protein for 40 days, that’s not very healthy. Would it not be a better sacrifice to lessen your intake of meat year round; perhaps, giving the spare production to needy countries? This idea seems healthier, closer to God’s teachings, and more socially conscious; but, no one asked me.

I’ll stop there with that conversation for fear that I have already offended someone. As for me, I have really just been working . . . a lot. I have not traveled since my trip to Mt. Olympus, which was awesome; no spectacular stories, just hiking and beautiful limestone. Other than that I have just been going to school, writing lesson plans, grading, and playing football (my foot is all better). I turned in my resume to Pinewood and am waiting a reply (Tom Cahalan if you read this, did you get my e-mail?) from that; the waiting game is kind of killing me.

Otherwise, I am simply counting my chickens before they hatch. I have been looking at the salary that I will have if I get a job here and trying to figure out what I could afford rent and transportation wise; I know it is a bit premature, but . . . what can I say? I have also begun to plan my travels for May, as I have about four weeks after school ends until my plane leaves Milan for Phili. I am thinking about getting a select Eurail pass for three countries and 7 days of travel in two months, this will work the best for what I want to do.

Overall things continue to progress. Life is wonderful, the people are great, and I have no room to complain (except that I would like to hear form more of you on the comments page; get your butts in gear).

I hope that everything is going well with all of you and that spring is coming your way. I would love an update from the climbing gym (Jud, seeing as how you seem to be the only one that reads this thing, it kind of falls on your shoulders); is everyone prepping for the mass exodus or was it all talk?

If the Wyomingtons read this thing, I hope all is well in your neck of the woods.

Adam is going to EMT school.

Keith and Sarah I have not talked to in ages (you need to move into this decade and get some internet).

Mom and Dad are wonderful as always; getting ready for springtime with two feet of snow.

Time flies as energy flows.

Peace, love, and happiness
ian

Neglect

Alexander in all his splendor
Ahhhhh.
Merlin visits grade six. The things I will do for attention.
What the? . . . Oh Communists. They are not super stoked about the whole Kosovo thing here.
That's right Gods in God Land. Mt. Olympos (Yes, that is how it is translated).

Where have you been all my life?

Things could not be more hectic . . . well not hectic as simply busy. I have not written for a good while and find that I must post only a short message to let you all know that I am still alive and kicking. It is as frustrating for me as it is for you to be sure. I have all sorts of stories to share and news to bestow, but no time in order to do it in. I have a three day weekend next weekend and I promise that I will write a more satisfying entry at that point. In the mean time here are a few pictures to wet you palate. . .

Peace in the Middle East

Ian