Education systems -- and their results

Tonight the students of 5A will put on a presentation on Jamie Oliver, his ideas on food and some of his recipes. They read the recipes in English, translated them into German, and will present in German and English. Some other students will be presenting in French as well.

I would like to point out that these students are in the 5th form, the equivalent of the American 9th grade. In 9th grade, the year I began studying German, these kids are capable of reading, translating, and presenting recipes about unfamiliar food in English and French. Currently, after years more of study and months spent in Austria, I speak/function at about their level.

I blame my education system for my complete lack of ability to function well in any language other than English. And I am deeply annoyed by the fact that these fourteen and fifteen year old students are just as capable as I am. It's also rather humbling, and not in a good way.

Antarctica

On MSNBC.com, there's a newsteam that went to Antarctica to compile a report on ice melt and global climate change based on interviews with scientists there. They're dispatches were really quite entertaining, and of course I find it all fascinating given how great of an impact even a relatively small amount of ice melt could cause.

2005-2006 TOURISTS BY NATIONALITY
9,035
United States
4,150
United Kingdom
3,012
Germany
2,409
Australia
863
Canada
836
Netherlands
624
Switzerland
617
Japan
3,645
Others

One of the interesting questions they raise is the human affect on Antarctica, especially with the great increase in tourism. So, of course, I had to look it up. That's a LOT more people than I thought that are going to Antarctica each year.

Here's a description of what one can do on an Antarctic cruise (virtually the only way to go to Antarctica unless you're a legit scientist who works there or at the base)

"Itineraries vary, depending in part on the kind of vessel you choose. If you want to venture beyond the Antarctic Peninsula, for example, you'll probably wind up on an icebreaker. Cruises can be 1-3 weeks in length, stopping at various points of interest or bases on the peninsula, coast or islands. Activities on the various tours include viewing penguins, elephant seals and other polar animals, as well as ice walks and opportunities to visit research bases and meet the scientists who work there. Virtually every cruise offers the chance for spectacular views of icebergs and you may get to see an ice shelf or glacier calve into a new iceberg. Many icebergs are beautifully colored, showing green, blue or purple ice and crevasses where the sea water has hollowed them out or melted them into fantastic shapes."


This is a picture taken by someone who went on one of their cruises.

Here are some sample prices:
2006/2007 Sarpik Ittuk:
November 7, 17, 27:
Triple: $2995
Twin(Upper/Lower)Berths: $4495
Twin(Lower Berths): $4895
DedicatedSingle: $5995 December 7, 17, 27, January 6, 16, 26 and February 5, 15, 25:
Triple: $3995
Twin(Upper/Lower)Berths: $5495
Twin(Lower Berths): $5895
DedicatedSingle: $7495

I personally find it absolutely amazing that anyone could travel to Antarctica for a 12-day cruise for $3000 (plus excursion costs and airfare). And some people think buying a flat screen TV is better!

Sadly, I do have to grub for money

Today was a happy day because I was paid. This means my rent is paid, I can buy yummy food (bratwurst mit senf und kraut, in this case the Austrian skinny style bratwurst with spicy mustard and non vinegary sauerkraut) for lunch tomorrow - since I don't plan on waking up earlier than lunch - and some bio-yogurt, cheese and roggenbrot. It is good to have money.

I find my thoughts increasingly occupied with my concerns about my finances. This is bad obviously for a number of reasons. First, I think it's exacerbating the latent ulcer that I'm slowly nursing into mondo proportions. Second, I would much rather be thinking about something else. Third, I can't change it anyway, so why am I stressing? Probably because stressing is something I do very well.

I will be pleased to be gainfully employed in no less than two years. I will get my teaching certificate as fast as possible. I believe I can finish all the classes in one year, do my student teaching in the fall, and be teaching somewhere within two years. Who knows where, and I have to say I don't particularly care where (okay, Saudi Arabia is right out); as long as I'm making a living wage and can pay $1000/month on my student loans, I'll be happy with my job.

It will be nice to re-enter the safe haven of university life for a short time, although I'm REALLY not excited about taking courses like ANTH 107 (Intro to Anthropology) and POSC 201 (American Politics) with a bunch of undergrads. Shoot me now.

resource waste solution

Puget Sound in Spring (although it could be any season, it's always green and beautiful there).

Dolce Vita's blog post reminded me of something I decided shortly after deciding to go back to the exact center of Washington state, aka Ellensburg, to get my teaching certificate. Would that I could go to Seattle instead.... still better than Spokane. Or Moses Lake! ugh!

No car. That's right, no car. There is no public transport in Ellensburg, and to visit my mom on the weekend, I will need to catch the Greyhound across town and then take the ferry across the Puget Sound, then take the foot ferry from Bremerton to Port Orchard, then take the bus, which appears to run every hour/half hour at random intervals, from there to my mom's house. This should take approximately 2.5 hours for the bus, 1 hour for the ferry, 30 minutes on the foot ferry, and about 20 minutes on the bus. But it can be done, and I will do it. I don't want to be one of those lame-o's who complain about damage to the environment and about Americans who drive big cars, then BE one of those lame-o's driving a V8 engine to campus when it's only a mile away.

In the 7A English class yesterday, we discussed the future of the Western world, in terms of the open areas that are left being turned into shopping malls, high rise apartment buildings and parking lots. They all told me that it was the consumer's responsibility to refuse to patronize businesses who build in wetlands because it's cheaper to pay the fine than to move the store, and the individual's responsibility to improve the condition of the planet, one person at a time.

I don't know how much it will actually make a difference, considering how irritating most Americans are about energy/resource usage, but it will make ME feel better.

Contemplation

I was trying to figure out today why I am enjoying this part of my life so much as compared to previous years. I have come to a few conclusions.

1) Grad school was lame for a number of reasons, not the least of which that it made me feel like I constantly had my hand in the cooky jar. Whether I was watching TV, doing a fun crafty thing, working out, visiting my family - whatever I was doing with my LIFE, I felt guilty about because it detracted from school. I felt doubly guilty because my life was making it difficult to do well in school, and the cycle perpetuated itself.
The other main reason grad school was lame is because I saw no real purpose for what I was doing. It was interesting to me and a select few historians/scholars in the world and that's it. I wasn't doing something of significance in my view - religion is significant to me, but apparently not to the majority of Western society. So, I felt as though I was plugging away at something that was not especially worth my time.

2) School is, by definition, not working - thus, I felt like I was "practicing" living life, rather than actually living it. Since I have been in school my whole life up until now, that is a long time of feeling bored and a little unhappy and impatient.

3) I can't remember a time since high school when I didn't have a crush on a guy or wasn't dating someone. For the first time since I was old enough to do so, I am not dating anyone, I am not interested in anyone, and I am feeling quite pleased with the single state.

Clearly, the fact that I am no longer in graduate school contributes a great deal to my current feeling of well-being. Those of you who are still in school, kudos to you - all of you had projects/topics FAR more relevant than mine. If I were to do it over again, I would have picked either comparative religions or 19th/20th century Austria, except that everyone does that, and I have a rule against being like everyone else. :) Anyway, I wouldn't have focused on fin-de-siecle like everyone, I would have focused on 1848 and Hungary's successful attempts to become more autonomous. Perhaps because of the current situation with Austria in the center of Europe and having all these historic ties to the new member states, I am quite interested in how it is all working. In fact, that was my independent project that I worked on last time I was in Austria. But anyway, the thought of working for years and years on a dissertation about Austrian villages in the 16th century - well.... it doesn't fill me with excitement. Comparative religions would have been fun too, but it would have seemed almost like cheating since I find world religions/practices so fascinating that it wouldn't have seemed like work.

So the end result is that I am happy to have a job I like, living in a place I love, working with people I like, studying a language I like, living with people I like, and Christmas is almost here! I think though, that even going back to school for my teaching certificate next fall will be easier mentally than grad school. If I ever go back, I will make sure to choose something that I really, really care about, not just something that I find really interesting. Interesting doesn't get you through pages and pages of primary documents and stacks of secondary literature.

Would you believe I read "Babylonian Captivity of the Church" for fun? Now THIS is a man too many people are studying. When I came to the UO, I wanted to write my thesis on the response of women to the Reformation - why, if we are often taught how the Catholic Church oppressed women, did Catholic women fight with everything they had to remain Catholic? And why did other women choose to support the Evangelical movement? Now THAT is fascinating. Too bad there's about zero primary sources available at the UO for such a topic.

Double Standards

I came across two interesting things within about five minutes on my nightly check-the-news-before-I-go-to-bed ritual. First, I had a bulletin posted on myspace that was supposedly attributed to Andy Rooney. I happen to like Andy Rooney, I think he's one of the few people that have the guts and the stature to say exactly what they think, and there really aren't all that many people like that today, everyone seems to be worried about being PC or something. Anyway, the bulletin was partly like something Rooney would say, but not really, because Andy Rooney is funny and fair in a way this bulletin never could be, in its attempt to legitimize inappropriate attitudes and ideas about current issues in the US. These included, but are not limited to, immigration, the use of English, homophobia, public support of minority oriented things (such as Black Miss America), and so on.

The second issue that came up was this thing with Michael Richards, the guy who played Kramer on Seinfeld. I really have a problem with the hullabaloo this caused for two reasons: a) if this had been a minority of any variety complaining about whites, it would have been ignored entirely, even though it would be just as racist. Just because someone is victimized, they do not automatically have the right to be as big of jerks as those who damaged them. b) As the article rightly pointed out, Fox news was shamelessly pulling the race card with its O.J. Simpson special (which it ended up not showing), and yet public outrage is still high over Richards and not about this network that was blatantly trying to make money off of a double homicide.

I find comments criticizing the African-American community's attempts to build social cohesion and identity to be short-sighted and irritating, because let's face it: if any group in the US today needs more social stability and a positive sense of identity, it's the African-American community. But I also find this double standard of racism offensive in that minorities can get away with saying things and doing things about/against themselves or whites that would never fly coming from the mouth of a white person, such as Richards. For example, AAs* using the n-word. I find this word so offensive that I will say it only in the case of explaining it to non-English speakers who have never heard it. I don't care who says it, it is completely and utterly offensive, and no matter how many times I'm told that it's okay if an AA uses such a derogatory term amongst their AA friends, I do not agree. It has always been, and always will be a term that represents everything wrong with race relations in the US, and a refusal to admit this and leave this word where it belongs - in the past - is simply serving to perpetuate a bad example within the AA community.

*much easier than typing them all out.