MY AWESOME LIFE
(15 January, 2005) Changes
Life has changed a bit since I got back from France. I started student teaching on Monday, at Lincoln North Star with a great cooperating teacher, Joni Osborn, and a fantastic accompanist, Jennifer Van Dyke. LNS is a new school, opened last August (2003), so together, the two of them (and soon, hopefully, with my help) are building a vocal music program from scratch. The have two girls choirs and one mixed choir, and also this semester, a chorus, which was supposed to be a “y’all come” group of dozens of students, but which inexplicably got pared down to 14 by the guidance people. Wtf. Really.
This week was sort of a throw-away week, as it was the end of their last semester. So I got two days of regular classes (met some really great kids, even an Eels fan in independent study!!!) and got to spend a little face time with the students. Then, Wednesday, we had an interminable seminar about “everything you need to know to get a teaching job.” It was useful, I suppose, but boy it was long. And, several of the sessions presented a fairly adversarial situation between teachers and administration. I really didn’t like that, as I think that a good teacher needn’t find adversaries in the administration. Thus, I was totally underwhelmed by the representative from the Nebraska State Educator’s Association, who stressed the problems with salary negotiations and the fact that, without insurance, everyone and their dog are going to sue new teachers for no reason. (Just pay your $500 annual dues and you won’t have anything to worry about – except for a union that endorsed crappy candidates and does all sorts of things with my money of which I don’t approve.) I guess negativity and fear got Bush re-elected. Why shouldn’t the convince me to join the union?
At North Star, Wednesday through Friday were final exam days, so we just had little parties in our classes, where students had to bring something to involve everyone. In two days, I learned to play Hot Potato, several cheerleading games, made Fruit Loop necklaces, learned to tap dance, and many other life skills. Thursday was like a little Christmas for me. Joni and I went to the Lincoln Public Schools (LPS) music library, and I got to pick out a lot of the music for the next semester. I’ve picked some challenging lit, but I think they could use a little challenge.
Today, Jeremy, Megan, & Willa, Edward & I went to lunch and then the Lincoln Children’s Museum (http://www.lincolnchildrensmuseum.org). I don’t know if Willa or the adults had more fun. Then we dropped Edward off at his dorm, so he could sleep, and we went to Target, and then to Tico’s for a delicious dinner.
The other changes since returning from France are long and drawn out, and hardly worth mentioning, but things have changed, and probably for the better.
(7 January, 2005) Day Thirteen
Watching the sun come up over the mountains of Alsace, and watching the sky turn from black to a light grey and then blue is a moving, spiritual event. Watching the sun come up over Newark is not. Especially when you’re not supposed to be watching the sun come up over Newark. I left Paul & Andre just late enough to arrive at the train station and watch my train to the airport close its doors and leave the platform. So, I got to wait for the next train, and subsequently miss my flight and get put on stand-by for the next flight to Chicago. So much for great planning.
The reason for all of this chaos is thus: I purchased very cheap tickets to fly to France, and for purchasers of inexpensive tickets, things like “simple convenience” are fairly meaningless. Thus, I landed from France at JFK airport (on Long Island, a half-hour cab ride at breakneck speed) last night at about 8:40PM. I then had to get my bags and change airports, to Newark Liberty (in Newark, a half-hour train ride). The only snarl (aside from traveling more than an hour between airports) was that my next flight didn’t leave until 6:00AM the following morning. I wasn’t about to spend the night in an airport, especially in New York, where I have friends living and friends visiting. Thus, the chaos and confusion, and the dreary sunrise over New Jersey.
The plane was on-time to Chicago, and I was able to sleep a lot of the way, and then I got to navigate the complicated mess of Chicago mass transit. I had to take a subway part of the way and the commuter rail out to the suburbs. One would think that if both trains stop at “Irving Park,” it would not necessitate a slog through two blocks of 4-inch snow dragging luggage. One would think, and one would be wrong. The train-ing, if you will, took more than an hour and a half, and given all of the delays, I was now three hours behind where I’d hoped to be. But, the web site keeps getting worked on, and I REALLY need a shower.
Kelli & Phil were nice enough to take me to lunch at a totally great, greasy American restaurant, and then I hopped in the Metro for the journey home. It was much the same as the journey to Chicago, except that there was freezing rain involved, and slush. At first, this doesn’t seem like a problem, until you remember that no heater = no defroster either. So, every few miles I got out and scraped the windshield off until the freezing rain and slush quit. In a rather uneventful way, I made it home to my apartment by 10:15PM, turned on the heater and water heater, went to Wal-Mart with Edward Sharp (It’s great to be back in the States, eh Steve?!), took a shower, and an now headed for a well-deserved rest to process all I’ve experienced and how it will effect who I become as a person and the choices I make. That, really, is the true benefit of travel. By experiencing first hand other perspectives, those issues that one grapples with at home seem suddenly much clearer. Amen.
Read About 2004 (And the Rest of My Trip) - Click Here.
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