Holiday spirit

This year it came on a road trip with a car filled with Christmas tunes and two good friends as we headed down to Colonial Williamsburg for a day of exploration. We've committed to exploring the area in and around the DC area one site and one month at a time, and this was our second trip to a recreated colonial town about two and a half hours southeast from Washington.

From Williamsburg with Heather and Joann

The entire recreation is a fabulous reminder of all of those names and places from U.S. history class in high school and their importance and relevance to today. You enter history in Williamsburg and you get to explore it with guides dressed in costume telling you about life in the colonies. Sure, it's a touristy gimmick, but it is also fabulous. I, for one, bought a year-long pass, so if anyone would like to go again, I am definitely game.

From Williamsburg with Heather and Joann

In addition to the usual tour, we took a special Christmas decoration tour (note the numerous pictures of wreaths in the slideshow), saw Santa Claus, and caught a fifteen-minute production of Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol. It was a fantastic day with great company. To top it all off, we hit a skiff of snow coming back into the city! Indeed, Christmas time is here.

Bathory

I saw a really remarkable film the other night that was here as part of an EU film festival. Admittedly I went not because I knew anything about the film but because it was from Slovakia and about a castle a stone's throw from Stara Tura where I lived for over two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I wanted to reconnect with some Slovak friends here in the area and reminisce a bit -- my expectations were not high. However, I was surprised with a really remarkable film and a discussion afterward with the director, Juraj Jakubisko, and his wife.

Bathory -- see the homepage for the trailer and more information -- was a fantastic way to spend a couple of hours. Edgy, insightful, provocative. The film managed to call to question this woman's character and the life she might have lived, a very different story than those I heard when I visited Cachtice Hrad back in the day.

To beat it all, I managed to snag a film poster autographed by Jakubisko as I left the cinema. My final recommendation: go see it if you are able (and the language of the film is English, disappointing for me who had hoped to fill my ears with a couple of hours of Slovak, but perhaps an enticement for those skeptical of long foreign films in strange languages).

Brrr. A chilly walk on the Mall

From Walkathon

This morning was an invigorating start to my weekend. I got up bright and early (with the birds, as my father would say) to join 25,000 other participants from the VA, DC, and MD area for a fund-raising walk on the Mall for the homeless. Sponsored by Fanny Mae (irony here?), the Help the Homeless Walkathon raises money for DC's estimated 12,000 homeless. I grumbled to get out of bed this morning, dressed in multiple warm layers of clothing, and hoofed it to catch the Metro, all before a civil hour on a Saturday. The temperature was just about freezing at 28F (-2C). A chilly but cloudless and sunny morning -- we could see our breath as we waited on the National Mall to register and gather. Toes and fingers slowly became sore and numb from the cool air. It felt good to get moving, even if we only walked 5K (app. 3 miles).

From Walkathon

Tons of people were in good spirits -- we had groups singing, cheerleaders, a percussion ensemble, jugglers, and a marching band to cheer us on. All said and done with at the end of the event around 10:30 a.m., I grabbed the complementary water, rubbed together my frozen digits, and headed back to the Metro to my cozy home for a hot cup of coffee and a rest. I can't help but wonder... how does it feel when you don't have a heat, hot water, a bed, or a home? I cannot even begin to imagine. I thank God for all the big and small blessings in my life -- and I must keep reminding myself that they are only mine to share with others.

Let Freedom Sing!

I am soooo jazzed! Tonight, I went to rehearsal for the Let Freedom Ring Choir, a project choir that is organized for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration here in DC in January. When I signed up for this event -- open to all Georgetown students, staff, faculty, and community members -- I wasn't sure how serious the choir would be or how balanced its representation would be. I was welcomed and pleasantly surprised at our first meeting. The singing was FUN and very accessible. There were a good number of students but also staff and faculty. The choir is very multi-age, multi-ethnic, multi-racial, and multi-talented. King would have been proud of the composition of such a musical group celebrating his life, I think.

We are singing a number of tunes, but the one we rehearsed was written by the choir director, Rev. Nolan Williams, Jr. His attitude was creative and inspiring. I think we all felt like a community that wanted to sing for him and for each other. His leadership style was fantastic (I will have to do some observation in future rehearsals, but I was wholly fascinated by his friendly yet down-to-business way of approaching our rehearsal). He is an inspiring community leader in his own right, I have no doubt.

We will be practicing the entire week before the holiday, but the culminating event takes place in the Kennedy Center with a top-secret guest artist and Nuttin' But Strings. I imagine that one very inspirational presidential elect might also be present at the event as inauguration day follows MLK day this year. And, donned in my choir robe, I'll get a first-hand experience of the whole thing. Stands my hair on end with excitement!

Stand by for my debut at the Kennedy Center on January 19. I think we do get some complementary tickets and there is some floor space in my studio, so let me know if you'll be around and would like to join in the festivities over that weekend.

Make new friends but keep the old..

One is silver and the other's gold.

Remember that one from Brownies? What truer words could a girl scout speak?

From VIsit to Ela Nov. 2008

I drove about 3 hours down to Virginia Beach last weekend to visit a friend from my time in Romania who has relocated to the U.S. to teach in our K-12 system for 3 years. An incredibly brave and commendable adventure, no doubt. But my friend Ela is one of the most up-beat and good-hearted people I know. Funny thing is, I never imagined meeting her here in the U.S., and I never imagined living on the same coast. Life is so incredible sometimes -- it puts people in our paths that we would never expect. Isn't that cool? Anyway, Ela and her lovely husband met me in Virginia Beach to catch up on the last years and see some sites. We took in colonial Jamestowne and Williamsburg and refreshed our memory of American history. In the meantime, we remembered our friendship and had a great time admiring fall scenery, exploring replicas of the ships that sailed here from the Old World, sword fighting with colonists, talking with indigenous people, and eating copious amounts of cheesy "colonized" pizza.

From VIsit to Ela Nov. 2008

The makings of a great fall weekend. Indeed one is silver
and the other is gold.

VIsit to Ela Nov. 2008

November 4, 2008

VOTE.

There's just nothing else to say today.

Novemberings

This is a shameless catch-up post, my current ramblings, and just a general torrent of the nuttiness that churns around in my head night and day. Here it is!

From Oktoberfest in Washington

The best part of October? Oktoberfest, of course! A successful scavenger hunt that some friends and I did in August won us free tickets to the German Embassy black tie affair here in DC a couple of weeks ago. Yes, you read it right: "black tie." A hilarious juxtaposition of formality and tradition, we had ladies and gents dressed to impress side by side with a slide show of beer guzzling Germans in Munich, picnic tables and benches, polka music, and traditionally dressed dancers.

From Oktoberfest in Washington

We could taste beers from diffeent parts of Germany and eat some delectable wurst, fleischsalat, and sauerkraut. Mmm. Upon entry, we were handed our beer steins (large mugs) and proceed tasting beer and enjoying the evening. We even got in some group dancing with instructions! Fun, memorable, and probably more than a bit different from the happenings in Munich each fall. Prost!

The second most memorable thing about October besides debt crises, stock market crashes, intensive election campaigning, and Oktoberfest? Halloween, of course! I forgot how much fun this holiday is. Although it seems like every country I've lived in has tried half-heartedly to import the holiday, I think Halloween is best celebrated where it belongs. I think that my feelings about Halloween when I was abroad could best be described as careful enthusiasm. Among colleagues and friends upset that the commercial American holidays were taking root and replacing local festivities, I downplayed how much I love Halloween. Here, I was shocked at the amount of attention the holiday receives (because it is the first of the many commercial winter holidays?). Walking into Target, I couldn't believe all of the candy, accessories, cards, decor, and gear. Wowsers -- since when was Halloween a time when you had to buy lots of stuff? I resisted needless purchased and did what all good haunts do for the holidays, I rummaged through my closet for "junk." Problem is that I don't have much junk (yet) as a newly relocated Washingtonian. I cobbled something together as a fortune teller and headed out with Tarot cards in hand to join in the celebration with a fun group of friends. Boo!

November has just begun, but that does not mean that I don't have commentary. The leaves are in full color -- gorgeous hues of red, orange, and yellow! I cannot remember such a beautiful fall with so many different shades. The landscape is so different here with so many more deciduous trees than in my home state of Wyoming. I'm enjoying observations of squirrels skittering around and the gentle fall temperature (and light) changes. We've had some spectacular days. Yesterday, I joined forces with a couple of other local adventurers to get out of the city and enjoy the day. We headed out about 90 miles to Luray Caverns. Although the caves were crowded with other opportunistic fall travelers, they were still full of spectacular stalagmites and curtains and other formations. Of note was a reflection pond in which you could see the ceiling perfectly mirrored (I've tried to capture it in my pictures, below) and an organ that strikes hollow stalagmites of different sizes to create a tone. Fantastic! Afterwards, we enjoyed a sunny Saturday drive through Shenandoah National Park, a fresh apple stand, and a wine tasting en route. Fabulous drive, great weather, and outstanding company -- what a great way to enter November!

What other Novemberings? These days, I'm thinking about some of the following topics (but will wait to elaborate for another day):

• those candycorn-like pumpkin candies and how some people think they are really disgusting but I really enjoy them and will be sad to finish them up.
  
• holiday season -- my favorite time of the year... Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years. What surprises are in store?
• voting and how much I am ready to see a result from such an exciting (and long) campaign cycle. By the way, I voted absentee last week and almost cried (cheesy, I know). Although I had to wait in line for over an hour, people kept pouring in. Young people, old people, pretty people, professional people, a woman in her bathrobe (?)... this is an exciting year for change and I have my fingers sorely crossed for a successful future path for our nation's politics. Another cool feature of voting here in Arlington was that we had nifty touch-screen voting machines that made it easy and super quick. Now, if only they had had a few more to make those lines shorter.
• shopping. I don't move overseas with sweaters. They are too bulky and heavy. This means that when the weather changes (and it is), I need some new things to keep me warm. I wish I could say that I enjoyed driving in traffic to search for overpriced parking in a teeny place and then fight congested malls in search of the perfect fall/winter wear was my idea of a fun way to spend an afternoon. It's not. It's just not. And I've still got goosebumps just thinking about the necessary trip.
• biking is such a great way to blow off some steam about things like shopping (or at least it is a great way to avoid shopping). I had such a therapeutic ride today down the Potomac towards Mt. Vernon. I really should push my helmet-clad self out the door a bit more often and a bit more readily. The morning biking commute is still great, by the way.
• exotic vegetables and fruits that I bought at a newly-discovered international foods market last week are making trips to my refrigerator more fun. Persimmons, papaya, mango, pomegranate, eggplant, Thai okra, sweet potatoes, fresh noodles. Yum. That said, I should go fix up a bit for dinner.

Guten apetit! (Did I mention ... ich lerne Deutch jetz!)

Thank God Columbus Discovered America!

Say what you will about whether or not Columbus really discovered anything at all. I'm just thankful that I got a three-day weekend out of his sailing in 1492. It was a lovely excuse to cruise out of town by bicycle on a gorgeous weekend.

Check out an album of this momentous voyage, below. For those more curious, you can read links about The C&O Canal, Harper's Ferry, and The W & OD Trail. Happy Trails!

City living can be tough for a Wyoming girl

My Wordle

A friend who keeps a quilting blog made a word cluster (see Wordle to make your own) that I thought was kind of funky. It takes all of the most frequent words from a text such as this blog and puts them together in a shape. Kind of pretty, isn't it? Also interesting to note my largest key word -- "Home." That does sum it up, doesn't it?

The Commuter

Officially a part of moving to a bigger place, commuting is a daily exercise in patience for most DC area dwellers. Quite a big change from life in Tartu (pop. 100,000) where almost everything was within a 15 minute walking distance. Today, I can report, I spent over two hours of my life in transit: to work via university shuttle, 35 minutes; to the Goethe Institut for German lessons via bus and metro, 50 minutes; back home to Arlington via metro, 35 minutes. For many living in this area, the time I spend in transit is trivial. For me, it is just another conjested adjustment.

Today differed from my normal daily routine, and so I thought about commuting more than usual. I was constantly comparing my travel time to my usual MO (see picture).
My first purchase to DC was perhaps my wisest (next to my red leather sofa!). I am beating the daily traffic on my new blue set of wheels. There are so many bonuses:
- I am fast! 15 minute downhill morning commute and 25 minute uphill evening commute
- I am cheap! Beats the price of gas these days
- I am burning fat! Okay, perhaps an overstatement, but at least I get my body moving for a few minutes everyday
- I am green! No emissions from me (although it is questionable how much I take in huffing and puffing next to the trafficways)

Although my new ride is not red like my Estonian bike, it still moves pretty good. There are a lot of trails in this area that are green and fun to ride (see Bike Arlington). I took off yesterday for a twenty-mile ride and almost felt like I got out of the city... almost. After all my doubts about commuting by bike have been answered, I cannot help but wonder if a red one might be a little bit faster... Perhaps I need some red accessories?

P.S. And yes, for those of you wondering, I am riding safe -- helmet, reflectors, lights galore!

Re-Entry Shock

Re-entry for rockets and space shuttles has to take into account the heat created by entering the atmosphere so that the vehicle or object arrives intact and without too much damage (or rather as a completely singed, charcoal object).

Why didn't I take into consideration such serious measures about coming home and re-entering the U.S. cultural zone? Yes, I know about reverse culture shock. I have done it more than once. I just thought that I was over it, as if it was something that I might only encounter my first move back. Ha! As I have traveled across the globe and relocated thousands of miles from where I grew up, my journey has been fraught with small glitches, moments at which I stop to re-consider if I really know what is going on. As an English teacher, I imagine it might be worse. Abroad, I was constantly called upon to share the "American perspective," as if a vast nation of 300 million can be captured in a sound bite. In retrospect, I think that I eventually bought into the question and, at times, offered what I thought to be the pervasive American way of doing things. This perhaps is the best set-up for a serious atmospheric jolt.

I think that I often appear as a foreigner in my own country, even though I speak the language without a discernible accent. Making choices for salad dressing at a restaurant, a coffee at Starbucks, or hair products in the supermarket take me ages. I have been asked several times if I need help by overly eager store clerks (What do they want?!? questions the American who has been living in a place where customer service is defined a bit differently). The choices are overwhelming and they exist on every detail of the product and every level of service you can imagine. Bewildered? Yeah.

The world is so friendly here. Strangers talk to me in line about the news or a local event. Waiters chat with me while I wait. At a salsa event that I attended last weekend, I made several new friends that gave me tips, exchanged contact info, and invited me for future dancing events. After two years in a rather reserved Nordic country, I feel strange with the familiarity, as if it can't possibly be true.

There are so many systems. Charts. Organizational lists. Calendars. The program I work in has everything planned through the middle of next year -- and I have been informed about it in advance. My colleagues and friends seem to have full calendars of appointments and obligations. It feels a little bit stifling. Where is that room for an impromptu cup of tea or glass of wine? The world seems to move so fast.

Other milder observations run the gamut. Food tastes sweeter(sugar seems to be an ingredient in almost everything here). I have a car, an apartment, stuff inside of it (yikes!). Packaging is in just one language which seems so succinct in comparison to the multilingual microscopic text on everything in Estonia. The metro and city is filled with so much linguistic, ethnic, and cultural diversity. The cultural program here is fantastic -- I can go dancing three times every night of the week. The city is also full of people and traffic; a tough adjustment after living in a small town somewhere in the Baltic forest. For once, I seemed to have planted myself in a nexus for so many -- I already have visited with so many long-lost friends and look forward to meeting more. Cheese in America is not exciting as I remember; it is so yellow. My partner in crime, a savvy Computer Scientist is far far away back in another corner of the universe, and I am also readjusting to a solo routine for a while.

Huh?!? Still confused or think that you missed something?
Here's the one-sentence scoop: I finished my stint as an English Language Fellow in Estonia and returned back to Wyoming for the summer months before heading to Washington, DC, where I accepted a position as an instructor teaching English as a Foreign Language at Georgetown University.

More adventures and tales to come... assuming that I survive the re-entry, of course!

Eastward bound

As much as I love being home in Wyoming, my next adventures will take me a bit farther east to the capital city. I'll be trekking that direction next week in a major road trip. 1,875 miles and 3,018 km later I'll be in my new home... However, the adventure is almost always more in the journey than the destination, so if you find yourself remotely near my route, be sure to drop a line or give a holler!


View Larger Map

Highlights

Here are a few glimpses of some Americana and the best captured moments of my stay "home, home on the range"!



The city-wide pancake feed at the fire station for the Fourth of July





Waiting for the parade to start!





Biking to Spotted Horse, WY with my parents and Uncle Steve



Celebrating Grandma Fern's 83rd Birthday (YEE-HAW!) in Hettinger



A fantastic reunion with my best childhood friend and her beautiful family in Casper



Hike to Harney Peak in the Black Hills



Looking at the incredible five-state view from Harney with Uli



A 1930s style lantern tour of Jewel Cave in the Black Hills





Four-wheeling on my Dad's land near Sundance



Camping with the family



My giggly niece, nephew, and Skip the wonder dog



And the best of all possible endings... a sunset over the prairie

The land is within me

From 2008-07 (Jul)...

It has been a tumultuous month full of good-byes, hellos, and welcome homes. The reluctant departure from my two-year home in Tartu and my exciting arrival back to Wyoming. My sentiments have been too complex and my fingers to lazy to blog about all of my findings. One thing I have thought a lot about since coming back is about our human connection to the land. Although I can appreciate verdant meadows and thick forests and wonder at daily drizzles and rain showers, I acknowledge that a piece of my soul belongs here on the prairie. Stepping off the plane from my two-day trans-continental journey from Estonia, I knew the moment that I breathed in the dry sweet-smelling air that I was home. I am not sure I can describe very accurately a scent that I have always known -- a crisp mixture of sweet clover, sage brush, and wide open spaces. The landscape here could not be more different that my home-that-was and my home-to-be on the East Coast. Rolling hills and breath-taking horizons, you can sometimes see over 100 miles into the distance. All of this space is unnerving to some, but I think a small part of the prairie was planted inside of me and, as it is every time I visit, I just know intuitively that parts of me will always be more at home here than any other place.

From 2008-07 (Jul)...

As I read the NYT this weekend, I could not help but notice the article "Longest Day of the Year; Few Notice." The title caught my eye because we are in the midst of celebrating a holiday here in Estonia that you cannot help but not notice. Jaanipäev, or the celebration of midsummer on St. John's Day, is one of the most awaited holidays of the year. Estonians escape to their forest cottages to meet with friends and family, build bonfires, and spend the night eating and drinking together. And why not celebrate when you have days this long? Meteorologists say that we will have 20h 53m of light in which to gather around the fire this evening. I will head out in a couple of hours to a cottage near Rakvere to start learning about this Estonian tradition first-hand.

Happy Jannipäev and enjoy the long midsummer nights!

Not bogged down

Nothing makes you more relaxed in Estonia than some countryside tourism with fresh, clean air and the quiet landscape. I escaped from Tartu to a friend's quiet home in the forest for a picnic on Saturday before moving onto the pretty coastal area of Lake Peipsi, the large lake border between Estonia and Russia.





I enjoyed eating ripe Estonian tomatoes and locally caught and smoked fish, sweating out any worries in a country sauna, and walking through the boggy marshland on the coast.



I couldn't help but let go of any worries and appreciate the moments for their tranquility. Ah! The beauty of the cool light drifting over the forest filled with singing birds and hoards of buzzing mosquitoes... This simplicity is what Estonian summers are all about.

Stockholm

striking waterlines, fish, marathon, old ships, water boats, lilacs, design, cosmopolitan, old town cafe, long days, sun, Prince Eugene, palaces, churches, ice cream, museums, talkative laughing friends, ... a summer weekend in Stockholm.

I wander'd lonely as a cloud

I stayed home sick today, sniffling and adding to an ever-mounting pile of tissues, sucking on a few warm cups of Theraflu, reading between brief snoozes on my couch, and trying not to get too stir-crazy. Hence, this wandering post...

I read the poem "Daffodils" by Wordsworth somewhat recently, but I think that today, as I was housebound, I really understood this perfect stanza celebrating the memory of a host of sprightly golden daffodils:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Not only do I have to rely on my memory of such lovely plants. I have a few in my immediate surroundings that, through the power of modern digital photography, I will share with you here.

First of all, I have an update on my window garden project that I have been nursing with kind words and daily watering. They are growing! Miracles of all miracles. Basil slowly coming, coriander growing like a weed, and mint slowly poking up out of the soil (thyme has already had its time, coming up quickly and withering away within days). Have a look for yourself.





Violets are one of my favorite houseplants, but I haven't always had the best of luck growing them... that is until I came to Estonia. Ironically enough, the then small plant was a get-well present when I caught the flu during my first months in Estonia. Since then I have repotted it twice and it has bloomed nearly incessantly. This violet is a centerpiece in my home. If only it could traverse the great pond this summer in my bags. I will have to capture its soothing and endearing character in my memory for future days when I need to recall such pleasant environs.



One last sprinkle of color splashes my room with joy. A fitting gift from my students at the university, these gorgeous pink blossoms exude joy, success, and celebration. It will be a fine memory of my Tartu days to store away.




... and then my heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils. ~ William Wordsworth, Daffodils (1804)

Taking the long way around

My father would not be too excited to hear that I have been listening to the Dixie Chicks (he isn't exactly a huge fan of this kind of "new" country music), much less that I have been sharing their music with new audiences. However, that's exactly what I have been doing lately. It's part of my character, I suppose. I like "new," and I like "old." I am a bit corny. I like to share. At this moment of transition, I identify with this song about making life choices to explore (although not in a pink RV). A quirk of my personal methodology as a language teacher, I like to dedicate songs to my students at the end of a term. Song dedications are infinitely cool (can you remember listening to them on long road trips at night?). This semester as I finish and start, I am dedicating the Dixie Chicks song sharing the title of this blog entry to my students, in hopes that like me, they, too will take the long way around and our paths may someday cross once again. Yes, corny, I know. But I figure that the silliness might be trumped by my sincere intentions. Let's definitely hope so.

My parents have no idea--until they read this blog post--the extent to which I use my family as illustrative examples and classroom material. Today, I talked about a family approach to driving around my small hometown of around 20,000. Admittedly, I have always thought Gillette was rather big in the context of Wyoming, and it is. A more routine driver may assume that there are a few direct routes to travel between home-work-school-shopping in our town. Not in my family. Getting in the car with my mother is a constant surprise. Ignoring a more conventional route, she chooses to take the long way around, checking out new developments in construction, cruising through a less-traveled neighborhood, or driving by pretty flowering trees/lilacs/gardens. A routine trip to the supermarket is never a dull event! Memories of my father are no different. Weekends in the mountains and trips to the big cities often involved skirting off the main road to find out where a mysterious side street emerges. Getting lost was seen as opportunity and challenge rather than a poor risk. I loved those bumpy country roads and winding graveled streets in the mountains... getting lost was part of the adventure.

So, I figure that I have my family to thank for showing me how to choose less-traveled paths and independently maneuver through my surroundings. The truth is that it is more fun for me to get sidetracked... At the moment, I find myself at a point of transition, and I think it is worth remembering the value of such transgressions. Here are a few of my off-track activities, announcements, and celebrations. Some of them are a bit out-of-date, but I want to share. Be patient, I return to the main road sooner or later!

• I took a trip to Lahemaa National Park in northern Estonia waaayyy back in March with some friends. It was the first national park in the Soviet Union and is located on the Baltic Sea. Inside the park are many trails for walking, quaint villages, and old German manor houses. Personal highlights included visiting a gorgeous smoke sauna and seeing 40-50 swans swimming in the icy cold Baltic Sea. It snowed buckets, but it was gorgeous! For pictorial highlights, see my web album here.





• My trip to New York was fabulous -- so great to see friends and colleagues and my mom. The city is impressive. I forgot how busy it is... hard to believe that I really managed to relocate there after college in South Dakota. Talk about culture shock!





• A bit more quiet and scenic was my trip to Exeter, Devon for another language teaching conference. I had reunions with other friends and co-presented with a former grad school colleague. The experience was professionally and personally refreshing. If you are curious about what we were up to, you can even watch our presentation by logging into the conference website! We were recorded and broadcast at http://exeteronline.britishcouncil.org.

• As I mentioned, my teaching here in Estonia is finishing up. I have one more week of meetings, and I am beginning to get quite sentimental. Why are transitions so hard?

• For the mere price of 50 EEK ($5), I got a fabulous haircut that did not make me cry.

• At the University of Tartu, students spend one week during the spring celebrating during "Student Days." For one week, there are activities happening everywhere -- boat contests, concerts, dancing, special clubs, sport, volunteering, sauna, food fairs, and, of course, singing. It was warm and sunny this year during this time and I found the energy of campus infectious. I attended a particularly memorable event. In one of the parks in town they have an evening of singing student songs. A stage is set up and the whole area fills up with hundreds and hundreds of students, professors, staff, townspeople, and alumni. Together, they sing student songs, many of them folk songs or traditional songs from some part of the 375-year history of the university. I bought a songbook and sang my heart out along with them and felt swallowed by the power of the event. I can't imagine a similar college event in a place other than Estonia. The singing tradition is such an integral part of just about everything here.

• After months of brushing up my CV and honing my job interviewing skills, I have accepted a position for the fall at Georgetown University. I will work as an English instructor for international students in their intensive English program, Center for Language Education & Development. I am very excited about moving to Washington, D.C. and working at such a fine institution. Worries about finding housing and making the transition stateside are abated by the promise of living in a fabulous, international community. If you take a detour and find yourself in the area... feel free to look me up!
  

BETA Conference



• A couple of weeks ago I traveled to Sofia, Bulgaria for a teachers' conference... I enjoyed seeing the city, meeting up with some old friends living in the region, eating yummy eggplant salad, and thinking a bit more about language-related issues such as European plurilingualism and avenues for professional conversation.
  

• I think that I have mentioned that I have been involved in a book group that has been reading historical novels by the Estonian writer, Jaan Kross. We met last night to discuss all three of the books we read -- Czar's Madman, Professor Marten's Departure, and Treading Air. I have gained so much from the reading, especially when it was paired with sharing insights with others who are also living here. The experience has deeply shaped how I see Estonia and how I understand its poignant history. If you are interested in exploring this small, Nordic country in a meaningful way, these books must be on your reading list.
  

These days I am thinking a lot about transitions. I am not sure what is coming and I am not always sure what has been, but I can be sure of one thing. I will be taking the long way around, at least for now.

Jalgrattaga... by bike

What a fabulous spring weekend. We took off Friday afternoon for a southern Estonian bicycle tour. Sweet smelling flowers, bright new greenness, cute lambs, great friendly company, and good exercise... an excellent recipe for a rejuvenating weekend. Here are some of the highlights.

For a Google map of our 130 km voyage, visit this link or try to decipher our travels through back roads from a map of your own (Tartu - Pangodi - Taevaskoja - Mooste - Tartu)!

Spring lambs in the countryside



Mini-pizzas with the kids (and adults!)



Breath-taking views from Taevaskoja Park



Healing spring/Fountain of youth




Ah! What a great start to spring!
(Click on the album below for more pictures)

May 1 08 bike trip