Well things are coming down to the wire here in Long Beach, and it looks like it's going to be an interesting finish. All us leaders are rather fearful about how this program is going to end. Why fearful? It's difficult to explain the context for everything, but I want to share the excitement with all of you.
It all got more interesting at the end of the first International program. This group had been pretty quiet and behaved, compared to stories I'd heard about previous years. There were about 80 Spanish students that continually put up resistance to the rules and bedtime and such, but we managed to keep it contained. Until the last night of the program. I wasn't involved personally, because I'd already been moved to the second program, but apparently it all started when the Spanish students found out that they wouldn't get their $60 room deposit back because they had trashed their rooms. All hell broke loose. The Spanish started running around the building, yelling (mind you, this was the early morning hours), broke mirrors and equipment in the bathrooms, wrote choice phrases on the walls, and to top it all off, threw a rock through the office window at our site director. Fortunately the window was open and the rock missed the director, but still. It was at that point that the police arrived, and it took 6 officers (including the Long Beach Sergent) to get the group together and under control in time for their flight.
Now travel about a week forward and a mile away, to Second International camp. One of the major sources of conflict here from the very beginning is that the city curfew for anyone under 18 years old is 10:00. We don't make them go to their rooms until 11:00 or 12:00, but legally they must be on campus after 10:00. And on this campus (Brooks College) there's absolutely nothing to do except get into trouble. There's nothing here except concrete buildings and a parking lot. So the most interesting and stressful part of the day is always the last couple of hours.
There were only a few minor incidents until this last week. The night we got back from Vegas the real fun began. That night everyone was milling around as usual, about 30 minutes before bedtime, when suddenly, as if on signal, students from all over the campus started running to the back of the property. When everyone gathered there they started marching to the front, at least 100 of them. My first thought was that they were marching on the office (it had happened before on a smaller scale at the first program), but then they all stopped and just stood there, obviously waiting for something to happen. All us leaders were just walking in and out of the crowd, trying to figure out what was happening. Then one of the students from my hall camp and told me that the Spanish and Russian students had planned a fight between the two countries. Apparently they had been on the same bus to Vegas and had had a lot of conflicts, so two of them decided to have a fight that evening. In the mean time those two ring-leaders had gone to their friends to ask for help in the fight, until soon it became a planned fight of the entire Spanish and Russian groups.
There were a few moments of considerable stress for the leaders (including myself). I mean, as soon as one person tried to swing a punch, the whole group would explode, and there would be very little that the 10-12 leaders could do about it except call the police. Although apparently the Brooks College staff, one of our leaders, and two neighbors had already called the police, who arrived in a few minutes and started driving around the premises in a state of severe agitation. I like to think that the quick reactions of the leaders and police prevented anything from starting, but in fact it was probably the surprisingly large crowd that stopped the punching from starting. Several of the ring-leaders were overheard saying "there are too many people around, let's do it at 12:00." Fortunately we knew which students were organizing it and basically locked them in their rooms for the night, so nothing else happened. Seeing as this was about 7 nights until the end, we were very concerned about what was coming.
The next night seemed quiet, until Anne (another leader) and I walked around a corner and saw a large amount of sparks and smoke coming from one of the chain-link fences. At first it looked like the fuses on several fire-crackers had been lit. Upon closer inspection it seemed that strips of plastic had been threaded through the fence in the shape of letters and set on fire. When it was clear that nothing was about to explode we got closer, and read in flaming letters "Nancy (our director) is a bitch." At this point it might be useful to explain that Nancy is a very strong woman who takes no disrespect from anyone and runs this program pretty strictly, but she is certainly not a bitch. Anyway, as Anne and I got close enough to blow the plastic out, I looked down at our feet and noticed that on the other side of the fence there was a bottle of lighter fluid with the cap on fire. That caused some excitement, and after a few moments of jumping back in alarm I bent over and blew it out.
It soon came out that one of the college students had seen three of our kids lighting the fire, and one was an easily recognizable 14 year old Russian who lives on my hall. After a few minutes of all the leaders running all over campus to find him, we got him into the office, had the college student identify him, and then started pumping him for information. It didn't take long at all for him to say that he'd just been following two other Russians, both of whom had been caught with alcohol on campus the day before and were being sent home (and they were also living on my hall). They were extremely angry about it, and somehow managed to slip away from the 24-hour supervision they were supposed to be under. Then it seems they decided to express their frustration by setting fire to a fence. And again the Brooks College security, the police, and all the EF leaders were stirred up. Needless to say, the two arsons were quickly taken to a hotel off campus until their flight. The little guy, surprisingly, was not sent home, much to the chagrin of the Brooks College staff.
Around this time we started hearing rumors that the Russian students thought that the leaders hated all the Russians. This might have emerged from the preceding events and what happened in Vegas (which I won't go into), and wasn't exactly true... at least, no more true than their actions warrented. And if punishing students for breaking US laws constitutes national prejudice, then I guess it would be true. We didn't make much of it, but tried to be more careful about complaining about our "trouble-makers." Things were quiet for a while after that, but a different kind of excitement was coming. As background, you should know that in the first week of the program we caught several students (specifically one psychotic Russian girl) with empty alcohol containers in their rooms. The police were called to Breathalyzer them, but they didn't find any alcohol in them. They were pressed pretty hard to admit that they'd been drinking, but all of them stuck to their stories that friends had left the bottles. They still might have been sent home for breaking the drinking law, but the parents of the Russian girl had their lawyer call EF to say that they would sue, and there was no evidence that the students had been drinking. In the end they weren't sent home. It's also important to remember that the parents of these students can afford to send their kids abroad for a month at the cost of $4,000-$5,000, and many of them are quite rich and powerful.
So this all passed by, until in this last week we suddenly got a call while at a dance at Universal Studios, saying that Radio Moscow was broadcasting all over Russia that Russian students were being abused and mistreated by EF Long Beach. Imagine our shock at suddenly finding ourselves to be infamous, in Russia! The story was that one of their students was found with beer bottles in their room, and was taken to the police department and kept there all day without food or water (or beer!) and was interrogated like a criminal. In Russia I can imagine that it would be unbelievable for such a big deal to be made of under-age drinking. Of course it's an absolutely ridiculous story in any case. The spoiled teenagers aren't used to following rules, so they call their parents and exaggerated the story, and the parents then start using their connections to make a big stink over it. But still the fact remains that everyone in Russia who listens to radio thinks that their children are being horribly mistreated here in our program. It strikes me that this might be the closest I ever get to being famous. :-)
Two nights ago I apparently slept through a large rebellion at 4 am. A number of students (ranging from 30-60 depending on who you ask) started running and screaming up and down the halls, throwing water-balloons, hiding all over the outside of campus, gathering large groups in different rooms, etc. It took some of our leaders several hours to get everything under control, while the Brooks security was panicking and threatening to call the police if we couldn't control our students.
The last few nights have been okay, but that's because most of the students are in San Francisco. Tonight they come back, and it will also be their last night on campus. So whatever they've been planning or wanting to do will go down in a few hours, especially considering that our power to send them home will be somewhat less effective when they're going home in several hours anyway. I'm actually curious what will happen, but some of us are actually frightened. I'll let you know!
In other news:
Trip to Chicago: August 9th-16th
Firsts:
-Dressed in drag (= dressed like a woman) for a cross-dressing fashion show with the students from my hall. We won first place!
-Rode in a limo (prize for winning the competition).
-Ate McDonald's hamburgers while riding in a limo down the Hollywood "Walk of Fame" street. I would have felt like the coolest person on earth if the limo wasn't packed with another 13 people from my hall. :-)
That's all for now! Take care everyone! -C
Monday, August 6, 2007
Monday, July 30, 2007
Discover Something New #14
Hello everyone! I realize that I haven't written for a month, but that's because not much has changed, though a lot has happened. I'm still at the English program in Long Beach, but at the moment I'm writing from Las Vegas. We're here on a weekend trip with the students, and it's been very interesting indeed. I always thought that Vegas would be a rather dirty, artificially over-cheery place, filled with cheap entertainment at expensive prices. But I've actually really enjoyed myself here. The casinos are really beautiful and interesting, there are a lot of friendly people, and I quite enjoyed gambling a little. Being paid to travel here doesn't hurt, either.
Rather than list the usual Discover Something New items, I'm going to list the new experiences I've had in the last month or so, in no particular order.
- Sang karaoke for the first time
- Entered a casino (Circus Circus)
- Gambled at a casino. Won $10 at a 2 cent slot machine on my first try at the Excalibur Casino. Quickly lost it at the Black-Jack table at Circus Circus. Enjoyed it.
- Tried a shot of jager. Haven't decided if I like it.
- Went on my first really big roller coaster at 6 Flags Magic Mountain. Then immediately after went on a second. Then immediately after threw up my breakfast.
- Got yelled at and threatened by a crowd of hulking Russian teenagers, several times.
- After the frustration of being yelled at, I punched a nearby wall a little too hard, and for the first time hurt my hand badly enough that it's a little painful to type this 24 hours later.
- Participated in surprise room searches of about 20 room in search of illicit material. Didn't enjoy it or find anything.
- Learned again that no matter how much experience or understanding someone has of the interaction and motivations of people, there will always always always be something completely unexpected to shock you.
- Bought a new sword, a Chinese straight-sword (need to learn the correct name). Really like it and the price ($30).
- Helped in a "raid" in which three Spanish, four French, and two Swiss students were caught drinking. They have been or will be sent home.
- Learned to drive a 15 passenger van on a LA freeway. I'm not a fan of that.
- Ate sushi as a main course for the first time. Enjoyed it.
- Experienced how stress can seriously shrink one's appetite. Frustrating.
- Bought a plane ticket to Chicago (will be there probably from August 8th-14th) to visit Matt Slabaugh, Jessie Folk, and Steve Cone. Wheeee!
The program is now in its last week, and I have mixed feelings over that, of course. It has been exhausting, and quite emotionally draining. The most traumatic element was being abruptly taken out of the first program where I had put a lot of energy into a number of friendships. About half way through the second program with another 300 students started in another campus, and about half of the leaders were sent there. It was rather disjointing, and I never really recovered. For a variety of reasons it is much more difficult to develop friendships at this second campus, so there haven't really been any rewarding relationships with the students. The leaders have drawn pretty close together, but it means that there's a definite "us vs. them" mentality all around. Keeping 300 teenagers moving on time and getting to bed by bedtime are the major chores, where we become more enforcers than anything. I've learned some valuable lessons through this. I am okay with not being liked for doing what's right, I've learned to be more comfortable with direct authority, and I've learned to keep up defenses. I think a number of the students here are either slightly fearful of me or hostile, maybe both. And because of the fact that we're bordering on chaos, I haven't tried to dispel that misconception at all. It's a real shame, because it seems that a number of these students are really great people, I just haven't had the energy to dig for the diamonds in the rough. For these reasons I've unwillingly slipped into the mode of "holding on until the end."
On the other hand, this time has mirrored many other intensive and socially-enclosed experiences, in that you develop an entire world. Being with the same group of people, doing exactly the same things, working through the same struggles, and living the same highly regimented schedule for weeks creates a very special kind of friendship, and it will be difficult to leave those and the world I've adapted to here. I have a feeling that I'll return home and have to spend the first few nights ordering my family to bed at 11:00 sharp, just out of habit.
Interestingly, I have become remarkably more confident in my ability to be a parent, and remarkably more cognizant of how absolutely exhausting it would be. It's only been six weeks and already I'm so so tired of being strict.
The next month will be crazy. Another week here, about five days in Chicago, two weeks at home preparing for my brother's wedding and an international move, and the day after the wedding I fly to Prague, where classes start the day after I arrive. I'll keep you all posted! -Caleb
Rather than list the usual Discover Something New items, I'm going to list the new experiences I've had in the last month or so, in no particular order.
- Sang karaoke for the first time
- Entered a casino (Circus Circus)
- Gambled at a casino. Won $10 at a 2 cent slot machine on my first try at the Excalibur Casino. Quickly lost it at the Black-Jack table at Circus Circus. Enjoyed it.
- Tried a shot of jager. Haven't decided if I like it.
- Went on my first really big roller coaster at 6 Flags Magic Mountain. Then immediately after went on a second. Then immediately after threw up my breakfast.
- Got yelled at and threatened by a crowd of hulking Russian teenagers, several times.
- After the frustration of being yelled at, I punched a nearby wall a little too hard, and for the first time hurt my hand badly enough that it's a little painful to type this 24 hours later.
- Participated in surprise room searches of about 20 room in search of illicit material. Didn't enjoy it or find anything.
- Learned again that no matter how much experience or understanding someone has of the interaction and motivations of people, there will always always always be something completely unexpected to shock you.
- Bought a new sword, a Chinese straight-sword (need to learn the correct name). Really like it and the price ($30).
- Helped in a "raid" in which three Spanish, four French, and two Swiss students were caught drinking. They have been or will be sent home.
- Learned to drive a 15 passenger van on a LA freeway. I'm not a fan of that.
- Ate sushi as a main course for the first time. Enjoyed it.
- Experienced how stress can seriously shrink one's appetite. Frustrating.
- Bought a plane ticket to Chicago (will be there probably from August 8th-14th) to visit Matt Slabaugh, Jessie Folk, and Steve Cone. Wheeee!
The program is now in its last week, and I have mixed feelings over that, of course. It has been exhausting, and quite emotionally draining. The most traumatic element was being abruptly taken out of the first program where I had put a lot of energy into a number of friendships. About half way through the second program with another 300 students started in another campus, and about half of the leaders were sent there. It was rather disjointing, and I never really recovered. For a variety of reasons it is much more difficult to develop friendships at this second campus, so there haven't really been any rewarding relationships with the students. The leaders have drawn pretty close together, but it means that there's a definite "us vs. them" mentality all around. Keeping 300 teenagers moving on time and getting to bed by bedtime are the major chores, where we become more enforcers than anything. I've learned some valuable lessons through this. I am okay with not being liked for doing what's right, I've learned to be more comfortable with direct authority, and I've learned to keep up defenses. I think a number of the students here are either slightly fearful of me or hostile, maybe both. And because of the fact that we're bordering on chaos, I haven't tried to dispel that misconception at all. It's a real shame, because it seems that a number of these students are really great people, I just haven't had the energy to dig for the diamonds in the rough. For these reasons I've unwillingly slipped into the mode of "holding on until the end."
On the other hand, this time has mirrored many other intensive and socially-enclosed experiences, in that you develop an entire world. Being with the same group of people, doing exactly the same things, working through the same struggles, and living the same highly regimented schedule for weeks creates a very special kind of friendship, and it will be difficult to leave those and the world I've adapted to here. I have a feeling that I'll return home and have to spend the first few nights ordering my family to bed at 11:00 sharp, just out of habit.
Interestingly, I have become remarkably more confident in my ability to be a parent, and remarkably more cognizant of how absolutely exhausting it would be. It's only been six weeks and already I'm so so tired of being strict.
The next month will be crazy. Another week here, about five days in Chicago, two weeks at home preparing for my brother's wedding and an international move, and the day after the wedding I fly to Prague, where classes start the day after I arrive. I'll keep you all posted! -Caleb
Friday, June 29, 2007
Discover Something New #13
Sunday: On This Day:
It seems that in Spain it is customary to eat one's morning cereal with chocolate milk.
Monday: Actually...
Anyone who drives a lot has heard the theory that you can save gas by following close to a big-rig truck on the highway. I always thought this was a myth, or at least that it made very little difference. But actually it turns out that there is a great deal of truth in it. A team of experts (Myth Busters!) carefully tested the theory, and found out that if you follow 100 ft (30 meters) from a semi going 60 mph (95 kpm), you save 11% of your petrol. At 50 ft (15 meters), 20%, and if you're willing to drive just 10 ft (3 meters) away from a giant semi truck, you could save as much as 39% on your gas usage! At 10 ft, however, the reaction time if something goes wrong is about 0.1 seconds, so it's practically suicidal to try it. The safe following distance at speeds of 60 mph is 150 feet (45 meters). So, don't try this at home, but it does work! :-)
Tuesday: Say What?
The Netherlands are half to two thirds below sea level. Hence its name! So, bring very vulnerable to floods, and being the most densely populated country in Europe, keeping the water out has formed a great part of the cultural and character. In the 13th century the country began using numerous windmills to pump the water out. In the second half of the 20th century, about 8,000 miles (13,000 kilometers) of dikes were built to keep out the ocean. The most recent solution is another entirely new approach: if you can't keep the water out, you have to rise above it! So, floating houses! Yes, houses complete with a garage, front lawn, and garden are being designed to float above rising water. In normal weather they sit on the ground, built around four concrete pillars. When flood come, the whole unit can slide up the pillars and stay above the water. The buoyancy comes from large, water-tight basements that hold enough air to keep the rest of the house afloat. Thus far there are only a few “floating neighborhoods”, but the idea seems to be gaining popularity! Just make sure you've found your sea-legs before coming for afternoon tea!
Wednesday: Wow!
Okay, I apologize to anyone who has a pet Pit Bull dog out there, but this is just too amazing to pass up. The Pit Bull has a stronger bite than any other dog. It is measured at 2000 pounds per square inch (140 Kilograms per square centimeter). Now, maybe that doesn't mean anything to you, so consider this. The Kodiak Bear (the giant Alaskan brown bear) has a bite force of 751. A Jaguar measures about 1000, and a tiger 1525. American Alligators are considered to have the greatest bite force on earth today, and a 12-foot (3.6 meters) American Alligator gave a reading of 2,125. That gives you an idea of the power of a pit bull. On top of that, pit bulls constitute 1% of all dogs in the US, and are responsible for 42% of dog related deaths.
Thursday: Series: Penguins Rock!
While this isn't a scientific classification, it seems to me that penguins can be found in two environments; ice or rocks. Next time I'll talk more about ice penguins (especially for those of you who haven't seen March of the Penguins yet), so this week Penguins Rock! There are four main breeds of “rock penguins,” the Adelie penguin, Chinstrap penguin, Gentoo penguin, and most predictably the Rockhopper penguin. All of these live in rocky areas and make their nests out of pebbles. In some cases the males will collect rocks and try to attract females by having the biggest pile. A shortage of pebbles can lead to vicious fighting, screaming, and stealing. When the female choses a mate, she will climb to the top and make a depression in the middle for the egg. This pile of rocks serves to keep the egg up off the frozen soil or sand.
In 2004 in the zoo, one of the more unexpected stories of the animal kingdom took place. Two male chinstrap penguins were in a pen with no females. Still, they built a nest of pebbles and took turns trying to "hatch" a rock. Later this rock was exchanged with a fertilized egg by a zoo keeper, and the two males hatched and raised the chick.
Friday: What is something you don't know about yourself?
Saturday: On A Personal Note: The Devil has only two real tricks. The first trick is to keep you from realizing what he's doing. If that doesn't work, then his second trick is to keep you from caring what he's doing.
This week (June 14-21) I experienced a relapse on some “personal-development” things I've been working on. I've been in the game long enough to see these things coming, to predict what the progression of events will be, and to know exactly what traps I'm stepping into. But somehow that doesn't seem to make a difference anymore. Every soldier gets tired of fighting, but sometimes you get more sick of fighting than you are sick of what you are fighting, if that makes any sense. I think that's what separates soldiers and heroes.
Anyway, I'm getting ready to leave for LA for my summer job at the English program on Thursday. I haven't had much time to get excited, but I think it'll be really fun. I'm also homing to get lots of interesting information from the international students for these DSN letters! In other news, I learned that I was refused for a study abroad scholarship that I was hoping for, which means that I'll only take one semester of classes in Prague instead of two. It's a shame, but I can still finish my degree requirements in one semester, and this way I'll be able to find a job for the second half of the year.
June 21-28:
It's been one week in Long Beach (not exactly LA, but basically in the same city) at the International English Program of English First (EF). The days have been packed, and of course it's impossible to describe or explain everything. If you know about the English Camps in Czech Republic, it's basically like that, except with 600 high school students from 10+ countries, on a university campus, where the Activity Leaders (that's me!) have no connection with the morning English classes (Hurray!). We were training for about 5 days, which was slow but good, and all the leaders got to know each other. Almost all of us have lived abroad, and I'm probably one of the least traveled people. Several people have lived on every continent, one guy speaks 8 languages, and there is incredible ethnic, political, and character diversity. On that last note, there is every character from “quiet little mouse,” to “does and says whatever he wants, and loudly” and from “makes friends with everyone” to “makes friends with no one.” It's very interesting to watch, and although there are some I avoid, I think I can work very well with the group as a whole. It's highly intensive, because everyone is very experienced, and they all know how to “unmask” people. I've never felt so vulnerable to a group, because they don't let me get away with any kind of character act or trick. Many people will directly challenge each other to bring out the truth of character, good or bad. So now that we all know each other very well (but for such a short time), it's wonderful and terrible to be working together 24 hours a day, with no other adults around, for two months. It's like a reality show! :-) The first chapter is done, and now that the students are here I think the story will change a lot.
The students arrived yesterday and the day before. Suddenly out quiet little campus changed 100%. At the airport it seems that 10% of students have lost their luggage. So far some of it has returned, a lot not. Other flights were caught in a storm at New York JFK airport, and had to stay there 8-12 hours. I've never seen such bad travel luck. Most students on arrival hadn't slept for 24+ hours. Needless to say, they are cranky and nervous and highly emotional, which made the first day a big drama, but it could have been much worse.
I had some trouble with my first roommate during training (he's one of the ones I now avoid), and was worried about controlling a hall of 35-40 teenage boys. But I felt very blessed by God that my new roommate (once the students arrived) is one of the two guys I most get along with, and we're a good team. I was also pleasantly surprised to be put in charge of a hall of girls (due to a shortage of female leaders). I get along with girls better, and thus far it's been very nice. The only problem is that every night after bedtime we must go through each room and do an official headcount (to see if any student is missing). This means knocking on the doors, usually waking up the girls, and if there is a missing student alert from another hall then we must do it again and go inside the room to see if the missing student is hiding to stay with her friends or boyfriend or something. That's kind of uncomfortable, and Sam (roommate) and I have both tip-toed around it thus far. But I think I have a very good rapport with all my girls, so I don't expect any major problems.
The first night there were only a few students here, but scattered around campus. I felt bad that they had to sleep alone on the first night (their official roommates had not arrived), so I pretended not to see when two of my girls when into the same room. I had counted four girls on that floor, so I thought it wouldn't matter as long as I knew where they were. Then we are supposed to stay on watch for 1 hour after to make sure everyone is really asleep. After about 45 minutes one of the other leaders comes up all stressed saying that there was a missing girl in another building and everyone was looking everywhere for her, and the director was about to call the police to look for her. This was news to me. Apparently they found out that the missing girl was friends with one of the girls on my hall, and they went straight to the room where I knew there were two girls. One of them was the missing girl that all the leaders were looking for. Apparently a girl went to bed very early on my hall so I didn't count her, and the room with two girls made five, one extra. The missing girl was supposed to be in an entirely different building. She just wanted to not sleep alone, and didn't realize that 30 people were waking up hundreds of students trying to find her. Well, everyone was understanding (a similar thing happened several times the next night to other people), but boy I took some heavy teasing for it!
Last night was when almost everyone else arrived, and we many students arriving after bedtime, three missing students at different times of the night, and after all that at 2 am, one of my girls started throwing up and needed the help of her escort (every country sends a native leader with their students, called escorts). I got to sleep at 2:30, and woke up at 6:00 to help with the arrival of the Russians (delayed in JFK).
Tonight everything will be easier because all the students will have arrived and the rooms will be full, so it will just be a matter of making sure two students are in each room and not all the extra complication of who should be where (I hope). Although there has been already many instances of switching name tags and even moving beds to other rooms, so anything is possible. Unfortunately other EF programs in other countries (and similar programs) have a reputation for being lax on the rules, so students don't take it seriously at first. Every year some students are sent home before the rest get the picture.
Well, in one more way it's a lot like a big (Czech) English Camp, that it's an enclosed universe. Everything is focused on here and now, and there is always something that needs urgent attention. I mean, we're almost glorified baby-sitters for 600 kids, and trying to organize a good time for them at the same time! There is not a minute to think about anything outside the camp. I'm writing this now because I was scheduled to pick up a late (Danish) group at the airport, but their flight was delayed so I get to rest for a couple hours. The only way I can describe the “enclosed universe” is that I've only been here 7 days, and already I have to concentrate really hard to picture my close friends or family. It's already like a different life. It's strange to say that, but it give you an idea of how intense the atmosphere is here.
On a positive note, I love it! :-) For so many reasons that I can go into now, I think this is exactly what I needed to heal some emotional wounds. I'm so thankful for the challenge and interaction, and I'm so overjoyed to discover that I still love this kind of activity and atmosphere, because I began to fear that I was losing that love. And with all that, I get paid!
I'd better go. I need to prepare the orientation speech for the late group from Denmark. I don't know when I'll get the time and energy to write again, so until we talk again take care and God bless!
It seems that in Spain it is customary to eat one's morning cereal with chocolate milk.
Monday: Actually...
Anyone who drives a lot has heard the theory that you can save gas by following close to a big-rig truck on the highway. I always thought this was a myth, or at least that it made very little difference. But actually it turns out that there is a great deal of truth in it. A team of experts (Myth Busters!) carefully tested the theory, and found out that if you follow 100 ft (30 meters) from a semi going 60 mph (95 kpm), you save 11% of your petrol. At 50 ft (15 meters), 20%, and if you're willing to drive just 10 ft (3 meters) away from a giant semi truck, you could save as much as 39% on your gas usage! At 10 ft, however, the reaction time if something goes wrong is about 0.1 seconds, so it's practically suicidal to try it. The safe following distance at speeds of 60 mph is 150 feet (45 meters). So, don't try this at home, but it does work! :-)
Tuesday: Say What?
The Netherlands are half to two thirds below sea level. Hence its name! So, bring very vulnerable to floods, and being the most densely populated country in Europe, keeping the water out has formed a great part of the cultural and character. In the 13th century the country began using numerous windmills to pump the water out. In the second half of the 20th century, about 8,000 miles (13,000 kilometers) of dikes were built to keep out the ocean. The most recent solution is another entirely new approach: if you can't keep the water out, you have to rise above it! So, floating houses! Yes, houses complete with a garage, front lawn, and garden are being designed to float above rising water. In normal weather they sit on the ground, built around four concrete pillars. When flood come, the whole unit can slide up the pillars and stay above the water. The buoyancy comes from large, water-tight basements that hold enough air to keep the rest of the house afloat. Thus far there are only a few “floating neighborhoods”, but the idea seems to be gaining popularity! Just make sure you've found your sea-legs before coming for afternoon tea!
Wednesday: Wow!
Okay, I apologize to anyone who has a pet Pit Bull dog out there, but this is just too amazing to pass up. The Pit Bull has a stronger bite than any other dog. It is measured at 2000 pounds per square inch (140 Kilograms per square centimeter). Now, maybe that doesn't mean anything to you, so consider this. The Kodiak Bear (the giant Alaskan brown bear) has a bite force of 751. A Jaguar measures about 1000, and a tiger 1525. American Alligators are considered to have the greatest bite force on earth today, and a 12-foot (3.6 meters) American Alligator gave a reading of 2,125. That gives you an idea of the power of a pit bull. On top of that, pit bulls constitute 1% of all dogs in the US, and are responsible for 42% of dog related deaths.
Thursday: Series: Penguins Rock!
While this isn't a scientific classification, it seems to me that penguins can be found in two environments; ice or rocks. Next time I'll talk more about ice penguins (especially for those of you who haven't seen March of the Penguins yet), so this week Penguins Rock! There are four main breeds of “rock penguins,” the Adelie penguin, Chinstrap penguin, Gentoo penguin, and most predictably the Rockhopper penguin. All of these live in rocky areas and make their nests out of pebbles. In some cases the males will collect rocks and try to attract females by having the biggest pile. A shortage of pebbles can lead to vicious fighting, screaming, and stealing. When the female choses a mate, she will climb to the top and make a depression in the middle for the egg. This pile of rocks serves to keep the egg up off the frozen soil or sand.
In 2004 in the zoo, one of the more unexpected stories of the animal kingdom took place. Two male chinstrap penguins were in a pen with no females. Still, they built a nest of pebbles and took turns trying to "hatch" a rock. Later this rock was exchanged with a fertilized egg by a zoo keeper, and the two males hatched and raised the chick.
Friday: What is something you don't know about yourself?
Saturday: On A Personal Note: The Devil has only two real tricks. The first trick is to keep you from realizing what he's doing. If that doesn't work, then his second trick is to keep you from caring what he's doing.
This week (June 14-21) I experienced a relapse on some “personal-development” things I've been working on. I've been in the game long enough to see these things coming, to predict what the progression of events will be, and to know exactly what traps I'm stepping into. But somehow that doesn't seem to make a difference anymore. Every soldier gets tired of fighting, but sometimes you get more sick of fighting than you are sick of what you are fighting, if that makes any sense. I think that's what separates soldiers and heroes.
Anyway, I'm getting ready to leave for LA for my summer job at the English program on Thursday. I haven't had much time to get excited, but I think it'll be really fun. I'm also homing to get lots of interesting information from the international students for these DSN letters! In other news, I learned that I was refused for a study abroad scholarship that I was hoping for, which means that I'll only take one semester of classes in Prague instead of two. It's a shame, but I can still finish my degree requirements in one semester, and this way I'll be able to find a job for the second half of the year.
June 21-28:
It's been one week in Long Beach (not exactly LA, but basically in the same city) at the International English Program of English First (EF). The days have been packed, and of course it's impossible to describe or explain everything. If you know about the English Camps in Czech Republic, it's basically like that, except with 600 high school students from 10+ countries, on a university campus, where the Activity Leaders (that's me!) have no connection with the morning English classes (Hurray!). We were training for about 5 days, which was slow but good, and all the leaders got to know each other. Almost all of us have lived abroad, and I'm probably one of the least traveled people. Several people have lived on every continent, one guy speaks 8 languages, and there is incredible ethnic, political, and character diversity. On that last note, there is every character from “quiet little mouse,” to “does and says whatever he wants, and loudly” and from “makes friends with everyone” to “makes friends with no one.” It's very interesting to watch, and although there are some I avoid, I think I can work very well with the group as a whole. It's highly intensive, because everyone is very experienced, and they all know how to “unmask” people. I've never felt so vulnerable to a group, because they don't let me get away with any kind of character act or trick. Many people will directly challenge each other to bring out the truth of character, good or bad. So now that we all know each other very well (but for such a short time), it's wonderful and terrible to be working together 24 hours a day, with no other adults around, for two months. It's like a reality show! :-) The first chapter is done, and now that the students are here I think the story will change a lot.
The students arrived yesterday and the day before. Suddenly out quiet little campus changed 100%. At the airport it seems that 10% of students have lost their luggage. So far some of it has returned, a lot not. Other flights were caught in a storm at New York JFK airport, and had to stay there 8-12 hours. I've never seen such bad travel luck. Most students on arrival hadn't slept for 24+ hours. Needless to say, they are cranky and nervous and highly emotional, which made the first day a big drama, but it could have been much worse.
I had some trouble with my first roommate during training (he's one of the ones I now avoid), and was worried about controlling a hall of 35-40 teenage boys. But I felt very blessed by God that my new roommate (once the students arrived) is one of the two guys I most get along with, and we're a good team. I was also pleasantly surprised to be put in charge of a hall of girls (due to a shortage of female leaders). I get along with girls better, and thus far it's been very nice. The only problem is that every night after bedtime we must go through each room and do an official headcount (to see if any student is missing). This means knocking on the doors, usually waking up the girls, and if there is a missing student alert from another hall then we must do it again and go inside the room to see if the missing student is hiding to stay with her friends or boyfriend or something. That's kind of uncomfortable, and Sam (roommate) and I have both tip-toed around it thus far. But I think I have a very good rapport with all my girls, so I don't expect any major problems.
The first night there were only a few students here, but scattered around campus. I felt bad that they had to sleep alone on the first night (their official roommates had not arrived), so I pretended not to see when two of my girls when into the same room. I had counted four girls on that floor, so I thought it wouldn't matter as long as I knew where they were. Then we are supposed to stay on watch for 1 hour after to make sure everyone is really asleep. After about 45 minutes one of the other leaders comes up all stressed saying that there was a missing girl in another building and everyone was looking everywhere for her, and the director was about to call the police to look for her. This was news to me. Apparently they found out that the missing girl was friends with one of the girls on my hall, and they went straight to the room where I knew there were two girls. One of them was the missing girl that all the leaders were looking for. Apparently a girl went to bed very early on my hall so I didn't count her, and the room with two girls made five, one extra. The missing girl was supposed to be in an entirely different building. She just wanted to not sleep alone, and didn't realize that 30 people were waking up hundreds of students trying to find her. Well, everyone was understanding (a similar thing happened several times the next night to other people), but boy I took some heavy teasing for it!
Last night was when almost everyone else arrived, and we many students arriving after bedtime, three missing students at different times of the night, and after all that at 2 am, one of my girls started throwing up and needed the help of her escort (every country sends a native leader with their students, called escorts). I got to sleep at 2:30, and woke up at 6:00 to help with the arrival of the Russians (delayed in JFK).
Tonight everything will be easier because all the students will have arrived and the rooms will be full, so it will just be a matter of making sure two students are in each room and not all the extra complication of who should be where (I hope). Although there has been already many instances of switching name tags and even moving beds to other rooms, so anything is possible. Unfortunately other EF programs in other countries (and similar programs) have a reputation for being lax on the rules, so students don't take it seriously at first. Every year some students are sent home before the rest get the picture.
Well, in one more way it's a lot like a big (Czech) English Camp, that it's an enclosed universe. Everything is focused on here and now, and there is always something that needs urgent attention. I mean, we're almost glorified baby-sitters for 600 kids, and trying to organize a good time for them at the same time! There is not a minute to think about anything outside the camp. I'm writing this now because I was scheduled to pick up a late (Danish) group at the airport, but their flight was delayed so I get to rest for a couple hours. The only way I can describe the “enclosed universe” is that I've only been here 7 days, and already I have to concentrate really hard to picture my close friends or family. It's already like a different life. It's strange to say that, but it give you an idea of how intense the atmosphere is here.
On a positive note, I love it! :-) For so many reasons that I can go into now, I think this is exactly what I needed to heal some emotional wounds. I'm so thankful for the challenge and interaction, and I'm so overjoyed to discover that I still love this kind of activity and atmosphere, because I began to fear that I was losing that love. And with all that, I get paid!
I'd better go. I need to prepare the orientation speech for the late group from Denmark. I don't know when I'll get the time and energy to write again, so until we talk again take care and God bless!
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