Song of the Week

Hello Peoples,
Its the Song of the Week!  This weeks song of the week is by Bob Dylan and this version is played by The Band. I especially identify with the line "Oh to be back in the world of Coca-Cola!"  Enjoy.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

When I Paint My Masterpiece

The Band

They Wash Their Feet In Soda Water

Hello People,

I have set off on a long and arduous quest. A quest that may be the end of me, so great is its importance and the level of its difficulty. And, you should feel privileged, because of its intensity I will be chronicling the whole journey here.  Let me explain.

I am a gum chewer.  There, I've said it.  I love gum.  But I'm not just any gum chewer.  I'm a thinking gum chewer. Thats right, the Scarecrow needed a brain; I need gum. Yes, I need gum like smokers need cigarettes. Without it I get jittery and can't think well.  But with it, Ah what wonders!  Now, what does this have to do with anything? You may well ask that question, and here I will answer it.  I am also a very picky gum chewer.  I dislike sugary gum.  I detest fruit flavored gum.  I'm not even a fan of some of the milder mint flavors.  Juicy fruit is no good.  Double mint is right out.  Even pepper mint gum is pushing the edge for me.  No, the only gum for me is Orbit Sweet Mint.

Oh the taste of Orbit.  It makes my mouth water just thinking about it. I could chew a pack a day and die a happy man.  And therein lies the problem.  I have relocated to Telmar, home of the Telmarines, a vast and noble people the stores of whom do not sell Orbit.    This leaves me with the difficult and incredibly unwanted task of having to find a suitable replacement for the gum I left behind.  So get ready for a pointless and potentially boring set of posts in which I will share with you my findings about Telmarine gum.



First Subject:  Vivident
Flavor: Mint?
Shape: Cube
Key ingredient: Xylit
Assessment: Two Big Thumbs Way way down.  This gum tastes like...wait, the flavor didn't last long enough for me to find out.  Plus, I'm more than a little bit suspicious of anything besides Coca-Cola with ingredients as odd sounding as Xylit.  The square shape didn't help either.  Nobody likes a square.




In other news, last  Friday Hogwarts School for Gifted Youngsters hosted its semi-annual Parent Teacher Conferences.  For those of you who teach in the states, let me go ahead and dispel any misconceptions that will come from the term "Parent Teacher Conference."  This was not an evening or day wasted with not a parent showing up. This was an intensive day of sitting at a table for almost every parent to show up and talk about their child.  I think I may have only been slightly more nervous about my first day of teaching.  In the end it was great though, if puzzling.  I never imagined that I would have parents coming to me and asking if their students should be reading books about history at home.  Another parent informed me that I should make my class harder (I have seventh graders reading passages from John Locke!).  8:30-3:00 was a long time spent of talking with parents, but it was good.  It reminded me very strongly that I am blessed to be able to work in a school such as this one and to live in the area where I am living. What a passion I have for teaching these students and what a wonderful gift that I would be used for this purpose.  I was reading over an old journal entry recently and found this -

 For possibly the first time in my life I began to understand the severe challenge of being the “light of the world” and a “city on the hill” (Matt 5:14).  There can be no hiding or blending in when you contain light and live in a dark time.  As shocking as this realization was, I honestly believe that this is how God intended it to be.  Are we, the children of the light, meant to live together in our own secluded brightness?  I think not.  We are meant to go into the darkness.  For this reason it was written, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119: 105).  David, the man after God’s own heart realized that he was not called to stay in the safety of light and likeness.  He was called into the darkness to be led by, and dependent on, God’s own light.  With that in mind, I suppose my fears of the future should probably fade.  It seems possible that staring into a black void is where I'm supposed to be, and maybe what I'm supposed to do is to plunge right in.

That was written on the 7th of May this year.  Little did I know at the time that exactly a week later I would get a message asking me, "How do you feel about Telmar?"  We never know the next step, and isn't that beautiful?  I love that about God.  Often times that is my greatest frustration, but its a really beautiful thing. 

 I'd like to leave you with a passage shared with me by Fortescue that I will revisit later for those of you who are signed up for the newsletter. Being here, this passage has come to mean more and more to me over the last few weeks.  In this week of Thanksgiving in the States (and the homes of those from the States), let us not forget those who continually persevere in their faith in Christ.

Psalm 16

Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge.  I say to the Lord, "You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing." I say of the holy people who are in the land, "They are the noble ones in whom is my delight."

In the Mountains, There You Feel Free

Hello Peoples,
Its Tuesday again in Telmar and its time for the Song of the Week!  

Pyramid Song-Radiohead

This week's Song of the Week, as shown above, is by Radiohead and is entitled Pyramid Song.  Its a really beautiful song and, as is becoming usual on this site, is set to footage of traveling.  I really love this song.  The lyrics:

I jumped in the river and what did I see?

Black-eyed angels swam with me

A moon full of stars and astral cars

All the things I used to see

All my lovers were there with me

All my past and futures

And we all went to heaven in a little row boat

There was nothing to fear and nothing to doubt

I jumped into the river

Black-eyed angels swam with me

A moon full of stars and astral cars

All the things I used to see

All my lovers were there with me

All my past and futures

And we all went to heaven in a little row boat

There was nothing to fear and nothing to doubt

There was nothing to fear and nothing to doubt

There was nothing to fear and nothing to doubt

all about time, time passing, and everything spinning around in it remind me of T.S. Eliot, as everything seems to be reminding me these days.  In the section of Four Quartets, which I still have not gotten my fingers on by the way, Burnt Norton Eliot writes,

Time present and time past

Are both present in time future, 

And time future contained in time past,

If all time is eternally present

All time is irredeemable.

What might have been is an abstraction

Remaining a perpetual possibility

Only in a world of speculation.

What might have been and what has been 

Point to one end, which is always present.

You can't imagine the time I'm having with this passage.  I consider my mind officially blown.  Every time I feel that I've gotten my head around what Eliot is saying, I lose it and revert back to my original state of perpetual flummoxation? Flummoxity?..  Being flummoxed.  Perhaps reinforcing what Eliot has been saying to me all along?  Hmmm....

You will notice  one or two things if you sit down and watch this video. You may even notice a few things, but lets not get carried away.  The first thing that you may notice is that I like videoing from moving vehicles.  This may or may not be true. You may also notice that bus travel is boring. This is definitely true.  If you reach this conclusion, congratulate yourself and pat yourself on the back. This leads me to another point.  You may have  had the mistaken impression, as I once had, that the ipod was invented for your car stereo or your morning jog.  If so, you are wrong.  The ipod was invented for long, monotonous, commutes on busses.  With the ipod, I enjoy these trips.  Without the ipod...

The second thing you may notice is actually a set of things. One (1) there are a lot of walls. Walls without, walls within, and walls for the spaces in between.   Two (2) you can't make out the faces.  That is on purpose.  I'm sorry folks, I don't want to be creepy.  The impression that this creates however, seems to me to be fairly true to the foreigners experience in a new country. Welcome to life as an "alien in a foreign land."  This is life in Telmar through my eyes.  Telmar, where despite the beauty and the friendliness of the people surrounding you, you will find yourself alone.  Alone in a sea of humanity and unable to speak to anyone around you.  This is the big struggle right now.  I took it for granted, being able to make small talk with the cashier or person in line with me.  I don't take it for granted anymore.  But enough of that.  Enjoy the song and have a great week everyone.  Oh and if you can think of me while you sleep Friday, we have parent-teacher conferences so wish me luck and a safe journey through these coming perils.

Marie, Marie, Hold On Tight

Hello Peoples,

I want you to look at the picture below and just try to tell me that it doesn't sound like an amazing place.

Yes, there is a place in the world called Batman.  I hope to visit there at some point in my life.  I don't expect loads of caped heroes walking around (at least in daylight) but all the same, I may be a little disappointed if there aren't any.  

I'd like to welcome you to the first installment of "A(n uncommon) Day in  the Life" where we will be highlighting the not so common days that Hazel and I actually get to go and sight see.  As these days aren't as common as you may think, hence the name, the posts about them won't be all that often.  I hope you enjoy it. 

Last week was two days long.  The previous weekend, by comparison, was 5 days long.  This is because last week was Kurban Bayram, the Holiday of Sacrifice.  Yes, there was sacriice.  Right there on the side of the road.  While we didn't participate in the more "cultural" moments of the holiday, it was nevertheless very nice to have the time off to catch a breath after our first quarter of school was completed. Mostly, Hazel and I rested in our apartment  (aka completely rearranged it) but we did do a little sight seeing.  Possibly the most exciting discovery was this....

...the Virgin Megastore right down the street from church!  Woo hoo!  I still couldn't find T.S. Eliot there though so it wasn't a complete success.  I've been on the hunt for any copy of T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets for the past few weeks and, perhaps unsurprisingly, I have come out empty handed.  

The more interesting thing, from your perspective, that we saw was perhaps the stronghold of Helm's Deep pictured below.

 

Ah, Helm's Deep.  It was a very pretty place, once we got past the french man insulting us from the top of the walls.  The Telmarines built this fortress and one like it across the Great River during their seige of Calormene in the 1500s.  It was erected in a manner of months, which considering how long its taken for the Occupy rallies to not accomplish anything (aside from TB that is), is quite an accomplishment.  

Above is a view of the Great River from Helm's Deep.  Before they were defeated. the local Galefreians (who were here before) built a large chain that stretched across the entire body of water seen, to keep the ships out.  Sections of this chain are now present at the fort as a sort of trophy.  Yes, I touched it. 

This is some guy, I don't know who, trying to look like he was calmly gazing out over the Great River, while he was actually shaking in his boots because of the dizzying heights and lack of railing on the steep, narrow stairways.  

This is the wall which overlooks the Great River.  You can see the Second Great River Bridge in the background.  Apparently it is not a good idea to stand on and look out over the edge.  Take it from me, Mr. Strange, the guards don't really approve of that.  

Would you believe that the area of the fort pictured above is, I think, the most nature I have seen since I've been here?  Last but not least is the picture below.  

If I'm not mistaken, thinking that he was going to his doom, Theoden King rode forth from that very door to ride down upon the orcs in Helm's Deep. Yes, I have seen where history happened. 

The River Sweats Oil and Tar

 Hello Peoples,

It has been a little while since I've written here.  I've been busy and I've had a lot on my mind.  I was going to write a post something like this one last week, but I just couldn't get enough distance to be able to express myself well.  I've been ruminating on the following passage all week in my devotions. 

2 Cor. 6 (Selected Excerpts)

What fellowship can light have with darkness?  For we are the temple of the living God.  As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people." Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.  


I love this passage.  Honestly, I hadn't thought of it in a long time until the pastor of the church where we are attending mentioned it in his sermon last Sunday.


Recently I have been thinking a lot about holiness and finding fulfillment.  Somehow I've always either gotten the two confused or looked toward the "next step" in order to find them.  This has always been the wrong move. I've been struggling with the questions of what goodness is and how to find fulfillment.  Sad to say, I thought I had the answers fairly pieced together the other day at breakfast, but found them shattered by lunch.

This latest bout with self reflection started when my father, God bless Him, sent me a great email reminding me to find my rest in the Lord; a rest that I have neglected to find lately.  This got me thinking about  how wrapped up I've been in going and doing, rather than just being.  But I get ahead of myself.  

My self peace was further disturbed this week by the words of two very different artists, Doug Martsch and T.S. Eliot.

In Death By Water,  a section of his poem The Wasteland, T.S. Eliot writes the following about poor Phlebus.

  

Phlebas the Phoenician, a fortnight dead, 

Forgot the cry of gulls, and the deep sea swell

And the profit and loss

A current under sea 

Picked his bones in whispers.  As he rose and fell

He passed the stages of his age and youth 

Entering the whirlpool

Gentile or Jew

O you who turn the wheel and look back to windward

Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and 

tall as you.

I've literally been reading nothing but this passage over and over again for the past week.  Phlebas, who spent his life on profit and loss, who was once so handsome, is now, like all of the rest of us will be, dead.  And what have his toils earned him?  What has he gained now from his life of work?  Nothing. He now withers away and fades.  Phlebas went, Phlebas did, and it has done him no good.  It has not changed his fate or the nature of it in the slightest.  All men will age, all men will die, and all men will slowly fade away.

In his song, When Not Being Stupid is Not Enough, (on the Built to Spill/Caustic Resin EP for those of you who want to know) Doug Martsch sings

In a world thats so bad its not hard to feel good

You do what you have to, not as much as you should

Just because you're not wrong 

Doesn't mean that you're right

Leave it to Doug Martsch, a man who claims not to pay any attention to the lyrics of his songs, to mess up my whole screwed up sense of self.  And how true these words ring! 
 I, and I think this is symptomatic of all of us at times, have become obsessed with the going and doing for the going and doing's sake.  I have, in effect, been constructing my own crown out of my own good works and rightness.  But am I right?  Am I good?  I may (and that is debatable) be better than some, but to what end?  What of my own good here will change the ultimate end?  And even could I be better than others, it would in no way make me right. No, to find out our goodness we must measure ourselves to a constant scale; a right scale.  When we do that we will find one thing.  No amount of being good compared to the world can make us to actually be good.  There is no way that we can measure up and holding ourselves to the ultimate scale will do nothing but show us our own inherent lack of goodness. 


And isn't this liberating?  Quite honestly, I've never had a realization so refreshing as this one. The very fact that we cannot of ourselves be good leaves us with no other choice but to rest in the goodness of our God.

Luca Brasi Sleeps With the Fishes

Hello Peoples,
So, one of the beautiful things about the Telmarines is that they eat a lot of fresh food.  I don't want to give away too much about this since I think (spoiler alert) that this is going to be one of Hazel's future topics of choice, so I will discuss one of the freshest foods here; one that Hazel finds a little too fresh for her own good: Fish.  Yes, here you can buy a wonderful fish sandwich, the main ingredient of which is literally, caught, cleaned, thrown ashore, cooked, and then placed into one's own desirous hands. There is even a "No Bones Guarantee" which, aside from the four that I found today, is mostly accurate.  For a glimpse of this you may see the rather shaky video below.  I will explain the shakiness afterwards.

  With all of you in mind today, I took it upon myself to chronicle my Sunday morning commute to church.  This required me to go undercover as a tourist (har har.  As if I don't look like a tourist anyway) with camera slung around my neck.  I kept the camera rolling from the time I got on the bus, across the river on the ferry, and to the time I got off the train and got to church. The result, when sped up from an hour and a half to five minutes is quite the stomach rolling extravaganza.  Call it "Instant Motion Sickness."  The above is but a glimpse of that commute.  I'll put the rest up here sometime after I can sift through and make it somewhat viewable without the result being a less than desirable effect on the viewer.  I think its pretty interesting though and maybe you will too.   Anyway, I warned you in the blog intro that I have trouble staying on topic and this is one of those times.  The video above is shaky for the reasons just mentioned....but back to the fishes.  I don't know if you could tell from the video, but these sandwiches are delicious.  These guys just stand there and grill the fish, then put them on bread with delicious fresh veggies and a squeeze of lemon juice (from a lemon, not a bottle).   Fair warning though, it is not for the weak hearted or stomached. 

Hazel was sick today.  Oh no, poor Hazel.  I suppose that I should take some of the blame for this.  I did get sick first.  Oh, lesson of the week:  Don't take 2 benadryl first thing in the morning before you have to teach all day.  This could also be rephrased as "Read the labels before taking allergy medicine."  Either way, it was not a pretty day for Mr. Strange.  Thanks should go out to Fortescue however, for getting me coffee and printer paper that day.  I'm pretty sure that, had I been required to do these things for myself, I would have toppled to the first floor from my fifth floor classroom at the school which has yet to be named.  Back to Hazel.  She is sick, which resulted in me having to cook my own supper tonight. This isn't something I mind doing, but suffice to say, I'm not as good as Hazel at it.  I decided to put my brave face on and try something new, something almost Telmarinish.  So I began an experiment with yufka.  

Yufka is a type of flatbread dough that looks something like this...

Picture the thinnest dough ever  and make it in the shape of a very large pizza.  Then imagine layering roasted egg plant, sauteed mushrooms, and slices of cheese inside of it, wrapping it up, and then pan frying it. Sound healthy?  I thought not.  Sound good?  I thought so. When the Telmarines do it it is amazing.  My Result:  It tasted like a vegetable funnel cake.  Not a delicious concept.  However, Hazel says her cinnamon and sugar version, also quite healthy (har har), was delectable.  But if you want to hear about that you will have to join with me in saying, "Hurry Hazel.  Post something!"

A Thousand Miles From Home (An Introduction)

Hello Peoples,

  Mr. Strange is back!  It has been far too long since my thoughts have hit the old intranet and made sane people run for cover or quickly disconnect their computers, but here I am.  This is a brand new blog and even though it will be run in much the same way as my previous one (with only one or two minor changes) it feels like a fresh start. I hope that it will be as effective of a tool for me to express myself as the old pompeii...blog.
  A couple of things you should know before you go too far with me here.

1) I'm really bad at picking one general line of thought and sticking with it consistently.  I wish I could tell you that this blog will be all travel stories or essays on the wonders of underwater basket weaving, but there is a good chance that if I did that I would be lying to you because I honestly have no idea where it will go.  Don't worry though, I'm sure, in fact positive, that there will be some travel posts here.  Oh, you should know though, that I am really bad about asking questions to which I don't know the answer.  My students will confirm this as it drives them batty on a daily basis.

2) No one is ever called by their typical name here.  I tell you this in case you haven't gathered that from the fact that I call myself "Mr. Strange."  I may post a list of the established names here in the future, but we'll see.

3) Hazel will be co-authoring this blog.   Yea Hazel!  She has a page which can be viewed by clicking on the right hand toolbar on this page. She hasn't posted anything yet, but I feel quite confident that her posts will be far more practical than my own and will probably do more to quench your thirst for knowledge about what is going on with us.

 Recently, Hazel and I have experienced a small relocation.  We are now living halfway around the world in what my friend Fortescue refers to, and what we here will in the future refer to, as the land of Telmar, home of the Telmarines.  It is quite the exotic place and I'm convinced that Darwin would love it here.  Telmar is survival of the fittest at its best.  From Taxi drivers who swerve and bus drivers who talk on their cell phones, to construction workers who leave table saws running in the middle of the sidewalk, you have to be fit to survive here.  Its a wonder I'm still around.  Anyway, if you read this blog further than today you will get the chance to read some of these harrowing adventures in detail. This, however, as the title implies, is an introduction.  The details can come later.

Being across the world has some disadvantages as well.  Its a strange combination that I am experiencing right now: 50% homesickness, and 50% complete contentment.  I have never been happier in my life than I am doing what I am doing now, but a large part of me misses the people and places that I have left behind.  Below is a small 2 minute snapshot of the last 2 years for Hazel and myself and some of what we've left.  Let it show you where we've been. Then you can experience where we're going.

*Please note: No smoking occurred for the making of this video despite appearances.