tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26893250763574734222024-03-04T22:27:31.599-08:00RomaniamaniaMatt Paulsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996402962787786945noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689325076357473422.post-14887428080151088152013-06-29T00:09:00.000-07:002013-06-29T00:09:05.968-07:00La Revedere.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I’d call it a flood, a flood of emotions, a flood of
memories. That phrase, as trite and overused as it may be, is the best way I
can find to describe 27 of the most incredible months of my life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">There’s pride and happiness, the result of the fact that I
did it. I made it. I finished. There’s thirst, but the bottle of crappy train
wine that’s slowly disappearing in front of me and lubricating this post is
taking care of that. There’s sadness, the result of leaving many lifelong
friends without any guarantee that I’ll see them again. But I think, most of
all, there’s gratitude. I’m thankful for all the experiences, good, bad and
everywhere in between.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ll start with the bad, because, even if I arrived with a
stubborn smile on my face, honeymoons don’t last 27 months.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ll remember the blocs, the gawd-awful blocs that
announced, through a megaphone, that I’d arrived in Eastern Europe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ll remember the loneliness, the crippling loneliness
brought on by winter evenings and suffocating walls.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ll remember the homesickness, the kind of homesickness
that comes through rose-colored glasses and makes you long for the very things
you used to dislike.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ll remember the students, the little bastards that you
love and hate, sometimes all within the span of a syllable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ll remember the frustration, the eye-scratching
frustration.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">But there was good with the bad, the kind of the good that,
long after this train ride is over, will have erased the bad.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ll remember the țuică, the homemade spirit that led to the
unforgettable nights, the unforgettable nights that I couldn’t remember the
next morning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ll remember the people, the warm, welcoming people who
always had a chair and a full glass for Mr. Met.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ll remember my colleagues, the ones who patiently listened
to me as I stumbled through expressing myself in a foreign language.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ll remember my neighbors, the kind people who took me in
as theirs, for better or worse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ll remember my friends, especially the one who gave me his
recently deceased mother’s gold earrings for my first daughter. (True story.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ll remember the mountains, my mountains, my mountains that
surrounded me and often made me question why I deserved to be there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ll remember the psychiatric hospital, my home, the place
that showed me so much love, even if it typically only resides at the end of a
joke.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ll remember the country, the relatively unknown place the
size of Oregon that turned out to be one of the most geographically beautiful,
culturally enriched places I’ve ever been.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ll remember the lump, the one in my throat brought on by a
6-year-old student telling me she loves me, a grown man dripping tears on my
shoulder as he tries to keep it together during our goodbye, or typing this
post.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">But most of all, I’ll remember the morning, the January
morning when I logged on to peacecorps.gov and started applying, because that’s
the memory that led to all these, and many more. That’s the one that changed my
life. That’s the one that opened the floodgates. </span></div>
</div>
Matt Paulsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996402962787786945noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689325076357473422.post-66351581582426758852013-06-10T07:59:00.000-07:002013-06-10T08:10:53.191-07:00Hai sa mergem la golf!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Thanks to kind donations from Cleveland Golf and The Janette Paulson Scholarship Fund, my kids got to try golf, something very few Romanians can say.<br />
<br />
See, here in Romania, you can probably count the number of golf courses on your fingers, and still have enough left to tee up a ball. To me, this is a shame, because ever since I began playing at age six, golf has been a huge part of my life. I wanted to share this with them.<br />
<br />
So, about December of this year, I lit up the inboxes of every altruistically minded contact of mine in the golf industry, trying to procure an equipment donation for my village. At long last, I hit pay dirt about March, and after a long process of finding the funds to cover shipping, physically shipping them, then driving eight hours to customs to pick them up, they finally arrived here in Tulghes. Then today, the weather finally cooperated, and the Tulghes Golf Club had its first meeting.<br />
<br />
I'd call today a success not only because the kids -- and even some teachers -- enjoyed their first try, but also because nobody took a club or a ball to the dome. Victory.<br />
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Matt Paulsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996402962787786945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689325076357473422.post-53935940233922143552013-05-22T07:48:00.000-07:002013-05-22T09:49:18.361-07:00EFL-isms<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although teaching English as a foreign language has its
challenges – as does any realm of teaching – it also has its rewards. And
often, these rewards come in the form of adorable mistakes, experiments and
just overall non native-speaker…ness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the past couple of years, I’ve been collecting some of
my favorite examples, and these, ladies and gentlemen, are them, er, they, er,
just read on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When vacations come around, my favorite go-to activity when we’re
back in school is to do a review of past simple and have my students tell me
what they did on vacation. It’s a good excuse to review a useful tense with
content that interests them, and it also allows Mr. Matt to not have to plan
anything. Win-win-win.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This year, I got this gem:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What did you do on Christmas vacation?<br />
"I bought pineapple.<br />
I cut fruit.<br />
I made a fruit salad.<br />
I killed a cop."<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, that escalated quickly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a man who enjoys his toilet humor, I also couldn’t help
but include some of those.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We do a dictation tournament where they have to correctly
write the word I tell them on the board. It’s a head-to-head competition, and
the winner moves on, March Madness style.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Welp, we were reviewing adjectives, and when I told them to write
“fat,” I got:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“FARTS.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This student had no idea what she had written, which is why
she didn’t know the reason she’d just made Mr. Matt double over in laughter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Speaking of farts, I was deep in a lesson on, well, to be
honest, I don’t remember anymore, but what I do remember is, at some point, the
lesson devolved into a five-minute detour on a cultural exchange of making
farting noises with parts of our body. I can honestly say I learned more than I
taught that day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So let’s talk about poop now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes TEFL gems come not from mistakes, but from an
accent. This is one of those.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In another post-vacation class, we were talking about what
one student did over Christmas vacation:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I played with my poopie.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Um, your what?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“My poopie.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After about five seconds spent in suspended animation, dl.
Met finally realizes what she’s trying to say: “Oh, your PUPPY!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Yes, I played with my puppy.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Yeah, that’s way better.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Often, as an EFL teacher, you have the privilege of seeing
your language through the eyes of a non-native speaker. And sometimes, the
insightfulness of those eyes surprise, and impress, you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While doing a lesson on anatomy, we reached the toes, which
is a difficult concept for Romanian speakers because they more or less use the
same word.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"What are these called?"<br />
"Fingers?"<br />
"No, we have a different word for the ones on the foot."<br />
"Foot-gers?"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Well, no. But they should be.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Google Translate is a great tool, if you want to get in the
ballpark. However, I’ve found that Google Translate is responsible for some of
my favorite translation blunders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First, in yet another lesson where we talked about Christmas
vacation, I had at least two students make this mistake. In Romanian, there are
three A’s, all of which have a different accent and are, therefore, different
letters. It usually doesn’t make that big of a difference. This time, it did.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What my students wanted to say was:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What they actually said was:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hungarian is a really hard language. It has almost a
complete lack of cognates, glues its prepositions on the end of words and has
nearly indecipherable grammar. However, some things aren’t that hard like, for
instance, when I tried to confirm the translation of how to say “Mr. Teacher,”
something I hear all the time. This, I didn’t expect:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn8MhfW5epCe4Z8Uwa48Y7oIqfyZI33heNPwKbFzCgWEGV07sZDCtKRwRKqiGp8-AECDDDQB3mOZVC6urCjMrW4FSVsHesRqTsnQwmk8VAwoT1hspGoX_iNRSoubiHqJNLOD_d1Tvb0ToT/s1600/Mr.+Higgins.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn8MhfW5epCe4Z8Uwa48Y7oIqfyZI33heNPwKbFzCgWEGV07sZDCtKRwRKqiGp8-AECDDDQB3mOZVC6urCjMrW4FSVsHesRqTsnQwmk8VAwoT1hspGoX_iNRSoubiHqJNLOD_d1Tvb0ToT/s640/Mr.+Higgins.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And finally, my favorite of the lot. I’ll just say that this
is supposed to translate to, “I went sledding.” I’ll also say that no less than
four seventh graders said this in front of the entire class.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGiccudlYyIKsYdA7ZEpEukq9g9apLBhMAkf3LdzUyXcBnLq-DMWd2fkwByDUO0_E2gtlGffa1TcAjX9dt7F9dZSSWDRurKdlUsW97tSJ16cjMDJN_nTM3sLJFLpfx-DIvgEzbGZeg3-HG/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-01-16+at+9.58.19+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGiccudlYyIKsYdA7ZEpEukq9g9apLBhMAkf3LdzUyXcBnLq-DMWd2fkwByDUO0_E2gtlGffa1TcAjX9dt7F9dZSSWDRurKdlUsW97tSJ16cjMDJN_nTM3sLJFLpfx-DIvgEzbGZeg3-HG/s640/Screen+shot+2013-01-16+at+9.58.19+AM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Got it, Bogdan. Thanks for the heads up. Now back to what you did on
vacation.</span></div>
</div>
Matt Paulsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996402962787786945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689325076357473422.post-85868762544391339202013-04-01T03:16:00.000-07:002013-04-01T03:16:39.874-07:00A Wednesday With Fane<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I recently had the pleasure of meeting with Fane Tulpan, a Romanian mountain climber who, in 2003, became the first Romanian to summit Everest.<br />
<br />
Fane's a wiry guy with a mind so enthusiastic and energetic, his mouth has a tough time keeping up.<br />
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Whether it be talking about passing dead bodies on the way to the top of the world or how his toddler son wakes him up at 7 o'clock every morning to play, Fane grips you, and keeps you.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPU5p_T_HUC_G_p3A4_T-ehW28dqu6pCRg6NfCzOKi6l07PfUFODMLIRjA3-OuTHpeFQmvhOtwLouC-TQwx1CYVNHHw0wJcvynMOZfxF9yOyqHSculuqcOKPW_0c3ty9e2l63PSDxNhUFl/s1600/2013-03-27+10.54.20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPU5p_T_HUC_G_p3A4_T-ehW28dqu6pCRg6NfCzOKi6l07PfUFODMLIRjA3-OuTHpeFQmvhOtwLouC-TQwx1CYVNHHw0wJcvynMOZfxF9yOyqHSculuqcOKPW_0c3ty9e2l63PSDxNhUFl/s320/2013-03-27+10.54.20.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(Fane shows me his picture book from his successful trip to the top of Everest in 2003.)</span></div>
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However, what most impressed me about Fane was not his contagious enthusiasm, nor was it his unassuming, friendly demeanor, especially considering his <a href="http://www.tulpan.ro/ro/about-us.php">impressive resume</a>. What most impressed me was his perspective.<br />
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Despite his successful summits of Everest, Kilimanjaro and McKinley, Fane's most impactful story, at least on me, was about his failed expedition up K2. After nearly two months on the mountain, and just about one thousand meters from the top of the world's second largest peak, he turned back. Why?<br />
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According to his website, it was due to weather and Grade 1 frostbite on his toes. However, with me, he expanded:<br />
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"The mountain isn't even worth my thumb, much less my life," he said. "Everyone has their Everest. Your Everest might be to build an American school in Bucharest. My Everest isn't Everest. It's my family."</div>
Matt Paulsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996402962787786945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689325076357473422.post-81928213710026657992013-03-19T03:44:00.000-07:002013-03-19T06:30:33.055-07:00Dl. Met in Action<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I've realized that the majority of my blogs posted in this space have been about travel, special events, holidays, etc. I fear that most of you think Peace Corps is a 27-month vacation. I assure you that, even though it's an incredible experience, we're still here to work.<br />
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With that, I present to you proof. Here are some pictures of Dl. Met in action. The first group is a few shots of my kids after a cool post-it note activity that works with parts of the body. It is what it appears to be: Students pin post-it notes to one of their classmates to label him or her.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ooFqjuITG0qRSLUpTrkz9Kq7ZGMDF-wW-1zKYCLUHCu3gm70MredMmFS_Iy98gnbnQzlULLnai8fHfSr803aG-nRYgz9P0imdJLHYEzaHLm5_esZ3kUW6w9T1jWJ8l6q5VNB3QVF6Iii/s1600/2013-03-18+09.41.40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ooFqjuITG0qRSLUpTrkz9Kq7ZGMDF-wW-1zKYCLUHCu3gm70MredMmFS_Iy98gnbnQzlULLnai8fHfSr803aG-nRYgz9P0imdJLHYEzaHLm5_esZ3kUW6w9T1jWJ8l6q5VNB3QVF6Iii/s320/2013-03-18+09.41.40.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpqoIdoyr1eTHtgAHfyymjfSdh4eu2r1e9JDDAOrwHPqCs8CSAG7wFWvcvFNKCe8_G9UVB5F3lIu4wI0eeLYIe0tCctF4ipnCPmHt64ezXSDnUdvr_pfHgpmDoBIIFx1IBo7RmFHONqlnF/s1600/2013-03-18+10.36.33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpqoIdoyr1eTHtgAHfyymjfSdh4eu2r1e9JDDAOrwHPqCs8CSAG7wFWvcvFNKCe8_G9UVB5F3lIu4wI0eeLYIe0tCctF4ipnCPmHt64ezXSDnUdvr_pfHgpmDoBIIFx1IBo7RmFHONqlnF/s320/2013-03-18+10.36.33.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU7hbNiZRpLKbQmm-nHLH_r7Rbu_vJi1VyGCJ8MDA7dOWg0gr4AFRtPxTS3zjbtkqL0PCBYfNBc_JEWRTq4GsFyJ9w5NNqZRjv5JSrFH-437-JAF_6JZU-tun1eXj2vrm1DjrwLiTwLBLX/s1600/2013-03-18+09.33.27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU7hbNiZRpLKbQmm-nHLH_r7Rbu_vJi1VyGCJ8MDA7dOWg0gr4AFRtPxTS3zjbtkqL0PCBYfNBc_JEWRTq4GsFyJ9w5NNqZRjv5JSrFH-437-JAF_6JZU-tun1eXj2vrm1DjrwLiTwLBLX/s320/2013-03-18+09.33.27.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1tpMMhhUUrDOkvrg74b_8aeEj61FFvqpppAdK3Jx_ko0P9nGXza3QAtqcsBuKX6yXf8xWbaTz-fm1eNJ6Uw5l7two2ZtE56sFw4QZZqT1wdRhgHMXwRVX0tHOvuqcyYvsplPh3tTGPZtv/s1600/2013-03-18+10.47.04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1tpMMhhUUrDOkvrg74b_8aeEj61FFvqpppAdK3Jx_ko0P9nGXza3QAtqcsBuKX6yXf8xWbaTz-fm1eNJ6Uw5l7two2ZtE56sFw4QZZqT1wdRhgHMXwRVX0tHOvuqcyYvsplPh3tTGPZtv/s320/2013-03-18+10.47.04.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The second group of photos is us doing the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lhYjSgkZgg">Animal Action</a> song, one of our greatest hits.<br />
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"MOVE LIKE A BIIIIIRD!"<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZUhwDpKK09h9_xUkbNQhpSDEYHwZVJmf7xKCSwAzNzl-HLje3HWvGU4YNxNt2Y0sVMbQSJC_nEGBI40VjfS_aZFgzgr7oZGp6-pyPoRn1DMaWY3jlOr0LAi4QLvQgZVDZPIA8JhtMt53o/s1600/2013-03-19+10.33.23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZUhwDpKK09h9_xUkbNQhpSDEYHwZVJmf7xKCSwAzNzl-HLje3HWvGU4YNxNt2Y0sVMbQSJC_nEGBI40VjfS_aZFgzgr7oZGp6-pyPoRn1DMaWY3jlOr0LAi4QLvQgZVDZPIA8JhtMt53o/s320/2013-03-19+10.33.23.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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"MOVE LIKE AN ELEPHANT!!!"<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgscT6YuoviXtsecxky_25uhbjwBpmU9sW48PgzG5fzsyJ-5r1kRQhHABTkvWQwO6-Qp4tyWKbG_0ZQt0vmjnqvEIp1rDXwar4YOdXzHBDBv0_5Q9yZL7e3a8acaVPTvIMfUoYUG08UR_nZ/s1600/2013-03-19+10.32.11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgscT6YuoviXtsecxky_25uhbjwBpmU9sW48PgzG5fzsyJ-5r1kRQhHABTkvWQwO6-Qp4tyWKbG_0ZQt0vmjnqvEIp1rDXwar4YOdXzHBDBv0_5Q9yZL7e3a8acaVPTvIMfUoYUG08UR_nZ/s320/2013-03-19+10.32.11.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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"MOVE LIKE A MOOOOOONKEEEEY!"<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV3lWS7jmq4DyFdLxArjS2vASFhyphenhyphenGP2DG-hXCoXppxbE0NgTIiB4Mej6Xh4rm5gnGjGVcEUxeI1fWAVYr_W9u0rsy2gsnQHZMQiOE1uMaQBWcy31PjJW9rYO880IOeYsVa9gMWo6PyTcqY/s1600/2013-03-19+10.34.15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV3lWS7jmq4DyFdLxArjS2vASFhyphenhyphenGP2DG-hXCoXppxbE0NgTIiB4Mej6Xh4rm5gnGjGVcEUxeI1fWAVYr_W9u0rsy2gsnQHZMQiOE1uMaQBWcy31PjJW9rYO880IOeYsVa9gMWo6PyTcqY/s320/2013-03-19+10.34.15.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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So there you have it, proof that I've been working the past two years.<br />
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Then again, perhaps this doesn't seem like work in the traditional sense of the term. Perhaps it's because we get to run around and act like monkeys and dance and sing songs. Then again, if that's your opinion, here's my retort: Perhaps you should try it at your office at least once a day, and maybe your job wouldn't seem so much like work either.</div>
Matt Paulsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996402962787786945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689325076357473422.post-2897388640326916522013-03-07T09:17:00.000-08:002013-03-07T09:18:36.687-08:00Tulgheș Wikipedia Page! Now in English!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The title pretty much says it all, but we now have a lengthy, informative wikipedia page in English about our sleepy, humble mountain town, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulghes">Tulgheș</a>.<br />
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Well, it's technically not new, but the old one only had a couple of paragraphs about the village. Now it's your one-stop shopping for historical information, economic information, tourism hot spots, transportation information and even "Geomorphological and Climactic Highlights"! WHAT!<br />
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The English page was translated from the Romanian page by my English Club, along with a hearty assist from my awesome counterpart.<br />
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So read up, folks! You now no longer need my inane blog posts to learn about this place. You can go right to the source!</div>
Matt Paulsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996402962787786945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689325076357473422.post-50812787840856885222013-02-12T03:03:00.001-08:002013-02-12T03:04:50.872-08:00Da! In sfarsit! Am fost la schi!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<!--StartFragment-->
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For two winters now, I’ve been having this exact same
conversation with people:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Do you know how to ski?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Yes, I know how to ski.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Have you been skiing here?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“No, I haven’t.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Why not?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is where I would spew whatever seemingly sufficient
excuse was the first to arrive on my tongue: “I don’t have skis.” “I’m busy
this weekend, and then every weekend after that forever.” “I don’t have
legs.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, the truth is that I really didn’t have a reason, so
finally, after last weekend, this conversation no longer ends this way.
Instead, it goes:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Have you been skiing here?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“DA!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Skiing in Romania, specifically in a great village about 15
miles away called Borsec (famous for its mountain spring water that it exports
throughout the world), was certainly a new experience for me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The rental process is similar to the places I’ve been in the
U.S., although I paid about $6 for skis, poles and boots. That, and I got some sweet pink boots to rock on the slopes. Yes, I noticed that they were this
color before I left the rental hut. No, I didn’t request different ones.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After that, the lift ticket is about $8 for four hours.
However, this is where it starts to get interesting. At this particular slope,
they don’t have chairlifts. They sort of just have buttlifts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let me explain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Basically, you stand in line like you would for the
chairlift in the U.S., and they have a similar support system running up the
hill. However, here, they have this tiny little retractable seat attached to
the overhead line, which you grab, shove into your nethers and let it drag you
by the rump up the hill, while your skis glide along on the ground below.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwrKJopnZ1wgAXH0fZiRwYB14GHIjg336mw9DpfSB9GCf4Kr7bw0lILN-JiUBhdc_z366tjqAzvYwXi1pt8aeOhq8H23iykGi0HfsQb0DFMLTsw2FuKfWWi7qNfaoyt2BsSHmrKJk8Q-uU/s1600/photo+(4).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwrKJopnZ1wgAXH0fZiRwYB14GHIjg336mw9DpfSB9GCf4Kr7bw0lILN-JiUBhdc_z366tjqAzvYwXi1pt8aeOhq8H23iykGi0HfsQb0DFMLTsw2FuKfWWi7qNfaoyt2BsSHmrKJk8Q-uU/s320/photo+(4).JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitU6LlxSLVR3Yj0qcIMpiSzJgJYMtTUqQafBTpBU3jwoaoFLMh7uSQNyA9QqY3Wm4iqeTUZ6KeZtQDShqmjpDReWI_dG37y8K5MTW0F-0hQicHWl2UpUoAzR8G1uV24d4hy3AuhrCHTJKe/s1600/photo+(11).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitU6LlxSLVR3Yj0qcIMpiSzJgJYMtTUqQafBTpBU3jwoaoFLMh7uSQNyA9QqY3Wm4iqeTUZ6KeZtQDShqmjpDReWI_dG37y8K5MTW0F-0hQicHWl2UpUoAzR8G1uV24d4hy3AuhrCHTJKe/s320/photo+(11).JPG" width="239" /></span></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHazmWUSd78X3FZWUB1P3YxKwXILhG2Rg6_id2x-6MpArsecey18_tlmUXncGfvuhxgJtUJWNl1m-yuzmb_ip3Uex6-g-oJ8I0ged-7pWmnxVyAH4FUoNHIvPmP1SBvYTsDoramrYh3uon/s1600/photo+(9).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHazmWUSd78X3FZWUB1P3YxKwXILhG2Rg6_id2x-6MpArsecey18_tlmUXncGfvuhxgJtUJWNl1m-yuzmb_ip3Uex6-g-oJ8I0ged-7pWmnxVyAH4FUoNHIvPmP1SBvYTsDoramrYh3uon/s320/photo+(9).JPG" width="239" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a byproduct, everyone has little wet marks on their butts
all day. At first, I thought it meant these people had fallen on their butts
and silently mocked them. Then, I realized everyone had them and put together that
it was from the chairlift. Then, I realized that meant I had one too and silently
chided myself for mocking others' wet-buttedness while being wet-butted myself.
You know what they say about people with wet butts and glass houses. Get out of
the kitchen. Or something.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, it’s an interesting, new experience, but
realistically, it’s much more tiring on the legs, especially if those legs
haven’t been skiing in four years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Other than that, the slope was extremely well groomed,
partly because we all take a forced break when this guy comes out to groom it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAPwjOULxNIvGe1YCDUrd_zhPaWkN-poPFnHzASHM8LZYjQjRWNzWRYfRoulX2iZMkdacjCXx1Tk7slI6uTfpMEzGYen_qG5VaQzlRrDNPHLNm87ot7f4s3C_07npIQrZ-yIt42uCcQWCl/s1600/photo+(8).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAPwjOULxNIvGe1YCDUrd_zhPaWkN-poPFnHzASHM8LZYjQjRWNzWRYfRoulX2iZMkdacjCXx1Tk7slI6uTfpMEzGYen_qG5VaQzlRrDNPHLNm87ot7f4s3C_07npIQrZ-yIt42uCcQWCl/s320/photo+(8).JPG" width="239" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, as always, I can’t complain about the scenery.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbtcrFsmw840sT_9_R860Ibiutx5hzCPu4OJP26Bok_-T77faIhCP2vdxmA0SH22Mqi6ttmVpIM8jRcChwwW17_3m_vLQ2TVR3zX7Ps9As2VZGc0OQLxn1DV4TZqxI7XJJ7i8ZNDYlYh7S/s1600/photo+(5).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbtcrFsmw840sT_9_R860Ibiutx5hzCPu4OJP26Bok_-T77faIhCP2vdxmA0SH22Mqi6ttmVpIM8jRcChwwW17_3m_vLQ2TVR3zX7Ps9As2VZGc0OQLxn1DV4TZqxI7XJJ7i8ZNDYlYh7S/s320/photo+(5).JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'd call it a success story. It was a new experience and a beautiful day on the slopes with zero injuries, unless you count the wet butt.</span></div>
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Matt Paulsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996402962787786945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689325076357473422.post-5898838242389114172012-12-08T03:08:00.001-08:002012-12-08T03:08:44.734-08:00A venit iarnă!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
On Dec. 5-6, in the year of our Lord 2012, Tulgheș received its first significant snowfall of the year. For a place that's still attractive in miserable conditions, Tulgheș is quite possibly at its best in white. Winter wonderland: activate.<br />
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Matt Paulsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996402962787786945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689325076357473422.post-26919997605710152142012-11-07T04:53:00.000-08:002012-11-07T04:53:37.539-08:00"Sa traiasca Obama!"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
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“Sa traiasca Obama!” (Long live Obama!)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I heard it this morning on the way to school. Not more than
an hour earlier, the election had been called in his favor, and already, one of
my friends here in Tulgheș was congratulating me.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Four years ago, I also watched the election called for Obama
from foreign soil. I was in the Auckland airport, waiting for a flight home. As
I and people from all over the world gathered around the television to watch
McCain’s concession speech and Obama’s victory speech, an odd thing happened:
When people found out I was American, they began shaking my hand. I shook more
hands than I can count that day, and I was proud to do it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, I’m not writing this blog to pat America on the back
for reelecting Obama, even if I did vote for him. Nor am I writing it to
criticize Mitt Romney or the GOP, even if I tend to disagree with them on how
our government should be run. The point I’m trying to make, as I write this
from my Romanian village, is this: Whatever we do, the world is watching.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Which is why we need to be better.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This has never been more apparent to me as it’s been since
I’ve moved abroad. For the last year and a half, I’ve lived as the only
American in a small village in Romania, and whether I want to be or not, I’m an
American ambassador by default.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve listened as people talk about their frustrations with
Romania and Romanian politics and clenched my teeth as I tried not to tell them
how imperfect our system is: how campaign finance is completely out of control,
how partisan politics and obstructionism have simply become the norm, how polarizing
vitriol has turned what should be a mere disagreement into the end of
friendships, and how hot-button issues have completely overshadowed the real,
widespread problems plaguing our nation.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Oh, and imagine yourself trying to defend things like “Honey
Boo Boo” and Snooki.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Even through all this, I’ve found that, to my friends and
colleagues here, we remain an example to strive toward. Maybe it’s just because
they toss on their rose-colored glasses when they look west, or perhaps it’s
simply because, as Americans, our problems have nothing on the majority of the
rest of the world’s. However, they still see us as an example.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Which is why, I say again, we need to be better.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To those in Washington, it’s time to do what you believe is
right, not for reelection, not for special interests, but what you believe is
right morally, ethically and for US, the people. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And WE need to be better people. Less division, more
compromise. Less vitriol, more understanding.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If we want to continue to be a global leader, we need to
look homeward and do better. We need to take a step back from the sense of
entitlement previous generations earned for us, and re-earn that respect
through responsible, reasonable policy and behavior.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Perhaps it’s because participating in yet another peaceful
election fills me with pride, or perhaps I’m borrowing my neighbors’
rose-colored glasses, but at least today, I’m going to be hopeful that, in the
coming years, we’re going to learn to stop letting ourselves be controlled by
hateful soundbites and partisanship, and we’re going to learn to work together.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I have never been more hopeful about America. And I ask you
to sustain that hope. I'm not talking about blind optimism, the kind of hope
that just ignores the enormity of the tasks ahead or the roadblocks that stand
in our path. I'm not talking about the wishful idealism that allows us to just
sit on the sidelines or shirk from a fight.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing
inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that
something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to
keep working, to keep fighting….<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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“I believe we can seize this future together because we are
not as divided as our politics suggests. We're not as cynical as the pundits
believe. We are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions, and we remain
more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are and forever will
be the United States of America.” <br />
– President Barack Obama</div>
<!--EndFragment--></div>
Matt Paulsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996402962787786945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689325076357473422.post-15869595863918888752012-10-09T11:24:00.001-07:002012-10-09T11:25:49.612-07:00Situation Updation and Continuation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Well, I
realize that this summer – and now the following few weeks that have whirred
right through fall and into winter for a second consecutive year – has found me
pretty delinquent on here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">As of
this summer, the excuse was travel. I ain't gonna apologize for that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">As of the
last few weeks, my excuse is also sort of travel, as I was in Minnesota for 10
days. However, more recently, I've actually been a bit busy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">My second
year of school has started, which has meant a few things for me:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">First
off, I can't tell you how much smoother it's been this time around. My language
is better, I know my colleagues better, I know my students better. It's been
wonderful how much easier the start to this second year has gone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Secondly,
this year – the last one for me in Tulgheș and for Peace Corps in Romania –
I've decided to do whatever I can to help as many students in our community get
some sort of English instruction. You see, we're 3,000 people here, and that
includes five kindergartens, five elementary schools (1-4) and one middle
school (5-8). For all those students, there is ONE full-time English teacher,
aka my inimitable counterpart Ovidiu. Now I'll probably save thoroughly extolling
Ovidiu's virtues for a different time, but I'll say that I sincerely look up to
him as a man, husband, father and person. Although he wears all those hats
well, it's still impossible for him, as a teacher, to get to every student.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">That's
where I come in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Essentially,
in addition to the 16 hours per week we're mandated to have as TEFL volunteers,
I've taken on 11 more with the kindergarten; "zero grade" (new this
year, between kindergarten and first grade); adults; an English club and my
American Football club, which just means we play football an hour a week. I
won't be able to get to everyone from K-8, but we're going to get to as many as
possible to at least give them a small push they wouldn't have gotten
otherwise.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">I'm also
still working on some ongoing projects. There's a video project where we're
trying to get to Romanian athletes to have them record something in both
Romanian and English about why it's important to learn English. We've already
scored THE Nadia Comaneci (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlozJaun2bM&feature=plcp"><span style="color: #002ce2;">English</span></a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m39EainBGG0&feature=plcp"><span style="color: #002ce2;">Romanian</span></a>) and have distributed it throughout
the country.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">I'm also
working with a few talented teachers on attempting to write an updated English
curriculum for kindergartners. The goal is to leave something behind that's an
easily packaged, all-encompassing plan that can be implemented even by a
teacher who doesn't speak any English, as is often the case for those over
35-40 in Romania.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Finally,
we're still working on getting Tulgheș featured on <a href="http://www.villagelife.ro/"><span style="color: #002ce2;">www.villagelife.ro</span></a>,
which I'll post more about when the information goes up. All the information is
written; we're just putting final touches on the photos and packaging
everything.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">So why
did I write this blog post so unabashedly patting myself on the back? Well, at
first I was using it to provide an excuse for what was originally planned to be
a concise (dismissive) post. Now, looking back at the copy that has somehow
spewed out of me this evening, I see I'd be better served to use it as an
excuse for a future that might find these things more infrequent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Basically,
I'm going to be busy this year. I've decided that, after a refreshing trip
home, I'm going to make the most of these final nine months. I’m going to trim
some of the distractions and extracurricular activities – yes, blogtopia, that
means you – and devoting whatever I can to going out with a bang.</span></div>
<!--EndFragment--></div>
Matt Paulsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996402962787786945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689325076357473422.post-11825617409290766522012-09-20T07:45:00.002-07:002012-09-20T07:45:53.556-07:00How to Install a Washing Machine, Romaniamania Style<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since I arrived in Tulgheș, I've been doing my laundry at the local boarding school, a 5-minute walk from my place. This involves not only the walk, but also coordinating with the ladies who work there to make sure I can 1) get a key and 2) have access to the only washing machine there. Clearly, this isn't ideal. (However, I can't really complain, as many people do wash by hand here).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, when my neighbor Dan, an electrician, informed me that he had an extra one he could lend me for the final 10 months of my service, Dan got an emphatic "DA!" So we headed back to his workshop and loaded 'er up in his red Dacia.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, upon arriving home and while attempting to install my new old washer, we found, much to our chagrin, that there was simply no way it could fit through the bathroom door.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ba da.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cue a handsaw and a little Romanian ingenuity.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Step 1: Measure the height of the washer, then cut out a piece of the doorframe.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9jNNstwivh3h4VaBcRS4OocwzjIZu6f6fJSuXm2QD2S0uUJ0lM1EGhUVtzjT-UX6Ha2Zc3-N8IyENuUZ8k9arnd56vRwwZoudDvBQqLFuhBU1oDOWX3P9w8uyMsuciezkSvTtoYCYSjVu/s1600/2012-08-10+10.53.51.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9jNNstwivh3h4VaBcRS4OocwzjIZu6f6fJSuXm2QD2S0uUJ0lM1EGhUVtzjT-UX6Ha2Zc3-N8IyENuUZ8k9arnd56vRwwZoudDvBQqLFuhBU1oDOWX3P9w8uyMsuciezkSvTtoYCYSjVu/s320/2012-08-10+10.53.51.jpg" width="239" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Step 2: Squeeze in the washer. Affix in place. (Not pictured. I was actually helping with this.)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Step 3: Fabricate a new piece of doorframe out of scrap wood and attach it where the old one was.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJcS5YEF4aoqCXLIYJFH543V_O-TvrRtTrUSlJ62Q5tVsCQCtY-bNPxDTeh1fXz9mpn5lOXu8QpwrUU3IoXDipS-ghurqGEoXdhXHoeCz-ii60fgJYGKiItiJqxCqbsEbXckrMFgD24waU/s1600/2012-08-10+13.16.54.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJcS5YEF4aoqCXLIYJFH543V_O-TvrRtTrUSlJ62Q5tVsCQCtY-bNPxDTeh1fXz9mpn5lOXu8QpwrUU3IoXDipS-ghurqGEoXdhXHoeCz-ii60fgJYGKiItiJqxCqbsEbXckrMFgD24waU/s320/2012-08-10+13.16.54.jpg" width="239" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLehV0lpZQ5p3I4X5a-LfzCo9FLpaxCgjakxdwqoOnrhspO30g1FefwBQzWzm4NGFihY5X6Zbz0pXR-Eq-ruW_Ua6ZQ8ZciS7eTa3Ni1gs-O3QBayQRnWptmYJYS5WfSIczwu3Zao3UsTT/s1600/2012-08-10+13.17.03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLehV0lpZQ5p3I4X5a-LfzCo9FLpaxCgjakxdwqoOnrhspO30g1FefwBQzWzm4NGFihY5X6Zbz0pXR-Eq-ruW_Ua6ZQ8ZciS7eTa3Ni1gs-O3QBayQRnWptmYJYS5WfSIczwu3Zao3UsTT/s320/2012-08-10+13.17.03.jpg" width="239" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Step 4: Paint the new doorframe to match the old doorframe. (Not pictured, because this will never happen. Clashing is the new matching.)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And voila! This "șmecher" has got himself a fay-ncy new washin' machine, ready to slosh and gyrate its way to clean clothes in 30 minutes.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5fRstMn9vsJqkYZe67slCt-SOHQBwpojf7QRaMLkOEjg_QsFL17zEWlR7ushoEnIOXyehyphenhyphenkNG4IRKztLY8J_jzu6yqCnrONpKFnv3j-DjxaXJkYj13c73WWejqD8y5tqjC4opijivM2oZ/s1600/2012-08-10+16.29.23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5fRstMn9vsJqkYZe67slCt-SOHQBwpojf7QRaMLkOEjg_QsFL17zEWlR7ushoEnIOXyehyphenhyphenkNG4IRKztLY8J_jzu6yqCnrONpKFnv3j-DjxaXJkYj13c73WWejqD8y5tqjC4opijivM2oZ/s320/2012-08-10+16.29.23.jpg" width="239" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Blue coveralls sold separately.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<br /></div>
Matt Paulsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996402962787786945noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689325076357473422.post-24215234777917228332012-08-02T03:06:00.001-07:002012-08-02T03:22:20.732-07:00A Wanderin'<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I like the Interwebs.<br />
<br />
Where else can I settle an argument in a matter of seconds, see a cat doing pretty much anything and catch up with old friends without having to go through the rigmarole of actually speaking with them? Nowhere, that's where.<br />
<br />
However, it's made traveling way more work. In the last month, I've been fortunate enough to see some of Europe's coolest places in the form of Santorini, Athens, Budapest and Prague. When I toured Europe in 2006, I didn't have a blog, nor was I on Facebook. What I remember from that trip was enjoying it, getting home and getting on with my life. This time around, six years later, I got home and had homework, with my 1,100 professors (friends) breathing down my neck.<br />
<br />
I'm kidding, of course. Posting (bragging) about my travels is a labor of love. In the words of Joe Walsh, "My Maserati does 185..." Wait, no, wrong one, "I can't complain, but sometimes I still do. Life's been good to me so far."<br />
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Anyway, on with it. As previously mentioned, I spent the last three weeks traveling, first hitting Greece then meeting some friends at București airport to swing through my village, and then on to Budapest and Prague. Because I think chronologically, that's how I'll organize this. Also, I'm only going to hit the highlights. I put full picture albums on Facebook with commentary. I'll link to each one in the city name. (They'll also work if you don't have Facebook, if those people still exist.)<br />
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First off, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151067522799171.451656.511659170&type=3&l=83bfd023de">Santorini</a>. Santorini is a small island in the Greek isles whose beauty has been displayed by such cinema classics as Summer Lovers with Peter Gallagher, his eyebrows and Daryl Hannah; Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life; and of course, The Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants 2.<br />
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Basically, it's a rim of a super volcano that erupted thousands of years ago. Although this brought about a violent end to a whole civilization of people, their loss is our gain, as the result is a narrow slit of land sitting high above the water below providing spectacular views. More specifically, the views from Thira are pretty surreal. Thira is the island capital that faces west and is perched on the caldera (basically the cliff-face).<br />
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Views like this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsHiiK0FuTMzsee1AOssgDc1Mf16_xWfr_O8EXjTbZkZjwVk31tGapBISn__DSRV16FzuBAngMYrOROB7U6a9tK72eoefAJjn2-OAlOPe4m33M33orumLvtn1CX3a30yrw4BjEU-DlKnBH/s1600/36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsHiiK0FuTMzsee1AOssgDc1Mf16_xWfr_O8EXjTbZkZjwVk31tGapBISn__DSRV16FzuBAngMYrOROB7U6a9tK72eoefAJjn2-OAlOPe4m33M33orumLvtn1CX3a30yrw4BjEU-DlKnBH/s320/36.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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And this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj43lTrblcAOuOOXscgy-su3D1_GCuNvKcckjt_UIsgKdEPKAz6aKxC58UBNGSuISNc9_3j55oTI92iA6RTQt-kPXqNkPdzZoywZ5nRnGqpX9zGWqauwj0D8xUzm33ax330Phsba4Cldw5s/s1600/50.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj43lTrblcAOuOOXscgy-su3D1_GCuNvKcckjt_UIsgKdEPKAz6aKxC58UBNGSuISNc9_3j55oTI92iA6RTQt-kPXqNkPdzZoywZ5nRnGqpX9zGWqauwj0D8xUzm33ax330Phsba4Cldw5s/s320/50.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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The sunsets from Santorini are also world famous, or more specifically, the unobscured sunsets from the northern tip of the island in a town called Oia. We also spent a couple days there, wandering, eating, drinking and figuring out where we're going to take in the sunset. Yes, this sunset:<br />
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After an unforgettable week on Santorini, we took the ferry back to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151067743874171.451677.511659170&type=3&l=92f9778ea0">Athens</a> for a day to hit some of the most famous sites. I particularly enjoyed the Acropolis, even if my pronunciation slid from Acropolis to Acropolypse to Hypotenuse and everywhere in between.<br />
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And given my love of sports, Olympics and hard seats, I also really enjoyed touring the old Olympic stadium.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhijd39K17WP2mogRCPiC1_DR302d98KuvjWUOi9cRVlNjrjkIxyEmgpagKtxcJGeLKVupTea0JstUxJtbrMN42m0iRmh7wvEKnnqBM2WxaOI_10oPQSlPfSTGEFPDNrYR1a02IM1veaziy/s1600/62.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhijd39K17WP2mogRCPiC1_DR302d98KuvjWUOi9cRVlNjrjkIxyEmgpagKtxcJGeLKVupTea0JstUxJtbrMN42m0iRmh7wvEKnnqBM2WxaOI_10oPQSlPfSTGEFPDNrYR1a02IM1veaziy/s320/62.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And cheering...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgejrGit8ABrGh_FQ8SkRjMiIyQLi0ZuxrJHkBkmZ6S2KtvgVzbYyTf-92W8PmMMNRBOfxjs6mV-lwGsUc3N84TbNoeaFrOjyYYDAmxWwVrbObT5DcqRXTeNcx9b-VK9XmTyOdiMCzK1syf/s1600/56.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgejrGit8ABrGh_FQ8SkRjMiIyQLi0ZuxrJHkBkmZ6S2KtvgVzbYyTf-92W8PmMMNRBOfxjs6mV-lwGsUc3N84TbNoeaFrOjyYYDAmxWwVrbObT5DcqRXTeNcx9b-VK9XmTyOdiMCzK1syf/s320/56.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And VIP-ing...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuWxSgywJJCdAIIl5DOBn3-5y_sCe7YIXAQ_vF_BEfQEYdZ78FCizYiANT2kyBPyewmtSozRCm2_4dybzHglEXzb7hFf4HX3tgwH4CS8Sm9oX6fGHbyv35lJI4vfox_XfKk2GHrXHT_X1f/s1600/61.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuWxSgywJJCdAIIl5DOBn3-5y_sCe7YIXAQ_vF_BEfQEYdZ78FCizYiANT2kyBPyewmtSozRCm2_4dybzHglEXzb7hFf4HX3tgwH4CS8Sm9oX6fGHbyv35lJI4vfox_XfKk2GHrXHT_X1f/s320/61.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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And running...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnFHYgSubXmy8wJPDNVEDmPuW4x2w2p7TqdkWIIM48XxnzIsvHf79B5J_PASmnAn2jWyvzY9gic3xRc0KQcaEvd4lY2K7AL-MoMFbkkUlQXXv4-GiIYZ3qbVBJrAw7lAUmfPrE0ZA-OA0A/s1600/60.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnFHYgSubXmy8wJPDNVEDmPuW4x2w2p7TqdkWIIM48XxnzIsvHf79B5J_PASmnAn2jWyvzY9gic3xRc0KQcaEvd4lY2K7AL-MoMFbkkUlQXXv4-GiIYZ3qbVBJrAw7lAUmfPrE0ZA-OA0A/s320/60.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And WINNING!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1YJvYvaGNg3AAseigP1N5RYZDlESaPPl1njh-VHS1KdE3aXASQvWJKIo24dbp9HPzwbbAq08Gdcuo9VwnFUoA6i3ulCEg6ycZX7QAv0f5YD7B2GytG8hTNAqApgl8fDg1Wpzub8lgS3Yf/s1600/74.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1YJvYvaGNg3AAseigP1N5RYZDlESaPPl1njh-VHS1KdE3aXASQvWJKIo24dbp9HPzwbbAq08Gdcuo9VwnFUoA6i3ulCEg6ycZX7QAv0f5YD7B2GytG8hTNAqApgl8fDg1Wpzub8lgS3Yf/s320/74.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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After Greece -- I carried on my gold medal -- we met four of my friends from back home at the airport and took them to my site. The next 36 hours was a blur of palinca, beer, wine, translation and hiking.<br />
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Then on to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151070089664171.451977.511659170&type=3&l=cbab851fe7">Budapest</a>. I'd heard nothing but good things about Budapest but had never been there. With its cool architecture, natural beauty, rich history and welcoming people, Budapest is definitely nagyon finom.<br />
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It was a whirlwind two days where we hit many of Budapest's most famous landmarks, but what stands out for me was the nighttime boat trip we took on the Danube. Budapest is a great place, but after dark -- ohhh yeah -- it becomes magical. The combination of the muted city and the illuminated medieval buildings and bridges gave the experience a cool eerie, surreal vibe.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFM-Xua4f9AU6tmbLtUiljg8RsQTNKuG1WqrabIUxR6aIYejjJexWKSRASLMZ2o78CHY2I7gM0vuGTDtuyIsRUjyex6LEl9xuYNJfnlQNN5AtWWxrxHw0chsS7GXjwP47wnLzWtqRvZ8Ng/s1600/160.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFM-Xua4f9AU6tmbLtUiljg8RsQTNKuG1WqrabIUxR6aIYejjJexWKSRASLMZ2o78CHY2I7gM0vuGTDtuyIsRUjyex6LEl9xuYNJfnlQNN5AtWWxrxHw0chsS7GXjwP47wnLzWtqRvZ8Ng/s320/160.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjV7MSAGdBQO9pIiExJkk5at-R1PIPKczXODEGFUj7FVpma92fbngvPTbf38Vbmh4QA62y_6KyA6EtpX24ptwtV5sr5e8nPqKxopSI7-qrEqymbPKR_w9lpmYmE6RDUW83YyNQwId3ts39/s1600/171.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjV7MSAGdBQO9pIiExJkk5at-R1PIPKczXODEGFUj7FVpma92fbngvPTbf38Vbmh4QA62y_6KyA6EtpX24ptwtV5sr5e8nPqKxopSI7-qrEqymbPKR_w9lpmYmE6RDUW83YyNQwId3ts39/s320/171.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And then there was <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151071879094171.452158.511659170&type=3&l=6fa7880294">Prague</a>. As mentioned, I had been there in 2006, but for some reason, this trip made me fall in love with the city. Sitting here now, I can't put my finger on why. There's simply a feeling in Prague that I've never felt anywhere else.<br />
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There's Old Town Square with the Clock Tower, Astronomical Clock and Týn Church:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXGdzVPccZUaKdRbRyAbovuM9I1BQvxTslA9SYHanom0IQ4Xml0BS52s-n7MLtDJof3VHeuMkBRbiMMnPvZCQ0wvD4ySUxUFb_ooluWq2GYeCqGvbGQjI7fwvJD10PtKMUVcBcTMknnHg2/s1600/2012-07-26+21.58.30+HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXGdzVPccZUaKdRbRyAbovuM9I1BQvxTslA9SYHanom0IQ4Xml0BS52s-n7MLtDJof3VHeuMkBRbiMMnPvZCQ0wvD4ySUxUFb_ooluWq2GYeCqGvbGQjI7fwvJD10PtKMUVcBcTMknnHg2/s320/2012-07-26+21.58.30+HDR.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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The Charles Bridge:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjXZPadjoibSaIvAFyxle9YtWBGCoyvxSq1TiZV80EdNrWMExlmbMiA1qWBywEDNhRJBLN1UurkoNJzjLQYXVBOc33VOjvNqNCKGSSehnHP3yeZM0u5IE-WuUwvtDWbeDIE-G-S65FQY3L/s1600/2012-07-26+21.15.50.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjXZPadjoibSaIvAFyxle9YtWBGCoyvxSq1TiZV80EdNrWMExlmbMiA1qWBywEDNhRJBLN1UurkoNJzjLQYXVBOc33VOjvNqNCKGSSehnHP3yeZM0u5IE-WuUwvtDWbeDIE-G-S65FQY3L/s320/2012-07-26+21.15.50.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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Wenceslas Square:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd49FX7x2f3L1H6jUBT_R9LUJWrk5oUWEciMh817PiinyahVX7QOBoVzf_k_lxc0hujejwIFhj6cChVx8zqC7nB5C3yJjF7o4hEx6fl0g9c162Jz5wB6Dhiy9tSqSJYLVxOluZ_P6WQ-Fj/s1600/2012-07-26+18.06.43+HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd49FX7x2f3L1H6jUBT_R9LUJWrk5oUWEciMh817PiinyahVX7QOBoVzf_k_lxc0hujejwIFhj6cChVx8zqC7nB5C3yJjF7o4hEx6fl0g9c162Jz5wB6Dhiy9tSqSJYLVxOluZ_P6WQ-Fj/s320/2012-07-26+18.06.43+HDR.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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And, of course, the Castle:<br />
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Like I said, I can't explain it, but Prague just takes me there. Guess you'll just have to come see for yourself.<br />
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And never forget:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPfrQqltpsaw4Ko_6jAVIclYdASHwZ2fKRK_NqG41Y-IfaxHilCMznFBbaUdD99xtONnYUsCuQchyphenhyphenV-MndlSaXdYUFgDMoQ-ARarIrL9uy8stgWwmSM1bhghZqP09BB9Sal-uviACILabm/s1600/2012-07-27+17.16.07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPfrQqltpsaw4Ko_6jAVIclYdASHwZ2fKRK_NqG41Y-IfaxHilCMznFBbaUdD99xtONnYUsCuQchyphenhyphenV-MndlSaXdYUFgDMoQ-ARarIrL9uy8stgWwmSM1bhghZqP09BB9Sal-uviACILabm/s320/2012-07-27+17.16.07.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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I miss you, Coach Taylor.<br />
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I'm now back in Tulgheș for a few weeks, working on some miscellaneous projects. This week, I'm trying to put together some information on Tulgheș for a site called villagelife.ro, which is an NGO that promotes rural tourism in Romania by offering tourists a real-deal rural experience. Here in Tulgheș, we have that, by the bunches. I'll be sure to post something once it's live.<br />
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Then it's a conference, then HOME! Once I come back from HOME!, I'll just have nine months remaining of my 27 here in Romania, which is a pretty overwhelming thought.<br />
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In conclusion, I always struggle with ways to end these rambling blogs.</div>Matt Paulsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996402962787786945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689325076357473422.post-76135941964863627522012-06-29T06:33:00.002-07:002012-06-29T07:11:09.780-07:00Hitchhiking Gone Good<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hitchhiking -- a safe activity here, fret not -- can unfold into a vast array of experiences. I've made friends, enemies and everything in between. This experience, though, is by far the coolest yet.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sara and I were headed to Recaș Wineries for a final wine-tasting before she left Recaș for good. First, a little background on </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.recaswine.ro/intro.php">Recaș Wineries</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">: They produce, by far, the best wine in Romania. They've also been </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.recaswine.ro/Noutati/?r=na">critically acclaimed internationally</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, and anecdotally from this uneducated palate, they're all well deserved.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, because a vineyard doesn't typically fall into the category of "walking-distance," we decided to hitch a ride. Within a couple minutes, we had a taker.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sara: Mergem la crama. (We're going to the winery.)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Driver: Bine. (OK.)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(We get in the car, Sara in the back, me in the front.)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Me: Do you have room?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Driver: So where are you guys from? (in perfect English)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Me: We're American.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Driver: Oh, cool, I just spent nine months in Napa Valley, studying wine.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sara: Oh, do you work for the winery?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Driver: Yeah, I'm, um, kind of the owner's son.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This unfolded into a great conversation on Napa, his experience there, then into a tour of the grounds in his car, where he shared with us not only the present, but his "dreams" for the future. Formally, and now formerly, a lawyer by trade, Narcis, a twenty-something, traded his robe for flip flops and went into the family business. Following his nine months in Napa, he was making a brief stopover in Romania before moving to Paris for three years. His plan is to simply find a job in a restaurant, doing whatever -- washing dishes, busing tables -- and studying wine there. He'll then bring whatever he learns back to Recaș.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm not saying this because, despite what his name suggests, Narcis was simply a cool guy, a laid-back fella wearing board shorts, flip flops and a Hollister shirt, who gave us a free tour. Nor am I saying this to brown-nose because someday he'll probably own my favorite winery (although, admittedly, this is part of the equation), but I think they have a bright future. He's intelligent and passionate and has a fresh outlook on a business that certainly has room to grow. There was even a point in the conversation where I suggested he get his MBA because it's one thing to know the wine side of things, but he's also going to have to know how to run a business. His response? "Yeah, good idea! Thanks! I think I'll do that."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, after our tour of the grounds, we went through the factory, saw the tanks and the wine being bottled (below).</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgClSu2O6QjUnyp5QlUPAbNZHQrqlbSWy4WBCYkrzyneCRJe1si346muYzW9jYxdeGbgDrVtt1Zn28LwjzYnN6fxJ5CAU51TeU0XUFe4UXt2BUWTQzDdUfgwQUKJcjlgK4EcfPww-132GwK/s1600/2012-06-25+12.45.45.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgClSu2O6QjUnyp5QlUPAbNZHQrqlbSWy4WBCYkrzyneCRJe1si346muYzW9jYxdeGbgDrVtt1Zn28LwjzYnN6fxJ5CAU51TeU0XUFe4UXt2BUWTQzDdUfgwQUKJcjlgK4EcfPww-132GwK/s320/2012-06-25+12.45.45.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNZrhBj8MdGRH-DLVcjawLobFJA_E2DMe6GlatcRT2M4JkRSE477GJlINg6TKbtYOKZiQeSs3g3nQ-v_55TPXxFwt1rb_c8J6oGbNr824a1UST4lxSLug58wjI-j3r-R4SVxHHLhHY0yA4/s1600/2012-06-25+12.47.50.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNZrhBj8MdGRH-DLVcjawLobFJA_E2DMe6GlatcRT2M4JkRSE477GJlINg6TKbtYOKZiQeSs3g3nQ-v_55TPXxFwt1rb_c8J6oGbNr824a1UST4lxSLug58wjI-j3r-R4SVxHHLhHY0yA4/s320/2012-06-25+12.47.50.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then, the tasting began. We had a Riesling, a Roze (surprisingly good considering my Roze experience is limited to anything in a two-liter bottle or a box) and a Feteasca Neagra, which is a Romanian grape and means "Black Maiden." It all went with some potatoes and unbelievably tender pork.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then, because it was a beautiful day, and life was coated with the glossy glow of afternoon wine-drinking, we retired to the outdoor area to enjoy an afternoon-cap overlooking the vineyard.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEBPKRmAl5OECS_h1rWeyjmjZ6IYxFGoWYLRPdofHTNt4yOby0sFRfJGKaESzFezFUwWChkuTeMcbE67YST7Dleu3ntMXAQlENsSV2zyBn8Mm4jXOZEKKNtLbTy2tbHcBpbANaRY3gEwgj/s1600/2012-06-25+12.51.52+HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEBPKRmAl5OECS_h1rWeyjmjZ6IYxFGoWYLRPdofHTNt4yOby0sFRfJGKaESzFezFUwWChkuTeMcbE67YST7Dleu3ntMXAQlENsSV2zyBn8Mm4jXOZEKKNtLbTy2tbHcBpbANaRY3gEwgj/s320/2012-06-25+12.51.52+HDR.jpg" width="239" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, the day wouldn't have been complete without a picture with our new homie.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhglhwJ1lvjpunDWcEqD1K_tfAKqGsNDfTWJomw71eqmSiMR-rzpipSPIb7BkruHSFkuzphO0Nd9nkNeBIqmvGhQsDcIFKzQLOS3v3pnzRYfSq2rKfDUNJErcyLpkdB4kWeWqmfF9jfQWBo/s1600/2012-06-25+16.05.21+HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhglhwJ1lvjpunDWcEqD1K_tfAKqGsNDfTWJomw71eqmSiMR-rzpipSPIb7BkruHSFkuzphO0Nd9nkNeBIqmvGhQsDcIFKzQLOS3v3pnzRYfSq2rKfDUNJErcyLpkdB4kWeWqmfF9jfQWBo/s320/2012-06-25+16.05.21+HDR.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the words of Ice Cube, "It was a good day."</span>Matt Paulsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996402962787786945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689325076357473422.post-69979438137301555242012-06-21T05:40:00.000-07:002012-06-21T05:40:16.157-07:00A Venit Vară!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Scoală e gata! Am scăpat de griji!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As of today, June 21, 2012, I am officially done with my
first school year in Romania.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One year. According to a real sing-y group of New Yorkers,
it’s merely 525,600 minutes. What I found in those minutes is that I’m
staggered at how much I can come to care about my students in that time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Teaching has a plethora of challenges, one of them being
devising a way for students to remember the word “plethora.” Patience.
Flexibility. Adaptability. Perseverance. Compassion. Chalk dust. It’s the
hardest job I’ve ever done, and that takes into the account that some days are
only 2-3 hours long.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, amidst those challenges, I found a wealth of
relationships. Never did I think a group of fifth-eighth graders could affect
me the way these kids have, but I now know that I’ll be invested in them long
after I leave here. It may sound cliché – probably because it is – but I guess
I hope I had a fraction of the effect on them, that they had on me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">OK, that being said, in the words of the poets Will “The
Fresh Prince” Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff, “Summa summa summa summa time. Time to sit
back and unwind.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the docket for this summer are some pretty great travel,
a few camps and the continuation of some projects.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First, I have another volunteer’s camp at the beginning of
July, then Greece! We’re going to hit Athens for a few days, then unwind (see
above) on Santorini. And no, it has nothing to do with The Sisterhood of the
Traveling Pants 2. (Read: It has EVERYTHING to do with The Sisterhood of the
Traveling Pants 2.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then, we fly back into Otopeni, eat, drink a beer, and wait
for four of my friends from back home to fly in a few hours later. I’m then
going to take them to Tulgheș for a day and a half, translate and pretty much
overall impress them with my skillz, then we’ll move onto Budapest for a couple
days, then Prague.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Come August, I’ll be compiling information for my village to
be included on a cool NGO website called <a href="http://www.villagelife.ro/">www.villagelife.ro</a>,
working with a few volunteers on developing a yearlong kindergarten curriculum
to leave when we close our post here, doing another camp and having a meeting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then school starts again in September. Oh yeah, speaking of
September, I’ll be in Minnesota Sept. 7-17. The Fat Kid is getting married, and
my mom’s memorial golf tournament, the <a href="http://www.paulsonscholarship.com/">Janette Paulson Classic</a>, is
happening. You might also want to reserve a front-row seat at Ham Lake Lanes
Karoake night, because “Walkin’ in Memphis” has been aging for more than a year
now, and it’s starting to smell pretty sweet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I guess that’s all for now. Prepare yourself for some radio
darkness for a bit, as this summer already looks to be all fulled up. However,
I’m sure I’ll be putting up musings on Facebook and Twitter, so you can feed
the need over there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wish you all a great summer, and remember, whether you’re,
“riding around in your jeep or your benzos, or in your nissan sitting on
lorenzos,” don’t forget to sit back and unwind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>Matt Paulsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996402962787786945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689325076357473422.post-38238337376480257842012-05-21T07:41:00.002-07:002012-05-21T07:56:55.837-07:00Wait, what? An American?<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So ever since I arrived in my village, I’ve had these
fantasies about coming across a lost American in need of help.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Why, yes, sir or ma’am, of course I speak English. I’m
American! You too? Welcome to Romania! Come! Let me show you my village! Meet
all my friends! Yes, of course I can translate for you because I speak another
language! Yes, it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is</i> very impressive.
Why am I here? Well, I’m a Peace Corps volunteer; I teach English. What’s that?
It’s an extremely noble and selfless thing to do? Well, I wouldn’t go that far,
but I appreciate you saying so. Yes, I’m so glad I could help too. I just
figure, if we can’t help each other, what are we doing here? Yes, my parents did raise me well; that’s very kind of you to say. What’s
that? I saved your life, and you want to put me in your will? I’m not sure I…
OK, if you insist. Yes, that would be fine. Coincidentally enough, I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">have </i>always wanted a house in Tuscany.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite the fact that I’ve thoroughly choreographed this
hypothetical meeting, I had long ago accepted that it’d never happen. You see, I'm pretty isolated. The only way in or out is via one winding, mountainous road with nauseating mountain passes about 15 miles on either side of us. Despite the fact that it's well worth the journey, Tulgheș is not exactly a random stop. If you're here, you mean to be here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, last week, it happened. Maybe not exactly like the
above fantasy, much to my chagrin, but it was in the ballpark.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was Friday evening, and we were waiting for the bus at
the “station,” which is really just the intersection where the main road passes
through my village. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A guy pulled up on a bike.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Market?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Yes.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“English?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Yes.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“American?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Yes.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Me too! I’m from Boston.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Ummm, what? Really?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We soon found out that our new friend, Denis Beaudry, whose
blog can be found <a href="http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/directory/?o=1&user=bikenut13&v=4">here</a>, is a
50-something doing a solo ride across Europe and into Asia. It’s the 12<sup>th</sup>
international trek for Denis, who’s also ridden across the U.S. At that point,
he had left Madrid 25 days ago and had been averaging about 90-100 miles per
day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We were, in fact, the first Americans he had met on his
journey so far. And needless to say, he was the first American I’d met in my
village, at least the first American I’d met in my village whom I hadn’t
brought there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, Denis couldn't stay long. Darkness was approaching,
and after I helped him decipher what was to come via his map, he was off to his
final destination for the evening, a slightly larger village about 18 km down
the road.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, before he left, he casually slipped in, “So should
we do the picture thing?” I was pretty glad he did, because it was certainly
cooler than how I had recited doing it in my head: “This is sooo cool! Can we
take a picture? Can we take a picture? Please please please please!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEmVj1N8mLjRa9NcAv0GnJdtqyHps-nNMvGbtntl4b9QORaRvCa5x9Z8BaJC4Ctw5_YX1O7PRH41jkiquQw4efsIvRRyis4LtYugYknyMKHDBPfTiQcnfsBZALWjR_W2KEaI6MGrSxKzxJ/s1600/Photo+May+18,+5+55+58+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEmVj1N8mLjRa9NcAv0GnJdtqyHps-nNMvGbtntl4b9QORaRvCa5x9Z8BaJC4Ctw5_YX1O7PRH41jkiquQw4efsIvRRyis4LtYugYknyMKHDBPfTiQcnfsBZALWjR_W2KEaI6MGrSxKzxJ/s320/Photo+May+18,+5+55+58+PM.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI45Eu9fTJUL7awWZjgMTDqU_TdsJISFE1zahbJy-YZ5yal6TZQEGfqgr13ZMiCkecUe4AIGLqEB-xD3rCpJ8L3V_puUp3oirlcjzeLGpc7K-PYGQM5GOFWUbGMn-x9xS5LhbId7C2iuD_/s1600/Photo+May+18,+5+56+09+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI45Eu9fTJUL7awWZjgMTDqU_TdsJISFE1zahbJy-YZ5yal6TZQEGfqgr13ZMiCkecUe4AIGLqEB-xD3rCpJ8L3V_puUp3oirlcjzeLGpc7K-PYGQM5GOFWUbGMn-x9xS5LhbId7C2iuD_/s320/Photo+May+18,+5+56+09+PM.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then, just like that, as mysteriously as he arrived, he
was gone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few days later, I checked back into his blog, and sure
enough, <a href="http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=1&page_id=282400&v=F">there we are</a>, just as he
promised. Unfortunately, no mention of his will.</span></div>Matt Paulsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996402962787786945noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689325076357473422.post-8811100710752788412012-05-09T08:54:00.001-07:002012-05-09T09:17:05.626-07:00O Săptămână Bună (A Good Week)<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">It all started Saturday, when I and four of my best students went to a
English conversation camp about three hours away. It started at 9 a.m., so if
you're doing the math, that means we had to leave about 5:30 a.m. Well, just to
be safe, we went with 4:45 a.m.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">
</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The
contest lasted about eight hours, so we were back on the road about 5 p.m. With an
ice cream pit stop, we made it home about 8:30, so that would be... OK, pencils
down: just south of a 16-hour day, a 16-hour SATURDAY.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Anyway,
I'll get to the now-buried lead. The kids from our small village took fourth
out of 15 teams from throughout the county. This fella was – and still is –
proud. They were initially disappointed, but after some pickup – and ice cream –
from Dle. Matt, they were "delighted" by Monday, or so my counterpart
reported. I'd call that mission: accomplished.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">OK, fast
forward to Tuesday night. I was a bit sick but determined to get my adult
classes restarted after a month-long break for vacation and some other
miscellaneous obstacles. I was on my way to school when I happened upon a
gaggle of bikers from Radio Mures, a big station that broadcasts throughout our
region. After a short discussion, I discovered that they were doing a bike tour
of the region promoting local tourism, and after a bit more discussion, I had
committed to a radio interview after class.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">So, as
promised, I swung by after class.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
I was greeted in perfect English, "OK, are you ready to do an interview?"</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">"Sure."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">"In
Romanian?"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">"Umm...
sure."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">So, this
is the <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.radiomures.ro/blog/caravana/caravana-bicicleta-2012-ziua-6/"><span style="color: blue;">final product</span></a></span>. (Just scroll down until you
find my name.) For those of you who can speak Romanian, be kind. For those of you who can't, it's super interesting.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span><br />
And for those of you who don't know what a remote radio interview looks like these days, here you go:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUsLovGpShVOYMxiFbOKYYIGgXNDjZsegjcoJR_KYvrNuI-xEBkKb_06E2iKRUHUXjqoKyZxnLBXEkibhQ9sWGzCdkKTQwNBrpmXmiJBgBm1IHCY8Bzoa5moFrLr_qajW4Kdt7bdynOjl4/s1600/foto_gallery_120_thumb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUsLovGpShVOYMxiFbOKYYIGgXNDjZsegjcoJR_KYvrNuI-xEBkKb_06E2iKRUHUXjqoKyZxnLBXEkibhQ9sWGzCdkKTQwNBrpmXmiJBgBm1IHCY8Bzoa5moFrLr_qajW4Kdt7bdynOjl4/s1600/foto_gallery_120_thumb.jpg" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Also, the
text above reads: "Surpriza cea mai mare a venit când l-am cunoscut
pe americanul devenit tulgheşean, Matt Paulson, şi care le predă copiilor din
Tulgheş limba engleză. Minunat om, vorbeşte perfect româneşte, iubeşte
Tulgheşul, Ardealul şi România, a învăţat să facă sarmale, a îmbrăcat portul
popular din Maramureş şi a călătorit cât nu au reuşit să o facă mulţi dintre
noi, probabil."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">...and
translates to: "The biggest surprise came when I met an American
turned Tulgheșan, Matt Paulson, who also teaches the children of Tulgheș
English. A wonderful person (oh yeah), he speaks perfect Romanian (boom), loves
Tulghes, the Ardeal (name for the area) and Romania, has learned to make
sarmale, has dressed up in our traditional costumes from Maramureș (another
area) and has probably traveled more than many of us have (in Romania)."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I also did
a live interview with their main news program, also in Romanian, and even told
a joke! I dare say, am ajuns! (I've arrived!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">And here
are some of the bicycle enthusiasts on their way out of town, escorted by
some of our kids:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSItdVQr3atT7xz1QKPmWrJuYHu1H8NwyOcbDRBPK-g4qM1l607IGhFlUliTnxqznGPZGE3k3OBP_4gjX-fWqNenYODj_wElWP3drHtE6HQecOk6bCMHJD51bKdbit2tKAcaDQtAVjV9xg/s1600/Photo+May+08,+6+31+21+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSItdVQr3atT7xz1QKPmWrJuYHu1H8NwyOcbDRBPK-g4qM1l607IGhFlUliTnxqznGPZGE3k3OBP_4gjX-fWqNenYODj_wElWP3drHtE6HQecOk6bCMHJD51bKdbit2tKAcaDQtAVjV9xg/s320/Photo+May+08,+6+31+21+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhva8CBV6euitPjKFMVy_BpNeuWOx_X8ArKMraJqDTQaMyp4WwSrvJCXuPzr3Bl0EtcVFh4oHwBmzLxat9F5ky1NpWhobjCrZJKkB3yCoY9KfkqyWnuuvw_R03YnNuRWDNceV7zD6S72HRA/s1600/Photo+May+08,+6+29+05+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhva8CBV6euitPjKFMVy_BpNeuWOx_X8ArKMraJqDTQaMyp4WwSrvJCXuPzr3Bl0EtcVFh4oHwBmzLxat9F5ky1NpWhobjCrZJKkB3yCoY9KfkqyWnuuvw_R03YnNuRWDNceV7zD6S72HRA/s320/Photo+May+08,+6+29+05+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Come
Wednesday, I had an observation from the county inspector. In the name of
brevity, I’ll just say… NAILED IT. To make things better, the new principal was
all smiles after she heard the report.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Then, two classes later, I found this when I entered:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRgEYw4BpgFPtxr8bCqwUKXaZpKhVp53mZyE1hSvm5BH_dhIfPIMFjqNaKfAizIkDRBT_0pMKPdSMZvw1YdZquDOMn0YUlE9kLSawWq9reYWHH6ywq4wnKlgho0XtePR0zMAieAkU6Y-DZ/s1600/Photo+May+09,+12+13+37+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRgEYw4BpgFPtxr8bCqwUKXaZpKhVp53mZyE1hSvm5BH_dhIfPIMFjqNaKfAizIkDRBT_0pMKPdSMZvw1YdZquDOMn0YUlE9kLSawWq9reYWHH6ywq4wnKlgho0XtePR0zMAieAkU6Y-DZ/s320/Photo+May+09,+12+13+37+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p>Yes, of course I promptly chided them for the incorrect use of the pronoun, but I privately enjoyed the moment. </o:p></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">So, in
conclusion: four kids who loved the competition I was fortunate enough to bring them to, a live radio
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">interview in which I was told I speak “perfect Romanian,” a stellar observation
from the county inspector and an affirmation from my eighth graders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the words of Sam Elliott in "The Big Lebowski," "Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes, well, he eats you." Well, so far this week, Stranger, I got him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">This
weekend, we have the second “Let’s Do It, Romania,” a nationwide day dedicated
to cleaning up Romania. After that,</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> another week of school, then a language
weekend, where we’ll learn slang from another volunteer’s high school students.
It should be a weekend that would make Ghița Carlin proud.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Then, more
school until the end of June when summer starts. I find it hard to believe that
I only have a month and change left of my first school year, but we’ll leave
the deep soul-searching for another day. Now? Ready, set, vin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</span>Matt Paulsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996402962787786945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689325076357473422.post-13502348024499751672012-04-27T02:47:00.001-07:002012-04-27T02:47:44.961-07:00Un AnOne year in the books.<br />
<br />
I've learned a language, am working on two more, made more lifelong friends than I can count, seen parts of the world I'd never dreamed of seeing, experienced things I'd never dreamed of experiencing, learned to teach, learned to learn again, and learned to appreciate a new -- albeit sometimes strange -- culture.<br />
<br />
Here's to the next one. Abiă aștept.Matt Paulsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996402962787786945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689325076357473422.post-70404970993956579812012-04-05T23:19:00.001-07:002012-04-05T23:24:30.137-07:00Școala Altfel<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">New this year to the Romanian school calendar is a week called Școala Altfel. Essentially, it’s a week dedicated to extracurricular, fun, unique activities.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, many of my fellow volunteers planned some pretty cool stuff. I, however, missed our school’s meeting waiting for the plumber, so Școala Altfel was planned fără Americanul.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But, no harm, no foul, because they ended up planning a bunch of cool activities, many of which were environmental, which is what I wanted to do anyway. Now, I got out of the planning stage and just got to tag along and “introduce” English vocabulary where appropriate.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Monday, April 2, Day 1:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was originally a tree-planting planned for today. However, because we live in the Romanian arctic, the ground is still frozen and not quite ready. Alas, we moved “Ziua Sportiva” to Monday.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Sports Day” was precisely what you would expect: a day of sports. First, there was a soccer tournament, then a handball tournament for boys, and another for girls. At the end, there was about 5 minutes of tossing around the American football. Hey, imperialism doesn’t happen in a day.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, see the below pic. We even had a pretty sweet A/V setup courtesy of the IT teacher, Tüsi. I eventually took over this job as inactivity took over me.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6jS7DkxCmVMJ87g1tfQoT1-avvqmjkjhP_ipW_QSVKGPnRDS0oLqlHNRfpbVaVdhDdVrYC2qkfU1fZO0SY43sVxU63hrRaj0Op9XuUF6cYNNhniKDJz-ty7RkTfGz9Kl7bB-kssb11F03/s1600/Photo+Apr+02,+8+37+24+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6jS7DkxCmVMJ87g1tfQoT1-avvqmjkjhP_ipW_QSVKGPnRDS0oLqlHNRfpbVaVdhDdVrYC2qkfU1fZO0SY43sVxU63hrRaj0Op9XuUF6cYNNhniKDJz-ty7RkTfGz9Kl7bB-kssb11F03/s320/Photo+Apr+02,+8+37+24+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And after the festivities, to celebrate the completion of Day 1, we drank țuică.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tuesday, April 3, Day 2:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I went with the eight graders and two of my favorite teachers – Dle. Constantin and Dle. Aurel – to Aurel’s church to clean up the yard and trim some trees. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aurel, a priest and the religion teacher, is a really funny guy who likes to try out his English on me. He’s also dead-set on converting me to Orthodox and finding me a girl in Tulgheș to marry and keep me here. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dle. Constantin is something akin to Romania’s version of “The World’s Most Interesting Man.” Seriously, he’s into his 60s but defines suave. I want to be like Dle. Constantin when I grow up. Nay, I want to be like Dle. Constantin now.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, Dle. Aurel and a neighbor (pictured) donned the chainsaws, a handful of students donned axes and the drones (this is where I fell) raked and dragged the downed branches to piles throughout the yard. We then made a fire, because what’s a spring cleaning-day without a fire? Less fun, that’s what.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbA5ufgSluiJQ28yqv2wkiTmnBUzRB9L6b_xeE_gNbqawp3OkvV1G-pccZr3R9avKzkL8PrILd3rRonNI42TVskVY0jLCXBCio-FR996GJQTNGWSQZ99jka-OxNYYIhQYnj-h-mFlKtsUp/s1600/Photo+Apr+03,+10+40+18+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbA5ufgSluiJQ28yqv2wkiTmnBUzRB9L6b_xeE_gNbqawp3OkvV1G-pccZr3R9avKzkL8PrILd3rRonNI42TVskVY0jLCXBCio-FR996GJQTNGWSQZ99jka-OxNYYIhQYnj-h-mFlKtsUp/s320/Photo+Apr+03,+10+40+18+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh11_guFiZnp3p5b3-X-0cJ17nO8XH904GtXR0jHiwHeFW57pHdpxPm-trlVHY-XfDSLAh67gIDcjt01hjBK4Cq7KJWhsLqzFQygd5QjUgkNoX5B0L2CJLOF760WogLBd4ZiET1GTfncHMb/s1600/Photo+Apr+03,+8+59+06+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh11_guFiZnp3p5b3-X-0cJ17nO8XH904GtXR0jHiwHeFW57pHdpxPm-trlVHY-XfDSLAh67gIDcjt01hjBK4Cq7KJWhsLqzFQygd5QjUgkNoX5B0L2CJLOF760WogLBd4ZiET1GTfncHMb/s320/Photo+Apr+03,+8+59+06+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuBTY3efK-cwHGjfGPxbpVdErsaWZ0ytrwYgV-XGZFoqgvofJFOeBpGNgoz2LuTIYQDMAIwW4w9T5hYpPeoTQuBaTBugI6coxBX9YB3jvVsIfksB9aSES9WsypGxqSg0Ajw2PUBPhN24q5/s1600/Photo+Apr+03,+10+45+49+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuBTY3efK-cwHGjfGPxbpVdErsaWZ0ytrwYgV-XGZFoqgvofJFOeBpGNgoz2LuTIYQDMAIwW4w9T5hYpPeoTQuBaTBugI6coxBX9YB3jvVsIfksB9aSES9WsypGxqSg0Ajw2PUBPhN24q5/s320/Photo+Apr+03,+10+45+49+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In addition to learning about trimming trees, or something like that, the students of the eighth grade also found out that Dle. Matt can hold his own as a goalkeeper.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, after working up an appetite in the yard and on the pitch, we ate a giant meal prepared by the students (and Dle. Constantin): something of a soup with pork and potatoes, sarmale, this really good salad with cabbage and pickled something, and a variety of desserts prepared for “post,” which basically means they were prepared without ANY animal products, which to me, sounds like some sort of wizardry.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And after the festivities, to celebrate the completion of Day 2, we drank wine.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wednesday, April 4, Day 3:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mergem pe deal! We’re going hiking!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In case you haven’t noticed, I live in a beautiful place surrounded by mountains. (And seriously, if you haven’t noticed, I’m a bit worried about your receptivity, because it’s pretty much all I talk about here, on Facebook, via messages, chat, Skype…)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, one of our greatest natural resources is simply the ability to hike pretty much anywhere surrounding the village. So on Day 3, we teachers and about 150 students hiked a few hundred meters vertical and had something of a picnic on this great weedy plateau that’s one of my favorite places here (pictured).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIu2VBIJuczJHb7CodKbSmET0DcUS4P6eSYQkLYA0rWRvuQAIR33pwz56XBDbju8lfSE4XAJEeoPLGLplHXsg1iOksiiVbwg0rbfcXa4_5KoglX8uGWa6i9GAIdt_Z3DbuBJlYpwIvLu1s/s1600/Photo+Apr+04,+10+29+13+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIu2VBIJuczJHb7CodKbSmET0DcUS4P6eSYQkLYA0rWRvuQAIR33pwz56XBDbju8lfSE4XAJEeoPLGLplHXsg1iOksiiVbwg0rbfcXa4_5KoglX8uGWa6i9GAIdt_Z3DbuBJlYpwIvLu1s/s320/Photo+Apr+04,+10+29+13+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each class then had to prepare a cold-food platter with as much as possible “de casă” (homemade). Dle. Matt was thankful to be among the judges, as it was all delicious. Among the offerings: homemade lemonade, a really good potato salad, salami, veggies, cheese wrapped in a ham blanket, homemade zacuscă (a vegetable spread I’ve fallen in love with here), a variety of cheeses and olives, and slanină (basically straight, raw pig fat that I’ve grown to at least tolerate and sometimes even enjoy. Sometimes).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYX5pjW_kFE2RLzrFyz-6JYxrhA9A9R5cond3Q523Bz2pzEPbh-ReR-D2JN7llZ2fEJE5XdciS-DxCQZlc1TmhR34iKZ3TXUqx7cBcK6fDwqCwSti1vcpHmBBdcxzuBV2anoRTXbJ8yZa4/s1600/Photo+Apr+04,+10+40+31+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYX5pjW_kFE2RLzrFyz-6JYxrhA9A9R5cond3Q523Bz2pzEPbh-ReR-D2JN7llZ2fEJE5XdciS-DxCQZlc1TmhR34iKZ3TXUqx7cBcK6fDwqCwSti1vcpHmBBdcxzuBV2anoRTXbJ8yZa4/s320/Photo+Apr+04,+10+40+31+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB0aajYWcP21yRyVxfwM5ZDDxuoQciNaPwghzMslGFiz7YfoLzZe6CwcFNvRiJ50sZT5WGrInpii5SoXy80_rZvOrAzgMZi0jNYfoOeVcOxKUsl18b8vqxFyV09Cq4Kbp9jb44IbikW-Nu/s1600/Photo+Apr+04,+11+02+46+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB0aajYWcP21yRyVxfwM5ZDDxuoQciNaPwghzMslGFiz7YfoLzZe6CwcFNvRiJ50sZT5WGrInpii5SoXy80_rZvOrAzgMZi0jNYfoOeVcOxKUsl18b8vqxFyV09Cq4Kbp9jb44IbikW-Nu/s320/Photo+Apr+04,+11+02+46+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We then headed back down, and given that it was a perfect day, Dle. Matt was perfectly content to “supervise” from the rear. (Read: Take his sweet time.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Haideți, Dle. Matt! Vă asteptăm!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxF0PmBdMArAoWrUPYlR6Rb2FzzNeHL6Xt6GjkOuFZv-RS2U6g4ZNc71Bdn0aVNrmp76ykfa8tSDZWKKSrZLoGZqaU-6UaZC_nQG6xjlFzW3nvhu-cxCtG1y0RGk3QCryvcG7O3nO2zdYV/s1600/Photo+Apr+04,+12+20+14+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxF0PmBdMArAoWrUPYlR6Rb2FzzNeHL6Xt6GjkOuFZv-RS2U6g4ZNc71Bdn0aVNrmp76ykfa8tSDZWKKSrZLoGZqaU-6UaZC_nQG6xjlFzW3nvhu-cxCtG1y0RGk3QCryvcG7O3nO2zdYV/s320/Photo+Apr+04,+12+20+14+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thursday, April 5, Day 4:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Day 4 began with a bit of uncertainty for me. Because of the cancellation of Monday’s tree planting, everything was sort of moved up a day, leaving me a bit in the dark as to what was going on Thursday.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, upon arrival to school, I found out the majority of students and teachers were going back to Pintec (see Tuesday) for a literature and religious session. Although I knew it’d be in Romanian, anything that encourages the kids to read, I want to be a part of.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I found was something much more religious than literary. However, it was a really nice program where the kids talked about what they prayed for, why they pray and told stories from the Bible. While I enjoyed it, I couldn’t help but laugh at how quickly something like this would be squashed in a public school in the U.S.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, I’m not attempting to open a religious debate here, but I can honestly say that it was really nice to see a program like this where kids could openly express what they believe without someone becoming outraged. Because, let’s be honest, in the U.S., outrage is quickly overtaking baseball as our national pastime.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicD5Id6UHVyxfxdEVN2mtJox_zXbDE17N8qVeqz3MXNDr8jdEMxoXRIgRKmwtAeOnVmNvVer_2NwWFPtvtnnPA_yWQsC2OPfz7rkIsFDqZTdxNWZDkHkmW8gqUm5L67FQi1TKyQ77wobNt/s1600/Photo+Apr+05,+9+36+07+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicD5Id6UHVyxfxdEVN2mtJox_zXbDE17N8qVeqz3MXNDr8jdEMxoXRIgRKmwtAeOnVmNvVer_2NwWFPtvtnnPA_yWQsC2OPfz7rkIsFDqZTdxNWZDkHkmW8gqUm5L67FQi1TKyQ77wobNt/s320/Photo+Apr+05,+9+36+07+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After that, Dle. Aurel read the legend of St. George to honor our outgoing principle (Gheorghe). After it got a bit long – even Dle. Aurel said he was bored of listening to himself read – ca de obicei, soccer ensued.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMe-ZcHy8xgGa3Cko2nrOc436EVE9om0GJxZGorJWbiQKOwJQqvVHacw2CgbPfWfjN0TtZss5bgZG3xLPl5vL1kmzzCz4Wnj9a_9-c9mNkRih7GZqiaRgBDyixId5kkGV2plD6yexkr1UQ/s1600/Photo+Apr+05,+11+44+08+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMe-ZcHy8xgGa3Cko2nrOc436EVE9om0GJxZGorJWbiQKOwJQqvVHacw2CgbPfWfjN0TtZss5bgZG3xLPl5vL1kmzzCz4Wnj9a_9-c9mNkRih7GZqiaRgBDyixId5kkGV2plD6yexkr1UQ/s320/Photo+Apr+05,+11+44+08+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then we ate sarmale, again, and drank wine, again. Not that I’d ever complain about either of those things.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMVhpjrbRX8YkLNEtNw8XX0VmuhWGDeZWUN78mO5JLWNYGRDXBVHUSlq1YQiQKCGJ9U5Mqkq72ddw2jZBiegrd5xCl5lX8W6zVwjBp7IfdDF2qjVEQ6kb60mKGsIeJvinaPIqp-U11PtHA/s1600/Photo+Apr+05,+12+31+31+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMVhpjrbRX8YkLNEtNw8XX0VmuhWGDeZWUN78mO5JLWNYGRDXBVHUSlq1YQiQKCGJ9U5Mqkq72ddw2jZBiegrd5xCl5lX8W6zVwjBp7IfdDF2qjVEQ6kb60mKGsIeJvinaPIqp-U11PtHA/s320/Photo+Apr+05,+12+31+31+PM.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And without further ado, the man, the myth, the legend, Dle. Constantin:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilwlD0mtM2VbG7WA4DNcNc5_ZqXDoVhylxUt91oOxqmlVmmxScbnNWhibhq_1nuo5oRfng978Vz2grzllwQoAAsq5Oqx12Pnkwk0aaoTfv8umg4jzoA3pbXoqN3RpvRl0IvDd9L71kMUyf/s1600/Photo+Apr+05,+12+31+17+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilwlD0mtM2VbG7WA4DNcNc5_ZqXDoVhylxUt91oOxqmlVmmxScbnNWhibhq_1nuo5oRfng978Vz2grzllwQoAAsq5Oqx12Pnkwk0aaoTfv8umg4jzoA3pbXoqN3RpvRl0IvDd9L71kMUyf/s320/Photo+Apr+05,+12+31+17+PM.jpg" width="211" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Friday, April 6, Day 5:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Suntem liberi! We’re free!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our new principal informed us that Friday of Școala Altfel will be a pretty sweet experiment called, “Don’t come to school.” I’ll bite.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I’m on vacation. As usual, I’ll be spending much of it traveling. On tap this break is a trip to Maramureș, a richly historic area in the northern reaches of Romania. After Maramureș, we’re heading to Salzburg and Vienna, two places I’ve never been and am anxious to see.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pictures and pithy anecdotes to follow. Until then, Happy Easter!</span><o:p></o:p></div>Matt Paulsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996402962787786945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689325076357473422.post-82091665320796365542012-03-07T09:16:00.002-08:002012-03-07T09:36:27.348-08:00Teaching<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I don’t think there’s a better way to summarize my experience with teaching so far. I’ve never encountered a job where I can be on the highest high one class, and plummet into the depths of despair the next, then meteorically return to euphoria again later on. It’s the most rewarding, and most challenging, job I’ve ever had.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And it’s the most exhausting. I was discussing this with some other volunteers the other day who are first-time teachers here in Romania. One of them, like me, worked in the professional world before coming here, in a job where 80-hour weeks were not uncommon. And we both agreed that we NEVER remember being as spent after any of those days as we are after a six-class day – in other words, an 8-2.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It’s why anyone who tells you teaching is an easy job either 1) has never been a teacher, or 2) has been – or regretfully still is – a teacher, but is a crappy, careless one.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But that’s not the point I’m getting at here. This post is to highlight some of the highs I’ve felt lately as a teacher. I’m avoiding the negative partly because I see no point in highlighting it, and partly because it’s typically lost at the bottom of a plastic bottle of 4-lei ($1.25) wine.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I’ll start with the kindergartners.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I have five kindergarten classes, four spate-în-spate-în-spate-în-spate. When I finish the last of the morning, I’m smiling due to the adorableness of the little ones, but I can barely walk straight. I feel like I just went about 11 rounds with cuteness. Here are a few examples why:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">“Domn. Profesor, ce frumos sunteți azi.” (Mr. Teacher, how handsome you are today.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One week later, same kindergartner: “Domn. Profesor, arătați mișto azi.” (More or less, Mr. Teacher, you look cool today.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Mothers, lock up your sons.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I’ve also been using this song to help them learn numbers.</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/lvnwdojAaww?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Well, I don’t want them to focus on the language that’s not that important for now, i.e. anything NOT numbers, so I try to distract them during the parts when they’re not counting. Enter air instruments. If you haven’t ever seen a room full of kindergartners rocking out with air guitars and pianos, well, I submit that you have not lived, my friend.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But the happy moments aren’t monopolized just by the little ones. The last couple weeks, with seventh and eighth grades, we’ve been building a pretty thorough restaurant roleplay. Most classes stick mainly to script, but an extra class period with one of my most experimental seventh-grade classes led to them going WAY off script, and we landed on gold. I’ll do my best to present it as a play.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">[Skip ahead to the middle of the meal. Enter waiter; customer is already seated and has received his food.]</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Waiter: How is everything?<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Customer: There’s a problem. There’s a hair.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Waiter. I’m sorry. Would you like something else?<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Customer: Yes, champagne and pizza. [Seriously.]<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Waiter. OK, just a moment. [Waiter goes to the classroom window, which was designated earlier as the refrigerator, opens it and grabs a handful of snow. She then brings it back to the table, sets it down, then throws some in the customer’s face. He’s appalled. At this point, Teacher has to help with some language.]<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Teacher/Omniscient Narrator: She’s been fired. [To the customer: Say, “May I see the manager?”]<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Customer: May I see the manager?<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Manager: I’m very sorry. She [the waitress] is gone. [Meanwhile, she’s not really gone; she’s inexplicably running around the classroom. I assume this is because she extrapolated from the current situation that her character went crazy due to her firing and is now terrorizing the very same restaurant that, five minutes ago, employed her. I give them artistic license.]<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Customer: OK, may I have the check please?<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">[Manager turns around to tally the check. Meanwhile, the customer quietly slides from the chair, then crawls on his hands and knees to the other side of the restaurant (classroom). Everyone in the restaurant (classroom) has seen this but the manager. The manager turns back around with the check to an empty chair. His sincere shock elicits belly laughs from Teacher and the rest of the restaurant patrons (students). Scene. Exeunt. (Bell rings.)]</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Finally, I can always count on my English Club for a few smiles. It’s a group of fun, creative kids who like to experiment. Some of my best moments have come when they, as a class, have written a story. There are three installments.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The first:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5bQGf6eAKQ6O-DjVKSIs7sDMNWNYoxiTeQKQ7OBG_Ap9YLAnPR0q7oCduV7ZdWX47KAAsjvMUiKuJMjW3i3dstnV7aBqhOI-Oz4xEzYkG2ahcv6Q4C8Szcr2RjkOOj2Ud2fVa-jVHVdru/s1600/Photo+Nov+16,+3+02+57+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5bQGf6eAKQ6O-DjVKSIs7sDMNWNYoxiTeQKQ7OBG_Ap9YLAnPR0q7oCduV7ZdWX47KAAsjvMUiKuJMjW3i3dstnV7aBqhOI-Oz4xEzYkG2ahcv6Q4C8Szcr2RjkOOj2Ud2fVa-jVHVdru/s320/Photo+Nov+16,+3+02+57+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">"It was a stormy night, and I can't sleep. I hear something strange: a mystery object. It's a U.F.O. I saw alien. It was green, big and came from Mars. And it have smelly breath. He try to eat me. It say you look like a hamburger. I beat it."</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The second:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggSUkPpFtH8MrilRlGfsROhLetNLjCKzzyBPIrKvtwdPjb6mOqg4939lCpTEmis1SQBjaB1XVsaVk5SvjhyY0nWTIq9sMH_76JDvSa7XevD_KCyD-6jfJtwqSoBHzhRP4mfkPL18GXglQG/s1600/400263_10150535632719171_511659170_8631277_144367438_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggSUkPpFtH8MrilRlGfsROhLetNLjCKzzyBPIrKvtwdPjb6mOqg4939lCpTEmis1SQBjaB1XVsaVk5SvjhyY0nWTIq9sMH_76JDvSa7XevD_KCyD-6jfJtwqSoBHzhRP4mfkPL18GXglQG/s320/400263_10150535632719171_511659170_8631277_144367438_n.jpg" width="320" /></a> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">"It was a day like no other day. I don't play soccer, I play pool. I play CS 1.6. Is dead. Then in the afterlife, I haunt houses. I see a gun and I kill myself again. I got to heaven. I reincarnated as Selena Gomez and I kill Justin Bieber."</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The third:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhzJywuk4Y_D76-l5F9oWaoAahMTtfBtx1Cm7D7hNlT6xDSnmg1s03LLjCnBNQG37ORKYHHwvSOFCo13hBBrwW8Fp4H7T03bhsoK4Or-mVakRyL88uEd57GjMKOFvXwlx1O0LkBiJLpsvG/s1600/Photo+Mar+07,+2+47+17+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhzJywuk4Y_D76-l5F9oWaoAahMTtfBtx1Cm7D7hNlT6xDSnmg1s03LLjCnBNQG37ORKYHHwvSOFCo13hBBrwW8Fp4H7T03bhsoK4Or-mVakRyL88uEd57GjMKOFvXwlx1O0LkBiJLpsvG/s320/Photo+Mar+07,+2+47+17+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">"It was a stormy night. I am sailing on stormy waters. I was fishing. I was searching for shark robots. I found one. Inside there was a body. It was Mr. Bean. Inside Mr. Bean was Chuck Norris. Inside Chuck Norris was a hamburger. I want to eat that hamburger. But... Chuck Norris stops me. I call Bruce Lee to fight him. Mr. Bean threw up and made them laugh and they made peace and I ate the hamburger."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Once all this Hunger Games brouhaha has passed, I plan to market it as a trilogy.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I’d be lying if I said there weren’t moments of “Why am I here? These kids don’t care, why should I?” Although it’s my job to make them care, some days you just don’t have it. However, in the long run, it’s moments like these that make those days vastly less memorable by comparison.</div>Matt Paulsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996402962787786945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689325076357473422.post-24684080223401256762012-02-22T06:47:00.000-08:002012-02-22T06:47:49.284-08:00Lucrurile Mici<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:DocumentProperties> <o:Revision>0</o:Revision> <o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:Pages>1</o:Pages> <o:Words>514</o:Words> <o:Characters>2931</o:Characters> <o:Company>Peace Corps</o:Company> <o:Lines>24</o:Lines> <o:Paragraphs>6</o:Paragraphs> <o:CharactersWithSpaces>3439</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:Version>14.0</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> <w:UseFELayout/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If Peace Corps has taught me one thing so far, it’s to learn to appreciate the little things.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Are you still with me? I was afraid an opening line so nauseatingly cliché might have incited a stampede for the exit. However, I didn’t know how to start this post without sprinkling at least a hint of it, so I figured I’d just dump the whole bottle.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In no particular order, these are a few of the little things that make my life here a little brighter.</span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"></div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dear Orville Redenbacher, your business is a sham. Due to this country’s lack of widespread microwave usage, I’ve been reintroduced to making popcorn on the stovetop. It’s cheaper, quicker and much more fun – You get to watch those little fellas bounce around in there. Never again will I allow that action to take place behind closed doors.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dear Tapatio, you complete me.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I just had a ham and egg sandwich. For dinner. It was delicious.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The light in my bathroom has been out now for what’s approaching four months. I’ve yet to replace it partly because apparently Gheorghe Mureșan was the architect, but also partly because I kind of like it. Essentially, anything with precision must be done by daylight. Anything that takes place after dark must be done by candlelight. That includes bathing, brushing and flossing, and even the occasional shave. There has been little bloodshed, and I’ve sincerely enjoyed this self-inflicted return to rusticity.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I found some cheese in the fridge the other day that I had bought a few days earlier and had forgotten about. It made my week and will surely remain high in the running for making my month.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Said an eighth grader the other day after a class about “Dreams”: “That was a really good hour.” Boom.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We only get hot water about four hours a day: two in the morning, two at night. Now, it goes without saying that in a place with winters akin to Minnesota, I quickly adapted a schedule to allow myself to shower during these periods. In fact, I’ve become pretty adept at the phrase, “Trebuie să plec pentru că vreau să prind apă caldă.” (I have to leave because I want to catch the hot water.) </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, I’ve recently discovered that doing dishes with water that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">isn’t </i>bone-chilling can lead to a markedly better psyche. Who knew? Probably all of you.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve become a master nose blower. The teachers in most of my five kindergarten classes have transitioned from helping me teach, to just watching, to taking a breather in the other room when I come. I’m totally fine with this, as it’s something of a complement on both my teaching and language skills, and I know how exhausting 25 minutes is with the little ones, so if anyone deserves a break, it’s their teachers. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But what comes with this is the often – read “everyday” – runny nose. Domnul Profesor de Engleza to the rescue: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Suflă. Mai tare. Bravo."</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So apparently the dryers in Romania are hiding somewhere along with the microwaves, but I can’t say I miss them all that much. The convenience is indisputable, but there’s something sweet about picking laundry off the line that’s been dried by summer air.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And finally, some underwear magic. My bathroom has a heater that’s warmed by hot water as opposed to anything flammable. I know what you’re thinking. “Matt, put your underwear on that thing before you get in the shower, and it’ll vastly improve your disposition in the morning.” </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, I did. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And it did. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And does. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every day.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></li>
</ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These are my little things. Appreciate yours.</span></div><!--EndFragment-->Matt Paulsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996402962787786945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689325076357473422.post-38048433481135477472012-02-08T05:43:00.000-08:002012-02-08T05:45:41.914-08:00Sports! Mi-au fost dor de voi!<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although I'm starting to get the hang of this teaching thing, I can't help but miss my old job in sports PR. The PR part? Meh. But the sports part? Absolutely.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Luckily, my school and town have a commitment to mișcare și sport, as evidenced by the yearly skiing contest that happened recently and our hosting a handball tournament for middle-school aged kids (the ages I teach). Alas, our boys finished fourth, but that just means they can only go up, right? RIGHT!? That's what I thought.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few pics: First, the skiing contest. It was held last Sunday. The contest was only for the copii, but the adulți partook of the groomed slope as well. We even had a couple snowboarders, something not nearly as popular here as in the U.S. Because my area is so mountainous, skiing is a big part of the winter lifestyle, and it showed, as many of the kids appeared pretty comfortable glissading down the hill. </span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I, however, chose not to partake, despite being offered skis and boots. Although I've been skiing my entire life, I haven't been in a couple years, and I didn't really feel like banging off the rust in front of everyone in my village. Totuși, data viitoare, when there's a bit less of an audience.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnF51NzzR7cEUSbddtRlqU22m0gVvT8ZbxXrLx7MBF2tWzHbG_TAgdG3QxCZ1ABCnGsV7yATIr1aAMQDenN9gaqLLfq2a3vuupzKxXngnDdGkiLVTm6upjG_05prjUrGzCCOxUsyD39pAH/s1600/Photo+Feb+05,+12+10+15+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnF51NzzR7cEUSbddtRlqU22m0gVvT8ZbxXrLx7MBF2tWzHbG_TAgdG3QxCZ1ABCnGsV7yATIr1aAMQDenN9gaqLLfq2a3vuupzKxXngnDdGkiLVTm6upjG_05prjUrGzCCOxUsyD39pAH/s320/Photo+Feb+05,+12+10+15+PM.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ZIfq8kUtEZMsLSFgSRkx-BWf1HkDz7pq-QmF22eQs8dHB8NIOaqT5GCHxcp4YI_vsx3XzGet5pTV3z3y7XPkZaDEV-sMIMaK6HWCENPR2lEdLQFs-WjMcJHCII-MHYJSkPPzgAECC-hy/s1600/Photo+Feb+05,+12+13+08+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ZIfq8kUtEZMsLSFgSRkx-BWf1HkDz7pq-QmF22eQs8dHB8NIOaqT5GCHxcp4YI_vsx3XzGet5pTV3z3y7XPkZaDEV-sMIMaK6HWCENPR2lEdLQFs-WjMcJHCII-MHYJSkPPzgAECC-hy/s320/Photo+Feb+05,+12+13+08+PM.jpg" width="239" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibtn-pg_18bWRIhwJTkjWxKc93eC5vjUg4dRhFU-EpXTbXtbuOGN4zgfXDKoMqdWr3yMpDLClFRLQ0OHLVN6wpuKDMhLoQ3wYoWqUD6An97VOs_dkw14TNKt5Kq4JgSGG4HtghSNk29eu3/s1600/Photo+Feb+05,+12+51+44+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibtn-pg_18bWRIhwJTkjWxKc93eC5vjUg4dRhFU-EpXTbXtbuOGN4zgfXDKoMqdWr3yMpDLClFRLQ0OHLVN6wpuKDMhLoQ3wYoWqUD6An97VOs_dkw14TNKt5Kq4JgSGG4HtghSNk29eu3/s320/Photo+Feb+05,+12+51+44+PM.jpg" width="239" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9LBiC0m9jPxJ4hH6APUEnlPTv_4ZHBmXtFF0Cp_yEWC0gHHqp8uTcC7IqdOLbWnBXrjRjiactrshwLA8fWSa0Cf6y5fxu7nf_YXfJTtv1NtnEX-Adb0l8KgAk8O4V7VkBxDzcjPBPsGjL/s1600/Photo+Feb+05,+12+53+42+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9LBiC0m9jPxJ4hH6APUEnlPTv_4ZHBmXtFF0Cp_yEWC0gHHqp8uTcC7IqdOLbWnBXrjRjiactrshwLA8fWSa0Cf6y5fxu7nf_YXfJTtv1NtnEX-Adb0l8KgAk8O4V7VkBxDzcjPBPsGjL/s320/Photo+Feb+05,+12+53+42+PM.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also hosted a handball tournament today that featured middle schools from throughout the area. Because they're mostly Hungarian, I heard a whole lotta "Mit csinalsz!?!?" ("What are you doing!?!?") from some pretty intense benches. The indoor-action shots leave a bit to be desired, but check out our two-year-old gym! It's a great asset for the school, and I'm glad they have it, especially because it was -27 (-17 F) this morning. Joi.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNELjTy1ql7xAq37Pz6M48doTqqxPIw4r8CS7XO6mbw9GppyjGRaGD4N7iT3hXc9aTENinFH2yGkpcP9o8JTwCGTy57VeEVFu1ZSvrvp_85Mxi_Q0kHi-rC-WvFJ4WQ7f2FQyRQADOE-c5/s1600/Photo+Feb+08,+10+06+58+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNELjTy1ql7xAq37Pz6M48doTqqxPIw4r8CS7XO6mbw9GppyjGRaGD4N7iT3hXc9aTENinFH2yGkpcP9o8JTwCGTy57VeEVFu1ZSvrvp_85Mxi_Q0kHi-rC-WvFJ4WQ7f2FQyRQADOE-c5/s320/Photo+Feb+08,+10+06+58+AM.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3lj0HOevh4rgMxfNguX9Vd6L4YBH2sx602m_B0Za_Rtn3kiSRi5Y21ILuE4wP81O7CqkxA6bF7aB3eDqgNEeH8CLZV_CiAG-VNGk4pA726FF4ajieHp4IfZ-gjsgLFAJMFJCyMhPK36dB/s1600/Photo+Feb+08,+10+48+44+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3lj0HOevh4rgMxfNguX9Vd6L4YBH2sx602m_B0Za_Rtn3kiSRi5Y21ILuE4wP81O7CqkxA6bF7aB3eDqgNEeH8CLZV_CiAG-VNGk4pA726FF4ajieHp4IfZ-gjsgLFAJMFJCyMhPK36dB/s320/Photo+Feb+08,+10+48+44+AM.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghfaeMgjfrc3ukbPRnlWXi23bsVj1dYoqKtIodKSGtSlizWR7rWIGTPM4AXvIi3hn5eXFiom9aVZJT_b3w9ehNLzhPIBIGOsyfEI2jZpZxSDUJkX_UK3Cfkyd6gQKsf3Jk01aoeB9AEAnJ/s1600/Photo+Feb+08,+10+53+12+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghfaeMgjfrc3ukbPRnlWXi23bsVj1dYoqKtIodKSGtSlizWR7rWIGTPM4AXvIi3hn5eXFiom9aVZJT_b3w9ehNLzhPIBIGOsyfEI2jZpZxSDUJkX_UK3Cfkyd6gQKsf3Jk01aoeB9AEAnJ/s320/Photo+Feb+08,+10+53+12+AM.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Ptq6NK_wJh2hc7ZrJAyCLOyAaK64X901v6I6FSYR66wqmgKU0XGgANIE-syBlqphJWUJTpfD1MboRNSGz6rVUXAFL2lEikCr8gZMytmbZeXtxYEA2eghCYzd3HxK7BZhIO7Vy8jczRkO/s1600/Photo+Feb+08,+11+08+24+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Ptq6NK_wJh2hc7ZrJAyCLOyAaK64X901v6I6FSYR66wqmgKU0XGgANIE-syBlqphJWUJTpfD1MboRNSGz6rVUXAFL2lEikCr8gZMytmbZeXtxYEA2eghCYzd3HxK7BZhIO7Vy8jczRkO/s320/Photo+Feb+08,+11+08+24+AM.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMmxMScYyv_AqBgnf7gN8RB5LK2xYzSeH4ZI1S__j93WSDURpfVAmBECpHj0JFS5951yyzc6vHkzPwA6Ri6B5YRwdejKu5vpBtK1jqoBR0vsD6NyfYpP4JkSdivAtvaA2OJMbUET8tW7cF/s1600/Photo+Feb+08,+11+11+45+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMmxMScYyv_AqBgnf7gN8RB5LK2xYzSeH4ZI1S__j93WSDURpfVAmBECpHj0JFS5951yyzc6vHkzPwA6Ri6B5YRwdejKu5vpBtK1jqoBR0vsD6NyfYpP4JkSdivAtvaA2OJMbUET8tW7cF/s320/Photo+Feb+08,+11+11+45+AM.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFtzhZ7xLIl2EdA_cA8jIwud8DwcAETgIredzrl_0F0bD1nJRCQLvLVNyewzYYBifGpmNFWHCbGqqfnllzCOBBXZt2dD9mF1nSoFg-M889BAbij1e_zrbqEK8Z63afe8YsjmHY4POOlmKI/s1600/Photo+Feb+08,+11+13+19+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFtzhZ7xLIl2EdA_cA8jIwud8DwcAETgIredzrl_0F0bD1nJRCQLvLVNyewzYYBifGpmNFWHCbGqqfnllzCOBBXZt2dD9mF1nSoFg-M889BAbij1e_zrbqEK8Z63afe8YsjmHY4POOlmKI/s320/Photo+Feb+08,+11+13+19+AM.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I knew very little about handball before today, but after four hours and a bit of tutoring, I think I get the idea and most of the rules, and I definitely want to give it a try. Why </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>wouldn't</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> you want to jump in the air and huck a ball as hard as you can at a guy like 5 feet away? If only I had somewhere to play...</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGolkZp8Jq1gBdSvVQnGH3DbPG8MJZ3CbKvzAKWbyn4DHhA88zYJn7O1VMoTGsL-xuW3Xm-0MWjyhspWLC-9DSZC-8aQBy3meFgYDCQNEyw7p0JcwFR_hyphenhyphen91MQfFnZvHGt0VnmOE2UkTLo/s1600/Photo+Feb+05,+12+51+49+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>Matt Paulsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996402962787786945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689325076357473422.post-3092896305306902882012-02-07T09:33:00.000-08:002012-02-07T09:33:45.711-08:00Moșul de Iarna<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's Feb. 7, and I remember back in October when I put up a post about winter beginning, a bit early I might add. Well, that turned out to be a false start. The real winter only just arrived about a month ago. Not sure whether you've seen the news over here, but some pretty intense storms and bitter cold has gripped -- why do weatherman always use "gripped" for cold temps? -- all of Romania. Roads have closed, people have died. It's had all the fixins' of a pretty severe winter.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Except in Tulgheș. Here, it's been more or less business as usual. Now, we get snowstorms and subzero (F) temps too, but that's just ca de obicea in the "North Pole" of Romania. In fact, like most places famous for their cold winters -- eh hem Minnesota -- people are more likely to talk about how severe this winter <i>hasn't </i>been.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, for me, it's mainly meant three things: 1) Adding the outer layer to my Columbia jacket (just last week); 2) Explaining to people that this is normal for me; it's the same as in Minnesota, where I'm from. (I have this conversation about once daily); and 3) Hiking a lot and taking some pretty amazing pictures.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No. 3 is actually the main reason for this post. I'd like to share with you some of the beauty that is, Tulgheș, Romania, in the winter.</span></div><div><br />
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</div>Matt Paulsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996402962787786945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689325076357473422.post-12951525539156029752012-02-01T11:06:00.000-08:002012-02-01T11:44:23.154-08:00France and Underpants<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I’ve sat down to write this blog about 12 times now, starting approximately three weeks ago, when it was still January and this still would have been borderline timely. However, each time, I had no idea what to say about my Christmas vacation.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think I can call it epic. Four major cities. Two countries. Three weeks. I’m probably too old to use this word for anything other than a movie, but we’ll go with it. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now that I’m physically forcing myself to get this one in the books – and by physically, I mean prying open my jaws to force down some brain juice (hot wine) – I still have no idea what to say.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s times like these when I thank the fates for Dr. George Keeler, my first journalism professor. Without George, I wouldn’t have the education to default to the J-100 inverted pyramid and simply begin with the most important, the most interesting, the most France-y.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">France.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had never been. When I backpacked through Europe in 2006, I had to leave before my misfit troupe made its way to Paris. To be honest, I, like many uniformed Americans, thought Parisians to be rude and have a deep-rooted dislike for us Yanks, despite never actually having been there. However, I found that not only to be untrue, but I found the opposite to be true. They weren’t only not NOT nice, they were exceptionally friendly.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And that city that everyone keeps talking about – the one in France, not in Texas; I get confused all the time too – didn’t disappoint either. I’m going to let the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150531723884171.393701.511659170&type=3&l=88a9a18c7a">photo album</a> do most of the talking, but I’ll hit some of the highlights.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First off, Paris is one of those cities – like Rome – where you walk down the street to your next tourist destination and you happen to stumble across something equally as breathtaking. However, you have no idea what that thing is. Or, I guess I’m using second person here… <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I </i>had no idea what that thing is. It’s simply chock full of history and beauty, literally on every corner.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But there are a few things that everyone knows. Of course, the trip started with the Eiffel Tower, where we were fortunate enough to actually get to meet some friends under it. Call it cliché. (Actually, F-off if you just called it cliché. It was awesome.)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNqcOGHhg6KsciCnL7V09TzQtKJSYZ1Z8hPbmnKX2tvyPtWNuAqz_mIkdpaN4XJaHIQoc3Z3juBDsLlCq4G5mxR_0BtOtadSijlRTQJQsyhRo8ykmkpeKHADNzNGRRCeJ5862NKOuNtNF5/s1600/Photo+Jan+06,+7+35+34+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNqcOGHhg6KsciCnL7V09TzQtKJSYZ1Z8hPbmnKX2tvyPtWNuAqz_mIkdpaN4XJaHIQoc3Z3juBDsLlCq4G5mxR_0BtOtadSijlRTQJQsyhRo8ykmkpeKHADNzNGRRCeJ5862NKOuNtNF5/s320/Photo+Jan+06,+7+35+34+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From there, the next four days is a haze of wine, tourism and wine. Roll the highlights.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every night, the Eiffel Tower lights up, and every hour, it sparkles. I added some music to really up the whimsy.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/v_iIHwYQzbM/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/v_iIHwYQzbM?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/v_iIHwYQzbM?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's the old girl in all her glory.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizkOpbSns-v3Qw8qZ_zR2JRQuPOOC3Uu7k_hWXgoKjS7BGR6okMq_2K57jMY0GwkzMjZo5DVPwLq2Nr_btBbNkxurKD9yh1vi1U3Zm-rlEtv-J5EV65MNozdwyzEfE-3EQ4fuzRyWZzu0F/s1600/Photo+Jan+06,+7+31+56+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizkOpbSns-v3Qw8qZ_zR2JRQuPOOC3Uu7k_hWXgoKjS7BGR6okMq_2K57jMY0GwkzMjZo5DVPwLq2Nr_btBbNkxurKD9yh1vi1U3Zm-rlEtv-J5EV65MNozdwyzEfE-3EQ4fuzRyWZzu0F/s320/Photo+Jan+06,+7+31+56+PM.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also went up, of course. The line for the elevator was visible from space, and the top was closed anyway, so we did it the real way: the stairs. It was also nearing sunset, so the light was pretty amazing.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT8yW7jYvtkCG-Dia4jCh6BeoD7DiQVWpjyrHvePcq2ICT5NzO2eSj0HN5ufqhUegRqQcUyBV4dzDVE8AFuXv9kIkZkBLpr9kXbyKNZgdpcBtG5Cjzq1garaEQqxPHT2KVFBZSn4VXscJf/s1600/Photo+Jan+11,+5+14+39+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT8yW7jYvtkCG-Dia4jCh6BeoD7DiQVWpjyrHvePcq2ICT5NzO2eSj0HN5ufqhUegRqQcUyBV4dzDVE8AFuXv9kIkZkBLpr9kXbyKNZgdpcBtG5Cjzq1garaEQqxPHT2KVFBZSn4VXscJf/s320/Photo+Jan+11,+5+14+39+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE0NYLB0GedRmonOPLgM3MYRKpG4u8kCqQ86NBBvAF4B3WbE2tHwbreE4AEvH2Glvl7k-D4lCjjbNMoBR4CV7chKt9SxDGo6e6prKEILHbR-nFiu5nugc3iNizNB7EXSXv3SEdv7SqxuQb/s1600/Photo+Jan+11,+5+23+43+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE0NYLB0GedRmonOPLgM3MYRKpG4u8kCqQ86NBBvAF4B3WbE2tHwbreE4AEvH2Glvl7k-D4lCjjbNMoBR4CV7chKt9SxDGo6e6prKEILHbR-nFiu5nugc3iNizNB7EXSXv3SEdv7SqxuQb/s320/Photo+Jan+11,+5+23+43+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV-Vh0IF3mD59_O7sMfH5IhnBwJwjKuxOV03LmDEl3j-WWqzTFQdD4hGuqvh5r9H8YnPW7mTLMxSyXRxX9skLvYApQ3v7Mq5p2T1Qa8lmmct-B2PfxFqRKr5iWclLz1ylUH_oJHXQSTbum/s1600/Photo+Jan+11,+5+07+34+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV-Vh0IF3mD59_O7sMfH5IhnBwJwjKuxOV03LmDEl3j-WWqzTFQdD4hGuqvh5r9H8YnPW7mTLMxSyXRxX9skLvYApQ3v7Mq5p2T1Qa8lmmct-B2PfxFqRKr5iWclLz1ylUH_oJHXQSTbum/s320/Photo+Jan+11,+5+07+34+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another one of my favorite parts was the Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart) cathedral. It's located on the highest point in Paris, so the views there are OK too.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrgDMxepWipAQ0V8yLmyMoeCAe_y7qj8e-R-APgU_5XPfKvO4Atx-WJJgsIcP-eiAgSYS_L2I86vhFSqd7zNQzCgkV554iZq_0_0zoB5iSHw66_FPSw_vLLk3h9af5zR9CEwuTyP3ofDOn/s1600/Photo+Jan+12,+5+08+32+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrgDMxepWipAQ0V8yLmyMoeCAe_y7qj8e-R-APgU_5XPfKvO4Atx-WJJgsIcP-eiAgSYS_L2I86vhFSqd7zNQzCgkV554iZq_0_0zoB5iSHw66_FPSw_vLLk3h9af5zR9CEwuTyP3ofDOn/s320/Photo+Jan+12,+5+08+32+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And there was this SICK soccer player on the steps that did some things that prompted quite a few, "Wait, no. He's not... WHAT!!?"</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/sdTejCt1wBA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then there's the Arc de Triomphe.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span id="goog_161269133"></span><span id="goog_161269134"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQSA2FVL-hkA6REkGzA_SmVDY6I2bfpMUxm3bOElo_e8MwTYTm34_LJ86d-Po0le__zvD6NvobVDid4_L6a6VHYG6B_SJ5jg9RIKoYMSAtU3UC8FfcsqYZjL9TpIx70ChnNK1rD65bhmTQ/s1600/Photo+Jan+07,+4+21+09+PM+(HDR).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQSA2FVL-hkA6REkGzA_SmVDY6I2bfpMUxm3bOElo_e8MwTYTm34_LJ86d-Po0le__zvD6NvobVDid4_L6a6VHYG6B_SJ5jg9RIKoYMSAtU3UC8FfcsqYZjL9TpIx70ChnNK1rD65bhmTQ/s320/Photo+Jan+07,+4+21+09+PM+(HDR).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHRmySFsheCsy9i0uJ_20i9_8LGs33LiqNgnkWt4EASQ1tSqKnShJmit4fqmSTzZ10zGcNYRL039ZSwAW3j8KdAd8il08MbdPKw-7qK0HlvUMLS3voSqS76AA0Aei-qzWf0JJaykN5m3QM/s1600/Photo+Jan+07,+4+32+52+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHRmySFsheCsy9i0uJ_20i9_8LGs33LiqNgnkWt4EASQ1tSqKnShJmit4fqmSTzZ10zGcNYRL039ZSwAW3j8KdAd8il08MbdPKw-7qK0HlvUMLS3voSqS76AA0Aei-qzWf0JJaykN5m3QM/s320/Photo+Jan+07,+4+32+52+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also saw the Catacombs, which is a network of underground tunnels where they shipped and deposited a bunch of remains from cemeteries around Paris. The result is a BUTTLOAD of bones. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggSq7lKSpFnr6nJxfgYwW8QqEwNKOL-jVFxOCc2ZBubhUUTMX9kaUrmsLk6KQ5qWlyVG5msBj8ufGAEKg9YmbpBefxV3X9-tXKoyw7dTyzW-Ylimr5KvT9hTzmXphYVIeWX2mhod1PDmRc/s1600/Photo+Jan+12,+3+12+02+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggSq7lKSpFnr6nJxfgYwW8QqEwNKOL-jVFxOCc2ZBubhUUTMX9kaUrmsLk6KQ5qWlyVG5msBj8ufGAEKg9YmbpBefxV3X9-tXKoyw7dTyzW-Ylimr5KvT9hTzmXphYVIeWX2mhod1PDmRc/s320/Photo+Jan+12,+3+12+02+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYRAdQpMJray6gvRJdGC46WylSGsazcp2v5be-xCKn3luSUZf9RBDLLBFbYNhuz9zxxF9YkKx6VuagoSHaCegmxZyf4fXo5fW2knmuPFSI36gGFSC4sy4yL91KnuKI1q9tOwkkqJG7R7qr/s1600/Photo+Jan+12,+3+17+46+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYRAdQpMJray6gvRJdGC46WylSGsazcp2v5be-xCKn3luSUZf9RBDLLBFbYNhuz9zxxF9YkKx6VuagoSHaCegmxZyf4fXo5fW2knmuPFSI36gGFSC4sy4yL91KnuKI1q9tOwkkqJG7R7qr/s320/Photo+Jan+12,+3+17+46+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikF5sZfnSElcajxLHumhkTSNcB0FVuYn5uHUULXGsKBqvjHTy7MYWTTD9oPCmuBrq47CbEyHhoYyU08YAqk2aoP9KbLCUUttFohbE4geiW3KtcwbNqNaeGKWmo6bpzOLNCYOH8WwTWFU4t/s1600/Photo+Jan+12,+3+29+51+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikF5sZfnSElcajxLHumhkTSNcB0FVuYn5uHUULXGsKBqvjHTy7MYWTTD9oPCmuBrq47CbEyHhoYyU08YAqk2aoP9KbLCUUttFohbE4geiW3KtcwbNqNaeGKWmo6bpzOLNCYOH8WwTWFU4t/s320/Photo+Jan+12,+3+29+51+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja9QMDgkyumfnF1KnRhd6R8EQPkIr9B0DAVTG_heibKhaewfPFcaEiC_uEmuCkXoyzGz-HJEE4VncawQoli2JSSu8vh2j3zTAdPekIWN-MyJ79InACr3DOX1s3-mGiB6SmkpC3sQ4j6Mt7/s1600/Photo+Jan+12,+3+30+00+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja9QMDgkyumfnF1KnRhd6R8EQPkIr9B0DAVTG_heibKhaewfPFcaEiC_uEmuCkXoyzGz-HJEE4VncawQoli2JSSu8vh2j3zTAdPekIWN-MyJ79InACr3DOX1s3-mGiB6SmkpC3sQ4j6Mt7/s320/Photo+Jan+12,+3+30+00+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then there was the wine... Oh, man was there wine... in the shadow of the Louvre... </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidux8k5zNIBfoWlZdSsgCaJ4b-J7zMyY0K5BBEjnDz4-AkPDe1gN0iJ1zKHSdHBNcolbULoMH_C4LC4v7YKYWMLTKCNXmEfqMjstEWYY-Ed6sAytEts0ZikT6gbN9uOZpAqmx0CrdwvddX/s1600/Photo+Jan+07,+2+45+47+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidux8k5zNIBfoWlZdSsgCaJ4b-J7zMyY0K5BBEjnDz4-AkPDe1gN0iJ1zKHSdHBNcolbULoMH_C4LC4v7YKYWMLTKCNXmEfqMjstEWYY-Ed6sAytEts0ZikT6gbN9uOZpAqmx0CrdwvddX/s320/Photo+Jan+07,+2+45+47+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...on the Champs-Elysees...</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUFSUzZ4ymHIdygfcN2DYTls29TGKzypikECWwkB9omTXchMOzbScg0at7MVw9bDYp6FqzMaD9WtMxghu8HIEM8U5NSbdze5PNe8p8CjPqLw4Jn_H8ROUXsG9hcTjae5R9ZyXRJWvbDpYh/s1600/Photo+Jan+07,+3+46+52+PM+(HDR).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUFSUzZ4ymHIdygfcN2DYTls29TGKzypikECWwkB9omTXchMOzbScg0at7MVw9bDYp6FqzMaD9WtMxghu8HIEM8U5NSbdze5PNe8p8CjPqLw4Jn_H8ROUXsG9hcTjae5R9ZyXRJWvbDpYh/s320/Photo+Jan+07,+3+46+52+PM+(HDR).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...on our hostel balcony...</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFeyQ7dxW06CsgblQy8V0t-Jz7eoqjCxytEyv03h_NZ4QdiLRIJIgcZ4NCjPB0m4xj89fr3Cf7YPzHENJgZQlAWXoa9Ss93CQeAf9APdWRnysYcFhjFbTLTmJCTW263QTXsRi3J5HutZQA/s1600/Photo+Jan+07,+6+51+15+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFeyQ7dxW06CsgblQy8V0t-Jz7eoqjCxytEyv03h_NZ4QdiLRIJIgcZ4NCjPB0m4xj89fr3Cf7YPzHENJgZQlAWXoa9Ss93CQeAf9APdWRnysYcFhjFbTLTmJCTW263QTXsRi3J5HutZQA/s320/Photo+Jan+07,+6+51+15+PM.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...and in the shadow of the Notre Dame (into which we didn't go because we were so "parched")...</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWXOztAoLZPXzW9FpKmKUnmZTHqQhENMDCGTiWoM0wd1G9Ca0ouzJdWpNZG2mimZfCCsyzKZY4sAohcTFRL2mM_RDweflgAhGgnMly4CYRW8PF7xZFwMQii257T6p-xhDyHaR5ErQXsSVR/s1600/Photo+Jan+07,+12+48+28+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWXOztAoLZPXzW9FpKmKUnmZTHqQhENMDCGTiWoM0wd1G9Ca0ouzJdWpNZG2mimZfCCsyzKZY4sAohcTFRL2mM_RDweflgAhGgnMly4CYRW8PF7xZFwMQii257T6p-xhDyHaR5ErQXsSVR/s320/Photo+Jan+07,+12+48+28+PM.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After Paris, we stayed with some friends in Amiens, about 100km north. (No, I’m not going to convert that. You should know 100km.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not only was the company out of this world – some of the sweetest people we’ve ever been lucky enough to encounter – the town was the very embodiment of every American romantic’s dream to ex-pat to the French countryside, eat baguettes, own a small tavern, drink wine and make a crappy movie with Owen Wilson. (You know who you are. You owe me two hours.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, the biggest highlight of this part of the journey – next to the hostesses – was the gothic Catholic cathedral. Built nearly 900 years ago, it’s the tallest complete cathedral in France. Anecdotally, I’ve seen A LOT of churches through Europe and Romania, and apart from the Vatican, I’ve never seen anything this astounding. I took <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150531723884171.393701.511659170&type=3">quite a few pictures</a>, but here are some favies:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbIGKapVl_9ogsgrUeWsNhQhQNLcHtF6zike8uwm9Jm_IdCREvy1wMbmuBpjmpYZZjkZGVfMKPIKOblIFOj0aR-YzlRLcmW-1dIC4Aedt-Yg_nDtzoCV16DYanOqo-Q6cguiyRmMX3SPB7/s1600/Photo+Jan+10,+2+12+58+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbIGKapVl_9ogsgrUeWsNhQhQNLcHtF6zike8uwm9Jm_IdCREvy1wMbmuBpjmpYZZjkZGVfMKPIKOblIFOj0aR-YzlRLcmW-1dIC4Aedt-Yg_nDtzoCV16DYanOqo-Q6cguiyRmMX3SPB7/s320/Photo+Jan+10,+2+12+58+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Dxlr62T9jqo34K0F9lDPvX5pOMsMHvxc-dzku5QOocmV-vGDBpyXG7Bw6BSKkmIyeC9YNfbzE1e11HuWz7urlKsQvbwXAinNRrHaPr4hHTffxHxm7tJaQQB9fhvCDMIqQu9zfUHLlJW5/s1600/Photo+Jan+10,+2+22+41+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Dxlr62T9jqo34K0F9lDPvX5pOMsMHvxc-dzku5QOocmV-vGDBpyXG7Bw6BSKkmIyeC9YNfbzE1e11HuWz7urlKsQvbwXAinNRrHaPr4hHTffxHxm7tJaQQB9fhvCDMIqQu9zfUHLlJW5/s320/Photo+Jan+10,+2+22+41+PM.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtCk98timLlm-BBFyr6gNdO-0udAUnrTaW07uO9UgfUUEvF7az8Txcam-s4ISLlKdpL4ILsz16mywXNXQ3irtM91WbnFr9zfFR0oprS7VgaOaA6DIo0V3qBklMTZCbZ0OXHzqDl5JfTSmH/s1600/Photo+Jan+10,+2+29+33+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtCk98timLlm-BBFyr6gNdO-0udAUnrTaW07uO9UgfUUEvF7az8Txcam-s4ISLlKdpL4ILsz16mywXNXQ3irtM91WbnFr9zfFR0oprS7VgaOaA6DIo0V3qBklMTZCbZ0OXHzqDl5JfTSmH/s320/Photo+Jan+10,+2+29+33+PM.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After we reluctantly headed back to Romania, well, we went back to school. However, we’re not doing chronological here. We’re doing inverted pyramid. (I’m hoping this second reference has gotten you curious enough to look it up.)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before Paris, I spent a few days in Csíkszerada. Actually, in Romanian, it’s Miercurea-Ciuc, but it’s 90-percent Hungarian, so we’ll go with the majority. It’s officially the coldest city in Romania, and the home of the beer of the same name (Ciuc), but for us, it was the seat of a pretty cool hockey rivalry.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Basically, the team from Csíkszerada is full of ethnic Hungarians, as Csíkszerada is the county seat of Harghita County (where I live), and Harghita is one of the three main counties in the Székely, the largely ethnic Hungarian part of Romania. Well, their rival is Steaua București, the mainly Romanian team from the country’s capital and biggest city. Without going too far into it – this Canadian does, in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSIH_v1TyoM">part 1</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liJhODAUhBg&feature=related">part 2</a> of a documentary; fast-forward 5 minutes into part 1 – it’s one of those fantastic rivalries that runs much deeper than simply two teams from two different parts of the country. (More photos <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150534122024171&set=a.10150395049274171.374284.511659170&type=3&theater">here</a>.)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, since I live in Harghita County, I can say that the good guys won, Csíkszerada (4-3) although Steaua made a game out of it, especially considering Csíkszerada had gone into București and beaten them 8-0 a few weeks prior. So, when you’re an ethnic Hungarian team, how do you celebrate a win? Well, with the Székely national anthem, of course, even though I’m told it’s illegal. They were clearly bothered by this.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZHv3zscq_Zk/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZHv3zscq_Zk?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZHv3zscq_Zk?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before the game, a fellow volunteer and I took some time to explore Sibiu, this picturesque Saxon town butting up against the Făgăraș Mountains in Transilvania. Sibiu is a really cool place because, apart from the outskirts, it looks much more like a German city, as it has remained fairly bloc-free and communist-light. All those pics are <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150533952229171.394062.511659170&type=3">aici</a>, but here’s a few highlights from there as well.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Piața Mica</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDRhYu5qoTYthNmfshGmo5NSOaqS5P8FlhvFQVzf6HOWuYBPfCpEE480W5E8AYTG-G20DO3r6hGqp_plwlRBfK5gzfXF1GoFJkwTn79-CpA12WLYrA5VguowybLtJstITC5kfroEczOQ8X/s1600/Photo+Jan+01,+5+27+10+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDRhYu5qoTYthNmfshGmo5NSOaqS5P8FlhvFQVzf6HOWuYBPfCpEE480W5E8AYTG-G20DO3r6hGqp_plwlRBfK5gzfXF1GoFJkwTn79-CpA12WLYrA5VguowybLtJstITC5kfroEczOQ8X/s320/Photo+Jan+01,+5+27+10+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Turnul Sfâtului</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9s8f87A2TxPHUBuasnn4P_7rMCP-Z7I4wBmFrgclKDIEdLamZIDZelbW0nBsFesDNmcr1reLJLZ8F0_BxzE6tpJfgZh_Je1cN9dsdydNDgV6rOv0zVGmnB-Q7-yi6B1j_6hkAR7mbf1rY/s1600/Photo+Jan+01,+5+27+25+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9s8f87A2TxPHUBuasnn4P_7rMCP-Z7I4wBmFrgclKDIEdLamZIDZelbW0nBsFesDNmcr1reLJLZ8F0_BxzE6tpJfgZh_Je1cN9dsdydNDgV6rOv0zVGmnB-Q7-yi6B1j_6hkAR7mbf1rY/s320/Photo+Jan+01,+5+27+25+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The old city walls</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhanUij7_QyTtjSfSmQbthYS7SpBCRzvN6l__p_lNz7KmBGwbRJ9ff2Guxib6cDyzM93ubhxymQFlzv8I_RzemjLyxFNOKc55BM33T5u-SOM2dn_PVWRqVXYa0Z43bIAyq5-mHB9TeWokt2/s1600/Photo+Jan+02,+11+45+15+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhanUij7_QyTtjSfSmQbthYS7SpBCRzvN6l__p_lNz7KmBGwbRJ9ff2Guxib6cDyzM93ubhxymQFlzv8I_RzemjLyxFNOKc55BM33T5u-SOM2dn_PVWRqVXYa0Z43bIAyq5-mHB9TeWokt2/s320/Photo+Jan+02,+11+45+15+AM.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, that’s it. If you’re scoring at home, you’ll notice that we’ve hit all four cities in both countries.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Currently, I’m back at school, three weeks in and going strong. I’m still teaching the same kids in fifth through eight grades, still doing five kindergarten classes and two adult classes, and still loving it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, I came to the realization today that I really only update things on Facebook, and I think it’d be a shame to not have those somewhat daily nuggets documented in perpetuity. So, here are a few status updates from the last week or so:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jan. 30: Write a story with go, run, play, sleep and dream: "One day I went hiking and run and play and sleep and dream." Gotta at least respect the brevity.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jan. 29: Said to my sister and her boyfriend today, two TEFL teachers, on our students: "Until our graceful touch, they are indeed just animals."<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Feb. 1: Just spent an entire 45-minute English club watching my students enthusiastically pore over the books sent by a couple non-profits. Quite possibly the best class I've had as a teacher. (And it's not just because I didn't do anything.)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jan. 27: I got to say something today in class that I HOPE I get to say again: "Deseneaza 'fart.'" (FYI, “deseneaza” means “draw.”)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At long last, I can move on. And more importantly, I can move this God-forsaken “Blog_France” document from my desktop to its final resting place. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Closure.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PS: If you were waiting for something on underpants, I got nuthin’. I really had no idea what to call this, and I like rhymes. And underpants.</span></div>Matt Paulsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996402962787786945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689325076357473422.post-65077648164093118482011-12-12T10:26:00.000-08:002011-12-12T11:31:27.397-08:00Beard today, gone tomorrowAnd then there were two.<br />
<div><br />
</div><div>Weeks, that is, remaining in the semester. Today was my first day back at school, and it was the first day in the final two weeks of my first semester in Romania. (We just had a 10-day break due to the Romanian National Day Dec. 1-2 and a weeklong Peace Corps conference.)<br />
<br />
It's pretty amazing to think about, actually. People always tell you that time will fly, and I guess I always believe them on some level, but I'm somehow always surprised at how quickly.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Anyway, this week is testing and inputting final grades. Next week is looking at the test, going over some of the things we need to and probably having some fun because I know I'll have about 3% of the students' attention. Then it's time for break, Christmas, New Year's, a bloody rivalry hockey game in the coldest city in the country, and a short little jaunt to Paris. But more on that later.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Well, as mentioned in my face's artfully written letter to my beard, we had to put the old fella down. However, it went for a good cause, raising something like 370 lei for Peace Corps Romania's Gender and Diversity Committee. The winning design was peace signs, which may or may not have happened because a certain high-ranking staff member, who will go unnamed, stuffed the ballot box with a 50. Either way, there were a handful of participants, the highlights being two guys doing a yin-yang style cut into the back of their heads and even a female volunteer shaving one into her neck, under her hair. All good sports, all for a good cause.</div><div><br />
</div><div>So, here's the progression:</div><div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Full beard.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj35MbEMEYLuqGfOByuVaZFJnymtP3CN1vEvz3SQez_wOvrqVoTe2_0kQkh7C8kG2DHI5MhR_rmAtHRqh9nFlj2NzrpurLkFCGIC4fd2NnXJ2uU99NAqMxnMWbH4Ly61uk3mhiNNUzoKvu1/s1600/393416_608290783446_21503554_32867416_1417696767_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj35MbEMEYLuqGfOByuVaZFJnymtP3CN1vEvz3SQez_wOvrqVoTe2_0kQkh7C8kG2DHI5MhR_rmAtHRqh9nFlj2NzrpurLkFCGIC4fd2NnXJ2uU99NAqMxnMWbH4Ly61uk3mhiNNUzoKvu1/s320/393416_608290783446_21503554_32867416_1417696767_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;">Peace!</div><div><br />
</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJB0ckie0EWgItW2fMH3Hw-U9-3dHbWz8e5eQpv3hNg47Ut4coJvY8rZmX-UdBQjtNet3Bc4a6JEKobjahdS0GGPQHmVfPv0kf1NBYtLlsqSAZU68d9Aa9oG0f9rhb0kTAqW37kuKNE_pd/s1600/391024_608290848316_21503554_32867420_963972102_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJB0ckie0EWgItW2fMH3Hw-U9-3dHbWz8e5eQpv3hNg47Ut4coJvY8rZmX-UdBQjtNet3Bc4a6JEKobjahdS0GGPQHmVfPv0kf1NBYtLlsqSAZU68d9Aa9oG0f9rhb0kTAqW37kuKNE_pd/s320/391024_608290848316_21503554_32867420_963972102_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">And, back to square one.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2rAEZz8HWYJXdl55MTR7A1neX4K3c-W-N-5REDkt5EUCvCZ2wtjx44ZaBRy991mdvfAVckM4ydKv7hHYgfzsh2wKzNbFMK3SeUXlAXhFg4WHhLo7_qezFD1AaFNghdeOUgE8ryEUbwlIr/s1600/Photo+Dec+09%252C+7+01+01+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2rAEZz8HWYJXdl55MTR7A1neX4K3c-W-N-5REDkt5EUCvCZ2wtjx44ZaBRy991mdvfAVckM4ydKv7hHYgfzsh2wKzNbFMK3SeUXlAXhFg4WHhLo7_qezFD1AaFNghdeOUgE8ryEUbwlIr/s320/Photo+Dec+09%252C+7+01+01+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Due to a pretty tight, daylong schedule, and because the sun simply makes a brief flyby here in the winter, we did next to nothing during the conference, with one exception: a strange drifter competition on the street in front of our hotel. Don't worry, I got <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o33ChzmyFZc&feature=channel_video_title">video</a>. I guess I also can't complain too much with a a view like this from the balcony: </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpKW7vlFWjXjpr8bOFV5M4AK9s-qLb6LMNM7lBpeAYNwpaKs27Nihor-UNsjcLJzBDt12CcJNtlvBBT168SeTLOimVzM4W-X8RqtEM70rDlE4pJBL6UtsMukJjjOk1tdVetNXdMzauVxBp/s1600/Photo+Dec+06%252C+2+07+29+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpKW7vlFWjXjpr8bOFV5M4AK9s-qLb6LMNM7lBpeAYNwpaKs27Nihor-UNsjcLJzBDt12CcJNtlvBBT168SeTLOimVzM4W-X8RqtEM70rDlE4pJBL6UtsMukJjjOk1tdVetNXdMzauVxBp/s320/Photo+Dec+06%252C+2+07+29+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Yep, we had a balcony. NBD.<br />
<br />
However, I did make a weekend trip to Cluj-Napoca, a beautiful college town that was once the capital of Transylvania, the week before.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Here are a few highlights, but to see the whole album, start <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150457202654171&set=a.10150395049274171.374284.511659170&type=3&theater">here</a>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">First things first, we went to the opera! We saw the Barber of Seville for 15 lei (like 5 dollars!). It was a French play, turned into an Italian opera, sung completely in Italian and translated into Romanian subtitles on a projector. We cosmopolitan-ed the crap outta that place.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjhjMPtP38PsP0D0UQ_LLXEDaXxDWZFYS5THWwN1zQVOGKhjxWxYjufb1b5hG6aOCD4nQvGyTjO-zlG7Rhv8uiCXzFg3lOYZYVpQ77XUIYfSm_AzJ-oE8IeIBMlf2hyphenhyphenP6Rvk6hi509Grwx/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjhjMPtP38PsP0D0UQ_LLXEDaXxDWZFYS5THWwN1zQVOGKhjxWxYjufb1b5hG6aOCD4nQvGyTjO-zlG7Rhv8uiCXzFg3lOYZYVpQ77XUIYfSm_AzJ-oE8IeIBMlf2hyphenhyphenP6Rvk6hi509Grwx/s320/4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Cluj was also lit up beautifully for Christmas. (I apologize for the pictures my iPhone camera takes at night. They're sub-par, but I'm hoping you can at least sort of get the idea.)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVXkHuiyQhA-MjuFn2hD0ODwYznrgIlKr8uIVrjerQEgEbO85mLimaz8NIbVv3sLWAyYCu5B69nHdm05M-Cj3JIqtFHAts0tHvqz-qnnLwpPjTPxqXdId6ZgESwqiFYYAh7hw_M1aMNPGl/s1600/7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVXkHuiyQhA-MjuFn2hD0ODwYznrgIlKr8uIVrjerQEgEbO85mLimaz8NIbVv3sLWAyYCu5B69nHdm05M-Cj3JIqtFHAts0tHvqz-qnnLwpPjTPxqXdId6ZgESwqiFYYAh7hw_M1aMNPGl/s320/7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-71B9r8K4T8l0qxxxokNmJVtB5Y4nw87pFjzSG-CmjqvsuTqIU0zWqaPg94VJGH9O-FJdd8ybd2MJMQytAQS3MVMADDrdrXJxGdqlthsZTNsikBv2PUXlS4V1WaR8LOUC-YLq6pTJtSPd/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-71B9r8K4T8l0qxxxokNmJVtB5Y4nw87pFjzSG-CmjqvsuTqIU0zWqaPg94VJGH9O-FJdd8ybd2MJMQytAQS3MVMADDrdrXJxGdqlthsZTNsikBv2PUXlS4V1WaR8LOUC-YLq6pTJtSPd/s320/5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW_-25r39oVPQQFrKnkY8bCk6X8JARRHAUl4wEpyZ7zisqsqeeQZi7TvTJZvyaPfgnNkBfuC0IgRPnqDtOKoG-AOVUrP_8Hn8YmpLB99a06IKqqlzLZIuzj_RAGaSmurVoYESpehLakODL/s1600/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW_-25r39oVPQQFrKnkY8bCk6X8JARRHAUl4wEpyZ7zisqsqeeQZi7TvTJZvyaPfgnNkBfuC0IgRPnqDtOKoG-AOVUrP_8Hn8YmpLB99a06IKqqlzLZIuzj_RAGaSmurVoYESpehLakODL/s320/8.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">We also made a day trip to the salt mines in Turdă, about a half hour away. All my pictures from there were <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150457206704171&set=a.10150395049274171.374284.511659170&type=3&theater">kinda lame</a>, but it was a pretty bizarre experience. They've basically turned this massive mine into an amusement park, complete with a ferris wheel, rowboats in the underground lake, mini golf, bowling, pool and a playground for your tikes.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">That's all I got for now. I can't wait for school to end, and a pig-slaughtering, țuica-swilling Christmas break to begin.</div>Matt Paulsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996402962787786945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689325076357473422.post-21576691182426923912011-11-30T08:21:00.000-08:002011-11-30T08:25:17.796-08:00An Open Letter to Matt's Beard, From Matt's Face<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2nv2o_v4y96plhcNbsGd6mvFIm6m-Ln7kppeA4AxGOQJ_VrH6nA_6D6AaLfUFImyNn_nPCUfcz4_yZC3pbNg9BLAISMzyihQNGiB_AIy01up67CXG4C8ozGrM0N5Cm9oSv0_hGC_2Bgmb/s1600/378636_10101138783685229_6831288_70173555_496183404_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2nv2o_v4y96plhcNbsGd6mvFIm6m-Ln7kppeA4AxGOQJ_VrH6nA_6D6AaLfUFImyNn_nPCUfcz4_yZC3pbNg9BLAISMzyihQNGiB_AIy01up67CXG4C8ozGrM0N5Cm9oSv0_hGC_2Bgmb/s320/378636_10101138783685229_6831288_70173555_496183404_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Dearest Dr. Beardface,<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Well, the time has come to say goodbye. Matt and I are shaving you not because we don’t love you, or because we haven’t had fun together; it’s simply for a great cause.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">You see, we’ve offered you up to the Peace Corps’ Gender and Diversity Committee as a fundraiser. The volunteers are going to vote on your future with their hard-earned lei. Will you become a fu manchu? Will you become some weird shape like stars or someone’s initials or lightning bolts? Will you become mutton chops? Or a chinstrap? Only time will tell.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But let’s stop talking about the future for a minute. Let’s take some time to reflect on the past, on everything you’ve been to Matt and me.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">You have so expertly connected Matt’s hair to the rest of me, then back around again to the other part of Matt’s hair. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">You have outed Matt. The world now knows that he is a Ginger. He fought it, but because of your courage, he has accepted it and wears it proudly, just like you.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">You have given Matt something to scratch at all times.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">You have kept me warm and dry from the wind, cold and rain.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">You are the world’s greatest sunblock. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">To the parts around my mouth, you have ensured that Matt never eats or drinks alone, and you have so often selflessly held on to the leftovers so he could enjoy them later.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">To the tips, you’ve been with us since the beginning, old friends, and we won’t soon forget it.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">To the roots, you’re new here, but that doesn’t mean you’re any less a part of this. Listen to what the tips say, but don’t be afraid to go your own way.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">To the mustache part, don’t let the world’s Movember movement make you feel like less of a mustache. You are still a mustache at heart, and a brilliant one. Let your light shine. Also, although you make it impossible for Matt to itch my nose by sticking out my chin and bottom lip and blowing upward, we know you did it with the best of intentions, even if we don’t know them.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Finally, to all the parts, let us not forget that we are one, that our whole is better than any sum of our parts could ever be.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">You will be missed.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Sincerely, Matt’s Face<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">PS: See you in a couple weeks.</div>Matt Paulsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996402962787786945noreply@blogger.com0