This morning, Dr. Jane Goodall visited The American School of Warsaw (ASW) where my wife works to speak to the students, and hear what they had to say.  It was an incredible opportunity, and I didn’t want to miss it.

At first, I wasn’t sure I would make there.  There are a lot of things to do around the house, and I have Izzy in the mornings.  It was too late to try and make other arrangements and I was feeling like I couldn’t do it.  I realized that what I couldn’t do was leave my comfort zone.  I was about to make the same decision I’ve made hundreds of times before: go with the sure, easy thing that I know would work ahead of time, rather than do what I want and either make it work or deal with the consequences.

I’m really only mentioning this because I feel it’s the kind of choice that we all face daily, and one that I believe Dr. Goodall (or Dr. Jane as she referred to herself to the kids) would not hesitate follow her heart.

Her calm, easy manner and measured speach were more fitting for someone strolling through a park than a woman who travels 300 days of the year, raising awareness and campaigning to save the planet (and by planet, I don’t mean making sure humans have a comfy place to live.  I mean the whole planet – every living thing – and the balance nature requires).  She is a woman who followed (and continues to follow) her passion, regardless of any obstacles.  But it’s not a raging passion that burns strong and quickly.  She proves that you do not need to be a charging rhinoceros to break through barriers.  She is calm and observant, and dismantles barriers with undeniable truth and patience, rather than brute force.

She mentioned at one point that she is able to travel so much, despite it being so difficult, because she wants to hear students tell her what they are doing to help the environment.  That really struck me, because she’s not traveling to speak.  She’s traveling to listen.

One of the things Dr. Goodall emphasized is that we humans have disconnected ourselves from animals, claiming to be something different – something better.  When in reality we are just animals.  And in studying the chipmanzees, she can see we’ve also disconnected our brains from our hearts.  We make too many decisions based on short-term goals and put all our focus on what we, personally, have to gain and very little, if any, on the consequences of our actions beyond ourselves.

Dr. Goodall stressed that we do not only need to be conscious of, and work to fix, the problems facing the planet we all inhabit, but also we must be aware of ourselves socially, and culturally.  Preserving our planet’s delicate balance is about more than just recycling and reducing your carbon footprint.  It’s about teamwork and community. 

I, unfortunately, do not have the kind of memory that allows me to recite what she said as eloquently as she said it, but there were a few things she said that stuck with me for one reason or another that I will try to paraphrase.

When she was a child, Dr. Goodall told us, she was so interested in animals that she would bring worms to bed with her.  Rather than get angry, her mother explained to her that the worms would not survive apart from the dirt.  So together they would return the worms to their natural environment, where I’m sure she would return to study them.  I hope, as a parent, I can be as supportive of my childrens’ interests.

Dr. Goodall accepted responsibility for the current condition of the planet on behalf of her entire generation, though I’m sure she did far more to help it than many of them, she still lived through that time.  She quoted a phrase that has gained popularity lately, which is "We do not inherit the world from our parents, we borrow it from our children."  She went on to disagree slightly with this, saying that borrowing implies we are giving something back.  Instead, she said, we have been stealing it from you.

Of all the things she said, however, probably her strongest message was simply that: "It is impossible for anyone to not make a difference."  Dr. Goodall reminded us that every person in every moment is influencing their surroundings.  Everything we do – good, bad, or indifferent – has an impact.  We are not individuals, disconnected from nature.  We are animals sharing life with billions of others.  We more than live on the Earth; We are a part of it.

Despite being unbearably shy, I’ve always been able to do the things that I felt were right, regardless of outside pressures to the contrary.  I’ve also always taken any advice to heart, and payed attention to what people older and more experienced than me have said. 

One somewhat obvious way this has manifested itself in my life is in the way I live my life, from a conservation or "green" standpoint.  Even when I was younger and it wasn’t as much in the spotlight (except for polution and Captain Planet), I was showering every other day.  And I only had to deal with the childish comments after I mentioned his fact.  Funny how I suddenly became "stinky" only after everyone knew my showering habits.  But after that, only my story changed.

So what am I doing now?  More than I have, but not as much as I’d like.   I’ll give you the short list:

• Buy local
• Buy organic/natural
• Less red meat, but when I do: Free range, grass fed, no hormone beef
• All animal products must come from animals allowed to exercise, not genetically altered, not raised in their own feces or fed anything other than what nature intended them to eat.
• My rule of thumb: The more natural, the better.
• I do not use antibacterial anything.  Not all bacteria are bad, and the bad ones tend to be hardier.
• I shower after workouts, or every other day (depending on the situation) and I use the "navy" shower usually: water on, rinse, water off, soap up, water on, rinse off, water off.  Saves TONS of water.
• Use only biodegradable shampoos and soaps (I use REAL soap) which are light on the useless chemicals (like the ones they add so that it lathers more)
• If I can avoid it: NO high fructose corn syrup, and minimal sugars.  We are so insanely over sugared, it’s terrifying.
• I always bring my own bags to the store (any store – typically backpack), and if I ever forget them I get paper bags whenever possible.
• I did not own a car for a year and a half – only public transit and bicycle.  Now (out of necessity) we have only one for the family, and it’s small and fuel efficient.  I also try to plan my routes ahead of time to be more efficient.  That saves time AND gas!  Score!
• Use a dishwasher whenever possible rather than hand-washing.
• Recycle!!
• Use energy efficient light bulbs.
• Minimize the amount of lights and appliances in use when not necessary.
• Unplug anything that’s not in use – I’m not as good about this one, but it’s something I try to do when I can.
• Clean grass cutting: in Southwick I had a mechanical mower.  In Warsaw I use an electric, which is still dirty because the power plant is coal fired, but I’m fairly limited.
• Minimize trash by buying products with less packaging, recycling, and reusing.  Included in this is groups like Freecycle, where old stuff is given away to other people who can use it. 

And here’s my list of things that I can’t do yet, due to my transient lifestyle, but plan on doing as soon as I have my own place (or have done in the past when I was able to):

• Grow my own herbs, veggies and fruits.  Obviously not everything, but it makes a huge difference!
• Compost
• Collect rainwater for irrigation/showers/toilet, depending on quantity and reusability.
• Collect drain water (shower, sinks, washing machine) for the same purposes, though biodegradable soaps are key there.  Plus some filtering may be necessary.
• Raise a few chickens for fresh eggs.
• Energy alternatives:
  • Small, residential windmills
  • Solar power? (possibly.  Not a big win where I’d be living, and I’d prefer safer chemicals used.  Heard about some great research in this field, but no products yet)
  • Earth sheltered home (Basically building into a hill to regulate temperature)
  • Geothermal
  • Soapstone masonry stove (Woodstove with a soapstone surround.  Only burn for a few hours to heat for the whole day!)
  • South facing home with good windows and shading configuration to optimize natural light and heat gain when needed.
• I’d like to use good building materials if building a new house, or doing any work on it.  Stuff that is manufactured cleanly, or recycled but also durable.  Also stuff that requires less chemical treating and maintenance.
• Better grasses – there are some that require less watering and nitrogen and grow in tougher soils, also prevent weeds and grow slower.
• Go back to hunting.

There’s probably more stuff I can do, or am doing, but that’s all I can think of at the moment and I’m out of time for now.

Not only have I not written in a while (no surprise there), but with all the impending weddings I looked back on my own and realized that I never shared the Apache wedding prayer that got left out of our ceremony.  So here it is!

Now you will feel no rain,
For each of you will be shelter to the other.

Now you will feel no cold,
For each of you will be warmth to the other.

Now there is no more loneliness,
For each of you will be companion to the other.

Now you are two bodies,
But there is one life before you.

Go now to your dwelling place,
To enter into the days of your togetherness.
And may your days be good and long upon the earth.

As we’re closing in on the end of our second year living abroad, I can’t help but reflect on the experience.

At first, things were very exciting and our days were extremely full.  Those sleepless nights in the scratchy dip-service beds, dealing with jet-lag for the first time ever on this magnitude and the fact that there were no screens on the windows.

Our days were spent walking the streets and riding the buses, going between historic places and beer gardens and museums.  And the few solid days chasing apartments will be permenantly etched into everyone’s memories, if not their feet!

As the days went on, one by one the herd thinned as we found and moved into our new apartments.  For some this was more of an ordeal than others, but we all got through it more or less unscathed.  And as the students arrived, we slowly faded away into our daily routines and were absorbed into our respective groups.

Except for me, that is.

At first, I thought that I’d be able to work my schedule and spend more time exploring both the city, and my own interests.  However, this turned out to be largely fantasy.

So what did I do over here?

Well, the short answer is a lot.  Not as much as some people, but a lot more than I would have done back in The States – in terms of travel and exploration, anyways.  Here are the highlights, broken down list-style:

• Learned Polish (well still learning, but made some significant progress!)
• Met a lot of really cool people!
• Drank a lot of beer, mead and mulled wine.
• Ate a lot of sausage, smoked cheese and zurek.
• Got a dog
• Passed out in the Veterinarian’s office, hit my head on the table and got stitches
• Made a bunch of websites (for work – but they turned out pretty good!  And I’ve learned a lot, too)
• Tutored 2 kids
• Taught 2 trimesters of middle school web design
• Saw George Clinton and Wyclef Jean at a free, outdoor concert set
• Went to Oktoberfest and saw lots of Munich, and made a trip to Neuschwanstein castle
• Took a really long bike trip to Czersk and visited the old castle there.
• Ate TONS of great sushi!
• Fought the crowds and skiied at Zakopane.
• Crossed over to Slovakia to soak in the hot springs.
• Missed the bus back from Slovakia and had to make a call for special pick up.
• Rode the train to Prague, Vienna, Krakow, Gdansk and Sopot
• Saw a lot of REALLY cool buildings
• Went to Egypt, Saw the Pyramids, the Sphynx, rode a camel, snorkeled on the reef, and of course; got sick.
• Enjoyed some Sheesha
• Visited several museums and learned a LOT of history
• Learned some magic tricks (which I’m sorely out of practice with now)
• Then got upstaged by an Aussie with a salt shaker (You know who you are!!)
• Met up with my sister and cousin in Mykonos, Greece
• Swam in the blue blue water in Mykonos, and ate a LOT of really great food!
• Went to London (twice)
• Saw Wicked, Avenue Q, and Phantom of the Opera (in London)
• Went to an Arsenal game at Emirates stadium
• Visited Wawel Cathedral and Westminster Abbey
• Spent Christmas in Rome, and saw The Pope at the Vatican.
• Found and joined a taekwondo club
• Tossed my coin into Trevi Fountain
• Said a prayer in Saint Peter’s Basilica
• Walked through the Colosseum
• Strolled through the Wilanow cemetery in silent reverence and awe at night on All Saint’s Day
• Ran house to house with numb toes during our Progressive Games night
• Bought a car
• Perused the venders wares while sipping mulled wine at the Old Town Christmas Market
• Became a squirrel jungle-gym at Lazienki park
• Went to the zoo and got smiled at by a Rhino
• Listened to piano concerts in Lazienki park
• And last, but certainly not least: MADE A BABY!!

Yep.  That about sums it up.  I’m sure I’ve probably left a few things out, but it’s been a long, full two years.  And next year promises to be even more exciting, but in a totally different way.  I’m very excited about coming home for the summer and seeing family and friends again, and sharing our experiences with them.

Today was a pretty good day, despite not really doing a whole lot.  After a rather lethargic start (I slept in after going to bed late and being woken up numerous times by the dog) I managed to accomplish a lot of things that I had either been putting off, or just hadn’t had the time to do.

I got a lot of our apartment cleaned up, which always makes me feel more relaxed.  When it’s dirty I feel anxious until I get it clean, but the actual act of cleaning tends to be surprisingly relaxing for me, too.  I think it’s something about transforming chaos to order.  But mostly it’s being able to relax in a clean apartment afterwards.

Yesterday was a good day, too.  I finally moved our extra tires down to the garage from our spare closet, and bought some stuff we’ve been needing.

Probably my crowning achievement was finally deciding to caulk the cracks in the bathroom.  Our apartment has a bunch of cracks that have showed up over the year, and some of them are in the bathroom wall, right next to the shower.  So the lower part of the wall has some growing water damage.  I had asked the landlord about it, but she said not to do anything because she’s going to have them work on it while we’re gone this summer, but I couldn’t wait any longer so I decided to do it myself. 

I also took some time to make some phone calls and called up my friend Pete and my parents.  It was nice to chat with them, and I need to make more of a point to call people. 

Other than that, it was a nice relaxing day watching tv with my pregnant wife.  The only real let down of the day is that we had rented a movie over iTunes, but when we went to watch it – it was gone!

I had planned on doing a little prep work for teaching tomorrow, but I think I’ll just get that done in the morning.  I’ve usually got more than enough time.  I think now it’s time to curl up in bed with a good book and drift away to tomorrow.

In keeping with my recent promise to myself, I need to do my writing for today.  And since it’s almost 10pm and I’ve just finished working, I figured I’d do an entry here.

This morning’s web design class went pretty well.  I had the kids take a break from working on their group project (and give myself a break as well) for something a bit more structured.  I gave them an introduction to javascript, so that they have a basic understanding and can hopefully not be completely lost when they look at some of the minimal javascript code we’re using.

It went well, and they were well behaved.  On Monday I’ll be finishing off the lecture and they’ll be going back to groupwork.  I may need to crack down on them, though.  Their groupwork has been a bit distracted lately.

After this, I bumped into a group of students with a few teachers headed to go bowling for the day.  I was tempted to see if I could join them, but I knew that even if I went, I have a lot of work to do.  It was a fun little detour from the usual ride home, though.  I finished off my usual podcast over the rest of the trip, which was enjoyable, too.

So now I’ve just put the finishing touches on my work for the day.  I’ve still got about another 5 1/2 hours to do tomorrow, but I got a lot of good stuff done today and feel pretty good about it.  Of course, now it’s effectively bed time, so I’m going to be spending my night with some tv shows in the background while I try to find a game to entertain myself, and maybe play with the dog a bit in between giving her eye drops.

I’ve been more than bad about writing on this thing.  But that’s nothing new, and practically every post I’ve written recently touches on this in some way or another.  So rather than complain about myself, I’ve decided to start writing every day.  Not necessarily on here.  Most likely it will be in one of the journals I have kicking around the house.  Good old pen and paper stuff.  I also want to write out some more letters and postcards.  And this time I’m serious about it.  Yeah, I’m super busy, but if I can’t still find time to do the important things, then what good am I? 

Part of the reason I haven’t written much lately, is that pretty much all I have to talk about is what I have to do, and how little time I have because of it.  Well, not only is that crap, it’s not getting me anywhere.  I’ve been re-reading one of my favorite books: Zen in the Martial Arts.  When I have a moment, this book is perfect to read one of the short chapters, then digest it.  Far more often than not, that section I read applies directly and immediately to an event or aspect of my life.  One of these sections I recently read basically boils down to the fact that you waste more time and energy complaining about your troubles and tasks than if you would just complete them.  Something I’ve long known and even demonstrated, but for one reason or another, had stopped practicing it.

So with that in mind, I’ve been tackling my chores and tasks with the ferocity and grace befitting a martial artist.  In addition, as of today, I’m setting aside time to do the things that really matter.  I’m not letting myself make excuses anymore. 

So moving forward from this point, I’ll be trying to write some meaningful stuff here more often, both for writing practice, and to share something truly meaningful.

Some days, I just don’t know how I manage to do it all and stay sane.

After a rambunctious group of kids managed to wear me down mentally, physically, and emotionally at the end of the day Wednesday, it’s just been a tumble since then.  Wednesdays and Thursdays are usually some of my hardest days, anyways.  I recently stopped teaching a Thursday morning taekwondo class to try and maintain my tenuous grip on the fraying edges of sanity.

Well, that’s not really true.  I’m not losing my mind or anything, but that last class got to me.  I felt like the kids let me down, but at the same time I let them down.  Though, in my defense, I’m still feeling it out.  Though it’s not going terribly, I feel like I might be going too fast for them, or doing too much.  I think I’ve been viewing it more as a college course than a middle school class.

Anyways, today was another, up at 5:45am and start working day.  It’s 10:30pm and I’m finally done.  After I squeezed in my 8 hours for the day, I did some grading and planning.  I did take a short break at lunch to buy some groceries, and over the past two days ran 3 loads of laundry and 2 loads of dishes.  Unfortunately I haven’t managed to clean the house in a few weeks.  I swept one room, but the broom is still in the corner, guarding a pile of dust, while new dirt and grit infiltrates the house.

Tomorrow I’ll be up early toswim, practice the trumpet, teach, then return home and work for 8 hours.  If I’m lucky, I’ll be finishing up right around 7pm.  But even then I can’t crack open a beer and relax, because I have taekwondo on Saturday morning.

My lesson plan for tomorrow  is very loose, but I’m confident that I have enough material.  I managed to get their assignments graded today, but nobody has turned in the assignment from last class, so I’m anticipating that none of them understood it, and I’m going to have to go over it in class.  I don’t want to be too lenient about them being able to push assignments off, but if nobody understood it, I’ll have to do just that.  At least we’ll be going over the assignment and the stuff they need to know for it.

After I review the homework and introduce a few new things using another method I’m going to try out on them, I’m planning to make up a study guide for them and then giving them a quiz at the end of the week.  Of course, that means more work for me, but I think it will pay off.  I need to get a measure of what they’ve managed to remember, and figure out how to drive home the stuff we’ve already covered while still introducing new stuff they’ll need to know.

Jess has also suggested making them take notes (pencil and paper style).  The computers tend to be more of a diversion than a tool in the classroom so far.  Even a guided exercise doesn’t get 2 steps before 3 kids are doing something not on the plan, and 2 more have technical problems.

I’m almost hoping they ask me to do this again next trimester, if for no other reason than so I can try to apply what I’ve learned and improve the class.  Sometimes I think I’m addicted to self-improvement to the point where it becomes self-destructive.  Isn’t that ironic?

Ok, well I’m going to throw myself into bed so I can be fully charged tomorrow for the kids. 

This weekend, with temperatures dipping to -18°C and both Jess and I playing a symphony of coughing and sniffling noses, we thought we’d give the iTunes movie rental a whirl.  The way it works is pretty nice, though I think it should be cheaper – we won’t get into that right now.

The rental was $3.99 USD, and you get 28 days to start watching the movie.  After you start it, you have 24 hours before it’s deleted.  Not a bad deal, especially for something you’re not interested in watching more than once or twice.  Especially considering the purchase price of $14.99USD. 

We decided on Julie & Julia – A movie about a woman who had originally intended to become a writer and had previously abandoned a novel she was writing, who is now working a government job in New York City.  She’s tired of never finishing anything she really wants to acomplish and feels overshadowed by her friends’ successes while at the same time disgusted by the fact that they have become self-absorbed and distant due to those career successes. 

Already someone who enjoys cooking, and has achieved a moderate level of proficiency, she decides to assign herself the challenge of cooking every recipe in Julia Child’s cookbook within one year (365 days), and blog about the experience.

The movie depicts the lives of the two women – the present day Julie, and Julia Child as she writes the book and deals with the challenges of establishing herself as a professional. 

I found that I related very closely to the main character.  I, too, had original aspirations towards being a writer, I enjoy cooking, and rarely finish anything I have started.  In fact – that was part of my inspiration to stick with Taekwondo for as long as I have – and I can’t say I regret it! 

So the movie spoke to me, personally, and has helped inspire me to revive both my writing efforts through this blog, and my dwindling efforts in the kitchen.  Before the movie, I had even talked about doing something very similar – cooking a different recipe from a cookbook every day – but never got around to doing it.

There are so many things in life that can easily distract us from living our lives.  Things that distract us from what’s really important, and from realizing who we are.  As a person with widely varied interests, my original intent with this blog was to chronicle my explorations down many different paths.  As the title of this blog implies: I have many interests, but few specialties.  I hope I can live up to my own expectations of trying more new things and sharing those experiences through this online journal. 

I also hope that, while doing so, I don’t lose sight what is most important, which is not so much just to have the experiences, as to share them.

Well, it’s a new year and time for new things.  Time to give myself the once over and tighten up all the loose screws. 

I tend to set goals for myself all the time, not strictly limiting myself to the Earth’s position around the sun.  But, seeing as how this time seems to coincide with tradition, I’ll share some of my intended self-improvements.

I’d like to say that I’m going to stop filling my schedule, but I’ve resigned myself to the fact that that just ain’t gonna happen.  So instead, I’ve packed it full.

This year I’ll be filling in and teaching a web design class.  It only lasts until March, but I plan on making it as good as I can.  Which means doing some reading and planning.  My goal is to stay at least one week ahead in planning and hopefully lead a good class.

I’ve also decided to focus a bit more on my artistic side, making sure that I spend at least part of each day devoted to an art form of some sort.  Most mornings I’ll be practicing the trumpet, which I’ve just started playing.  And some evenings I’ll make some sketches or do some painting.  If I don’t feel too rushed, I’d also like to do some more writing.  Some of that will likely be done here, on my blog, and hopefully what I do write here is more engaging than some of my previous entries.

I’ll still be continuing to practice the martial arts as well, going to two or three taekwondo classes per week.  I’d like to do some tai chi if I could, but right now the schedule’s a bit too packed.

I’ll be continuing with my language studies as well, hopefully squeezing in 1 or 2 Polish lessons each week.

To help accomplish all of this, I’m more or less swearing off TV.  Not that I watch much now, but I’ll be limiting myself even more.  Instead, if I have the free time and I’m not working on some art project, I’d like to do more reading.

As if that wasn’t enough, I’d also like to do more local traveling, and spend more time with people – friends or strangers. 

The last change I plan on making is fixing my diet a bit.  I haven’t been eating well, mostly due to laziness when it comes to lunch, and I’ve noticed some signs of malnutrition in my fingernails that come and go, so I want to be more vigilant about that.  The main goal is to eat more fresh vegetables and ease up on the meats and dairy.

Those are my plans for the New Year.  Now all I have to do is get over this jet lag!