That reassuring ritual of renewal – the ringing of school bells – is underway.
Here in Florida and throughout the American south – schools are opening this week. In the northern climes, students and teachers return to classes after Labor Day. In Europe and around the world, schools generally open in September.
In the southern Hemisphere – where I’m off to later this week – schools are re-opening after July’s winter break. In Colombia, on the northern edge of South America, private schools can choose between a September-June or March-December calendar. Parents with more than one child in different schools should make sure each sibling is on the same schedule!
In England, the Michaelmas term begins next month. In Turkey classes begin in mid-September but the cram school (dersanes) open soon and families will flee the resorts of Bodrum and Cesme to get home in time for special lessons. In Florida, there is no sales tax on school related goods this month. Buy those backpacks and pencils now.
Pencils? How about getting a new laptop or updating your Facebook entry? Whatever! The school bus will be here soon and it good feeling for those of us who have dabbled in education for so long.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Anatolia's Mad Melody of Terror
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the great Turkish earthquake and we were there.
Shake, rattle and roll (out of bed).
August 16th was like most other summer days in Istanbul – hot but not quite unbearably so because of the breezes blowing down from the Black Sea.
The opening of school was still several weeks away so work was mainly spent on getting the new teachers through orientation. We enjoyed a big group dinner that evening at a favorite restaurant overlooking the Bosphorus, the watery straight that separates Europe from Asia. Dining in the Turkish style – 3 or 4 hours, 5 or 6 courses, it was all very lovely.
Driving home well after midnight, a sliver of a crescent moon was hanging over the spires of the Blue Mosque across the water. It was a perfect scene, part of the endless parade of magical images that old Constantinople throws up.
Just after 3 in the morning, now August 17th, our building began to sway menacingly. This movement creates sensations you don’t want to experience in the middle of a good sleep: disorientation, panic and fear. Outside there was an eerie groaning as the ground began to break up for 150 kilometers over the fault line. By the time it was all over some 45 seconds later, 19,000 people were dead and 350,000 were homeless. Miraculously, there was little damage in Istanbul itself (just waiting for the next Big One, thank you) but massive destruction to the east closer to the epicenter.
One of my teachers, Alan Drew, later used the earthquake as the basis of the plot in his first novel Gardens of Water. More humbly, I wrote this in a journal six months after the infamous Anatolian earthquake:
It was the cacophony of sounds that I will always remember. Upstairs a window blew out. Pictures dropped from their hooks. Our little collectable knick-knacks fell one by one from the shadow box to the floor. Water and wineglasses jiggled and closet doors creaked open. Outside, the neighborhood dogs howled in panic and car alarms blared. It was bedlam. It was as though some crazed subterranean orchestra was playing a mad melody of terror.
Shake, rattle and roll (out of bed).
August 16th was like most other summer days in Istanbul – hot but not quite unbearably so because of the breezes blowing down from the Black Sea.
The opening of school was still several weeks away so work was mainly spent on getting the new teachers through orientation. We enjoyed a big group dinner that evening at a favorite restaurant overlooking the Bosphorus, the watery straight that separates Europe from Asia. Dining in the Turkish style – 3 or 4 hours, 5 or 6 courses, it was all very lovely.
Driving home well after midnight, a sliver of a crescent moon was hanging over the spires of the Blue Mosque across the water. It was a perfect scene, part of the endless parade of magical images that old Constantinople throws up.
Just after 3 in the morning, now August 17th, our building began to sway menacingly. This movement creates sensations you don’t want to experience in the middle of a good sleep: disorientation, panic and fear. Outside there was an eerie groaning as the ground began to break up for 150 kilometers over the fault line. By the time it was all over some 45 seconds later, 19,000 people were dead and 350,000 were homeless. Miraculously, there was little damage in Istanbul itself (just waiting for the next Big One, thank you) but massive destruction to the east closer to the epicenter.
One of my teachers, Alan Drew, later used the earthquake as the basis of the plot in his first novel Gardens of Water. More humbly, I wrote this in a journal six months after the infamous Anatolian earthquake:
It was the cacophony of sounds that I will always remember. Upstairs a window blew out. Pictures dropped from their hooks. Our little collectable knick-knacks fell one by one from the shadow box to the floor. Water and wineglasses jiggled and closet doors creaked open. Outside, the neighborhood dogs howled in panic and car alarms blared. It was bedlam. It was as though some crazed subterranean orchestra was playing a mad melody of terror.
Friday, August 7, 2009
MTV Award
I’m not one for wallowing in braggadocio but every so often it’s nice to give yourself a high five (if that’s possible) or a high ten.
Why just this week I achieved a rare, rate, rare:
MAJOR TECH VICTORY
There I was working away like a busy beaver on my computer. Old Acer is now pushing 4 years old but so far so good and very reliable he is. I’ve not had a breakdown or any problems with this dear thing. Then, about mid day, an annoying little pop-up begin advising me of a security threat. Every 30 seconds – pop – pop – pop! The internet slowed, I was redirected from site to site and my email account was inaccessible. Time to meet Privacy Center… a rogue virus that is very nasty. Privacy Center would not go away and refused to be taken out by my simple security feature
Alas, after two days of ‘googling’ resources and random advice, one reader who had suffered the same fate (millions have been visited by Privacy Center by the way) served up a gem and presto! I eliminated the swine.
Here’s what I’ve learned:
1. if you type in the words ‘spyware’, ‘adware’ and ‘virus’ most links that come up are commercial sites
2. “free” downloads will identify and list viruses but you have to pay to have them removed
3. my nameless friend on the internet shared this tip: shut down your computer, restart and immediately go into “safe mode”. Safe mode presents several options including add or remove program function. The Privacy Center icon was there just below the Power Center DVD button
4. Click, eliminate, kill and destroy
My computer was back to normal in a moment – and I cleaned up the mess myself. I love to score a MAJOR TECH VICTORY!
Why just this week I achieved a rare, rate, rare:
MAJOR TECH VICTORY
There I was working away like a busy beaver on my computer. Old Acer is now pushing 4 years old but so far so good and very reliable he is. I’ve not had a breakdown or any problems with this dear thing. Then, about mid day, an annoying little pop-up begin advising me of a security threat. Every 30 seconds – pop – pop – pop! The internet slowed, I was redirected from site to site and my email account was inaccessible. Time to meet Privacy Center… a rogue virus that is very nasty. Privacy Center would not go away and refused to be taken out by my simple security feature
Alas, after two days of ‘googling’ resources and random advice, one reader who had suffered the same fate (millions have been visited by Privacy Center by the way) served up a gem and presto! I eliminated the swine.
Here’s what I’ve learned:
1. if you type in the words ‘spyware’, ‘adware’ and ‘virus’ most links that come up are commercial sites
2. “free” downloads will identify and list viruses but you have to pay to have them removed
3. my nameless friend on the internet shared this tip: shut down your computer, restart and immediately go into “safe mode”. Safe mode presents several options including add or remove program function. The Privacy Center icon was there just below the Power Center DVD button
4. Click, eliminate, kill and destroy
My computer was back to normal in a moment – and I cleaned up the mess myself. I love to score a MAJOR TECH VICTORY!
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