Mr. Kabodian’s Blog

Last week, I went to Michigan State University’s College of Music’s Collage II. This 90 minute, fast-paced concert was an amazing showcase of MSU’s faculty and student musicians. I wish those who downplay the importance of music in our schools today could have been there – but I imagine they were absent. I enjoyed hearing everything from the trumpet ensemble zooming through Terry Emerson’s Idea No. 24 to Stacey Carter singing her slow, jazzy version of “Sometimes I’m Happy” to the Caribbean-sound of “Dos Gaitas” by guitars and many types of violins to Gershin’s Overture to Let’Em Eat Cake and even more. What an amazing variety and all done with such impeccable skill and artistry.

Collage concerts are fast-paced because the audience saves their applause until the intermission and the end of the concert. While each group performs, the spotlight is on them and the rest of the auditorium is dark. When the first group finishes, the spotlight goes directly to the next group, which has set up in the dark while the audience was paying attention to the first group.

My life is a collage concert sometimes. I’m ‘onstage’ when I teach, dance at a Lost Marble concert, or present a group of teachers some technology information. In the grand scheme of things, my time in the spotlight is brief. I’m often also a spectator at my family member’s evens, which is fine. Life is so often a barrage of events, often very cool stuff, just one after another. One of my goals is to slow life down. To focus on one thing a bit longer. Quality, not quantity. I want my life to be more of an in-depth study than a survey course. So, while I enjoy collage concerts, the thought of living my life that way makes me cringe.

Writing requires time. Committing to this blog is one way I make myself reflect on my life. I highly recommend it to others. Whether it’s in a journal notebook or online, thinking about your life can slow it down considerably. Unless you are the type of person that spews forth competent paragraphs without practically a second thought, you’ll need to set aside a considerable amount of focused time in order to come up with anything much that people are going to want to hear. I usually get a start on a piece, save it as a Word document, and then go back to it when I know the house will be quiet.

So, slow down, you move too fast. Gotta make the moment last. Just skippin’ down the internet highway. Life, I love you. Feelin’ groovy.

I was at Senior Parent Night at possibly the best high school in the mid-Michigan area, East Lansing High School. The counselors were explaining the college application process when, believe it or not, Jennifer Granholm sat down beside me. I’m sure it had to do more with the fact that it was the closest open seat to the door and not that I happened to be sitting there…but still. And, really, where else would the governor take her kids but the amazing public schools of EL?

The fact that I also teach in the district has nothing to do with it…I’m completely unbiased.

Whatever.

So I say to Jennifer, “Have you heard of the Lost Marbles?” Yes, she had.
I informed her that they were one of the groups playing at a rally for Obama on Sunday at Dublin Square. She let me know that she had just come from a rally with Barack in Flint and seemed a bit perplexed that there was a rally again so soon…until I assured her that we knew that Barack was not going to be there.

Then came the part that energized me. I let her know that I decided to do something this time, instead of just waiting until after the campaign and complaining that things didn’t go the way I wanted. I told her I had begun to register voters (mostly MSU students) and that I planned to make phone calls to get out the vote. She brightened up and said “That’s great…I think this time it’s going to happen.” Pause. Then her fist came up and waited for mine. I brought up my fist and we shared a fist pump.

Seriously – to get a fist pump from the Governor of the State of Michigan! These things just don’t happen to me on a daily basis.

I can still feel a bit of the excitement I felt from that moment.

And this energy I feel is not exclusively a Democrat thing. I’m sure there are Republicans who feel the way I feel, too. I truly sense that I am part of a movement in this election that is the closest I have ever felt to living in a democratic society. I’m part of a organized, dedicated group that has these specific tasks but also feels connected to a larger mission. We believe that we can make a difference locally and we know that there are other groups like us throughout the state and country. So, we feel that together we can make a difference at the national level also. It’s very empowering. And hopeful.

A decision to act. A fist pump. A connection to a group…that’s connected to a larger group. Who knows where it could end?

Only some of the highlights from London:

* We saw the King’s Singers at Royal Albert Hall: six incredibly talented male singers impressing the pants off of everybody with the breadth of their program and the pure sound of their voices. The concert was part of the BBC’s Prom series so it was taped and will be televised in England at some point. It was the same stage that the Beatles were on several times decades ago; I didn’t know it at the time, but knowing it now makes the evening even more special for me.

* We went to Abbey Road, walked across the road a few times, and signed our names on the wall. It’s all good. There were about a dozen other people there. Reading the wall was as fun as any part of it. People love the fab four and they do a lot of quoting lyrics. So I wrote my name and reminded people that “all you need is love.” Also, we visited the British Library later and it had some amazing artifacts; there some of the funniest Beatle interviews I’ve ever heard in that collection. One was from a Beatles Fan Club Christmas tape (transcript) and they were all just drop-dead funny.

* We saw the play, Gone Too Far at the Royal Court Theatre. It was amazing. A teen drama that was “tight” as they say in the biz. The acting was strong and convincing, the message was important: don’t get lost in yourself; know yourself and where you came from; petty words and deeds can blow up in your face, big time… It’s worth reading this well written review. The icing on the cake was that the theatre was one block from our flat and that we bought tickets the day of the performance and lucked out in that all seats were 10 pounds ($20) that Monday. Seeing amazing theatre for a decent price and not having to even think about the ride home…that’s heavenly.

* The Globe Theater was on our list of must-sees. When we arrived, there was a play going on so we couldn’t have a tour. Though disappointed for a moment, we made the most of the opportunity. For a small amount (I think it was 5 pounds each), we could watch the rest of the play in the standing room section. Shakespeare always takes me back to old England a bit, but standing in the groundlings area seemed even more authentic. We watched about 45 minutes of Timon of Athens in the open air — and it sprinkled for about 15 minutes of it. Wet and curious, we enjoyed every moment of the strange, but riveting play.

* We heard a wonderful organ concert at St. Martin in the Field — and it was part of a luncheon series and they just wanted a donation. A treat to be sure.

* Many museums in London are free, but they don’t let you take photos (that’s why you only see art, etc. from Paris in my photos). No photos at Buckingham Palace either (yes, we took photos at Versailles). The upside is that I felt more “present” at the London exhibits. I love taking photos, but actually reading the information and looking at the art without the option to take a photo frees me up to enjoy the experience more.

I want to end with another excerpt from Judy’s journal.

“Aram and I went to Westminster Abbey (for choral evensong). I enjoyed this as much as anything on the whole trip. The men and boy choir was from New Zealand. They were in England for a month doing services all over. This was their week at the Abbey (the regular Abbey choir is off for the summer). This choir was as good as any choir you could imagine and the accoustics were to die for. Their organist was fantastic, too. He played prelude music, then the processional, Purcell’s “Hear My Prayer”, Psalm 91 (antiphonally), Magnificat and nunc dimittis (more contemporary), anthem “Set Me as a Seal” by William Walton, and a really cool postlude on the New Zealand national anthem. We all met back at the flat [Rachel and Aaron had gone to Piccadilly Square by themselves] and I was relieved that the kids were already there. Dinner was at the Indian Tandoori restaurant nearby [in Chelsea]. The food and service were excellent. We had an appetizer thing (Popadom?) with four kinds of toppings (chopped onion, mint yogurt, a really spicy pepper thing, and a mango chutney). We all got really hot stuff with rice and wonderful bread called “nan.” Back to the apartment to rest and sleep.”

I echo her love for both the evensong service and the meal — both were glorious and spiritual in my book.

In Paris, people drive their cars on the same side of the road as we do here. Many people spoke English and didn’t seem to mind a whole lot about it — especially if we began with “Bonjour” and showed we were trying with an occasional “Merci.”

In London, people drive on the left side of the road, but the city planners seem to take into account that some pedestrians (named the Kabodians) may need help remembering this fact in order to stay safe. So they have written on many crosswalks things like “Look Left” and “Look Right.”

They even help with bike paths by reminding you to “Look Both Ways.” Some people may find this a bit paternal, in a Queen-Mother-looking-out-for-you way, but I think it saved my life a couple times.

These helpful ways even were evident on the Tube. Sometimes there was a gap between the platform and the subway. Many signs (below) and an ever-present female voice reminded us to “Mind the Gap” so our feet stayed safe.

It was sometimes a bit much, though. Somewhere in Hyde Park the sign below freaked me out a bit because I didn’t see the overhang on this vendors cart (since I’m 6′ 5″ tall).

Overall, I was glad the reminders were there. They were a lesson in caring. They showed that a big city can watch out for tourists. That we are all in this thing together. That what comes around goes around. And I’ll be nicer to the city in subtle ways, too. (I really shouldn’t have watched The Office right before I wrote this last part)

More memories of Paris:

* The best book store for English folk is Shakespeare and Company, just across the river from Notre Dame. A wide selection, together with a fun library upstairs (you can’t purchase anything on the 2nd floor). There was a street musician playing some Reggae when we arrived. There were a few street vendors that sold books written in English, but they only had a handful of books.

* Bicycles have to obey the same laws as automobiles in Paris (and London, too, I think). One person told us there are stiff fines for bikes that go through red lights. Bikes, mopeds, and motorcycles are everywhere in Paris; I think the three of them combined may outnumber cars. I’m sure they outnumber American-made cars. We saw mostly Audis, Mercedez Benz’, Lamborghinis, Smart Cars, Jaguars, Porsches, Bentleys, Astin Martins, BMWs, and other super-cool cars in Paris and London. Aaron has the proof on his camera — he took around 100 photos of these classic cars.

* If you get separated from your family, the general rule is stay in the last spot they saw you (like the Javel Metro stop). Going on to the next destination (the Louvre, for example) would only be a good idea if you waited a long time (more than 15 minutes) and they didn’t show up (or if it was late or you were really scared or something, I suppose). There’s more to this story, but it’s told best in person, so ask Judy about it.

* The note card above is from a fun website and is entitled “Sure, I’ll take your picture.” We took dozens of photos for people and they did the same — with no business for the pick pockets — so it’s just a joke.

* If you come out of a Metro stop and it’s dark, check if you’re facing North or South before you walk a great distance. We turned right as we came out of a Metro stop in the Latin Quarter and started walking without checking one night. We were already tired and wanted to get back to our hotel as soon as possible. Finally, we turned right, expecting to see our hotel. We were surprised to see Notre Dame and the River Seine. Not until later did we figure out we had come out of the Metro stop on the opposite side and walked in the complete wrong direction (only about 5 blocks, but still). The flip side of that mistake was that we found the Shakespeare and Company bookstore at that point — is was as if someone wanted us to screw up — and we spent almost an hour browsing, even though we were exhausted.

* The Eiffel Tower is worth the climb. (Be sure to check out some of our photos on the right side of this page…click on a photo to see more) It was four euros each to climb about half way up (and 12 euros each to take the elevator all the way to the top), so we climbed it of course. The views are spectacular — you can see parts of the city you never knew existed.

I hadn’t realized I was on holiday until a friendly Londoner asked me how long my holiday would last. This was just one of the many things I learned about my own language (vacation = holiday), about the French language, and about the wonderful, crazy clash of cultures from 12 days abroad.

Taking a family of four to Europe (in these troubled times) may make a bit more sense to you once a few things are more clear:
1. Judy, my wife, received an extremely generous gift from the Ferris’ at our church: a free week at their time share in London. Their flat is in an upscale section of Chelsea/Belgravia within a long walk of Buckingham Palace. The Ferris’ appreciate the amazing job Judy does as organist and choir accompanist.
2. Mark, my brother-in-law, let us use some of his travel miles, which paid for the equivalent of one room for three nights in Paris. These are generous people. We are surrounded by them.
3. This month Judy and I celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. This sort of thing only happens once in a lifetime and just cries out for an extreme, awesome celebration.
4. You only live once. Kids get older and move away, your health goes, your feet hurt, you don’t even feel like getting up after awhile. Travel now.

There is, of course, too much to tell. Rachel and I took near 1,000 pictures and I’ve put a few of them on my flickr account — if you look over to the right of this blog page, you should see a few of them; click on the photos to see more (but please come back and read more of this entry).

One of the first things I remember from Paris was the graffiti on the walls around the Eurostar train as we pulled in to the station at Nord. It was colorful and artistic…and I couldn’t read a word of it. It went on for a long time and still I couldn’t figure out one phrase. A telling sign of things to come.

Getting money was difficult in one way and almost too easy in another. This was the first trip I’ve ever been on that I didn’t take much cash ($25) and not any travelers checks. We trusted our credit union and the advice of friends and relied completely on our plastic. We gathered our luggage at the train station and found an ATM. The euros came out effortlessly. The poor exchange rate made many more dollars come out of my account somewhere across the Atlantic.

From there, the beauty of Paris (and France, in general) took over. We took a boat cruise down the Seine the first night; as we came around a bend in the river, the Eiffel Tower came in to view, lighting up with flashing lights (as it does for 10 minutes at a time starting at 10:00 pm. every night) — a glorious surprise. The Palace and Gardens at Versailles were well worth the trip out of the city. Then the artwork at the Louvre and the Musee d’Orsay blew us away. Notre Dame was a jewel and climbing to its upper platform — though a real work out — brought the immensity and grandeur of Paris truly alive.

Here’s an excerpt from Judy’s journal:
“…then we decided to find Le Souffle, a restaurant recommended by Clare M. This was not easy as the street was short and small and not marked well. We finally found it and were seated. Soon they realized we did not speak French and switched waiters on us to one who spoke a little English. The kids ordered ham and cheese souffles, I ordered a chicken and mushroom one, and Aram got separate chicken, a little salad with a small cheese souffle. Then we all shared a raspberry souffle for dessert. It was one of the most purely French eating experiences we had. We felt bad that our French wasn’t any better. I think they were annoyed with us about that, plus the fact that we only ordered tap water to drink. I think they expect everyone to order sparking water, wine, and then coffee with dessert, but we couldn’t afford to do that. As we walked around Paris and saw people at the cafes, it was pretty clear that that was what everyone does. They spend a lot of time eating and drinking and talking, they’re so chilled out, but they don’t have a bunch of sight-seeing to do because HA! they live here. Then we took the Metro back to the hotel. We had all quickly adjusted to the time change. ZZZZZZ”

That’s all for now, folks.
More to come

Here are a few of the things I have been doing this summer so far (educationally speaking):

1. Melissa and I have met a couple times and communicated via email/google docs several times in preparation for next week’s Middle School Technology Camp at Michigan State University. We’re co-leading it and we’ve re-vamped our agenda on the wiki (see previous link), ordered the flash drives, bought snacks, communicated with the parents of the students via email, made sure the computer lab computers accept the log in we’ll be having the students use, and created a digital story of our own which introduces each of us. We’ll be having the students put their stories on Teacher Tube this year, so we put our introductions on there too.

2. I’m reading Raw Materials for the Mind, by David Warlick, in preparation for our Red Cedar Writing Project’s “Technology Matters” workshop in August. We’re using it as a starting point for our discussions about what Digital Literacy is and how we can ensure our students are digitally literate individuals throughout their lives. I’ll be presenting one session at the workshop, so I’m trying to incorporate some of Warlick’s thoughts with my presentation. Even more than the “how” question, we’ll be exploring the “why” question, which always makes me think harder; I have to re-examine what I’ve been doing in my classes and remind myself of the purpose behind lessons. It’s not impossible, just labor intensive.

3. I’ve begun to review the whole of what I taught last year. It was my first time teaching 7th grade English and it wasn’t as close to perfect as I would have liked…so I’ll be shooting for a closer-version-of-perfect next year. That doesn’t happen by itself. I need to look back over what the students were asked to do for each unit, whether I provided enough support and time (or too much), and how I may want to change things around. It actually compliments my presentation for Tech Matters (see #2 above) pretty well.

Stay tuned for more teacher-on-summer-break news.

I recently posted a blog entry on the RCWP website.

I’m also part of a Technology Liaison group that plays with something called “Day in a Sentence” (see Kevin’s Meandering Mind in the right column of this page). As part of that group, I was introduced to a Wordle. It arranges your text into an interesting visual display dependant on the number of times you use a certain word. I submit my Wordle based on the blog entry from the Tiger game. Let me know what you think.