Andrea and Kevin's wedding
The happy groom, my new brother
Kevin, Andrea, Gina, and Tracy at the rehearsal dinner
Vienna, Austria at Christmas
Vienna on route to Washington DC
Qendressa has graced us with her presence in Sophomore 2
There are hippies, goths, and homeboys in Kosova
These 3 on the right are responsible for at least 4 new gray hairs on my head. Denis "You talkin to me!"
The Russian Kosovars . Notice the fashionable hats.
That's it time to choke Eti the White Gangsta
Eti aka "G Unit"
Besart aka "Afro-boy"
Peter-our token Bulgarian in Junior 3
Junior 3
Man, who's that ugly dude in the middle?
Girls in Junior 3.
More girls in Junior 3.
Watch out students. The next one who starts talking has to answer to the bazooka.
Krenare and Doruntina serving cake
Eating lunch will Sophomore 4 at Qebabtore, sorry Gezim, Ben Af will have to wait for another day.
Gezim and Ron ready to make an escape
Gent is taking no prisoners
Sami on guard
Sophomore 4: Knights holding court at the round table
Sophomore 2
Granit and Alban goofing off.
Sophomore 4So a lot has happened since my last post. I left my job teaching history in Kosovo, came back to the states during the worst economy since the Great Depression (with no job, house, or car bear in mind), helped my mom move out of my childhood home and into a new house, attended my sister Andrea's wedding up in NY, landed a job teaching 6th Grade Social Studies in Charlotte, NC and I am now planning the move to my new home in the South Park District of Charlotte (I'm going be living in Southpark, that's kinda funny, it just damned on me) Whew, what a whirlwind of a past month.
So I'll start from the beginning. My job in Kosova was horrible. I could tell by the first month that I didn't like teaching there but I tried to make it work. After coming from such a great school to ASK I was shocked and horrified to realize how things were done. It was a constant area of frustration, stress, and discontent for me that I ultimately was never able to see past. Alot of my friends and family asked was it the students, or the people there that you didn't like. And my answer is always the same, "No my students were generally great, better than your average American student. Much more initiative, a lot more curiosity, and a good bit more courteous. I loved my students." I would add, "Kosovars are wonderful people. I had nothing but good experiences with the locals. They were loving, generous, open, and genuine people. I would go back in a heart beat, to visit, that is." This is when I would get to the root of my crux while living in Kosovo. I would explain, "I learned many things in my short four and half month stay over in Kosovo, but the most important things were what I learned about myself. I learned that I love America, and being American, more than I ever had before living in Kosova. I learned that I'm not a city guy. I love the sights, sounds, arts, culture, and general chaos for a visit but not on a regular basis. One of my favorite bands growing up, Fugazi, had this line in one of their songs that never rang more true until I lived in a city. "Concrete and chaos rise up as one." Fugazi were right. Peace, beauty, and true vitality, although alive in the city, always seemed cloaked by the dingy cityscape and choked by the seemingly urgence of such non importance that is bred in urban moderne.
Ok enough with all the hippy dippity shit. Students, co-workers, and traveling was great. The daily 9 to 5 was intolerable. I will definitely miss it and my students made sure that I would miss them by all of the cakes, presents, and festivities that we had our last week of classes together. If you are reading this students I can honestly say that I will never forget any of you and I truly hope that you will keep in touch and let me know if you are visiting the states. I am going to open up a facebook account just for you guys once I get the chance to. My wife has said for years that I need to get on facebook but I have always resisted arguing that I don't want to spend that much time on the computer. I guess the time has come for me to jump into the 21st century. I'm gonna try to visit Kosova again in summer of 2011 to see my sophomores graduate. Alright I will let the photos and videos tell you the rest of the story of this crazy month. They sure are funny.
2 comments:
I was doing a little researching on the Sharri mountains when I came across your blog. I am in Dubrovnik now but a few days ago I was in Prizren and Pristina. I myself did a little hitchhiking of the Sharri mountain and it was equally a rewarding experience for me. I now am compiling these travel adventures of mine on my facebook (I've got a blog but I hardly update it). If you've got facebook, add me- kelvinchong_wk@yahoo.co.uk.
And you know what? When crossing the Kosovan-Serbian border, they arrested me and my friend (handcuffs and all) for 5 hours cos we were Malaysians. They thought we were terrorists or something. It was such a hilarious experience!
I'm glad you enjoyed the Shari mountains also. Yea... Kosovars and Serbians aren't too friendly with each other. Sorry to hear you were detained for 5 hrs because you were Malaysian, that kind of shit seems to happen everywhere. Bureacratic governments think they can do what ever they want. It's our job to make sure they don't get away with stuff like that. Good luck with the blog. Cheers.
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