On Conversation and Salvation

Email to an American friend

so infequently do i have a chance to just talk

i mean

really

really

talk

without strings

i walk a lot

it isn't real exercise

like racquetball

but\

like tonight

about 2 miles to dinner

about 2 miles back

well

maybe 1.5

anyway

i am all sweaty

but it was a good dinner

and good conversation

and i learned some things

and the wine was excellent

and so

as i was walking back home

i quoted Goethe to myself

Wer immer strebend sich bemueht

Den koennen wir erloesen

protestant work ethic

salvation lies in work

in struggle

in keeping on, plugging on, slogging on

i am not like the Witnesses, who KNOW that they are saved

nor the Jews, who KNOW they are Chosen

but the only hope i have is in

doing what i am doing right now

which is working to help these kids learn english

because, believe me,

without english they are screwed

not necessarily BIG TIME

but screwed nonetheless

so

I keep at it

Recent Outing

A regular exchange program between our school and one in Magdeburg takes place, with 15 or so students from each school visiting the other. The Germans were here for a week, and since the Monday after Pentecost was a holiday, I was able to join the group for a bus outing to two sites. The first was in Godolo (with umlauts, which I cannot type), the summer/vacation palace of the Austro-Hungarian emperor, in the process of being restored after being (ab)used for decades as barracks, hospital, senior center, etc etc. The other was Holloko (more diacritical marks missing) which was more strenuous and more interesting. Yes the palace was historic, but it was somewhat sterile and formal. Holloko is a small farming village which was built up in the years just before WWI. After the war it went into general stagnation, but not total decay. Abut 50 of the original buildings remain, and nearly all of them have been repaired/restored to appear like they did 100 years ago. It is a one-street town, with large uneven cobblestones that are murder to walk on. And about half a mile away is a fortress perched on the tip of a eroded volcano core

I will post some pictures I took