Joyeuse fetes de Quebec!

Technical difficulties prevented a Christmas Day post, but we have left Washington DC behind for now and have ventured north. After two nights within the charming walls of Old Quebec City on the frigid shores of an ice-choked St Lawrence River, we have come up into the interior to a winter­­ lodge. The snow was a bit wet for our short ski after arriving this afternoon, but it will be colder - and hopefully snowy - tomorrow.

Update: The next days of skiing turned out to be quite cold (highs of 8-12 F!) but wonderful. Here are a few images from the trip.

"Winter Wallop"!!!

Well, we woke up to a blanket of snow (about 8 inches), and it's been snowing steadily all morning (up to 12 inches now). The alarmist news channels and weather reporters are having a field day; they're calling it "Winter Wallop." To be fair, the region's airports have shut down, lots of businesses and public buildings are closed, and many events have been canceled (including our evening plans to see the Capitol Steps). We also do have a blizzard warning until 6 pm (though the winds are well below the 35 mph "blizzard" threshold), and a winter storm watch until morning. After a walk out to visit the cat we're watching this week, looks like a good day to stay inside.

Photo Gallery

Waiting for a big snowstorm...

The DC area is supposed to get hit with a major winter storm tonight and tomorrow - up to a foot of snow! It's been cold all week, and a bit wet and/or windy at times, but the days have been mostly clear.



Good weather for walking around and exploring. Highlights from the week include: seeing the Botanical Garden (once by day, above left, and once in the evening), running the DC "Jingle All the Way" 10K (in the rain) with one of the Einstein Fellows and his wife (above right), discovering that we have a National Library of Education (another great place for research), and getting to see more museums. These included the incredible National Museum of African Art (which, besides an impressive permanent collection, is hosting a terrific, provocative exhibit by Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare MBE), the Hirshhorn Museum of modern and contemporary art (check out "Trailer B" for the 12-minute short film "Next Floor"; hopefully it will come to SIFF!), and an evening visit to the Corcoran Gallery of Art (where we saw "seascapes and coastal scenes from the early career of John Singer Sargent." Also, just today, I went on a tour of the Sewall-Belmont House and Museum, maintained in Alice Paul's former home by the National Woman's Party to honor the struggle for equal rights and suffrage for women. The house, built in 1800, survived being burned by the British in 1812 and was the headquarters for the campaign for the Equal Rights Amendment.

After a very dramatic fire response around the corner one afternoon (above left; 20+ emergency vehicles, including the police!), I finally remembered to carry my camera around with me a few times. I've really enjoyed how different it is to live in a dense urban setting, and I've been charmed by the brick sidewalks and row houses in our neighborhood. I took a few representative pictures on the way home one day. Ours is the right half of the white building behind the blue car (lower right).

A few…

…weeks left in DC (actually only two at this point!). So, those of you who have lived here (my sister & brother in-law, my old boss, my current boss, et al) or otherwise know the area well, now is the time to pass on your tips and recommendations!

…landmark sights still to be seen: the US Botanic Gardens, the Corcoran Gallery, the National Museum of African Art, the Hirshhorn Museum, and the National Cathedral. Yikes!

…pleasant discoveries in the past week: a vegetarian soul food joint adjacent to the Howard University campus and the collection at the Freer Gallery of Art, whose exhibits include Buddhist Art, Arts of the Indian Subcontinent, and Arts of the Islamic World. Check out these samples: a brass and silver canteen from mid-13th century Syria and illuminated manuscript samples of the Shanama, the Persian national epic.

…words I don’t know that I came across reading Rousseau’s Dog (the story of the philosopher’s great falling out with fellow Enlightenment giant David Hume): threnody, irrefragable, and plangent. Anyone?

…movies on the “to see” list: Invictus for sure (Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela using an historically racist rugby team to unify post-apartheid South Africa); maybe Up in the Air, Precious, or The Blind Side (all got good reviews). Any suggestions?

...things I miss (besides family, friends, colleagues, students, pets, and soccer teams): a bicycle, teaching, my favorite cookbook, and mountains!

...things I DON'T miss: driving, grading, television (no more "let me just see what "Seinfeld" is on..."), and I-5 traffic!

Tech glitches abound!

In my life as a teacher, I've lost track of how many class sessions have been derailed by technological glitches - documents, images, and links not opening (even though they worked fine the day or night before!), projectors refusing to recognize laptops or just plain shutting down... I'm sure anyone who makes presentations can relate. So, it has been reassuring to see that these glitches happen even to experts, with high-end equipment and plenty of tech support, and in some quite prestigious settings. For example, last night, the National Academy of Sciences hosted the premiere of "Whiz Kids," a documentary following 3 students who enter the Intel Science Talent Search, and the projector decided to shut down at a key moment well into the film! There was a similarly temperamental projector at an education presentation at the Capitol last week, and, at a Johns Hopkins lecture, I could empathize with the poor visiting professor who just couldn't get the map slides he had prepared to stay on the screen for his presentation on the Congo. Even though everyone is vulnerable to these glitches and most audiences are understanding, I still feel incompetent every time one strikes in front of a room full of students.

Rants, Raves, and Reading

Rants*

*Since it seems to congenitally in my character to notice, frequently comment on, and often try to redress the failings in human society and systems, I figured I'd share what's been riling me up even in this overwhelmingly pleasant city.

First off, pedestrians cross streets here at their own constant peril! Walk lights, crosswalks, courtesy, and safety all seem trivial distractions to the average driver. For their part, pedestrians cross streets at reckless will, and the result is a dangerous free-for-all! A chaos that transpires in plain view of the ubiquitous public safety forces.

Rather than foment and fulminate further, I'll just mention that recycling awareness and other indications of commitment to sustainability are spotty here. Single-use coffee cups abound (hardly a re-usable mug to be seen), as do styrofoam take-out containers. There are some promising signs - emerging recycling infrastructure, for example. In addition, the federal government does use compostable cups, plates, and cutlery in its cafeterias (although they love bottled water), and a ban on plastic bags goes into effect January 1st in the city of DC.

Raves

The very walkable National Mall and the array of museums and monuments that border it are a treasure, especially at this time of year when the tourist traffic is light. This morning, which was brisk but sunny, I ascended the Washington Monument and then stopped in to tour some exhibits at the National Museum of Natural History: "the Evolution of Evolution," award-winning nature photography, and "Forensic Files of the 17th-Century Chesapeake." It was great to visit this sprawling museum without crowds and without feeling pressure to "see it all". The best part is that I did all this with nothing in my pocket but a house key. All the national museums and monuments are free, and, while there is security screening at each entrance, entry does not require presenting identification. I think this is something for us to be proud of.

Reading

My research into global education in general has led me in a few directions. For example, last week I finished Kenichi Ohmae's The Next Global Stage, a book about the overall phenomenon of globalization, especially from a business perspective. Most of what I am reading is related to global education in general, including such riveting titles as World Class: Teaching and Learning in Global Times, Globalization and Education: Critical Perspectives, and Going Global: Preparing Our Students for an Interconnected World. I'm actually finding the topic quite interesting, and I have even found some good resources for the state of global education in South Africa. Besides allowing me to mine data bases for articles and reports published in South Africa, the Library of Congress even has its own copies of some material that is proving quite useful and relevant to me (but otherwise seems rather obscure); for example, I was able to peruse the findings of a recent study of "Factors Affecting Teaching and Learning in South Africa."

To supplement this research, I have a couple of current, non-fiction books about South Africa. I have started with For Whites Only (thanks Daniel!), which is a warning to white South Africans not to play into the hands of those who would replace reconciliation with racialization, and I have Bring Me My Machine Gun, a post-apartheid history from Mandela to Zuma, on deck.

(See Comments for a discussion thread on South African fiction.)

At school in the city

It is still noteworthy to me how many national and international organizations have their headquarters or at least an outpost here in DC. It makes sense that anyone with an agenda would want to be part of the conversation here. Also, to raise their profile and get noticed in the resulting crowded field, every organization, agency, institute, and advocacy group sponsors events. What it means for me, a guy with a flexible schedule and no papers or tests to grade, is that I can choose from a rich daily menu of options - and this is above and beyond the offerings from the various federal institutions. Today, for example, I hit an eclectic trifecta. First thing in the morning, I attended a presentation at the John Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies on "The Great African War: Congo and Regional Geopolitics, 1996-2006." (Right up my alley; thanks to NWS alum Adam for the tip!) The Belgian professor, who has been on a US academic tour promoting his book of the same title, had his hands full with an animated Q&A, including some pointed questions from (according to him) representatives from the Rwandan embassy. Next, I ventured to the relatively tamer Senate viewing gallery. At first Senator Harkin seemed to be alone on the floor, earnestly addressing his remarks to C-SPAN. However, a group of Republicans (including McCain, Alexander, Grassley, Hatch, and others) soon appeared and began to deliver their arguments in favor of a McCain amendment that would eliminate Medicare cuts from the Senate version of the Health Care Bill. I couldn't help wondering how the display boards they were using as props came across on tv.

I left the viewing gallery to attend a screening of a pro-school choice (i.e. charter schools and vouchers) movie produced by a "free market" think tank based in San Francisco. The film, titled "Not As Good As You Think: The Myth of the Middle Class School," used a particularly corrupt and dysfunctional California school district as its negative example (they had valid points, but the extrapolation was a stretch) and championed a particularly successful Oakland Charter School and Sweden as its positive models. While I think they were a bit too convinced by their own points, I found it interesting to be presented with an argument for reforms about which I am generally skeptical.

Tomorrow, I have a ticket to see the Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit at the National Geographic Society. (Thanks for the tip, Steve.) However, the big task for tomorrow will be tracking the World Cup Draw! (For non-soccer fans, it's the dividing of the 32 qualifying teams into their groups for the first round of play.)

Recap of a whirlwind week!

It was another sunny and warm day today to end the long weekend. We spent the bulk of the day wandering through the National Arboretum. This isn't an especially colorful season there, other than some fall blooming camellias, but we enjoyed wandering through the "dwarf and slow growing conifer" grove, learning about plants that offer alternative energy possibilities in a special "Power Plants" exhibit, and visiting the amazing Bonsai & Penjing Museum collection. It is the largest collection of such tree in North America, and many of the trees date from the 1800's or earlier (one originated in 1625!). It's great to have this large (446 acre) park just two miles from the Capitol building. We'll be back there Tuesday evening for a "Full Moon Hike."

The Story of a Week - Part I

The theme of the first part of the week continued to be Washington DC and its many events and opportunities. First of all, besides providing me with access to resources and a great study space, the Library of Congress offers cultural events. We caught a night of their "Motown in the Fall" film series, a double-bill of profiles: The Supremes and the Four Tops. We also attended a forum at the Center for American Progress, "Education Reform in the 21st Century." The speakers were Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, NYC Mayor Bloomberg, and Kati Haycock, President of the Education Trust. It was pretty cool to be in the audience for this heady dialog; there is a lot of determination and resolve to turn around the nation's most troubled schools and improve the quality of education reaching the least served, but the task also seems Herculean at best. Finally, we went to see a production of "Much Ado About Nothing" (set on the eve of a Caribbean carnival!) at the Folger Shakespeare Library. And that was all in three days!

The Story of a Week - Part II

For Thanksgiving, we were invited up to rural Pennsylvania where a former NWS colleague now teaches high school English. He and his wife live on a horse farm where she teaches riding, boards horse, and retrains retired thoroughbreds for life post-racing. We had a lovely visit, including a day-trip to the Gettysburg National Military Park. After so many years of teaching about the Civil War, it was incredible to tour the actual location of its most famous battle. I was particularly struck, as we toured the expansive battlefield site, by all of the monuments to the fallen soldiers from both sides (Wikipedia says there are more than 1,600 of them!). These range from simple stone markers to massive statues and even small buildings, such as the Pennsylvania State Memorial. I had not expected to see memorials honoring the Confederate side, and I was taken aback by these tributes. (I am not alone; apparently this has been an issue of controversy since the war.) At least initially, I was indignant. After all, "Weren't they the 'bad guys'?" As we continued our tour, I found myself awed by the sacrifice of life and regretting the carnage for all. Perhaps recognizing both sides was, and continues to be, important to sustaining Lincoln's vision for restoring union. This is just another example of how living in such a different setting here on the "other" coast continues to challenge and re-shape my thinking. More on that later...

No yard, no car... no problem

I continue to adjust to, and generally enjoy, a new rhythm of life here in DC. One dramatic daily difference is row house living. We inhabit a narrow two-floor flat with shared, windowless walls on both sides. Our front porch is the sidewalk, and the postage stamp "backyard" consists of a pleasant shared deck and a small brick pad ringed by untended planting beds. While I miss the space and view of home, it is nice to be free of the yard work. It is also liberating to be without a car. We walk a lot more, including to a cluster of shops and restaurants about four blocks away, and we take the metro for longer excursions, such as today's great outing to the zoo. Part of the Smithsonian system, the National Zoo occupies the southern part of Rock Creek Park (an oasis of nature in this city). It has some terrific naturalistic exhibits, such as a "lemur island," and it is always free. Some highlights from today were the Mexican wolves, a pair of browsing gibbons, and a surprisingly upclose and unmediated-by-bars encounter with an exploratory Dusky titi monkey in the Amazonia house (my photo above). There is also a series of towers connected by ropes via which the orangutans can traverse from one building to another! A thrilling prospect, but not a feat that we got to witness today.

Find of the week: the National Geographic Society's warehouse sale!

Missed opportunity of the week: the Library of Congress staff's benefit book sale. I can only imagine what that group might have donated from their book shelves!

Movie seen: Pirate Radio - a fun treat, especially since it wasn't what we set out to see (see below).

Movie missed: Skin - still on the list.

The Neighborhood Library

The highlight of the week has been getting my access card for the neighborhood library - the Library of Congress! As a registered "reader" (which any citizen can sign up to be), I am able to work in the various reading rooms of the three library buildings (Jefferson, Adams, and Madison), use library data bases and other computer resources, and request materials. There is also a special entrance directly into the non-tourist areas. I've been using the Main Reading Room in the Jefferson Building; The physical space is beautiful and inspiring, but it's easy to get distracted by the other features of the building. They have, for example, reassembled nearly all the titles from Jefferson's original collection, nearly two-thirds of which was lost to fire (which is ironic since Jefferson originally "donated" his library to Congress after its first collection was destroyed by fire during the War of 1812). There are also incredible temporary exhibitions, including "Creating the United States," an amazing collection of early documents, and "Discovering the Americas," which features some of the earliest world maps to include the Western Hemisphere, from 1507 and 1516! So this is the setting, despite all the distractions, in which I am finding good resources to help prepare me for my project in South Africa.

Besides a pleasant run along the Mall one morning, the primary sightseeing activity this week was an evening tour of the Naval Observatory. We learned about the importance of precise time for ship navigation and also got to see Jupiter and four of its moons through one of their giant telescopes (interrupted by the Vice President's helicopter coming in to drop him off). The weather has turned to a familiar cool, wet, and gray, but it's not supposed to last (unlike, sorry, how I hear it is at home).

Stay dry!

Welcome to Washington DC

Glorious, near-70 degree weather welcomed me to the nation's capital, and it was a great weekend of spending time with Kristina and enjoying the rich cultural opportunities Washington offers. Here are some highlights so far. After a morning of grocery shopping, including a stop at the nearby Eastern Market, we spent Saturday afternoon in the National Gallery of Art. On Sunday, I went for a run out to the old stadium (RFK) on a route that included East Capitol Street. This wide street starts out with charming tree-lined row houses, and then goes by a couple of schools before reaching the stadium. I found out later that East Capitol is deemed (at least by the Rough Guide) as unsafe on foot, even in daylight(!). I felt quite safe and loved starting and ending my run in nearby Lincoln Park where I was greeted by statues of Abe (this park is home to the famous Emancipation Memorial) and Mary McLeod Bethune (DC's first monument to the achievements of a black American). That afternoon, we visited the Phillips Collection, the nation's first art museum, where we were treated to a piano recital (they have a weekly concert series) and then saw a permanent collection that includes half of Jacob Lawrence's 60-piece migration series and a special exhibition of African works and photography that features them. It was quite a first 48 hours!

Today, it was back to work. I accompanied Kristina on her walk to the Rayburn House Office Building; it's just 15 minutes up Pennsylvania Avenue - a great stroll past the Library of Congress buildings and with the Capitol dome in view the whole way. I went to the South African Embassy (and then to the Consular Office, 2.5 miles away!) to get the forms I need to apply for my visa. It looks like I'll be going back there a few times to get everything in order.

So far so good; keep in touch!