(I tried attaching pictures to this but something is wrong, so that is why there is no pictures, and it's a week late...)
Today was the last day of school for 12th grade. And it didn't come a day too soon. Yesterday, I wanted to do something a little special for them, because while I think they are very lazy, they are good kids and I like them. So I baked a batch of peanut-butter cookies from my secret stash of American-via-Jordan peanut butter, bought some soda and cups and brought some music for a little last-English-class party. Out of 28 students, 4 came. Four! While they thought my music was too strange, at least they liked the cookies .
I was here last year for the seniors last day and so I knew what to expect. Lots of balloons, tears, the senior class officers handing off the school flag to the juniors. I even got smart and hung out in the back of the crowd so when the principal threw the bucket of water down the stairs, I wouldn't be soaked, like last year. One thing I did not expect, however, was to win a Maojor Award.
This year the seniors decided to vote on various categories for teachers. There were categories such as "Strictest Teacher," "Best Dressed Teacher," "Best Teacher," "Shyest Teacher," etc., etc. As the celebration was going on, three representatives from the 12th grade called out the winners. I really wanted "Lowest-grades Teacher," but alas my language tutor got that one. Then they named the three nominees for "Sexiest Male Teacher." I was named second. I could feel everyone's eyes on me. I was sweating. Could it be possible? Could little ol me, really be the sexiest teacher at "SOU Hristo Botev, Bobov Dol"? I held my breath. "And the winner of this category..."-I mentally organized my acceptance speech- "Mr. Pepojiski!" Everyone appaulded. Except me. Mr. Pepojiski?! The gym teacher?! The one with the gut and the receeding hairline?It's rigged!
In the end, I won the "Most Smily Teacher" award. I guess it's an honor to get any award, and this one came with a certificate suitable for framing, but still seriously: "The Most Smily Teacher?!" I feel like I should be a motivational speaker and not an English teacher. Oh, well. Next week we have the senior ball in Sandanski, I still have time to plot my revenge. Call me Mr. Smiley, we'll see about that...
19 May 2006
01 May 2006
don't forget who we are...
I was doing some searching on the internet today, (after the quizzes) and found this speech, given first by Robert F. Kennedy in 1966 in South Africa and again repeated at his funeral by his brother Edward. I think this short speech, more than so many others, shows not only what is wrong with politics today but what we should be working for. What ever happened to this idealism in America? What ever happened to the idea that we, normal citizens of the world, can change bad, evil things, not through exclusion and demonizing but by love and cooperation? I know I try desperately everyday to cling to these ideas, and it is hard. But I hope, that though simple acts everyday, all around the world we can not only recover this vision but make it a reality. Please take a few moments to read these words, read them aloud, and feel the power of the words and the hope that RFK was feeling. Remember as he said: “Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not”
"There is discrimination in this world and slavery and slaughter and starvation. Governments repress their people; millions are trapped in poverty while the nation grows rich and wealth is lavished on armaments everywhere. These are differing evils, but they are the common works of man. They reflect the imperfection of human justice, the inadequacy of human compassion, our lack of sensibility towards the suffering of our fellows. But we can perhaps remember -- even if only for a time -- that those who live with us are our brothers; that they share with us the same short moment of life; that they seek -- as we do -- nothing but the chance to live out their lives in purpose and happiness, winning what satisfaction and fulfillment they can.
Surely, this bond of common faith, this bond of common goal, can begin to teach us something. Surely, we can learn, at least, to look at those around us as fellow men. And surely we can begin to work a little harder to bind up the wounds among us and to become in our own hearts brothers and countrymen once again. The answer is to rely on youth -- not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. The cruelties and obstacles of this swiftly changing planet will not yield to the obsolete dogmas and outworn slogans. They cannot be moved by those who cling to a present that is already dying, who prefer the illusion of security to the excitement and danger that come with even the most peaceful progress.
It is a revolutionary world we live in, and this generation at home and around the world has had thrust upon it a greater burden of responsibility than any generation that has ever lived. Some believe there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world's ills. Yet many of the world's great movements, of thought and action, have flowed from the work of a single man. A young monk began the Protestant reformation; a young general extended an empire from Macedonia to the borders of the earth; a young woman reclaimed the territory of France; and it was a young Italian explorer who discovered the New World, and the 32 year-old Thomas Jefferson who [pro]claimed that "all men are created equal."
These men moved the world, and so can we all. Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
Few are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change. And I believe that in this generation those with the courage to enter the moral conflict will find themselves with companions in every corner of the globe.
For the fortunate among us, there is the temptation to follow the easy and familiar paths of personal ambition and financial success so grandly spread before those who enjoy the privilege of education. But that is not the road history has marked out for us. Like it or not, we live in times of danger and uncertainty. But they are also more open to the creative energy of men than any other time in history. All of us will ultimately be judged, and as the years pass we will surely judge ourselves on the effort we have contributed to building a new world society and the extent to which our ideals and goals have shaped that event.
The future does not belong to those who are content with today, apathetic toward common problems and their fellow man alike, timid and fearful in the face of new ideas and bold projects. Rather it will belong to those who can blend vision, reason and courage in a personal commitment to the ideals and great enterprises of American Society. Our future may lie beyond our vision, but it is not completely beyond our control. It is the shaping impulse of America that neither fate nor nature nor the irresistible tides of history, but the work of our own hands, matched to reason and principle, that will determine our destiny. There is pride in that, even arrogance, but there is also experience and truth. In any event, it is the only way we can live."
Check out other important American speeches at American Rhetoric .
"There is discrimination in this world and slavery and slaughter and starvation. Governments repress their people; millions are trapped in poverty while the nation grows rich and wealth is lavished on armaments everywhere. These are differing evils, but they are the common works of man. They reflect the imperfection of human justice, the inadequacy of human compassion, our lack of sensibility towards the suffering of our fellows. But we can perhaps remember -- even if only for a time -- that those who live with us are our brothers; that they share with us the same short moment of life; that they seek -- as we do -- nothing but the chance to live out their lives in purpose and happiness, winning what satisfaction and fulfillment they can.
Surely, this bond of common faith, this bond of common goal, can begin to teach us something. Surely, we can learn, at least, to look at those around us as fellow men. And surely we can begin to work a little harder to bind up the wounds among us and to become in our own hearts brothers and countrymen once again. The answer is to rely on youth -- not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. The cruelties and obstacles of this swiftly changing planet will not yield to the obsolete dogmas and outworn slogans. They cannot be moved by those who cling to a present that is already dying, who prefer the illusion of security to the excitement and danger that come with even the most peaceful progress.
It is a revolutionary world we live in, and this generation at home and around the world has had thrust upon it a greater burden of responsibility than any generation that has ever lived. Some believe there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world's ills. Yet many of the world's great movements, of thought and action, have flowed from the work of a single man. A young monk began the Protestant reformation; a young general extended an empire from Macedonia to the borders of the earth; a young woman reclaimed the territory of France; and it was a young Italian explorer who discovered the New World, and the 32 year-old Thomas Jefferson who [pro]claimed that "all men are created equal."
These men moved the world, and so can we all. Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
Few are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change. And I believe that in this generation those with the courage to enter the moral conflict will find themselves with companions in every corner of the globe.
For the fortunate among us, there is the temptation to follow the easy and familiar paths of personal ambition and financial success so grandly spread before those who enjoy the privilege of education. But that is not the road history has marked out for us. Like it or not, we live in times of danger and uncertainty. But they are also more open to the creative energy of men than any other time in history. All of us will ultimately be judged, and as the years pass we will surely judge ourselves on the effort we have contributed to building a new world society and the extent to which our ideals and goals have shaped that event.
The future does not belong to those who are content with today, apathetic toward common problems and their fellow man alike, timid and fearful in the face of new ideas and bold projects. Rather it will belong to those who can blend vision, reason and courage in a personal commitment to the ideals and great enterprises of American Society. Our future may lie beyond our vision, but it is not completely beyond our control. It is the shaping impulse of America that neither fate nor nature nor the irresistible tides of history, but the work of our own hands, matched to reason and principle, that will determine our destiny. There is pride in that, even arrogance, but there is also experience and truth. In any event, it is the only way we can live."
Check out other important American speeches at American Rhetoric .
well, i got some bad news and i got some good news
While I might not be truly American, at least I would pass the citzenship test with a 100%...
Happy May Day!
Happy May Day!
| You Are 53% American |
 Most times you are proud to be an American. Though sometimes the good ole US of A makes you cringe Still, you know there's no place better suited to be your home. You love your freedom and no one's going to take it away from you! |
| You Passed the US Citizenship Test |
 Congratulations - you got 10 out of 10 correct! |
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