A Teacher's Journey

One of my favorite memories of traveling through Greece with my dad was going to church and experiencing the same Liturgy we celebrate every Sunday but this time in a different place.  I have wonderful memories of Vespers at Notre Dame, an evening service at St. Paul's in London, and an organ recital at Hallgrimskirkja in Rekjavik. Tashkent, although Muslim, also has a large Russian Orthodox presence, so I hopped a cab this morning to the Assumption Cathedral.  The doors were open, so I went in, lit some candles, and thanked God for getting me to Tashkent safely.  Several small cases held relics of various saints, including St. Nickolas.  My dad's name was Nick, so here was an unexpected and powerful connection.  They wouldn't let me take pictures of the inside, but here are plenty from outside.  I wish I were here longer so I could attend Liturgy here, but there will be an opportunity in Andijan next weekend. ...

When I teach foundations of multicultural education, we spend a lot of time talking about culture - what it is, what it means, and can we please get past the 4 D's:  diet, dress, dance, and deity.  Or maybe the Heros and Holidays nonsense.   My first full day in Tashkent was a great experience to share with the teachers I work with because when we think of culture we don't typically think of reading glasses.  For reasons I won't bore you with, I need a pair of reading glasses (ok, I am the worst packer on the planet).  I brought 3 pairs of sunglasses, two regular glasses, and mismatched pairs of contact lenses.  I need a pair of reading glasses to use with my contacts. In the US, we just stop in at any Walgreens or CVS, and there's a rack of reading glasses and you try on a few until you find the ones that work for you and that's what you buy. Let's just say that the concept of reading glasses does not seem to exist in Tashkent.  Nor does the conc...

For several decades I have been working toward attaining an overseas teaching assignment. I've been fortunate enough to have landed two back to back. Next week I leave for three weeks of teaching English teachers in Andijan, Uzbekistan through the American Council, an NGO that has a presence in Uzbekistan and many other countries.  I'll have 15 English teachers in class, and I'm excited about working with them, teaching them English and modern teaching methods and learning from them how teaching and learning is done in another country and culture.     I come home from this assignment, do my laundry, and leave three weeks later in mid-September as a Fulbright US Scholar in Kosovo.  I'll be teaching at the University in Pristina, 2 classes of undergrads and 2 classes of graduate students, including a practicum.   I'll be keeping a journal to track my adventure as well as my growth as a teacher and a person.   I know that I will be facing challe...