No video this week due to some rendering problems. So we’ve got so more audio for you this week.
I have my freshmen write and record interviews with famous Geeks throughout history. One particular student asked me if he could instead do “one of those things you do when someone dies.”
“Oh, you mean a eulogy? That’s what the preacher says at a funeral.”
“No, not that. It’s what they write in a newspaper.”
“An obituary?”
“Yeah, that’s it.”
“So can I do it?”
“Sure”
Use the player below to listen:
The first year I was in Austria, my friend Jean came over for a visit. She had a meeting in Budapest and picked me up on the way. Admittedly, I am a terrible history student, so I really had no idea of Hungary’s past other than the fact that it used to be under communist rule. When we went into the city of Budapest, I remember telling Jean that it felt like there was a heaviness in the air. Kind of a feeling of oppression.
Today I finished reading the book The Bridge at Andau by James Michener. While it’s not a complete history of Hungary, it is the story of what happened to Hungary under Russian rule. The book tells the story of the Hungarian revolution/uprising in November 1956 and the subsequent exodus of a large number of Hungarian refugees into Austria. The story is told from the viewpoint of several composite characters. These are characters that Michener created from the dozens of interviews he did with Hungarian refugees who crossed the bridge at Andau.
I can’t wait to go back to Budapest now. I feel like I will see the city in an entirely different light. I have a better understanding of what the country and her people have gone through and an amazing respect for them because of it. I also want to go to Andau, Austria which is just an hour and a half away. They have rebuilt the bridge, created a monument to the refugees, and built an open air museum in the city.
If you are planning on traveling to Budapest, I highly recommend reading this book. Just a warning, though, it made me cry on the U-Bahn more than once. So if you’re going to read it in public, bring some tissue.
Ok, so this really isn’t a sign, but I did find this in a local grocery store the other day. Maybe it’s a sign I need to get out more. I must admit I ate a lot of bologna as a kid, and my favorite slice was always the one pressed against the front of the package because it was indented with the Oscar Meyer logo.
Anyway. Just in case you needed more proof that bologna is a sketchy meat, here you go. Any meat that can be mass produced in the shape of a smiling bear is suspect at best, though I can’t imagine actually turning down the opportunity to eat a Bear-Bologna sandwich.
It kind of reminds me of a gummy bear…except made of meat. Random mystery meats…and flatter. Yeah…definitely flatter.
Each Thursday we have Elementary Chapel. It’s a great time and I think I enjoy it even more because it’s primarily run by the students. Anyway, on Thursdays we don’t have a Bible lesson because we have Chapel. Today one of my students asked me why we don’t have Bible on Chapel days. I explained that we use our Bible time to go to Chapel. Then she asked why we couldn’t do both. I asked if she would like that, and the whole class said, “Yes! We should do that. We love Bible.” How great is that? I think we might have to rearrange our Thursday schedule to accommodate them. 🙂
I saw this display in the grocery store across the street from our school recently. Interestingly the packaging even has English on one side. On the front it says:
“The power apple from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s home country”
On the side we have these further details:
Healthy and strong
“Arnold” the IncomparableThis apple grows and ripens at the foot of the Austrian Alps in Styria with its fertile soil and unique microclimate of warm days and cool nights. Lovingly tended by skilled and dedicated fruit growers in their small and medium-sized orchards it is a rich natural source of health, strength, and flavor.
The Arnold Apfel isn’t a just a gimmick, it’s a really good apple. Juicy and flavorful as advertised. I can also see why it’s referred to as “the power apple.” My muscle mass has increased by about 20% in the 5 minutes since I’ve eaten the apple. I’m not exactly sure what these Austrian fruit growers are “lovingly” injecting into these apples, but I sure hope I don’t have to take a drug test any time soon.