The Olympics Are Here! The Olympics Are Here!

A year before I began this blog, I had the experience of a lifetime when I attended the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.  Few moments in my life have included so many of the things I love the most – a combination of sport, spectacle, travel, history and geography.  With Vancouver so fresh in my mind, even four years later, I’ve been anticipating the games in Sochi.  With that, I have my memories of the trip but some thoughts as the 23^rd Winter Olympic Games begin in Russia.

Being in Vancouver in 2010 was like being in a walking Benetton commercial as I saw and interacted with people from all over the world.  I spoke to people from countries I had no experience with such as Latvia, Lithuania and Belarus.  Because it is the Olympics, every person seemed to revel in the colors of their country.  The orange-clad Dutch, the red soaked Swiss, the red, white and blue of the Brits and the Russians and the white and blue of the Finns and Koreans.  My wife spoke with various people in French and I tried communicating with people in German.  With everyone I met, I asked question after question about their lives and their countries.  It seems a bit dorky but this is not an opportunity one gets every day. 

I loved the sports – particularly, those sports not prevalent in the United States.  We had tickets to see the American women’s curling team, the U.S. men’s hockey team and the ski jump.  Here are where the colors are at their brightest and most fervent.  Given that I’m a patriotic individual, I really love to see expressions of patriotism in other people.  One can hear chants, songs and cries of devotion.  Over the next couple of weeks, I will be doing as I did four years earlier – checking out sports like the luge, figure skating (my wife’s influence) and cross-country skiing.  I will see the stands or the routes dotted with brilliant colors worn by people shouting their loudest for their fellow countrymen.  In particular, it will be fun to see the Russians cheer on their own in one sport after another. 

Now, as much as I love the Olympics, there are a couple of observations and thoughts that I have going into the games in Sochi.  First of all, there is likely no other country that has had the string of bad opening ceremony uniforms like the Americans.  The American contingent, time after time, have been guilty of over thinking what the uniform should be.  From berets to sweaters that should be a part of an ugly sweater party, our society lacks the understanding that sometimes, more is just more.  When one compares the American gilding to the simplicity of the Greeks, the Turks or the Spanish, the U.S. stands alone in garishness.  Of course, we were not the only ones as equally guilty of overthinking were the rainbow Germans and Pollock-like coats of the Liechtenstein athletes.  I know the Germans were likely making a statement but can you do it with more fashion sense?

My last thought is that there needs to be some tightening up of who can and cannot represent one country or another.  This was most evident in 2004 when the Greeks, as hosts requiring to field all matter of teams, recruited people from all over the world with even the scantest of genetic connections.  Third and fourth generation athletes with no knowledge of the home language are really stretching the definition of who is actually competing.  There are the American figure skating siblings, Chris and Cathy Reed, skating for Japan,  Singapore-born and British-raised Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson skiing for Thailand, and German Prince Hubertus von Hohenlohe who will be taking to the slalom course for Mexico.  Now, to various degrees, these people do have connections but some are so thin, it is a wonder they can be seen in the snow of Sochi.   

Still, for all of the cattiness of some of my comments, this is my favorite time of the year.  Granted, the Olympics have never been the bastion of apolitical, peaceful coexistence that it champions itself to be.  However, they always try and the idea that people think there is a place for such an attempt makes me think we are not has far-gone as others fear.  My one final, parting wish is that there is no 2014 version of the pouty, petulant Mckayla Maroney – particularly representing the U.S.  The original was bad enough.

The Option of Homeschooling

Germany is a democracy is every sense of the word.  However, there is one area where Germany discourages and punishes the freedom of choice – homeschooling.  It is an education model that has grown dramatically in the United States since the 1970s and it is the subject of fierce debate.  While the U.S. has not taken such actions as seen in Germany, the arguments are the same and the debate rages on.  It might seem odd coming from a public high school teacher, but there is value in homeschooling. At its best, it represents what education was meant to be.     

Homeschooling has its pros and cons – like nearly every other educational model I can think of.  Parents are, in some subjects and at some levels, incompetent and incapable of the instruction the student requires.  Parents, consumed by other things that they must do, are not as disciplined to provide a consistent level of education.  Since parents who homeschool often do so for religious or cultural reasons, another criticism is that these students are only exposed to a single viewpoint or theory that can ultimately stunt his/her intellectual development.  Not surprisingly, one of the leading critics of homeschooling is the National Education Association – the largest such association for teachers.  This does not invalidate the potential criticisms but the source of it certainly falls in the category of “self-serving.”   

However, the notion that education can only happen within a school building is absurd.  For over a millennium, people have educated and learned as a result of the world around them.  Consider my hometown of Baltimore, Maryland.  One could teach literature at the museum of Edgar Allen Poe, history at Fort McHenry, science by visiting the complex ecosystem of the Chesapeake Bay or learn mathematics by attending some of the many mathematics conferences held annually in Baltimore.  One would be hard pressed to make the argument that the real world doesn’t provide a much richer and interesting “classroom” by visiting what is around us rather than within the a building.  

As I’m a teacher, my medium is the classroom and to a large extent, I’m confined by it.  The classroom has developed as a practical way of educating a larger segment of the population faster.  Indeed, one of the toughest parts of being a teacher is working within the constraints of public education.  Aristotle taught at the Lyceum but it was one of many places he discussed things.  He also served as the tutor of his patron’s children within their home and the world around them.  While there is merit in the arguments of homeschool opponents, their objection is also part of a misunderstanding of what school is or rather, what it should be.   

Today, secondary school has become a farm system for universities and industries.  We label people by grades or GPAs so as to make it easier for these institutions to classify and place our graduates.  Often I feel saddened by the notion that people narrowly interpret my job as working for these institutions and insuring my students have a well-paying job afterwards.  However, that is not how education was conceived.  Education was devised to be an altruistic, holistic attempt to better a person – to enrich their lives with knowledge of the world around them.  Perhaps, by better understanding the world around us, we have a better understanding of our role within.  Outside of the classroom, homeschoolers have the chance to explore the true meaning of education.  It does not always happen but the potential is there.  

A friend of mine once introduced me to her principal as her conservative friend.  The principal looked at me and said, “Oh, so you are one of those in favor of ruining public education.”  I responded, “Yes, because public education has been doing so well up until now.”  Homeschooling is not perfect but--news flash--neither is public education.  One can find in both arenas misguided and incompetent instructors.  However, homeschooling draws the ire of the establishment simply because it challenges it.  The row is between the “expert” and the layman.  Regardless, we need to change how we see the role of public education.  In doing so, perhaps we will create a better educated pupil.

 

Opening Doors and Eyes

When I was young, foreign cultures were all around.  In the city of Baltimore, there are various groups in their own neighborhoods, complete with their own shops, hawked in their own languages and offering items that were unique to their culture.  As a child, my parents took me to Greektown, Little Italy, the remnants of Corned Beef Row and Little Bohemia.  As an adult, I have been fortunate enough to travel throughout the world and see amazing things.  However, there has been one experience that has topped them all – being hosted by and hosting someone from another country. 

In 2000, my now-wife worked for a non-profit that sponsored and organized student exchanges.  It is here I met her as a teacher tapped to take students to western Germany.  I was placed in the home of a teacher and experienced a “different” culture in a way that no other can.  No matter how many cultural trappings might be found at the nearby Marriott, it is nothing compared to the immersion of staying and living with a family.  I’ve also stayed with two families on two separate occasions in Japan.  Yet, as special as that was, it was also wonderful to share my culture with someone else.   

We have hosted teachers from Germany or Japan and taken them to visit historical sights within my own city and area but also have exposed them to some of the hidden treasures of my country’s culture.  For example, it is interesting to visit a cemetery to experience one of the most intimate of one’s culture – how we experience and express death.  I take them to worn down, partially torn down areas to show what used to be – in our rush to always create something new, it is important to take some time and enjoy and understand what once stood in its place.  Just as important is to visit those places that represent where we, as a culture, hang out – every place from the local watering hole, to the nearby park, the neighborhood movie house or any place that represents what we do when simply living.  We might find it difficult to see the specialness in the mundane or ordinary, but it is not that way for the visitor. 

As much as I’ve enjoyed the food of a culture, it can make for memorable and enjoyable moments when showing a foreigner the intricacies of our cuisine.  The experience that a traveler has with another’s food culture in their home country can be underrepresented or misrepresented.  Therefore, to show the “real thing”, as it were, is rewarding.  I think of how amazing local seafood or Mexican food, Jewish cuisine or something simple as ballpark food can be an eye-opener.  Think of your favorite local food or favorite place to visit and then imagine what it would be like to experience it for the first time again.  To see a guest do just that fills one with a mixture of delight and envy. 

There are many groups that sponsor foreign exchanges.  Sister Cities International is probably one of the largest, though not every city is as active in exchanges as might be seen in another city.  Many foreign language departments at local high schools or colleges often sponsor such exchanges and it might be worth your time to explore those options.  Some families I’ve spoken with have expressed reservations – we have a small house, we don’t have the money to do something every day for the student, what if they don’t like their stay, etc.  There are many reasons why someone might divert themselves from the opportunity to host.  However, these travelers have accepted this opportunity to stay with a family because they want to move beyond the obvious and see something that few explorers can.  You can be a part of that.