Chanters Pray Twice

2009-04-08T09:39:00.003+10:00

Wow, two blogposts in a month. Who'da thunk it?

4/Apr - Some words have lost their meaning. Other words have just plain been invented, sans meaning. Unaustralian, for instance. I'm sorry, precisely what is Australian behaviour?
5/Apr - Became a godfather for a young man who converted to Orthodoxy last year. Many years to our latest neophytes!
6/Apr - Feeling very frustrated... (see below)
7/Apr - I've done 600w for a 4000w essay. On paper, I've got plenty of time. But, once you factor in Holy Week and time that I'm spending away from home and eating after the Resurrection service, the time before the start of May (i.e. due date) becomes really...really short. Plus there's another essay a week after that (~2000w)...and another one due in prac (~1600w)...so I'm very much feeling swamped at the moment.

I'm feeling very sick of things at the moment. There's a lot of things that I can do, quite a number of things that I'd like to do...but only a few things that I have a personal stake in. And I'm not doing them. Not really.

So, I'm setting myself a not-unreasonable deadline. If something doesn't happen in the next nine months (i.e. by the end of the year) that will allow me to run with one of those personal-stake things, then I'll take that as a message that I'm not in the right place. And fix that.

FB status updates in a blog.

2009-04-04T12:07:00.002+10:00

13/Mar - Joined a group where a chick in Canada promised that, if 2500 people joined her FB grouup, she would eat Twilight (the book). Thanks to, like, 2000 Australians, she got there. There's a video coming out, too - looking forward to YouTube for that one.
13/Mar - Adjudicated debating. Had the odd occurance of both debates insulting the adjudicator. The first one was okay - it was a junior team saying that 'teachers don't care', which was merely unfortunate that I happen to be training to be a teacher. The 'oh, no!''s were audible. The second one was point-docking worthy - the debater pointed at what he thought was a member of the audience and said 'you look confused, i'll try and speak slower'. Apparently, he didn't know that said member of the audience was the adjudicator. Dumbass. His team lost the argument as well, which is good, because I'm not sure what I would have done if his team was winning but he was an incredible tool.
14/Mar - Went to an art show - very cool stuff.
15/Mar - I want a cat so that I can call it Schrodinger.
21/Mar - Brother's birthday *balloons and streamers*
21/Mar - State election. Not my most interesting time.
22/Mar - For some reason, I have a recurring interest in quantum physics. I know that new-agers like to make a big deal out of quantum physics, but even without that, I can see a lot of analogies that are useful for explaining theology.
24/Mar - Went to the dentist. Got a filling replaced (since the last one had fallen out). Not cool.
24/Mar - Went to vespers. Went /really/ existential (since I couldn't understand the words). I've blogged about it on this blog. Not the most edifying topic, I've gotta say, but it was something.
25/Mar - Realised real problem in existential issue is in how we know we know something. Probably not a way to talk about that without supposing a cosmic Third Person...
27/Mar - Finished all of my midsemester essays. A month early. Awesome. Handed it in a week later, but hey.
30/Mar - Found out some awesome news - there looks like being an English-language Orthodox mission starting up in Brisbane. Sadly, it meant that I only got to sleep at 2:30am, a full five hours after I found out the news.
31/Mar - Got the stimulus package from the government. When something quadruples the size of your bank account, that's a good thing.
1/Apr - Found out what school I'm doing field experience in. Very happy.
3/Apr - Daunted by next assignment that's due in a month - 4000w. Seriously.
3/Apr - But, I explained the two natures of Christ by analogy to wave vs particle natures of light. Analogies have their limitations, obviously, but that one's actually pretty good.

Plans

2009-03-26T19:21:00.004+10:00

It can be frustrating at times.

Part of who I am is my undeniable ability to make plans for the future. I've been doing it since I was in my second-last year of high school (curious? no, this isn't where I thought I'd be), at one point I had 12 different plans in my last year of high school (again, for the curious - one plan came out half-right). While I was at uni, I had speculations on where I'd go afterwards, but knew that it really was neither here nor there until I finished my degree.

I mostly-finished my degree, got a job, got promoted, stayed in the job after graduation, promised myself I wouldn't go back to uni, wanted out of my job, got a better job, worked at that job, decided to go back to uni. Not sure if I made the right call there, but I certainly made a pragmatic call. Had a plan, realised I couldn't go through with it (long story); had a ripper of a plan until that fell through.

In short, none of my previous plans encompass the position I'm in at the moment, and I find myself planless. I do have options, though.

1. Office job. Not thrilling, I know, but at least I know that it's well within my competancy.
2. Teaching at a high school in Brisbane.
3. Teaching at a high school in Sydney/Melbourne.
4. Teaching English in China.
5. Training people in diplomas and certificates.

They're all the plans that I've thought of so far. I suspect that the fourth one might be my backup - having family there and all.

Right now, though, I'm running with my previous stipulation - specifically, that I shan't make definite statements until June. I'm hoping that I can find a direction to head after Easter, though... that would help for when people say 'so what are you doing after graduation' and all...

What else would you do in a vespers service?

2009-03-24T21:39:00.002+10:00

Yesterday, I tried to conjure God out of an equation.

It's kinda difficult to do, but once you follow a certain sequence of events, it's the obvious result of what has been done.

I tried to think my way through existence, looking for something stronger than 'I doubt therefore I think; I think therefore I am'. It's not easy. Saying 'I think therefore I am' assumes that you are thinking - and a person who has problems thinking probably won't see the problem in their own thinking (i.e. a person who has problems in cognition will have more problems with metacognition).
I tried 'I love therefore I am'...similar problems. The result - 'He loves, therefore He creates; He creates, therefore I am'. My demolition was that a conclusion is only as strong as the weakest premise - positing God doesn't make Him so (btw, I wasn't /trying/ to conjure God out of an equation).

But, having thought about this overnight, it's not as illogical as I first thought. Assuming that we exist (which we do), at some point we have to work from what we know and find the most logical explanation for what we don't know - sometimes that will mean working backwards...kinda like string theory's other 26 dimensions :)

Twitter in a Blog

2009-03-12T14:50:00.002+10:00

Twitter updates:

March 5: I'm 40% of the way through the book I'm writing.
March 5: I think that an MA in 'Beatles-ology' is just plain dumb.
March 6: Don't try and figure out the rest of your life when you're going to sleep. You won't do either.
March 6: "The Revolution of Love" is an awesome keynote address on the OCF podcast - http://ancientfaith.com/podcasts/ocf
March 7: Saw a former student's FB page, and got very sad that I'd basically dismissed her as 'uninterested' when her FB profile said her fave book was the Bible...made me wonder how many other things I'd missed.
March 8: I considered Melbourne for a future.
March 9: Half the book is finished.
March 11: 68% through the book.
March 12: Ahead on uni work. Happy and relaxed, albeit probably temporarily.

So, it's March already?

2009-03-12T14:17:00.003+10:00

Well, it's halfway through March, and I've not posted. I wonder if anyone will be shocked that a post from Chanters Pray Twice ends up in their RSS feed.

My last post was all about last year. Reading it (as I tend to do when wondering what else to write), I wondered how my year thus far squared up with my expectations.

As far as January/February goes, I did, indeed, complete the third semester of my studies in theology; and March, I'm completing the final semester of my studies in education. In case you're interested, it's going swimmingly, actually. I got my theology studies done so that I had O-week clear, and I also took the first week off - the two weeks just made it so much easier to transition into doing Education. I've been concentrating on doing more than 100w each day, and - so far so good. Today, I'm 200w ahead, and in the next 30 hours I should be finished my first assessment piece (40%, 1000-1200w, due in two weeks) - which I've done entirely without any all-nighters. My other assignment (30%, 1000w, due same day) is half-complete, and that should be done early next week. In short, I'm doing very well, complete with full nights of fairly normal sleeping patterns - I'm fairly sure that that's a first in my academic career, too. Some of my friends think they're rubbing off on me...

My public speaking is going well - I've completed eight of the ten required speeches for the first Toastmasters award, and am starting to both present without notes and to do well in short, impromptu speaking ('table topics'), which was a definite goal I had while I was there.

Chanting at services continues. I've learnt a lot of things in regards to liturgics. Work is continuing in the new organisation promoting Orthodoxy in this part of Australia...much more needs to be done, though. I've adjudicated a debate, and another one in the next few days. That was daunting - adjudicating in front of the new principal my old high school, particularly as a final semester education student! But, I survived...fortunately, my old high school's team was the better, so I was able to give the debate to them :)
(as much as I am impartial, I nonetheless want my old high school to win. That's not because I want them to win, though - it's because I want them to be superior - something that they won't be unless they are graded fairly)

All that said, I'm not sure what I'm going to be doing after I graduate. I'm not referring to whether I have a job lined up - nothing so grand - more where I am planning to be after graduation. Not long ago, there was the possibility (no commitment, but the possibility) that I would be able to go overseas and help an Orthodox Church, but that seems to have fallen through. I can't be too hit by that - or, rather, I shouldn't be - as it was obviously His will that that happen, but it does leave me in the quandry of 'if not that, then what?'. There are a couple of possibilities - the most obvious being 'use your education degree and be a high school teacher' - but I'm still investigating at this point. Maybe that's necessary...though I can't imagine why.

Goodyear/Badyear?

2008-12-30T06:37:00.004+10:00

Sometimes we can look back on the year that passed - as we are wont to do at this time of year - and consider that it was a good year; other times, we look back and see a bad year. Usually, however, these terms are more likely to reflect what happened in December than what took place over the year.

'Good year' and 'bad year' are such subjective, fickle terms.

I could easily look back on this year and see a fairly bad year. I found it difficult to find a place where I felt comfortable and at home (7 residences in a year and a week), I lost my best friend of 4 years, I deferred my studies because I had severe difficulty recovering from that as well as do everything else I was doing, and December has left me a little empty.

On the whole, I've got a lot of reasons to look back on this year and say 'bad'.

But, this year wasn't a total write-off, either. I've been involved in starting some pretty awesome activities (like a new mission parish, a new mission endeavour and expanding a church's cycle of services), had the luxury of taking time out from studies, got to live in West End (albeit for a short time), lived in Shanghai, figured out that I'm actually pretty good at teaching。Looking at that, the year actually starts looking pretty good.

But, looking at the past is only of value in assisting when looking towards the future.
So, what's 2009 bringing?

Well, in January and the first part of February, I'll be completing the third semester (i.e. first semester, second year) of my studies in theology. After this, from March to June I'll be completing the final semester of my studies in education. Concurrently, I'll still be chanting at a number of services, and beginning work with a new organisation promoting Orthodoxy in this part of Australia. I also intend on continuing my public speaking development, hopefully attaining my first Toastmasters' award, and in learning more about Orthodox liturgics and continuing research into genius and expertise. I am, however, intending on scaling down my adjudicating commitments.

On the whole, I'm looking forward to the year that shall be :)

2008-12-23T21:55:00.003+10:00

So, what's happened this year?

January, I started off living in East Brisbane. I did this semester's worth of the theological course I'm doing. I also got glasses and joined Toastmasters.

I found that sharing a studio was difficult, and moved in with my best friend and her housemate in around February. Had an operation in April (around Easter, no less), then did my prac at an all-girls Catholic school. I finished the semester with pass marks and a very positive recommendation for my prac.

Sadly, my domestic relations deteriorated after May, and I felt forced to move. I moved back home in July until I found a new place. I tried to continue university in second semester, but the combination of completing the next semester of my theological course and the disintegration of those domestic relations meant that I found myself unable to complete the final semester of my university course. I deferred my studies, unsure if I would return to them.

I moved to West End, fulfilling a desire I'd had since mid-high school, in around September. I attempted to find a job, but couldn't find any. It was during this time that I recommitted myself to finishing my education degree, which I will complete in June. I made a number of plans at this time, including doing my field experience in west Africa.

At the end of October, I visited China for just over a month, visiting my brother and his girlfriend. I came back in late November and, for various reasons, decided to move back home (making a total of seven places, in the last year-and-a-week, that I have lived in for longer than a month). As my last milestone for the year, I was blessed to be asked to deliver the Christmas message at the carols night at our church.

Other things that I did include teaching high school Orthodox Religious Education for the year and adjudicating high school debating during the year.

And, here I am - about to be half way through my theological studies (another 18 months to go), halfway through my education degree (6 months), back to living at my parent's house. I've got about five months until my field experience, after which is holidays and (hopefully) some family celebrations, and then...who knows!

It's bizarre, and a first for me, but it's kinda liberating to be able to look at a year ahead and not know entirely what's going to happen next. As I'm currently saying to everyone, after September, no promises as to where I'll be...

Scene from the Vicar of Dibley

2008-12-12T20:13:00.003+10:00

This was a scene from the Vicar of Dibley that I particularly enjoyed - particularly seeing the love that the character had (kudos, Dawn French!). It was a Christmas special (entitled Winter), and happens to be one of my favourite episodes - immediate Christmas Spirit^TM. I hope you enjoy it as well.
A warning - a couple of the jokes are somewhat off-colour...maybe PG rated.

Vicar: Right. Well, thank you everyone for an excellent day’s rehearsal… after a slightly shaky start. Right. The poster. What do you think?
Owen: Well, I don’t know about that.
Vicar: What?
Owen: Well, I just don’t think it is the greatest story ever told. I mean, there’s that great story about the people whose house was burgled, and they thought that the robbers hadn’t taken anything, and then they developed their photographs months later, and they found pictures of the robbers with toothbrushes up their bottoms.
Vicar: So, what – you think I should write, ‘the second greatest story ever told’.
Hugh: Yes, there is, there is fantastic story about the woman whose husband got out of the car, and she heard this banging on the roof, and the police said ‘get out of the car, and don’t look ‘round’, but she did look ‘round, a-a-a-and it was a lunatic, actually banging her husband’s severed head on the roof of the car.
Vicar: Well, perhaps I should just write, ‘one of the top 10 greatest stories ever told’.
Owen: That’s forgetting all those great Jackie Collins stories – The Beach, The Stud…
Frank: And Beatrice Potter, of course. She wrote lovely stories.
Hugh: And News from Southeast have some excellent local stories.
Vicar: Right, right. Sorry. Can we just stop, right there. Can I just remind you all a little bit about the story we’re actually telling here. Two thousand years ago, a baby is born in a stable. The poorest of the poor. And yet during his lifetime, He says things that are so astonishing that millions of people are still living their lives by them today. He said, ‘love thy neighbour’. He told us to turn the other cheek, whatever people might do to us.
Owen: Does that include that Simon bonking you like a beachball?
Vicar: Yes, it does, Owen…sadly, it does. But most astonishingly, I believe that this tiny little baby Boy, actually was the Son of God. And when He was younger than I am today, He was brutally crucified, for simply for telling people to love each other. And the men who killed Him thought ‘that’s it, He’s dead, He’s gone’. And yet, here we are. Two thousand years later. In a village, in the middle of England, doing a play about His Birth. Now, I think that’s a pretty great story.
[muttered affirmations]
Owen: Yes, all right, it’s a good poster, leave it as it is.
Vicar: Thank you. Although I do admit, the one about the toothbrushes is pretty gripping, perhaps we’ll do that next year.
Hugh: Perhaps Frank plays the toothbrush.
Frank: Yes, please.

Internet Censorship - Australia says 'WTF, no way!'.

2008-11-08T18:12:00.004+10:00

Those who have known me for a long time have known of my long-time hatred of internet censorship - ever since 1998, in fact, I've researched and opposed internet censorship at every turn. Not based on performance or anything like that - based purely on the principle of freedoms of speech and information.

I've mellowed since then. There are things that should be censored. I fail to see any benefit in allowing, for example, child pornography and bestiality to be shown. I don't exactly think I'm alone in my revulsion.
In short, there is a definite line that should not be crossed. We may not know where that line is, but we can tell when something has unquestionably leapt over it.

As I make no attempts to hide, I'm an Orthodox Christian, and that does govern a lot of my own thoughts and actions; I also choose to live in a liberal democratic society, the upshot of this is that I do not believe that government should legislate for all morality and believe that everyone is accountable for their own actions (and, FWIW, I would be shocked if someone could come up with evidence that Orthodox theology says anything else).

So, there is one problem - where is the line to be drawn. I would draw it where over 90% of the Australian population agrees that a thing is wrong. Gonna be hard to achieve that kind of consensus? Damn right, and that's the way it should be. Our constitution, to function, necessitates our freedom of speech (termed 'implied rights'), and that's the way it should be, and that's the kind of freedom we need to have to gain knowledge to elect good leaders - never mind take part in the world and resurrect the economy.

That doesn't take care of the second problem: how is the line to be drawn. Well, there's really no good answers. But, no computer program can do it. None. All have false negatives and false positives at unacceptable levels (even taking aside the certainty of decreased performance).
Rather: employ someone to basically add sites to a filter. A moral philosopher, a trained ethicist - someone with a good head on their shoulders for that 90% consensus - whose job it is to manually go through and add sites to the blacklist.

These are sites constructed by humans, and - if they are to be blocked - they deserve to be blocked by humans.

The third problem of censorship is, of course, performance. Australian internet performance is currently sub-par, at best. We want to slow it down further? Sorry, that's just dumb.

(more travelblogging coming soon)

2008-11-06T13:51:00.003+10:00

An article caught my eye - it's listed on the OrthodoxMissions group on Yahoo!. I'll be happy to link it to the original article...if it's still existing.

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PASSIVE EVANGELISM

The Church is called by our Lord to evangelize. Unfortunately, this is an area in which all of us has fallen short. Admittedly, active evangelism is difficult, and most of us are not called to be preachers or teachers. However, there is much that all of us, and all of our parishes, can do that is relatively easy, that falls in the class that I call "Passive Evangelism".

First of all, we must live our faith to the best of our abilities, and be both an example of a good Christian and of a good Orthodox Christian. We must make Orthodoxy attractive by what we are and what we do. In addition, we must acknowledge publicly that we are Orthodox - this does not mean preaching, but rather, things like explaining when asked that the Church we attend is the Orthodox Church , and (again, when asked) that we are abstaining from certain foods because we are Orthodox and the Orthodox Church has made this time a period of fasting and penitence.

Likewise, when we are asked about the Orthodox Faith and Orthodox practice, we should answer without apology. Of course this means that we must ourselves know what the Orthodox Church teaches, why the practice is the way it is, and what the meaning of the practice is. Providing a pamphlet (oriented toward the inquirer rather than the student) is also appropriate, but saying that you will get them a pamphlet that explains things better and then giving it to them later smacks less of "proseletyzing" and is less threatening than pulling one out right away. In addition, this provides a second opportunity to discuss Orthodoxy.

There is passive evangelism for the parish as well. Most of these things are obvious, but think back on how many times they are not done and how annoyed you as an Orthodox were. Then think about the impact on someone who would like to know more about Orthodoxy.

The Parish must be discoverable. This means that its existence must be public. As a minimum there should be an entry in the Yellow Pages of the telephone book. Along with this should be an answering machine that gives time and place of the Sunday and other major services and directions to the Church (but don't clutter up the message with every service and activity!). If the local ministerium publishes a directory of churches, get in it. If a local Internet provider has a Churches section get in it. Other Church Directories can be effective, such as listings in local newspapers and Motel/Airport directories - after all, when someone is waiting in an airport, he or she will read almost anything to pass the time. Likewise, prepare a sheet with a listing of services, phone numbers, and directions to the Church (8 x 11, pre-punched) and distribute to all the motels, college and hospital chaplains, etc.

Consider advertising, but make sure that what you do is effective - a small notice stuck in the middle of a whole page of larger ads for Christmas services may be unnoticeable, where a medium size ad for Pascha may stick out, especially if Latin Easter precedes Pascha. A few large ads with bold type and lots of white space are much more effective than many small ads that get lost in the clutter. And keep the message simple - you want to make the Orthodox Church known and invite others to learn more, rather than inform members about your activities. As a practical note, a two column ad is more visible than a one column ad of the same size.

Use your activities to publicize the Church. People will notice an ad or an article about a Pirogi or Baklava sale when they pass over a notice about the Church itself. A booth at a local shopping mall will provide greater exposure than the same activity in the Church hall. Although it may be more expensive at the mall, remember that each new family represents $500 or more in contributions. Ethnic festivals will also attract people, but be careful to insure that the festival does not suggest that the Church is only for Greeks, Arabs, Russians, Serbs, or Romanians.

Use snow day announcements, even if all your members know whether you will be open or closed. This is probably the one media offering that people listen carefully to, and it's free.

Make sure that the Church is identifiable from the street. Architecture can help, but a sign is essential, and the sign should at least provide the time of Sunday Liturgy and a phone number.

The Church must be findable. This can often be difficult because the Church is where it is, frequently in what had been an immigrant neighborhood or where land was affordable. If there is a choice of location, look for a street or road that is well known. A "prime" location isn't necessary, but local people must be know where the street is. In any case, prepare directions from a major convenient landmark. Don't look for the fastest or shortest way - look for the simplest, most foolproof way. Have someone who is only slightly familiar with the area check it out (a visiting cousin is good). You want people to be able to find you the first time; when they start coming back they will find the way that is most convenient for them.

Use signs. The Church should have a sign visible from the street that is large enough and bold enough that anyone looking for it can easily say "There it is!". Make sure that there are standard street signs at each appropriate intersection and that they are readable. If you can, put up directional signs at any significant turnings, especially onto secondary streets.

Once people can find the Church, make sure they know when services are (at least the Sunday Liturgy - if they come to Liturgy you can tell them then about Vespers, Bible Study, the Ladies Society, etc). This is information that should be on an obvious sign, by the street or at the main entrance.

The Church must be welcoming. The Liturgy is solemn, but it is also joyous. The congregation should act as though they were glad to be there. The greatest single inducement for others to join us is that we want to be there.

Welcome newcomers, give them a service book and a bulletin, and show them where in the service book the Liturgy is (it's sometimes hard to find, even when you know what to look for). If they appear to be non-Orthodox, tell them where in the service you now are. If your neighbors seem confused, help them find their place. If you are in Matins or Hours, tell them that a preliminary service is in process and that Liturgy will start at 10, and then tell them when Liturgy starts. Realize that even other Orthodox have different specific practices and signs of devotion and that non-Orthodox p probably have very little understanding of what we are doing and why. Let the visitor sit, and perhaps even tell them that although the Orthodox commonly stand for most of the Liturgy, they are welcome to sit whenever they want. Any visitor who is not intending to show disrespect will be respectful by his standards and try to make a reasonable accommodation to our standards.

Invite newcomers to coffee hour, and then talk with them, finding out where they are from, answering any questions, and if appropriate giving them one or two pamphlets. Don't overload them, and select pamphlets oriented to the newcomer rather than texts for the old member who wants to learn in detail. You want the newcomer to come back and learn more about Orthodoxy and your church, not convert them on the spot. You may organize teams of greeters, but have several people talk with them, and especially members who have things in common with the visitors.

Have a meaningful and attractive bulletin. Include not only the special events, but also the times of all regular services. The bulletin is probably the only reminder that the newcomer will keep that has this information. After all, you want to make it as easy as possible for the visitor to return.

Appropriate pamphlets must be available. The goal is to induce the visitor to come back and to want to learn more about Orthodoxy. An attractive small booklet that provides a short description of the parish, a brief introduction to Orthodoxy, and a short explanation of icons in Orthodoxy, together with a tour of the Church, identifying the various icons (and giving their significance), and a listing of services can be very popular. Whenever you have an open house, group visitors, etc, make sure that something like this is available

The Church must take advantage of curiosity. Encourage college Christian Clubs, Sunday Schools, college classes in Religion or History, and other churches to visit. When they come, make sure that each person has an attractive reminder to take home - an Icon card with the schedule of services on the reverse, the tour booklet, etc.

The Church must have attractive programs. This is a sign of an active parish, and whether we like it or not, people are attracted by programs. Examples are a good church school (an hour on Sunday, not a full elementary school), a youth group, adult Bible study, etc. As appropriate, establish special interest groups such as a Widows/Widowers group or a single parent group.

The Church must reach out to the local community. Major programs like a homeless shelter may well be beyond the capability of a small parish, but any parish can do a used clothing drive, toys for the orphanage, hospital/nursing home/hospice visiting, etc., and can cooperate with other organizations on major activities.

The Church must reach out beyond the local community. As a minimum, it must support the usual appeals - the Seminaries fund, the Diocesan and national Charities funds, the Earthquake Relief funds, etc. Beyond this, any parish, regardless of how small, can adopt an orphan or help support a mission priest (especially a native in Africa or Asia). Likewise, cooperate with the other Orthodox parishes in the region, supporting their activities and requesting them to support yours.

These things are not substitutes for active evangelism, but they are all steps to making it as easy as possible for an Orthodox person to become associated with an Orthodox Church when moving or traveling, and as easy as possible for a receptive non-Orthodox to become Orthodox. This is the minimum we are bound to do.

Confucian Temple? Try maps and earphones. (5:21pm illustrated)

2008-10-31T16:02:00.003+10:00

I went on my first lone trek around Shanghai today.

It's an intimidating city. No surprises there.

I wanted to go to a Confucian temple. I knew it was nearby, because I saw it on a map. But, that was out of date (a lot has changed since 2006), and we needed a new one, so my first mission was to find a tourist map. I've found several – all in Chinese. Not exactly much help when part of the reason you need a tourist map is because you don't speak Chinese.

Silver lining, though – I think I learnt the Chinese word for map. Or, at least, the word that all the vendors seem to understand – ma̅-pù (apologies if that doesn't turn out right – accent marks are an important part of transcribing Chinese into Pinyin).
(turns out, not the Chinese word for map. Maybe next time.)

Also had another adventure, of sorts. I went into a computer market. Pushiest. Salespeople. Ever.
I remembered that I was really looking for some noise-cancelling earphones. So, I decided to purpose myself – and came across some earphones. Figuring that there had to be noise-cancellers around somewhere, I came across some in a short order.

They had no idea what I wanted. Turns out, talking slower and clearer in a language that they only functionally understand doesn't help much. Shock.
Until, that is, I pulled some earphones out of my pocket. Then they stopped thinking that I needed another laptop (or something) and we got to talking. They pulled out a pair of Sony earphones and told me that it would be 380 yuan.
For the Australians out there, that's about A$90. Unsurprisingly, I looked at them like they'd just kicked the cat.

It was an instinctive reaction. See, I hadn't realised, but I was actually in a bargaining-accepted place. I had been told previously, however, that in a bargaining situation, the first price is just an opening offer. Once I said 'no, no way' and they said 'well, how much do you want it for then?', I realised my position and changed my tack. Slightly.
I offered 200 yuan (A$50). They mocked it and talked about 330 yuan. I stuck to my guns, and said 'that's okay, I'll just go somewhere else'.

There are a number of countries that do bargaining. I've been in Mexico and seen it done by my father (who took to it like a proverbial duck to water), and now I'm in China. Turns out, neither country wants you to take your business elsewhere, and both are quite happy to provide substantial discounts when your counter-offer is 'no deal'.

His last price was 300. He became my friend all of a sudden, and offered $280. I took two steps away. Suddenly, my new best friend offered $230. No dice. 200 it was.

Last price my butt.

Then I walked back down the street to the cool cafe I went to on my first night here. Nice place, called Unicolor (full endorsements). I ordered an ice chocolate (which, btw, is awesome, as per usual) and settled down to blog my day and read my textbook.

Confucian temples will have to wait.

(As I left, I saw the best No Smoking sign ever. Ever.)

Another day in the PRC

2008-10-31T12:14:00.004+10:00

The Toastmasters meeting was cool - a company based club. I evaluated a speech. Very impressed with the memorised speech - particularly considering that it was her first one in Toastmasters.

After that, went and visited my brother at work, which was cool, and ate at - I kid you not - Cold Stone Icecreamery. Far cooler, though - they'd, like, throw the ball of icecream in the air and catch it with the cup, that kinda thing. So much better than what I'm used to :D

Got set up with someone on a language exchange (someone my brother works with) - basically, I teach someone English, and in return, they teach me Mandarin. Or, more correctly at the moment, I teach them all the rules and pronounciations of English, they teach me how to read Pinyin (looks like English, but a few important differences, like 'zh' becomes 'j'). Working out really well, I think :D

On the way to the language exchange that evening, I passed a sign which I found amusing - in the centre of the image above, it has "THUMB Keeping In Good Health Health Care Spa". I can see how easy the mistake was, but it's still a little jarring :)
That said, I'd rather almost-English than no English at all, like Australia has for all its tourists...

Today, I'm planning on seeing a Confucian temple that's nearby, and maybe pick up a tourist map (the one from 2006 is, sadly, quite out of date...)

Photos!

2008-10-30T19:51:00.000+10:00

For those of you that don't otherwise know - I've updated my last three posts with 2-3 photos (each) - check 'em out!

Breakfast, subway, interviews, traditional-modern contrast

2008-10-30T12:24:00.005+10:00

Yesterday, had breakfast with brother, brother's girl and friend of brother's. To get there, we went by subway. Good experience. Subways here are very different to trains in Australia that I've experienced: they're stable and, often, they're crowded. The former has been attributed to less turns (they're basically straight lines), while the latter, well hey, it's a densely populated city and driving isn't a standard means of commuting.

Having WiFi basically freely available in cafe's is trippy, too. Awesome, but trippy.

After that, a trip around that area - on the other side of the city centre (People's Square) - where we went through an old neighbourhood. Got some good photos of the contrast between the old neighbourhood and the new skyscrapers, too. Still surreal to be the focus of everyone's faded-out sentences :)

Had an interview that afternoon. Didn't work out because they were looking for someone who would stay a minimum of a year, which I obviously wasn't planning on doing. But that's okay, I've already another interview lined up. May need moving to another city - Suzhou - which is about 45mins west (60kms - awesome that the trains actually work well!), but that's cool - it's a very different city to Shanghai, and I think it'll be an awesome experience to be around that kind of ancient, traditional culture (which, sadly, has probably been largely knocked down to make way for modernity) - even if I have to fit it around work (which will probably work out for the best anyway). The plan is, I should be able to get back in time for church on Sunday morning at the Russian embassy - here's hoping, anyway!

For today, another Toastmasters meeting. Looking forward to it already :D

(and yes, photos are coming - I want to upload it from a decent-sized computer...)

Happening Place is Shanghai

2008-10-28T19:35:00.005+10:00

So, things just keep happening :D

Yesterday felt soo full...I was sent off from home with little more than a page of scribbled instructions on where I lived (in Chinese), the promise of a rendesvous in 3-4 hours and directions on how to get to the waterfront and a 10storey set of shops. And I thought the Myer Centre was big.

Well, I did want to go shopping.

So I ambled down the street. Took a metric truckload of pics, including a few things that I thought that people just wouldn't fully comprehend (or even believe) if I just told them. Things like the movement of traffic rules to traffic guidelines - such as, beeping just means 'please don't dawdle', intersections are massive and can be a separate bit of road and is less governed by 'my car should go here' and more governed by 'my car should not occupy the same space as another car'.
Eventually, I got to the end of the main street. Construction got in my way, so I made a panic phone call and found out that I was lost exactly where I had to be. So I went to the waterfront, and spent a leisurely hour or so walking up and down what was essentially the equivalent to the walkway at Southbank. Y'know, with a greyer skyline and river.
I remembered what it was like to be a minor, short-term celebrity...there were what seemed to be several classes of primary school (or creche) students, and a whole slew of them were gawking at the tall foreigner who strode past...kinda funny to get no reaction from a wave :)

Then I returned to the shopping centre nearby. That 10 storey shopping centre. And I thought the four-storey Myer was big. I strolled through, checking out the clothes stores, and tried a particularly nice pair of trousers on.
I was underwhelmed when I didn't fit the XXL size.
Who the superlative has to get tailor-made casual trousers?!

Had a wonderful hot chocolate...as it turns out, I happened to stumble across a high-quality coffee place. And, wonderfully for me (disappointingly for Australia's standards as a technological nation), every coffee place has WiFi capabilities. Fan-tastic.

Went home, chilled for a little while, then went for a walk and saw some more of the sights. My back seriously hurts from wearing Trenchie. Had some beautiful Mandarin Fish, learnt that Chinese restaurants have table-wide meals, then went to the top of the Shanghai World Financial Centre. Incredible views that put the 'zing' in amazing.

It's kinda weird to be in a situation where I understand absolutely nothing of what's being said in the world around me. I've experienced that - and, bluntly, the whole 'foreigner' experience - before when I started going to the Greek services at church, but I've actually understood a bit of it in the past year or so, enough to at least track the conversation and laugh at the same time (although, I'm sure, due to very different things - I was probably laughing at my machine-like translation!), which makes going back to that kinda...weird. At least here, it makes sense.

Went home and went to sleep very quickly.

Today was a bit of an easier day - stayed home, did some research work, got an interview (ESL teacher - *fingers crossed for tomorrow*), experienced more cuisine...it's a sweet life, if I may borrow the phrase myself :)

The computer I'm currently using, while having a full-size keyboard, has some deficiencies, like reading SD cards...so I'm going to have to upload some photos separately. They are coming, though. They're coming.

First Day in Shanghai

2008-10-27T10:58:00.006+10:00

Wow, I'm in China now. Even the concept is kinda cool :)

I'm in Shanghai, and the city is very cool, I've gotta say. I'm staying with my brother, who is living on the 24th floor of one of the buildings. The view is so good it's surreal - there are construction sites that take up what we Australians would consider entire blocks...and these are just small parts of the block.

Traffic is crazy. What we in Australia would consider laws and, therefore, unbreakable and unquestionable tenets of driving and staying alive are more, well, advisory. Road rage is non-existant, even beeping horns aren't terribly common (although, as I write this, the outside decides to prove me wrong...), which is extraordinary considering how everyone drives. Lanes are the closest thing to a rule, and indicators seem to be used more for decoration. Oh, and seatbelts are an optional extra.
Yet, as crazy as all that sounds (and multiplied by the fact that Shanghai has just short of the population of Australia into, like, half the size of the Sydney), there's not that many accidents. Drivers from China seem to have a built-in sense of caution where the possibilities of danger are anticipated and avoided...hence, no accidents. It's as if the driving school instructors all said 'look, you want to get from a to b. Here's a system, work around it to get from a to b without stopping to exchange insurance details'.

Haven't seen too much of the city as yet, looking forward to seeing some - and to shopping, since I packed lightly with that in mind.

Was able to get to a cafe last night - like the Central Perk in Friends, except far less, well, yuppie-y. And the food! The food is so cheap - and good! I spent 28 yuan (about A$7) and got this great meal of Singaporean noodles - so cool!

The only downside so far is that I can't charge my new Eee PC yet - in a brilliant stroke of foreplanning, I forgot an adapter. Most things can plug in to plugs here - for some reason, Australian plugs are okay - but only if they have the third prong (the earth one)...so, I'm classing that under 'oops'.

Totally looking forward to the rest of my time here :D and yes, photos will be coming soon!

A month of bloglessness

2008-10-10T12:34:00.003+10:00

Well, it's been a month. A lot of things have changed...

I didn't end up getting work in an office. Rather, I'm a lowly-paid research assistant, studying the formation of children into geniuses and experts, as well as how experts do their job, well, expertly. It's really cool - cool enough that I don't mind the rather lowly pay.

I'm still going overseas in ~25 days, which is still awesome - I'll be able to continue my work over there, and be able to stay with my brother. The plan is to stay for a month, but I may take the opportunity to stay for six weeks or so and come back in time for Christmas.

I've also been spending a fair bit of time updating my other blog, so I haven't had a complete hiatus.

I've been very relaxed generally, actually. Not much to do...it's a good break. I've been taking the chance to get into quantum physics a little, actually - plenty of respect for the theoretical physicists out there!

Lightbulb for Brisbane Private Schools

2008-09-18T17:21:00.002+10:00

I'm not sure if I've posted this before, but I'm going to post it again...because I find them so funny! (and with disturbing amounts of truth...)

The 'How many does it take to change a lightbulb', for Brisbane schools!

I've found two of these, so I'll post them both...just a warning, it's all just words, but the content is somewhat NSFW.

*******

Brisbane Girls Grammar - One. She holds the bulb and the world revolves around her.

St. Laurence's - Two. One to change the bulb and one to figure out how to get high off the old one.

Gregory Terrace - None. They're all too drunk to notice and even when their sober if they spot a hole they just put dencor rub in it.

All Hallows - One. She'll put through a call to maintenance staff because there's no way she's going to do manual labour.

Kenmore High - None. That hole looks better in the dark.

Lourdes Hill - Six. One to change it but only after the other five have found an interpreter to translate the English instructions.

Indooroopilly High - Seventy six. One to change the globe. Fifty to protest the globe's right not to change and twenty five to stage a counter protest.

Brisbane Boys Grammar - None. Those poor bastards are keeping their backs to the wall even if it means standing in the dark. "If you can't get a girl, get a Grammar boy".

Somerville House - Five. One to change it, two to make sure her hair ribbons are still in place and another two to make sure her bag looks cool at all times.

Ipswich Boys Grammar -Six. Four to break into the store, one to steal the globe and one to install it.

Brigidine - None. It is too unsafe for pregnant girls to attempt such a dangerous task.

Brisbane State High - where?

TSS - 10. One to change the bulb. One to call his dealer and eight to talk about how gnarly things got at Kirra during the last cyclone.

Nudgee College -Five. One to install it, and four to tally the number of times he says F*** or talks about rugby while he's doing it. Their wives and children shall all watch the process.

Ipswich Girls Grammar - None. Everything not welded down had been flogged long ago.

Marist Bros, Rosalie - None. Everyone is either suspended or wagging (including the teachers).

Marist Bros, Ashgrove - Three. One to put in a formal complaint about the imposition, one to change the bulb and one to make the observation that it isn't half as bright as the light shining from their arses.

BBC - Two. One to insert the bulb the other to jump start it via mummy's Volvo.

Churchie - None. In the company of canines one needs less imagination in the dark.

TGS - None. Electricity has yet to make it west of the great divide.

*******

Springwood:
None: cos even tho the prinicpal trys 2 say how gud the skool is he cant actually string his sentences together, while trying to explain that we will have to lock the classrooms now and everyone must sign in and out a key when they go to class because someone has vandalised the new light bulb, a massive group of islanders playing there guitars try to steal the new lightbulb, but cant fit it in their bag because of the sterios blasting their gangsta music are taking up all the room

Churchie:
Three - one to call the electrician and one to call daddy to pay the bill. I think we know what the third guy is doing.

CHAC:
Only one, but they get 6 demerit points for breaking it in the first place.

Moreton Bay College:
One - she holds the bulb and the world revolves around her.

Lourdes Hill:
Eleven - one to screw it and ten to support its sexual orientation.

Balmoral:
Three - one to change it and two to try and figure out if you can get high off the old one.

St. Laurie's:
Ten - one to change it, one back up if the first guy's too drunk and the other eight to pray that it works.

Cooparoo SHS:
Eight - one to change the light bulb and 7 to figure out whether to knife it to death or sell it on the cooparoo shs drug market

St Margaret's:
the whole school; 2 to spread a rumour about the light bulb being a slut, 3 to say how they wish they could be as thin as the bulb, 3 more to call those 3 fat then go throw-up, 1 to buy the light bulb with daddy's credit card and 1 to invite Churchie so the rest can find a rich Husband. hopefully the principal will actually show up to do the honour but there is always the vice.

Kelvin Grove (Queensland Dance School of Excellence):
Five - one to change the bulb and four to do an interpretative dance about it.

Carmel College:
Seven - one to change the light bulb and six to throw a party because he didn't screw it in upside down this time.

Wynnum North:
None they don't have light bulbs...they are too fucked up...people smash them and try to kill them selves with them but if you told someone there was a broken light bulb they would probably try to fix it even though there isn't one there because they are so stoned to get light bulbs for the school!

Sommerville:
None - with fluoro green uniforms, its better in the dark.

BBC:
Seven - one to change it and the other 6 to stand around playing soggy sao's while he does it.

Iona:
Five - one to change it, 3 to stare at his arse while he does it and 2 to burn a hedge down, just for the hell of it.

Girls Grammar:
Five - one to change the bulb, one to make sure her nails don't break, one to curl her hair, one to make sure her outfit matches the light and one to make sure her shoes match as well.

Nudgee:
None - they don't have any money left after all the imports.

Toowoomba Grammar:
none - they don't have electricity yet.

All Hallows:
Four - one to change it and the other three to bitch about what a shit job she did.

Terrace:
Two - one to screw it in, and the other to gel his hair while he does it.

Villanova:
Two - one to fix it and one to look in a dictionary to discover what the heck a "light bulb" is anyway.

Ipswich Grammar:
None - they can't find a shop selling light bulbs within a 200 km radius of Ipswich.

St. Eddies:
just one guy to make the light bulb fall in love with him... but it doesn't matter cause he'll just go screw some other light bulb anyway...

Boys Grammar:
Twenty One - one to change the bulb and 20 to hang out at the Queen Street Mall...

Brisbane State High:
Ten - one to change it, one to break the old one and stab the guy fixing the light cause he looked at him 'funny' and a crew of eight to fight them both for no particular reason.

Wynnum State High:
Thirty One - one chic to actually change it, fifteen guys to look up her skirt, ten guys to see if they have enough money to pay her for a one night stand and five to smoke pot while they are skipping class.

MSM College:
None - they call the Marist guys and get them to do it for them.

Marist Ashgrove:
None - they return the call and get the MSM girls to return the favour.

Ferny Grove:
None, their tree friends help them out.

Stuartholme:
5, one to screw the bulb, 2 to hold her up there and the other two to hold the chair that the first two are on.

Mitchelton State High:
none - why waste money on light bulbs when they can waste it on their cricket fields??

Our Lady's College:
none, they all seem to have older boyfriends who do everything for them

Loretto College:
First you gotta find the blasted place (hint: Year 10 Marist Dancing Lessons... remind most of you?

Loretto College: 10, 3 to change the light bulb, two to sit on their arses watching and 5 to sit around wishing their boyfriends where there to help.

Redlands College:
1 to ask Mr patterson if they can... wait while he asks god if its ok ... oops none coz mr patterson (and god) would say no coz it promotes sex.

St. Mary's:
i dunno... but i'm sure they'll make it into an act at their musical next year.. at least it would be more interesting then this year...

Malanda High:
the entire school population coz its the most exciting thing that's happened there since the freakin school opened!

Forest Lake College:
none, they're too busy pretending they don't live near Inala

Clayfield College:
doesn't matter, those girls will screw anything

Macgregor High:
3 to change the light bulb, 2 to act as interpretators so they can understand each others' languages, 2 to work out why a scottish school has no people from Scotland in it and an extra 3 girls trying to find new ways to make their skirts shorter.

Queensland University of Technology (QUT):
1 to design a nuclear-powered light bulb that never needs changing, one to figure out how to power the rest of Brisbane using that nuked light bulb, 1 to change the light bulb, 1 to crack under the pressure, 10 to share the experience, 5 to write a report on the importance of light bulbs in today’s modern society, 50 to protest the light bulb's right to not change, 25 to hold a counter-protest, 1 to write the computer program that controls the wall switch, the whole creative industries faculty that to commemorate the event with an interpretative song and dance routine, 20 that turned up for the extra 6 credit points, 1 to hand out the coffee and guarana refreshments, 5 that stumbled over from the bar to see if there is going to be a party, and 1 to say loudly how a QUT student can change a light bulb just as well as any Griffith student ............ (it’s a whole campus affair)

Rosewood High:
if they're anything like Jacqui, they'll just be standing around ringing BRISSIE people asking 'What does that mean? Lightbulb what?'

Sunnybank High:
Well once they find out Macgregor has 'changed' a lightbulb, they'll have to get the whole school to change all of theirs, before bashing up the Macgregor 'changers' in the pathway up to Garden City.

STMC:
10... 5 guys to try and work out how they actually screw in a lightbulb, their gurlfriends standing behind bitching about how girls at Clairvaux/Sunnybank/Macgregor/Browns Plains are such sluts, and a few others just standing around trying to convince people that their school REALLY is a private school ('see it says college!')

Park Ridge High:
The whole 'How to change a Lightbulb' class... its right after there 'Teenage Pregnancy' class and right before 'How not to look stoned at School' class...

Browns Plains High:
None... they're all over at the 'Grand' Plaza hanging around the bus station

St. James:
5...One chick to change it and 2 other chicks to give their boyfriends blow jobs on a park bench.

Holland Park High:
all of them...the schools the biggest shit heaP that no one could care less but they would all go and hide and smoke pot.

Whites Hill College:
none...They are too busy wondering why the hell they'd change the name of the school to make it sound remotely sophisticated when clearly it's not!

Wellington Point SHS:
10, 3 to steal the old bulb and use it as a bong, 2 to miss it all together because they’re skipping class, 4 to bitch about the light bulb because they think it is ‘up itself’ while seeing how high they can pull up their socks and 1 to show the private schools that light bulb changing is a sport, and that’s why Wello is great at it.

Ormiston College:
10, four year 12 boys who have been asked by their year 9 girlfriends to help, four offering to do it “because its all about school spirit” (they are competing for prefect) and two spoilt little rich girls to bitch about the slutty light bulb and how it would break for anyone.

QASM:
just 1....but he does it with his mind

Clairvaux Mackillop College:
It probably wouldn't ever be changed. Knowing Clairvaux. It takes a whole freaking year to clean out a blocked and overflowing sink in the toilets.

Back to Better

2008-09-17T18:30:00.004+10:00

Well, I'm no longer that sick. I've got a persistant cough, and my voice doesn't feel like what it used to be, but aside from that, I'm entirely back to normal.

I'm taking a fairly lengthy look at That '70s Show - I'm trying to get through the entire series of 200 (over 8 seasons) before I start working.

Which (cue neat segue) will hopefully be fairly soon. I'm registered with two temping agencies, which should ensure some work. I've also clocked in at 87 words per minute (net), which is awesome, since the last time I was employed in data entry, I was at 72 words per minute. I'm confident.

The sickness did take it out of me, though. Out of willpower (rather than good sense), I went to church on Saturday night - stayed through the service (mostly seated) and went home right on the dismissal, sleeping in for Sunday morning. Like I said, very sick. The last Saturday (being of fairly decent health), I went to church, and went to a mercy meal (the anniversary of a person's repose) afterwards. Then on Sunday, went to church again.

This week, an interview and a skills test (aforementioned), and this weekend a birthday celebration. House blessing planned for next week.

Still sick

2008-09-07T15:26:00.003+10:00

Being sick has multiple downsides - currently, that means a perpetually runny nose, a rather vicious cough, a temperature and sporadic headaches, the combination of which meaning that there's not a lot that I can concentrate on. On the positive side, I suppose, it means that I have very little to blog.

Went to church last night. Didn't serve, didn't stand (no energy), stayed very incognito (as much as I can, anyway) and left right on the final 'amen'. I suppose it came more under an 'act of defiance' thing...

Aside from that, I've just been watching movies (Who Framed Roger Rabbit - a classic that I had totally missed - and it explained Toontown at Disneyland!) and TV shows (That '70s Show, How I Met Your Mother and Scrubs, in that order)...haven't even the energy to plug in my Wii, let alone play it...

Hopefully, we'll be well enough to reschedule the houseblessing to sometime this week...fingers crossed.

so much so that i forgot a header

2008-09-04T12:15:00.003+10:00

I'm sure I'm not saying anything new, but...
...being sick sucks.

It all started yesterday. Well, it probably started on Sunday night, but I started to know about it yesterday. I'd gotten an appointment for temporary positions (i.e. you're employed by a company and they send you to various places that particularly need office workers for a short period of time), which was nice, and I had a dry throat all that morning. My flatmate, on the other hand, was just short of asking for Unction.

Which, sadly, just gave me an idea of what I had to look forward to. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

So I went to the interview, did a good job (I think) and then came home...when the sickness set in. Temperature, massive headache, lack of ease in using joints and, for continuity, a dry throat. That was rather unfortunate, since I still had to do the Word, Excel, Typing and Alphanumeric tests. So, in a temporary let-up, I took a Berocca and plowed through the tests. I'm pretty sure I did okay - one wrong in the MS Word test, a few more in the Excel test, and my typing was as fast as I could go.

But, with the illness still with me, I went to the final lecture on the Ecumenical Councils - this week, going into the 'universally recognised as whole-Church binding but not as Ecumenical' Councils: the Eighth Ecumenical to repair the "Photian" Schism (basically, it affirmed St Photios as rightful patriarch - negating previous Papal claims to the contrary - and refused any changes to the Nicene Creed - an explicit rejection of the Filioque); and, the Ninth Ecumenical to affirm hesychasm against scholasticism/rationalism. We also touched on the Sigillion of 1583 (Old/New Calendars).

Sadly, I was quite unable to enjoy it, or to derive much from it - though in my apartment, I'm at an acceptable level of sickness, when I was in the Church, I did not have the same level of comfort. At one point, I had to go to the back and lie down, where I felt much better.

Today, I don't feel too badly, on the scale of how-bad-one-should-feel-while-sick. I'm hoping that my standard hasty recovery time will serve well - the apartment is getting blessed tomorrow, and I'm hoping that we'll be okay for that.

update 8:21pm - had to cancel the house blessing. even if i might have been able (optimistic), my flatmate certainly isn't.

Ecclesiastical New Year!

2008-09-01T15:21:00.002+10:00

Well!
Some big and great news came in today - I got my theology essays back, and not only did I pass both (Old Testament a 'B'-equivalent, Church History 2 a 'A'-equivalent), but the comment at the top of my Church History response was that I have the potential to be a Church historian. Very, very happy indeed!

I've pretty well settled into my new place, all going well thus far. I'm definitely straight back into the uni lifestyle of getting cheap, cheap stuff - the lack of uni studies, at present, regardless :)

Overall, I'm pretty happy.

Last night was the Vespers for the Environment, which basically became the Greek Orthodox contribution to the ecumenical group here (Queensland Churches Together). The Orthodox priests served, and other leaders read most of the readings. I suspect, however, that a lot of the readers were used to things basically changing from week to week...the readings were so slow! I was almost drifting off in one particularly slow rendition. If we did that, our services (already long) would basically double in length. But, OTOH, most people in attendance hadn't heard an Orthodox vespers before, so it was probably not the worst thing...just horrible for us who are used to brisk reading, particularly for the unchangable parts (which are the same every Vespers!)

Well, that's my big news...

Moving day.

2008-08-29T21:42:00.003+10:00

Today, I moved into my very central new place of residence. Very happy, albeit somewhat tired and exhausted.

Have been quite preoccupied by my hopes and dreams, how to make them happen and (more importantly) what length of hope/dream they are (lifelong or short term, that kinda thing).

Life is much more relaxed. I'm enjoying this time.

A Change of Life

2008-08-21T16:47:00.002+10:00

So, I've gone on a leave of absence from uni - I've decided to take this semester off entirely.

In a couple of months, I'm intending to take a trip to visit my brother in China, and stay there for a month; then come back for a month, hopefully make another trip for a couple of months. That should take me through to first semester next year, when hopefully, I'll be fully refreshed and able to tackle the wonders of educational theory and practice.

But, to lifeblog this month...

All theological essays were submitted on time, much to my relief.
I managed to make it to most of the Supplicatory Canon services this Dormition fast. Gave me a good reason to get out of the house - today, actually, has been the first day in quite some time when I had neither reason to get out of the house nor thing to do for the day!
Was asked to adjudicate three debates in the state debating finals series this year - two for year 9s, one for year 8s. Was very impressed with one of the debates, was appalled by one and indifferent with the third. Not all debates are top-notch affairs in the first round of finals - you have to weed out the ones that come from lesser regions (which, not to sound snobbish, usually includes those furthest away from the capital).
Have been treated to a lecture series on the Ecumenical Councils these last weeks, from the First through the Sixth (as of last night). I already knew the basics around the councils, of course, as well as a number of the key players, but particularly as we got past around 400 I found my knowledge of the background of the councils being somewhat deficient, so I have found significant portions of the lectures to be quite beneficial. I must say, though, that these do seem to be quite advanced lectures - bordering on tertiary standard - so I'm curious as to how many other people are finding the lectures.
Met the other landlords for the place that I'm moving into; quite nice people.
Delivered my second speech for Toastmasters. The third will be done on the Wednesday coming up.
The Archbishop came up on a Sunday. We had discussions about various things, particularly about the future. I've also put an idea to him - keeping posted when it occurs.
Trying to get my passport stuff all in hand.

Well, that's about everything for this month. So far, at least - there's still a week to go, after all!

Part Time Everything

2008-08-16T09:19:00.005+10:00

Well, turns out my last post was even being optimistic.

I've decided, instead, that I'm going to drop down to one subject this semester - which means that I'll be studying one subject in education, three half-subjects in applied theology (they're called full subjects, but they're really not) and, on top of that, doing admin work - data entry or something along those lines - to pay the bills. Added to that I'm moving in twelve days time and it's all going to be very stressy!

My rationale is that if I go on a leave of absence (i.e. drop all the subjects), I'll be very much inclined to say 'well screw this for a bad joke' and drop the degree completely come November - this way, I can keep my essay-writing skills up and polished.

I think that if uni started, say, last week I'd have been okay and able to finish my assignments in time. It didn't, obviously, hence why I'm in damage control. On the positive side, I got in just on the last day to withdraw from subjects without financial penalty (and well before the last day without academic penalty).

As it is, however, I have four subjects to go - one this semester, one in summer semester, and two in first semester - one for a subject, the other for prac (which I'll need either leave or resignation to go on, but I should have enough money to do that by then).

I've an appointment with the give-money-to-people-before-they-find-a-job people next week, which should be thrilling. I really don't think I need it, though - I think that my willingness to accept pretty well any level of pay should set me in good stead.

I realise I haven't life-blogged about anything else in ages. Will set that right next post, I think.

And then there were three...

2008-08-07T23:05:00.003+10:00

I think that I've found a solution to my previous post's problems.

I was looking through the subjects I was doing and found that one in particular was going to be very difficult for my next deadline. Coincidentally, the one that I'm having the most trouble in. But, I fear that this is also the subject that will qualify me as an English teacher - sadly, it had to be dropped.

But what I wasn't anticipating was that it's possible to do a subject in summer semester. Now, I've done summer semester before - not saying that it's a piece of cake, but it definitely gives you something to do over the holidays. Plus, it's a subject about classroom behaviour management - something that I happen to be acceptably good at, but would always be interested in knowing more.

So, I'm feeling a lot more relaxed about doing three subjects this semester. Three, I think I can cope with easier. It does change my statscheck, though...

Deadline August 22 - 2100w, 70% (of 200%), 14 days; 150w/day, or 5%/day.
Deadline September 26 - 5900w, 130%, 35 days; 168w/day, or 3.7%/day.

So yes, I'm doing much better, thanks for asking :)
I'm still not sure if education is a good career choice, however - nothing's changed on that front.

Gives a new definition to 'down the drain'...

2008-08-07T12:46:00.004+10:00

Here's a tricky one - what do you do if you're in the middle of a degree - or, rather, pretty close to the end of a degree - and you realise that you don't actually want to do what the degree trains you to do?

That...is a terrifying realisation. It totally destroys all motivation, robs of the joy...

I should have realised a long time ago that when I said 'I'm just trying to do something to finance what I really want to do', I was going a rather circular route to do it badly.

It's long been a guiding principle (to me, at least) that the purpose of university study is to prepare you for life in the workplace (sans the 9-5 bit) - for example, law students have 100% exams, and philosophy students have plenty of essays. Doing Education and Theology simultaneously is too much, and I think that that's going to continue, regardless of how much I went into it believing that it was complementary. It may be complementary, but it's too much, and it'll continue to be too much.

Will I complete the degree, though? I think so. But I don't think I'll be a teacher.
That said, I may well be wrong, and this may simply be a coping mechanism caused by trying to do too much - it's happened once before, after all. At this point, however, it seems that this is where I am at.

57 days

2008-07-31T16:45:00.004+10:00

On a more lifeblogging bent...it's not often that I go off about topics - greatly enjoy them, though!

Almost finished my theology essays - just have to expand one paragraph, write a concluding summary and a conclusion.
The fact that I'm almost done is both good and bad - as much as I can complain (and, don't worry, I have done), I do like studying theology - I just don't like having to write about it without having first studied it properly. Education, not so much, and the end of my theology essays (for now) means that I have to get stuck into doing stuff for education - the thing that will actually pay money.

I've done a Statscheck up for it - rather elementary at the moment, but since I haven't started anything...
Keeping in mind that I'm doing four subjects - one of them is prac, which means that the other three have to be condensed into, like, 10 weeks (and all before Midsem - thanks, Uni!).
I have two due dates for six pieces of assessment. The first is in 21 days time, on 22 Aug, with a total of 120% (out of 300%) due, with the need to write 4100w. That means that, each day, I need to do 5.7% of an assignment - that is, 195 words every day.
After that, I can breathe a rather small sigh of relief, because the next due date is 35 days later, on 26 Sep, with a total of 180% due, comprising 7900w; meaning that, each day, I need to do 5.1% of an assignment - that is, 226w every day. More words for less percentage, bad deal, but do keep in mind that a lot of those words are basically repetition - lesson plans, for instance, will always have some things just ripped out of the syllabus wholesale.

200 words per day is actually rather standard, particularly knowing previous semesters. The concern is that usually my first two weeks are spent doing nothing. Instead of going from lazy to stressed (or, if you will, from good to bad), I'm going from stressed to moreso (or, from bad to worse).

On another note, I got a shipment of books yesterday and today: Hannah Arendt's The Life of the Mind - which, based on the wikipedia article, looks absolutely fascinating - along with three Orthodox books - Fr Seraphim (Rose)'s biography (which is about two inches thick), the latest Bible study book by Fr Lawrence Farley and the Divine Liturgy study by, again, Fr Lawrence. Greatly looking forward to reading all of these, somewhat saddened that the next time will be in September, when I'll probably have to be studying for what I'm going to be teaching...eek!

57 days...

It's not arrogant to simply be correct

2008-07-31T13:58:00.003+10:00

Something that occured to me today...

Orthodox are sometimes castigated over what is seen as sheer arrogance - particularly the audacity to claim that we are the Church that Jesus founded and that we have the lone claim to the fullness of the Faith.

And, I can kinda see where that viewpoint comes from - when you come from a viewpoint that has the truth being like shards in a broken mirror, and when you put it all together you get the whole truth, it's very confronting (or, at least, counter-intuitive) to have someone say 'actually, we've got the whole mirror, unbroken'. I can kinda understand why someone would say 'you think you've got a mirror, nuh, no way.'

But real practise, we don't find Orthodox beating their chest or waving pom-poms saying 'we've got it ri-ight' or anything like that. Surely, though, one leads to the other, so why isn't this the case?

The problem here is that:
IF when you believe that you have the fullness of the Faith, and
IF you know that it's not like you made it (i.e. we believe that we got it passed on, unchanged, from Christ),
THEN any kind of decent self-reflection is going to mean that you don't consider yourself worthy of this; which means that you're going to go 'this is awesome' and love it, but it's not like you can be that triumphalistic about it.

Orthodoxy is fantastic and I love being part of it, but it's not something I can laud over people. It is something, though, that I can, with full confidence, say 'this is the Truth' - not because of me, or anything that I've done, but because this is God's religion.

Responsibility

2008-07-29T07:59:00.003+10:00

Oh, and while I can still get in a post and have it count as July:

I'm so sick of hearing girls say 'all guys are the same'.

It runs into a bigger problem, of course - not taking responsibility for one's own actions.

I keep wanting to say 'it's not that all guys are the same, it's that all the guys that you are attracting are the same, and if you want something different, you have to change what you're doing'.

There. And, off my chest.

And, for what it's worth, exactly as annoying when a guy says 'all girls are the same'. They're not, you're doing something wrong, see above and switch the terms.

60 Days until a Holiday

2008-07-28T19:22:00.006+10:00

Well, it's all looking official regarding the move - looks slated to happen in the last weekend of August. Very excited - I've wanted to live in that inner-city-ghetto-turned-yuppieland since around the turn of the millenium, so it's fulfilling a long-time dream of mine :)

One more essay is done. Just have a book review to go...four pages and my theology essays are done. Of course, then it's straight back into education essays, so I'm never quite free until, like, mid-September, for a week (which is after all the due-dates but before prac).
I'm particularly worried about that. Quite literally, I haven't had a real holiday since February - the midsemester break isn't a holiday anyway (and that's when I had my surgery), and the combination of problems with my last place of residence, moving and doing theology essays has wiped out a solid six weeks of holiday. I'm really worried that I won't have the right perspective and that I won't be in a clear headspace, nor one able to focus on unit outlines and such things. I'm hoping that I can hold out for the next 60 days, until the end of September.

One other exciting thing - I may be nominated to represent my Toastmaster's club at District level. We'll need to do some things quickly to fit into the rules, but it's looking good so far.
And one disappointing thing - a friend of mine was slated to be ordained soon, but as it happens, well, it's not going to happen. I was greatly looking forward to the event, but I'm taking as my lesson that we can never count chickens before hatching - we can say that something is certain when it has already happened, but until then, things are not entirely in our own hands.

I'm feeling somewhat confident about my Education course this semester. And by confident, I mean 'not a nervous wreck'...hopefully, I stay that way (with reason) through the semester! Today's English curriculum subject gave me some hope that I'd be okay - good lecturer.
I also taught R.E. today, which I enjoyed. We talked about the Liturgy - a very fun activity for me, and since I didn't get that many interruptions (not sure if that's my teaching ability or the topic), I have to assume that I had some success, which is a little encouraging.

Four down, Two to go, Ten days to do it in

2008-07-21T20:40:00.003+10:00

Well, I finished that essay. Finally. Two more to go, though - a minimum of 9, 1.5 spaced pages (i.e. six real pages) to write. Let's hope I get it done...

I was listening to a podcast done by re/CALL - it's a podcast done for teens, but I like to listen to it because I figure that they must be doing something right, and it's very easy to listen to. The most recent podcast (listen) is about a very effective means of Orthodox evangelism - to be precise, lifestyle evangelism, or sharing one's faith through who one is. It only works if Christ is genuinely a part of our life...which is good, because if He's not, one shouldn't be evangelising anyway, IMHO.

This time, I decided to take some dot-point notes, which I'm going to share. If you want explanations of these dot-points, listen to the podcast itself and there should be a fuller explanation.

The goal of evangelism is to introduce other people to Orthodoxy, and then to involve them in an Orthodox community, and it is fundamental that Orthodoxy is presented (as it is in actuality) as a living faith, one that creates, forms and shapes lives in Orthodox Christians that others want to be a part of.

Part of our deal is to let our 'light shine in the world' and to be salt and light. Salt has three relevant features - it makes people thirsty (i.e. we should live such that people are thirsty for the Living Water - Christ), it gives things flavour (i.e. that we have communities that support) and that it is a preservative (i.e. against decaying social relationships). Light is in reference to the joy and power of Christ within us.

Christians generally have pretty bad PR - hypocritical and stupid. To show something different, we have to be something different - to have integrity and courage to lead people to glorify God. We can do this in a number of ways, particularly in helping one's neighbour - whether in institutions like soup kitchens or in helping someone who can't help themselves.

Part of lifestyle evangelism is that we need to reach beyond ourselves and those who think like us - it's very easy to stay in Orthodox enclaves, but this, well, isn't Orthodox. Our practise of Orthodoxy should be apparent - visitors to houses can see the icons on the walls, and if they are interested, they will ask, giving us an opportunity to speak about their role in our lives; getting people food can provoke questions about not eating a meaty/dairy food because of fasting, giving us an opportunity to speak about prayer and fasting; people talking about their favourite TV shows can lead to the response that one doesn't watch them because they're in church at vespers (or Liturgy in the evening, in some places), which can provoke questions with responses about the beauty of the church.

In short, be properly Orthodox and don't hide or be ashamed of your Orthodoxy, and you're halfway there.

OT, History, maybe-move.

2008-07-18T13:02:00.005+10:00

I'm currently doing an essay on the history of Israel. Or, more specifically, I'm currently doing an essay on Israel between the division between Judah (two tribes, successors to David) and Israel (ten tribes, not successors) and the fall of Samaria to the Assyrians, which is about a third of the way through 3 Kings (or 1 Kings, for those with the Protestant Bibles) to about two thirds of the way through 4 Kings (or 2 Kings, again, for those with the Protestant Bibles).

Not exactly thrilling stuff, I've gotta say. I'm not entirely sure how practical it is, too. It seems that the editors of the OSB agree - having some very sparse notes on the topic - and I'm just not sure how often a person is going to ask 'hey, I was thinking one day and wanted to know why Hoshea had a conspiracy against Pekah'. Because I've gotta say, after writing this essay, I'd probably say '...are you serious??'.

Maybe it's not my cup of tea. Fascinating as history is, of course...well, actually, no. I know, I'm studying to be a history teacher and all, but my interest is in modern history...and really, in events, watershed moments. Talk about the apartheid and I'm interested - talk about all the details in the 70 years (or whatever) between apartheid's institution and it's demise and I'm...well, yawning.

*sigh*. The things we do...

In other news, it looks like I'm moving out from my parents' house, sharing an apartment in the inner-city. I've gotta say, I'm really happy with how things are turning out - it may take a short while for God to step in after a succession of bad, but wait a week, maybe a month, and good things can, quite seriously, just start happening. It looks like I'll be making the move in mid-September...which will make it five places that I've lived in since the start of December. After over 20 years in one place, I think I'm making up for lost time :)

My Week and a List of Metrakos Articles

2008-07-16T10:12:00.004+10:00

Sunday night, went to the Youth Committee meeting. Not a lot happened, just administration and stuff like that.

Monday, went to a meeting for Religious Education teachers at the school I do R.E. at. The most interesting discussion was when it was brought out that Buddhism and Christianity see a different emphasis in what they're trying to portray to students - Christianity, Christ; Buddhism, basically ethics and conduct. A shock, I know.

Tuesday, went to a careers fair for future teachers. Lots of demand from the UK, which got me thinking about spending six months or so over there. Bit of demand from South Australia, too. Also finished off my third essay...three to go!

Today, I'm going to start working on my fourth essay. It's basically a history of Israel from Jeroboam (the one after Solomon, when Israel is divided) to the fall of Samaria - for those with Orthodox Bibles, that's in 3 and 4 Kings; those with Protestant Bibles, that's 1 and 2 Kings.
(and people ask 'what's the difference'...!)

But, in a bid to procrastinate from that...I've found a few good essays by Fr Aris Metrakos that, well, I found very insightful.
He talks about conceptions of a parish - whether a cruise ship (where everyone is tanned, free of responsibilities) or a battleship (where everyone has a job to do at the best of their abilities), and suggested that most parishes need to get serious about what they're doing instead of being "bloated and afloat".
He talks about his views on what a third millenium Triumph of Orthodoxy would be like - there would be pan-jurisdictional unity on the focus of the Gospel (and, hence, Church life) being on making new Christians and helping the needy, with a knowledge that those who are Orthodox but don't come to Church are, for all intents and purposes, outside the Church (and, hence, the parish); and about priests - that services are the beginning and the end, but in between, there's a lot of pastoral work that needs doing, and also that the laity need to stop whinging about their priests unless there's a serious problem (like, they're immoral or seriously and decisively not doing their job).
He talks about parish composition, and how ethnicity has given way for cultural diversity and religious fervour, but the part I found most insightful (to me) was his view on missions - we shouldn't be starting up missions in the same area, it's just silly.
He talks about mixed marriages (i.e. an Orthodox and a heterodox Christian), and how people can whinge all they like about an Orthodox who marries a non-Orthodox and stops coming to church, but the real problem is usually that said Orthodox was probably not that settled in their Orthodoxy anyway.
He talks about who the lost sheep really are - that they're not the ones who are Orthodox but make the decision to reject church, they're the ones that don't know about the church but that we're not reaching because we spend too much time on the ones that reject church.
He talks about a definable American Orthodoxy - which is pertinant, because that'll probably be Australia in about 20 years.
He makes an argument for a long-term pastorate - as compared to the wisdom of some time back that a pastor should stay for 7 years before moving on to pastures greener.
He talks a lot on what it takes to be in the priesthood, a very good article indeed. He also writes about the odd questions that priests are sometimes asked and good ways to engender good council meetings.

Bringing a whole new meaning to Yes, Minister

2008-07-13T12:33:00.003+10:00

Well, it turns out that some things have been happening...stay with me on this one, because the tenses might get confusing.

The parish that I am normally present at on Sundays is a rather small parish, one that I go quite some distance to get to (the second city away, actually). As you may imagine, a pain both to wake up on time and to get there at the right time.

That aside. I'd previously - around the December-January time - said that there was very little utility in my being there, and I was a long way away from the closest church to me (which, btw, is the standard church that one should attend). However, I was all-but ordered to continue to attend this church and to help out where I could, which I diligently and faithfully did. To do so, various people were asked to give me a lift from the train to the parish. Due to a shortage of available people, I asked someone myself.

The one in clerical authority has just returned from a trip to Alaska, among other places, and it seems that this trip has meant that he has come back ice-cold towards, well, anyone who has directly spoken to the one in episcopal authority.
Said one in clerical authority today delivered what was essentially a pre-sermon, summarising Fr Michael Oleksa's letter and being quite sure to emphasise Bp Nikolai's dictatorial style of leadership (which I am utterly certain will have repercussions) on the pretext of keeping the faithful aware of abuses in other parts of the world (despite this having happened three months ago in another continent and under another jurisdiction).
This, btw, is arguably an abuse of the pulpit, but I digress.

Surrounding this, said priest essentially asked me not to be at that parish under these conditions, as there was no utility in my presence and I could just as easily be at the parish in my city.
Both true. But why now?

At some level, I'm somewhat aggreived by how this whole thing has been done. At the same time, I'm relieved that this has finally happened. But it is a sad indictment of the place, and I shouldn't need to refer to certain Eastern European proverbs about fish...

For Blog's Sake

2008-07-12T12:27:00.003+10:00

There's very little further to blog, really.

I've finished another essay - two down, four to go - and am a good way through another essay (note-taking done, just the writing itself to go), which means that I have to do three in the space of as many weeks. Not my most difficult challenge, really.

Presented a speech at my Toastmasters group - my first one. It was about how debating looks similar, but is actually rather different, from public speaking - debating, whether done poorly or well, is about analysis and attack, but a rounded public speaker can entertain, motivate, console, inspire or introduce - quite different again. Ironically, my evaluation was that I sounded like a debater in delivering that speech...

I suppose, though, no news is basically good news.

Breakdowns, moved

2008-07-06T20:30:00.006+10:00

Turns out, I've got a few things that I can be annoyed about. Some personal relationships have gone quite sour without any warning, which makes me feel resentful and somewhat self-conscious - not doing me any favours at all. But, some others have just started to open up. I'm not sure, but I think that I've been given what I need to persevere, but I fail to see how this is a good environment...

It is going, in some way, towards illustrating to myself my frustration with those who are ignorant and arrogant. Don't know how I'm going to get around that.

I've settled into my new place. Haven't done much else except, well, settle in. I've got a bunch of essays that really need doing, though - and I'm certainly well behind the page-per-day schedule I'd set up for myself (I'm supposed to be on page 14, when I'm more on about page 6; and I have to do a total of 30 by the end of this month). Hopefully, I can focus more now. Hopefully.

Not much else has been happening.

Moved.

2008-07-02T22:22:00.004+10:00

Well, it's official. I've moved.

I'm still kinda annoyed. It's not like I moved because I was deliriously happy, and the way it's been fixed has left a rather sour taste in my mouth...not because of what happened (although I was less than impressed with that), but because it's possibly a pattern. I'm not a big fan of conflict, and my general response ranges between angelism (i.e. acting aloof, or otherwise being above it) and retreat. As far as living in this world goes, that's a definite bad thing - and now I need to figure out if I need to change it, and if so, how. It's not something I'm looking forward to.

Stolen Goat

2008-06-30T20:32:00.007+10:00

A few things have come up in the last couple of days, but even in the environment of this - a blog where only those who have connected me with it actually know who runs it - I don't feel comfortable divulging all the things that have really - what's that quaint expression - gotten my goat.

I'm currently studying a course that is, at most, an avocation - I don't feel called to be a high school teacher. Yes, I'm fairly good at it, and enjoy it, but I know what I'm supposed to be in life. So, I've got what could be loosely termed as my occupational problems; there's my domestic situation (of which the less spoken of, the better); and it appears that I'm about to become embroiled in a rather explosive political situation with a major protagonist being someone that I thought I could trust. While most of those were wearing on me - a person not known for a surplus of either patience or tact - the last was the straw that, well, unleashed the avalanche on the proverbial camel.

There was a question that I asked myself a while back about someone - what am I supposed to do without [them]. Sure, it's a quote from an episode of one of my favourite TV shows (That '70s Show), but it seemed very pertinent to me.
I watched that same TV episode tonight, thought about that person, and realised...I'm going to be just fine. Maybe because the hole has been gradually filled by other people, maybe because that person's true colours have unmistakably shone through, I don't know - and doubtless it's a bit of a combination, probably with a few other factors that I've forgotten - but I don't need that particular person in my life anymore.

These have been, to me, really big issues. They've occupied a lot of my thoughts for quite some time (and I do a lot of thinking as part of, well, who I am), because they've been about issues of who I am and, in a mutually-effecting role, who I'm going to be - what I'm supposed to be doing, who are the people who can support me, where am I going. I've always kinda figured that the first two will basically lead to the third, but external circumstances have forced my hand - if I want to go in a particular direction (which may actually be the best way to live out the whole 'who I am' bit), I'm going to have to run with that and, at the risk of using inaccurate language, to defend that and put a bit of my self on the line.

In other news...
There was an ordination on the weekend, which was totally awesome - hierarchical Divine Liturgy with an ordination is always rockin'. I was one of the chanters for matins, which was awesome, and was in the altar for the rest, which was similarly awesome - especially the ordination itself, which is just awe-inspiring.

Today I went to church in the morning, which was cool, then went and played mahjong, which was also cool. I like mahjong.

I've done about, oh, one essay out of the six I'm supposed to have done - and one of the smaller ones, too. Really going to have to get past the issues and just finish these papers...

Not Many Holidays

2008-06-26T19:44:00.003+10:00

It's only been ten days...
In that time, I've been posting the sermons that I've been presenting on my Facebook account, along with some of the theological essays that I've completed thus far, so I haven't entirely neglected the blogosphere.

I mentioned last post that I was largely sans activity, well...not anymore! I checked my inbox and found the next batch of "exams" (really, essays), so I've got six essays to write in six weeks - half of them 4-5 pages, the other half 5-8 pages, which worked out to being about 9000w in total. This wouldn't be intimidating - at university, this might be the amount expected for two first year subjects in a non-theological area - but I haven't even looked at the textbooks all year. Unfortunately, to read the textbooks is actually the point of the course, but just like in my philosophy degree, I kinda skipped that.

Sunday was the last Sunday that I've been asked to deliver a sermon, which is...well, what it is. The Sunday upcoming, the bishop comes up and ordains a deacon to the priesthood, which I'm (obviously) looking forward to.
The Sunday just past was the beginning of what I'm going to call the 'forty hour fever'. It began as a headache (and I had to do a sermon through it - not cool!) and increased so that I was, literally, needing a wet facecloth to get to sleep...then I somehow cottoned on that I was sugar-deficient, and on Tuesday I just had it where if I moved my head too fast it would hurt, and Wednesday, all over. Strangely, it still hurts if my eyes move too much too fast...which I don't understand, but hey.

Some cool links...

2008-06-19T08:40:00.006+10:00

Humour related to the Orthodox Church: http://turtlemom3.wordpress.com/2008/05/29/eastern-orthodox-humor/

Kapsalis, on the missionary character of every Orthodox Christian: http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles8/Kapsalis-Fishing-with-Jesus.php

Tingley, on the unscientific nature of modern athism: http://touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=21-05-020-f

GraphJam. Trust me, it's awesome: http://graphjam.com

Orthodox Monk, translating the service to make someone into a Rassophore (a midpoint between Novice and Monk): http://orthodoxmonk.blogspot.com/2007/05/service-for-beginner-putting-on-rason.html

Orthodox Monk, translating the service to make someone into a Schemamonk: http://orthodoxmonk.blogspot.com/2007/05/rubrics-and-service-of-great-and.html
And continuing with some commentary: http://orthodoxmonk.blogspot.com/2005/10/comments-on-vows-of-tonsure-to-great.html; http://orthodoxmonk.blogspot.com/2005/11/discussion-of-asceticism-and-vows-of.html

I adjudicated two debates last night, which was nice, and as far as I know, that's the end of my debating season. I'm kinda glad, because it means that my Wednesday nights are back so I can go back to Toastmasters - writing debating speeches is good, but I'm more hoping for diversity - there's a lot of ways of writing and presenting a speech, but I've only got a couple of styles at the moment, so TM should help with that.

It's kinda an odd thing that I can look at my diary and have nothing to do until...y'know, Saturday.

P's make degrees, 4s open doors...

2008-06-17T22:25:00.003+10:00

So. I submitted my assignments. Turns out, I got most of my other assignments back, too - basically, I'm sitting on all fours (no pun intended - for those unfamiliar to university scoring, that means I'm getting somewhere between 50-65% overall for all of my non-prac subjects). I'm okay with that. Not thrilled, mind you, but okay.

Saturday, celebrated my father's birthday (last week was the family celebration; this week was the friends-plus-family celebration). Fair bit of friction between two people (myself included) and one particular person, basically based along the lines that (if I was going to be charitable) she was used to running the show and wasn't about to stop that just because she, ahem, wasn't actually running the show. Bit the metaphoric tongue quite a few times. The irony was that half of the conversation was centred around the explicit theme of disproving her lack of intelligence. It sounds horrible, but she was actually the person who brought that topic up. I'm not quite sure exactly how much of a contradiction-in-terms the entire ordeal was, but I was glad to have an excuse to amuse myself in other areas.

After that, I caught up with a friend who was going overseas. Y'know, eventually - her flight was the next day, and some things needed to be done. Unfortunately, time got away and we ended up talking basically through the time for church. Considering her departure and my going to church the next morning (and, hey, that it was stimulating conversation), well worth it.

Speaking of which, went to church the next morning, had breakfast and coffee afterwards. It's probably the shared experience of the people there (all been/being involved in some form of ministry), but I'm really enjoying the discussions and the interplay.

Monday was busy, went to church in the morning, had breakfast with a couple of people, then did R.E. I was wondering how my first week back would be, and thought that I'd just have some fun with it. Bad move, cardinal sin of teaching is to walk in jovial and then get serious, because it never works without some kind of transition. Especially when, in this case, there were about 45 students there. Afterwards went to lunch, then went home.

Today, I did...almost nothing. If I didn't need to go to the shops and get some milk (among other things), I probably would have stayed in tracksuit pants for the day. Tomorrow will be largely the same, except for debating in the evening; Thursday the same again (without debating), and Friday will also be sans activity.
Sometimes it's good to have nothing to do, but where I am, it's actually sucking quite a bit.

End of Semester! Relief

2008-06-12T08:52:00.004+10:00

As of about 4:30 this morning (or so), I finished all the assessment due for this semester. YAY!
I just need to proofread the two pieces and submit them today, then I am done. Oh, I don't normally proofread. But this assignment was hard - probably the hardest assignment I've done to date - and I did parts of it over a number of weeks (about five actual sessions of writing); but, that's kinda to be expected, because it was an assignment that had some primary research in it (mine were surveys). Because of the uniqueness of the area, I'm considering submitting it to a journal of some kind (after some more polish, of course).

Trust me, I'm very happy that - marks going well - I'm half finished my course.

Other things that have happened...

On Friday, as you may have guessed, I finished my practicum and got a 'Very Good' (basically, on a scale of A to D, I got a B), which I'm very happy with. Considering where they expect us to be at this point regardless of how much education we've done, very happy indeed. And I know my supervising teachers well enough to know that they're not just playing nice, either. As I've said previously, I was lucky enough to get people that basically gelled with my personality type, and that means no unworthy praise - which, of course, means more.

Saturday was my father's birthday, so I spent the day over at my parent's with them and my brother, who has come back from Shanghai. Sunday was church in the morning, where I preached a sermon (on the Gospel of the First Ecumenical Council, appropriately enough), and afterwards went to the youth bbq that was being held at another parish.

The birthday of the Queen went largely unnoticed on Monday (uni student, remember) except for changes in bus timetables. I went out to coffee with one of my housemates, which was cool, and bought a pair each of athletic shoes and sandles, which was necessary. Nothing flash - I think I got the cheapest pairs in Payless Shoes, which should say something - but I'm quite happy with the purchases.

Tuesday was a day when I false-started on the assignment, only to watch TV shows; then, on Wednesday, did largely the same thing. Now, I had two assignments - the research one and a reflection - to go, which was only about 1500 words, but I had no idea on the latter assignment and a lot of things to research in the former. So, I did the logical thing and decided that I would be better able to do the assignments if I was doing them in the wee hours of the morning.
Sound plan, right?
So at about 4pm, I realised that I had my Toastmasters meeting at 6 and wouldn't get home until 9, and then I discovered that State of Origin football (i.e. the biggest three-match series of the year) was on that night. Finding myself entirely unable to do my preparatory snooze has, well, made me doubt my work, hence where proofreading comes in. On the positive side, I'd had that bottle of V in my fridge for too long. On the negative side, I still have half the Red Bull. And as someone who has tasted Red Bull, trust me, it's a negative.

So today, I plan to submit my assignments, pick up the marks that I've already received, and then go home. I'm not sure what I'm doing with my day, but you can be quite certain that I'll not be spending it doing anything terribly radical like, say, moving.

Disparity

2008-06-09T12:14:00.004+10:00

For most of this year, I've been complaining about my course, which a course that teaches you how to teach. There are 32 weeks in a given academic year, and in my course, exactly 11 of them are devoted to prac work. About 4-5 are devoted to end of semester assignments, which leaves 16 for actual teaching - which really doesn't leave much time for teaching how to teach.

Now, my chief complaint with the course is that it gave such a small time period for prac - other universities give as much as 16 weeks of pracwork. My solution was to change the qualification for teaching from a graduate diploma to a post-graduate apprenticeship - stick around a teacher you feel is particularly good for a year and you'll figure out how to teach. Hey, it works for other professions.

In the course of doing a research assignment for my graduate diploma (the irony not lost), I've completely done an about face. See, my assignment is on religious education in state schools - basically the only place where a person can teach unsupervised without having a teaching qualification (you need approval from the religious body and a working-with-children card, but that's about it). I've found a great disparity between those who have just taught from their knowledge and those who are trained teachers in one area particularly - methodology of teaching.

See, when you have a small length of time to teach, you can get by on the ol' chalk-n-talk - where the teacher will talk, the students will listen and regurgitate on the test (hopefully metaphorically). That's something you can do when the lesson is 40min or less, and it works well enough, and people wonder why you need to teach teachers how to teach. But, when the lesson is longer than that, you just can't do that - you need to do something to vary the class, some groupwork, some audiovisual, whatever, it needs to be done. The trained teachers understand that. The untrained teachers, well, don't. They remember their old lessons, where the teacher - who knew pretty much everything - would walk into a classroom, talk for 40 minutes, and walk to their next class - pure chalk-n-talk. Teacher training lets you teach differently and in different ways, it lets you plan lessons and know what you want to get out of them.

Maybe you'd be able to get that out of an apprenticeship - probably not, and it would depend on the teacher and there's a really high chance that the knowledge would just get lost. Maybe an 18 month course would be better - six months theory, six months theory-prac, six months apprenticeship (paid at apprentice rates). Maybe that'd work, I dunno. But, you definitely need to teach people how to teach, because you cannot just talk to students for that long a time without boredom setting in.

Lots of debating talk and remembering how good I've got it

2008-06-06T11:49:00.003+10:00

Well, final day on prac. Just a couple of further observations...

Yesterday, I was at a debating meeting (my last one), and the three teams gave me a present - a gift voucher for HMV...it was really awesome. Not the voucher, but that they valued my contribution...very happy :)

Today was exam supervision. It was boring. And, of course, will be boring (since I have more supervisions to go). I think they dump supervisions on the prac teachers because, well, we're not marking, after all.

Had an interesting experience on Wednesday night - my first complaint from a coach. I've generally been pretty good in my adjudications, as far as responses go - parents from both sides often compliment, debaters are quite receptive, everyone seems okay with the result, even if it didn't go their way on the night. That night, though, the coach spoke to me after the debate, opening with that classic line of diplomacy, 'I disagree with everything you said', and then worked backwards from there - including following that by saying that she did, in fact, agree with a lot of what I said. She basically said that the Affirmative team (i.e. not her team) didn't explicitly say that they were going to prove the topic (which, I'm fairly sure I said, was a ridiculous thing to say) and that I had missed the Negative team's (i.e. her team's) caseline (which is just funny, because if it's the caseline it's impossible to miss!). I politely told her that she didn't know what she was talking about, and she probably didn't accept that, but she did walk away in the middle of a tirade, which suited me fine.

Had pizza last night. I like my greasy American-style pizza. When the delivery boy came, though, I was struck by how sucky some jobs were, and how deeply unhappy people could be. I've been unhappy before - very much so, like most people - but he seemed to be depressed on a contagious level, as if you get bummed out by seeing him. It's a healthy reminder that I do actually enjoy what I'm doing. Teaching may have its downs and have annoying people to deal with, but it's got a lot of positives and I could definitely see myself teaching for at least ten years.

I'm delivering another sermon this Sunday, on the Gospel theme (First Ecumenical Council). Doing sermons is, well, for me, it's kinda fulfilling. I love public speaking (and rhetoric in general), and I love educating, and I love telling people about God, so personally, it's the best of everything that I'm wanting to be doing with myself.

And my brother comes back from China today...I'll see him after prac. Tomorrow's my dad's birthday, so we should have a nice family day between tonight and tomorrow. It's a full day, liturgically :)

List of books on my list to purchase

2008-06-03T14:52:00.003+10:00

Obviously, I haven't won the lottery. Turns out, it helps if you buy a ticket. That means that, financially, that I'm in the half of the population that makes the top half possible.

There are a number of books that I would like to buy:

All of the PostSecret books (I own the first, but not the other three).
St Bede's commentary on Scripture (and there's a lot of them).
Patsavos' book on expectations of the clergy in the first five centuries AD
HTM's Pocket Psalter
Orthodox Psychotherapy, by Metr. Hierotheos (Vlachos)
Christian Philosophy in the Patristic and Byzantine Tradition, by Tatakis.

Also, an icon of St Justin Martyr would be lovely.

Not sure what that list was for, but I'm sure I'll use it when I actually have an income :)

Last Week of Prac - 3 days to go!

2008-06-03T13:51:00.003+10:00

This is my last week of prac. I have about, oh, three days to go. One is exams, and the other two are preparing for exams, so aside from about three lessons I'm actually done as far as the whole preparing for lessons thing goes.

How have I found it?
1. Teaching isn't easy. I've had a lot of experience teaching previously, but I've always been teaching things that I've known backwards, where my biggest problem has been behaviour; here, my biggest problem is content knowledge, because I'm teaching topics that I don't actually know before preparing for the class. I'm a little worried about going to a school that actually has behavioural management problems, to be honest, if I have to teach topics that I know nothing about. Of course, behavioural management problems mean that I don't have to know a full period's worth of knowledge, but still.

2. The teachers have been supportive, each in their own way (people are different, after all).

3. The girls are really...quiet. It takes a lot for them to get going. The only time I've had any difficulties controlling a class has been a year 9 class (14 year olds) in the last period on a rainy day, and it was right at the end of the class - and it took maybe two sentences to have all ears on me. I do enjoy the interactions - the young can be so full of life that it's refreshing to see and, even if obliquely, be a part of, and that's particularly so in debating (or, at least, with the debaters).

4. I like teaching something that I know. That's my reason for getting into teaching, after all. I'm a little put off by the reality that during prac, I wasn't able to teach anything that I knew something about - apparently good training for the real world, but it's not doing me any favours. It's also kinda annoying that I've been teaching in schools since 2003, and in schools full-time for a year, but I don't feel that I've really made a difference anywhere. Maybe my bar is set too high, I dunno.

5. Generally, my teaching methods worked - go through a bit of content (off my own head or through a textbook), answer questions as well as I can, generating some teacher-led discussion, affirming student answers, going through a movie and stopping it occasionally to discuss some salient points. The older grades particularly like content teaching, the younger particularly like discussion - it's a matter of realising that you're there to teach them, so the best teaching methods are the ones that they respond to.

6. I'm not totally sure if I'll get into teaching as a career. I know, it's a big thing to say, particularly when I've thrown a year at jumping through the requisite hoops. But I may use supply teaching as a means of supplementing money while I continue postgraduate work.

6a. I'm considering doing something in Public Theology, which would be totally awesome. I'm studying Applied Orthodox Theology now, but that won't give me an academic qualification (it's an ecclesiastical qualification), and I would like to get an academic qualification in theology that doesn't require me saying that The da Vinci Code was solid theology - and moreover, the Public Theology course is about applying theology to the outside world, which is something that I'm both interested in and will need to know.

I know that I've been doing a lot of reflecting on prac, but I'm going to be using this blog as a basis for the reflection that I have to submit after prac is over - it's only 500w, so I think I'll be okay :)

Reflection

2008-05-27T14:40:00.006+10:00

Just a bit of a reflection on life and prac in the last few days...

God may send adversities, but if we are patient and wait for a few days to a fortnight, He'll also send what we need to weather that. If we are patient, and realise that God will do things in His time - not because He can't organise things, but because we need to learn that we're not the centre of God's existence - rather, He should be the centre of ours. It's a lesson that I'll probably spend the remainder of my life on this plane learning, but it's something that's been brought home recently.

Prac, I've gotta say, has been really boring and a little frustrating. Today has been one of those days when I just want to throw my hands up and go back to an office job. I shan't - not before I graduate, anyway - but it's very tempting. I'm spending a bit of time with the debating team - really hope they win, hey - I've spent a lot of time with them, working through their case and drilling the underlying concept into them. Hope it works.

I've been really appreciative of Facebook. Not the program, of course, but the fact that I can express an emotion and get people read it and say 'hey, how you doin'?' is really awesome.

Preached a sermon on Sunday, which was totally rockin' (both the fact that I was and, from comments, the sermon itself). It's certainly something that I greatly enjoy.

I haven't even looked at my theology stuff. I'm kinda getting nervous about it - it's getting to be that time of the year that the exams are going to be coming out soon...a little nervous!

More Fridge Quotes!

2008-05-24T07:28:00.013+10:00

My fridge, when I was living on the Gold Coast, had some awesome quotes that I really liked, and now, I've finally gotten around to posting them online. That only took, what, six months?

On the left hand side:
A shopping list. Having one on the fridge actually makes a lot of sense.

"A smile is a sign of joy, a hug is a sign of love, a laugh is a sign of happiness, and a friend like me...well, that's a sign of...good taste!" - Mel.

"Some have to make the fumes, some have to breathe them in..." - Streaky.

And on the front:

"I've seen the books you read, I'll stick to Tolstoy." - Teddy.

"Cheese is your friend!" - Stixie.

"This isn't about...booze and crackers on a lazy Sunday morning!" - Smitty.

"I was kinda hoping that there wasn't a bullet there...but obviously there was." - Mr T.

"You art corrected"
"How butchered did Old English just get?!" - Emster and Smitty.

"I need to wash u-...you need to wash up, honey."
"You guys are pigs!" - Teddy and Ange.

"I care more about what my Converse shoelace has to say, because at least I know my shoelace won't say anything stupid!" - Teddy.

"Not many people visit me..."
"Yeah. It'd help if you were more popular." - Smitty and Mel.

"I just had this great idea"
"Do whatever you want, just don't wake me up" - Ted and Robin, from How I Met Your Mother.

"My head hurts."
"That's your brain, trying to comprehend it's own stupidity." - Eric and Red, from That '70s Show.

And on the other side...
"No wonder [he] likes you, he's probably never seen anything so entertaining!" - Lizzy.

"You could submit a cereal box if you wanted; you'll just fail, that's all!" - Dp.

"Can I have the least orange cheese?" - Stixie.

"My car has been there so long, you can see it on Google Earth!" - Stixie.

On cooking with the windows open: "Great. My house smells like a rissole." - Smitty.

On giving pearls to swine: "They'd sniff it and inhale it through their eyeball!" - Macca.

(this side was kinda long, and wouldn't fit in one photo - my photoshopping - sans photoshop - is why it looks a bit odd half-way down)

"There's nothing about being a verger that says you have to be a virgin. It's New and Improved!" - Emster.

"I don't objectify women!"
"Oh, really!"
"Well...not verbally..." - Smitty.

"Do U Believe in love at first sight? Cause I can go past again......" [sic] - Mel.

"Of course it's a fake smile, I'm talking to my fake friend!" - Mel.

Review of Prac Wk2, with a bit of introspection that needed notarising

2008-05-23T16:32:00.003+10:00

I'm slowly learning (and by learning, I mean 'incorporating into my life') the fact that I don't actually have to rely on any given person. Unfortunately, today's lesson of the day is coming by problematic means - this exact same thing happened a few years ago, and by a remarkably similar method.

I'm definitely afraid that this will be a recurrant feature in my life. I'm hoping that it won't, but I've got the suspicion that by the time the next opportunity to break the pattern comes along, I'll have forgotten what I need to do. But, in some ways, I'm not sure what can prevent this particular occurance that's giving me the lesson: it may feel like I'm repeating the pattern when, in fact, I'm just doing something and then creating a pattern (much like people who read astrology and say 'well, I'm going to work, I suppose that qualifies as a journey...')

So: my second week of prac.

I got my interim report today, which basically is my supervising teachers' way of saying 'we like you enough to stay for another two weeks' or 'we think you're so bad that you shouldn't stay at this school'. In my case, it was the former. I got the middle-passing grade (like a B is) on everything, except 'ethical standards', for which I got the top grade (and that was the only criteria that I would have fought them on). They complimented me on my involvement in extra-curricular activities (a year-level of debating - three teams), which was nice.

In reality, the criticisms are pretty fair - I've been given classes where my content knowledge is quite deficient, so naturally I spend most of my time developing my knowledge rather than my teaching skills. However, I was surprised where the criticism was - I felt that my weak area was the seniors, who needed information; however, it seems that they're my strong area, and my weak area is the juniors - not because of content knowledge (which would just be the cherry on the irony sandwich that is my prac), but because I wasn't doing any varied activities. Fair enough.

I know it seems kinda weird that I would only debate the ethical point - I'm being graded as a prac teacher, after all, not on whether I'm perfect. But, when you're a male teacher, you have to watch yourself and how you associate with all those around you; and when you're at a private all-girls school, the opportunities for suspicion are, literally, all around you. I've been very, very careful in how I act, and the combination of that with how I conduct myself normally (and making sure that my topics of conversation are basically study-related) has, well, probably produced my rating and given me, not just a paper-trail, but reassurance that the standard of how I'm relating to the students is at the appropriate level.

I'm happy, my supervising teachers are happy, which makes me happier and confident for the remaining two weeks.

Opportunities

2008-05-20T16:55:00.003+10:00

I've been revisiting some thoughts in the last few minutes, particularly based on something that the Missions and Evangelism Office of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America have going. One of their aims is to establish missions in cities of over 100,000 people that do not have any Orthodox church of any jurisdiction.

If we were to change that slightly, to 'any Orthodox church that is liturgically Anglophonic', we'd find a lot of cities that were completely without:
3. Brisbane. With 1.8 million people, there is no Orthodox church that uses English as a standard liturgic language. The closest anglophonic parish is on the Gold Coast.
5. Adelaide. 1.1 million people, and I'm just as amazed as I am with Brisbane's lack. The closest is a monastery at Monarto North.
9. Wollongong. 280 thousand, with about three churches, all using a non-English language as the primary liturgic language.
10. Sunshine Coast. 230 thousand, and a monthly service.
12. Geelong. 169 thousand, and a monthly service.
13. Townsville. 157 thousand, one church.
14. Cairns. 135 thousand, one church.
15. Toowoomba. 123 thousand, bimonthly services.
16. Darwin. 117 thousand, two churches.
18. Albury-Wodonga. 101 thousand, one church.

That's 10 cities, all over 100,000 people, with the vast majority of their respective populations being essentially excluded from the Church. Probably done entirely by accident and possibly unavoidable, but the effect is the same regardless of the motivation.

There's a lot of work to be done.

Ninevic clarity; Reflections on first week of prac

2008-05-18T11:46:00.008+10:00

It occured to me last night, in a moment of clarity, while I was going to church (through a storm - maybe relevant, maybe not), that I'd been letting fear run some very important decisions for my life.

I've shied away from taking a direction that I feel to be right because I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to do it - wouldn't be able to carry it through to it's final conclusion. I'd been carrying that fear, and this isn't the first time it's stopped me - but perhaps the pattern has highlighted that fear isn't a good enough reason to not act in a certain way.

I'm convinced that Nineveh is calling.

Onto other things...
Turns out that my Grad Dip taking over a week is just good practise for prac. Of course, I did expect prac to take over my time - like a job would, coincidentally enough - but I didn't really get it until I'd gone through it.

Some reflections:
- I'd be a lot more confident if I was teaching in areas that I'm actually specialising in. I think it would be easier for me to learn how to teach if that was all that I had to learn, rather than also having to learn subject matter. I'm not saying that the school should be beholden to the student teacher's specific areas of expertise; but as one who did one of his units in junior legal studies and the other in senior modern history, I'd be a lot happier if I wasn't teaching ancient history and junior geography. I'm literally teaching a subject that I deliberately chose not to do in high school. A student asked me how I could like geography, and I almost burst out laughing.

Yesterday I couldn't spell English teacher and now I is one. - Anon.
Me fail English? That's unpossible! - The Simpsons

- I think that I've been doing well so far. My ability to teach and my class control haven't been criticised at all, and I'm going some way towards developing some rapport with students. As far as teaching ability is concerned, I think that I'm somewhat ahead of expectations - one of the reports was that the students were attentive, when I could clearly see some tuning out, so I'm taking that as me starting off very well (with improvement needed, of course!).
- Teaching at an all-girls school has it's own benefits and challenges. Class control is very easy, and leading the list of behaviour management problems is, like, litter.
- Teaching at an all-girls school as a young, male teacher (probably the only one this side of 45) has particular challenges. I'm definitely feeling somewhat objectified, and I've felt that enough that I've taken to wearing a ring on my left ring finger when I'm at the school (a prayer ring, but still).
- I'm looking forward to next semester. Hopefully, I'll be considered a SOSE/English teacher then, and be able to do some senior English classes, where interpretation comes into play and I can look at some of the classics.
- Even though some things have had to fall by the wayside, I've rediscovered an important part of having a daily schedule of things to do (in my case, walking 30min to school at a particular time each morning) - I can factor in an amount of prayer (or, at least, prayer-related activity) each morning. I'm listening to a different tone of the Sunday matins each day, which has been a blessing - I would almost go so far as to say 'saving grace'.
- In some respects, class preparation is difficult. In others, it's actually fairly easy. My knowledge of how long I expect a class activity is well off, but it seems that I have a good sense of how long a series of activities should take - as long as I follow the sequence, rather than the timing, I'm doing okay.

On the whole, a good start.

Other things that have happened:
Adjudicating on Wednesday and Friday. I'm starting to get sick of it, to be honest, but this is the last week that I'll have to do both. Was very excited that a term that I introduced, 'debaters stance', is finally getting some traction at my alma mater.
My housemate's parents have stayed here for a couple of days, which has taken some getting used to, but it's been okay thus far.
Mahjong was last week. Broke in a new player, and it worked out well - friend from high school, who was a gamer...once you've learnt the rules of a few games, more become easier to learn - much like languages, I'd think.
Emotionally, I've had a rough couple of weeks, but a combination of a Nineveh sensation and the realisation that I had (see top of post) bodes well, I think. Maybe I needed that 'dark night' (if you'll pardon the reference).
Finally got back to my usual Sunday morning church this week. Didn't stay for long, but people seemed to notice that I'd been gone and seemed happy that I was back.

It's taken over more than just three days!

2008-05-07T12:49:00.004+10:00

My Education grad-diploma just took over my last week!
Oh, not all of it. My planner said that it would take over an entire week - 1000 each day, to be precise. And yet, I had two entire days where I did, well, far less than that on my assignments.

My first unit outline was handed in yesterday, which is lovely, and my second unit outline was completed yesterday - to be handed in today (I know it's odd, but I'm waiting for my iPod to charge to a decent-enough level). So I'm pretty much set, assessment-wise - I have a couple of prac-related assignments to go (about 1350 words for one and about 2500 words for the other), but there's no rush for either, and, of course, I still have prac to go.

But there were two days where it all went to *cough*. I can categorically say that the Sunday just past was the worst day of the year (to date), and I hope to God (without any blasphemy at all) that it stays that way for a very long time.
I'm not at liberty to disclose what happened, and I'm fairly sure that even if I was, I wouldn't want to broadcast it (I have a few moments in my life that a handful of people know, and half of them are confessors - I'm not proud of those moments, but they do exist, and I'm sure I'm not unique).
Suffice to say that after resisting something for a long time (which, in this case, finally culminated in a psychosomatic reaction), I tend to take quite some time to recover - which, in my case, meant that I hid in my room for two full days in a state of what could understatedly be termed as 'down in the dumps', which rendered me unable to do much more than microwave frozen pies - which, of course, probably didn't help from a nutritional standpoint, but that was hardly at the forefront of my mind.
It's not easy to admit that. What I went through sucked, emotionally - I was really happy, basking in a Paschal afterglow - I wasn't just laughing at jokes easily, I was joyful. So going from that to depressed-for-two-full-days was, well, like falling off a very high cliff into a briskly-moving lagoon.
I'm feeling better now - time helps - and I did recover enough to finish my assignment (albeit, probably not very well). I'll probably be entirely back to normal by Friday.

My housemate flew out of Brisbane today, up to far-north Queensland for a week - it's going to be a little odd, because my other housemate is also going through prac to be a high school teacher, and it'll probably be the first time that we've simulated having a Monday-to-Friday routine (school hours being what they are - I think I'll end up leaving far earlier in the morning and getting back a little earlier in the afternoon...not sure about that, though).

I've got adjudicating tonight, then church tomorrow morning (which is good - the last midweek service in a while, and I missed communing on the weekend); Friday is my second observation day, then straight into prac on Monday. I'm hoping that all will go well...

My GradDip has taken over my last three days.

2008-05-02T16:38:00.007+10:00

Major things that have occured:

I almost finished one of my assignments. Just have to finish the lesson plan and get the resources for that lesson, and that'll be the assignment finished and complete. Still have the other assignment to go, of course (and that one's 4000 words - an extra 1000), and have until Wednesday to do it, so...that's 1000 words a day, which hypothetically shouldn't be terribly hard, but I'm really not looking forward to it.

Had my first day of prac today, which I'm just home from. I'm glad I've gone, because it's convinced me that schools (and particularly large businesses) are largely the same everywhere - not run like a precision machine, but gets the job done with a brave face and a kind of group identity based on knowing that a precision machine it ain't.
See, I'm technically a SOSE teacher, but really, all of my specialising has been in either civics (junior legal studies) or modern history, and next semester it will be in English as well. All well and good. My school gave me ancient history and, just to cap it off, junior geography. Obviously.
I'm lucky, though - one ancient history class and the geography class are in areas where I happen to have a pet interest, and the other ancient history class...well, it's not going into too much depth, so I'll be able to keep up fairly easily.

Had an odd dream last night. Was walking along somewhere with my best friend, then stopped somewhere and, for some reason, she was gone and I knew she'd been kidnapped. Then, as I was looking for her, I saw another friend of mine and told her to run and get out; later, I found out that they had both been kidnapped. Really strange - firstly because I rarely get dreams. I'm inclined to think of it as the outpouring of a general fear that I don't think is terribly uncommon - I'm not a big fan of losing people from my life (which is something that I fear is going to be inevitable at the end of the year - and not because I'm planning to move somewhere)

Tonight, I have adjudicating at the alma mater, which should be fun - at least it's not my uni course. I'm so sick of it. Even though I know that I'll need to at least throw the long weekend at the assignment, my brain is mush and needs other stimulation before it wilts...not unlike the flowers we have in the vase downstairs.

Dynamics

2008-04-30T09:38:00.000+10:00

No real updates...

My housemate left for the coast yesterday, so I'm enjoying the experience of having one less person in the house. It's interesting to notice what changes when a particular dynamic is taken out of the equation, and how the remaining dynamics readjust.

Looking forward to prac on Friday. Kinda nervous, even though I don't really have anything to be nervous about - it's an observation day, after all. But, this is the kind of school that I could see myself working at - and very happy to lobby for my employment - so it's important to make the best impression - both in teaching ability and in content knowledge. Ironically, it's the latter that I'm more concerned about - my history knowledge really isn't that expansive...

Having a lot of thought in the last few days on where I'm wanting my life to go, and how I'm wanting to get to the life ambitions that I've set for myself. No where near finished thinking about that, so hopefully I can at least put it to one side for a moment while I finish the assignments...

I've realised that I've got a lot of adjudicating. Good money, and I'm good at it, but it's not exactly convenient - it usually finished at 9:30pm, and not having a car has its own dramas...and it's really cutting into (ironically) my Toastmasters meetings!

Christ is Risen!

2008-04-28T10:42:00.003+10:00

As I said in my mass-e-mail:

Christ is Risen!

And death is overcome,
And the gates of hades are undone;
And, no longer the slaves of sin,
but the loving servants of Him;
We are brought to Life.

With festive joy, celebrate:
Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!

I put in the subject line '(yet another mass e-mail)', which I meant as a demarcation of 'not urgent at all'. But, as someone said, 'mass e-mails are no different from photocopied invitations' - it doesn't mean you care for the recipient less, it just means that you want to say the same thing to everyone.

I know, it's been a while between updates. That's partly because of the lack of time caused by Lent and uni, but in the last two weeks, it's been because of some medical issues - I've had two surgeries done. What they were is not exactly polite conversation for the dinner table, but suffice it to say that I now fear far less things. Far less.

Alas, the second surgery was to take place on Holy Tuesday, and I stayed overnight, which meant that I missed quite a few services (all the ones on Tuesday and Wednesday). But, thankfully, a bit of a liturgic shifty occured on Holy Monday when a parish celebrated its Unction (anointing) service on Monday night, instead of Wednesday. Which worked for me, obviously. I spent a lot of my free time in the hospital basically reading the services for Holy Week, from Palm Sunday evening onwards. I caught up by the time I got to the Holy Thursday evening Crucifixion service.

The rest of Holy Week was spent with a lot of time sitting down in church, and lying down at home. Went back to the hospital on Saturday, thinking there was a problem; thankfully (or otherwise!), the nature of the problem meant that the body's natural recovery process was necessarily difficult...sucks, but I felt better, knowing that at least it's going to be all back to normal soon.

As an aside, even though from the outside this Holy Week was the worst it could have been, I'm kinda inclined to think that there was a massive silver lining there. I know that this Lent was probably the worst, spiritually, that it could have been, but I feel like the events of the past week have been, well, helpful. Illness can do that, I suppose.

There were a lot of things that were done this year at one church that hadn't been done before - traditional practises with theological meaning. Some of these are just plain fun - like banging on everything on Holy Saturday morning. A lot of people commented on this - and a few important people noticed that never before has there been so many people, and so many young people, staying for the services - especially for the end of the Liturgy which, this year, happened after Communion (rather than, in previous years, attempting to get people to stay by having Communion after the dismissal).

Fantastic week, wonderful celebration. This year, without need (or even inclination) to remind myself of what we are commemorating, I felt it. Gratitude for the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, and all the events commemorated. Much joy.

This week, called Bright Week, is also (as I found out) called the Octoimera - Eighth Day. The whole week is Pascha and is outside of time, which is only fitting for the feast of feasts that commemorates God being bigger than death - or, as it turns out, time.

Spent the post-resurrection meal at my priest's house, which I was very grateful for, and the next day at his larger family's celebration; then, came home to my housemate's using the day as an excuse to have people over. Rather than make it an Easter celebration (which, truth be told, it wasn't), it was a C celebration - the idea started with chicken and chocolate cake, and went from there to include coke and a crunchy salad with carrot, celery, cos lettuce and others. Certainly brought home the idea of being outside time :)

This week is the last before my day of prac, on Friday. I have 8-9 days to do two massive assignments, neither started, totaling about 7000 words and 120%. Should be fun. Reflecting on it, a lot of it will be just inserting words - having to write a criteria sheet is actually fairly easy, and that's 800 words right there. Definitely looking forward to the end of that, of course!

I'll try not to make the next post three weeks later - but with prac, no promises!

Small Update

2008-04-08T14:18:00.005+10:00

I feel really...old. Or tired. I'm not sure. Lethargic, perhaps. Nothing's really motivating, and everything seems somehow skewed or tainted, especially when I reflect on it. My only thought is some kind of chemical imbalance, which - given my oh-so-nutritious dietary intake - would make some sense, I suppose.

I'm still keeping above water with the assessment. The group assignment, I think, will prove easier than I thought initially, and that's worth 60%, so I should be okay.

Had some unfortunate inferences that I may or may not be blowing out of proportion, but I've got a really uncomfortable feeling that I'm not that far off. We'll see.

No more midsemester, go away Autumn

2008-03-31T07:24:00.005+10:00

So, it's been a little while since I posted last. I mean, lifeblogged last - I don't count my previous post as a post about me, so...

I didn't get as much assessment done as I had planned - I finished about 45% worth. Enough to keep me safe from handing in late assignments for the next week, yes, but when I have a total of 120% of 300% (pre-prac) due on a Friday-Monday coming up in five scant weeks, with other stuff due in the meantime, you can probably see why I'm not really concerned with the whole head-above-water stuff - keeping ahead is keeping my head above water.

Saturday was an awesome night. Preceded by going to Raby Bay as a household trip, I went to church. As part of the Earth Hour deal, the priests decided to celebrate in the dark. Any excuse for a vigil, I suppose! Anyway, it rocked, and Lucas has a good post that I'm not going to copy.

Sunday, went to church, came back, spent the afternoon at my housemates place of work. After that, went to the Bible study (that isn't really a Bible study - more of a topic study, as I was trying to explain to my housemate...but topic study just doesn't sound good), came back and went to bed. Sunday's are always a long day, starting at 5am, but never so much as when I don't get to sleep until the evening. It's good, because that means that I don't screw up my sleeping pattern, but not so good, because I feel tired for a portion of the day, which is a sensation that I don't particularly enjoy.

Woke up this morning to find out, in no uncertain manner, that it was Autumn. I'd been able to ignore this for the best part of a month, because it just wasn't acting like Autumn, but today I could ignore it no longer. I'm wearing my senior's jersey from high school, and even though I miss Summer, at least I get to wear this. Kinda a consolation prize.

The Sensible Nonsense that is the Definition of God

2008-03-30T21:10:00.004+10:00

Below is the main part of an e-mail that I sent to a friend regarding a common objection to Chalcedonian Christianity - Trinitarian theology and Christology. I think it explains my position rather well, with quoted references. Comments very welcomed, and lifeblogging to resume soon.

-------

A common problem that people have with both the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, God (Trinitarian Theology) and with the dual natures of Christ (Christology) is the very simple idea of maths. 1+1+1=1 or 1+1=1, how does that work, it doesn't (short of trippy, funky maths which, aside from being beyond my understanding, is really rather beside the point).

But, it's not supposed to work based on our logic.

"If God were small enough to fit in our heads, He would not be big enough to worship" - Paul Tyson, c.2001.

We have to be willing to admit that God is bigger than us, that in the same way as we can look at the world around us and comprehend it without it comprehending us, God comprehends us without us comprehending it. In fact, moreso - God created us, so the relationship is not dissimiliar to God knowing us like an engineer knows their building, or a watchmaker knows their watch, or a programmer knows their program.

And, back to the point...

"certum est, quia impossibile / it is certain--because it is impossible." - Tertullian, 2nd Century AD

How could humans come up with something like Trinitarian theology? It's a mess, and on quite a number of levels nigh-on impossible to defend - it took the Church until the late 300s to have the final church-wide (i.e. second ecumenical) council on Trinitarian theology, and until the 600s to have the final Church-wide (i.e. sixth ecumenical) council on the subject of Christology.

But, the point is that we didn't come up with it. If humans had, then humans would feel quite free to change it - and many did try. Rather:

"We cannot change these things, because we did not make them. They came from above." - Abp Stylianos of Australia, 2002.

Because the Trinity was revealed to us, because the two natures of Christ are so blatantly revealed to us, we do not have the luxury of changing them so that we get better advantage in a debate, nor the luxury of changing to a more defensible position. We must be true to what we have seen and beheld, not to what we can logically defend.

And so, we believe the logically impossible - or rather, we see the limits of human logic and human intelligence. At some point we must realise that we can't go further - our brains aren't big enough, we aren't ready, we're not quite 'solid' enough (which seems to convey the general idea) - and we must simply bow before the mystery.

Big Ol' Ordination

2008-03-26T13:15:00.003+10:00

Wow.
That was a big weekend.

So we had the metropolitan up this weekend, which was awesomely intense - started at the Akathist on Friday, through Vespers on Saturday and culminating in a matins and hierarchical Divine Liturgy with an ordination to the diaconate. *turns fanboy*.

Ordinations are always amazing experiences. Photos are available.

That was pretty much my weekend.

On the Thursday preceding, we had a game of Mahjong, which was totally awesome. The winner that day was...Emma - congrats!

Tonight we had another game, with Bradley being the winner - again, congrats!

I have to say, it's really starting to annoy me that I have done really well, pretty well each week. And I've done quite nicely on quite a few nights. But aside from the first few times we've played (when everyone basically didn't know what they were doing), I've basically made the second place my own. First Bradley trended winning, then Emi, and now it seems to be spiralling again...but whatever seems to happen, I seem to be holding onto second.

See, in Mahjong, it doesn't actually matter how well you do if you don't win that hand - only the winner's tiles and points are counted, and for whatever reason, I don't win big - I generally get a couple of points above the bad-win-bonus (the winner gets 20 points, and if they don't have any valuable sets of tiles, then they get double that as a consolation - I, on the other hand, get the 20 points but don't get the double because I've gotten a three-of-a-kind or somesuch - e.g. tonight, my biggest win was 24x4 which, rounded down, totals 80). However, the person who comes first invariably flukes a massive win (the big win tonight, for comparison, netted 960 points), which means that it's very difficult for someone like me to catch up.

Other things I did this week include getting the marks for one of my three applied theology subjects back (of the three passing grades, I got the top passing grade) and doing assessment. I did 40% worth on Monday, but the week has gotten away from me, so I will have to do a decent effort tomorrow to get to my desired total for this break...and I didn't factor Holy Week into my calculations, so I'll be working as much as I can tomorrow and Saturday so that Holy Week isn't affected too much...

Lastly, the funniest 'game over' interaction that I've read (see Barmaid Blog):

Dude: Can I buy you a drink?
Chick: No hablo inglés.
Dude: ¿Bien, puedo comprarte una bebida?
Chick: Ich spreche nicht Spanischen.

Classic!

Just a short update

2008-03-20T15:30:00.003+10:00

My parents left to go see my brother yesterday. They've left me as the housesitter for a little while.

I got something cool today - my futon mattress. Can't get the frame to me as yet - it doesn't fit in a sedan, sadly, but that'll be coming in about three weeks.

I also did a small bit of assessment today - not long (150w, worth 1.75%), but just long enough to be annoying. After a three-week reprieve, I now have to do about 30% each week (and 60% during midsemester). Can't say I'm looking forward to it, but with my parent's absence, I should be able to throw something together.

And tomorrow: the Bishop is coming...

Long Time Between Posts

2008-03-18T19:22:00.004+10:00

I didn't think it was so long between posts...

The rest of Wednesday last ended with the Presanctified Liturgy, which was awesome (in more than one sense).

The end of last week was rather quiet. Lots of assignment writing. I finished that assignment, then used Sunday to do the bibliography. Sadly, I'm having to get used to APA style, instead of Harvard, which is similar enough to be really annoying - it's basically just different commas, full stops and brackets...very annoying.

In addition to that, we had the landlord visit to do some repairs. Now, when you're renting, the landlord has to give three days notice to do an inspection. This wasn't an inspection, but you know that if they enter the house and see it a mess, they're going to end up by saying 'and we'll see you in three days', so you basically have to treat it like an inspection. So that was my Thursday.

It gave me a chance to clean my room and to finally put together my prayer corner (which is rather traditional amongst Orthodox); and it gave one of my housemates a chance to make a rather dodgy looking chair into what I dubbed 'the radioactive chair'. Check out the pic to see what I mean...

Sunday, I went to my usual church, and was asked if I'd be able to do some sermons, which I was very happy to accept. I've got about 10 weeks notice, but I've finished them already, so there'll be a little bit of playing with the fonts and margins and a fair bit of coming back to them in a week to make sure that they a) flow and b) are less than 10mins long.

I also got given a bottle of tonic (this one was a light-red colour). Whatever that is, I thought that the labels for it were awesome - it's supposed to look like medicine, and starts off with "for the temporary relief of normal", and I'll let my devoted readers read the rest :)

Monday, I taught an R.E. class. Kinda trippy - started off with St Gregory Palamas, when I found out that it's really hard to teach people who don't really want to learn, then flipped it to someone else to talk about Job, who found a similar thing, then flipped back to me when I did a little bit on Christology - who Jesus is. I tried to summarise both segments with some easy-to-remember lines; don't know how much sunk in. Then, for whatever reason, a whole bunch of students asked about paganism, so I tried to do a comparative segment about that. Fortunately (or otherwise), I know a fair bit about the subject matter, so I feel like I was able to do it justice.

Today I went to uni, and sent a very annoyed e-mail to another lecturer about some of the members in a presentation group. Think I'll be external for that subject...

Got a pretty sweet ending to today - my grandma called and offered to buy me a bed (a 'luxury' that I had eschewed since moving to my current abode) as a belated birthday, which is totally awesome!

Tute quote

2008-03-12T11:49:00.003+10:00

had an awesome interchange in my tute today. Rest assured that it had nothing to with the tute:

"*light slap on arm*"
"Ow! My arm is blue for a reason!"

My Weekends Are Big

2008-03-11T14:04:00.007+10:00

It's like my time at uni is really my weekend!

Friday...not sure what I did. Went to uni, I think.

Saturday was a day of chilling - said goodbye to a housemate's mother who had been staying for a little bit - then church in the evening. Caught up with some of the OCCG folks, which was both a bit different and nice. Was supposed to go out that night, but things took a different turn and I ended up just going to sleep.

Had a bit of a discussion about "external relations", if you will. One of the natural consequences of believing that Orthodoxy is, well, God's religion (it's a little more complicated, but this adjectival statement will do) is that one has to decide how to relate to those outside the Church. The person I was talking to was saying that we should have a deal of respect for other Christian denominations, but seemed to stop part way through because I was frowning rather noticeably.

To be fair, my interlocutor was riffing on an experience where a (protestant) Christian was attacking said interlocutor based on Orthodox theology - especially icons.
However, I don't think that people should be accorded more respect because of their religion or lack thereof, or their denomination or deficiency therein, and I think that I did disagree with this, but I think that 'should we offer protestants respect because they also worship Christ' is asking the wrong question: we were told to love everyone. We can respect another person's ability to believe and the sincerity of that belief without necessarily referencing the truth of that belief, and certainly without implying acceptance of that belief. Any evangelistic endeavour (in the sense that living the Christian life should be leading people towards Christ) that starts off saying 'you are wrong' is doomed to failure - through no fruit, or worse, through poisonous fruit.

Sunday, I went to church - got a picture of a sign at the train station that had graffiti on it, which I found amusing (look at the head of the pedestrian). It was Forgiveness Sunday, so after the service we had a rite of forgiveness - in this case, it involves asking everyone present for their forgiveness, bowing as it happens. After this, I was driven back, and we went to another church that was doing much the same thing - this time, using a double cheek-kiss. Went home, then went to another church for the same deal, but this time it came after a Vespers (as is the ideal). After that, someone invited me to share a pre-lent meal, which was awesome - cheese pizza, chocolate iceblocks, prawns and rice in sauce, defrosted battered fish, washed down by chocolate milk...it was awesome.

Monday saw me teach RE. Not as good a class, I think - I could have planned my content a little better. It still worked very well, though.
Then went to have coffee with a friend at uni, did a little study, then went to a tute. Went home, went to church for Great Compline, which went for a lot longer than I thought it would - 2 hours, when I'm used to about 40mins! It was good, though. As cliched as it sounds, praying rocks, particularly in community.

Today was a lecture, then home, then submitting my form for the government-funded student subsidy. Oh, and I set up an account to do payments with.

Things still yet to do - renew learner's permit (I know...); laundry; like, every essay...

Looking forward to a friend's ordination to the diaconate, which is coming up in the next two weeks...stay tuned.

Lyrics - Nathanial Miles by Fr Justin Mathews

2008-03-06T16:54:00.006+10:00

That song I downloaded (see last entry) doesn't seem to have lyrics up anywhere, so I thought I'd see what I could do...

Nathanial Miles, by Justin Mathews.
from the album Confessing Between the Lines (also available on iTunes).

Nathanial Miles was a good man,
Always willing to stay late or lend you a hand.
Come from the deep south, from old Alabama,
Met him at forty-eight, I was 24, but
He didn't seem to mind...

Picked him up at 6am by the radio station
Stopped for some coffee saying he felt like talking
Told me 'bout his wife and kids and the day she left him
How he spent 20 years living out of box cars,
A life that almost killed him.

I've been looking for a heart I've never known
Searching for someone to sing me sweetly home

He said, I slid off the rail by that old rescue mission,
The crave and the DT's had shaken the hop from him.
Got a hot meal and a warm cot, but I laid awake,
Something that the preacher said, about the thirsting dead,
And the water that Jesus had...

I've been looking for a heart I've never known,
Searching for someone to sing me sweetly home

(instrumental interlude)

With the last sip of coffee he said,
Here's the part that i bet you would never guess

Upstairs the mission offered life recovery,
Powder for the shot to those losing the war.
Thought about my wife and kids and the years I've been running,
And I made up my mind, it was long past time,
To put the past behind

I've been looking for a heart I've never known
Searching for someone to sing me sweetly home
I've been looking for a heart I've never known
Searching for someone to sing me sweetly home
Sweetly home
Sweetly home

Post Illustrated

2008-03-05T18:36:00.007+10:00

This was the view of the bus that I took to get from uni today to the city. It's an inter-campus shuttle bus, goes quarter-hourly, and it's full. Now, admittedly, the other end of the shuttle bus takes you to the city, which is where most people would go to get a bus home or whatnot, but still - what is with all the traffic?

Today at uni I figured out more about how to do my first real piece of assessment (3.75% doesn't really count - 20%, 1000w, on the other hand, totally counts).

I also decided to effectively change teaching areas - before, I was going to be a social science teacher (3 subjects), with an extra specialisation in senior history (1 subject); now, I'm going to be a social science teacher (2 subjects) with an emphasis on history (1 subject that's part of the social science sequence) and an extra specialisation in English (1 subject).

After another fiasco today (i.e. rent day), my housemates also decided to get a house account to pay the rent from. Should make life much easier.

Part of that fiasco was that I had to settle accounts with my previous place of residence - now, almost everything is sorted - all over bar the bond, I suppose.

Dear me, is this a short post after only a one day interval? Is it possible that I'm returning to more frequent blogging - with pictures? Stay tuned...

First Week of Uni

2008-03-04T21:49:00.004+10:00

It's been a long time since I've updated. It seems longer because February is a little shorter, but it's not that much shorter...it's been about a week.

I really enjoyed my first week back at uni. Great lectures, met some people (hi!), interesting topics. I'm really concerned about the assessment, though. Really. Hopefully this will mean that I'll be nervous enough to do it all quickly or something, but I have a bad feeling that it's going to rise and rise and the nerves will actually prevent me from doing much. I suppose I'll have to chill. Or get a valium or something :P

I'm trying to go to uni even on the days when I don't have class, just to do some study - not sure how well it's going to work, but with the state of my room, it's almost giving me an incentive to go to uni...

Friday was adjudicating - my last school vs my old school. I have to say that I was really disappointed with the behaviour and debating etiquette amongst one of those schools especially (and it's probably too easy to figure out which is which, so I'll avoid the defamation case now by not specifying). It's not hard to listen to an adjudication and not talk, particularly when the adjudicator is speaking about not talking while a speaker is talking. Seriously.

Saturday was the aforementioned Orthodox Christian Converts Group (now at occg.info), which was good - there's a definite attempt to avoid politics, which is both good and difficult...at some level, politicking is probably a significant reason why the group needs to exist in the first place. But, it's good, because there's no point getting away from something when all that you're doing is replicating it. Hopefully there'll be a change there and growth can happen.

Sunday saw me at the Gold Coast - today, a former Anglican priest (chrismated into the Church about 9 months ago now) served in the altar, which was really good to see - and about time, too. That night was a Bible study of sorts - it's called that, but the topic of discussion is very much on theology - that night was 'predestination and free will', for example, and aside from looking at where the basis of predestinationism was in Scripture (mostly through misapplication and taking out of context with the rest of Scripture, btw), it was mostly historical.

The next day, I was at RE, and found myself teaching not only my own year 10 class (11 students), but also the year 8 and 9 class (about 17 students) - 38 students in total, for a class that lasted for 70mins!
All in all, it actually worked out fantastically. My basic deal was to...act like a teacher. I know, profound. I even told one boy to tuck in his shirt - it's the power establishment that is so essential in class management - I don't enjoy it, but it's a tool I'll need to use, and then relax as the year goes on.
I don't know what changed, though, between the last time I taught - here or at my last school - but something seems different now. I was able to hold the attention of about 35 students (of the 38) for an hour, which is something that I never could have done before. When I last taught RE here, I was holding the attention of the whole class of 15 for most of the 30min period, which I was very happy with; when I last taught, I could hold attention for most of the class, but often couldn't actually come up with enough content for the whole length of class. That almost happened on Monday, actually, then I did a quick left turn.
I think that I'm starting to act like a teacher, and behave like a teacher would, and I think that the students respect that relationship. There's only a finite number of relationships that most students have - parent-child, teacher/coach-student, friend-friend. Before, I tried to be like the cool uncle or the much-older brother, and I think that's a relationship that most students don't have, and won't have until they're adults, and so it's easier to develop that cool uncle/nephew relationship - and you can't forge a new style of relationship in a group over about 5.

After that, I sorted out the music for a Presanctified Liturgy, then went to an interview for a chaplaincy position. I'm fairly confident about how I went in the interview.
After that, I tried to go back to uni, but it was too late. I was told later that it was a good thing I didn't go, so I'm happy.

Today was uni - went there, came home, slept. I think teaching so many for so long and an interview really took it out of me.

The Beginning of Uni...again.

2008-02-25T08:13:00.004+10:00

Well, today marks the real beginning of my university life once more - I have a tutorial this afternoon (one of those tutorials where they don't need a lecture - I think they're starting to call this a 'lectorial' now?) which I'm sure will be fascinating.

Before I enter my first class, I'll have already gone to teach R.E. at my alma mater. This will be the fifth year that I've taught R.E. there (although I only taught half-years for two, so I've done the equivalent of three years teaching), but between having not taught there for eighteen months and having picked up some of the basics of what a teacher is like (i.e. like a teacher, not like a buddy) when I taught those students still at school, I'll effectively have the advantage of starting teaching properly.
I would say that I've definitely and infinitely grown as a teacher since I started in 2003. I was so desperate to connect with my students then that I lost their respect after about six weeks - which made the remaining 25-30 weeks, well, consist of various degrees of 'unpleasant'. I'm sure that I'm a better teacher now largely because of how I crashed and burned for a solid two years - when I taught two years ago (and last year, in a different context), I acted a lot more like a teacher who was teaching information to students who needed to know that information, and I got the results.
Doing Education at uni will, I think, give me a bigger edge than what I previously had - the behaviour management component most of all, but also the ability to plan a unit of work and such.

In lifeblogging - the remainder of O Week was woeful. Friday was a day with lectures in it that I just shouldn't have bothered with, although I'm glad I went because now I know what I wasn't missing.
The weekend was good - farewelled a fellow parishioner (who's going to Greece), had a decent chat with a friend from the church I go to on Sundays; went to my parent's house, got two boxes of books (including two textbooks that I was missing, and the Lenten Triodion - obviously very essential!).
There's an 'Orthodox Christian Convert Group' being established at my-church-on-Saturday-night - fairly sure it's basically unique in its need and presence. Hope it goes well.

O Week Happenings

2008-02-20T22:33:00.005+10:00

Well, this week has been rather busy. For the first time since, oh, about December, I've actually had reason to leave the house every day this week.

This year, I'm actually attending O(rientation) Week at my university.

I'm not sure why, really. I know that the uni really pushes O Week (as evidenced by all the correspondence I've received from them), but I haven't really been to one before. I think I've been to about two O Weeks before - one was to get textbooks (timing largely coincidental), and the other was when I did a cross-institutional unit and met up with a friend. Which was nice, but hardly qualifies as attending O Week.

This time around - which is, incidentally, my first and last O Week at this university - I'm kinda assuming that I don't know much more than academic writing, so I'm definitely going to every graduate education thing out there. Mostly useful, too - but that's hardly surprising. I also went to an Intro to Uni thing, which was about as useful as cranberry sauce - I'm sure it's useful, just not to me.

I've found out which high school I've been assigned to. Of course, I'm not really able to say which one (I think they call that 'employment suicide'), but it's a Catholic all-girls high school which is within hiking distance (a bit further than walking distance) away from me.
As shown by my experiences last year, I am definitely not a big fan of teaching in a sports-oriented all-boys school (far too much testosterone), and I'd really rather not have to play the game to teach in a state school, so this could very easily be the kind of place where I'll end up teaching. It's very exciting and - dare I say - providential that I've been allocated this school with absolutely no prompting from me.

Part of the whole going-to-O-Week-lectures deal has been, obviously, catching the bus to get to and from uni. Happened to have this totally random meeting with a girl, and kept bumping into her, and we'd recognise each other (mostly nodding) and finally today we introduced ourselves (to be honest, I thought that I was supposed to know who she was and I'd forgotten!). Really cool random event - just thought I'd share.

Oh - and I took my adjudicating test on Tuesday to keep my accreditation and to adjudicate debates this year. I need the cash...

Woah, it's been a while! Essays, Birthday, Debating

2008-02-10T21:56:00.000+10:00

Definitely a tiring couple of weeks!

I'm kinda sorry that it's been so long since I've posted - lots has been happening!

Well, that's not entirely accurate: my essays have been getting done. I'm now finished for this semester of theological studies - two weeks, and my teaching qualification begins. No rest...
I've shown a few essays to some people who I would estimate as having some level of expertise in the area, and generally gotten some really good feedback, which is very encouraging. Tomorrow I'll go through the essays, make sure that what I was writing at 3am is actually understandable, make sure that I'm not inadvertantly saying any heresies, that kind of thing.

Aside from that...
It was my birthday on Friday - last one before I'm classed as being in my mid-twenties, as a friend politely reminded me. Celebrated on the day with my parents coming over (more at end) and debating (more later). Also celebrated on Saturday night at Lone Star restaurant.

I'm not sure if it's profitable to experience this, but I'm almost feeling bored. I'm used to being very actively involved, ecclesiastically speaking, and aside from my actual theological education itself, I don't feel like I'm doing terribly much, and between that fact and my own ruminations, it's difficult not to take that very badly.

On the aforementioned Friday, I got back into doing adjudicating at my alma mater, which I always enjoy. I think that this year I've nailed down my adjudication to a few very simple points - don't look like a robot, don't look like a slob, and that palmcards are supposed to be cards the size of your palm. Then I can talk about the main point that the debate was decided on, give individual points or feedback, and finish up.
The problem with doing this is that I've been attacking looking like a robot for a few years now, so I naturally think that they should have gotten it by now. In other words, my experience combines with my irritation (and it's a boring way to present, so it combines with enough time - while bored - to think of what I'm going to say) and it happened to culminate in a massive rant that actually took the shape of what a debating speech should look like - brief intro, launching into four points with a summary (individual comments) and conclusion (final score).
Sounds good? I'm considered to be unique amongst the adjudicators for my attacks, and am considered to be the nasty adjudicator (enough so that I get a mention at the debating dinner!) - our debaters are generally aware of this, but often their parents aren't...which can create some rather sticky situations. Fortunately, I got out of them (mainly because I'm right, and because I gave the debate to that person's team anyway), but it's definitely an occupational hazard!

I've also gained a great enjoyment out of playing mahjong. Great game. Got a set for my birthday from my parents, too. Anticipate lots of enjoyment :-D

I've also started going to a Toastmasters group. Attendance may get sketchy with Lent coming on, but I'd like to develop my involvement there.

Essays and lots of walking

2008-01-25T19:09:00.000+10:00

Today, I was very busy.
It started off with church - it was the nameday of the longest-serving priest in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia, and he served. After that, I went to my old house, collected my wireless internet box and gave it to some friends who are going to be using it; then I went to my real estate agent's office and handed in the authority to let (i.e. people can be toured through my old place) form.

Then I realised that I had forgotten my glasses at my friends' house, so I went back to get them, and then back to the bus and to my new place, where I did a bit of cleaning and a fair bit of essay writing.

For those keeping track, I was on the go (mostly walking, with a bit of bus and a bit of time to chill at my old place) from about 9:50 to about 12:30 - not easy, and a very hot day to boot!

Also for those keeping track, I've done about two-thirds of the minimum word count for the second essay, but I'm only about half way through the assignment. This is looking like being a trend - hitting six pages while being given 5-7 pages to do the assignment...it's boding well for a decent mark, in my opinion.

It's been a good day, in total.

Victory...1 of 7

2008-01-24T15:29:00.000+10:00

So I finished my first essay. This one was about Baptism, its relationship with the Eucharist (which should be rock-solid, but today isn't) and whether it is a private event or one for the whole church (it should be the latter, but to our detriment, it's seen as the former), and my experience of both of these (which is a fairly comprehensive overview of the region that I live in).

I have to admit, I only started on the essay because I couldn't get to sleep. At all. I waited for over an hour before deciding, 'y'know what? I'm going to write an essay'. Not my most logical thought, but quite a productive one nonetheless. I slammed down a bottle of red eye (different from my usual practise of having a little as the night goes on) and slammed out an essay. Which is awesome :D

Completing this was actually easier than normal, but that was mainly because I'd done the research already and knew where to look to justify my pontifications.

Much to my constant annoyance, I had to use the Chicago form of referencing, which is apparently the standard for American humanities, but I'm well and truly used to Harvard (the humanities standard for Commonwealth countries), so it was annoying to have to footnote all the time. I think I got about 17 footnotes, with five references in the bibliography.

Doing a reading course has it's own pecularities, but none so much as when one is used to having a minimum amount of referenced materials. In this course, I got the impression that the marker would be more surprised that other references would be used; in my last degree, we were set minimum amounts (about a minimum of 5 for a 2000 word assignment - can't remember well enough).

The word count, not including references or bibliography, came out to 1936 words over 6 pages, which is right between the 5-7 that was expected. If footnotes were included, though, I'd have written 2308 words, a very respectable total (and more than most of my university assignments). By that count, half of my essays expect 1600 words; the other half, 1300.

Nonetheless, getting back to my main point - I am very happy to have finished one of the essays. Only six to go.

And in other news...
At the moment, I seem to be averaging out at weekly blogging. I'd expected to be so much more than that; but, stuff has been happening.

On the weekend, I found out that my theology course is, in fact, sponsored by the archdiocese, which will make life so much easier for me.

Yesterday, I moved house. Because I've broken the lease, I'll have to pay rent there basically until someone else does...kinda a sucky deal, but not unexpected.

On Tuesday, I communed for the first time in a long, long time. Also got to chant with an Athonite monk, Fr Palladios. Nice guy from what I could tell, but not having a common language has its own problems. For the first time, I read the epistle in Greek, and got plenty of compliments for it. Something tells me that I'll be doing that a little more often.

Later that day, I came second in Mahjong, which I mainly attribute to not losing a lot and winning a couple of hands.
Explanatory: in Mahjong, you only pay in two circumstances - in the more common, because you directly allowed someone else to win; in the other (and less costly) instance, because the winner picked up the tile they needed off the draw.

On the weekend, in my now-old place, I had the experience of sharing a room with not one (like was normal), but three guys - none of whom small. Definitely a new experience in sardines, definitely not one I'll have to repeat any time soon (hopefully).

New place

2008-01-18T20:30:00.000+10:00

Phrase of the day: requires a bit of background. Due to some genealogical (sp) research by people on my father's side, we have some reason to believe that my surname, a perfectly normal and popular English surname, may actually be a German surname that has been anglicised.
Phrase of the day: "Your surname is the schmidt!"

Turns out that due to an opportunity that I just couldn't turn down, I'm going to be moving house. It's going to be somewhat further out (five busway stations away from the city instead of four), but it's going to be a far bigger place. It's a sharehouse, but I've known the other two people for almost-three years now, so I'll not be moving in with strangers or anything like that.

I've made all the arrangements that I can, moving out in a week's time and hopefully the place will be taken up soon after that (sadly, we still have to pay rent until someone does, but fortunately university starts soon, so there should be a high turnover).

In other news, I'm still waiting on my glasses. Expected arrival is now Monday or Tuesday. They're taking so long because they're so non-standard - instead of just having to be curved in a particular way, they also have to have prisms put into them, which is apparently a little difficult. Because of that, I haven't started on my essays yet, because I don't want to strain my eyes.

For those of you who are counting...

2008-01-15T14:55:00.000+10:00

...here's where I'm up to with my theology essays (or exams, if you like to call end-of-semester essays that):

Liturgic Th., Baptism: 220 of 1800w
Liturgic Th., Great Entrance: 148 of 1800w
Ch.History, Judaism & Early Christianity: 0 of 1500w
Ch.History, Monasticism: 0 of 1500w
Ch.History, Alexandrian and Antiochene Theology: 0 of 1500w
Fundamentals, Theosis: 0 of 1800w
Fundamentals, Confession: 0 of 1800w

Sadly, I'd underestimated exactly how much I needed to write - turns out to be about 50% larger than I thought it was (based on not realising how much text could fit on a standard line), which means that the essays are actually pretty-well essay length - total of about 12000 words to be written in six weeks - it's starting to sound like uni again!

Curiously, because of not having glasses (and thus, not being comfortable with focusing for many long hours on books and computer screens), I am starting off doing the introduction for each essay, then working from there. We'll see.

Useful Procrastination

2008-01-15T12:02:00.000+10:00

I really should be used to this by now, but I am continually surprised at how, at least for myself, I'm able to get some really good work done as long as I have something to avoid. It's a perennial university student issue, of course, so I'm quite familiar with the idea.

In this case, I have to clean my place for a Mahjong game this evening (it's an awesome game, by the way). Now, I've done most of it. But there are a couple of things that I really don't like doing - taking out the trash and washing dishes being really high on that list (in reverse order of distaste, for what it's worth).

I've had my applied theology essay questions in my hands for probably just short of a week. But, I've been able to use the excuse that I don't have my glasses, and I don't want to make my eyesight any worse (which is still a legitimate excuse). Of course, that hasn't stopped me from being on the internet quite a lot anyway, but hey.

But, now that I have cleaning to avoid, I've been able to make a start on my Liturgical Theology I essay. Of course, the glasses things is a legitimate problem, so I can't actually do that much, but the fact that I can play with the fonts, margins and line-spacing makes it all good procrastinatory material.

But, the time has come. I need to put my laundry into the dryer.

Busy Period and Evolution Article

2008-01-12T16:31:00.000+10:00

It's the beginning of a rather busy period for me. Well, the busy period probably began three days ago, which explains why I haven't been talking about it much, but nonetheless.

But: aside from lifeblogging, I do actually have something to say (at the end of this post)

Firstly, I received my offer, which means that I have been confirmed to do senior secondary Education this year, specialising in Social Sciences (history, geography and a whole host of other barely-related subjects).

Then, I received the essay questions for my applied theology course. In total, and in terms I'm more used to, I'll have to write at least 8500w in the next six weeks. On the whole, not worried. At all. There are other issues, though - there is an overseas component which, although by all accounts Very Good Indeed, is also completely impossible for me to do...and this affects whether I can complete the otherwise-fairly-straightforward course. May have a few higher-than-usual level discussions about this.

Last night, I went to a meet up of my old high school bench - about a 50% strike rate of attendees. Good discussion, good to know some things don't change, but I'm also a little surprised to see how many things do.

Visited my parents a couple of days ago - partly to celebrate my acceptance into Education - and conveniently left my mobile phone behind. Minor catastrophe, but since I wasn't planning to go out the next day, I was okay. Today I went and retreived my phone.

Thus ends lifeblogging.

The article I wanted to disagree with is called "It's just not cricket" - basically, it's about Andrew Symonds, the fact that he's been taunted with the 'monkey' tag, and what that actually means. What the article concludes is that the media's unspoken premise is that calling a negro a monkey is racist because we believe that negros are less developed.

However, I must contest the findings of this article. I would still hold the term 'monkey' to be racist - not because I believe in evolution (and yes, it does seem to me to be a belief decision), but because of the intention of the sayer. It is fairly accepted that the person/people using the monkey tag (whether the crowd or a certain now-suspended off-spin bowler) were using it as a racially prejorative insult, and the fact that the ability to do this is generally accepted gives it power (obviously, calling someone a diary because of their race would have no power if no one knew what you were talking about; although, it could hypothetically still be racist).

So: it's not racist (or otherwise) because negros are less evolutionarily developed (which, for the record, is something that I would never say explicitly or implicitly), but it is a racist insult because the people using the term intended it to be insulting on the basis of race, and it is punishable as a racist insult because the meaning of the term in context is widely known.

I know, that took a long time to say, but when talking about race it's very difficult to say things in few words.

A Stromata Update

2008-01-08T10:07:00.000+10:00

It's been a fairly slow year so far, to be honest. Some things have happened, though:

- I'm getting glasses. Today was my second eye test, which confirmed my first eye test - it turns out that I have astigmatism, short-sightedness and what I think could be called 'strabismus' (after periods of concentration, I have double vision).

- I'm still nervous about my QTAC reply on whether I get into uni and what one I get into. That comes out on the 10th. Even though I know it's almost impossible for me to not get into something (since I have something on there that I actually got into straight out of high school), I'm really rather hoping that I'll get my first choice.

- I'm waiting on my exams for the St Stephen's course. They'll be coming out on the 15th.

- Caught up with my best friend from high school yesterday. Just like old times (except instead of talking for ages on the telephone, it was face to face. I know, weird.). Reminded me just how differently the Orthodox see the idea of the Church compared to Protestant theology.

2008s job worries

2008-01-01T10:03:00.000+10:00

It feels kinda weird, I've gotta say, to be in 2008 now (instead of it being 'next year') - throughout this year, and culminating in November, I'm going to be making the transition from uni student to high school teacher.

All apologies to those in rural Queensland, but I'm really hoping that I don't get the invitation to teach in a school that doesn't have at least 70000 people in it. That rules out most places - in fact, it means that if I have to leave my city, I've got Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Townsville, Cairns, Toowoomba, Mackay and Rockhampton (in that order). And to be honest, I don't really like the thought of leaving my city. One big reason that I would want to leave would be to go to a more concentrated city, and this being Australia, that's just plain not going to happen (at least, not in Queensland).

I'm certainly considering my options if rural Queensland proves to be my only choice - perhaps that would be a time to move to a more dense city.
Of course, all this is well and truly premature - I've got until the end of the year before I lose my mind and plan other cities.

My 2007 in the Past Tense

2007-12-31T12:58:00.000+10:00

It should be said from the start that this year has definitely not gone the way that I expected that it would at the start of the year. At New Years Day 2007, I was part way towards starting the monastic life, was entering my first year since 1990 when I had not been in formal education and had a full-time job doing real office work...largely a pattern that one could feasibly throw ten years at and wonder where the decade had gone. I had played a key role in rejuvenating the parish bookstore, was leader of the altar boys and was a chanter with some potential.

But obviously, at a very fundamental level, there was something that I was very unhappy about, and my life wasn't going in the direction that it should have gone.

january-march
By the end of January, I reverted my previous life decision and had to figure out exactly how to live, and to get comfortable in the skin that I'm in. That's not an easy thing to do when you think that you do that all the time. The final defeat of my previous life (prime decision, life, lifestyle and all) came about when I prayed for a new workplace, was told about a position in the city I wanted, got a haircut and shaved my beard, was offered the position and accepted it at Easter.

april-november
I moved cities to take my new job, deciding also to change which parish I considered to be my principle place of worship (which was under a different jurisdiction) and was asked to begin theological studies. As part of my job, I delivered sermons and began a Bible study group. I was asked to chant at my new parish.

november-december
I finished my contract of employment there and moved back to Brisbane, sharing a place with a roommate. I was asked to continue going to the parish that I changed to this year.

So, at the last day of 2007, what are my dreams for next year? Well, I'm not totally sure on a complete list, but...
1. Continue theological studies. My long-term goal for this is something on a Masters level, but that's for the future.
2. Improve spiritual life. I know, not the standard thing to put on a blog, but a lot of things suffered for various reasons this year, and they really need fixing.
3. Start and finish the qualification for teaching, have a teaching position lined up for next year.

In some ways, I'd like a longer list. I know that this is a small list of big things, but I'm sure that some other things will come up through the year, particularly as a result of the above. I'm also aware that there will be a number of busy periods, and I want to be ready for them when they come.

Last Post of the Year Probably!

2007-12-30T20:43:00.000+10:00

So, Christmas is considered over (it's not, by the way - the twelve days of Christmas are between Christmas and Theophany). My DVD was exchanged for three DVDs - 'Answered by Fire', about the East Timorese vote in 1999, particularly the UN mission (UNIFET, I believe it was called); The Human Mind, which is absolutely fascinating to me (apparently, most stressful situation is a party!); and the aforementioned DVD on the history of the English language, also fascinating.

Took my electric bike (now called Watermelon) out for a spin today. It handles well - on flats, it's very good, and it seems to hold speed up hills as long as you pedal as well. Down hills, to be honest, totally scares me (too fast, not enough control, and not used to being on a bike at all), so I suspect I'll be holding the brake a lot for any downhill runs.

Fixed up the issues I was having with the chanter's stand (specifically, with an apology - I won't get into that online, but looking back there were some parts that were cynically humourous). I think it's for the best that what happened, did - it's made very plain that me chanting there is explicitly a choice that I can walk away from, with an introspective blog entry the only tangible care factor. It kinda saddened me that the exact same day that I was welcomed back with open arms, another person was basically driven away. Even though I do have the ability to stay or not, I spent a lot of time in that church working to make things better, and it's a shame to see that aside from some contacts made, it has made near-enough-to-no difference.
I know, it sounds like I'm dramatising, but it's probably the case in a lot of massive organisations - it is very difficult to change things, particularly when the majority of presumed members aren't involved at all and a vocal portion assume that they speak with their authority. And, with fairness, they're probably right to some extent, but at some point there are right actions and wrong actions.
(I'm trying to not criticise the organisation because I don't see myself as part of it - just trying to note my own involvement and, for future reference, note where I made mistakes)

Had Yum Cha yesterday - it was delicious. After that, I got Watermelon the bike to my place.

Today was the Divine Liturgy - an unusual occurance, because this year was both the Sunday after Nativity, which has it's own variants, and the Sunday before Theophany, also with it's own variants - and it's not like they can be integrated at all, because it's an either/or thing. Fortunately, liturgic geeks better than myself have already sorted it out - Sunday after Nativity gets priority...which is odd, because Theophany was historically the bigger feast, but there is a decent case, because Christmas has a fast-free period, whereas Theophany is the resumption of fasting.
It's all about God, though, so it's all good.
There were a lot of visitors today - enough to replace the parisioners who went on holidays, which was wonderful - one family of about five was local, another was from Sydney, and just came up for Christmas and New Years to the Gold Coast, so it was lovely to see them all.
Next week is the Great Blessing of the Waters, so I'm looking forward to that...not sure yet what I need to learn for it (in terms of chanting), but also looking forward to finding that out.

Christ is Born; Merry Christmas!

2007-12-26T14:28:00.000+10:00

It has to be said - I greatly scored with respect to Christmas presents.
But, more on that.

To celebrate the feast of the Nativity, I went to two services - on the eve was matins and Divine Liturgy at the local Antiochian church (not the one that I normally go to), which was fantastic - due to no one having a printer, we chanted matins from a laptop screen. I'm fairly sure it was the first time in this fair city, not sure about the rest of the world. In reality, alt-tabbing and scrolling down is very analogous to page-turning; I'm not entirely convinced on the superiority of laptop over books. That being said, it was doubtless partly due to the fact that the stand was designed for books - were there to be something designed for a laptop (or even if we had a touchscreen), it would doubtless be infinitely superior. The next morning I went to a Divine Liturgy in the English language. No great story to be told, aside from the giant communion line on each side of the church. Oh, except for my not realising that buses don't run on Christmas day (trains do, and this was the first time that I'd lived somewhere where buses are easily the most convenient means of transport), and so having to walk the 50mins from my place to church (normally it's 35, but that includes waiting for the bus and far less walking whilst on the bus). Not ideal, but it did mean that I craved a glass of water more than a side of steak!

I finally got the electric bike that I was waiting for - now I need a helmet to ride it (pesky road rules :P), which I was expecting (and there were some problems, so I was quite excited to get it); but I didn't expect some of the other presents. I put the word out for the extended family to just go for chocolates, because I don't have any space (which is almost literally true) - the threat was that if they got me anything other than chocolates, they'd also have to buy me the space to put it in.

But, my parents went all out - I got a microwave, which is very good, mainly because I already had one. The problem - and the reason that I'm glad - is that the microwave I had would sometimes literally (as in audibly) start with a bang. The general consensus was that this was Not A Good State of Affairs, and so my parents bought me a, slightly smaller, replacement. Good Thing. They also bought me a printer, considering that I was starting uni - also a very good thing, which will go next to my roommate's fax machine (both going on the the 'to be plugged in when needed' section of the bookshelf). I also got a DVD, which (because I already have it) will be exchanged for a documentary on the history of the English language, which I'm fairly sure will be fascinating.

Other scores of the day included mosquito repellant, two brands of chocolates and a very generous (obviously undisclosed) amount of money. Later that day, we had a discussion on how to receive gifts (long story), deciding that it was definitely a learned skill.

My Weekend

2007-12-24T07:28:00.000+10:00

One of the more difficult things that I have in my week is my weekend being easily the busiest part of my week (which is remarkably similar to my uni days). Of course, I used to complain bitterly about it then, but now...I'll still complain, because it's actually, in a way, worse.

The parish that (excuse the awkward expression) I consider to be my home parish is actually in another city - specifically, the city that I worked in for most of this year. It's an English-language parish (without any fighting about it) and my sponsoring parish for the St Stephen's course that I'm doing.

However, all that does not change the rather unfortunate fact that it is in another city, and start services at 8am. That's right, 8am on a Sunday morning. Now, taking into consideration my complete lack of car or private transport, and that means me waking up at 5am to leave my place at 5:50 to walk to the train station and catch the 6:32 to get to the destination station at 7:35 and hope that there's a taxi in the taxi rank (so far, so good) to get me there by 7:55am.

It's not easy.
Of course, the fact that I like the parish, there's no English-language parish in Brisbane (and nothing on a Sunday morning) and that I can still get there in time means that I'm okay with it. And if that was the only service that I attended on the weekend, I'd probably be okay. It's not - I go to the Liturgy celebrated in English on Saturday nights, after which we go out for coffee that inevitably takes until 9:30 and often enough until 10:30. Sadly, I've had the case where I could only get about two hours sleep between getting home at 11 and "waking up" at 5am.

All that said, the fact that I'm actually appreciated and thanked is kinda nice and, to some extent, near-unique. I don't do it for the acclamation, of course - if I did, I wouldn't go to a 25 parisioner parish! - but because it helps people pray. I can do services at home, but if I know that I'm helping other people pray, I'm that much happier and that much more willing to go through whatever it takes to keep helping.

On another note...
George Cardinal Pell, Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, wrote his Christmas message with an important point - religion is unfairly blamed for recent conflicts. If a person wants to say that religion in used as an excuse to fight wars, and that people are often ordered to take on a conqueror's religion, I will back them all the way (and there is ample support for that); but wars are rarely fought over religion. Wars are usually about power - like politics, but with physical knives.
I would post Christmas messages from Orthodox sources, but typically, we aren't quite that organised. It seems that both Greek and Antiochian Orthodox archdiocesan websites are in a transition to new and improved websites. Maybe they'll be done by Easter.

Five days without a post

2007-12-22T12:19:00.000+10:00

Five days without a post deserves a new post...

This was the week when I finally got the [expletive]s with a particular chanter's stand - or, more correctly, one particular person on it. Particularly irritating is that it was immediately after basically being the chanter, or one of the chanters (depending on the day and on who showed), that kept that particular chanter's stand going for a week. And then, straight after he got most of his voice back (and it wasn't even fully back), I'm...well, it won't behoove to go into the full details, but 'valued' was not an appropriate adjective.
So, that's it. I'm not going to sacrifice my sanity for nothing any longer. If I'm needed in the future, then fine, but until then, I just don't care enough; my sole, singular source of power was the fact that I chose to be there, and could - repercussion-free - choose to not be there. And now, I am doing so.
It's infuriating, not just for myself, but for others, because it's not like I've been especially vilified.

Anyway. Even if special action isn't taken, the sands of time will move inexorably on and resolve the situation. Of course, waiting until both parties are dead is more of an Arabic response, but I think it'll work here, too.

Other things that have happened include my Grandmother's 80th birthday. We celebrated it in early December, because the date of her birth is the 21st, and always gets swallowed up in Christmas celebrations. However, this year (the 80th, after all) we thought that she deserved a special celebration.

I'm preparing to write my St Stephen's essays...they're going to be coming in January, to the best of my knowledge, and I'm looking forward to writing 9 essays in a month...!

House Blessing and Fridge Quotes

2007-12-17T13:32:00.000+10:00

Had the apartment blessed today. Really nice service, especially the prayers. Normally this service (particularly the sprinkling-holy-water-everywhere part) is done with basil, but there was none of that today - mainly because there was no basil, and no plant-life nearby. Instead of that, a single cupped hand sufficed - which got water everywhere just the same.

Had to do a major cleanup of the apartment to make it happen, though. By major, I mean 'rearranged most of the apartment in three hours'. Now, I know that three hours to rearrange 80% of my place sounds really good, but it's not like it's because I'm good at cleaning - that's how small the apartment is. Sadly, if one comes home and leaves a shirt on the floor, the place becomes messy - and considering that my toleration for mess is really high, you understand how small the place is. On the positive, at least it's clean.

In my last house, I had a fridge, upon which I would write all the cool quotes that I had heard. Sadly, my new place has a bar fridge with a matt surface, which means that I'd be writing at my own peril (and paying for each mark, no doubt!), but I'm hoping to resurrect the tradition with the microwave.

However, that's all background - I'm now transferring the quotes from my old fridge onto my blog. They used to be on my facebook profile, but it's just too long to keep there any longer; so, I give you...

[Warning - some of these quotes may be PG]

"No wonder [he] likes you, he's probably never seen anything so entertaining!" - Lizzy
On submitting assignments: "You could submit a cereal box if you wanted, you'll just fail, that's all!" - DP
On selecting cheese at Subway: "Can I have the least orange cheese?" - Watson
"My car has been there so long, you can see it on Google Earth!" - Watson
On cooking with the windows open: "Great. My house smells like a rissole." - Y.T.
On giving pearls to swine [i.e. teaching philosophy to jocks]: "They'd sniff it and inhale it through their eyeball!" - Macca
On Anglican Vergers: "There's nothing about being a verger that says you have to be a virgin. It's New and Improved!" - Emster
"I don't objectify women." / "Oh, really!" / "Well...not verbally..." - Y.T. and Emster
"Do U believe in love at first sight? 'Cause I can go past again..." - Mel
"Of course it's a fake smile, I'm talking to my fake friend!" - Mel

There are other quotes (that was just from one side of my fridge), but I can't find the exact words for them...I'm sure they're hiding somewhere!

The Term 'Housecooling'

2007-12-14T16:39:00.000+10:00

Just before this term gets overused:

A few weeks ago, I had a party based around the idea of leaving my house. As an ironic pun on the term 'housewarming', I called it a 'housecooling'.

Today I heard of someone having a housecooling party. Now, I'm cool with this, but I just want to make sure that you heard it here first.

Psalmist Skills Shortage

2007-12-14T10:15:00.000+10:00

(and yes, alliteration is awesome :) )

My routine this week has been wake up at sunrise, go to church, chant at the Greek-language Matins and Divine Liturgy under the head chanter of the main Greek Orthodox church in the city, then go away and do whatever.

Today didn't quite go to the same plan - yesterday, at around 2, I just finished reading a section of a liturgical theology textbook (Wybrew, if you're interested) and rolled over to get some sleep. So, 11 hours later, I woke up. Tried to get back to sleep, but that didn't work, so I watched a movie (Austin Powers 1) and then went to church, and found out that the head chanter had basically lost his voice. He'd already called another chanter who doesn't usually come to weekday services, and between us we got by.

It does suggest exactly how critical it is for a parish to have more than one chanter. In Brisbane, there are five Byzantine-typicon (as opposed to Slavonic-typicon) parishes - three Greek, one Antiochian and one Romanian. Granted, the latter two don't have weekday services, but the three Greek parishes do - one doesn't have full chanters (not sure if they have weekday services?), one has two full chanters, but only one on weekdays; and the central one has, well, probably about three that could be considered full chanters*.

(* - by full chanters, I mean 'can do matins on any given day by themselves')

Now, that wouldn't be so bad if there was an effective training program, but there isn't - there's a single teacher, who knows his stuff (and backwards), but no one's coming through 'the ranks' (whatever they are) anywhere near fast enough to pick up if one of those chanters falls off the perch (mixed metaphor intended) - there's probably about three that may be able to do it at a pinch, and two of those are not going to be staying at the Greek parishes where they might be needed (and probably won't be staying chanters for ever, either).

In short, we have what can only be called a skills shortage, and something's going to have to give...

Arrogance and Ignorance

2007-12-14T06:27:00.000+10:00

Had a chat with someone the other day who put forward a good analogy for people. In this view, there are two axes (i.e. plural of axis) - ignorance and arrogance.

No arrogance, no ignorance: a wise person.
Arrogance, no ignorance: well, is a pain, but at least the arrogance is somewhat justified.
No arrogance, ignorance: can cause a compassionate person
Arrogance, ignorance: the worst combination - a fool who is unwilling to be corrected.

We talked about it in the context of a particular group of people fitting the last category, but it would not illumine to go into which group or to whom I was conversing - if anything, it would probably engender the second category ^_^

Sleep rocks!

2007-12-14T02:44:00.001+10:00

Had an awesome sleep - slept for about 11 hours. Unfortunately, this occured in the early afternoon, so I've had to get up and do some stuff so that I'll go back to sleep and not screw up my sleeping pattern too much.

Had a whole bunch of dreams. One brought up something that, when I woke up (and I must have had this as the last dream), I thought made sense - why is it that most animals, on entering a church, are said to have defiled the church? This is one thing that I totally don't get, along with why fish is out during fast periods but non-boned seafood (e.g. calamari) is fine (and, now that we're on the topic, why certain foods are chosen as fasting or not).
Can McDonald's be excluded from the fasting rules, based on it not actually being food? Ahh...if only such technicalities were actually plausibly done...

It's not all the same...

2007-12-13T10:38:00.000+10:00

Almost got to the beach today, but it was too overcast. Having some very quiet days. I'm sure that the thrill of these will wear off, but I've had so long with having to do a lot each day that I'm quite contented.

---

Had a chat with someone today - one of those religious types ;) - about, well, a lot of things, but one thing particularly stuck - he mentioned that he greatly enjoyed hearing about other denominations and their different perspectives on various religious issues, on the basis that it's the 'same Jesus'.

If a person (in my mind an Orthodox person, but it could probably be said for any denomination that believed in the truth of their denomination) comes into contact with many Pentecostals, they'll find this said with some frequency. And there is some justification for it - after all, God sent His only-begotten Son (note the singulars) who was incarnate at a specific time in history; in a sense, yes, there is only one Jesus.

Of course, this is not the point that anyone is trying to make. If we take the assumptions that Jesus is both God and man, and that this hasn't happened at any time in history, before or since, then it is a fairly logical conclusion that this would take some getting used to. If we haven't seen a lion before, at least we can say 'well, that's kinda a big cat with a massive mane'; with Jesus, we don't really have the same luxury, because we can say 'well, He's God, and He's also human' or 'He's immortal, and He died for us' and all we do is present contradictions. It shouldn't be surprising that humans don't understand God - it's more of a tautology.

Trying to understand God as much as possible is kinda what the Church has been trying to do for 2000 years, and between holiness and intelligence (both gifts of God), we've mapped out a bit and we've left a lot as a mystery. But, one thing that was a huge contention was Christology. Of course, most Christians accept the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, which maps out Christology fairly well, but - as I pointed out in the referenced conversation - there's actually a different pneumatology (i.e. about the Holy Spirit - pneuma meaning spirit) between the Orthodox and most of the rest of the Church, because of the change in the Nicene Creed by the Western Church, saying that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son as well as the Father.

Which brings me to another commonly-used axiom - it's all the same God. This one is mainly used by mainline Protestants and secularists, and without wanting to be nasty, it's a copout because of a lack of desire to evangelise, or a failure to see massive differences. The most obvious in current events is between Christianity and Islam - Triune God, with the Son human, crucified and resurrected, against a monad God with a prophet - but Buddhism comes in (having no deity as such) along with Hinduism (which has a debatable number of deities) and Judaism (monad God with the expectation of a messiah), and we can see that none of the world religions have the same God as the Christians, because Christianity is the only religion where God became human. The closest to 'it's all the same God', we must say, is between Judaism and Islam, and we just have to go to Israel or Palestine to see how close they are.

Perhaps at some point I'll blog about how, if there's one God, it doesn't make sense that He should put many ways to him - but this post is big enough :)

CITM and Logos Spermatikos

2007-12-12T15:20:00.000+10:00

Just finished listening to a couple of podcasts from Christ in the Mountains - the third one had a secondary slot with a pop-sounding love song, followed by a brief look at St Justin Martyr's concept of the 'logos spermatikos' - literally, seed of the word' - the upshot of the concept being that the whole world had been prepared for Christ. The Hebrews most obviously, of course, but in St Justin's experience (being a philosopher himself) he also saw the Greek philosophers as pointing to Christ (St Paul's sermon in Acts on the Unknown God comes to mind). Fr Andrew S. Damick continues that we should be able to see the seed of the word - i.e., Christ - in everything. A love song can remind us of the Prodigal Son, for instance.

We don't have to listen to Christian music to hear God: because He created the world, this influences us; because He created the people around us, they will influence us towards Him (willingly or otherwise); because God created us, created our yearning for something greater than ourselves, we can see this yearning - or other aspects of God - in popular culture, poetry, even modern pop songs. I know, gasp and shock that we may find God in those songs (particularly with what some of them are saying), but they are driven by needs and wants that, while perhaps expressed badly or used wrongly, are still God-given.

I'm back!

2007-12-12T15:19:00.001+10:00

I'm back!

It feels kinda weird to be blogging again, I have to say...but here I am, nonetheless :)