Amsterdam on X-Mas Day

I was glad to have gotten a flight at 1am; This allowed me to get some good sleep on an eight hour flight. I knew that there was less traffic during the holidays, but I was surprised that the flight from Abu Dhabi to Frankfurt was only about 15% full. This allowed me to sleep and spread out a little. The traditional German breakfast, sausage, scrambled eggs with potatoes, and spinach was decent for airplane food. The flight attendants even offered us extra. You know that I obliged.

I arrived safely in Amsterdam and had a rather easy experience getting to my connection flight to Amsterdam. I sat next to Daniel, a government employee near Amsterdam that has practically traveled all over the world. He said that Capetown, South Africa, Madrid, Spain, Rio Di Janeiro, Brazil were some of the top destinations to visit. He's also been all over Europe and Asia. I was inspired to see someone else that put a value in to traveling. He needed the same train as me so that helped me to get oriented on the town from a native.

I caught a short taxi to my hotel, the New Sleuwtania. I got a fairly decent rate at about $70 per night. It's about the best deal you can get before you get to a hostel. Since I'm not trying to crash with people I don't know, I decided to take the hotel route. The Internet only worked in the lobby of my floor so every one convenes there to get their daily fix of entertainment. The hotel took on a dorm feeling with younger occupants laying on the couches and putting their feet on the tables. Young party goers talked loudly in the halls for what seemed like hours. Suited me fine though. I definitely wouldn't have chosen it if I was with a female companion of family but that's a benefit of traveling alone! The hotel let me to check in early so I was able to get out and make the most of the day.

I caught the Tram 7 to Leidseplein, an entertainment area about fifteen minutes away from the hotel. It's a nice area with a Burger King, Hard-Rock cafe, coffee shops, and restaurants. It was a festive Christmas atmosphere with a store owner singing a traditional "Let It Snow" styled song. There was a chorus from some song birds being sold around the corner of the central area.
I hung out there and then caught a public bus to Central Park-Amsterdam, the main area of the city. From there, I caught a 13.50 Euro ($18) ticket for a one-hour canal cruise of the city. I was able to see beautiful sites of houseboats and major tourist attractions. The row houses on the canal were attractive as well. Home-owners decorate their windows lavishly with plants and extravagant curtains. Some even position their shutters in ways to add to the allure of the house.

Abu Dhabi and Europe have been my first times traveling alone internationally so I'm obviously on guard. I'm learning to ease up a little. While visiting a business, the employee asked me a question in Dutch that sounded like "menu". I abruptly shook my head like I wasn't interested. She insisted though and realized that I only spoke English. She then informed that I wasn't allowed to wear my hat and that she was giving me a free drink card. I was so embarrassed. Ha!

The next day, I took the 21 bus to the Anne Frank house/exhibit for a 2.60 Euro ($4) one-way bus ticket and a 8.5 Euro ($11) admission cost. The exhibit was unassuming and dated, but it's relevance is so strong because you are in the actual place where such a powerful story of a little girl occurred. It definitely seem as though her "presence" was there. I was able to stand in her room and look at her pictures of celebrities from America that she loved so much. There were powerful quotes from her diary all over the different levels of the house. Near the attic was an excerpt from her journal describing her love for going there to exhale the stale air of being inside all day. I learned that her family was wealthy in Frankfurt and were only in Amsterdam to get away from Hitler. They lived there safely for years until Hitler took over this city as well. I wasn't able to conquer all of the city on this leg of the trip, but I plan to return in January after the Frankfurt leg of the trip.

Let the 3 Week Holiday Break Begin!

Although I missed my Georgia State University graduation a few days ago, I didn't even remember until my mother mentioned it in a recent Facebook message! That shows you how much I am enjoying myself abroad. Actually, it's almost like I am living dual lives. Each day, I think back to my former house, car, and even bills and responsibilities. There is a whole new set of responsibilities now in Abu Dhabi but I often have to divert my attention away from my former life in America.

While I will definitely miss my traditional trip to Connecticut to visit my mother, sister, and niece, I am excited about the new memories I will create over this holiday break. I decided to visit Amsterdam and a few different cities in Germany. I just got some exciting news that I may be featured in Berlin at the top of 2012! Thanks to a poet friend by the name of Marc Marcel, I will be featuring in Europe for the first time in my poetry/spoken word career. "Berlin?!", you may ask. Well, through my research, this part of Germany has become a hotbed of spoken word in recent years. I am interested to see how they will receive me. This is definitely a milestone in my ten year run with spoken word. Aside from winning the National Poetry Slams with Slam Charlotte in 2007 and the Southern Fried Poetry Slam individual competitions in 2005, this will rank up at the top of literary accolades.

The main reason I chose this trip is surprisingly not for the "coffee shops" in Amsterdam! I actually decided on this vacation because I want to connect deeper to my Polish roots by visiting Holocaust memorials including the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam as well as a couple of concentration camps in Germany. I have already booked my train trip to Weimart, the former capital of Nazi Germany, to see the Buchenwald concentration camp (Click here for more info on Buchenwald). I am also considering the Dachau concentration camp near Munich. (Click here for more info on Dachau). Few people know that my mother is Polish-American and that the majority of my great cousins died in the Holocaust. My grandmother, Jean, had wise parents that moved from Antipolia (now in Russia) a few years before Hitler invaded and sent everyone in that area to the camps.

While many other places would have been nice, I think this trip will be a spiritual home-coming for me in a few regards. I never was really connected to the Jewish side of me and I am hopeful that I will become more aware of that ancestry after the trip is over. All in all, this trip should be a great respite for me as I look forward to starting out 2012 in a new land with a new career and new optimism for my future.

High Marks or the Highway!

Although I came in to my school at the end of the semester, I was responsible for grading final semester projects for my 12th grade students. Students here are very particular bout their grades due to stiff competition with getting to American universities. Parents can also be very strict about grades (or marks as they call them) because they see their child's success as an opportunity to move up in family prestige and social status.

No wonder my students began to get manipulatively nicer to me as the semester drew to an end. "You are the best teacher, teacher." and "We love you Mr. Roger" became more frequent as grades were getting close to being due. The moment students finished their PowerPoint presentations on "Comparing and Contrasting Ancient and Modern Leaders", they were asking if they received full marks or 100%. I told them that it would take time because I had to provide feedback and complete rubrics. I told one that he would have a high 90 grade and he almost had a heart attack. He explained that 1 mark, a 99%, would not be acceptable to him.

I worked hard and finally had all grades posted outside of my office by last week. Immediately, a deluge of students had hundreds of questions about their grades and how I had "given" them what they earned. Soon, parents were coming to the school to have a conference with me. I was not fearful because of how I prepared. Each student had a rubric along with comments. What I was not prepared for was the disrespect I got from one parent. He was incensed that his son received a 94 in my class. I was brought in to a conference room and was berated in Arabic about how he has a boot in his mouth at work. If you know anything about the Muslim culture, you know that the foot is seen as the dirtiest part of the body. This was why a shoe was thrown at George Bush that time! He said that to say that work was horrible and he had to leave to deal with this issue of his son's grade. As it turned out, his son really earned a 99% but there was a computing error on my part that was already fixed in the system. He was not satisfied with that answer. He went on to yell obscenities in Arabic while speaking to the translator. I was told that he was saying that incompetent Westerners are brought in to teach their kids and that there is no room for errors. I don't like stereotypes but was told that Egyptians can be very emotional and anal about their grades due to the stress of their children being competitive. Some even cane their children if they do not receive full marks.

I felt very disrespected but chose not to comment during the conference. After all, this is a different culture and I have to understand that Westerners are not always viewed in a positive light. I saw other parents and most were very respectful even if they didn't agree with their child's grade. It helped that I was prepared and calm. The manipulative students may no longer like me. I have found peace in knowing that. I hope that students will understand that they will have to work hard in my class to succeed. This is how the real world works and I hope they will respect me for it later.