Wow, busy week.  In the next half hour I'll be heading down to Rajpur for the Senior School Religious Education Retreat.  The theme is on life with a disability in India - I'm curious and excited to learn more about that.  There is also a service day involved - you can never go wrong trying to L-O-V-E your neighbor (I'm talkin' platonic love/agape-love here of course).
And speaking of love - One thousand splendid thanks to those friends and family back home who have sent their love in the form of coffee beans.  Just received some MN roasted beans from Jay and Rose, and Mom and Dad sent a belated birthday package earlier this month. 
And speaking of my wonderful and generous parents - HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!  I hope to get you a video message by Sept 1st, but patience please if its a few days late.  These two high school sweethearts have nurtured and supported a perfect family over the years (I guess "decades" describes it better).  What an example of a committed and genuinely happy relationship.  Miss you both, LOL or love of love.
 

 

Well, other than the internet connection being really crappy in my new apartment, the semester is off to a terrific start.  Because why Devan?  (the following list is in no particular order, but does create a facade of organization and precision - don't be fooled - its neither).

1. As of last week, I have a Hindi tutor.  He is a local from Mussoorie who is an amicable, but knowledgeable, teacher.  I also go to class in my kitchen, so my commute to and from lessons is about 1 minute (round trip).  Hopefully I can stick with it and become more than the typical "white tourist" anywhere outside Woodstock.

2. The health center sent down some antibiotics after a throat swab test on Wednesday.  Life is a lot easier when I'm not miserably sick.  But I didn't suffer all that much because a student of mine shared the first season of Arrested Development with me (Of course he shared it legally).

3. Football/Soccer at Woodstock is pretty important*.  Ex A. There is a tournament/fundraiser, Goal-a-thon!, going this weekend, where dozens of teams compete and raise money for a local charity.  Exciting. As there is no decent pitch/field here, we play in the gym with 5-a-side.  I played on the staff team tonight.  We lost - but it was fun.  But not as fun as (Ex B.) The Woodstock Senior School Boys team being undefeated so far this season.  The last two Fridays I've enjoyed my afternoons off-duty by traveling with the team for their matches/games in the 11th annual Om Prakash Tournament.  They won the first in regular match play, the second in a suspenseful shootout.  Great stuff, all the best to them tomorrow at the semi-finals!
*Understatement of the post. It is also worth mentioning that this particular understatement is a big understatement relative to my extra-blog-post understatements as well.  

4. In the last week, I've been referred to as "Coach D" at least once.  Why?  Because I am one of the coaches for the Woodstock Senior School Girls Football Team now.  They needed a coach and I'm excited to get the season going for some 25 girls - wait, another girl said she was unable to make the tryouts last Mon/Tues but is still interested in playing - 26 it is then.  The more the merrier, because thankfully, there are other staff willing to help manage this large but determined group.

5. I work with the seniors now.  Great stuff, this class.  As I've been with these boys nearly two years now, it is more fun and meaningful to continue dorm-parenting them.  Oh-note to self-one student is interested in MIT and maybe he should email Emily about life in/near Boston.  Only down side to working with the señors is less time to spend with the other boys, which sucks!  At least I'm going help facilitate a "birds & the bees/drugs-are-bad-mmkay-kids" talk with them next month.  God I wish this stupid line didn't have to hang awkwardly below Mr. Garrison.


6. Some people from the states travel across the world to get a chance to be in the presence of His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama.  Next month, probably before "The Talk" with the seniors, I'll go up to school as I do 3-5 times a week, sit down in the gym like I would for any all-school event, and listen to His Holiness.  "So, like OMG! right? i'm totes going to try and get his autograph :)"  But seriously, but not too serious because look at that face, I'm thrilled at the opportunity not only for myself, but for Woodstock.  I'm excited to see what ideas and/or thoughts he imparts upon the students and community as a whole.      

Finished my last shift of the week 3 or 4 hours ago.  Exhausted, I locked the door behind me as I walked through the dark, sat down on the couch.  Allowing a few thoughts to flash across my mind, as the stars likely do behind the clouded, monsoon sky, I resolve to enjoy a beer.  I move the small can from refrigerator to the freezer for 10 minutes because I like my lagers cool and then find a mug.  Impulsively check my email and facebook... mesmerized time-warp until the alarm sounds to notify me I'll never get those moments of life back and I should remove the beer before it explodes because its slightly alcohol deficient.  Wait, don't I like music more than beer.

Once while in Bhutan last month I zoned out my travel buddies for few songs by Gaslight Anthem (it was only a few songs, I dearly love them).  "Damn," thought I, "That single '45' is catchy and well written."  Satisfied with checking out this release, I searched Wikipedia for the track list, cued up the internet radios, plugged my Sennheisers into the jack and away we went.

...

I honestly enjoyed at least 94% of the songs.  I think there was one backup vocal part which seemed a little hokey.  I thought to write down some thoughts.  But at ten to 3am, I'm throwing in the towel.

I'm going to briefly acknowledge the dearth of posts in the last few months.
Moving on.

The inspiration to post, has also kept me awake in bed the last hour.  Just before starting this, I was happy to re-read a previous post when I was happy and enjoying life at Woodstock.  This point is striking tonight not because my feelings have changed, but because they're the same.

I'll stick the brevity thing ("Dude", not "El Duderino") and just say:

• I'm from the US and of European descent.
• I'm happy to be working in India.
• Each day I encounter many people with ethnicities and nationalities and backgrounds different from my own - and I love that.

Tomorrow at check-in I'll stand in front of the students on my floor; a group composed of grade 10s and 11s from India, Canada, Korea, USA, Burma/Myanmar, Nepal, Germany Vietnam, Thailand, Bhutan, Switzerland, ... and I think that is all - I'll stand in front of them and share something similar to the sentiment above.  Hopefully they understand.  Hopefully if they should ever google my name they would not find anything I've written offensive to them, offensive to their national/ethnic identity and  offensive to who they at their core-being.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be7Og9Gc_KY
  

Voice, what voice?

Once or twice a semester there is a book sale at Woodstock.  At the last one I went to, I purchased a little story by Hermann Hesse.  Last night I made some tea and cracked it open.  Thus far, the story of Siddhartha's life is fascinating.  He is a willful man who's journeys allow him to meet many people and experience vastly different lifestyles.  After three years living as an ascetic - thinking, fasting and waiting - he decides to live a more worldly life - gambling, eating and drinking.  I've only 40 or so pages to finish, and I just finished a part where he regrets the "worldly life" and is seriously contemplating suicide.  Ultimately, he regrets past decisions in which he did not listen to his conscious or inner voice.  

There have been words, phrases and situations throughout the book which remind me of other musicians and books.  Perhaps I'll do some sleuthing on Wikipedia once I finish to see how it influenced other musicians and books.

This Siddhartha's story, has rekindled my appreciation for Bob Dylan.  I think of the way Dylan spent years listening to recordings of literally every folk song he could get his hands on (legally or illegally).  Legend has it he picked up the different strumming and plucking patterns as well as various vocal lines and songwriting techniques; with such mastery of the folk tradition Dylan assembled his first 4-5 studio recordings.  However, after the mid 60s, these folk influences, other voices, were masked or of little affect to his sound.  Far more prominent in his following albums, was his own voice and style.

Mason Jennings, photographed here with scruffy facial hair not unlike mine at the moment, can also use his voice.  One chapter I just finished reminded me of a line from Mason Jennings' How Deep Is That River.  This is a song in which Jennings, greatly influenced by Dylan, sounds like a wise old sage, perhaps a bit like the main character in the book.  The major difference between the two is that Jennings sings of finding a savior down by the river whereas Siddhartha's savior, or more generally, Siddhartha's reason to live, is the rediscovery his "inner voice".  Though, if Sid was looking for a reason, as to why we're here, he also could have looked no farther than Jennings.

Professionally, both Dylan and Jennings have clearly established inner voices.  Guided by (their) voices, these dudes plot their musical direction, decide the overall sound of their upcoming record, and transform their thoughts and unique observations into the next lyric.  Or - due to producers and record labels/contracts - maybe I have a naive and idealistic understanding of my favorite musicians and their work.  

Look Out! / Cowboys & Aliens and Pirates

While doing rounds during study hall the other day, I asked one of my boys what he was listening to. We then appreciated a tangential conversation about our favorite Bob Dylan songs.  His ability to recall many lines from Subterranean Homesick Blues was impressive.  Unfortunately, none of the boys chose to cover Bob Dylan the following evening at the student talent show.  However I did hear some students cover Red Hot Chili Peppers - Obviously, they did not play the song on most previous link - but how intriguing to find this link in my search for the original song.



Friday, Nov 25th - This afternoon I walked off the enormous quantity of quality food I ate last night.  It was a short distance to Flag Hill.  I took my time and enjoyed the following - being on the northern side of the hills I kept cool on an other wise clear and warm day, the road was quiet and almost lonely - though it is often bustling with commercial traffic, and I was reading an interesting story about a man who wakes up to discover he is now a bug.

As I reached the top of Flag Hill, I was able to enjoy a crystal clear panoramic view of the snowy peaks.  The opportunity to study this view always reminds me how wonderful the Mussoorie life is (Little sappy?  My deepest apologies.)  No matter how excited I am to visit Dylan's home state next month, I'm thankful for plans to return to this place at the end of January.


Saturday Nov 26th - A good evening with fellow dorm parents.  We ordered chicken curry, nan and stuffed tomatoes from Golden Restaurant accompanied by some interesting "rum" labeled 100 Pirates Deluxe.  Then we watched the best action/thriller/sci-fi/western movie I've ever seen, and ever will see - Cowboys and Aliens.  Despite the ridiculous title, it was surprisingly entertaining.

I remember seeing pirates on the cover of City Pages once, must have been the winter or fall of 2009.  Anyway - turns out it was this, then up coming, electro-pop/twin cities band in full-on pirate costume.  I believe I read the article, I don't think it ever explained why they were dressed like pirates.  Maybe no one ever needs to explain why they are dressed like pirates.  

Q: Is it odd that I recalled this random magazine cover while trying to think of an MN band which I could somehow link to "pirates"?

Today I spent the my morning and afternoon surfing the internet for information on travel in Germany.  In the last month, as a way to prepare for my 11 day visit this January, I've been planning and learning about Germany each day.  These preparations are vastly different from those leading me to my current job at Woodstock; initiated 13 months ago.

The song which I closely relate to my India-decision is a slow moving song, One Fast Move.  The title track, from a side project composed by Ben Gibbard and Jay Farrar, is one of the better songs created by the unlikely duo connected by a mutual appreciation for Jack Kerouac's life and work.  I appreciate Gibbard's melodic vocals far more than Farrar's.  In this song he sings of a disillusioned Kerouac, who's life desperately  requires a sea change.

In the months following the release, I streamed their live performance whenever the studio recordings were not on heavy rotation.  I also found myself watching their performance at The Varsity Theater that winter.  While standing amid the crowd, I knew this song struck a chord in my collective consciousness.  I didn't know the significant impact it would have on my decisions further on up the road.

Eventually the youth minster in me was leading the mission trips I'd planned that prior winter.  While reading the Fountainhead on a flight from Miami to New Orleans, I decided to make my break.  A bold act to regain my greatly atrophied self-respect.  I was exhausted from finishing one mission trip and seamlessly beginning another.  Any alternative to being away from the office in Eagan proved less draining, but leading 5 mission trips proved grueling.

Desperate to get out, unknowing of what would follow, I put in my resignation letter and left at month's end.  I accepted the first job offered.  October was spent selling my car record player/ stereo, saying my goodbyes and filling out paper work while I waited for a work visa.  It came 5 days before Halloween and it was one fast move, and/or I'm gone.

Afterthought: The next time I'm driving up 35W, Minneapolis skyline growing in the windshield, I can listen to this song and reflect upon my "moves" and their relation to unmoving.  (taken at the Varsity Theater concert no less).