Tag: news

Should I Have Taken More Pictures?

I went to go see the Avett Brothers at Hayden Homes Amphitheater in Bend, Oregon last night. It has been a couple of years since I have seen a show, and it was great to see live music again. I was a little spoiled growing up in Denver. I had the opportunity to see many shows up at Red Rocks Amphitheater and it was back at a time when concert tickets were more affordable. Now, I have a hard time justifying spending that much money on a show, but I am glad that I did to see the Avett Brothers. They were a lot of fun; they are great musicians; and I love the way they harmonize.

But after the show, I realized that I had only taken one picture during the whole show, and that was because I got a text from my sister right before the show started, and I wanted to show her where I was at the time. At first, I thought it was a little uncharacteristic of me. Every time I go to a new place, I take tons of photos, and I have to scroll through them to share the best one with you. But this time I only took one.

It was not like I did not see other people taking people who were taking pictures during the show. Hayden Homes Amphitheater is a great location with a pretty setting, especially when the sun starts to set. There were people posing as a group with the stage in the background. There were people trying to take good pictures of the Avett Brothers during their set even though I think they might have been too far away to get a good picture. There was even one guy in front of me that recorded the Avett Brothers singing all of “I and Love and You”. But I took one picture.

It wasn’t until after the show, and I thought about the guy recording a whole song that I contemplated why I didn’t take so many pictures. If I had taken pictures, would it have changed the way I enjoyed to show. Would I have been so busy trying to get a great picture, or record the music just right, that I would not have enjoyed the concert during their performance? Am I better off just storing this moment as a memory instead of collecting the memory on my phone?

I think that me just enjoying the show was the better option. By not worrying about taking pictures, I was able to really immerse myself in the experience, and get the most out of the concert. Yes, that guy who recorded that whole song is probably at home right now watching it again and is proud that at any time he could bring up that memory, but I don’t think he was able to really feel the impact of the song in the moment because he was too busy making sure he recorded the song just right. I will always be able to go back to that song any time I hear it again, and I will relive the feeling of the moment when that happens. I think that feeling is more important than the recording, and it is probably the reason that I did not even consider taking more pictures at the show.

Phones are great and have the changed the way we live, but they might not always be the thing we should go to when living an experience. I am glad that I put my phone down and enjoyed the Avett Brothers, and I hope that the next time you find yourself in a similar experience, you do the same thing.

The Chronicles of Georgia

Sometimes when I am traveling, I spend so much time seeing what a town has to offer that I miss one of the bigger, more exciting features just outside of the city. Tbilisi has just one of these structures, the Chronicles of Georgia. Out on Keeni Hill just north of the city stands this massive structure of Stonehenge like pillars. It is hard to miss when you start traveling out that way, and it just begs to be visited.

The structure looks like it comes from a time before, but in reality, it is a relatively newer monument. Construction of the Chronicles started in 1985, and it was never completed, but enough of it was put up that it still is fascinating to come and look at. After climbing up the stairs to the structure, you are instantly immersed into the culture of Georgia as the pillars depict different aspects of it as well as some the country’s more famous participants.

A closer look reveals that there are actually two different stories being told. The base of each pillar has up to four different reliefs depicting important stories from the Bible; whereas, the upper portion of the pillars has stories from the history of Georgia. The Bible stories were pretty easy for me to figure out because I am familiar with them, but the Georgian stories came with no context, and there was no information up there that helped to bring their stories to life. I have searched all over the place to see if I could find something that would give me more insight into the kings and queens I was looking at, but I still can’t find anything.

Despite this shortcoming, it is still an impressive spot to visit, especially if you are moving on to other parts of the country, such as the wine region or the mountains. It is a quick stop that you could easily spend thirty minutes to an hour at, and feel like you have really enjoyed it. Though you might not know the stories, the detail of the carving is still fun to explore, and talk about. The views up there are also spectacular, and there is an old church that is worth the time to explore as well.

From a distance, it may look like it is off the beaten path, but in reality, it is only a little detour from a regularly scheduled tour. It is so fascinating that it should eventually become a part of that regularly scheduled tour, so you might want to make it a part of yours if you come to Georgia.

An Unexpected Day in Vienna

On Sunday, April 14th, I was supposed to get up early to take a flight back to my home in Amman, Jordan. We were going to catch an early bus in Bratislava to take the short trip to Vienna’s airport for a four hour flight. It was supposed to be a pretty routine way to end a vacation, but we got a little surprise that morning. Our flight home had been cancelled. In fact, it had been cancelled the next day as well, so rebooking became even more complicated. It all came down to the fact that Jordan’s neighbors decided to extend their bickering over the country’s airspace, and the night sky was covered with rockets exploding into each other. No one was hurt, but pilots did not want to fly into that mess. Jordan was kind enough to close their airspace, so there would be no excuse for a corporate executive to think otherwise. I tended to agree with the decisions, but it meant that I needed to figure out what to do to get back home, and find a place to stay in Vienna until I could find that route back.

First off, I would like to say that Austrian Airlines was spectacular. They found a few connecting flights, and I was only delayed by twenty-four hours to get back home. The company also hooked us up with an Ibis hotel room and vouchers for bus fare there, dinner, and breakfast. It set me up for a nice afternoon in a city I was not expecting to visit on this trip.

I also have to point out that my job was very understanding as well. Of course, they couldn’t be any other way. It was during one of the school’s breaks, and there were a lot of teachers that were stuck in various places all over the world. This also extended to students and their families, so they could not do anything but be understanding.

I really did enjoy my afternoon in Vienna. We were able to spend the day with other teachers that were also stranded there as well. At the same time, it was a little bittersweet. Friends who decided to stay behind sent footage of the war happening overhead that they could see from their balconies. I had a hard time, not thinking about the innocent people that lived below the two bickering countries. It blew my mind that they could think of nothing other than the retribution that they wanted to deliver to one another, and not how it affected the people whose involvement in was either non-existent or minimal at best. Though I was not physically in the country at the time, it was the closest I had ever been to actual war. It demonstrated that ideological differences aren’t always contained within imaginary lines, that sometimes they have to make a show of brute force to demonstrate how important that ideology is for them. In the end, it proved nothing except who could throw a bigger temper tantrum.

Needless to say, living in Jordan over the past year has been interesting, and this is just another story to add to the many I have already encountered. It makes me hope that someday soon we can come to a peaceful solution that allows all parties to feel comfortable so we can avoid these sophomoric displays of power. Granted, I earned another day of vacation out it, and in one of the world’s most beautiful cities, but I would rather find that other solution instead.

Thanks for listening to my rant, and maybe next time, we can find that solution that we are all looking for.

No News is Good News – Around the World Day 32

As I start to get ready to take my next jump west, things are starting to slow down in Colorado where I am staying right now. For almost two weeks, I have been a tourist in the town that I grew up in. I have visited some of my favorite places in this state, and even got to see a couple that I have never been to. I got to catch up with friends I haven’t seen for a long time, and have some quality time with my family. At times, the trip has been a little hectic with one event planned after another, and even though this might be the case, I have really enjoyed the time I have gotten to spend out here. Just last night I went over to my sister’s house to have a home cooked lasagna, a delicacy that they haven’t quite figured out in Korea yet, and yes, it was delicious, but it was the conversation and the wine that I enjoyed the most.

I have found that since I have more time to relax, I have been able to reflect on the trip so far, and think about what it means. When you live out of a suitcase for a long time, it requires you to make some changes while you are doing it. One of the things I have noticed is that I have not watched that much television, and because my cellular service is from South Korea, I have not been as tied to my electronic devices. I have been out making connections with people and enjoying the sun while it out there. It made me think of what summer used to be when I was younger, spending time with my friends outside and not concerning myself with the larger problems of that come with the busier times of the year. It is all about living in the moment I find myself in, and letting my location become the most important one.

This has meant that I have not watched a lot of the news. In fact, I haven’t really picked up a paper to stay on top of what is going on in the world. I know that there are former students of mine that are screaming that I am being a hypocrite. I always preached the importance of reading the paper, and being well-informed. That you could not make a decision in this world if you didn’t really know what was going on in it. And I still do believe in the importance of the news, but I am also starting to see how little politics and the absurdity of the world-leaders actually affect my life. Nothing much has changed based on the lack of knowledge that I have about world events, and I do believe that for the most part I have been happier because I have not wrapped myself up in this absurdity.

It made me think about a quote that I used to spend so much time on when I taught American literature. It was from Henry David Thoreau’s Walden and it voiced his opinion on the penny-post, or letters back in the day that cost a penny for the postage. He said, “For my part, I could easily do without the post-office. I think that there are very few communications made through it.” I used to make the comparison to the countless texts that the youth of today sends to each other. The message I was trying to make that they spend so much time on these messages that really do not mean anything. The messages can wait until they are face to face, and the communication prevents us from really concerning ourselves with what is happening right in front of us. The messages could wait.

I did not think to apply this to the news as well. Yes, there are many decisions made by politicians that eventually affect us in some form or fashion. But there is really not a lot we can do about those decisions until it comes to election time. In fact, all the news does in this day is to stir up dissension among the people and keeps us staring at the idiots who are running this world. Sometimes it is better if we turn it off and not worry about what they are doing. We will find that we are happier because of it. I have found out that this is the case while I am taking this trip. In fact the only times I have found that I have been tense about the world is when I have caught little bits and pieces of what is going on.

Now, yes, it is important to be informed, especially when it is time to make decisions that may impact others. But we do not need the constant campaigning and bickering that goes on during most of the time. The information that we are given is not worth the data that is wasted to deliver it to us. We instead should take the time to become informed when election time comes around, and visit the news from time to time to find out the bigger things that we need to know. I appreciate the way that elections are run in South Korea because it forces the citizens to do exactly this. Politicians are not allowed to campaign until a month before the election. They are not gearing up for the next election just as soon as they have finished the one that they won. This way, the decision that the citizens make is informed on the issues, and not on the inane bickering and sound bites that are presented these days. And after the election, the politicians can concentrate on their jobs instead of trying to get re-elected.

I see all of this better now because I have put the remote down, and have not picked up the paper as much. I will go back to it when I get back to my home, but I will continue to enjoy the moments I have been given for now without concerning myself about the worries created by the press.