Bring it, Memphis

Even though the European journey is over, shortly I'll start a journey of a different kind. A journey to become the best math teacher in Memphis... the best math teacher in the world. This goal is unattianable I believe. Sure even if I was to become one of the greatest teachers ever, there's probably not an objective way to determine who at any single moment is the best math teacher in the world. 

So the purpose and result of giving myself that goal is this: I know I have no choice but to never stop trying to get better. Every year, every day, every class. 

I'm motivated by these words of MLK:

And when you discover what you will be in your life, set out to do it as if God Almighty called you at this particular moment in history to do it. Don't just set out to do a good job. Set out to do such a good job that the living, the dead or the unborn couldn't do it any better.

If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music, sweep streets like Leontyne Price sings before the Metropolitan Opera. Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well. If you can't be a pine at the top of the hill, be a shrub in the valley. Be be the best little shrub on the side of the hill.

Be a bush if you can't be a tree. If you can't be a highway, just be a trail. If you can't be a sun, be a star. For it isn't by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are.

and these too:

The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. But education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society. The most dangerous criminal may be the man gifted with reason, but with no morals.

We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character--that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate.

and these words of John Wooden:

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what other think you are.

and these stats about the current state of Memphis education:

-the average ACT score in Memphis city schools is 16.6, for private schools it's 28.3

-A 2007 survey showed 90% of 7th and 8th graders believed they would one day go to college. In 2008 8% of Memphis residents age 18-24 and 22% of residents age 25 or older actually had a college degree.

-89% of 7th and 8th graders perform math at a lower level than the grade they're in

-Approximately 5,000 young men and women turn 19 every year in Memphis without a High School diploma

and by the documentary "Waiting for Superman" which you should go watch right now

and by great teachers like Rosemarie Brenneman and Tim Encinosa and Steve Smith and Chapman Greer and William Worden.

I could go on, but the point is made: The current state of urban education in Memphis, and in America as a whole, needs radical change. There's serious work to do.

Bring it, Memphis.

Finding [...] Myself [...]

So its officially over. I'm back home in Tampa. And before I was in Tampa, I was either in an airport or on an airplane for about 36 straight hours. Plenty of time to reflect. Here's some stuff I thought about...

Before I left on this trip, a thought I heard more than once was that this would be a great opportunity to find myself. Yeaa, find myself. I thought. But then I ran into a problem. I didn't really know what that meant. Sure, I've heard that cliche thrown around before, but what does it actually mean? So starting out, immediately I had two goals... 1) figure out what "finding myself" means and 2) do it

I think I was successful in both of those goals. Over the past 3 months I've come to realize that there are some unwritten, but assumed words in the phrase "finding myself". The full version is--Finding [stuff out about] Myself [that I hadn't previously realized or fully appreciated]. You see, it makes more sense with the brackets. Heres some ways I found myself:

-Walking--not as overrated as I used to think. I've come to enjoy it, You can see and notice much more when you're walking than when you're in a car going 40mph. I plan on encorporating going on walks into my normal life back in the states.

-Being without a cell phone--really not so bad. I actually started to like it. In fact, there were only a handful of times at which i thought, Oh man it'd be really nice to have a cell phone right now. I'm back but I'm not going to reconnect my phone right away and when I do, I will make sure to be without my it at times. Also, I'll text less.

-Wearing a scarf--not just for females and metro/homo sexuals. I can do it, and not feel feminine. So booyah.

-Taking photos--I have a whole new appreciation for photography. There's so much beauty in the world (see: Jessica Alba) and its cool trying to capture it and your experiences in a single picture.

-In the "having friends and family who love and support you as much as possible" category of life--I'm pretty blessed. Seriously, I couldn't ask for more.

-Playing guitar--I find it really fun, and not too hard to pick up on if you have the time. I had multiple lessons from different people at the hostel and now I really want to buy one. Soon I'll be able to romantically serenade a girl... playing a drum solo for her just doesn't have the same effect.

-Sleeping on couches--Any couch. Any time. Seriously, this is more of a warning to you because I already knew this about myself. But if I'm ever at your place and you leave me alone on the couch, I will most likely end up sprawled out and asleep. And sometimes I take my shirt off in my sleep. You've been warned.
.

-Writing--starting to like it a little. Sure, I still think math is a beautiful thing (I'm a nerd at heart, I know) but I've enjoyed doing this blog.

-Life in gerneral--I've learned that theres a fine line between irresponsibility and spontanaity. I probably walked that line during this trip, but I'd like to think I stayed more on the spontaneous side. Through the times when I wasn't sure where I was going to stay or what I was going to eat, I definitely learned a lot about manning up and living with the consequences of decisions I made. And at the end of the day, I'd do it all again if I could.

I'm sure there's more, but that's all I can think of at the moment. I still have some pictures  I want to put up and maybe a couple more things about my travels I can share so don't worry, the blog isn't officially over yet.

Stay classy San Diego.

i AMsterdam

Amsterdam

House boats

Taken whilst riding a bike

sunset over a canal

so much water in amsterdam

a canal with lots of boats

night shot of a canal//looks way better in real life

nice water reflections

nighttime canal again

 

he had to have been 3... no training wheels like a champ

Tilburg

We visited a museum that used to be a concentration camp. I haven´t taken a world history course in a while. It´s like some of this stuff I forgot actually happened.

 

where they burned dead bodies

240 people. one room. tiny beds.

All 240 people were allowed to shower once every 10 days for 30 minutes... as in, in 30 minutes, everyone had to be done.

this memorial was the shooting wall. It has all the names of the people who died there

  

Not all of Tlburg was so bleak though

typical tilburg street

bart and evert... at hiking machu piccu they´re great. at playing pool, they´re less great

Evert´s parents had a small farm. The lamb was about a week old. I wonder when he´ll suspect he´s adopted (the lamb, not Evert)

Surely theres a joke here somewhere

Tim Duncan´s favorite store

we went to some sand dunes. it was like a beach with no water

 

Southern hospitality, cheap wine, bama football, and a really nice gay guy

Still haven't had acces to a computer that I can upload my pics onto yet so you'll have to read more ramblings for right now.

I was thinking last night about my trip and all the fun experiences along the way and about how its bittersweet that I'll be home soon... and I figured I'd share some of the smaller stories from my trip that didn't deserve a full blog entry but were still enjoyable/memorable... the ones that didn't make the cut.

----In Amsterdam I had this conversation with a lady on a crowded tram:

Me: (realizing there were no more seats) Oh , would you like to have my seat?
Lady: You're not from here are you?
Me: Umm, no.
Lady: Well no thanks I'm okay. Men in Amsterdam never ask women if they want their seat. Where are you from?
Me: I'm from the states... and a part of the states where men open doors and pull out seats for ladies and do it all with a smile... It's called southern hospitality.
Lady: *confused look*
Me: Florida. I'm from Florida.

**Note: I was actually refering to Alabama, but I don't consider myself from there, thus why I said Florida.

----I was in a park enjoying a nice sunny day in Amsterdam (these are rare) when a man who was extremely drunk/high started talking to me. He had a big bag of food and beer and wine but wanted me to give him money so he could buy more beer. Ha it was really entertaining. We talked for about 15 minutes.

He was perisitent too... I think mostly because he was so far gone that he would ask me the same questions not remembering that he'd just asked the same thing 2 minutes ago. Long story short, he offered to sell me a bottle of wine for 2 euros. The future math teacher side of me came out as I did some calculations in my head "Surely the amount of alcohol or whatever he can aquire for 2 euros is less than what is contained in a bottle of wine. So by making this purchase, I'm really doing him a favor," I thought.

I left the park 2 euros poorer and a bottle of wine richer.

----One of my favorite comedians, Brian Regan, has a bit about how he fantasizes about being one of the few men who have been on our moon so whenever some "me monster" starts yapping away about how awesome he is, he can automatically trump any story by saying "I walked on the moon..." It's funny I promise.

Anyway, I think I may have experienced that a couple times in a England and The Netherlands. Whenever I would get in a discussion about sports it would inevitably lead to a discussion about what we call football and what everyone else in the world calls football.

I would smile in my head when I heard stuff like "Yea the fans are insane, travelling from city to city just to go to the away games... And the stadiums, 50,000 screaming fans in one place..." I would just let them keep going "Oh man the atmosphere is intense!... We barely even sit down!" I'd smile because I knew I had the ultimate trump card: Bryant-Denny Stadium.

So when they'd finally slow down, I suppose expecting a "Wow thats incredible!" from me, I'd instead begin to tell them about how I went to a university in a city with a population of 90,000 but an on campus stadium that holds 100,000. I'd tell them how one time over 90,000 people showed up... to watch a practice. I'd tell them about the rivalries and how the color orange makes me do that thing where you throw up in your mouth just a little bit. I'd tell them about on multiple occasions riding long distances, one time 30 hours, with people I had met the day before just to get to a game. And then having to sneak in when I did get there. I'd tell them about "Roll tide" and how two words could mean, "thanks", or "hey man", or "amen", or "cheers" or "i don't really know you, but I see you're a bama fan" or a plethora of other things. I'd tell them about Alabama football. And then the conversation would be over.

----In London I'm pretty sure I got hit on by a gay guy.

I was staying at a hostel and there was a bar downstairs... a nice little place to hang out. I was there one night talking to the bartender who was also American and staying at the hostel so I knew her a little. Anyway, at one point she got busy and a guy comes and sits next to me...

Possibly gay guy: Hey man I saw you at the library today.
Me: Oh cool. Yea, I was there today.
Possibly gay guy: I'm Anthony (I dont remember his real name)
Me: I'm Austin (we shake hands)

Over the next 20 minutes or so we chat and he's very nice. Too nice maybe. He also is very touchy and expressive. I remember thinking, It's cool that you live alone and work in the fashion industry, but do you really need to lean over and put your hand on my back or shoulder while teling me this? And then it hit me. It all made sense.

Oooo, you're gay, I thought. And maybe think I'm cute? Ha, it all makes so much sense now.

He was a talker so I had time to plan my next move while he went on about what he was doing to the inside of his apartment and how it was going to look fa-bu-lous.

I decided to just say something like "Man I haven't had any luck with the ladies lately" at some point in the conversation just so he knew where my loyalties rested, and then just keep talking. I mean, he was nice, interesting, entertaining... I just prefer people who are more... female.

My dichotomy of desires

Dichotomy is another one of those words that makes me sound smarter than I am. Also plethora. I like throwing that one out there from time to time.

Anyway, some of you, whoever "you" is, may know my trip's story and others may not. Here's the short version:

-set off on my big Euro-trip with big plans to see lots of places.
-planned on using a student loan to fund this trip.
-found out last second that the money wasnt coming.
-survived using a mix of generosity and hospitality of friends, family and people I didn't know with a dash of my own survival skills and whole lot of God's provision

And that's where I am today. Well technically I'm in Tilburg, but I'll get to that next time. Emotionally, for lack of a better word, where I am is in a state of having two basic desires:

1) to stay in Europe as long as possible and continue exploring, making friends, seeing new places
2) to not starve

Unfortunately these two desires get closer and closer to being mutually exclusive everyday... a dichotomy of desires, if you will. You see, there will come a point when the funds completely run dry and I can stay and not eat, or return and eat. Hopefully that time doesn't come before March 30 because on that day, I'm coming home. That's right, I officially have a ticket back. I can't decide if I liked it better when I didn't know when the end was coming or now that I know exactly how much time I have left. Whatever the case, I've had a great time and hope to soak up these last few weeks.

And when I do come back--Applebees on Hillsborough when simon gets off work.

Pictures of Amsterdam and Tilburg coming soon...