Saturday, May 24, 2008

Historia de un Letrero (The Story of the Sign)

This short film won the Cannes (say it with me, pronounced, "Cans," not "Khans" to the beautiful people in the know) Film Festival for best online short film. It's beautiful and simple. Enjoy the power of the pen and the power of a small film.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

A Sunday Update

As you may have noticed, I haven't really updated lately (other than my Jaiku feed, which are sort of idea-bytes posted from my cell phone.)

I came in to the office to get some work done, and I did, so as long as I was on a word style roll I'd keep it going with a blog post.

First things first: The reason I haven't Skyped some of you is NOT because I don't want to talk to you. It is because the Jesuit community I'm living in doesn't have it's own internet drop. So in order to use the net at all, I have to cross the street to the school and use my work computer. Needless to say, the network at work is locked down and restricted and Skype is not on the menu. That's the bad news. The good news is that the IT guys are coming to install a network in the house and that it HAS to be done by World Youth Day in early July, and with me pestering them, it keeps moving up their 'to-do' list of priorities.

Secondly, what to say? Let's see, I picked up 4 Religious Ed classes, grades 8, 10, 11 and 12. All of which roughly correspond to their American counter parts. The major shift in the teaching (other than the fact that I haven't been in the classroom in quite some time) is that here, while we are all teaching from the same syllabus (not too unusual for me), we will all give the same exam and I need to stay relatively close to where everyone else is. For me, of course, I was used to teaching what I wanted, when I wanted and then writing and grading my own exam, none of which is done here. So that's a shift in mindset.

Thirdly, it's great to be back in Australia. The last week has been pretty tough in some ways, with a friend of mine being killed in Afghanistan, and another Army guy I know getting busted for sexual assualt/solicitation/generally being a bad person with a minor over the internet. That one really threw me for a loop since I wouldn't have suspected that: A) He would act in such a fashion and B) With the state of these sorts of things always being reported about, that he was DUMB enough to do this. But there you go. In light of that, I'm really glad to be back here. I've had a good talk with some friends in New Zealand, and I'm moving slowly back in that direction, but I'll have some time to do here in Australia before we make that leap. Part of the consoling movement of the Spirit in all of this is functioning like a priest again. I do daily Masses at a community of Loretto sisters who have a girl's school near by, Jesuit community and school Masses, etc. That's REALLY nice for me. Also, the greeting I have received upon returning has been pretty overwhelming. Jesuits, friends and retreatants have let me know how glad they are that I'm back here, and that's really nice.

So school is keeping me busy (basically 6 days a week, with Saturday Sport [note the lack of 's' that we would append in the US]; ALL sporting events happen on Saturday, so going from volleyball to tae kwon do to soccer to rugby to tennis pretty much devours an entire day). I'm feeling pretty good about things and I've started running again, feebly for right now, but I am hopeful that I'll be able to do the City2Surf again in August.

I miss many of you in the Northern Hemisphere, and think and pray for you often, but I'm glad I'm here. No, gladder than that. I'm REALLY glad I'm here.

More soon, and watch my Jaiku feed for (trivial) daily updates.

SFSJ

Friday, May 2, 2008

One Chapter Ends...Another Begins

I awoke early this morning. After months of waiting and enough bureaucratic paperwork to choke a starving donkey, my visa finally came through and I'm Australia bound.

I got the word on the visa on Sunday, and it's been a rush ever since. How do I consistently do that? It must be in my nature somehow that I can never, completely say goodbye to people and have things as organized as possible to make a change like this, even when I have months to prepare to do so. It may be some flaw in my character that resists closure and saying goodbye. Perhaps my Perceiver preference on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator spectrum that longs to be free of things like deadlines and, ultimately, decisions. Whatever, it's left me packing and repacking (which I did again this morning) and feeling like I should call all of the contacts in my cell phone and on my computer. And feeling guilty because I haven't talked to everyone I *should* talk to. But it is very me, somehow.

And here I stand looking out over Rubicon, wondering what lies on the other side. In this case, Rubicon has "Quantas" and a kangaroo logo painted on its side. Talking to a friend, the PAgent Man, the other day and trying to describe the feeling, I said that it felt like when I reported to basic. That same sense of unknowability and uncertainty are pervasive. The nervousness almost palpable. And yet the excitement of starting something new and really launching in to something I want to do. All mingle together in some strange cocktail of joy and melancholy. How does that work inside, I wonder.

So, if I haven't said goodbye to, and I likely should have, then I do so here. And I invite you come and see what it is I'm doing. And to keep checking back here for updates of another sort.

I'm beginning, just beginning, to see that things don't "end" as we understand that term, in life, they just change into something completely different. And completely unexpected. The one thing I do know? That whatever you think something is or will be, that is most certainly what it will NOT be. Now, you'll excuse me, I have to go south, far south, to find out what things aren't.