May-June is always a good time to clean up the home office. (The office office is spare and requires only about an hour's worth of work at the end of the semester to tidy and toss out.)
I think I didn't do a very thorough weeding of files last spring, because I was trying to get ready for my research trip to Europe. This year, the file drawers are bulging and the cleanout must be done.
The old paper-versus-electronic copy rages in full force: e-copy means out of sight, out of mind. But there's soo much more room in the file drawers if you toss everything you have electronically! I am also tossing dated newspaper articles (yep, I'm one of THOSE people!) and background materials I've had for a couple of years but have never used for courses.
And then I'm tossing all the stuff I collected for projects I'll never do in part because the materials are so dated. Example: all the ads for econonomic development in magazines I collected when I was in Poland in 2005. If I am able to get a book contract to write up my work about tourism in Eastern Europe, it will NOT focus very much on economic development. It was a topic I could never make much headway with because it's vast and has always been tangential to my smaller subject.
I'm also rearranging as I go: my concept of how to organize my stuff is always in flux, as new interests surface and old ones die. So some topics need more files; others need to be weeded or tossed altogether.
Also, I don't tend to keep old lecture notes in paper copies anymore, unless I am planning significant course realignment in the upcoming semester. I am doing that for the spring in the global cities course, and a bit in the fall for economic geography. Otherwise, bring on the shredder. I estimate that in less than 24 hours, I'll be able to see the surface of my desk again!
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
I am NOT a Luddite
The title should give you fair warning on my defensiveness, right? Here are a couple of recent examples that made me shake my head.
1.My department bought those of us who wanted one an iPad. No training, no account setup (and Academic Computing is really PO'ed that we have them without being part of a coordinated effort run by THEM. They are so proud that THEY just got iPads and they are running a pilot this fall in a different department. Nothing like my department trying to steal their thunder!).
Nevertheless, Academic Computing has some really nice, helpful staff, and they tried to get me started. We looked at the features of the device (Wow! I can change the wallpaper! - if you know me in the slightest you know that how the display is is about one-millionth on my list of things to care about) and they tried and failed to end-run the system to get me an account without giving up a credit card number.
So B got me the account and I've looked at some free or cheap apps. Either they are things I do competently other ways already (I still use a paper calendar; I can't bear to switch to device-based as long as I can scribble a quick note) or things I have no use for. I don't need an iPad stopwatch (try dragging THAT on a long walk) when I have a perfectly fine free one on the laptop, which I use for timing presentations. I don't need two cameras on one machine (although the res is pretty good and I could probably figure out how to email the files to myself). Bottom line: the iPad has not yet demonstrated its value and I'm not willing to spend countless more hours "playing" to see if I can wrest value out of it.
2. Steve Jobs and his iCloud. I like my programs and my documents right where I know where they always are: on my laptop, which I back up reasonably conscientiously. I don't like being dependent on some infrastructure "out there" in the ether to do every single thing that I do and manage all the information I manage. I know that the Internet is redundantly structured, but it seems like there are a LOT of things that could go wrong between me sitting here (wherever "here" is) and my information: ISP breakdown; telecomm overload (every time there is a "natural" disaster the cell network is the first casualty); even terrorism.
3. At one of the workshops in the previous entry, one of our tech people suggested we deal with banning cell phones in the classroom by allowing students a start-up reward at the beginning of class, which is to use polldaddy to answer a question. And then make them put the cellphones away. Seems ass-backwards to me. How about a reward at the END of class? Why give them license for cell phones at the BEGINNING, when they have just seconds ago checked for new texts?
4.On the other hand, why isn't our campus working on ways to let us text students, since that is "meeting them where they are," which is always touted as our go-to strategy?
5. I am really tired once again of hearing about "digital natives" who take to any technology and dive right in. Here is the technology our students hate most and seem to need the most help with: the Learning Management System (LMS) for which we make them buy laptops. It's a clunky system to be sure - but they just try one thing and can't do it (which apparently absolves them of any responsibility of completing the relevant assignment) or whine that they couldn't find what you wanted them to read, or it wouldn't load, or they couldn't print it, or whatever.
In better news, I've finished the first of six modules of my online course, all but testing the links. It looks my course at the other college may not run, although I won't know for sure for another 3-4 weeks, and I'm only short one student for their minimum enrollment. There is significant start-up for THAT class so it won't be the worst thing if it doesn't run.
1.My department bought those of us who wanted one an iPad. No training, no account setup (and Academic Computing is really PO'ed that we have them without being part of a coordinated effort run by THEM. They are so proud that THEY just got iPads and they are running a pilot this fall in a different department. Nothing like my department trying to steal their thunder!).
Nevertheless, Academic Computing has some really nice, helpful staff, and they tried to get me started. We looked at the features of the device (Wow! I can change the wallpaper! - if you know me in the slightest you know that how the display is is about one-millionth on my list of things to care about) and they tried and failed to end-run the system to get me an account without giving up a credit card number.
So B got me the account and I've looked at some free or cheap apps. Either they are things I do competently other ways already (I still use a paper calendar; I can't bear to switch to device-based as long as I can scribble a quick note) or things I have no use for. I don't need an iPad stopwatch (try dragging THAT on a long walk) when I have a perfectly fine free one on the laptop, which I use for timing presentations. I don't need two cameras on one machine (although the res is pretty good and I could probably figure out how to email the files to myself). Bottom line: the iPad has not yet demonstrated its value and I'm not willing to spend countless more hours "playing" to see if I can wrest value out of it.
2. Steve Jobs and his iCloud. I like my programs and my documents right where I know where they always are: on my laptop, which I back up reasonably conscientiously. I don't like being dependent on some infrastructure "out there" in the ether to do every single thing that I do and manage all the information I manage. I know that the Internet is redundantly structured, but it seems like there are a LOT of things that could go wrong between me sitting here (wherever "here" is) and my information: ISP breakdown; telecomm overload (every time there is a "natural" disaster the cell network is the first casualty); even terrorism.
3. At one of the workshops in the previous entry, one of our tech people suggested we deal with banning cell phones in the classroom by allowing students a start-up reward at the beginning of class, which is to use polldaddy to answer a question. And then make them put the cellphones away. Seems ass-backwards to me. How about a reward at the END of class? Why give them license for cell phones at the BEGINNING, when they have just seconds ago checked for new texts?
4.On the other hand, why isn't our campus working on ways to let us text students, since that is "meeting them where they are," which is always touted as our go-to strategy?
5. I am really tired once again of hearing about "digital natives" who take to any technology and dive right in. Here is the technology our students hate most and seem to need the most help with: the Learning Management System (LMS) for which we make them buy laptops. It's a clunky system to be sure - but they just try one thing and can't do it (which apparently absolves them of any responsibility of completing the relevant assignment) or whine that they couldn't find what you wanted them to read, or it wouldn't load, or they couldn't print it, or whatever.
In better news, I've finished the first of six modules of my online course, all but testing the links. It looks my course at the other college may not run, although I won't know for sure for another 3-4 weeks, and I'm only short one student for their minimum enrollment. There is significant start-up for THAT class so it won't be the worst thing if it doesn't run.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Pedagogy central
After the spring semester, I usually spend about a month on a combination of pedagogical activities, organizing, and thinking strategically about courses. (I should spend the time writing articles for publication, but that's a different story.)
The week after finals, I attended four workshops on pedagogy in various forms, plus a planning meeting for an institute I'm teaching in August. These events tend to be heavy on broad concepts and light on applications, but if you can spend some time after the fact thinking about how to apply them, it's not totally wasted time.
First up was a workshop on assessments using a modified Kitchener-King cognitive development model. Allegedly our students are best at memorizing random chunks of information. They don't think critically about this - meaning that they can't sift through evidence to find out what's valuable and what's garbage, much less synthesize all that into a cogent argument.
I don't totally agree. Some students come in with this capacity but what they lack is enough knowledge of "how the world is" or general life experience to be able to contextualize what they know properly. (I am forever making assumptions about what they know - often wrong. For example, although all of them have had at least one year of world history, I can't assume they remember that WW2 was in the mid-20th century or know what (generally speaking) the sides were, Allied versus Axis.)
Two days later, another workshop dealt precisely with this point - how to understand your students and what they know and care about. Not a lot of answers (the mood at our table was fairly cynical) but at least we are asking the questions and trying to put ourselves in their shoes. But I hope that I bonded with my co-facilitator for my first-year class, and we met the following week to hash out some of the scheduling stuff.
The worst was the strategic planning retreat. Working with my colleagues to try to dream up new initatives within the framework of our institutional core values was pure torture.
I teach at a teaching college. It's interesting to see the rigor (and cookie-cutter-like methods) taught TO students in the name of early ed pedagogy. But are our young students better educated because of it? Many of my students rail against standardized testing. I don't; to me it's a first step. You need knowledge and perspective to be able to think critically about ANYTHING.
The week after finals, I attended four workshops on pedagogy in various forms, plus a planning meeting for an institute I'm teaching in August. These events tend to be heavy on broad concepts and light on applications, but if you can spend some time after the fact thinking about how to apply them, it's not totally wasted time.
First up was a workshop on assessments using a modified Kitchener-King cognitive development model. Allegedly our students are best at memorizing random chunks of information. They don't think critically about this - meaning that they can't sift through evidence to find out what's valuable and what's garbage, much less synthesize all that into a cogent argument.
I don't totally agree. Some students come in with this capacity but what they lack is enough knowledge of "how the world is" or general life experience to be able to contextualize what they know properly. (I am forever making assumptions about what they know - often wrong. For example, although all of them have had at least one year of world history, I can't assume they remember that WW2 was in the mid-20th century or know what (generally speaking) the sides were, Allied versus Axis.)
Two days later, another workshop dealt precisely with this point - how to understand your students and what they know and care about. Not a lot of answers (the mood at our table was fairly cynical) but at least we are asking the questions and trying to put ourselves in their shoes. But I hope that I bonded with my co-facilitator for my first-year class, and we met the following week to hash out some of the scheduling stuff.
The worst was the strategic planning retreat. Working with my colleagues to try to dream up new initatives within the framework of our institutional core values was pure torture.
I teach at a teaching college. It's interesting to see the rigor (and cookie-cutter-like methods) taught TO students in the name of early ed pedagogy. But are our young students better educated because of it? Many of my students rail against standardized testing. I don't; to me it's a first step. You need knowledge and perspective to be able to think critically about ANYTHING.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
online education - some thoughts from the trenches
Online ed is growing as a cash cow all over the place, and why not? From the institutional point of view, there are minimum site costs (no electricity, AC, or maintenance of buildings); the software and support costs are marginal (more about that in a moment); and thus the financial equation is more or less, "is there more tuition revenue coming in than the cost of paying the instructor going out?"
Probably I oversimplify this a bit, but you get the point.
To teach online in my shop, I was required to take a 5-week course in Teaching Online, taught, naturally, online. This is a pretty brilliant move - in making the educators students in the online environment, we got to experience the full range of moronic classmates (yep, even in the rarified world of PhDs); unreliable software/internet; and inconsistent attention from our profs.
In the way that online learning (OLL) is conceptualized at my institution, we should be coldly and critically analytical: for every chunk of knowledge/facts/skills, we should be thinking "why should students need to know this?" and "how will I assess their learning?"
I have some mixed views about this. I am not a fan of instrumentalizing knowledge in this way - yet I see the value of thinking about value of knowlege, not just blindly transmitting "the wisdom of the ages" because someone told us in grad school that this was important stuff.
Along with the "what should they know?" and "how will I know they know it?" comes the so-called paradigm shift from teacher-centered education to student-centered education. Lifers in academe may scoff at this as just another fad in pedagogy, but here again, I see some value, even though, interestingly enough, this approach is about 180 degrees from the prevailing test-and-punish mentality that pervades K-12 in public education.
Teacher-centered education is a leftover from the medieval period, when books were scarce, and university education consisted of having precious books READ to you in lecture halls. (In fact, the word lecture has its roots in the Latin verb "to read." Professors read books to students because books were rare and precious and students didn't have access to them. Thus was knowledge transmitted.
Since Gutenberg, this notion is increasingly antiquated, and now with the electronic age, probably completely superfluous. In the regular "lecture" classroom, instructors either recap what was assigned for the reading, or they strike off in new territory, or some combination. (I regret to say that I've been in the former camp too often, not from a firm belief that it was necessary to recap the readings, but from an uncertainty about what should be done instead. (I am mindful too of advice given by one mentor - there is nothing wrong with reviewing what's in the textbook - students need help understanding it.))
Imagine now online teaching. There is no "you" in the classroom, only documents you put on the website. (Our classroom management software is really lame, but that doesn't really affect the whole CONCEPT of online ed.)
Probably I oversimplify this a bit, but you get the point.
To teach online in my shop, I was required to take a 5-week course in Teaching Online, taught, naturally, online. This is a pretty brilliant move - in making the educators students in the online environment, we got to experience the full range of moronic classmates (yep, even in the rarified world of PhDs); unreliable software/internet; and inconsistent attention from our profs.
In the way that online learning (OLL) is conceptualized at my institution, we should be coldly and critically analytical: for every chunk of knowledge/facts/skills, we should be thinking "why should students need to know this?" and "how will I assess their learning?"
I have some mixed views about this. I am not a fan of instrumentalizing knowledge in this way - yet I see the value of thinking about value of knowlege, not just blindly transmitting "the wisdom of the ages" because someone told us in grad school that this was important stuff.
Along with the "what should they know?" and "how will I know they know it?" comes the so-called paradigm shift from teacher-centered education to student-centered education. Lifers in academe may scoff at this as just another fad in pedagogy, but here again, I see some value, even though, interestingly enough, this approach is about 180 degrees from the prevailing test-and-punish mentality that pervades K-12 in public education.
Teacher-centered education is a leftover from the medieval period, when books were scarce, and university education consisted of having precious books READ to you in lecture halls. (In fact, the word lecture has its roots in the Latin verb "to read." Professors read books to students because books were rare and precious and students didn't have access to them. Thus was knowledge transmitted.
Since Gutenberg, this notion is increasingly antiquated, and now with the electronic age, probably completely superfluous. In the regular "lecture" classroom, instructors either recap what was assigned for the reading, or they strike off in new territory, or some combination. (I regret to say that I've been in the former camp too often, not from a firm belief that it was necessary to recap the readings, but from an uncertainty about what should be done instead. (I am mindful too of advice given by one mentor - there is nothing wrong with reviewing what's in the textbook - students need help understanding it.))
Imagine now online teaching. There is no "you" in the classroom, only documents you put on the website. (Our classroom management software is really lame, but that doesn't really affect the whole CONCEPT of online ed.)
Monday, July 26, 2010
a smorgasbord of thoughts
Here is what is going on over here:
I have joined Weight Watchers (International) and now am in week 3. I lost 6.2 pounds the first 2 weeks. I will never write of this again: hearing people talk recipes and "points" and motivational strategies is dull beyond belief. There is some interesting anthropological work that could be done on the discourses of dieting though: the invocation of morality ("I've been good/bad this week"); the weird possessive relationship with food ("drinking my water" "eating my fruits and veggies") - but I am not the person to do such research. Lots of blogs explore the fraught female relationship to food and body image.
I am on the brink of jettisoning my book contract for the textbook I was supposed to write with my now-deceased co-author. It was to be a HUGE amount of work even jointly, and I think my limited research time over the next 18 months could be more productively spent. So that involves some get-up-and-go on pitching new projects.
Blackboard sux sux sux. Did I mention that the online learning system called Blackboard sucks? If I did not need a little extra cash for the summer, I would not be teaching online. I am seriously considering other work options for next summer than this. I could write an entire post about my experiences with online education (and I should): the soundbite version is that online ed is not completely worthless if you really work at the paradigm of guiding students in their learning rather than teaching AT them, but if you are spending hours working the fix-it game in html coding screens, something is seriously amiss. (Just to be clear: I do not teach comp sci and I have no business meddling with html code.)
I think I like HB 0.7mm leads better than the 0.5 in mechanical pencils. (B bought a new desktop today, and I got some new pencils. They ROCK.)
Speaking of office supply, everyone is doing "back-to-school" already, so sad. I walk by the kids in summer school every morning on my 28-minute constitutional, poor bastards. (They are mostly boys, btw.)
We are "borrowing" some friends' CSA share while they are away, and it is AWESOME. It's some work to drive up there and get the stuff and go out in the fields to pick, but it also is very relaxing and satisfying.
Lately there is a skunk in the 'hood in the evenings. Sigh.
I have joined Weight Watchers (International) and now am in week 3. I lost 6.2 pounds the first 2 weeks. I will never write of this again: hearing people talk recipes and "points" and motivational strategies is dull beyond belief. There is some interesting anthropological work that could be done on the discourses of dieting though: the invocation of morality ("I've been good/bad this week"); the weird possessive relationship with food ("drinking my water" "eating my fruits and veggies") - but I am not the person to do such research. Lots of blogs explore the fraught female relationship to food and body image.
I am on the brink of jettisoning my book contract for the textbook I was supposed to write with my now-deceased co-author. It was to be a HUGE amount of work even jointly, and I think my limited research time over the next 18 months could be more productively spent. So that involves some get-up-and-go on pitching new projects.
Blackboard sux sux sux. Did I mention that the online learning system called Blackboard sucks? If I did not need a little extra cash for the summer, I would not be teaching online. I am seriously considering other work options for next summer than this. I could write an entire post about my experiences with online education (and I should): the soundbite version is that online ed is not completely worthless if you really work at the paradigm of guiding students in their learning rather than teaching AT them, but if you are spending hours working the fix-it game in html coding screens, something is seriously amiss. (Just to be clear: I do not teach comp sci and I have no business meddling with html code.)
I think I like HB 0.7mm leads better than the 0.5 in mechanical pencils. (B bought a new desktop today, and I got some new pencils. They ROCK.)
Speaking of office supply, everyone is doing "back-to-school" already, so sad. I walk by the kids in summer school every morning on my 28-minute constitutional, poor bastards. (They are mostly boys, btw.)
We are "borrowing" some friends' CSA share while they are away, and it is AWESOME. It's some work to drive up there and get the stuff and go out in the fields to pick, but it also is very relaxing and satisfying.
Lately there is a skunk in the 'hood in the evenings. Sigh.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
stateside
How has it been so long? This past weekend, I worked through all the accounting (ugh) for my trip reimbursement. It was tedious and a pain-in-the-ass, but I also was reminded of how much we accomplished, and how many articles it can potentially translate into. :)
(When I ever get the time - this online class is sucking my will to live.) Ok, I could type forever about online education (scam-o-rama) and the particular hell that is known as Blackboard ("Captain, I'm an educator, not a html-coder!") But I'd rather summarize differences in European and American lifeways - albeit from a very consumer-oriented, pedestrian point of view.
First: things that Europeans should definitely import from the States:
1. window screens. Hello!? You have insects, especially at night! Stop lying to yourselves (and us) about it and keep them out!
2.Ice. In drinks; in hotel ice machines. Not just for cooling drinks either: maybe we like an ice pack on our feet or head or [insert body part here] after a strenuous day of European sightseeing. And see also the next item: ice would help!
3. Air conditioning. "Oh, it's never THIS hot!" Bullshit! I have lived in Europe 3 out of the last 6 summers and it's been unbearably hot. And I wasn't there the tragic year when all the French old people died of heat exhaustion! Global climate change, people! This is not 1816-and-froze-to-death! (google it) Figure out how to make yourselves comfortable!
4.Deodorants. On the subway: "Sir, for the love of God, please put your arms down!" Yeah, we Americans are over-obsessed with cleanliness and washing. Riiiiight....
On the other hand, we of course can learn from the world's second-largest economy. Here are some examples.
1.Health care. B got a very bad foot blister. He went to a doctor recommended by the hotel; they saw him at once; and his treatment (cutting and bandaging and 'scrip) cost less than $40. NO INSURANCE! TRY THAT IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!
2. Vacation. 5 weeks is normal. What is this two-week routine in the States? Do we live to work, or work to live???
3. Celebrating outdoor living in summer. Of course, we were in the dense historic urban cores of Germany. Cafes everywhere - coffee or beer at any hour. (We chatted up a mom and 15-year-old son celebrating his birthday in Berlin. The boy was having a beer at 10 am.) World Cup - sit and nurse a drink as long as you like. By contrast, we watched the World Cup Final at a Pizzeria Uno in Swampscott MA and the server would NOT leave us be: "Would you like to order food? Another drink? The check?" NO, WE WOULD LIKE TO WATCH THE GAME! IN PEACE!
We drove by some little sandwich shop this week and there was a valiant (but pathetic) attempt at urbanity - two picnic tables in the parking lot, marked off with some yellow police tape. My hypothesis is that Americans really WANT this pedestrian-oriented, walkable lifestyle - they love it as tourists! - but they just can't reconcile it with the auto-oriented, sprawl lifestyle that is our paradigm.
Bottom line: I could live in Europe and work there (if I could conquer the language). I am really feeling pretty good about that, which is a relief after my years of Polish angst.
(When I ever get the time - this online class is sucking my will to live.) Ok, I could type forever about online education (scam-o-rama) and the particular hell that is known as Blackboard ("Captain, I'm an educator, not a html-coder!") But I'd rather summarize differences in European and American lifeways - albeit from a very consumer-oriented, pedestrian point of view.
First: things that Europeans should definitely import from the States:
1. window screens. Hello!? You have insects, especially at night! Stop lying to yourselves (and us) about it and keep them out!
2.Ice. In drinks; in hotel ice machines. Not just for cooling drinks either: maybe we like an ice pack on our feet or head or [insert body part here] after a strenuous day of European sightseeing. And see also the next item: ice would help!
3. Air conditioning. "Oh, it's never THIS hot!" Bullshit! I have lived in Europe 3 out of the last 6 summers and it's been unbearably hot. And I wasn't there the tragic year when all the French old people died of heat exhaustion! Global climate change, people! This is not 1816-and-froze-to-death! (google it) Figure out how to make yourselves comfortable!
4.Deodorants. On the subway: "Sir, for the love of God, please put your arms down!" Yeah, we Americans are over-obsessed with cleanliness and washing. Riiiiight....
On the other hand, we of course can learn from the world's second-largest economy. Here are some examples.
1.Health care. B got a very bad foot blister. He went to a doctor recommended by the hotel; they saw him at once; and his treatment (cutting and bandaging and 'scrip) cost less than $40. NO INSURANCE! TRY THAT IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!
2. Vacation. 5 weeks is normal. What is this two-week routine in the States? Do we live to work, or work to live???
3. Celebrating outdoor living in summer. Of course, we were in the dense historic urban cores of Germany. Cafes everywhere - coffee or beer at any hour. (We chatted up a mom and 15-year-old son celebrating his birthday in Berlin. The boy was having a beer at 10 am.) World Cup - sit and nurse a drink as long as you like. By contrast, we watched the World Cup Final at a Pizzeria Uno in Swampscott MA and the server would NOT leave us be: "Would you like to order food? Another drink? The check?" NO, WE WOULD LIKE TO WATCH THE GAME! IN PEACE!
We drove by some little sandwich shop this week and there was a valiant (but pathetic) attempt at urbanity - two picnic tables in the parking lot, marked off with some yellow police tape. My hypothesis is that Americans really WANT this pedestrian-oriented, walkable lifestyle - they love it as tourists! - but they just can't reconcile it with the auto-oriented, sprawl lifestyle that is our paradigm.
Bottom line: I could live in Europe and work there (if I could conquer the language). I am really feeling pretty good about that, which is a relief after my years of Polish angst.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Traveling at top speed through Central and Eastern Europe
This blog would have been a great place to write about our trip, had I started it right after the Hamburg post. I didn't write about the Fulbright program (although one of my colleagues did) because I wasn't sure how public I wanted to be about my musings on the German Sozialstaat.
Anyways...meeting up with B on the train worked out just fine, although his pocket got picked in the process and we spent HOURS in the lobby in our place in Prague skype-calling the credit cards to cancel them and get replacements sent to our hotel in Dresden. The fucker got nothing, though - although he tried cash advances on every card. We were less successful with the MA DMV (no surprise there) - apparently the possibility that a MA resident should lose his/her license while out of the country and have to have a replacement in order to rent a car has never occurred to the Provincial Geniuses who run the DMV. (Why would anyone even leave the state? I ask you.)
I never did get my bearings in Prague but we saw the city museum on the first day (Sunday) - interesting but not really research-relevant. Interesting special exhibit on a 1920s furniture designer and architect from the Czech Republic whose name escapes me this moment. Also we saw the monument to Jan Palach and later, the Museum of Communism (REALLY great!). Later we stepped into a brand-new club called Propaganda that is full of leftover artifacts from the period. The next day, Monday, we took Communism tours from two different tour companies - same content, quite different approaches - but lots of parallels with the tour industry in Krakow/Nowa Huta (Poland).
We met a delightful French couple in our hotel and talked with them every day at breakfast. I am glad to report that I am able to be sarcastic in French as well as English. We sort of bonded over our frustration with Stumbledumb, the weekend desk clerk.
On Tuesday, we grabbed the train to Dresden. More to follow.
Anyways...meeting up with B on the train worked out just fine, although his pocket got picked in the process and we spent HOURS in the lobby in our place in Prague skype-calling the credit cards to cancel them and get replacements sent to our hotel in Dresden. The fucker got nothing, though - although he tried cash advances on every card. We were less successful with the MA DMV (no surprise there) - apparently the possibility that a MA resident should lose his/her license while out of the country and have to have a replacement in order to rent a car has never occurred to the Provincial Geniuses who run the DMV. (Why would anyone even leave the state? I ask you.)
I never did get my bearings in Prague but we saw the city museum on the first day (Sunday) - interesting but not really research-relevant. Interesting special exhibit on a 1920s furniture designer and architect from the Czech Republic whose name escapes me this moment. Also we saw the monument to Jan Palach and later, the Museum of Communism (REALLY great!). Later we stepped into a brand-new club called Propaganda that is full of leftover artifacts from the period. The next day, Monday, we took Communism tours from two different tour companies - same content, quite different approaches - but lots of parallels with the tour industry in Krakow/Nowa Huta (Poland).
We met a delightful French couple in our hotel and talked with them every day at breakfast. I am glad to report that I am able to be sarcastic in French as well as English. We sort of bonded over our frustration with Stumbledumb, the weekend desk clerk.
On Tuesday, we grabbed the train to Dresden. More to follow.
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