Summertime

One of my favorite summer songs is George Gershwin's "Summertime" (written with DuBoise Heyward for the 1935 opera, "Porgy and Bess"). It's the antithesis of upbeat Beach Boys surf music (which I love); the melody and words symbolize authentic American summer, to me. On the other hand, the song is written in a minor key, and reminds me of all the melancholy summer nights I spent in Missouri, as a grad student, with the cicadas humming, the air hazy and humid, and the sun setting in a hot-metal ball.

Summertime,

And the livin' is easy
Fish are jumpin'
And the cotton is high
Your daddy's rich
And your mamma's good lookin'
So hush little baby
Don't you cry

Summers in Colorado were, and are, much happier: there aren't any insects droning or buzzing, the air is light and cool and there's usually been a thunderstorm, earlier; and the sun sets over the mountains. Mainly, my family's in Colorado, and we're all sitting on the front patio, sitting around the table, talking. This is how I spent my first night back, on Sunday, even though I was so jetlagged I nearly fell off my chair.

On Monday, my parents and I drove up to Boulder, which is a great place to walk around in the summer, and, moreover, is a fantastic place to study as a graduate student (at the University of Colorado). Boulder is a politically way-left-of-center city, set against the reddish-brown Flatirons mountains, and bursting with intellectual and cultural activity. Here's a sampling of the kinds of bumper stickers you see in Boulder: "Wanted, dead or alive: Schroedinger's cat, with or without its box."

Only in Boulder would you find a reconstructed teahouse from Tajikistan, with tanned people in shorts and sandals lined up outside, waiting for tables. We stopped there for lunch. It's known as the Dushanbe Teahouse, and is named for the town of Dushanbe in Tajikistan. Tajikistan and Boulder are "sister cities", and the major of Tajikistan sent the mayor of Boulder the teahouse, as a gift. That's a pretty big gift to top; I have no idea what the mayor of Boulder sent back. (Photo from http://www.boulderteahouse.com/.)

As you can see, it's carved from wood and plaster, and is covered in colorful designs. The teahouse's web page notes that the artistic traditions reflected in the teahouse date back over 2,000 years.

The teahouse is open on two sides to the wind; inside, with its carved pillars and multicolored painted walls, it looks and feels like no other cafe or restaurant in the U.S. It reflects the essence of Boulder: colorful, playful, and atypical.

It doesn't feel that strange to be back in the U.S. Everything looks and sounds familiar, even though I've been away from it for a year and a half. However, daily life here is very different from daily life in Prague.

In Prague: I have a tiny espresso at breakfast. Here: I have a big mug of coffee.

In Prague: I leave the apartment and hop on a tram. Here: I get in the car.

In Prague: I have to think hard about what I say, both in English and in Czech. Here: conversation is easy! ;-)

The view out the window in Prague: the courtyard and other people's gardens. The view out the window, here: a giant deer, munching on grass.

I'm glad to be back. Prague is home, but Colorado is home, in a different sense. It's where I grew up.

A bit of news: I'm leaving the KJP to be the English-language editor at the Prague branch of a Dutch publishing company. I've always wanted to work in publishing, but I'll miss MFF, especially you all.

Here's one of the final stanzas of "Summertime"; I've always liked its optimism.

"One of these mornings
You're going to rise up singing
Then you'll spread your wings
And you'll take to the sky."

Good luck and best of success to each one of you. :-)

Cool Site for IT Folks

TechRepublic, which calls itself a "resource for IT professionals," is an interesting site, with articles, downloads, forums, blogs, white papers (scholarly papers written outside academia), and occasionally funny stories, such as this one ("What if Microsoft [had] invented the Apple iPhone?").

Too bad they didn't call it "Techia." ;-)

Request

Computer fans, I need your help.

Where would I go to find a can of compressed air to clean electronics? (It looks like a big can of spray paint, but it has a nozzle attachment you can use to direct a blast of air at your computer keyboard...to dislodge, for example, cookie crumbs.)

Cheers, Erin

p.s. I found out yesterday that I'll be teaching FCE (First Certificate in English) next year, so email me if you want more info on this course. You could also take CAE (Certificate of Advanced English). Both of these classes are for people who passed the Big English Exam. The Department will offer a placement exam, if you're not sure in which course to enroll.

Funny sign

Click on the photo for a larger version.

Going to the U.S.

In two weeks, I'm going back home to spend a month in Colorado with my family. For the benefit of any MFF folk travelling to my country, this summer, here's a (greatly-abridged) list of Quirky Things About the U.S., in no particular order. Perhaps it'll be of some use to you. Feel free to add your own tips, based on experience in the U.S.

1. Sales tax.
It's everywhere: cafes, restaurants, bookstores, and it's not included in the price on the menu/item. It varies from city to city (and even within cities) and from state to state. You can usually ask the waiter/cashier what the local sales tax is, if you want, before you pay; otherwise, you're in for a small surprise on your bill.

2. "Y'all."
The shortened form of "you all", this expression is used mainly in the South. It's not offensive. It's not always used in the plural, either.

3. Tipping.
If you're in a cafe or restaurant--and this excludes McDonald's and other fast-food places--the norm is to tip at least 10-15% for service, because service is not included in the bill. You can leave change on the table, as you're leaving. (Don't expect waiters/waitresses to tally your bill instantly at your table... My country is not that good at arithmetic.) If you want to pay, in any cafe/restaurant, just ask for the check.

4. For Americans, dinner is the main meal of the day.

5. The drinking age for any kind of alcohol is 21.

6. "Hey, how's it going?" is another way of saying, "How are you?", among people under 40.

7. If you're in the Northeast (Massachussetts, etc.), "wicked" means "good". "Wicked good" means "great".

8. A factoid from Lonely Planet: "In America, the rich are getting much, much richer. 20% of Americans earn 55% of the nation's annual income. The top 1% earns around 17% of all income and controls 35% of the nation's wealth."

9. Buying vegetables or fruit in a market? No need to tag it. And the store will bag your stuff for you. Don't try to bag your own, or the unionized bagger will yell at you. True story.

10. No one jokes about September 11th.

11. The 2000 Presidential election, in which George W. Bush came to power, was decided by the Supreme Court--not by the majority of Americans.

12. Tap water is usually fine to drink.

13. Currency notes are all the same color and size.

14. Check to make sure your ATM/bank card is set up to be used in the U.S. This is a better approach to cash than hauling around stacks of notes/bills.

15. Have fun, and if you come through Colorado, let me know. :-)

Exams

One of the greatest perks of this job is that I get paid to talk to truly interesting people. During the Big Exam's oral-exam component, in which I first participated last Wednesday, I got to listen to students discourse variously about the birth of binary stars, quantum physics, Markov chains, the history of cryptography, C++, and upcoming vacations in Italy. (Am I the only one who's not going on holiday in Italy, this summer? Gee whiz.)

So I find the oral-exam part of the Big English Exam to be vastly entertaining, like one great Mat-Fyz epic, with a dozen different characters talking about their studies and lives in erudite and detailed ways. For a writer, it's an excellent way to spend an afternoon.

(I'm sure some of you have slightly different feelings about it.)

Some official and previously-mentioned tips for the Big Exam:

1. For the oral exam, you need to bring a specialized text in English, 30 pages long, to discuss and explain. The text should be written at a scholarly level; that is to say, at a non-introductory level. Don't choose a text older than ten years, as it will no doubt contain outdated information. If you have a copy of the text which you've marked with tranlations and/or notes, make sure to bring a clean copy, as well.

2. Bring something to eat. Some examiners begin the orals an hour after the exam ends, around 1:00-1:30 pm. Given that each examiner has 12 students, for fifteen minutes each, your oral exam might not take place until 4:00 pm (for example).

3. Do not be alarmed if your examiner begins oral exams half an hour behind schedule. Take a stroll around the building. Admire our remarkable collection of potted plants, many of which appear to predate the revolution.

4. Study! The exam covers material from your two years' worth of English studies, including the Small Book With the Unpronounceable Title (R.M.). So you no doubt have lots and lots of in-class notes to study from... Right?!

5. Bring your index. No index? No entry to the exam at 9:00 am.

6. Relax. Put your brain to work, and you'll do fine.