After today, we've hit the sweet 16 at ASW. Yes, only 16 more days of school. The kids are distracted as well as the adults. The bike racks around school have filled up as everybody chooses the mode of transportation that makes it much easier to hit the beer tents after work.
Since spring break, everybody has shifted into summer mode during the last few weeks of school. Lots of parents have decided to make it an early summer or take an extended spring vacation. This frustrated me at first, but it's just one of those things about teaching in an international school that you have to deal with. When the private jet or the yacht is gassed up and ready to head for some exotic locale, do you really blink an eye when taking your kids out a week early? It's a nice problem to have, I would guess.
While the U.S. is engulfed in American Idol fever, Europe had it's own Superbowl of bad music last weekend. For those who've never heard of the Eurovision song contest, let me explain. Every country in the European Broadcasting Union (think T.V.'s EU) nominates a particular act from their country to send to the competition. Each song is performed on live television and citizens of each EBU nation are given the chance to vote for their favorite, excluding their home country.
You can imagine the potential for unintentional comedy when you think of each country's interpretation of what constitutes "pop music". Those that are woefully short on talent, get by on their stage-presence, using garish costumes and shocking antics. Sometimes, these groups actually win.
Last year, the Finnish heavy-metal group, Lordi, took home the prize with their performance of "Hard-Rock Hallelujah".
Now, when you go through the airport in Helsinki, this national pride is celebrated with t-shirts and other souvenirs bearing the visage of Lordi.
This year, Serbia claimed victory. It's too bad I had drawn Belarus in the pool. You can go to youtube and look up each country's performance. These videos are definitely worth a look, especially France's entry, since it is just so . . . well, "French".
Last week, we wanted the kids to get in touch with their inner soldier, so we took them on a trip to the Polish Army Museum. There is an amazing array of Soviet military hardware on display there, including missile launchers, tanks, fighter jets, and helicopters. This was definitely a microcosm of the Cold War, and how defense spending takes precedence over a nation's more critical needs, like food!
Everybody took the chance to pose with an authentic AK-47, including yours truly. I also had the time to install an "Irish missle" on one of the planes.
The next day, "Night of the Museums" was held all over Warsaw. This is a special evening when all museums are free and they hold special exhibitions. Robb Hoiseth captured this video at the Army Museum that night. I don't think they would ever allow this back home:
I know in my last entry, which seemed like a long time ago, I said I would give some details on the trip to Rome, but I will let the pictures tell the story instead. I've uploaded all the pics from Slovenia also. You can access them here:
http://s59.photobucket.com/albums/g319/mgaspersich/
Copy and paste the link into your browser, then just click on Rome and Slovenia to enter the albums. These are instructions for the tech-impaired. You know who you are.
Finally, a happy belated Mother's Day to my mom back in Minnesota. This holiday isn't celebrated until next weekend here in Poland, so I will just take the opportunity to let Mr. T. tell my mom how much I love her:
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