Back from the Dead ... Go East, Young Man
Hello Humboldt!
I've been off the map the past couple months. Teaching and freelance work have eaten into my blog time. Was damn sorry to hear about Roger Rodoni's death. I covered him for several years at the T-S. I also shared with students a T-S video of Bill Clinton's visit to Eureka, as well as the Governator's most recent visit. They sort of stared at the screen, regarding Schwarzenegger, as he pointed at a chart and explained the budget; to the students it was as though astonished that it's not a joke after all, that Arnold in fact really does govern, or at least maintains the forms of governorship.
Here in Prague we've gone through a moody spring -- at times brilliant and lovely, and more recently rainy and ugly. I've been a bit bummed lately. The new Schengen rules, which make it easier for EU citizens to travel around Europe, have made it harder for Americans and other non-EU citizens. Those of us who live and work here and have working visas in the Czech Republic used to be able to travel freely to other countries, but now when we want to travel abroad have to go to the country's respective embassy in Prague and apply for a Schengen visa.
So really the old American dream of coming to Europe and backpacking around indefinitely has sort of come to an end. Of course, you can still try to do it illegally, as I'm sure many will. Anyway, I have to renew my visa this summer and am not looking forward to another nightmare visit to the Foreign Police, where you start lining up at 230 am outside alongside seas of Vietnamese, Polish, Ukraine, Russian, as well as other Americans, and there's a mob crush when the doors open. Even then, there's no guarantee you'll get served, since it's done on a number basis and they usually run out of numbers an hour after the doors open at 730.
But we'll see. I've thought about making a trip home to the States. Haven't seen the family in nearly four years. Would be nice to spend some time with them, then set my sights on going somewhere else. China for a long time has been a possibility. Go East, young man! That seems to be today's mantra, at least for those of us in the teaching/would-be rambling writer-poet arena. So I've also thought about the Ukraine, or 'one of the Stans' as they say, meaning Kazakstan (Borat country), etc.
But we'll see. Uvideme, as the Czechs say.
Anyway, miss everyone back on the Lost Coast (or with Eureka, doesn't that make it the Found Coast?) Hence, the Lost and Found Coast. Ah, Aldo, if I only had listened to you! What sonorous chats we once had, there in the halls of the supervisors' chambers. See what happens to T-S writers when they die? They end up writing crap entries like this one.
Take care everyone.