Friday, January 31, 2014
Conference Presentation
I wanted to say something in Russian at the beginning of my little speech and Masha helped me draft a little paragraph. She wrote out the text for me and I practiced it repeatedly---to no avail. When it came time to speak, I butchered the pronunciation horribly. The attendees were kind and respectful but it must have been difficult to listen to the American trample their language. The remainder of the talk I gave in English with Masha(to my left in the pictures) doing a remakable job of trying to salvage any points I was attempting to make. I was the only speaker to keep things to 7 minutes---Dr. Bobarykina thought I might get some questions. The fact that there were none at my conclusion may have something to do with my clarity. I'm not sure about the general direction of the overall discussion---more on that when can begin to decipher this from my colleagues in the office.
On the way to the conference we witnessed another car accident. Someone ran a red light---I am getting used to the sound of accidents----the sliding, the crunch. One feels so much empathy during these events. It is so cold, the damage, the defeated expressions on the faces of the drivers. These two fellows did some yellling at each other. Natalia and Masha assured me that it would likely take 2-4 hour for the police to arrive in their little Lada, and that these drivers would wait. This was at a major intersection and would cause delays for hours.
Quite relieved when this was over, I began to walk home whereupon i witnessed another accident between two cars and an electric trolley bus. The driver was removing the electric prongs on the bus from the live wires overhead, there was some sparking. More empathy as I observed the passengers peering out into the cold where they soon would have to disembark. we rode these busses to and from the conference at Saratov's Congress Hall---it is 12 Roubles per trip...about 35 cents.
It was a little warmer today, Friday, not so much bitter breeze and a little cloud cover. Gray. I take my vitamin D religiously. Seems like long ago I was in Western Puerto Rico where my dear Janet surprised me with a little sun-dappled trip for my 50th Birthday.
I shall spend most of the weekend preparing lesson plans for the toment I intend to inflict upon my students next week. For my students who are reading----there will be a lot less writing and more structured classroom interaction. I have no idea what to expect so we'll see how it all turns out.
I apologize for the typos....correcting on Blogger can be fatal to a post---so I avoid. Still is painful to let errors go as is....
On the way to the conference we witnessed another car accident. Someone ran a red light---I am getting used to the sound of accidents----the sliding, the crunch. One feels so much empathy during these events. It is so cold, the damage, the defeated expressions on the faces of the drivers. These two fellows did some yellling at each other. Natalia and Masha assured me that it would likely take 2-4 hour for the police to arrive in their little Lada, and that these drivers would wait. This was at a major intersection and would cause delays for hours.
Quite relieved when this was over, I began to walk home whereupon i witnessed another accident between two cars and an electric trolley bus. The driver was removing the electric prongs on the bus from the live wires overhead, there was some sparking. More empathy as I observed the passengers peering out into the cold where they soon would have to disembark. we rode these busses to and from the conference at Saratov's Congress Hall---it is 12 Roubles per trip...about 35 cents.
It was a little warmer today, Friday, not so much bitter breeze and a little cloud cover. Gray. I take my vitamin D religiously. Seems like long ago I was in Western Puerto Rico where my dear Janet surprised me with a little sun-dappled trip for my 50th Birthday.
I shall spend most of the weekend preparing lesson plans for the toment I intend to inflict upon my students next week. For my students who are reading----there will be a lot less writing and more structured classroom interaction. I have no idea what to expect so we'll see how it all turns out.
I apologize for the typos....correcting on Blogger can be fatal to a post---so I avoid. Still is painful to let errors go as is....
Content of My Presentation at Conference
I spent most of the 3 days prior to Wednesday preparing for my speech at the conference, intending to shed some light on local government and interaction with business/citizen groups in my home town of Hyattsville, Maryland as well as the experiences in Tyson's, Virginia. I spent a good deal of time researching the dynamic between Hyattsville City government, the Gateway Arts District, and the Hyattsville Community Development Corporation, intending to highlight the unique emphasis on artists/walkable communities and a somewhat dysfunctional local government. No offense intended here, but I've been to my share of council meetings and have damaged my vehicle repeatedly on the lunarscape of that now arroyo called 40th Place.
I'd also spent some time on Rt.7 in Tyson's corner at Christmastime and during Metro expansion and was curoius as to how Tyson's had evolved to this point as well. My intention here was to focus on how Fairfax County Government, Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, and the Tyson's Partnership worked together. I really wanted to focus on how both governments at times DID listen to businesses and citizens---in fact giving real POWER to outside groups in terms of branding, marketing, infrastructure, development, and policy. Despite the many problems in both communities, I personally felt there had been positive evolution in quality of life and that the lives of stakeholders in both places were improving.
I'd also spent some time on Rt.7 in Tyson's corner at Christmastime and during Metro expansion and was curoius as to how Tyson's had evolved to this point as well. My intention here was to focus on how Fairfax County Government, Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, and the Tyson's Partnership worked together. I really wanted to focus on how both governments at times DID listen to businesses and citizens---in fact giving real POWER to outside groups in terms of branding, marketing, infrastructure, development, and policy. Despite the many problems in both communities, I personally felt there had been positive evolution in quality of life and that the lives of stakeholders in both places were improving.
The conference on WED
I should discuss the conference I attended on Wednesday, January 29....
I spent most of the morning trying to prepare for my brief presentation at a Stolypin Volga sponsored conference, titled: "From County Institutes to Local Self Administration(In terms of Russian Federation): traditions, experience, prospects." I was invited to speak for a bout 7-10 minutes on the following topic: "The interaction of Buisness and Local Authorities: Positive experiences and risks"
I spent most of the morning trying to prepare for my brief presentation at a Stolypin Volga sponsored conference, titled: "From County Institutes to Local Self Administration(In terms of Russian Federation): traditions, experience, prospects." I was invited to speak for a bout 7-10 minutes on the following topic: "The interaction of Buisness and Local Authorities: Positive experiences and risks"
Blogger is a very frustrating platform for communication sometimes. I spent the last hour writing a post, something got hung up on the save process and I lost the whole thing. Certain commands in Russian have compounded my frustration---but I shall try again in a few hours. Right now I'd like to give Sergei and Larry(Google Geniuses) a good old fashioned Irish verbal assault.
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