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Dear “Vestur íslendingurs” On this quiet Sunday, jet lag has gotten me up before my family, but I have my hand firmly wrapped around a cup of coffee and a week’s worth of dirty clothes churning their way through the washer and dryer in the basement, so life is calm. I wish to reflect Mr. Coberly’s eloquent speech on the bus from Blue Lagoon, but with, perhaps, a slightly different ‘lighting angle.’ He and I both came to teaching after other careers which each had exciting or important outward appearances. In separate ways, we each decided that the most wondrous thing we could do is teach. But, being a teacher, per-se, is not the kick to me; it is being a participant in the sometimes glacial, sometimes volcanic process of mind-growth. If one hungers for this, what could be better than spend your time in a school and live in that change? So, I wish to thank all of you for being half of this different sort of school for a week. If I may draw an analogy, geology happens everywhere, but in Iceland that geological change is on fast-forward. My grandest hope for this trip was that the Iceland project would be a slight tectonic rumble in your growth. I honor all the change that occurred, from random “Litli Geysirs” of the mind to fissures which might not come up for years. I interpreted your excellent behavior and focus as a result of your respect and interest and I honor that. My favorite moments of the trip were the ones where a little one-on-one conversation took a direction unique to that moment, whether it was Sagas or wool spinning. Making more of these is my goal for future trips. There were many, many flashes of insight from all of you, but if had to pick one to relate here I would quote the student who said of an Icelandic family, “you know they don’t have hardly anything in their home, but they are really happy!” Perhaps the Icelandic people are sufficiently similar that we can relate to them, and sufficiently different that they can take us for a little ride to a different world-view. Finally, I want to thank all of you for taking me on a trip, both literally and figuratively. You may notice Mr. Coberly getting much more interested in the language than this project really needs, and I am branching into mapping technologies and historical issues which have no plausible connection to my job. I am a teacher because I love to share learning, and nothing makes me happier than an experience like this where I can teach what I know and learn things I hadn’t dreamt. Thank you, K. Bowen |