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April, 2000
Dennis Galletta - <galletta@katz.pitt.edu> Pittsburgh, USA - Wednesday, April 19, 2000 at 2:23:58 AM
Charles, the chat was very interesting and
enjoyable. I would certainly do it again.
I would love to participate in a chat with
the F99 faculty.
Charles Tsai - <cnnvoyage@hotmail.com> Vancouver, Canada - Thursday, April 13, 2000 at 4:30:16 PM
Thanks for joining our chat last night.
That was fun!!! Florence suggested we host
a chat for the faculty of our trip and Fall
2000. What do you guys think?
Judy Duchesne-Peckham - <silvermoon85@hotmail.com> Santa Barbara, USA - Wednesday, April 12, 2000 at 11:16:01 AM
Hopefully in another week or two, the
SAS yearbook project will be finished and
Pittsburgh can have it printed and
distributed!
I m REALLY in the final trenches (gutters?!)
of assembling the yearbook and find myself
needing a few more journal entries, quotes,
and reflections for the following ports:
Egypt, Croatia, Turkey, Italy,
and Morocco. Can anyone help me out,
A.S.A.P.?! Please send as a word
file to both of these addresses:
silvermoon85@hotmail.com -and also to-
dimus@west.net, the graphic designer s e-
mail address.
Please label the intended port as well as
the author, (personal or
otherwise). Thanks everyone.
I really appreciate your help and support.
I hope to see some of you in Las Vegas!
Miss you all!
Best wishes,
Judy Duchesne-Peckham
Dennis Galletta - <galletta@katz.pitt.edu> Pittsburgh, USA - Monday, April 03, 2000 at 3:47:06 PM
This is a quiet place! Actually, it might
be superfluous given Charles great site.
However, just like the physical St. George s
Watch, it is a quiet place to get away from
the crowds. And the occasional (or even
frequent) student sneaking in is just fine
(thanks, Julie K for stopping by). Again,
thanks to Mel Thorne s original suggestion,
this is meant to be a place for faculty,
staff, and seasoned salts to be kept up-to-
date on what is going on in your lives. New
address? New job? New pet? New car? New
significant other? Tell us! Good things
happening? Bad things? Tell us! <br>
Here in Pittsburgh, we ve done a little
remodeling and I m finally getting back into
the swing of the "publish or perish" game,
and starting to enjoy it again. That s a
long way on the road to recovery!
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March, 2000
Julie Kiefer - <juliesvoyage@hotmail.com> Indianapolis, USA - Tuesday, March 21, 2000 at 8:00:31 PM
I m sneaking into St. George s Watch, so that I can give everyone an update. Nine days after the trip, I began student teaching in a class of fifth graders. These students had followed the voyage closely, and this proved to be a real benefit. They knew me well and remembered great deals about the trip! For example, I wore my batik skirt from Malaysia, and they asked, "Is that from the country where you saw wax being painted on clothes?" The age was quite challenging, but I enjoyed the upper elementary aged students. The woman I was suppose to work with for my second student teaching placement did not come back from maternity leave. So, I stayed with the fifth graders for an extra week, before beginning in a middle school. Now, I am teaching seventh grade English. Leaving at 6:00 a.m. and having an hour drive to work is not fun! However, I like the students. It is great not having to worry about recess duty, untied shoelaces, and so on, and I enjoy the subject.
The independent study class that I worked on during the voyage is almost done. It has been approved by a panel of professors once. Now, all I have to do is present the paper orally to them next week, before receiving the final grade for it.
An update from me would not be complete without news about Simon. One of my fifth graders gave him a girlfriend, whom we named Glenna, in honor of the school, Forest Glen, where I worked. There were some surprises with Simon, as I did not expect to have to have conversations about appropriate and not appropriate positions for his tail in fifth grade. He went home with a student for the night, so that he could have another bath. I couldn t sleep all night, as I felt like a nervous mother. Now, he is the class mascot for one class of seventh graders. Stowaway, Simon s cat friend on the voyage, has traveled this semester. He went to Mexico on one trip and skiing in Colorado with another student. In May, when Simon and I take a field trip to Cincinnati with the kids, Stowaway is going with a student to France.
I still think about the trip each and every day! It truly changed my life, and I am thankful for the wonderful experiences! I miss everyone! Please keep in touch!
Julie K.
Roy & Eunice Berko - <royberko@yahoo.com> Highlands Heights, Ohio, USA - Saturday, March 11, 2000 at 11:32:53 PM
We are moving on April 6. Our mail service
will cease and the fax machine will be
turned off on the 4th. Our new address as of
April 7 will be: 403 Muirfield
Drive, Highland Heights, Ohio 44143. Our
new phone number is 440-720-0606, Fax 440-
720-0607. My email will remain the same. I
will monitor my email from work until I get
my computer set up at the new house.
We were told by the post office that our
mail will be about one week delayed if sent
to the Elyria address.
Charles Tsai - <cnnvoyage@hotmail.com> Seoul, Korea - Saturday, March 11, 2000 at 2:20:10 AM
Stop cheating on the quiz, Dennis!!
Dennis Galletta - <galletta@katz.pitt.edu> Pittsburgh, USA - Thursday, March 02, 2000 at 3:17:35 PM
Well, another new month has arrived! It
sure is lonely up here in St. George s Watch
when each new month whisks away the previous
comments. Just click on the links to
January and February s messages to see
interesting postings about expected babies,
cars, and "lost" people. Speaking of cars,
Christy is now driving a new used car today,
and is very excited. My insurance company
is also very excited, as our rates are now
going to be triple what they were! On top
of that, I am in the process of getting a
new crown on a tooth that broke during the
third week of the voyage! This is not a
good week! Oh well, things can only get
better. I hope!
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February, 2000
Monica Ingold - <mingold@hass.usu.edu> Logan, USU - Tuesday, February 29, 2000 at 12:32:35 PM
Hi everyone, I have had so much fun keeping
up with the progress of everyone on the
sites. My head has been in such a termoil
since our return that I haven t been able to
think too clearly. My friend here describes
my return as a "rough re-entry". She is
right. But things have improved immensely. I
am back at my old job (it s not so bad
afterall) and two weeks ago, I moved into my
new condo. As much as I would rather be back
on the ship with all of you, it is nice to be
rooted again. There is a huge part of me
that changed during our voyage. (All for the
better) And I thank every one of you for your
help in making the new me. I love you all
and miss you terribly, from the Chicken dance
with Mel to the harrasment from Roy! Thanks
you everyone and I would love to have any of
you come visit me at anytime. You are always
welcome in my home.
Slowly calming down
Monica
Lori Barker Hackett - <BarkerHack@aol.com> Chino Hills, CA, USA - Sunday, February 27, 2000 at 7:51:58 PM
Hi Everyone. Clipper and I have some big
news. I posted it on Charles website, but
thought I would do it here as well. We are
going to have a baby! Baby Girl Hackett is
due July 18. We found out we were pregnant
in Italy, but decided to keep it quiet until
we got home, saw a doctor, and made sure
everything was okay. All three of us are
doing fine! Hope you all are doing well,
too.
Charles Tsai - <cnnvoyage@hotmail.com> Seoul, Korea - Wednesday, February 23, 2000 at 9:37:32 PM
I ve tried emailing her several times but
never got a response. I know she s changing
schools too. Ok, let s play a
game: "Where s Becky?"
Dennis Galletta - <galletta@katz.pitt.edu> Pittsburgh, USA - Wednesday, February 23, 2000 at 8:52:10 PM
Is her address incorrect on the faculty
mailing list? I have her as rkasper@sjcme.edu
Charles Tsai - <cnnvoyage@hotmail.com> Seoul, Korea - Wednesday, February 23, 2000 at 1:22:49 AM
Does anyone have any idea where Becky Kasper
is? Or how to contact her?
Charles Tsai - <cnnvoyage@hotmail.com> Seoul, Korea - Sunday, February 20, 2000 at 9:11:29 AM
Quick update: my Canadian visa has been
approved!!!! What a relief!!!
Charles Tsai - <cnnvoyage@hotmail.com> Seoul, South Korea - Saturday, February 12, 2000 at 9:33:50 AM
Yes, I am finally in Seoul, South Korea,
where it s always below zero. I arrived on
Feb. 9th and plan to stay here till end of
March when my Canadian visa should come
through (I hope). At that point, I plan to
move to Vancouver(?). It s a toss up
between that and Toronto. Any preferences?
There isn t much for me to do in Seoul
except eat kimchee, surf the web, and think
about SAS. I hope you re all doing well.
If any of you find yourself in my neck of
the woods, be sure to look me up.
Dennis Galletta - <galletta@katz.pitt.edu> Pittsburgh, USA - Friday, February 11, 2000 at 4:07:51 PM
Here s what s ahead for us:
I just received an e-mail message from a
Fall 1995 alumnus, who says, in her words:
"My voyage has stayed present in my mind and
I do speak about it on a daily basis.
Semester at Sea has become a part of who I
am!"
I guess in 5 years we ll all still be
obsessed with our experience!
eric ozretich - <ozretichy@yahoo.com> seattle, wa., usa - Thursday, February 10, 2000 at 4:21:31 PM
Where the heck is Chito? I hope everyone is
well and doing fine... I ve been adjusting
slowly like everyone else I suppose. It s
been great to hear for everyone. Just wanted
to drop a line out to all...
Larry Butler - <lbutler40@hotmail.com> Deale, MD, USA - Tuesday, February 08, 2000 at 10:21:05 AM
Hi Folks--Slowly getting my land act
together. Roy, I wish you hadn t blown my
cover and wrecked my stowaway attempt!
Thought I d alert y all to a couple pairs of
exhibits coming up in DC this spring and
summer that might be of particular interest
to SAS ers. Add these to all the other good
reasons to come to the
Washington/Baltimore/Annapolis area in the
spring! First, a pair of exhibits on Ottoman
art, for all of us who can t get enough of
it, or who couldn t get into Topkapi Palace
cuz of Hill and Billary: "Palace of Gold and
Light: Treasures of the Topkapi, Istanbul" at
the Corcoran, running March 1 to June 15.
This coincides with "Flowers of Silk and
Gold: Four Centuries of Ottoman Embroidery"
at the Textile Museum, Feb.18 to July 30.
The other pair is for you Chinese music fans:
"The Dragon s Moan" at the Freer, on the
seven-string qin in Chinese music, literature
and art, Feb.6 to October 1; and next door at
the Sackler, "Music in the Age of Confucius,"
April 30-Sept.17, featuring excavated
bronze bells and cool stuff like that from
the Zhou Dynasty. Hope to bump into you!
Hit us on a weekend and you might get a
sailboat ride on the Chesapeake.
Best-----Larry.
R.B. (former Assistant Field Office Coordinator) from Montpelier, VT, USA - Monday, February 07, 2000 at 10:31:41 AM
You wouldn t believe it, but -20 in Vermont
actually isn t that much colder than 50
degrees (the temperature in Florida at which
I turn into a popsicle)! At last not when
you re dressed appropriately. So I bundle
up in dad s old ski cap, gramma s hand-knit
scarf, my 25 cent thrift shop coat or SAS
wind breaker and brave the walk to work.
And yes, it is uphill both ways in the snow
(but I m not barefoot). Vermont
is chill. Really! In Montpelier, the
state s capital, they don t even
plow all the streets, mine for example.
Good thing I got new tires. (and yes,
if you heard it, that was me on car talk,
and mocing to Vermont has certainly
discouraged the ants!). I go grocery
shopping at the Hunger Mountain food
co-op where everything is ˝ price from what
I m used to (except the fruit, of course)
and GOOD for me, to boot! I just bought a
pair of X-C (That s cross country for you
sun bums) skis for $15 at the local beverage
distributor. AND found a fantastic
chocolate supplier in the bargain.
Yeah, I think I might be able to survive
here.
My job is intense, it s 7:00 on a Sunday,
and I m here again (yesterday as well) but I
don t mind. Yet. I have a feeling it s
only going to get worse. I hadn t realized
how much I was going to be putting into the
project design-wise, but I think I m up for
it. All I have to do is figure out what the
PROBLEMS are in Kosovo around the issues of
micro-economic recovery, community security,
and trust-building, and Gary will design the
solutions. No pressure (I m already having
CRC dreams).
Vermont is stunning. There s a 7 foot icicle
on the house across the street, and the
trees are so TALL! I went snow hiking with
the dog I live with, and got only about ˝
mile in ˝ hour! Whew! Cars stop the second
you step out into the cross-walk (the last
place I saw that was Croatia - a good omen?)
The folks I live with are marvelous, are in
a blue-grass (rehearsals are at our house)
worry about me not eating enough, and
recycle everything. Their 19 year old cat
has adopted me (maybe because I convinced
them to share salmon left-overs?)
Altogether, it s very homey.
Anyway, I just wanted to write before you
all thought I fell off a snow bank
and froze to death, but surprisingly, I m
really digging the cold, and I think I m
going to like it here.
(address withheld)
Don t forget me up here in the great white
north, okay?
R.B.
Dennis Galletta - <galletta@katz.pitt.edu> Pittsburgh, USA - Wednesday, February 02, 2000 at 10:28:31 AM
Well, here we are...over a month since our
voyage, and I am sitting here in this
electronic St. George s Watch remembering
the real one that probably has someone using
the window ledge as a desk (like Steve
Breese did), filming high waves (like Karen
Burns did), or chatting and having a glass
of wine (like many did). I really miss that-
-even the waves!
Feel free to browse the January 2000
messages (see the button below) and to give
us updates on what you re up to currently.
I still see people that look like Fall 1999
voyagers, and they wonder why I m staring at
them. We miss you all!
Return to the Current Guestbook
January, 2000
R.B. (former Assistant Field Office Coordinator)
Philadelphia (this week), USA - Sunday, January 30, 2000 at 7:18:19 PM
Big thanks to Dennis for helping us all stay in
touch!
Bob Brown - <rebrown@mail.sdsu.edu> La Mesa, California, USA (for 3 months) - Sunday, January 23, 2000 at 2:06:54 PM
Hi friends. My email is up and running again
and I m happy to say that I didn t lose any of
those 1000 digital trip mementos when my Mac
crashed. Very busy setting up teaching and
concert gigs for the Sumandhis. We have put
together a neat assembly program--I narrate
episodes from the Ramayana story and as it
unfolds Putu and Sumandhi alternate in showing
the characters in dance and shadow play.
Miraculously, two excellent gender wayang
players returned from China the day before we
auditioned for Young Audiences. Alex Khalil
and his Japanese wife, Kaori, (trained in
Balinese and Javanese dance), provide the
music. Alex is helping me try to put together
a small tour in the midwest and east coast the
last week of April and first week of May. If
any of you can help us set up a concert or
workshop, let me know. It would provide a way
for us to see you again, and I could allow
myself to admit to the shipsickness I m trying
to deny. At the risk of overextending these
comments, let me add a quick reference to my
organization s website:
centerforworldmusic.org, where you will soon
find descriptions of a fun arts and crafts
spring tour to Turkey from April 10-22, and my
annual Bali tour June 12-25 (revised dates to
include a big ceremony on June 16). Love to
show you around that beautiful corner of the
world. Come and visit any time. CIao, Bob.
Ray and Gretchen Fifer - <rfifer@infoave.net> Winnsboro, SC, USA - Friday, January 21, 2000 at 10:07:37 AM
From our thoughts as we arrived home, that
is, the house where all the rest of our
"stuff" is stored: Here we are, unwilling to
unpack, unwilling to destroy the trip,
fragment it, put it all away into respective
closets, drawers, files; unwilling to
separate the wholeness, the entirity of this
Journey. We are searching to recreate the
experiences in our hearts, and anxious to
keep all of this alive in our hearts.
Steven Breese - <sbreese@flash.net> Ft. Worth, TX, USA - Friday, January 21, 2000 at 8:44:51 AM
Coming home is nearly as good (and bad) as I
anticipated. What s next? I m
directing/choreographing GODSPEL at the
Warner Theatre in Washington D.C.—rehearsals
begin in May. In the mean time, I ll be
performing in GUYS & DOLLS at Dallas Theatre
Center—rehearsals begin end of February.
So I m back and anxious to hear about what s
happening in your life. Please write, call
or otherwise be in touch.
sb
PS: Note new cell phone and web-site below
*********************************
Steven Breese
sbreese@flash.net
www.flash.net/~sbreese
817/763-8677 (Home)
817/937-3373 (Mobile)
419/735-6000 (FAX)
*********************************
Roy Berko - <royberko@yahoo.com> Cleveland, USA - Thursday, January 20, 2000 at 10:50:54 AM
(posted from Roy s Jan. 19 e-mail) We just
got word from the hospital that our new
grandson (boy #3) has arrived. We are
babysitting the kids in Cincinnati and will
go to the hospital later this afternoon to
visit him.
Gary Kiger - <gkiger@wpo.hass.usu.edu> Logan, USA - Wednesday, January 19, 2000 at 4:44:16 PM
We re settling into our "semester on land."
We talk constantly of our semester at sea
experience and think of everyone as you all
enter our conversations. When we returned we
had several colleagues approach us about
going on semester at sea.
We are the proud parents of a golden
retriever puppy. Elizabeth picked her out and
named her Kobe. She is cute and we are sleep
deprived.
Quotable quote...when we were sitting in
the Miami airport waiting for our flight out,
Elizabeth asked, "can we drink the water
here?" What do you think, Dr. Dave?
Take care and happy new year to all. Stay
in touch.
--Gary Kiger
Florence Dee Boodakian - <boodak@ulster.net> New York, USA - Wednesday, January 19, 2000 at 3:57:37 PM
Still suffering from disconnection and
dislocation. Missing all the SAS bunch and
wondering if all of this has been a dream.
Determined to continue the globalization of
mind and spirit...hoping to see many of you
again. Visit me in NY sometime soon. XO
Florence
Mel & Dorothea Thorne - <mthorne@jhsph.edu> Baltimore, MD, USA - Wednesday, January 19, 2000 at 2:10:44 PM
What have Dorothea and I done to overcome our
discomfort of separation from the Great White
Mother? We have just adopted a large 8 year
old mutt with a bad leg, taken her walking
through the now wintery woods, and gone ice
skating on nearby Lake Roland, which is
posted year round with "No Skating, Thin
Ice" signs.
Did any of you see the excellent article in
the Baltimore Sun last week on Bill Berry
and his environmental protection action in
his property of undeveloped woods on the
Chesapeake s Eastern Shore?
We wish a healthy, happy New Year to you,
each and all. Dorothea & Mel
Dennis Galletta - <galletta/katz.pitt.edu> Pittsburgh, USA - Wednesday, January 19, 2000 at 12:49:36 PM
Mel Thorne suggested that faculty and staff
might make use of a facility like this to
keep everyone up to date with each other.
Please feel free to make use of this
facility to tell us what you are up to. At
the moment, I m still in SAS withdrawal, and
have been told that I will be for some
time. We just visited a bon voyage party
for the Spring 2000 group from Pittsburgh,
and many of the feelings came rushing back
as we saw some very familiar faces and
talked about our incredible experiences.
Love to all!
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