Saturday, August 20, 2005
Response, Part the first
Well, so far, I haven't posted much about our ongoing saga to get me to Seminary, to respond to this call I have felt tugging on me for over two years now. The transition is upon us and documenting it on a blog is the best way I can think of to help with the processing of this strange in between place where I am right now. And I had to create a new blog to do it since my usual blog is down for some reason. But hey, new era, new adventure, new blog, it all makes sense. Welcome to Call and Response the Second.
Jim and I are all moved in at Turner Village, the Theology student housing at Candler School of Theology/Emory University. We have a nice, but small, one bedroom apartment with a beautiful view from the picture windows in the living room and bedroom of a protected woodland called Wesley Woods forest. According to the Emory website, it is one of the "best preserved hardwood forests in the entire Piedmont Province of the Southeastern United States," and "an infinitely precious aesthetic and scientific resource which we now hold in trust for present and future generations." "It contains a very high diversity of plants, including rare plant species", and "facilitates the movement of plants and wildlife and protects the streambank". We are very excited to live next to such a lovely and important ecosystem.
We have been taking many walks around campus, and even during this hot time of year, the greenery and grass is lush and a vibrant shade of green. The washed out browns of landscapes wilting in the South Georgia heat are nowhere to be seen. It has been at least ten degrees cooler here than in Quitman every day in August so far. The only downside to the Atlanta weather are the thunderstorms, which arrive later and with a ferocity much greater than those in the Valdosta area. The lightning puts on amazing shows for us outside our picture windows, and the thunder rattles the building for minutes at a time. I'm not sure what accounts for the increase in intensity over the South Georgia thunderstorms but that is not something I expected. Many trees have been downed in recent weeks, and unfortunately have damaged some houses and cars in the Emory area, but crews seem to clear them quickly, especially the ones blocking the roads.
Jim has begun his school year, and is teaching American History at a very large high school in a very large school district up here. The school is 99.4% African-American, which is a change in demographics from south Georgia, which is more like 30-40% African American at most schools, but it also has some differences due to being such a big school (2000 students) in such a big school system (over 100,000 students) that are requiring some adjustments on his part. Simple things like obtaining a copy code can take a while in a bureaucracy that is so large. He is impressed with the level of literacy of the students compared with his former school, and says they write and speak with an articulacy not often seen in South Georgian teenagers. Also, most of the ones he has met so far plan to go to college, even the ones in regular level classes (not advanced), which is also rarely seen in South Georgia. He feels that they can achieve great things and hopes to help them reach their goals as much as he can.
Our neighbors seem very nice, and more than half of the neighbors we have met so far are from Korea, as there is much growth in Korean Methodism at this time, and Candler is a Methodist seminary. We have visited one church, which is right on campus, which was very traditional Methodist (some ladies even had on gloves and hats!), but have some leads on others that might have the mix of Christianity and progressive ideas that we desire.
For the strange file: right now, in the middle of Atlanta, with a view of the skyline a 50 yard walk up the hill from our apartment, the crickets are so loud in the woods that I can hardly hear the tv. Who woulda thunk it!
Jim and I are all moved in at Turner Village, the Theology student housing at Candler School of Theology/Emory University. We have a nice, but small, one bedroom apartment with a beautiful view from the picture windows in the living room and bedroom of a protected woodland called Wesley Woods forest. According to the Emory website, it is one of the "best preserved hardwood forests in the entire Piedmont Province of the Southeastern United States," and "an infinitely precious aesthetic and scientific resource which we now hold in trust for present and future generations." "It contains a very high diversity of plants, including rare plant species", and "facilitates the movement of plants and wildlife and protects the streambank". We are very excited to live next to such a lovely and important ecosystem.
We have been taking many walks around campus, and even during this hot time of year, the greenery and grass is lush and a vibrant shade of green. The washed out browns of landscapes wilting in the South Georgia heat are nowhere to be seen. It has been at least ten degrees cooler here than in Quitman every day in August so far. The only downside to the Atlanta weather are the thunderstorms, which arrive later and with a ferocity much greater than those in the Valdosta area. The lightning puts on amazing shows for us outside our picture windows, and the thunder rattles the building for minutes at a time. I'm not sure what accounts for the increase in intensity over the South Georgia thunderstorms but that is not something I expected. Many trees have been downed in recent weeks, and unfortunately have damaged some houses and cars in the Emory area, but crews seem to clear them quickly, especially the ones blocking the roads.
Jim has begun his school year, and is teaching American History at a very large high school in a very large school district up here. The school is 99.4% African-American, which is a change in demographics from south Georgia, which is more like 30-40% African American at most schools, but it also has some differences due to being such a big school (2000 students) in such a big school system (over 100,000 students) that are requiring some adjustments on his part. Simple things like obtaining a copy code can take a while in a bureaucracy that is so large. He is impressed with the level of literacy of the students compared with his former school, and says they write and speak with an articulacy not often seen in South Georgian teenagers. Also, most of the ones he has met so far plan to go to college, even the ones in regular level classes (not advanced), which is also rarely seen in South Georgia. He feels that they can achieve great things and hopes to help them reach their goals as much as he can.
Our neighbors seem very nice, and more than half of the neighbors we have met so far are from Korea, as there is much growth in Korean Methodism at this time, and Candler is a Methodist seminary. We have visited one church, which is right on campus, which was very traditional Methodist (some ladies even had on gloves and hats!), but have some leads on others that might have the mix of Christianity and progressive ideas that we desire.
For the strange file: right now, in the middle of Atlanta, with a view of the skyline a 50 yard walk up the hill from our apartment, the crickets are so loud in the woods that I can hardly hear the tv. Who woulda thunk it!
