Saturday April 13th – The Final Words
12:00pm
We’re on a flight to Townsville at the moment and I’m finding it difficult to sum everything up. Even when channeling the inner-English teacher I hope I can nail this last entry and tell you all a story of what the trip meant and what it now has the power to do. I solely believe that this trip puts many things in perspective, but I also know that this was my view and that the students may have a different one. What can be said is that this trip had a profound role in the development of those who were involved. But, we’ll get to that trick at the end. If I could have a theme for this last entry it would be “Feelings of appreciation and content”. This trip has allowed me to further advance my perception that the world never has nothing going on in regards to its surroundings, its simplicity towards understanding and its ability to make you feel incredibly humble. To begin, we were treated to many sights and sounds that some had never seen.
The surroundings of a foreign land trigger a renewed ability to read and recognise your five main senses. Whether it was the brilliant detail adorning Notre Dame Cathedral or the size and effort given to the many resting places, you could hear, feel, smell, see and taste a world outside and unusual to yours. I apologise to my awesome group of Undies when you waited for me to get on a train back to the Paris hostel because I had stopped to hear the classical choir enchant my ears while I gazed at Notre Dame one final time. Maybe I’ll never see it again. I’m sorry to the other students for being late on many occasions as I took greater notice to the brush strokes and the multitude of expressions on a painting 7 metres tall, but each face cried out with a different reaction to the scene being depicted and my mind was asking why. I’m sorry for asking as politely as possible “are you going to eat that” as the flavours of Europe danced across my palette with frivolous intentions. What I saw, heard, felt, tasted and smelled was something I may never have the chance to experience again, and for that I do not apologise. Furthermore, when we understand that these sights are sometimes beyond our reason to fathom, we start to understand the simplicity of what can make us easily happy.
Life can be simple if we allow ourselves to follow a fundamental rule. That rule is this: life is a mystery, so don’t waste your time figuring it out. How did Stonehenge get there in the English countryside and why is it there? Who cares? It’s a shear feat of ingenuity and glory from a species of humankind that never had what we had. Can’t we just sit in awe of their accomplishment and be happy we were there to see it? I loved having the opportunity to witness the paintings representing ancient battles of Rome and the times of Napoleon, and the detail that was apparent in the sculptures and stones of ancient Greece were indeed mysterious as they were intriguing. It gave me a sense of curiosity to look upon each artifact and know that even though no one will ever have a completely objective view on what really happened and what was true, we still have in the world’s possession something to enjoy for the sake of visual stimulation. I believe that seeing a Byzantine church turned into an Islamic mosque is interesting, but not as much as seeing the simplicity of dome architecture and how it works in a masterfully yet enigmatic way. Finally, a mountain, trench, painting and song help you understand that you are not the centre of the world because there is something more to appreciate.
Appreciation comes from the ability to be humble and that is what you get on a history trip. To be humble is the most sincere and rewarding character trait a person needs to put everything into perspective. Seeing the battlefields and standing in trenches doesn’t give you the primary feeling of a soldier in WW1, but it hits pretty hard when you listen to the guide describe the flooded holes that filled up to their shoulders. You can feel the somber attitudes of the kids as they look at overarching hills and ridges that look like a brisk X-Country run to them but were a death trap for kids as young as 16. Hearing the tales of soldiers reunited with brothers, wives and friends rose your spirits while excerpts of death and destruction of houses and buildings brought us down to speed. It’s not like we want the students to feel bad. We want them to appreciate the efforts of others. That’s it in a nutshell. If they learned one thing it should be that people should be appreciated for hard work and good deeds. It doesn’t matter if it’s something in WW1 or yesterday in Chemistry. Appreciate and don’t hate. If it’s not the trenches that did it, the living conditions in Turkey had a bit of an effect. $0.50 for a toilet break? Do you really need that money? Obviously they believe they do. Begging on the streets with lifeless looking babies dangling at their arm may not warrant a monetary gain for those less fortunate, but pity and sympathy are paid out by the infinite amounts our hearts can handle. So, whether it’s climbing down into an ancient water reserve, seeing the complex factors in a simple way, or learning to appreciate life through the sorrow of others, this trip has done what it was meant to do. It taught our students aspects of life without many of them even knowing it.
The movie “Karate Kid” (not the new Kung Fu one) taught us all that things are not what they seem and that life can teach you many things when you aren’t even looking. Waxing cars, painting fences and sanding decks caused the boy to learn the fluidity of each karate movement as if it was now instinct. So how does this pan out into the trip and our students? After a few trips riding the subway, no one could stop Tom Clerc from trying to lead the group with a planned route. Human checks by Kelly’s Heroes (Gemma and Kym) were done before Mrs. Kelly got on the bus. Finally, after a long day of walking through the Bazaar I was asked this question:
“Sir, can you come and help us get some Converse and some Raybans?”
“No. You can get them yourself. You know what to do.”
“Sir, I don’t think I can barter that well.”
“What’s the first thing I do when I walk into a shop?”
“You don’t. You wait till someone calls you in because they want your business more and can go down in price easier.”
“Then what?”
“You just listen to his pitch not really listening but checking out any imperfections in the product while doing the math of what it is actually worth in your head. You have a price and you make the best effort not to budge. It’s a game to you.”
“Aww, that’s mean, girls. Why would I do that?”
“Because you know they are trying to hustle you. Please, tell me why your product is better than the rest. Give me every line in the book because it doesn’t shift me out of what I know you should charge for it.”
“And after I hear everything and they don’t meet my price do I stay and buy the product?”
“No. You walk away because there are 3500 shops around and you can do better somewhere else. But they can’t have that so that’s why they snap their fingers back because they can’t wait to give you the price you want or go insanely close to it.”
Ladies and gentlemen, parents, avid blog readers and students reading this for the past few weeks. You’ve just been Myagi’d. This is the joy of being a person of influence because whether you are a teacher, parent or close family friend, you have it in you to constantly “Myagi” the youth of our generations here and those to come. Never stop doing that. Educate instead of teach and have faith that every student, child and random stranger has it in them to learn the ways of life. I’ll close with 3 final life rules that I have come to live by and that I believe were reinforced on this trip.
1.) Paradox - Life is a mystery. Don’t waste your time figuring it out.
- If you get there in time to see the top of the Eiffel Tower, great. If not, accept the beautiful sight regardless.
2.) Humour - Keep a sense of humour, even amongst yourself. It is a strength beyond all measure.
- A good example of this is from Julian Meteyard’s waving tactics in the subway systems.
3.) Change - Know that nothing stays the same.
- You came, saw and conquered your European trip. It may never happen again. You could enjoy your time in the sticks and then be called to duty to fight a war.
- Life isn’t a set of moments you can routinely follow.
- The unexplainable can happen such as losing a wallet or losing a relationship with a significant other.
I hope you enjoyed the trip as I did. Take care, take risks and always remember there is a sensei around and when the student is ready a teacher will appear.
Take care and take risks.
Sincerely,
Mitch Sokolowski
