The countdown to my glorious homecoming has officially begun. Barring the unforeseen, my plane will coast into Kansas City International Airport on July 2, 2007. (Whoever is responsible for booking the marching band better get on it.)
The end doth approach, but much work remains. My Peace Corps pals and I are still chasing stardom with Hello English, our soon-to-be hit educational TV show. Currently, we’re editing the episodes together. In June, Romanian cable companies will begin airing them. Our fame will unfortunately peak after we’ve left Romania, but who needs throngs of adoring fans beating down the door? Not I.
Arnie Swoboda, a Wisconsinite, and I combine forces to host Hello English and deliver our instruction with a quaint touch of Midwestern charm. Joining us is a wacky crew of neighborhood friends, including Karl “The Mailman” Malone, Screech the Puppet, and SpellBot, a robot who spells.
We run a pretty sophisticated operation. My kitchen doubles as our set. We’ve rigged studio lighting out of cardboard and tinfoil. We’ve improvised our own green screen like weathermen use, which allows us to shoot on location anywhere in the world.
Through an EU grant I wrote, a group of Polish students recently joined my kids for a two-week leadership camp. The camp, organized by another volunteer and me, sought to promote creativity, problem solving, diversity and civic responsibility. We introduced flag football to reinforce teamwork, and reliving high school glory, we both quarterbacked our respective squads. Lesson learned: Four-foot tall Polish girls named Olga can flat out catch passes. Unsurprisingly, my team emerged victorious. Some allegations of illegal substitutions were raised but never substantiated.
Later this month, my students will travel to Poland for a student parliament. This should prove an epic experience as none have ever journeyed outside the region, not to mention the county.
