ktravula – a travelogue!

On Miles Of Open Road

It didn’t promise to be easy, so it wasn’t. It even took taking turns moving the Nissan beast across the stretch of tar from one end of the state to the other, but we did make it here in one piece. “Here” is Kansas City – a city that stretches across two state boundaries. (It didn’t make much sense at first that Missouri would have two big cities on the two ends of its stretch from east to west). The part of the city that is replicated after much of Rome and Paris is on the Missouri side of the state line while the other side that gets the “What the hell are you looking for out there” is in the state of Kansas from where I’m typing this, my back against the soft sheets of a cozy but affordable hotel bedroom. One good thing about being in a remote part of the country is the affordability of the hotel rooms. Now that’s it…

NOT!

We did stop by at the Westminster College at Fulton (MO) to see the spot where Winston Churchill delivered his “Iron Curtain” speech. It was such a delight. More than just a private college, the campus bears many markers to the prominence of Churchill’s 1946 visit to the place. A larger than life sized casting of the man stands at the back of the Westminster church (pictured above with three of my c0-travellers). There is an enormous collection of pictures, videos, short films and documentaries, and artifacts in the Churchill museum (even though, now that I think about it, I doubt that it was called the “Churchill museum”). It all put the progress of the world from the First World War to the Second one, and later to the Cold War, into perspective, especially from the role of Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin, Truman, and Hitler. It was such an awesome place to see. After taking plenty pictures, we took off and headed off to Kansas City. Later today, we’ll complement our knowledge at the World War I memorial in the city.

The other parts of the evening that include dancing cowgirls, drunk young men, delicious fries and cole slaw, cool drinks, warm patios, unexpected faces from Edwardsville, music, dance and laughter will remain impossible to adequately express so I won’t even try. Not tonight at least with sleep bags under my eyes. I’ll just go to bed. Thank you for reading my rants. The daily stats on the blog has always amazed me.

Greetings from flyover country, halfway across the land.

On Miles Of Open Road was published on November 27th, 2010, with the tags , , , , , , under the Observations, Travelling, Uncategorized category. There are currently no comments on this article so far.

Men On the Road

It snowed here yesterday, for the first time this season. The last time I saw my first snow was Christmas day 2009 and I’d wondered if the snow always timed itself for a special occasion. Yesterday was Thanskgiving and the snowfall was just as appropriate a blessing. I spent much of the day as a guest of a family my friend and fellow student linguist in St. Louis playing pool, getting stuffed (in a good, gastronomically pleasant way), laughing, meeting new people, and just being a good young boy in pleasant company. I haven’t done this in a while so it was a good break out of the stress of chasing the trees of syntax or the twists of ESL teaching assessment procedures.

Now I’m back home listening to George Lopez monologue of race jokes: “Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. And if you’re Native American, happy Thursday…” It was a wonderful day.

Tomorrow will find me on the road with three other gentlemen on a trip across at least two state lines. We are heading to the state of Kansas in search of knowledge and treasures. On this trip, we intend to visit the famous World War I Museum at Kansas City as well as the Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, where British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered his now famous “Iron Curtain” Speech in March 1946. There are no train routes from Edwardsville to Kansas City as there are between the many states of Europe because this country built its own treasures in Interstate roads rather than rails. And what a shame that would have been in the absence of a true pleasure of driving across town. And it is for that reason that this road trip will serve two main goals: one, to discover what lay in the westward side of the country while passing through the countryside with our feet virtually on the ground; and two, to spend the rest of our free time undertaking an endeavour more productive than remaining at home to stare out the window at migrating birds.

Fortunately – or unfortunately, depending on who’s talking – snow has begun to fall and promises to make the journey even a little more colourful. See you at the end of the weekend, except of course we also get a chance to use the internet. And Happy Thanksgiving to you.

PS: Kansas City, not particularly a famous tourist destination reportedly has more boulevards than Paris and more fountains than any other city in the world except for Rome. (Source: Wikitravel). This explains why EVERYONE we’ve told of this trip had responded with “What the hell is in Kansas City?” I guess we’re about to find out.

Men On the Road was published on November 26th, 2010, with the tags , , , , , under the adventures, Fun, Travelling category. There are currently 3 comments on this article so far.

Thanksgiving at the International Institute

The International Institute in St. Louis threw a series of early Thanksgiving dinners for students and tutors yesterday.

Here are a few pictures from the event.

Thanksgiving at the International Institute was published on November 24th, 2010, with the tags , , under the Academic, Observations category. There are currently no comments on this article so far.

Is this my land?

A guest post by Temie Giwa

I often wonder how people go about deciding which country or countries deserves their allegiance. I suppose if you have lived in one country all your life it wouldn’t matter. However, when you have the special fortune of having dual citizenships then it becomes a topic worth exploration. I am Nigerian.  I was born there. I also have an interesting relationship with the USA. I live here, and I vote here. I am often told by my Nigerian friends and colleagues how American I am. And anytime I attempt to pronounce  “house, hot, and or home”, I am reminded that I am a proud daughter of Oduduwa, and his stamp remains in my syntax.

I had the opportunity of spending last evening with a group of individuals learning English and the American culture at the international Institute in St. Louis Missouri. They hail from as far as Bhutan, a little country in the south of Asia and some were Mexicans, our Southern neighbor. I also had a conversation with a Nigerian woman from Ogun State and another from China. They all were interested in America, eager to learn her history and above all so grateful to their teachers and the country that has given them a second chance. For a moment I was touched and I could not help but sing along with everyone to the song that best illustrates the magic that is America.  “This Land”. This land, I hope truly belongs to all of them.

I love Americans, but I never expected to become one, or to like being one. The citizenship was not something I sought nor did I have control over it. My parents gave me a blue passport on my 16th birthday and that was that. I suppose if I had gone through the naturalization process like the men and women in the American citizenship class, I might have felt more comfortable with my American self. Oh I get away with a lot. People already expect me to be loud, obnoxious and fat. So I just shrug away moments when I feel like being loud, obnoxious and fat as my American moments, it suits me well. And whenever I find my self in Nigeria, any rudeness to the elders is automatically forgiven, this I tell you is a major blessing.

The evening started with a tour of the Institute and one thing that arrested my attention was a little poster displaying famous American immigrants. Among them were Albert Einstein, Madeline Albright, and Pulitzer. These individuals like myself immigrated to the United States and were able to create lives that still inspire the world. The evening proceeded predictably. On the main stage was a PowerPoint presentation of flags and snapshots of all countries whose members have migrated to the United States. Turkeys were given out in celebration of thanksgiving and we sang and laughed and clapped. I am especially thankful for a country that invokes hope in the heart of so many. The people who spend their free time teaching others how to make a new life in a new country are the very essence of what makes this country oh so great.

Is this my land? was published on November 24th, 2010, with the tags , , , , under the Academic, Observations, Opinion category. There are currently 8 comments on this article so far.

American Students in Nigeria

I recently came across these blogs of the American students on the Flagship Yoruba Programme in my home University in Ibadan via Facebook, (thanks to Buchi). I mentioned this Flagship Programme on this blog once while I was in Ibadan in the summer before the students arrived. I want to share it with you now. From this distance, I have a new pride and a new appreciation for the field of language teaching as well as a chance to share in the journeys and experience of these new students in their immersion in the language and culture of my homeland.

Follow their blogs and share in their experience as they move through Nigeria:

http://www.northoflagos.wordpress.com by Cara “Titilayo” Harshman.

http://irinajoyinbo.wordpress.com by Kevin “Kayode” Barry.

http://wellesleyh.wordpress.com by Lauren Halloran

Here are some of the videos from the blogs. Note that much of the Yoruba language capability of the person in this video was acquired long before she even set foot on Nigerian soil. This is a testament to the progress of Yoruba language studies in the Wisconsin University at Madison, and a victory for globalization.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SlgnGAGFsU and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsltcnHxzfI. And in this amazing one, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLzWfxBRa8Q), where Titi takes a walk around the University of Ibadan.

Enjoy, and leave them some encouraging comments too.

American Students in Nigeria was published on November 22nd, 2010, with the tags , , under the Academic, adventures, Fun, Observations, Travelling category. There are currently 4 comments on this article so far.