Jill Rees: Welcome Press

Here is a collection of short stories which I hope you will find enjoyable. They are by no means above comment and are subject to further editing, so please feel free to send feedback to the author, especially if it is constructive.

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Пейо Яворов
• Feb. 15th, 2008 at 4:43 PM

Душата ми е пуста…

Душата ми е пуста: буря кратка
помете всичко там. Напразно вече
следа бих дирил от мечтата сладка
по тебе, образ потъмнял! Далече,
цял век далече са от мен
миражите на вчерашния ден.

Все пак аз помня: ти дойде желана,
дойде с душа лист още неизписан,
лист бяла книга. В своя вехта рана
перо намокрих: в спомени улисан,
посегнах аз и писах без покой,
от болка се превивах –
и писах с кръв и гной.

Че ти не бе живяла – а живота
бе мене пък задавил. И той свари
с проклети писмена на богоскота
душата ти чрез мене да нашари.
Перо послушно – копие на цар…
Раних аз твоя дух и своя чар.

В очакване, боязън непонятна
владееше предчувствията мои;
изгубих те – пустиня необятна…
Чух змийски съсък в спомените свои.

Перо послушно, копие на цар! –
Раних аз твоя дух, убих и своя чар.

Пейо Яворов,
Безсъници

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Yesterday we visited the synagogue here in Sofia. It is Sephardic and reminiscent of the synagogue in Prague with one small difference - the congregation were not sent to the concentration camps. Hurrah, everyone is still here! and gave us a friendly and warm welcome, even one young man directing us to humous finding afterwards in the Women’s market.

Apparently this was a bit neglected during the Communist occupation, as they disapproved of religions, but has been renovated since with an amazing chandaleer and starry ceiling. Speaking of religions, Tony Blair today gave a speech saying that religions should play a more prominent role in politics. Oh no Tony, it depends which religion surely? If you mean my religion, that’s fine, but I don’t think your religion should be allowed to be mentionned or indeed practised at all by anyone who even considers going into politics. It’s too weird. Thou shalt not kill except by airial bombing I have so much difficulty with.

Although I like my religion, after this visit both Amanda and I felt like converting to Judaism, as the atmosphere inside the synagogue was so warm and lovely, with an effervescent feeling of joy. I bought a cd of Sephardic Jew-mewzik for my freind Joel, so now I’ll have to visit! Here is a link if you are a Jewish traveller, or want to acquire humous and such wherever you are. http://destinations.jewishtraveller.co.uk/index.jsp?cid=88075&action=viewLocation&formId=104265

Now here’s a sight you don’t see every day, Amanda visiting a fruit market! Yes the Halite named after Les Halles in Paris which looks nothing like this, this too was dilapidated by the Communists and recently rebuilt. The freshly squeezed orange juice is freshly squeezed, unlike every other juice in Bulgaria, which is manufactured using 60s chemicals which they think is cool. No doubt this is the fault of the Communists too ey Bulgarians?

Just to prove that, unbeknownst to the chef at the Panorama Hotel Sandanski, Bulgaria does have markets where it is possible to purchase, very very cheaply, delicious fresh organic locally grown vegetables. In Sofia famously at what is known as the Women’s Market, or the Moslem market, as they sell everything from Halva to Tahini, and all the Bulgarian white, goat’s or sheep, cheeses and so on, but for good fresh Humous, you still need to go on down to the book market at Slaveykov Square (spelt anyway you fucking like apparently) and, after purchasing
books in English for a fairly extortionate price in my view considering the condition they are in, peeop round the corner to the Baalbek Kebab shop. As the young man serving says, ‘We have EVERYTHING’. It is true, although he only let me see the menu, which is in English, after I had asked for a dish of Humous to take out and a kofte kebab with lamb and beef. It was truly delicious I kid you not. The Baalbek is on Wikipaedia as well as several chat sights for travellers, which Amanda found after googling ‘Humous Sofia’, and lives up to its excellent reputation. It is almost worth visiting Sofia for. Which reminds me, in case Wart ever visits this page, there are Subways in Sofia!!!!!!!!!!! But why bother when you can come and get a kebab here?

Finally, after all that culture, I visited the so called museum of the Bulgarian Poet and revolutionary, Peyu Yavarov,who fought for macedonian freedom, and was famous for his symbolist poems, none of which I can find on the net or anywhere in English. Despite allegedly being open until 5pm, it was locked, and someone had put an empty drink carton on his statue. After fighting for the Macedonian cause, he fell in love with a girl, who died, and met his future wife at her graveside in Paris. After a stormy few years in love and passion, she shot herself during a row and he managed eventually, after merely blinding himself the first time, to shoot himself too. This reminded me that the poet’s life is often crap right until the end and I mustn’t complain.

Finally, before getting completely lost looking for the bus stop in all the one-way streets, broken bus stop signs and cyrillic alphabet, I visited the museum of the other Bulgarian writer, Ivan Vazov. He actually has a post in Wikipedia in English http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Vazov and also was a revolutionary, fighting for Bulgarian freedom from the Ottomans.

I found his house, which has a plaque in cyrillic obviously which I can now read just about. I tried to batter the door down, thinking it was jammed, as it had the visiting hours on it. Eventually an ancient woman arrived, unlocked it, glowered at me and muttered in Bulgarian something I understood clearly, as she was pointing at the clock on the wall of the building opposite, a fact which I have only just realised is a bit odd in itself, that it was closed. ‘That’s odd,’ I said, pointing to the door, ‘Because it says here it’s open until 5.’ She cursed under her breath and let me in. After realising that I was really interested however, and accepting the inevitablility of not being able to finish early after all, she was helpful. I looked at his photos though of course I couldn’t read everything. His book ‘Under the Yoke’ looks great, about oppression under the Ottomans, and I would like to read it. It has been translated apparently. He received an huge award which is here, a laurel crown with one leaf for each of his greatest achievements. His furniture is just as it was when he died, right here in the lounge, and his study where he used to clump about at night writing, his favourite pet dog standing in front of his desk where he had it, stuffed, after it died suddenly. He wrote with a quill, which too is still here, and it is interesting seeing his handwriting. Again I felt inspired to keep on, as he died in poverty despite being a national hero. Such is life. Muzeltov.

Tags: Ivan Yazov, jill, Macedonia, Ottomans, Peyu Yavorov, revolutionary poets, Sephardic Jews, synagogue Sofia

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Tags: Ivan Yazov, Macedonia, Ottomans, Peyu Yavorov, revolutionary poets, Sephardic Jews, synagogue Sofia.

Dinner tonight was a slice of cucumber and half a potato. I kid you not. Lunch was a plate of yogurt soup with a bit of cucumber and a tiny plate of potatoes.I went out to look for a kebab but unfortunately they use the cyrillic alphabet here and I can’t read it very well, couldn’t find any kebabs. I found a restaurant but didn’t have enough bulgarian money for a meal and didn’t understand the menu very well. I suspect a certain ripping off of tourists. This hotel, the Panorama, in Sandinski Bulgaria, is charging 70 euros odd for full board, when living costs are extremely low here, and only feeding us tiny and insufficient food. Strongly advise against this place!!!!!!!! Also they save on other bills, such as heating and hot water. However the cold shower did wonders for my hair. Other great thing is the spa water which you walk down the hill to get in the spa park, a huge park with exotic trees.

Bought two carrots, which we shared among us back at the hotel. Living off Turkish delight. It’s like an upside down Narnia. Without the lions. The others went to swim in the spa pool and one of them got touched up by a Bulgarian man.

Nevertheless going back to SThis travelling does have its down side. The teaching is great, especially as the kids have flu bugs so half the class is missing. hurrah!!!!!

Tags: Bulgaria, cucumbers, jill, Panorama Hotel, Sandinski

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The Rees/Greenwood family, L to R: Evelyn, Alice, Ron, Moira, Arthur

and George the dog

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This page is for people to add travel tips for places they’ve stayed in or lived in.

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The difficulty we’re experiencing deciding whether or not we can use empryos as we want expresses perfectly the difficulty we have in the Western world in determining what status to attribute to embryo material in terms of life. since God created man to hold dominion over every beast which crawleth and what not, we have had a distinction between lower and higher forms of life. Man is, of course, at the very top, at the right hand of God himself. Woman comes quite a bit further down, with cattle and other clean animals which can be made use of. Male babies if they can be shown to be genuinely of the father’s sperm are later, and girl babies a long way below. Unclean animals, crawlie things and so on come down the line. trees were way down, and many civilisations destroyed vast regions of forest to wage wars and so on, leaving the Sahara desert in their wake.

Darwin challenged this, suggesting that God seemed to be, in fact, ‘inordinately fond of beetles’. In terms of sustainability, probably trees are quite high on the agenda, along with other life-sustaining aspects of life on earth. Sustainable thinkers, whilst holding high hopes for mankind to see the light in time to save himself (and herself), view life as being the key issue, life itself. More complex life-forms have developed to process life itself more efficiently. what is important is sustaining life.Modern science, like Buddhism, sees life on earht in a holistic sense.

On a moral level, the important thing is happiness, and of course health is part of happiness. Sustaining life, and promoting the genuine happiness of individuals, is the basis of Buddhism. Since embryos are not yet fully developed into concious and independant beings, they do not have as yet a sense of their own happiness. You cannot make an embryo happy. Stem cell research which may indeed solve health crises in those now living seems therefore to accord with Buddhist thinking.

Why then does it feel so ghastly to the instinct?

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Although many people consider themselves to be Soka Educators, there’s no qualification or obvious signifier which identifies an individual pedagogue as a Soka Educator. “Soka” means value creation, and the basic humanistic principle of Soka Education is that human beings always and necessarily have the potential to create value, and that fulfilling our potential to create value in our own way is what makes us happy. The difference in the Soka educator is that we believe in the intrinsic capacity of each child to be themselves better than anyone, and we respect them for who they are in themselves.

The idea of value-creating education was first formed by the Japanese educator Tsunesaburo Makiguchi (1871-1944) as a response to the trend in education at the time to train the children to be war-machines for the fatherland. Makiguchi had already written a (later) influential book “The Geography of Human Life”, showing the need for critical thinking and creativity to enable the individual to fully contribute to a free society. He had been strongly influenced by the American educator John Dewey whom he had seen speak in Tokyo, but the expansion of thought in Japan was seriously arrested by the increasing militarism which came to engulf all society and led to the terrible experience of war in China, and then the World War which culminated in the disaster of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. By this time Makiguchi had died in prison, where he had been taken for refusing to compromise on his pacifist beliefs, by now strengthened by his practice of Nichiren Buddhism.

His beliefs were continued by Josei Toda, also a teacher who had worked for many years alongside with Mr Makiguchi, had become a Buddhist with him, considered him to be his master in faith, and had gone to prison for also standing up against Japanese militarization of religion. Josie Toda went on after the war to reform the lay Buddhist organisation Soka Gakkai, extending its reach beyond only educational philosophy into all walks of life, and helping many people struggling to recover their lives in the devastation of post-war Japan. It was the current President of Soka Gakkai International, Daisaku ikeda, who has established the Soka Universities and encouraged the activities of educators within the Soka Gakkai.

So Soka education is broadly based on the Buddhist belief in the intrinsic value of and respect for all life and for each individual, and the Soka teacher bases his pedagogy on his Buddhist practice, challenging issues which arise by referring back to our Buddhist faith. There is no strict code of practise for the Soka educator, as the style of teaching will depend on the situation faced within the educational environment. The main thing is the unique importance of each individual child, and the refusal to make use of the child’s individuality for an external purpose, such as grades or the needs of employers. Each child is valuable in his or her own right.

Of course the Soka environment is notably happy and relaxed and the children have confidence and highly developed questioning and communication skills. The reputation of the highest achievers in the Soka Universities is beginning to serve as a testimonial to the success of this educational practice. However Soka educators are to be found all around the world, in the Makiguchi Project in Action in Sao Paulo, Brazil*, as well as in Malaysian kindergartens, applying effective solutions to areas with grave social and economic problems.

I first came across Makiguchi when I was training to be a teacher, and studied him in more depth as part of post-graduate research on classroom behaviour. The Soka method has comparisons in the systemic theory of education which is also having dramatic effects in problem classroom areas, and which is gaining respect in many circles at this time. Gregory Bateson (1904 -1980), who started the whole systemic theory, drew on the Buddhist ideas prevalent in Hawaii when he lived there. (G. Bateson “Steps to an Ecology of Mind” New York Chandler 1972; Molnar and Linquist, “Changing Problem Behaviour in Schools” Jossey Bass 1989). By applying his basic principles in the classroom, I was able to solve the problems of motivation, self-esteem and disruptive behaviour exhibited by my classes and lead them to begin to enjoy learning and start to think more as “global citizens”. but the reason I originally liked Makiguchi came when I read that when the poor children arrived from the frosty streets in the morning, Makiguchi had lit the stove and prepared hot soup for his pupils to eat as they dried their socks on the stove. The Soka Educator is first and foremost a caring human being and a fine example to his students.

Since 2005, Soka Educators worldwide have expressed their views and shared their findings on the international forum confernces which you can find through the link below or contact Stephanie at tansey@usa.net at the website http://www.soka.ed.jp/kyoiku/k0004.html or see the latest newsletter below.

______________________________________________________________________________

Carl Rogers on Humanistic education article

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Note 1. **Some background (Thank you to Kwabena Siaka from Earth Charter Communities Education Forum) I
‘The MIA effort in Brazil is widely supported by the communities they are involved in. Not because of any directed attempt by the members to spread the word, so to speak, but by the participants and administrators of the schools in which they have or are working with. Schools contact them to ask for the MIA project to come to their schools. This process happens almost exclusively through word of mouth. The MIA program was also helped by a timely government initiative to help develop a more humanistic mode of teaching. It was felt by the new government that the traditional way of teaching was too narrow and that teachers should be reoriented to teach to the whole child. Therefore the government has initiated a requirement for teacher professional development of 2 hours a month, with pay. Furthermore, parents, who were excluded from the process, to a large extent before ( by the educational system) were not seen as a part of the solution. The relationship between teachers and parents could be characterized as quite hostile. This is not the case in MIA schools, today. Parents in the MIA program are welcomed and in fact, are given the same treatment, when possible, as the teachers. Parents involvement is seen as crucial to the long term impact and sustainability of the program. Family involvement (an important community factor) is a key element in Makiguchi’s paradigm.‘Classroom methods and process
The MIA approach is very subtle and very respectful. And at the same time very direct. During an art class session, for example, teachers are given an art project to work on individually. In one of the classes I visited, the project was to make a drawing, which they had to cut afterwards into a shape. Three to four assistance circulated around the class, encouraging and praising the participants (teachers) at various stages in the process. Parents were also welcomed to join the activity. Throughout the session (treatment) the lead moderator would quote something from the Buddhist perspective on life or teaching. There was no big lecture on teaching or anything of that sort. In fact, I was wondering when that would come. Instead, from time to time, the lead moderator would say something like this, “Every person is precious, each of us has a mission that only we can fulfill.” The content of these messages and the philosophical influences came from a variety of thinking such as Friere, Dewey, Jung, Ikeda, Toda, and Nichiren. The materials that the participants had at their disposal were kept to a minimum to encourage cooperation. The notion of interdependence was introduced in this way and a simple quote or comment was made to reinforce this point. No pressure or dictates were applied or given to the participants.‘Community involvement of non members
The interaction with the schools and the community is essentially a dialogical process. What I mean by this is that a process of negotiations (dialogue) begins as soon as a school contacts the program. The MIA have found that it is better to have a liaison situated within the school context. This key person helps facilitate the introduction of the program into the school “community”. Which includes the family as well. This person can advise the program on local concerns and customs. That is not to say that there is no resistance to the change. One of the common questions is “are you trying to covert us to Buddhism.” This question is dealt with head on by introducing the organization of SGI and its principles, goals and activities through a short 15 minute video followed by a question and answer session with the school community. This kind of dialogue continues throughout the project, which is conducted in four phases over a two year period, each phase lasts six months.’

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Note 2

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Ten teaching tips for classroom control1. Own the room. It is your classroom, the students are guests. Your actions should be relaxed and confident, as if you are in your own home. Students should be asked to look after the room, not make a mess, sit properly on the furniture, tidy up after themselves. Your room should be decorated with your stuff ie displays to do with your subject and interests, as well as the children’s own best work.
2. There should be a clearly delineated start to the lesson. Decide how you want to do this. Experienced teachers may be able to have a relaxed atmosphere, then clap their hands and say ‘OK class, let’s get started.’ It is best if you enter the classroom before the children, giving them permission to enter your space. Whole school policy may ask that the children stand until asked to sit. In difficult schools, there may be an introductory task on the board for the ‘good’ kids to do while the others get settled. Once started, there should be no interruptions. If a latecomer arrives, or someone wants to change seats, or loses their pencil, you can assure them you will deal with it later.
3. Attention span is 10 minutes plus their age, up to 20 minutes. So a 14 year old will be able to concentrate for up to 14 minutes. People can’t concentrate for longer. They will react passively or actively, either going to sleep, drifting off or drawing, or talking to friends, calling out, dropping pencils, throwing planes round or some other diversion technique. It’s your fault: you’ve gone on for too long. Activities should last 10 - 15 minutes. You can have two or three different activities, but you must break it up. Working on their own or in groups can be for longer, because they will find their own breaks.
4. If you are boring, they will be bored. Become a personality so that when they see you, they will think about whatever it is you’re trying to teach them. What do you remember about your best teachers? My maths teacher had eyebrows shaped like Isosceles triangles. That’s the one with two sides the same lengths and two angles the same.
5. Everyone has a dominant learning style: visual, audio or kinaesthetic. You need to find out which of these learning styles a student has. If they look to the side, towards their ear, or close their eyes, they are audio. These students will listen to you. If they look up and to the right when you ask them a question, they are visual. You must provide a visual way for them to understand what you are saying. If they are kinaesthetic, they will have to move. If they can learn by movement, by signs, by drawing diagrams, by games involving movement and coming to the board, perhaps with the electronic whiteboard, they can keep up. Many children who have problems in schools are kinaesthetic learners. Most kinaesthetic learners are boys. If you don’t provide the right sort of learning opportunity and they don’t learn, it isn’t their fault, it’s yours. You must teach according to their learning style.
6. Lessons should be planned to progress: introduction which doesn’t give all the game away but tells them exactly what they can expect. What is the aim of the lesson? Write it on the board. The plenary should be a reminder of where you’ve got to, or a way of presenting the question you are intending to solve this lesson.
7. Teach one point at a time. Think what you want them to come away with. Even if it’s quite simple, it will be new to them. They will have to hear it nine times before they remember it.
8. Short term memory last three days, after which it will disappear unless reinforced. Do homework set between lessons, or a lunchtime club, mention it if they’re in your tutor group or you see them doing sport. Every time they see you they will think of it, so be around.
9. At the end of the lesson, the Plenary can check their understanding. Ask to give a signal, thumbs up for ‘yes I’ve got it’ horizontal thumb for ‘er I think I understand’, down thumb for ‘have I woken up too late for school, Mum?’ this should inform your next lesson plan. If lots of them didn’t get it, reassure them that you’ll explain it in a different way next time.
10. Take responsibility for their understanding. You are the teacher. If you have interested them, explained everything in a way which is appropriate and clear to them, set interesting and exciting work, and followed up with a fatherly care, they will lead a great life of success. If you fail, they will fail. You can’t let that happen. Keep finding ways to improve as a teacher. You’re the greatest! If you’ve read this far, well done. You’ve proved how good a teacher you are because you care.Good luck with all the lives in your hands.
Jill Rees

Tags: Art, Classroom, Friend, Games, home, jill, jill, Sea, War, Work

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A waitress flicks cigarette ash off the table
thoughtlessly, as you and only you
are able, Vienna, to act
consistently without thought, clearing your streets
of vermin, and believe you are doing
what is right. She knocks my newspaper
to the floor.In the train, the waiter too,
put his fingers into your tea to amend
the recklessness with which you had arranged
your tea bag, and the obliviousness
with which these interferences arise
is terrifying.

A Jew, you defend
Clearing the streets of beggars and Roma,
oblivious too, because that’s what you do.
The shuffling wrapped lady with her borrowed baby
led off by three armed policemen and two nuns.
Immigrants selling the Big Issue, a Turkish boy
beaten up in the school yard with the teacher
looking on, and constantly the clarrion call
to clean up, clear up, lift the corners of the rug
and brush the dark secrets under.
I stood bewundert by the Stephansdom, and only I
could hear the sky split in terrifying thunder
as God is crucified over and over.

Tags: jill, News, Newspaper, Rain, Sky

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