3 days, 3 parties

The weekend of December 12, 13, 14 was a very eventful one for me. Spite malsanecon – jam de la lasta semajno de novembro mi luktis kun malvarmumo – mi sukcesis partopreni tri jarfinajn festojn.

The first of the three parties, on Friday December 12, was our MapTown company party. Our manager, Kim, had arranged for a festive dinner at the musical theatre Jubilations. Unfortunately, a blizzard struck Calgary on that day, and so a number of those planning to attend were unable to come (or unwilling to drive). Nevertheless, eight of us managed to arrive at the theatre. Traffic was chaotic, so Kim had to walk six blocks before Nader could pick her up, while Sandi’s, Bryan, his girlfriend Stacy (sp?) and myself met up with Sandi’s partner Ralph two blocks from the store and Maria got a ride from the school with the father of a co-worker. Since the minimum reservation for a company party was twenty seats (and twenty people may well have come if the weather had cooperated), each of us got an extra dinner to take home, and the company paid for several drinks per person. The play, performed between courses, was a musical production based on the TV show CSI entitled “CSI: Little Murder on the Prairie”. It was great fun and the dinner very tasty (I had a chicken entrée, which I found a bit too spicy for my taste, and took a prime rib entrée home, which I had for dinner two days later and found delicious!)

Am nächsten Tag war das Uhubaum-fest der Schlaraffen (mit Burgfrauen). Ritter Niemand (Allan) holte mich und Maria um halb sechs mit dem Auto von Meredith ab, die leider die dabei sein konnte, da sie zu der Zeit in Hawaii war. Als wir in der Burg ankamen, waren fast alle schon da, und das Abendessen – von Junker Ulli vorbereitet – wurde danach serviert. Um halb acht fing die Sitzung an, und es wurde wie immer lustig gespielt. Ich spielte das Abendlied und die Aufmunterung auf dem Klavier (nicht besonders gut, denn die viele Zuschauer in der Nähe beunruhigten mich) und das Schlußlied und eine musikalische Fechsung (zwei Weihnachts= lieder) auf der Flöte, wofür ich mit dem Wochenwanderfechsungsorden belohnt wurde. Maria und ich erhielten vom Weihnachtsmann (Ritter Bar-Bar) nette Geschenke: Maria einen Engel aus Kristall und ich eine kleine Flasche Likör (Bailey’s Mint Chocolate).

Dimanĉon estis la vico de la esperantistoj. Dum la frua posttagmezo mi ordigis iom la loĝejon, forĵetis reciklotaĵojn, kaj polvosuĉis. Je la 15h30 alvenis Milan, bedaŭrinde sen Jacqueline kiu devis resti en Drumheller pro laboroj farotaj ĉe ŝia ateliero dum sekvaj tagoj, kaj baldaŭ poste alvenis Allan kun Nicholas, juna esperantisto el Aŭstralio kiu nuntempe faras esplorojn kiel komputilsciencisto ĉe la Universitato. Iom post la kvara alvenis ankoraŭ Dafinka. Dum iom pli ol horo ni babilis, manĝetis, fotiĝis kaj kantis Zambanajn kantojn. Je la kvina la gastoj iris hejmen, kaj ni kontentis pro sukcesa Zamenhof-taga festo : raporto pri ĝi aperos en baldaŭ aperonta numero 2008/02 de Lumo kaj ĉe la kluba blogejo.

Urodziny Marysi

Marysia ma dzisiaj urodziny. Rano śpiewałem jej “Sto lat” i po prace spotkaliśmy się w japońskiej restoracje Sumo z Agnieszką. Dałem Marysie krótko przedtem w centrum handlowym Eau Claire kupione prezenty (restoracja Sumo też jest w centrum Eau Claire), i my trzej mieliśmy fajną kolację razem.

Reconnecting with my "Doktormutter"

I get many phone calls at work, but yesterday afternoon I got a call that was at once most surprising and at the same time most pleasurable. Who was on the line but my dear "Doktormutter" Ewa Czaykowska! (I love the German term "Doktorvater", which hints at a connection between supervisor and supervisee that is totally lacking in the cold English term "doctoral supervisor", but to use the term with respect to Ewa would do violence to her identity as a woman so I prefer the term "Doktormutter".) Now I must confess that I have not been in contact with Ewa since giving up hope of ever getting a permanent university position some four years ago - I may be wrong (and today's chat with Ewa has strenghtened this doubt), but in the back of my mind there is a nagging thought that Ewa must be at least a little disappointed that her first sucessful doctoral candidate has failed to find a position appropriate to his education and her efforts have been for naught - but I have kept going to the conferences of the Canadian Linguistic Association, and at this spring's CLA meeting in Vancouver I saw Leslie Saxon, my former syntax prof and Ewa's colleague at the Department of Linguistics at the University of Victoria, and gave her my business card. So when a publisher recently wrote to Ewa enquiring about the possibility of publishing my dissertation (a possiblity I had never seriously entertained until now) she was able to get my work number from Leslie and call me.

Although the purpose of Ewa's call was to find an email address to which she could forward the message from the publisher (she could have found it on the web page "E-mail addresses of Canadian Linguists", but I am glad she found it by calling me), we also had a nice chat about our respective families, about some common acquantainces now infirm, and about my situation here in Calgary. I mentioned my recent visit to Victoria, found out that not visiting UVic two weeks ago was no loss (it was reading break) and promised to connect when I next come to Victoria. In all, talking with Ewa was a very uplifting experience and has strengthened my resolve to complete the modifications to the digital copy of my dissertation so that it can be shared as a pdf file, to finish off my Esperanto translation of the Lushootseed Reader, and to attend next summer's International Conference on Salish and Neighbouring Languages: in 2009 it will have priority over Canadian Yearly Meeting in session!

Junkerprüfung

Schon seit fünf Tagen leide ich an einer Erkältung, und von Samstag bis Dienstag mußte ich den besten Teil des Tages im Bett verbringen, aber gestern um 5 Uhr nachmittags habe ich mich auf den Weg gebracht, denn es sollte diesen Abend an der Burg Stampedia ein wichtiges Ereignis geschehen: die Junkerprufung des Knappen 59 (und des Knappen 58)! Wie immer bei den Schlaraffen, fing die Sippung damit an, daß der (in Vertretung fungierende) Reychsmarschall den Tamtam schlug, die Sassen das Abendlied sangen (mit Begleitung am Klavier vom Knappen 59), jemand die blaue Kerze anzündete, und der Kanzler seine Berichten machte. Erst dann konnte die Junkersprüfung anfangen. Natürlich mußte alles gemäß Ceremonie gemacht worden: zuerst mußten die Knappen – zusammen mit Junkermeister und Junker Ulli – in die Vorburg gehen und dann, schrittend und beugend sich der Oberherrlichkeit nähern. Der Junker Ulli durfte dann seinen Platz am Junkertisch nehmen, während die Knappen (mit Junkermeister zwischen ihnen) sich auf Stühle vor der Oberherrlichkeit und gegenüber vom Schulrat setzten. Der Schulrat (Ritter Uerige) stellte nun mehrere Fragen, erst dem Knappen 58, dann dem Knappen 59, zurück zum Knappen 58, und wieder dem Knappen 59. Man fragte welchen Titel habe der, der die Fragen stellte (Schulrat), welche Farben habe das Reych Fort Okanagan (blau und rot), wie alt das Reych Rocky Mountania sei (38 Jahre alt), wie man den Junkermeister anspricht (Ihr Gestrenger) und so weiter. Manchmal wußten wir die richtigen Antworte, manchmal mußte man uns etwas helfen (oft konnte der Junker Ulli, der hinter uns saß, sich hilflicherweise nicht zurückhalten). Endlich war die Prüfung zuende. Also marschierten wir hinaus in die Vorburg, damit die Herrlichkeiten in aller Ruhe sich entscheiden konnten, und nach wenigen Minuten mußten wir zurück in die Burg marschieren, wo die Oberherrlichkeit uns Bescheid gab, daß wir die Prüfung bestanden haben. Natürlich seien unsere Kenntnisse der Schlaraffentum noch mangelhaft, aber der gute Junkermeister werde uns alles beibringen, was wir noch lernen müßten. Nächste Woche werden wir als Junker Paul und Junker Al eingekleidet. Und die Sippung ging weiter: viele Fechsungen zum Thema „meine Geburtstadt“ sind vorgestellt worden (ich erhielt einen Ahnen in der Form einer Wasserjungfer für eine kurze Fechsung über meine Geburtstadt Victoria, mein guter Freund und erster Pate, der Ritter Niemand, bekam den Wochenwanderorden für eine Fechsung über seine Geburtstadt Kopenhagen), der Styx Ritter Albertaner gab uns eine schmackhafte Atzung in Form einer Bohnensuppe, die Sassen sangen das Aufmunterungslied (nach der Atzung), das Geburtstagslied (fur Ritter Wiss), und das Schlußlied – allemal mit Begleitung von Knappe 59, einmal am Klavier, zweimal mit der Querflöte. Am Ende durften die Knappen 58 und 59 zusammen die blaue Kerze erlöschen.

Leider wurden keine Aufnahmen bei der Junkerprüfung gemacht, aber ich füge zwei Lichtbilder hinzu, die das Ereignis versinnbildlichen können: im ersten Bild sieht man (links) den Ritter Bar-Bar, der fungierende Oberherrlichkeit bei meiner Junkerprüfung, (recht) den Ritter Rohrbruch, meinen zweiten Paten, und vor ihnen die blaue Kerze; im zweiten Bild sieht man mich, den Knappen 59, so gekleidet wie ich bei der Junkerprüfung war.

LUMO nun legebla rete ĉe La Esperanta Gazetejo

Pasintan dimanĉon mi finrealigis projekton, kiu atendas jam de kelkaj jaroj: tiun tagon mi enretigis ĉe La Esperanta Gazetejo en la dum pasinta semajno kreita spaco por Lumo ĉiujn kvar numerojn de mi redaktitaj dum la pasintaj tri jaroj, kune kun listigo de la artikoloj (titoloj, aŭtoroj, kaj paĝnumeroj).

Oni povas nun deŝuti numerojn de Lumo, en pdf-formato, de la sekva retejo: http://www.gazetejo.org/node/1620

Visit to Victoria

The past long weekend (extra long because I took the workday between the weekend and Remembrance Day off) was spent in Victoria. The main reason for the visit was to spend some time with Dad and help him with yardwork, in particular with sweeping the roof and clearing the gutters, before winter sets in.

The trip started out early Saturday morning. Getting up at 4:30 am was a challenge, but with Maria's help I got out of the apartment by 5 and was able to catch the 5:32 train at Southland Station with about 5 minutes to spare. Because of a misleading sign at Marlborough Station I just barely caught the Airport bus (#57), and long lines to check in baggage and get through security left me only half an hour to compose myself at the gate before we were seated. The flight went well in spite of a bit of turbulence coming into Victoria Airport, and after picking up my suitcase called Enterprise Rent-a-Car, from whom I had earlier reserved a car. Soon I was on my way and reached Dad's house by eleven. We had agreed to go out for brunch, and while waiting for Dad to get ready I took a little walk outside, where I saw a cheeky deer walk through the front garden of 713, along the drive of 711, and then through the back garden where I took its picture.

Dad and I had brunch at Royal Roads Cafe and then drove down to Esquimalt Lagoon where some beautiful scenery enticed me to take some pictures.

On Sunday I had intended to go to Quaker meeting, but feeling rather tired I allowed the viewing of Sunday morning funnies on TV to delay my departure to the extent that it would have had to arrive at meeting indecently late, so I stayed home. When Dad came home from church we drove downtown to Beacon Hill Park, where after some 30-40 minutes playing on the putting green (until Dad got a hole-in-one) we walked around the park, accompanied at times by squirrels.

Afterwards we drove along the seaboard, to Clover Point where I took some nice pictures, up through Saanich (looping through the university along Ring Road), and ended up in Langford where we had dinner at the Checkered Flag. My how Langford has grown! Just ten years ago the Checkered Flag seemed at the edge of civilization, and now there is a solid wall of big box stores, condominiums, police stations, restaurants etc all the way from there to Goldstream Avenue!

Lunde mi veturis al Norda Saanich, al la domo de Wally kaj Olga du Temple, kie ĉiun lundan tagmezon esperantistoj de la Duoninsulo Saanich kunvenas por babili kaj progresigi sian scion de nia lingvo. Estis tre agrable denove vidi geamikojn kiujn mi konas jam de tiel multaj jaroj ; Wally du Temple kaj Myra Larsen, ekzemple, mi konas jam de 1978, kiam mi ekuzis nian lingvon konversacie. Post la kunveno mi haltis en la parkejo de golfludejo Ardmore, kiu apartenas al gesamideanoj du Temple (kaj aliaj familianoj) kaj kie iam estis arbareto oficiale nomita « Esperanto ».

Tuesday was a work day for me: I spent over an hour on the edge of the roof, cleaning out the gutters on my hands and knees. To celebrate a job well done, Dad and I went out to My-Chosen Cafe for a fish-and-chip supper.

Wednesday was a quiet day. In the morning I looked through my remaining books at 713 and chose a suitcase full to take back to Calgary. Then, after watching Roger Federer defeat his opponent in the Masters Tennis Tournament in Shanghai, Dad and I went out for lunch, and then I headed for the airport, stopping on the way to deposit a cheque, tank up the car, and visit Mom's gravesite. The flight home was uneventful, and I arrived back home shortly after midnight.

Quaker, maverick

At meeting for worship this morning, there were more visitors (5) than regular or irregular attenders (4). One of the visitors held a Bible, and I thought that perhaps he and his two companions were here to see how Friends' worship differed from that of their own church - indeed, it turned out that the three were taking a religious studies course of the Christian Missionaries International, and were fulfilling a course assignment to visit other Christian groups and learn of their ways. It occurred to me that it would be good if these visitors could experience more of our worship than the usual silence that oft fills an entire hour at our meeting for worship, and lo!, the Spirit nurtured some seeds of thought and allowed them to grow into ministry.

The first seed was planted by my reading along the road to meeting an article in the Ursula Franklin Reader entitled "Planning and the Religous Mind: 'Der Mensch Denkt, Gott Lenkt'". In this article Franklin argues that the activity of operational planning in our technological society, which has developed out of the post-WWII transfer of military thinking to civil society, sometimes reaches immoral results (such as replacing the Lord's commandment "Thou shalt not kill" with "Thou shalt not kill inefficiently") because being output-oriented it sees society as a mechanism rather than an organism needing to be sensitive to the needs of its members, and sensitivity implies consultation and adaptability uncompatible with a top-down planning model where planners map out directions for future development without allowing for changing needs and on-going discernment of the proper course of action. In the experience of the Religious Society of Friends, the best decisions are reached through a process of discernment in which all members of the community are allowed an equal say, and allowance is made for divine guidance: such a process is hardly possible when all decisions have been made in advance by "authorities" basing their decisions on the advice of "experts".

Whereas making decisions with divine guidance (or at least asking for divine guidance in the making of decisions) may once have been common, in our technological society it is becoming increasingly uncommon. In insisting on allowing for divine guidance and respecting the voice of the individual in our society, we Quakers thus increasingly stand in contrast to the norm of our larger society. In this we engage in what could be called maverick behaviour, behaviour which, according to the Free Online Dictionary is "independent in thought and action". Now being a maverick has not always been seen as a good thing, but until recently - when he sold out his principles in order to get the support of the Republican Party in his quest for the presidency - US presidential candidate John McCain was proud to call himself a maverick, and our Glenbow museum has a permanent gallery celebrating Alberta mavericks, independent thinking men and women who made many important contributions to their society.

It thus seems to me that if Friends insist on making our decisions with God's guidance and encouraging other members of our society at large (Canadian society, humankind) to defy entrapment in a outcome-based, top-down mode of decision-making, we may be in defiance of societal norms, but we are in good company... and on the right path.

Subteno por la Verda Partio

Mia patrin-flanka avo ĉiam voĉdonis por la Konservativula Partio en Kanado: li pravigis tion dirante ke lia patro ĉiam voĉdonis por la Konservativula Partio en Britio, kaj lia patro esti respektinda viro, do li voĉdonas « same ». Kvankam mi ĉiam opiniis tian sintenon stulta, eĉ senrespondeca, mi dum la unuaj dek jaroj post atingo de la voĉdonrajta aĝo voĉdonis por kandidatoj de la sama partio kiel mia partio, la Nov-Demokratia Partio. Mi daŭre opinias tiun partion esti pli subteninda ol la Liberalula aŭ Konservativula Partioj, sed de la fruaj naŭdekaj jaroj mi tamen ĉiam voĉdonas en federaciaj kaj provincoj balatoj por kandidatoj de alia partio, la Verda Partio. En Kanado ankoraŭ ne elektiĝis eĉ unu kandidato de la Verda Partio – eble pro tio ke la plimulto de la kanadanoj ne komprenas (aŭ ne akceptas) ke sen sana naturmedio ne eblas havi medion daŭre subtenanta la homan (kaj bestan kaj plantan) pluvivadon – kaj pro tio multaj homoj diras ke baloto por la Verda Partio estas malŝparita baloto. Tamen ne konsentas mi ... kaj pli kaj pli multaj kanadanoj : en la ĵus okazinta balotado por la kanada federacia parlamento, kandidatoj de la Verda Partio ricevis 6% de la balotoj tutkanade, 9% de la balotoj en Alberto, kaj eĉ 12% de la balotoj en Kalgario! Pluraj el miaj kolegoj ŝajne voĉdonis por kandidatoj de la Verda Partio dum tiu balotado, kaj unu (Jim) eĉ permesis ke oni metu subteno-ŝildon de la Verda Partio sur lia gazono : mi estas alkutimiĝinta trovi subtenantojn de la Verda Partio inter kvakeroj (inter la kalgariaj kvakeroj, Kitty kaj Allan estas longtempaj verdpartiaj aktivuoj) kaj esperantistoj (mi verŝajne ekvoĉdonis por la verduloj dank’ al la agado de Wally du Temple, kiu ne nur agis en la estraro de Kanada Esperanto-Asocio, la Verda Partio de Kanado, kaj la Verda Partio de Brita Kolumbio, sed ankaŭ kandidatis unufoje kiel reprezentanto de la Verda Partio en federacia balotado) sed finfine mi sentas min samopinianta kun iom granda parto de la kanada loĝantaro.

Ĝis nun mi esprimis mian subtenon por la Verda Partio nur voĉdonante por ĝiaj kandidatoj en balotadoj, sed mi nun sentas min (preskaŭ) preta subteni ĝin ankaŭ per membreco. Dum miaj 50 jaroj mi estis membro de multaj asocioj, sed neniu politika. Eble la tempo jam venis plifirmigi mian subtenon por la Verda Partio, almenaŭ por tiu je federacia nivelo (la Verda Partio de Alberto estas ankoraŭ tiom malgranda ke mi timas malŝpari miajn ege limigitajn rimedojn je grupo de « stranguloj »). Mi ricevis faldfolion kun aliĝilo antaŭ kelkaj semajnoj, kaj mi ankoraŭ ne forsendis aŭ eĉ plenigis ĝin ... sed mi pensas ke mi tion faros. Finfine, jam delonge mi kiel esperantisto nomas min verdulo ; eble jam temp’ está ke mi ankaŭ estu verdulo kiel verdpartiano.

My Identity

The previous four postings have had the goal of establishing a background against which a discussion of IDENTITY might be made. According to the Swiss writer Max Frisch, whose novels (Stiller, Homo Faber, Mein Name sei Gantenbein, and Montauk) stood in the focal point of my research made while writing the honours essay required for the completion of a B.A. Honours Program in German, identity is a complex structure seen differently by the various people in our lives (as in the story of the blind men who encountered an elephant: one felt its trunk and said “An elephant is long and skinny like a snake”, another felt one of its legs and said “No, an elephant is thick and sturdy like a tree trunk”, and a third felt its side and said “No, an elephant is wide and flat like a wall”… and they were all right!). Psychologically, we all try to categorize the people we know, and we imagine that we can predict their behaviour: we do this because “knowing” what the various characters populating the drama which is our lives think and are inclined to do in given situations allows us to prepare appropriate reactions and have less stressful lives. But we cannot ever fully understand another person (perhaps not even ourselves), and so we sometimes get nasty surprises. Sometimes we think we “know” someone, and he says “But I am not that person you are describing!” as does the title character of the novel Stiller. Sometimes there are certain aspects of someone you know that you would rather not know and so you pretend they don’t exist, as did the title character in Frisch’s play Biederman und die Brandstifter, who wilfully ignores blatant evident that his new tenants are arsonists. (Dieses Theaterstück ist übrigens das erste Theaterstück, das ich auf deutsch gelesen habe.) Sometimes people develop a incorrect mental image of someone and then through their behaviour force that person to adjust his identity to fit the incorrect mental image: this happens to the title character in Frisch’s play Andorra and perhaps also to the title character of Stiller. (In Stiller wird ein in die Schweiz Einreisender als der verschollene Architekt Albus Stiller “erkannt”, aber er behauptet, er sei kein Schweizer sondern ein Cowboy aus der USA [der irgendwie Schweizerdeutsch spricht und sehr ähnlich dem Verschollenen aussieht]: zur Erklärung der Sache wird der Mann in Untersuchungshaft gesetzt, und es werden ihm viele Geschichten aus dem Leben des Architekten und auch verschiedene Personen, die mit der Geschichte des Architekten verbunden sind, vorgestellt. Monate verpassen, und endlich „gesteht“ der Cowboy, daß er der verschollene Architekt ist ... aber der Leser kann am Ende nicht ganz sicher sein, ob das Geständnis echt ist oder ob der Cowboy „gestanden“ hat, um die neuen Freunden – unter ihnen der Untersuchungsanwalt und die Frau des Architekten – zu befriedigen.)

Social identity is defined by the groups that a person associates with, and it is normal in most cultures for a person to belong to a number of different social circles, defined by employment, religion, marriage, location of residence, and common interests. The complexity of social identity is compounded for a polyglot such as myself, because through intense interaction with speakers of the various languages I have mastered I have become a man of many cultures. Resolving the differences between the various cultures I now belong to has not always been easy – I have experience the psychological distress associated with cultural confusion known as anomie – but with age, a supporting family, and a stable social environment I believe I have achieved a fairly good integration of my cultures. It is for this reason that I have chosen to start my blog with a series of paragraphs outlining my social identity in terms of the groups/cultures I associate with.

Who am I? (last chapter?)

Estas ankoraŭ multaj faktoj pri mi eventuale menciindaj, inter ili (a) ke mi estas kaŝubologo, (b) ke tradukinte pedagogian gramatikon de la laŝucida lingvo (en Esperanton), partopreninte ok konferencojn pri saliŝaj kaj najbaraj lingvoj, kaj verkinte grandan eseon pri la morfosintakso de la ahtna lingvo, mi estas iagrada spertulo pri indiĝenaj lingvoj de Nordameriko, (c) ke mi scias ludi la fluton kaj (iom) la pianon, (ĉ) ke mi vizitis ĉiujn landojn de okcidenta kaj centra Eŭropo pli grandaj ol Andoro krom Irlando kaj Portugalio, (d) ke mi estas filatelisto, kvankam mi jam de dudek jaroj malofte trovas tempon ordigi miajn poŝtmarkojn, (e) ke mi estas iom bona amatora fotografo kaj havas milojn da diapozitivoj, kiujn mi ŝatus iam digitigi, kaj (f) ke kvankam mi estas precizema kaj scias bone ordigi kaj klasigi dokumentojn, mi ankaŭ estas iom neordema kaj prokrastema.

I could probably go on for many more pages describing who I am, but that is not why I created this blog, so I’m tying off this thread now. If it becomes unraveled and extended at some future point, so be it. But for now I’d like to just start writing about my recent experiences and then putting down my thoughts about this and that, in one language or another. Kiel legantoj sendube jam rimarkis, mi estas poligloto kaj facile ŝanĝas de unu al alia, precipe se temas pri Esperanto kaj la angla. Ich kann mich ziemlich frei in deutscher Sprache ausdrücken, aber ich verwende diese Sprache in meinem Alltagsleben recht selten und muß daher im Wörterbuch ab und zu nachschlagen um sicher zu sein, daß meine Sätze grammatisch korrekt sind, was die schriftliche Äußerung meines Gedankenstroms verhindert. Daher werde ich wohl vor allem nur dann in diesem Blog auf Deutsch schreiben, wenn ich Ereignisse in deutscher Sprache – z.B. bei der Schlaraffia – schildern will. I choć rozmawiam codziennie z żoną po polsku i mogę się swobodnie wyrażić tym językiem w rozmowie, nigdy nie miałem większe potrzeby pisać po polsku, więc nie rozwinąłem zwyczaju się pisemne wyrażić tym językiem. Dlatego wątpię, czy polszczyzna często się jawie w tym blogu. {Hmm, that wasn’t actually so hard; maybe I will try to write in Polish from time to time. On the other hand, maybe those last two sentences were full of errors and someone will blast me for this ;-) }

Who am I? (part 3)

Schlaraffe: Knappe 59 der Rocky Mountania

Als vor einem Jahr mein Freund Allan Simon, den ich schon mehr als zwanzig Jahren als begeisterten Esperantisten kenne, erfuhr, daß ich als diplomierter Germanist gut deutsch kann, hat er mich zu einer Sitzung eines deutschsprachigen Männerbundes eingeladen. So fand ich mich an einem Dienstagabend mitte November 2007 bei einer Sippung des Schlaraffenbundes Rocky Mountania. Die Schlaraffen sind Mitglieder der Schlaraffia, eine 1859 in Prag gegründete Vereinigung zur Pflege von Freundschaft, Kunst und Humor, und ihre Zusammenkünfte werden nach festgelegtem Zeremoniell in Form eines Ritterspiels abgehalten. Das hat mich sehr gefallen, und die Teilnahme and deutschsprachigen Zusammenkünften erbietet mir eine Gelegenheit, meine deutsche Sprachkenntnisse zu verbessern: deshalb komme ich seit Januar dieses Jahres regelmäßig zu den Sitzungen der Ortsgruppe in Calgary (die Rocky Mountania). Nachdem ich an sieben Sippungen als Pilger teilgenommen haben, bin ich als Knappe (d.h. anfangenden Mitglied) von der Ortsgruppe aufgenommen werden, so heiße ich jetzt Knappe 59 (der Rocky Mountania). Wenn ich weiter regelmäßig an den Tätigkeiten der Gruppe teilnehme, werde ich vielleicht in dieser Winterung (d.h. bis April) Junker. Nachdem man ein paar Jahren Junker ist, kann man Ritter (d.h. voller Mitglied) werden, aber darauf eile ich mich nicht. Wie gesagt, ich betrachte die Teilnahme an den Schlaraffensippungen als eine Gelegenheit, meine Deutschkenntnisse zu erfrischen, und dabei macht es mir eine große Freude, meine schon lange existierende Interesse für die deutschen Mundarten und für die deutsche Mundartliteratur aufzufrischen. Deswegen bringe ich immer wieder meinen Mitsassen der Rocky Mountania Lieder und Gedichte aus der deutschen Mundartliteratur vor, und wenn ich gut auswähle, d.h. wenn diese Beiträge lustig sind, zumindest etwas verständlich sind, und nicht allzu lange dauern, dann sind die Sassen der R.M. dankbar dafür.

Employee of MapTown Ltd.

On moving to Calgary in June 2005, after three years of work as a night auditor in the Courtyard Marriott of Niagara Falls and several semesters of teaching linguistics at Brock University (at the same time!), I knew that I wanted to find a different line of employment and was optimistic that in this boomtown something suitable could be found. Alas, this was not as easy as I hoped, but finally the social network we established here paid off: one afternoon, my stepdaughter Agnieszka called to say that she had seen a "Help Wanted" sign in the window of a downtown store specializing in the sale of maps and travel paraphenalia: MapTown. She knew I was well travelled and loved working with books and treasures of the human spirit, so she strongly encouraged me to get down to MapTown right away and get an application in right away. Intrigued by the thought of there being a whole store dedicated to the sale of maps I, for perhaps the first time in my life, took Agnieszka's advice and hustled downtown. I presented myself to the store manager, Martin Shutt, and indicated my interest in applying for the position advertised. He merely glanced at my resume but brought me "a little quizz" to fill out which turned out to be a six-page examination of my knowledge about geography, travel, and related subjects. It took me a good half hour to fill in all the answers I could, after which Martin went through my paper, telling me the answers to the questions that had stumped me ... and offered me a job! I was to start the following Monday, the 30th of January (2006). Since then I have sold thousands upon thousands of maps, charts, travel books, GPS's, and other map-related paraphenalia. I have manned booths at trade shows for MapTown, have taken responsibility for closing the store most days, and taken over a large part of the ordering and receiving of our travel maps and books. (Today I learned that in a few months I will also have responsibility for the activities of our wholesale division, filling in for a colleague who is going on maternity leave.) Working at MapTown gives me great pleasure, for it provides a thinking man's environment - the number and variety of maps we have available is enormous and the needs of our customers are extremely diverse (and all too often not clearly articulated!), which provides many challenges - while working directly with the public and earning a modest but still decent wage. And yet, unlike in the university environment, we workers at MapTown are under much less stress: we do our best to satisfy each customer, but we have no extra-curricular meetings, no need to put in overtime for marking or research, and we feel no obligation to coddle customers with unrealistic expectations. Having less stress gives me more life satisfaction and better health - what more could I want?

Who am I? (part 2)

Esperanta vivo

Mi estas esperantisto. Mi eklernis Esperanton aŭtodidakte per la lernolibro Teach Yourself Esperanto aŭtune de la jaro 1976, eklegis tekstojn verkitaj Esperante post vizito al ekspozicio de la Esperanto-Klubo de Victoria somere de 1977, ekparolis nialingve dum konversaciaj kunvenoj de EKV printempe de 1978, kaj fariĝis flua parolanto de Esperanto dum plurmonata vojaĝado en Eŭropo somere de 1978. De post tiam mi vigle partoprenas la vivon de nia komunumo, inter alie kiel TEJO-volontulo en la Centra Oficejo de UEA, redaktoro de TEJO Tutmonde, Alumeto, Esperanto Update, kaj Lumo, retpoŝta instruanto per Senpaga Kurso kaj Meznivela Retkurso Gerda Malaperis kaj instruanto en surlokaj meznivelaj kursoj en Vankuvera regiono kaj Pollando, Komitatano de TEJO kaj UEA, Estrarano de TEJO, Junularo Esperantista Kanada kaj Kanada Esperanto-Asocio; por ĉi-lasta mi servis kiel Redaktoro, Sekretario, Vic-Prezidanto kaj Prezidanto. Mi kaj mia edzino Maria, kun kiu mi konatiĝis dum la Jubilea Universala Kongreso de 1987 en Varsovio, estas gastigantoj de la Pasporta Servo jam de dekok jaroj.

Member of the Religious Society of Friends

I am a Quaker. In 1989 I started attending meetings for worship of Victoria Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, and after six months of attending these meetings I asked for membership in VMM, a request that was granted after due consideration. For ten years I attended VMM meetings regularly, putting particular effort into giving life to the Western Communities Worship Group and serving VMM on its Religious Education and Finance Committees. In 2000, a career opportunity took me and Maria to Buffalo (New York), where we attended meetings for worship with Friends of Orchard Park Monthly Meeting and Pelham Executive Meetings. When my great career opportunity vanished in the summer of 2001, we moved to St. Catharines (Ontario), and I requested and received sojourning membership with Pelham Executive Meeting. At this time I also began service with Home Mission and Advancement Committee of Canadian Yearly Meeting, a service completed only this past August (2008). In 2005, Maria and I moved to Calgary, where I started regular attendance of meetings for worship of Calgary Monthly Meeting, and feeling myself well accepted into this community I asked for my membership to be transferred from VMM to CMM in the spring of 2006. Since then I have been an active member of the Friends' community in Calgary, more or less regularly attending weekly meetings for worship, monthly meetings for business, and regional gatherings in Sorrento (WHYM Spring 2006, 2007, 2008), Saskatoon (WHYM Fall 2005), Water Valley (WHYM Fall 2008), Camrose (CYM 2005, 2008) and Winnipeg (CYM 2006). I have been serving on CMM's Meeting for Ministry and Counsel since the fall of 2005 (as clerk since fall 2007) and this fall had the priviledge of serving as Registrar for Fall WHYM.

Who am I? (part 1)

Born May 14 (1958) in Victoria, the capital of British Columbia (Canada), I received the name Paul Stanley Hopkins from my English-born father Stanley and my Alberta-born mother Sheila. At present, I live in Calgary together with my Polish-born wife Maria. Also living here in Calgary, in their own homes, are my step-daughter Agnieszka, my brother Allan, and my sister Doreen with her husband Steve and three daughters (April, Michelle, and Samantha).

Education
After graduating from Belmont Secondary School in the Western Communities of Victoria (1976), I took my first degree at the University of Victoria, a first-class B.A. with Honours in German and a Major in Russian (1980). After spending two years travelling, teaching and doing volunteer work in Germany and the Netherlands, I took my second degree at the University of Waterloo, an M.A. in German language & literature (1984). After completion of this second degree, I studied German and Romance linguistics at the University of Mannheim for a year and then worked for two years towards a doctorate in linguistics at Simon Fraser University, but was unable to complete the degree program. Instead, after living in Poland for a year, I came back to the University of Victoria and there completed first an M.A. in linguistics (1991) and then a Ph.D. in linguistics (2001).