Activities Update
I have not submitted a blog in quite a while, so I guess there is a lot of catching up to do. There are a million things that I could talk about, but I think a highlight of the past couple of weeks will be good.
The first interesting event is that my dad visited a couple of weekends ago. It was quite an experience. We did not do any sight-seeing or any of the normal tourist kind of stuff. We simply hung out and I got to introduce him to the life that I live - work and the people at work as well as home and the people at home. My dad came in on a Friday and participated in a discussion on existentialism, often offering his own advice from his many years as a family practice physician. He then helped out with the Rotary #3 Doctors' Clinic, seeing a few patients and discussing current health issues with Dr. Schmitz and Dr. Flanagan. It was fun becuase Dr. Schmitz attended Medical College of Wisconsin, the same school my father attended and the school that I will be attending come August. My dad and Dr. Schmitz have also both been president of their respective chapters of Rotary.
My dad also got an experience of what it is like to hang out with my JVC community. We are all similar in a lot of ways, that is why we are in JVC, but we also have a lot of differences. This leads to quite a few late-night debates, often times becoming a bit heated. On Friday night one of my roommates made the assertion that physicians make too much money. Of course my father was interested in this idea, as was I. Needless to say, we spent two hours debating this assertion, mainly focusing on what the proper compenstion is for someone who dedicates their life to healing others (and the risks and stresses that come with such a profession). In all, I had a great time catching up with my dad and showing him why this year has been so important to me.
Other interesting news. The Friday meetings have been going great. As I said, we had a little existential discussion that went well. But other good things have been happening. Donna Foley, a woman who works with drama, acting and the arts, has been coming in and talking to the guys about the works of Shakespeare and other dramas. The guys, with the help of Donna, have created The Seldom Seen Acting Company, which is a program so the guys can do some acting and hopefully make some money. It seems as though there is a lot of interest. I really enjoyed a presentation that Donna did a couple of Fridays ago about some major monologues from Hamlet and the Merchant of Venice, as well as giving a general background of William Shakespeare. I feel as though the guys can really connect with a lot of the ideas that run through these major works. And everyone was absolutely entranced by the presentation.
Also with the enrichment program, we have started our tour of Bay Area Museums. I took a small group to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art last Tuesday and another group to the Exploratorium on Wednesday. All of the people who went live in Oakland but because they do not have enough money have not been to San Francisco in years - literally. So it was good to get some people over there. The MOMA had some good stuff and the Exploratorium was one of the coolest places I have ever been. There are hundreds of hands-on scientific experiments everywhere, covering optics, sound, gravity, geology, electro-magnetism, and a million more things. The group I took to the Exploratorium included a man and his girlfriend and their little boy, Jerome. They all had a good time, and afterwards Jerome got to play football with some other kids on the nearby beach. We are also planning on visiting the Oakland Museum and the Legion of Honor. The reason we can do this is that museums usually have one free day each month. So we have been hitting those free days and the only thing we have to cover is transportation costs. I am excited for what is to come.
The next update, to be submitted as soon as possible, will discuss my recent retreat. It was themed dis-orientation, and was the last time I will see most of the people from JVC.
The first interesting event is that my dad visited a couple of weekends ago. It was quite an experience. We did not do any sight-seeing or any of the normal tourist kind of stuff. We simply hung out and I got to introduce him to the life that I live - work and the people at work as well as home and the people at home. My dad came in on a Friday and participated in a discussion on existentialism, often offering his own advice from his many years as a family practice physician. He then helped out with the Rotary #3 Doctors' Clinic, seeing a few patients and discussing current health issues with Dr. Schmitz and Dr. Flanagan. It was fun becuase Dr. Schmitz attended Medical College of Wisconsin, the same school my father attended and the school that I will be attending come August. My dad and Dr. Schmitz have also both been president of their respective chapters of Rotary.
My dad also got an experience of what it is like to hang out with my JVC community. We are all similar in a lot of ways, that is why we are in JVC, but we also have a lot of differences. This leads to quite a few late-night debates, often times becoming a bit heated. On Friday night one of my roommates made the assertion that physicians make too much money. Of course my father was interested in this idea, as was I. Needless to say, we spent two hours debating this assertion, mainly focusing on what the proper compenstion is for someone who dedicates their life to healing others (and the risks and stresses that come with such a profession). In all, I had a great time catching up with my dad and showing him why this year has been so important to me.
Other interesting news. The Friday meetings have been going great. As I said, we had a little existential discussion that went well. But other good things have been happening. Donna Foley, a woman who works with drama, acting and the arts, has been coming in and talking to the guys about the works of Shakespeare and other dramas. The guys, with the help of Donna, have created The Seldom Seen Acting Company, which is a program so the guys can do some acting and hopefully make some money. It seems as though there is a lot of interest. I really enjoyed a presentation that Donna did a couple of Fridays ago about some major monologues from Hamlet and the Merchant of Venice, as well as giving a general background of William Shakespeare. I feel as though the guys can really connect with a lot of the ideas that run through these major works. And everyone was absolutely entranced by the presentation.
Also with the enrichment program, we have started our tour of Bay Area Museums. I took a small group to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art last Tuesday and another group to the Exploratorium on Wednesday. All of the people who went live in Oakland but because they do not have enough money have not been to San Francisco in years - literally. So it was good to get some people over there. The MOMA had some good stuff and the Exploratorium was one of the coolest places I have ever been. There are hundreds of hands-on scientific experiments everywhere, covering optics, sound, gravity, geology, electro-magnetism, and a million more things. The group I took to the Exploratorium included a man and his girlfriend and their little boy, Jerome. They all had a good time, and afterwards Jerome got to play football with some other kids on the nearby beach. We are also planning on visiting the Oakland Museum and the Legion of Honor. The reason we can do this is that museums usually have one free day each month. So we have been hitting those free days and the only thing we have to cover is transportation costs. I am excited for what is to come.
The next update, to be submitted as soon as possible, will discuss my recent retreat. It was themed dis-orientation, and was the last time I will see most of the people from JVC.
posted by Ryan at 10:49 AM
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