Culture: Blogs and Email

I replied this morning to a friend's short newsy email and was struck by the difference in communication modes. I have been focused on keeping up this blog, for professional reasons, and now, have a really good motivation for the upkeep--I just received my acceptance letter to present this blog at the 25th National Distance Education Conference in Madison, Wisconsin in August. I've also been interested in the process of creating a professional blog, and hearing the comments of friends and colleagues about it. But it does seem to be mostly a one-way street, and sometimes seems a bit presumptuous for me to think that others want to know my doings. But at least I'm not Twittering!!! (Or should that read "Tweeting")?

So I now commit to sending more emails in addition to the blog. Why? So I'll get some answers! I would love to see more comments on the blog, and I intend to try to elicit some. I also intend to get a few 'guest bloggers' involved, either in an interview format, or to be an author in this blog. So watch out! The next email you get from me may be an invitation to come 'blog with me'!

Until then, let me post a version of the email I wrote today as a contrast to the blog postings--a more immediate tone, no pictures, and clear confession of confusion about many aspects of life.

March 28, 2009. Eger, Hungary

Just a short message since I'm very behind on my blog, and professional commitments are building up for the next week (research meeting with colleague, language class, immigration bureaucracy stuff-we have to apply for temporary residency since we are here longer than 90 days, guest lecture in a class, my weekly seminar, a joint presentation with Jack at the American Corner, and lots of late night presentation time with my Georgia online class). So relaxation is not the word of the week.

We are, however, going with one of my colleagues up to the Bükk Mountains near Miskolc tomorrow (Sunday) by bus to see the woods and a "part time spring"--some water event that happens when the water builds up inside the mountain and spouts out like a geyser in the Spring (?). That's the best translation I can give at the moment. Should be interesting and will be our first outing by bus.

We did go to water polo again last night, but whoever Eger was playing shouldn't have bothered to make the trip - the score was 17 - 5. I felt sorry for the other team, especially the goal-keeper. Tonight I think we're going to either a folk dance or a folk dance performance--I
sincerely hope it's the latter, but it's hard to tell from the flyer and even the Tour Inform people couldn't seem to clarify. Oh, well...we call these our 'Alice in Wonderland' or 'down the rabbit hole' experiences.

We've coined a new expression of our 'southerner' readiness for spring to come--we say, "Ready to suit up?" when we leave the house, meaning one more time to put on long underwear, wool socks, boots, sweaters, coats, scarves, hats, and gloves. It's not that cold, and there are buds on the trees, but the promised "spring next week" has been coming for the last month!

We were beginning to try to make plans for our Easter break, but it turns out that that's when the conference my department had planned for us to go to (and present at) in Szeged is--right in the middle of that week! So much for my dream of a warm and sunny Croatia! That's OK.

We are going to try to have a few days away during that time. Right now the plan is to take the train Eger-Budapest-Vienna for a four-day Easter weekend, and then take the train back to Budapest and on to Szeged in the south for the conference. We'll get a ride back to Eger in a van or cars with our colleagues.

Well, I'm cooking butternut squash with walnuts purchased at the market yesterday. I'll add some locust honey that a friend gave to us for sweetness. I can smell it across the hall, so I'm sure it's getting done. With no temperature gauge on the oven, baking is a bit of a guessing game!

Viszontlátásra!

Jane