Experiencing Today

Host Sarah Haines prepares us for our ever-so-brief stint on national television  on the Kathie Lee and Hoda segment of the Today show on NBC. Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Here in America we love the idea of being on television.  Something about the idea of our images being broadcast to millions is extremely compelling.  I don't know why this is--despite feeling the draw myself.  All I know is that  most of us would jump at the chance to be on TV.


Today begins too early.  I could sleep for another couple hours easily.  After all, I've gone to bed at around two in the morning last night--around the same time I've gone to bed for the past two nights--and each day it's harder to roll out of bed at 7:30 in the morning.  The late night/early morning routine taking it's toll on the kids too--even they, with their adolescent energy, are beginning to flag.

We groggily wolf down our fee hot breakfast from the hotel buffet--grits, eggs, hash browns, washed down with OJ--in an effort to leave the hotel in time to catch our train.  We miss the train anyway, as we have every day since we've gotten here.  I've gotten in the habit of aiming to get on one train sooner than the absolute last one that we can take, so that way if we miss our train we won't also miss our tour.  Today, I've done the same, though again as in days past, we will now be cutting our arrival very close.

Today, we are going to tour NBC Studios at 30 Rockefeller Center.  This is the very first tour we booked, months before we left Columbus, and we are all excited to get a firsthand look at the inner workings of big-time TV and some familiar shows.

Outside Rockefeller Center

That's if we can make it on time, of course. We have been warned that late arrivals will miss the tour, end of story.  No refunds, no rescheduling.  We have been told that we need to be at the studios thirty minutes in adavance of the tour.  But trouble at the PATH fare card vending machines ensures that we will not make that deadline.

We arrive at NBC with minutes to spare, and have just arrived in the waiting area for the tour when he hear the siren call for the first time:

"Hey, you guys want to be on TV?"

The answer is instinctual--Yes!

We are herded over to a couple of couches and chairs where other would-be TV stars are gathered and we are told to wait for further instructions.  Don't worry, we are reassured, you'll all get to be on TV.  Someone with the Today show arrives to provide us with more information:  "Now everyone is okay to be here for awhile?" she asks, "You don't have anywhere you need to be or anything?"  We eagerly confirm that we have absolutely nothing else to do besides be on TV.  Truthfully, we don't even really think about it.  Being on Today trumps all.

But I wonder. . .I have to ask.

"Excuse me, ma'am.  If we stay here, does that mean we'll miss our tour?"

"Yeah, I'm afraid so."

And we have a decision to make.  Be on TV or take our tour.

I hesitate, but only for a moment.  We paid for that tour (or really our donors did), and there's no way I'm going to lose what we've paid for.  "Come on guys, we're going on the tour," I say.  And so we wistfully leave our chance to be on TV and join the queue waiting for the tour to begin.

The tour is quite interesting.  It is led by two young interns--one from Ohio, remarkably--who are looking to break into the television business as writers.  This internship is a common starting point for those that ultimately go to work for NBC.  The two women take us on a fascinating tour of three studios--The Dr. Oz Show,  Football Night in America, and the big prize, Studio 8H, home of Saturday Night Live.  The studios themselves look smaller than life, far less glamorous than I would have expected.  Granted, all three are not currently in use--which is why we can tour them in the first place--and are hardly camera ready, with cluttered floors and the massive banks of television lights turned off.   NBC actually  appears to be using the famous SNL stages as storage space during the off season.  These famous spaces appear quite ordinary in real life.  It makes me wonder if those that appear on those stages aren't actually quite ordinary too.  And isn't that why we want to be on TV in the first place?  So that we can be more than ordinary?

A highlight of the tour is the chance to sit on a sound stage and be taped as if on television.  Most of us just get to sit in the anchor desk and have our picture taken (photos available for purchase at the end of the tour), but "The Scientist" is lucky enough to actually tape a segment.  He sits in the anchor's chair, and reads a prepared script from a teleprompter.  He does a credible job, doesn't look half bad on camera, as we watch him on the monitors.  A kid from another group does the weather report, and his job is much harder as he has to gesture at the blue screen at the graphics that only we viewers can see, while still reading from the teleprompter too.  He struggles mightily.

Before we know it our tour is complete and we are back where we started--just in time to find that there's still a chance to be on TV!  Today was to be our "catch up" day, after the studio tour, so we hadn't scheduled anything per se.  So, now we really do have time.  We return to the waiting area and are told that they will be taping a "Kathie Lee and Hoda" Today show segment.  Several people have somehow been pre-selected to ask pre-selected questions on camera to the two cohosts, and the rest of us will have the privilege of standing in the background.  Once again we are assured that everyone will be on TV (I've since come to believe this is something they say to people keep from elbowing their way into the shot to be sure of getting face time).

And so our remaining minutes in New York tick away, while we wait to be on TV.  Finally, Sarah Haines, who is hosting this segment (Kathie Lee and Hoda are actually across the street in another studio) sweeps in to give us--or really the lucky few who will actually talk on camera--some final instructions.  Sarah is pretty in the way that everyone who is on television for a living is pretty, and she is friendly and seems genuinely interested in her subjects. She works up some sort of shtick to do with the interview.  A group of recent college graduates develop some wordless cheer consisting of repetitive arm motions which Sarah instructs them to do throughout their segment without explanation and with a straight face.  For a second group, situated just in front of me, a young family, the baby in her mother's arms is all the shtick that's needed.   The camera, lighting and sound guys arrive and set up quickly and professionally.  Just another day at the office for them.

Before we know it, we are rolling, and just as quickly it's over.  The crew packs up their gear as quickly as they brought it out and leave.  Sarah bids a warm farewell and disappears as well.  We are told that our segement will air at 10:22 A.M. on Friday, May 25.  (Its was funny to hear Kathie Lee and Hoda excitedly talking about how "It's Friday!" when it was actually Wednesday).

Despite the promises that all of us would be on TV, I'm pretty sure most of us won't be.  The camera pulled in tight on Sarah and her interviewees and from what I could see on the monitor during the taping, only Benin Lee is visible throughout the second interview.  (I will later see the clip online and discover that more of us are actually visible--who can miss "The Scientist" waving frantically in the background--but you have to look fast.  Blink, and you miss us.  Although, I must say it's a bit ironic that in the screen shot  of the video below the only member of our group visible is. . .your's truly! Take a look and judge for yourself:)

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I think we all sense that our time on TV was a bit anti-climatic, and so we wander across the street to where we can look in the windows to the main studios of the Today Show.  We can see people buzzing around inside, setting up for a taped segment.  We crane our necks looking for glimpses of Kathie Lee, Hoda, or some other star.  If we can't really be on TV perhaps we can at least get a real-life look at those that actually are.  And hey mabye they'll set up a shot right in front of this window and we'll get another chance, to really be on TV this time. . .

Hanging around outside the Today show studios.

And slowly but surely the fever breaks.  We are in New York City.  This is our last day!
Finally, one of the students asks, "Mr. Maycock, what are we doing here?"  And it becomes clear to me, far better than being on the Today show, is to make the most of Today.

Today we are in one of the great cities of the world. Today I am with  my students, who I've taught for the past two or three years, who I've shared this amazing adventure with for the past two or three days.  A week from now our time together will come to a final end.  In 24 hours we'll be back home in Columbus. We have only a little time left.  Forget about live TV, let's live life.

"Come on guys, let's go" I say. And we head for the subway station.

Today is not about what or who is on TV.  Today is about the people right in front of you in real life.  These guys-my kids--are what Today is all about:

"Smile"

"The Rapper" and "The Scientist"

"Free Spirit"

"The Quiet Man" and "Smooth"

"The Organizer"

"Supremo" with Benin Lee

Today is the greatest day I've ever known
                                                  --Smashing Pumpkins

Empire State of Mind

The Empire State Building as seen from the 86th floor observation desk of the building itself looking up towards to the pinnacle.  Tuesday, May 22, 2012.

Two of my students, "Free Spirit" and "Supremo," had been to New York many times. They both had family in the area, and for them New York City was sort of old hat.  Kind of like how Orlando is for me, I suppose.

 My goal was to blow their minds.  I figured if I planned a trip that they found spectacular, I'd get the rest of the class for sure.  By the time we arrived at Tuesday evening--our last night in New York--I wondered if I'd succeeded.  I asked "Supremo" and got an unequivocal yes.  I asked "Free Spirit" and she responded with a rather cryptic "yes and no."  I wondered what she meant--wondered if she was referring to our being unable to see a Broadway play after all.  It was one of the things we'd had at the top of our Must Do List in New York, but we just couldn't swing it.  If the transportation costs hadn't been so much higher than anticipated we probably could have made it happen.  But the funds weren't there, and I figured, our trip had already been so amazing we'd be all right without it.  But now I wondered, if after all we'd done we'd really done enough.   There were other things we'd wanted to do too--we really hadn't even scratched the surface of all that this great city had to offer.

A tough crowd to please: "Supremo" on left, and "Free Spirit" on right.

But the day was drawing to a close.  We'd gotten back from our Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island tour around four and made our way to the South St. Seaport for dinner.  Now it was after seven and we were determined to squeeze one more larger-than-life Experience out of our day before we began our long trek back to New Jersey.  We headed for the Empire State Building.

By the time we arrived at the iconic skyscraper the sun had nearly set.  By the time we had made our way through the lines (which were short in length, but many in number--line to entrance, line to first elevator to 80th floor, ticket line and security line, and line to final elevator), darkness had fallen completely and I was a little disappointed.  I'd really wanted to take in the panoramic view in the daytime when we could really see.  As we meandered through the inner bowels of the building admiring the beautiful Art-Deco interior design and the informative displays on the building and it's construction, I wondered what view could really be had at night?  But the tickets had already been purchased the day before and there was no way I was going to throw that money away.

The gorgeous mural of the Empire State Building found in the main entrance to the building.  Thanks to  "Supremo " for the key photos of our visit to the Empire State Building.  I found I used my phone a lot during the trip--mainly for the on the go planning for our trip and I used a lot of battery.  If I wasn't careful I could run out of battery, as happened on Tuesday evening, preventing me from taking any photos of my own of our epic visit to the top of the Empire State Building.

It turned out that the view was spectacular, and perhaps more grand, with entire city lit up in billions of lights and all the great New York City landmarks glittering before us: the Chrysler Tower, Rockefeller Center, the Flatiron Building, One World Trade Center rising in the south, the famous bridges, the neon glow of Times Square flashing off the canyon walls of the city, Central Park defining itself in negative space--a great absence of light stretching in the distance, and so many more definitive landmarks, all easily identified amidst the sparkling glow of the city.

None of us got a proper panoramic shot from atop the Empire State Building so I ripped this one from the web, just to give a you a sense of what we saw.  Still, the photo doesn't begin to capture the magnificent grandeur of the view.

The 86th floor observation deck was packed--one had to wait at a turn at times to get a spot on the rail--but it felt strangely hushed to me, as if the very altitude muffled sound some how.  A glance through the railing gave one a vertiginous thrill--the cars crawled inaudibly like ants below us, and bits of confetti like paper drifted in the updrafts.

The experience was truly awesome, and say we spent close to an hour just beholding the city from various vantage points and taking it all in.  At some point during our time there, "Free Spirit" came to me and said  "Mr. Maycock, you succeeded."

And that was enough for me.

And we still had the tour of NBC Studios the next day!

Me and "Free Spirit" on the observation deck of the Empire State  Building, Tuesday night,  May 22, 2012.

Experiencing the Gift of Liberty (and Ellis Island)

This could be just a postcard photo or photo ripped from the web.  It sure doesn't look much different than a run-of-the-mill photo of this American icon.  But it is different, because I took this photo myself, standing with my students on Liberty Island.  What an Experience!  And it wouldn't have been possible without the help of a lot of generous people!

Ask most Americans what they think of when they think of New York City, and I guarantee the Statue of Liberty will be one of the top icons of that city.  Ask people around the world what symbolizes America most besides the nation's flag, and again, I betting the Statue of Liberty will again top the list.  Clearly Lady Liberty was an absolute Must See for this trip.  But here's the thing:  A week before we left for New York it was crystal clear that we would not be able to visit the Statue of Liberty.

The bottom line was, well, the bottom line.  We didn't have enough money.  The 7th and 8th grade class had borrowed some $900 or so from the 8th grade class (classic case of robbing Peter to pay Paul) to meet the needs of our annual Heroes Reception and the Family Fun Day we'd planned to pay back the 8th graders had been a monetary bust.  We had enough money to get to New York, get around in the city (or I so thought then), eat, and have a comfortable place to stay.  Beyond that, there was nothing left.

The weekend before the trip, I weighed my options.  We could just walk around and look at free stuff for the whole trip--and really there is a lot to do that's free in the city.  But I wanted the kids to have Experiences, and how could we go to New York, especially on an educational trip and completely sidestep the lady in the harbor? I was tempted to slap it all on my personal credit card and be done, but I knew that  be patently irresponsible with another child on the way and serious family expenses looming.  Furthermore such apparent generosity would be sham designed to cloak my own perceived failings as a class sponsor and prevent me from having to really humble myself.  Because there was a third option that I hated to contemplate.  One that would push me out of my comfort zone and make me do one of things I hate doing most of all:  I could ask for money.  I could publish to friends far and near that a week before the class trip I was short on money and needed help.

After much prayer, I knew that asking for help was the right thing to do.  And so I sent out the word on Facebook, via e-mail, and face to face hat-passing.  And God came through.  He moved generous, thoughtful hearts all across the country to respond with gifts big and small.  I sent out my requests on Saturday night  May 12and Sunday  May 13 and by Tuesday, May 15, just a week before my students and I would board the ferry for the jaunt across the harbor to the Statue, I had commitments for over $1000!  Praise God!  And thank you so much to all of you who made this day, Tuesday, May 22, 2012 from start to finish possible.

My favorite photo of Lady Liberty and the Manhattan skyline. I took this photo as the ferry was beginning it's approach to Liberty Island. Tuesday, May 22, 2012

On Liberty Island.  The island itself is quite small.  You can walk around the whole island in about ten minutes.  Readers who know Saipan:  Think Managaha Island  transported to New York harbor with a giant statue plopped won in the middle.  We arrived just in time to catch a scheduled guided tour of the island.

Me and the Lady from a distance (left, on the ferry approaching the statue) and up close (below). Unfortunately, the Statue was undergoing renovations so we could not go into the base or up to Liberty's crown as we normally would have been able to do.  Full access to the Statue of Liberty is set to resume in October.

Our next stop was Ellis Island, the immigration processing center where at one time 70% of the immigrants to the United States, 5000 people per day at its peak, entered the United States.  I chose Statue Cruises over several other tour operators because they were the only ones that actually let visitors get off at Liberty Island and Ellis Island.  If my students were really going to learn anything about these important artifacts of our American heritage they were going to have to get off the boat!

The Great Hall of the former Ellis Island Immigration Center , now Museum.  Essentially this was once a giant waiting room where immigrants would wait to be seen by doctors and prepare to continue on to the mainland.  The complex at Ellis Island included a hospital, laundry, school, and many other facilities to care for immigrants that ended up being quarantined there.  We were fortunate to have outstanding guides on both Liberty and Ellis Island.  Our Ellis Island guide was so impressed with our group that he took us on extended tour to some of the sites on the island not on the standard itinerary and normally unavailable to tourists.

I'd like to extend a special thanks to my cousins Nicole Koeningshof, my cousin Yvette Saliba and her colleagues, Janelle Thomas, Alyssa Minisee, Jessica Lee, Greg Wedel, and Aaron Knowlton and his 8th grade class at Redlands Adventist Academy.  All of you gave us the ability to do all the fun and enriching activities we did during our New York trip.  Thank you so much!


  Aaron's class decided to donate some of their own class funds  to help us with our New York trip.  The kids made this short video post card for their peers in Redlands while on Liberty Island:

Me with "Smooth" (left) and "The Scientist" (in front) on Liberty Island with the Manhattan skyline in the background.  Note in the background the new tower at the World Trade Center site under construction.  Once you get away from shore you can really see how much taller the new Freedom Tower is than everything else in Manhattan.

The New York City Culinary Experience

Digging into delicious.  Dinner at Sylvia's in Harlem, Monday, May 21, 2012

When we first arrived in New York City on Sunday afternoon, every one was hungry and we debated where to eat.  The adults wanted a classic (some might say cliche) New York culinary Experience.  The kids were set on McDonalds.  In the end, speed and convenience won out, and we ended up at the jam-packed two-story McDonald's on Times Square.  Surprisingly, that turned out to be an Experience in it's own right.  The place was a madhouse and the Mickey D's crew did not play around.  They were cheerful and friendly, but loud and all about business.  You needed to have your order ready when you finally got to the front of line, you needed to speak UP when you placed your order, and then you needed to get OUT OF THE WAY quickly so the next customer could order.  Most of our students (and few of us adults) were a little flummoxed by the high pressure atmosphere and arrived at the counter mumbling, asking all kinds of questions about the menu and what substitutes for this or that item might be made, and hovering uncertainly by the counter after the order had been made.  Needless to say a few things we ordered didn't materialize and I had to go back and get them.

The McDonald's at Times Square that we ate at on Sunday, May 20, 2012.  I didn't take this photo, but snagged it off the web.

Still it was an Experience, and if we were going to go some place is ordinary as McDonald's while in New York, that was the way to do it.  Still I was determined that would be the end of our chain-restaurant dining at least for a few meals, and indeed we had a number of great dining Experiences afterward.

Sunday evening we found ourselves in Chinatown and had a late supper at decent but unremarkable Chinese/Thai place down a neighborhood side street.  The food was good, and the kids had the chance to experiment with family style dining.

On Monday, after a reflective morning at the 9/11 Memorial we met up with my old friend Dan Shor.  You'll have to go back to some of my oldest blogs--five years or more--to find the last time this great guy and good friend made an appearance on these pages (Dan left Saipan in the spring of 2007--I wrote about his departure in my Springtime in Saipan entry.  My tribute to his influence in my life can be found here).  Fortunately, though we haven't seen each other in a long while, our friendship has remained intact, and he was excited to meet up with us and take us around his city for a little while.  He and his lovely wife Jie Hua met us outside the 9/11 memorial and we set off to explore the city, doing a half a decade worth of catching up as we walked.  It wasn't long into our walking tour that we all agreed that lunch should be on the agenda, and Dan guided us to the best pizza in New York (and thus, he says, the best pizza in the world.  Having eaten there now, I can't say I'd argue with him).

The gang ready to chow down at Johns on Bleeker Street. Lunch, Monday, May 21, 2012.   I  stood blocking the  path to the entrance to take this photo, while Dan and Jie Hua, seated on the right at the end of the table, were next to the entrance.  Great pizza, like many good things, can come in small packages.  You can see the outstanding staff huddled in the back ready to serve us.

John's Pizzeria of Bleeker Street is an unassuming little place.  The dining space is small--we took up virtually the entire center of the restaurant with our group of 16--and the names of previous patrons have been carved into every square inch of wall and furniture place.  But this is a place, like all restaurants that feature flat-out unparalleled food,  that doesn't need to put on airs.  The pizza speaks for itself: a thin, crispy crust baked to perfection in their brick oven, delicious sauce, and melted mozzerella.  The toppings we got were all good--the fresh garlic was my favorite, but I could have been happy with just plain cheese.  The staff was patient with our massive group, and they met our many demands quickly.  As I was looking for a good link for this blog, I came to discover that Johns has got a massive location near Times Square in a renovated old church complete with a grand staircase and seating for what looks like thousands at tables clad in white linen and candlelight.   The pizza is surely worthy of such fancy trappings, but it doesn't need them.  The pies are just as good at the scratched-up walls, hard-luck furniture, cash-only, no reservations, no "by the slice" orders (whole pies only), straight-up, no-nonsense Bleeker St. property.

One of our students added his mark to the myriad others scratched into the chairs , tabletops and walls of Johns.  When we came in the first thing I saw was the first name of one our students' who was not able to come standing out among the scrawls on the wall.  It was poignant moment for me.  She was just the sort who would not have missed a chance to leave her mark.  I wished she could have been there.

After having Experienced the best pizza in New York, we bid farewell to Dan and set out to explore Central Park for awhile.  More on that adventure later--for now let's fast forward to dinner time.

The famous Apollo Theater in Harlem, as photographed from our bus during a short hop on our  way into  Harlem, ultimately to Sylvia's. 

Harlem hadn't been on our original itinerary but our principal insisted that no historically black school was going to go to New York and not go to Harlem.  I had to admit she had a point, and so we took the subway uptown to 125th street and the heart of Black America.  We arrived late, and there wasn't much to do beyond walk past the Apollo Theater and some other landmarks of the neighborhood.   We were all getting hungry and a discussion ensued about where we should eat.  While we deliberated, we found ourselves walking towards and eventually into Sylvia's, the famed soul food kitchen of Sylvia Woods.   Benin Lee advocated a buffet joint further on that allowed us to pay by weight, ostensibly saving us some money.  Sylvia's was on the pricey side and would eat into our food budget a little. But in the end, I decided to stick with Sylvia's.  After all, we were already there and besides how could we miss a chance to eat where everyone from Barack Obama to Oprah Winfrey had dined.  This was the pinnacle of soul food cooking to be found outside the kitchens of mom and grandmothers across the land.  We couldn't pass it up.

My meal at Sylvia's in Harlem.   As you can see I'd already started gnawing on that chicken when it occurred to me to take the picture.

It was a good call if I do say so myself.  The food was unbelievable.  They began with round after round of cornbread.  I don't even like cornbread, ordinarily, but I scarfed this cornbread down with abandon.  It was moist, just the right amount of sweet--rich with flavor, even without pats of butter.  My main course was the fried chicken with a side of collard greens and buttered corn.   The chicken was crispy perfection, the corn a culinary delight, and the collard greens--well, I'd never had collard greens until that night (I know, I know, what kind of black person has never had collard greens--long story), but I am definitely a fan now--at least as long as they taste like Sylvia's.  The principal, Mrs. Arthurs, offered me some of her sweet potatoes and she didn't have to ask twice.  By the time the dessert menu was passed around, I was too stuffed to eat another bite.  So, I ordered some peach cobbler to go and ate it back at the hotel late that night.  It did not disappoint.

Granted, Sylvia's was about all we got to experience of Harlem, but Syliva's cooking proved to be an Experience all by itself.

The next two days our schedules were so hectic that we never really had the chance to sit down and eat together as a group again.  On Tuesday we had a late lunch/early supper at a food court in the Pier 17 mall at the South St. Seaport, just a stones throw from the famed Brooklyn Bridge.  On Wednesday, we ate on the run as we hustled through one last pass of Times Square before rushing back to New Jersey to catch our flight.  The boys grabbed Subway with Mr. Lee and the girls were so consumed with shopping that they didn't eat until we were in the airport waiting for our flight.  But in the midst of all this, I found time for one more New York Culinary Experience, just for me.  While Benin was with the boys doing the chain-fast food thing again, I ducked into a little delicatessen off Times Square and ordered a Reuben sandwich.  It was heaven in paper wrapping, just like you'd imagine getting at a New York deli.

I know we didn't even begin to touch all that New York City has to offer in terms of culinary delights--how can you, really, with thousands of great restaurants to choose from?  But I'm glad that, at least for a few meals, we were able to eat like we could nowhere else in the world.

Just had to throw this photo in here though it's not food related.  When we got off the subway at the 125th St. station in Harlem, they had large map featuring all the sites of note to be found in Harlem.  Among them was this--the original Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Church.  We never did get to see our sister church in Harlem, but I did get this photo of it's place on the map.

Experiencing Ground Zero: The 9/11 Memorial

The 9/11 Memorial, New York  City, Monday, May 21, 202

Monday, May 21 dawned cool and rainy, conditions that added a certain poignancy to our visit to the site of the defining tragedy of our time, the place they call Ground Zero.

In the 30 or so years before September 11, 2001, tourists flocked to this place to see the iconic towers of the World Trade Center, maybe even ride to the top floors, and perhaps dine among the clouds in the Windows on the World Restaurant.  Now that the towers are gone, along with thousands of lives, the tourists keep coming.  Only our gaze no longer looks up to the now empty sky, but down into the gaping void where the towers once stood.  The names of those who died that awful day live on, carved into granite surrounding the twin pools.  That misty morning the raindrops rested appropriately like tears next to the names on the monument.

I found the memorial quiet in the midst of the bustling city, and even with the rumble of the construction on the new towers going on nearby. . .

  I found it beautiful, a fitting and respectful tribute to those who died.  I found it a solemn place, one that led me to reflection. . .

 Three times, I found myself moved to the point of tears.  Once, when I saw the bouquet left by a widowed wife for her husband. .  .

Again when I noticed for the first time  the acknowledgment of the unborn children who died with their mothers and thought of my own wife and second child on the way. . .

. . .and last while watching the short video in the gift shop where relatives of the victims shared their stories.


I wasn't sure how I'd react to being on some of the most sacred ground that can be found in America.  This isn't yet history like Gettysburg, where all those that could long remember what they did there are long gone.  This is fresh, and for many who knew and lost someone here, the wounds are undoubtedly still palpable even ten and years and more on.

"Supremo" at the 9-11 Memorial during a break in the rain showers.

And then again, for the kids, it really is, already history.  They were just babies when the towers came down and the world changed into the shape they now take for granted as normal.  But it was an important Experience for them to have nonetheless--perhaps all the more important because they didn't live through it. We who can never forget must make sure that they learn, understand, and remember too.

The Survivor Tree.  This was the only tree to survive at the site of the collapse of the twin World Trade Center towers.  It was removed and kept alive and growing in a nursery before being returned and replanted here at the memorial.  The students gather to look at this remarkable symbol of survival and resilience, and "Free Spirit" reaches out to touch it's battle scarred bark.

The Experience: Getting There and Getting Around

Two of my students, who I'll refer to as "Free Spirit" and "Smile", anticipate their plane ride as they look out the airport window at our gate at Cleveland  Hopkins International Airport, Sunday morning, May 20, 2012.

We landed at Newark International Airport in New Jersey just after 9 o clock Sunday morning, May 20, after having driven up to Cleveland, Ohio from Columbus the evening before to catch an early morning flight out (the flights to the airports around New York were significantly cheaper; we easily saved over $1200 by flying out of Cleveland).  I love flying with kids--before we've even gotten to our destination, many of the kids are already having an Experience.  Almost all the kids had either never flown before, or had last flown when they were babies, and so for all intents and purposes had never flown either.  Some were a little anxious, but I think for most it was a thrill.

 We had begun the trip with something that would become a pattern throughout the trip: a late night followed by an early morning.  All of us except for Mrs. Arthurs, the school principal, decided to catch a showing of The Avengers when we arrived in Cleveland Saturday night, and didn't get to bed until after 1 A.M.  We were up again four hours later to head over to the airport.   So when we landed at Newark, we were tired, but still game for adventure.  We took a shuttle to our hotel, the Radisson Carteret, not to sleep, but just to drop off our bags before we hit the city.

We decided to stay in New Jersey and take the train into Manhattan.  The hotels in the city that fit our budget were quite spartan (one property I looked at had no air conditioning) and fraying at the edges, whereas the Jersey hotels for the same price where much more comfortable and several stars up in quality.  While I don't regret that decision, I do think I'd seek to modify it somewhat if I could do it over again.  The trip to Manhattan only took forty minutes or so, but we also had to factor in the shuttle to and from the train station (a ten minute trip, but it often involved a 20 or 30 minutes at the train station waiting for our train--we invariably would miss the train we were aiming for and have to wait for the next one.  We usually ended up taking the same amount of time on our return while we waited for the shuttle to come get us).  Once in Manhattan, we had to then switch to the subway system, and between waiting for the right train and the journey itself (which was never long) we might add another 20 to 30 minutes of travel time.  And finally there was the hike from the subway station to wherever our actual destination was--another 10 to 20 minutes.  On average it took us about two hours to get from our hotel to wherever the first destination of the day was and two hours to get back.

In addition to being lengthy, the trek to the city was expensive.  That Sunday we dropped $210 to just to get  into New York.  Then we spent another $348 to get Metro Card passes that gave us unlimited subway and bus fare for the rest of the week.  Unfortunately, those passes did not cover getting from New Jersey into New York, and I realized we were going to be spending a lot more on transportation than I had first anticipated.   We were able to save a few pennies after the first day by taking a slightly different route that involved us switching from the New Jersey Transit Line to the PATH (Port Authority of New Jersey and New York) train.  That brought costs down to $162 per day, but when you consider that my budget only called for us to spend the $48 per day to ride the PATH train plus the Metro Card passes, this still took a chunk out of our budget.   I had originally assumed that we'd be able to use the PATH  exclusively--I didn't realize that our hotel wouldn't take us to the PATH, only to the nearest train station.

At the very least I'd consider looking for hotels near the PATH station.  This would have cut our commute to 20 minutes, and likely would require shorter wait times should we miss our train, as the PATH has more departures than New Jersey Transit.   One of the other chaperones, Benin Lee, and I played around with some math during the trek back to our hotel on our last night of the trip, to determine whether it might indeed be more cost effective to simply pay the higher hotel rates to stay right in the city.  I'm not quite convinced that the savings in transportation would balance out the additional hotel cost, but it was an interesting exercise.

Leaving the station.  I'm not sure how or when "Supremo" took this photo.  I'm guessing we must have been on the last car on that particular ride.

At any rate, taking the train, riding the famed New York City subways, and even the city buses on occasion was an Experience in it's own right.  For the kids (okay, and the adults too), mastering the art of sliding the metro cards at the turnstiles was an adventure.   The students learned to hold on to the poles when the trains started or stopped to avoid being pitched into someone's lap.  They jockeyed for empty seats, and also graciously offered them to older passengers or women with kids.  They learned to board quickly, stand clear of the closing doors, and be aware of when their stop was coming up.  All mundane realities for a New Yorker, but a real Experience for us wide-eyed visitors from Ohio, at least at first.  By the end of the trip the kids looked like seasoned veterans of New York's public transportation.

"The Scientist" and "Free Spirit" on the subway

And finally there was the walking.  In every city I've visited where public transport is central to getting around, wallking--a lot of it--is attendant to the bus or train ride.   Naturally, New York is a walking city, and the kids handled the hoofing basically without complaint.  They quickly learned the difference between long and short blocks, when to wait with the crowd at the crosswalks, and when it was safe to slip across when the "no walking" sign was lit.  We all learned the difference between an Ohio Walking Speed and a New York Walking Speed.  When we got off the PATH at the World Trade Center on Tuesday morning we were informed that the quickest way to get to the Statue Cruises ferry dock was a 10 to 12 minute walk.  The guy failed to remind us that this was 10 to 12 minutes at New York walking speed.  We trudged along at Ohio walking speed and it took us closer to 20 to 25 minutes.  Still, by midweek when the adults were ready to start taking a bus a few short blocks rather than walk the distance, the kids were still game.

 One of my favorite memories of the trip was on Tuesday night when we got off the bus several blocks east of the Empire State Building.  The wait for our transfer was taking awhile, and a couple of the kids decided we should just walk it.  I agreed to go with them, while Mrs. Arthurs and Mr. Lee waited for the bus.  Well, it ended up that all the kids walked, and we took off at New York speed--a nice brisk pace.  It was a special moment-just me and my students, talking and walking in the Big City as the sun dipped behind the towering skyscrapers and the lights of the city began to come on, feeling like New York natives, and enjoying the pleasure of each other's company.  Little moments on a big trip, seemingly insignificant at the time, but they're the ones you never forget. Of all the ways we got around during our four days in New York, that walk was my favorite.

And it turned out that we got to the Empire State Building faster walking than the other chaperones did riding the bus!

One of my students who I'll call "Supremo" enjoys a nice walk in  the  city

One of my favorite things on the subway was a wonderful painting posted in the interior of many of the subway cars.  The poster by Sophie Blackall charmingly illustrates the colorful and diverse people that may be found on a subway car.  I've linked to her blog here so you can see the painting.

The New York Experience

Three of our students in the very heart of Manhattan, Times Square.  The nonstop  hustle and bustle of  Times Square was our first stop and our first unforgettable Experience in our amazing 8th grade class trip to New York City

New York as a whole, and Times Square in particular truly feels like the Center of the Universe.  The dizzying array of  gigantic video screens flashing an endless barrage of adds, the constant crowds, the traffic is a sensory feast.  The only other place I've been that comes even close is the technicolor blitz of Shibuya Crossing in downtown Tokyo, but the sheer scale of Times Square dwarfs even that.

I've been taking students on trips for thirteen years now.   I've taken students to lands distant and exotic like Thailand and Singapore, and destinations familiar and close to home like Orlando and Guam (okay, I know both of those locations might be exotic to a lot of people, but not to me).  But no matter the locale, the goal has always been the same:  I want my students to have Experiences.

An Experience can be a classic must-see tourist stop or it can be as simple as where we choose to eat lunch.  Whatever the case it must be something the students have likely not experienced before and may have little opportunity to experience again.  Ideally, it is something that can only be experienced in the place we are visiting.  I apply this principle to as many aspects of the trip as I can:  how we get around, where we eat, what we do.  We're not going to drive if we can fly; we're not going to rent a car when we take the train.  I try to avoid the usual fast food favorites (McDonalds, Pizza Hut, etc).  We didn't come all the way to South Korea to eat at Burger King. (Of course kids love these places, and we'll usually end up eating at a familiar place at least once or twice, but that's it!)   I try to avoid "the mall" or spending a lot of time at the hotel.  I want the kids out there having an Experience they will never forget.

This year's class trip to New York City from Sunday, May 20 through Wednesday, May 23, 2012 was no exception.  We only had four days, and with the plethora of Experiences New York offered there was no way we could do them all!  But, we got up early and stayed out late and jammed as many once-in-a-lifetime Experiences into our visit as we could.  Here's what's coming up:

Getting There and Getting Around
Ground Zero: The 9-11 Memorial
The New York Culinary Experiences
The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
The Empire State Building
The Today Show

plus "Nothing Like New York", my reflections and observations on my time in Gotham.

A view of where they "drop the ball" on New Years Eve

The Reluctant Authority Figure

Me, in full Authority Mode, with the symbol of my power, the Clipboard (now slowly being replaced by the ipad/smart phone).  In this photo I'm probably making notes to myself regarding some student's progress or recording an on-the-spot grade, but I could just as easily be writing down a student's name for misbehavior or adding/subtracting points to their daily points tally.  I hate what I know I look like when I am making brisk marks of reprimand for some infraction on my clipboard.  But, I know it has to be done.

At the end of my life-changing, incredibly rewarding year as volunteer teacher on the island of Chuuk, as I mournfully prepared to return to the "Real World", I knew one thing for certain.

I never wanted to become a teacher.

 I loved the kids and the idea of working with kids was certainly appealing.  But I didn't like the grading and lesson planning and classroom decorating.  The field of education didn't much interest me.  And I especially didn't like being the Authority Figure.

"I want to be that cool volunteer person that comes in that all the kids love because I'm way cooler than their boring old teacher," I told my friend J, who was already on track to finish his degree in education.

But as God would have it, I ended up a teacher anyway.  And I've come to appreciate the profession and recognize that perhaps this really is what I'm meant to do with my life.  But I find I still have trouble with being the Authority Figure.

I don't mind being in charge.  Leadership comes easily to me.  Telling other people what to do?  Not a problem.  But all that is different from being an Authority Figure.  The Authority Figure is a representative of the Institution, the System, the Man.  The Authority Figure is the enforcer of rules, the Policy Police.  In today's culture, to be an Authority Figure is to be out step with society.  If you must hold a traditionally authoritative title, such as teacher, parent, or police officer than you need to be as un-authoritative as possible.  You want to be that teacher that sits on the edge of his desk, sleeves rolled up, and tie loosened.  You want to be that "cool parent" that is your kids best friend. You want to be that undercover cop who wears plain clothes and skirts the law to catch the bad guys.  They generally don't make movies about the officers who write traffic tickets or teachers who bust kids for chewing gum.

It's not that I have problem with authority myself.  I am pretty good rule-follower (sneaking candy into the theater is a pretty big deal for me).  Even as a kid when I got into trouble it wasn't due to chafing against the rules or feeling a need to defy authority.   My rule-breaking was not the point, but an unfortunate byproduct of the mischief, and if or when I got caught, I took my consequences more or less without resentment or complaint.

My reluctance at being the Authority Figure probably has more to do with way it conflicts with my more bohemian vision of myself.  I see myself a creative type, an artist of sorts, and cracking down on kids for being out of uniform or not walking in line doesn't fit with the way I like to think of myself.  When I encounter  the occasional student with the moxie to flat out refuse to go along to get along,  I wouldn't say I admire him or her. But I am occasionally envious.

But the truth is, our cultural obsession with doing things "my way" and derision for authority is actually immature at best and destructive at worst.  Our glorification of rebellion creates a world as bad in its own way as an authoritarian one.  Ever notice that rebels often aren't very nice people, and that insisting on doing what I want often deprives those around me of what they want?   A strong will can be a powerful force for good when used to stand up for what is right, but it can be disastrous when it is used to indulge selfishness and insistence on getting ones own way.

As asinine as rules for rules sake may be, breaking rules for the sake of breaking rules is equally senseless.  For those of us here in America--a land of unprecedented freedom with little in the way of institutionalized oppression, our rebellious instincts generally are not principled or even mindful.

Likewise, my reluctance towards being an Authority Figure is selfish at heart--more concerned with my self-image than what my students need.  That is something I dare not indulge in as a teacher or as a parent.

 Do I still want to be that cool guy that comes into the classroom to the approving cheers of the students?  Sure.  But being what my kids need--including the Authority Figure--is more important than what I want.

Special

 “I grew up hearing everyone tell me 'God loves you'. I would say big deal, God loves everybody. That don't make me special! That just proves that God ain't got no taste. " --Rich Mullins


I've come to the conclusion that I don't want my son to grow up thinking he is special. 


Or rather I don't want him to grow up with idea that he is more special than anyone else.  Every person on this planet is a unique one-of-a-kind creation, an irreplaceable child of God.   There are no faceless masses, just countless special individuals.  In that sense, he is exactly like everyone else.


We live in an increasingly narcissistic society.  We celebrate our every mundane accomplishment on Facebook and Twitter. We are told that we are all winners. We are told that we can be anything we want, regardless of our talent or dedicated effort (or lack thereof) simply if we want it bad enough and "keep trying."  We feel entitled to and destined for greatness.  We are eager to be on TV, certain that we are so fascinating that others would gladly watch us (or read our blog--ooops!) and be entertained.  Indeed we are already stars of our own little movies in our minds, complete with triumphant soundtrack.


But the belief that I'm special, comes with pitfalls, at least when I believe that I am special in comparison to others.  


When I think I'm special, I tend to mistreat others.  I see myself as all sparkly uniqueness and light, a glowing individuality surrounded by drab drones--worker bees toiling along in lockstep while I bounce along to the beat of my own drum.  When I talk I'm fascinating, funny, and entertaining.  When they talk, they are too loud, long-winded and boring.  The special person sees no need to treat others with any particular respect or deference, but demands such respect as his or her due.  I am a harsh judge of others, but go easy on myself.


On the other hand, when I think everyone is special--including me, I tend to treat others well.  Such a worldview leads me to take a genuine interest in others--in what they know, what they think, how they feel.  I know myself well enough, but I'm eager to discover the unique sparkle in those around me.  I honor every person around me, and recognize that they deserve my respect, just as I deserve theirs.  Ironically, my awareness of the special-ness of others helps me recognize how very much the same we all are.  I recognize that everybody hurts, that everyone laughs, that everyone has hopes and dreams, fears and sins, just like I do.  When I think everyone is special, I'm inclined to be cautious in my judgments of others, and strive to set the highest standard for myself--the one person I have the power to control.

When I think I'm special, I tend to feel the rules don't apply to me.  I am, after all, a special case with my own unique needs and can't be bothered with all the petty encumbrances that weigh the masses down.  I need to be free to be me, free to express myself.  The pitfalls that I'm warned about apply to others not me.  The restrictions and requirements of life in community are for all those ordinary joes out there, not for me.


When I think that everyone is special--including me, I view myself as part of a community.  I recognize that the rules--in terms of the expectations placed upon me as well as the consequences of my actions--apply to me as much as to anyone else.  I understand that my freedom--including my freedom to "be myself" ends where the nose of the other guy begins.  I understand that tempering my self-expression for the sake of the team in no way lessons my actual individuality.


When I think I'm special, what I want, my mercurial moods and what I "feel like" become the highest moral good.  The special person has the diva mentality and cries to those who dare to cross his or her whims: "Don't you know who I am?"


When I think that everyone is special--including me, I recognize that my desires have no greater moral weight than any other persons.  I understand that for anything of value to happen in this world, I along with everyone else, must take my turn at putting my shoulder to the wheel and getting it done, regardless of what I happen to feel like at the moment.  I understand that everyone has moods and whims, and if we all indulge them all the time, we will quickly have chaos.  If someone else must check their desire for instant gratification, than so must I.


When I think I'm special, I am exclusive, a VIP member of a club of one.


When I think everyone is special, including me, I am inclusive, a VIP member of an all-VIP club called humanity.


When I think I'm special, I believe that the greatest love of all is to love myself (and bonus!. . .it's easy to achieve!).


When I think everyone is special, I recognize that love is ever aimed outward, at others.  Self-love is essentially an oxymoron--the essence of love is found in service.  True love is neither self-adoring nor self-loathing, but self-forgetful. (And such love is if often anything but easy to achieve).

The truth is we are more alike than we might like to believe--we are all dust, all fragile flesh.  We are all snowflakes, each completely unique and yet all falling and soon to melt.   

Rich Mullins in regard to whether God has discerning "taste" in the humanity He loves:

"And, I don't think He does. Thank God! Because He takes the junk of our lives and makes the most beautiful art.”