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A German language teacher has traveled all over the world including: Germany, Austria, trance, Switzerland, The Soviet Union, Canada, Tallinn, Soviet Georgia, Crimea, England, Ukraine, Cuba, Norway, Argentina, and Peru!

Connect with Kipp Matalucci!

Kipp-EveryBodysGotATaleToTell.Blogspot.com

twitter.com/mann77

Kipp got the privilege as an American during the Cold War to travel to East Germany, Soviet Union, and has even been to Cuba. He graduated from Penns Grove High School in Penns Grove, NJ. The same high school that Bruce Willis graduated from, but 4 years later.

When Kipp got to take a trip to Germany with a high school german teacher, he figured out that he wanted to do something with languages. On that trip, he got to spend an afternoon in East Berlin which was a life changing experience for him.

He went on to spend 34 years teaching German at Gateway Regional High School in Woodbury Heights, NJ. He also spent 8 years there teaching students Russian during the the height of the Gorbachev years in the Soviet Union. Which worked out great for him because he got to take a year off from teaching while on sabbatical from his teaching duties. Kipp spent that year in the Soviet Union studying Russian language, and even found himself working for NBC translating for The Reagan-Gorbachev Cold War Summit.

Kipp was fortunate enough while over in the Soviet Union to get invited to a party hosted by Tom Brokaw, getting to hang out with many other celebrity reporters during that time.

Fear of the unknown isn’t something that Kipp lets bother him. He feels that if he did, he would have never gone or done anything in his life. I think it is really important for all of my dreamers to take on fear of the unknown head on.

Buy Noel Coward’s Why Do The Wrong People Travel?

Episode 39

Transcription

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this is the dreamers podcast where
dreamers shared their stories to inspire

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you

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now join host Joe Pardo as he interviews
a dreamer who’s living their dreams

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ok

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yeah

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welcome to the dreamers podcast I’m your
host Joe Pardo and today I’m

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interviewing Kip matter looky who is
living his dream through travel language

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study and theater

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welcome to the show clip I’m going to be
here it’s very nice job

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well thank you i appreciate you coming
out to the studio well we could start by

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giving some background by yourself

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ok i’m from Penn Square New Jersey race
in Penns Grove and graduated from very

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high in 1969 a pen scrolls claim to fame
is that Bruce Willis also graduated from

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rehi he was he’s four years younger than
I am so I can’t say that I know really

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hung out with them too often anyway
that’s so we’re graduating high school

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and then I went to wake forest
university north west salem with

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carolina and got a degree in German in
1973 and fell in love with languages

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when I took a trip to germany in 1967
with my high school teacher from of them

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with languages and travel and I was
pretty sure when I got back from Germany

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that summer of 67 that I wanted to do
something with languages and it turned

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out that teaching would be the thing
that I would do spent 34 years teaching

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a gateway Regional High School German I
also taught French there for a year and

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I talk Russian there for about seven or
eight years as well during the height of

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the garbage happier when Russia was so
exciting

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no I introduced Russian to gateway so I
also after I retired there from there

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three years ago and since then I’ve been
doing as much traveling as i can and

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studying languages going to as many
places as I can and I also sing the

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chorus the greater self jersey course
and I’m squeezing as much as I can into

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my life you know while i still am able
to travel I hope there’s still a few

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good years left in there as i like to
bicycle like to hike i like to do thing

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i have to swim i like to do things like
travel sort of actively and vigorously I

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figured that i’ll travel that way until
I’m a little too old for that and then

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maybe I’ll travel by cruises which I
think are a little more relaxing and one

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day I might be too old for that and then
I’ll just have all these wonderful

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memories to look back on so what
countries have you been to

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well it started out with Germany when I
was a sixteen-year-old we were in

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Germany and Austria for six weeks three
weeks and distal Dorf and we would

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travel to different places there we
studied during the day and travel to

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different places in the area and then we
transferred to this beautiful alpine

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village called they felt and we were
three weeks and they felt and we saw

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some cities and you know Austria as well
and I mean suddenly you know I was

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surrounded by the Alps and in medieval
fortresses and cathedrals and I just

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fell in love with the experience some
because at that time there was no skype

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or anything like that you communicated
with your friends and family back home

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for the six weeks through letters that
was it and I must have been homesick at

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times but i don’t remember it that was
the first certainly for six weeks that

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was the first time I was away for six
weeks and the only other time before

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that it had been a week at Boy Scout
camp but somehow and I don’t remember

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anybody else in the group particularly
getting you know home secure and I’ve

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taken a lot of kids to abroad and o4
sometimes the weeks in the summer

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sometimes for 10 days during spring
vacation and homesickness even you know

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in that short of time could be a problem
with young people but for some reason

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that was born for it i think for travel
and that’s when I fell in love with it

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all France and I study French
Switzerland of course and Russia the

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Soviet Union the first time i was there
then

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tallinn estonia and Georgia Soviet
Georgia we were kind of all over the

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place in the so here we were in the
Crimea and Ukraine the Alta and then I

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hadn’t been to South America too much i
was in Cuba for a week with the world

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affairs council but I haven’t really
been to South America much light is that

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I want to explore south america bit and
three years ago maybe four

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I was in Buenos Aires in Argentina for a
month

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studying Spanish

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and I really fell in love you know with
the culture and the people and um then I

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decided to study Spanish some more after
that I was tempted to go back to

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Argentina but i thought you know there
are other countries in South America

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wanted to explore some of them so i
spent two months in Peru and I guess I

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could go on but those are you know those
are the big ones anyway to be countries

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anyway canada I’ve been to Canada about
that in England of course as well yeah

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do you want to elaborate how you got the
soviet russia when it was soviet russia

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yeah i used a tour company called AC is
American Council for International

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Studies from when i travel with high
school students and they had a college

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program a program for college students
and I was not quite college-age then it

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was nineteen seventy-nine I was 28 but I
applied for this program that was six

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weeks in the Soviet Union you were in
Moscow for three weeks and then three

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weeks in what was then Leningrad now st.
Petersburg and I was in this group study

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tour for six weeks and it was you know
the adventure that you might think it

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think it was I have Soviet friends now
Russian friends dating back to that

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period of time we were in Moscow first
and we were there for about a week and

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we were complaining that the only
Soviets who were who would talk to us

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were black marketeers who wanted to buy
jeans from us so wanted to you know buy

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records from us because you know even
rock and roll was frowned upon and so

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there was a black market for all these
things from the west and then one day I

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was coming home from some kind of an
event and there was this the door was

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opened the room next to me and this guy
was seated listening to something and he

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he asked me if I had a football jersey
and he was a Soviet and they they

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segregated Soviets from Westerners in
hotels strictly

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I’m not sure why it happened but we were
put in a hotel for Soviet citizens in

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eastern europeans and it turned out to
be very fortuitous because I i said no

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i’m sorry i don’t have a football jersey
with me and he asked for football jersey

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because anything with anything with
English on it it could sell on the black

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market for you know hundred dollars and
it would be you know cool took to where

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is no i don’t but I’m in a group of 15
people you know Americans and you know I

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can ask around sure one of them asked an
atsc vitamin e and sit down and he

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pointed to this portable cassette
recorder and he said voice of america

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and it was the voice of america but it
was a Saturday night disco program and

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Donna summers was singing love to love
you baby and then these three other guys

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walked out and it they turned out to be
water polo players who were

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participating in something called
sprockie odd and it was like it was like

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the Olympics but it was a all throughout
the Soviet Union it was a major thing

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and depending on how well they did their
they could have played on the Soviet

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olympic team and 1980 was the year that
Moscow hosted the $YEAR olympics and we

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would boycott the $YEAR olympics in 1980
would lead a boycott of the only because

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1980 because the Soviet Union invaded
Afghanistan but in 1979 none of that was

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for seeing and it turned out that um no
I shall i found myself there in this

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room you can see the Kremlin towers out
the window and I was talking with

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olympic-caliber water polo players I’ve
never met a water polo player my life

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let alone what a ballplayer is good
enough to put on the Olympics and Donna

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summers were seeing love to love you
baby

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it was surreal I could have been in a
nightclub in Philadelphia and that night

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we were having a fourth of july party so
I invited them and it was amazing i mean

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you know drinking and singing and
laughing and around midnight

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now after we had you know been drinking
for some time they suggested that we go

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to red square and um because it’s all
lit up at night it’s very would be very

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nice so we did and it’s a wonder we
didn’t get arrested because imagine we

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would all been drinking a lot and um
there was nobody else in red square at

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that time and we were you know looking
at the mausoleum where let it is and

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that’s always guarded on and I guess we
knew enough not quite remember but we

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must have not been too loud but that was
the you know that was the first that was

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a big adventure then after a couple of
days they told us that their coach had

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told them that they were getting too
friendly with the Americans and we said

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what do you want us to do you want us to
not talk to you around like that and

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it’s not we can be friends with whoever
we want to be friends you know but

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really you shouldn’t call us because the
phones here are probably bugged and

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maybe we shouldn’t meet too much in the
hotel outside of the hotel we should

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meet and you know we did we had this
three-week friendship with his Soviet

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water polo players and it was just
amazing really because they were they

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were in Moscow for three weeks and so
were way and then we transferred to

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Leningrad for another three weeks a
couple of days after we arrived in

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Leningrad they came back home which was
Leningrad so for we were all worried you

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know that we would we weren’t meeting
any Soviet they were too afraid to talk

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to us except for the black marketeers
and then suddenly these water polo

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players you fell into our laps and for
almost the six weeks of our stay we were

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you know hanging around with these water
polo players and it was just a you know

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remarkable experience and athletes in
the Soviet Union were treated very well

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you know if they were good enough they
were even able to travel to the west

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these athletes and travel to the west
but i think it was their first

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experience with sort of the cruelty of
their system and we they liked us and we

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like them in a normal country we would
have been friends and it wouldn’t have

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been any problem but they actually have
to worry

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that after we left the Soviet Union they
would be interviewed I mean they knew

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they would be interviewed by the KGB
they figured that the KGB would

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interview them and satisfy themselves
that none of us were spies and so and

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everything would be fine but they still
would be interviewed and it’s still be

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in their file someplace actually in a
worried about that and that was my first

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experience in the Soviet Union and I
remember you know thinking it was

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shortages and the stores were was hard
to imagine that the stores the so-called

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supermarkets you would walk into a
so-called supermarkets and there would

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be no milk no one kind of cheese which
kind of really wasn’t cheese it always

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kind of maybe like velveeta no one kind
of one kind of lunch meat that you know

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look like Bologna with big fat chunks of
fat you know in it um it’s a salt pepper

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bread up but with so few products
available there was no toilet paper but

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its famous there was always a lack of
toilet paper they’re all these shortages

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all the time all these lines all the
time and I remember thinking you know we

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were afraid of these people because they
can’t supply their people with toilet

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paper and you know they’re the this
these are their stories their ridiculous

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you can’t find anything and then there’s
black marketeer for like the black

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market for everything and then I had to
remind myself that even though you know

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it looks like a third-world country to
us they had a formidable nuclear arsenal

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and you know that was what we were
competing against but I’m it was it was

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a wonderful experience and fell in love
with the people very warm generous

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people and I want to go back and I did
make it back several times since then to

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the Soviet Union I guess so then the
next time was under garbage off in 1987

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and I went back for a year

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this school year studied Russian with
middlebury college was working on a

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master’s degree and under Gorbachev
things were at East quite a bit i mean

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communism and fallen yet but there was
this it was just an exciting time to be

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there

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Gorbachev’s policies of perestroika and
Kostas which every American do what they

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meant back then it means big glasses was
the ability to say what was on your mind

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because you’re Gorbachev lot Soviet
citizens could speak freely was on their

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mind they couldn’t change things and
Gorbachev wanted to change things and

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perestroika was read as restructuring of
the economy and it was I think it was

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probably the most exciting time in
Soviet history since the revolution and

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there were bullets flying so it was just
a very exciting time to be there is all

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this change in the air a one-day
Gorbachev you know when on television

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and gave it he gave an address some and
he mentioned Stalin and Stalin had been

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a persona non grata in the in the Soviet
Union never mentioned in public since

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Chris just announced in my t4 i think it
was and so they thought they were able

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to finally talk about the crimes of
Stalin and the period of Soviet history

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under Stalin and then another day he got
on television and soccer off you know

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leading physicists Vicki developed to
help them develop a neutron bomb he

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became a peace advocate in the Soviet
Union and it was fine to be a peace

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advocate the Soviet Union you could say
your piece and you were against war and

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we hate war as long as you blamed all
the warmongering on the United States

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but sacrifice it know the Soviet Union
is as responsible for the arms race as

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the United States and he was a very
courageous man they knew he was such a

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famous you know person worldwide that
they couldn’t put in prison

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try and put him in prison but they
exiled internally was the city called

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quirky on and that was off-limits to
Westerners there was no it was a nice

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city on the Volga River but it was just
closed to Westerners and soccer off and

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his wife Elena Bonner were put there in
exile and Gorbachev called him up and

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said come back to Moscow and freedom
from internal exile and you know it fast

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interestingly enough a few years later I
got back to the Soviet Union again for

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summer and our group took a trip to
Gorky which was now called which is now

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coordination of god it’s the name the
Russian name that the city had before

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the Soviets for the Russian Revolution

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and all over the city where these
posters announcing an arts festival in

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the name in honor of soccer off so
soccer had spent internal exile in that

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city and a few years later they had an
arts festival was dedicated to soccer

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off and we didn’t go in his little home
but his little apartment tiny apartment

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that he and his wife lived in for years
is now a little museum and we were

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outside the apartment we didn’t go in
and take a little tour of it probably

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00:15:20,640 –> 00:15:24,449
would have taken too long but i remember
in some of our Russian friend said you

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know something you know his neighbors
were probably too scared to even say

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00:15:28,710 –> 00:15:34,110
hello to him in the morning when I song
and you know now you know he’s free

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00:15:34,110 –> 00:15:38,340
moscow with his wife and there’s this
art festival in his name was amazing the

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00:15:38,340 –> 00:15:42,510
changes that were that were made
surprised you decided to stay in Russia

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00:15:43,590 –> 00:15:48,60
yeah well you know I get he just loved
this country you know we all do as

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critical as he was that he was critical
of it because he loved it and wanted it

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to change you know

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00:15:53,430 –> 00:15:58,79
so what does traveling and language mean
to you well that’s a very good question

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00:15:58,80 –> 00:16:03,180
though I think language learning is not
just grammar of course in vocabulary

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that’s an important part of it but you
also learn about the history of a place

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and you know and and the culture and to
me it’s it’s it’s all about breaking

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down cultural barriers and promoting
cultural understanding and you know

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there’s a fundamental human value in my
book and that’s um accepting people’s

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00:16:20,700 –> 00:16:24,780
differences tolerance of people’s
differences and language learning has

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00:16:24,780 –> 00:16:28,260
helped me to do that and that was what I
tried to emphasize to my students I mean

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00:16:28,260 –> 00:16:31,620
I never preached to them about accepting
people’s differences but what’s really

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important to me that I teach the culture
of the German speaking peoples or the

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Russian speaking peoples as well as you
know the grammar and through food which

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is a lot of fun to integrate into a high
school classroom where even a college

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classroom and through observance of the
holidays for watching German movies and

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russian movies through listening to
german rock music rush

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00:16:53,440 –> 00:16:59,50
rock music I think eventually most kids
absorb this value that it’s not weird or

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dumb the way you know the Germans do
things or the Russians do things it’s

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just different and I think they came to
respect you know these cultural

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differences sedessa that’s a very
important thing for me I’ve always hated

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bigotry as long as i can remember if I
did anything that might 34-year career

230
00:17:15,310 –> 00:17:22,990
to help me wipe out bigotry just a teeny
tiny little bit that i’m very happy

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00:17:22,990 –> 00:17:26,980
it’s a matter of fact that this
promotion this burning of cultural

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understanding was even more important to
me as a teacher than teaching the

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language most most kids took two years
of German in high school because that’s

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all they know needed to graduate and
colleges most colleges require a couple

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of years of a language and anybody who’s
studied the language for two years know

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that you know especially in high school

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00:17:50,380 –> 00:17:54,580
notice that you don’t learn very much
and in 10 or 20 years you’ll know you

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00:17:54,580 –> 00:17:58,149
know even less than you know when you
you know left high school so most of my

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00:17:58,150 –> 00:18:02,50
students probably forgot most of the
German that they learned in two years

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00:18:02,50 –> 00:18:05,980
but hopefully they developed an
appreciation perhaps for German music

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00:18:05,980 –> 00:18:12,40
rock music or four German films or art
or for culture and had a bit better

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00:18:12,40 –> 00:18:16,780
cultural understanding of Germany and
that’s been stillborn out to me on

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00:18:16,780 –> 00:18:17,350
facebook

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00:18:17,350 –> 00:18:24,250
believe it or not I’ve got I’ve got some
1,500 friends and most of them are

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00:18:24,250 –> 00:18:29,380
former students who go back to nineteen
seventy-seven and I used to show for

246
00:18:29,380 –> 00:18:32,830
example at Halloween the Germans really
don’t celebrate Halloween like Americans

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00:18:32,830 –> 00:18:37,659
do but there is it there was a German
director during the during the nineteen

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twenties which was a great year for
german film more now and he did

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00:18:43,600 –> 00:18:47,199
thumping noise for Otto a silent film
called desperado which is based on the

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00:18:47,200 –> 00:18:51,610
track of a story it is the directive
story but Bram Stoker’s widow was still

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00:18:51,610 –> 00:18:55,60
alive then and she wouldn’t give him the
rights to film it so he said okay I’ll

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00:18:55,60 –> 00:19:00,310
film this film the novel called mr. Otto
and all the characters will be different

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00:19:00,310 –> 00:19:01,120
names

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00:19:01,120 –> 00:19:06,790
that’s what he did and even today that
1922 noise for Otto is considered one of

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the greatest horror films ever made and
i have students who watched that and to

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00:19:10,30 –> 00:19:14,678
you know to sell in 1922 silent horror
film you know two kids seventh graders

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00:19:14,679 –> 00:19:15,460
in a three

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00:19:15,460 –> 00:19:19,210
I would make fun of that I was into the
same the same effect special effects

259
00:19:19,210 –> 00:19:21,610
that scared your
great-great-grandparents to death or

260
00:19:21,610 –> 00:19:25,689
kind of you’ll find reiki gank and all
that and instead of poo-poo that but a

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00:19:25,690 –> 00:19:30,250
lot of them got into it and to this to
every now and then around Halloween I’ll

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00:19:30,250 –> 00:19:32,20
get a message on facebook

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00:19:32,20 –> 00:19:37,270
mr. Lukey my wife and I are my husband
and I and our kids sit down every

264
00:19:37,270 –> 00:19:40,960
Halloween and watching this fraud to
it’s become a tradition and his words my

265
00:19:40,960 –> 00:19:46,660
heart that it might be the only selling
movie they will ever watch but you know

266
00:19:46,660 –> 00:19:51,790
I introduced them to this great German
expressionist silent film and that’s you

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00:19:51,790 –> 00:19:55,960
know that’s born out and number of
communications from former students how

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00:19:55,960 –> 00:20:00,610
I opened their them up to this and a new
world the culture of you know German

269
00:20:00,610 –> 00:20:04,899
culture Russia and that’s very
gratifying i’m sure it is what would you

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00:20:04,900 –> 00:20:06,280
say inspires you

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00:20:06,280 –> 00:20:11,920
I guess it boils down to this curiosity
about the world around me and if I had

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00:20:11,920 –> 00:20:16,390
had a german teacher who wasn’t very
good or who wasn’t very nice was a very

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00:20:16,390 –> 00:20:20,80
interesting i’m not sure what I would
have done i might have you know I’ve

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00:20:20,80 –> 00:20:23,980
taken a lot of other languages now i
might have you know still taking that

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00:20:23,980 –> 00:20:29,200
path but mrs. cote was a remarkable
woman and you know I went to Germany

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00:20:29,200 –> 00:20:34,870
with her and for the first time when I
was 16 and I fell in love with

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00:20:34,870 –> 00:20:40,270
everything about it i guess it’s just
she opened a new world for may just like

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00:20:40,270 –> 00:20:44,889
a lot of my students tell me you know i
opened a new world for them

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00:20:45,770 –> 00:20:51,500
I had been into Philadelphia before as a
kid to wilmington as a kid but I had

280
00:20:51,500 –> 00:20:55,970
travelled too much even in the United
States you know as a kid and suddenly I

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00:20:55,970 –> 00:21:02,120
find myself in Europe it was beyond
anything I could have ever imagined and

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I just fell in love with it and I guess
that’s it

283
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it’s a curiosity about the world around
me because I i I’ve studied friendship

284
00:21:10,970 –> 00:21:15,620
study Russian studying Spanish I had a
little bit of Norwegian i’m going there

285
00:21:15,620 –> 00:21:20,120
this summer for you know for a month to
study a little more of it

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00:21:20,930 –> 00:21:24,560
I’ve taken dabbled in all these
languages and I Justin fascinated by all

287
00:21:24,560 –> 00:21:27,560
these sites and chinese and you know in
college

288
00:21:28,70 –> 00:21:31,820
I’m just fascinated by all these
cultures and their diverse and really

289
00:21:31,820 –> 00:21:35,90
not connected to each other but the
thing that I guess drives me is a

290
00:21:35,90 –> 00:21:38,870
curiosity about the world around me I
want to learn as much about it as I can

291
00:21:38,870 –> 00:21:44,120
so you kind of just started to him at it
but how did all this come about for you

292
00:21:44,120 –> 00:21:50,689
i guess the seeds were planted with mrs.
cote in Penns Grove New Jersey we had

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00:21:50,690 –> 00:21:53,840
the elementary school I guess was across
the street from the high school

294
00:21:54,380 –> 00:22:01,10
Carlton when we were in the sixth grade
1962 i was in the sixth grade cuban

295
00:22:01,10 –> 00:22:05,900
missile crisis happened that mrs. cote
came over once a week for an enrichment

296
00:22:05,900 –> 00:22:13,760
program then I think it continued and
7th grade as well just once a week and

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00:22:13,760 –> 00:22:18,20
I’m sure she didn’t teach us much other
than numbers and colors and no days of

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00:22:18,20 –> 00:22:23,150
the week and greetings and things like
that we did learn a whole heck of a lot

299
00:22:23,150 –> 00:22:28,970
but when I was just out of high school I
thought to myself want you know you’ve

300
00:22:28,970 –> 00:22:33,170
had a couple years of german you had an
introduction to it you know i like to

301
00:22:33,170 –> 00:22:40,100
her I like it when i take german most my
friends took Latin you know that was the

302
00:22:40,100 –> 00:22:45,230
you know language of tourists from most
of my friends but I took german i took

303
00:22:45,230 –> 00:22:47,930
like my sophomore year in high school
because I you know most of my friends

304
00:22:47,930 –> 00:22:50,780
were enlightened and I thought that
would be cool to the Latin teacher is

305
00:22:50,780 –> 00:22:53,410
also you know an excellent teacher

306
00:22:53,410 –> 00:22:57,940
but that was when it started it started
with Miss coat i coming over a nicety so

307
00:22:57,940 –> 00:23:02,680
when I was in the sixth grade coming
over and she just you know look this up

308
00:23:02,680 –> 00:23:06,10
and then of course when i travel there
that that was it

309
00:23:06,10 –> 00:23:11,710
after that I knew that was going to be
something with German the the story of

310
00:23:11,710 –> 00:23:16,30
the United Nations i think most kids who
major in a language have dreams of

311
00:23:16,30 –> 00:23:21,700
interpreting at the United Nations and I
did too and when I was when I was a

312
00:23:21,700 –> 00:23:27,40
junior in high school we went to New
York for the day and we visited the

313
00:23:27,40 –> 00:23:31,720
united nations and all my friends know
that you know I wanted to go to college

314
00:23:31,720 –> 00:23:35,230
and you know maybe get a job for
interpreting for the United Nations and

315
00:23:35,230 –> 00:23:35,770
one of them

316
00:23:35,770 –> 00:23:40,000
we’re looking at all the Flies and once
it Kip the German flag isn’t there

317
00:23:40,570 –> 00:23:44,80
I have a sure it is I’m looking you know
one ball flies

318
00:23:44,80 –> 00:23:50,409
oh you’re right it’s not and when I was
16 or 17 I didn’t realize that neither

319
00:23:50,410 –> 00:23:54,370
Germany neither the German Democratic
Republic communist Germany or you know

320
00:23:54,370 –> 00:23:58,600
the federal republic of germany you know
West Germany was in the United Nations

321
00:23:58,600 –> 00:24:03,850
because we blocked east germany’s
entrance in the Soviets blocked you know

322
00:24:03,850 –> 00:24:07,330
west germany’s entrance and so neither
country was the ideation so when I was

323
00:24:07,330 –> 00:24:11,560
17 years old my hopes for my future
career ority dashed because that was

324
00:24:11,560 –> 00:24:15,909
there was no there’s no German but there
are you know the Christmas of other

325
00:24:15,910 –> 00:24:19,180
things you can do with language that are
more realistic than interpreting at the

326
00:24:19,180 –> 00:24:23,890
United Nations that’s pretty hard job to
get actually well you said that you you

327
00:24:23,890 –> 00:24:30,280
interpreted for CNN for NBC when I was
in the soviet union under Gorbachev the

328
00:24:30,280 –> 00:24:35,170
second time in may $YEAR president
reagan came over for a summit with

329
00:24:35,170 –> 00:24:41,500
printer Gorbachev and the network’s
hired interpreters and I worked for NBC

330
00:24:41,500 –> 00:24:45,190
and I did anything they wanted

331
00:24:45,880 –> 00:24:50,680
as a matter of fact we went in a week
early and unloaded i think it was

332
00:24:50,680 –> 00:24:54,850
something like three tons of television
equipment and and other things to

333
00:24:54,850 –> 00:24:58,129
prepare for the summit and one of the
one of the things we unloaded

334
00:24:58,130 –> 00:25:04,70
was case after case of heineken beer for
the crew and the staff and there were

335
00:25:04,70 –> 00:25:09,560
two full rooms and the receiver hotel
stocked with beer and at the end of the

336
00:25:09,560 –> 00:25:15,470
summit you know a week or so later there
were a couple of cans of beer left so

337
00:25:15,470 –> 00:25:21,290
that people of NBC if I really enjoyed
their beer but I did everything they

338
00:25:21,290 –> 00:25:26,330
wanted me to do i interpreted some male
cable on top of the American Embassy in

339
00:25:26,330 –> 00:25:30,379
Moscow because president reagan met with
some Soviet dissidents in the American

340
00:25:30,380 –> 00:25:35,540
Embassy I’ll a cable moscow state
university in Moscow State University we

341
00:25:35,540 –> 00:25:39,649
had to go through the dean’s office and
of course helping the Cable guy’s to lay

342
00:25:39,650 –> 00:25:43,730
the cable i interpreted because they
didn’t speak you know any Russian and

343
00:25:43,730 –> 00:25:48,110
they need that was how the
interpretation came in we had to move a

344
00:25:48,110 –> 00:25:52,580
sofa in the dean’s office sayest if we
could move the sofa and behind the sofa

345
00:25:52,580 –> 00:25:58,550
were portraits of the two previous
Soviet leaders Jenny Aiko and drop off

346
00:25:58,550 –> 00:26:02,210
to all men they were old men when they
were appointed and they die within a

347
00:26:02,210 –> 00:26:06,440
year I think of office and they had been
taken down to put up the portrait of

348
00:26:06,440 –> 00:26:10,970
garbage off and it was it was something
so Soviet about it so rushing about it

349
00:26:10,970 –> 00:26:12,200
they you know

350
00:26:12,200 –> 00:26:18,740
out with the old in with endo it it was
they didn’t even bother to throw them

351
00:26:18,740 –> 00:26:25,70
out they just took them down and left
behind the sofa and they were framed

352
00:26:25,70 –> 00:26:29,60
poster so these two leaders I thought
that that’s amazing so I asked you know

353
00:26:29,60 –> 00:26:33,740
the Dean if I could have them i’m sure
you know and something i have them to

354
00:26:33,740 –> 00:26:39,770
this day but it was it was a fascinating
of course then I would you know we go

355
00:26:39,770 –> 00:26:44,300
out of the van and they needed footage
of the Soviets reading pravda there were

356
00:26:44,300 –> 00:26:49,639
these bulletin boards in case with glass
and they would put prada up there and

357
00:26:49,640 –> 00:26:53,180
Soviet citizens would gather around
would you know we profit before they

358
00:26:53,180 –> 00:26:57,590
were going to get on the subway system
metro they call them we couldn’t find

359
00:26:57,590 –> 00:26:58,770
anybody and

360
00:26:58,770 –> 00:27:02,850
he said keeping I so wanted to just use
your old footage and he said well there

361
00:27:02,850 –> 00:27:05,610
will be Russian speakers who will see
you know the date and we’ll know that

362
00:27:05,610 –> 00:27:10,830
it’s not you know today the problem i
said okay look go out and round up some

363
00:27:10,830 –> 00:27:14,909
Soviets and ask my fellow over there
pretend they’re reading about your

364
00:27:14,910 –> 00:27:20,700
product and yeah i did that for NBC you
know it’s funny because every now and

365
00:27:20,700 –> 00:27:24,690
then you hear reports of news being
staged and that was no big sin

366
00:27:24,690 –> 00:27:27,720
I mean they do do that that we just
couldn’t find them doing it you know

367
00:27:27,720 –> 00:27:32,940
what we were looking for them but I
helped NBC’s of the stage that little

368
00:27:32,940 –> 00:27:36,510
footage and then they wanted the
classroom and an article in the

369
00:27:36,510 –> 00:27:41,940
classroom and I didn’t have a computer
in 1988 I didn’t really understand the

370
00:27:41,940 –> 00:27:45,660
middle all and was a little bit afraid
of them but there were already laptops

371
00:27:45,660 –> 00:27:51,360
then and i worked with a laptop and we
had to translate something like eight

372
00:27:51,360 –> 00:27:55,860
hours of footage the classroom and was
fascinating because the teachers were

373
00:27:55,860 –> 00:27:58,560
able to act for the first time in a
group of teachers were able to really

374
00:27:58,560 –> 00:28:01,950
discuss what was happening in their
country and not lie about it and the

375
00:28:01,950 –> 00:28:06,000
students were able to say what was
really on their minds and criticize you

376
00:28:06,000 –> 00:28:09,990
know Gorbachev and criticize the
government and all this you know

377
00:28:09,990 –> 00:28:14,40
exciting stuff was happening so we spent
some time you know doing that and then I

378
00:28:14,40 –> 00:28:17,879
got a job I got a job working on the
Today Show and bryant gumbel and Jane

379
00:28:17,880 –> 00:28:21,720
Pauley were the host then and bryant
gumbel was in Moscow and Jay Paul was in

380
00:28:21,720 –> 00:28:25,800
new york and i worked on the set if this
United bryant gumbel said you know the

381
00:28:25,800 –> 00:28:29,610
lights in my eye I told the Soviet
technician lights and price i can you

382
00:28:29,610 –> 00:28:30,389
move it

383
00:28:30,390 –> 00:28:35,130
I did whatever you needed to be on in
the way of translation that was you know

384
00:28:35,130 –> 00:28:39,690
very exciting my fetch coffee for
Secretary of State Schultz to Schultz I

385
00:28:39,690 –> 00:28:42,780
did anything they needed me to do and
was happy to do it

386
00:28:42,780 –> 00:28:47,970
I was there when Tom broke out would
give the nightly news what NBC had its

387
00:28:47,970 –> 00:28:52,740
headquarters on the balcony that third
floor balcony of the receipt hotel and

388
00:28:52,740 –> 00:28:57,540
with a breathtaking view of the Kremlin
towers and red square as a backdrop

389
00:28:58,240 –> 00:29:02,260
and so was not very exciting you’re
doing all those things for the summit

390
00:29:02,260 –> 00:29:08,260
Tom Brokaw and his wife hosted a party
and their apartment in Moscow for the

391
00:29:08,260 –> 00:29:08,920
whole staff

392
00:29:08,920 –> 00:29:12,370
well I was lonely member of the staff
but I was . instax always invited to a

393
00:29:12,370 –> 00:29:16,899
cocktail party with you know Tom broke
Alan you know his wife and their writing

394
00:29:16,900 –> 00:29:21,370
his rival but good friend Peter Jennings
who did ABC he was there as well with

395
00:29:21,370 –> 00:29:25,389
with his wife and it’s just got Maria
Shriver was there because she was

396
00:29:25,390 –> 00:29:29,950
working for NBC at the time it was just
an exciting time in my life you know we

397
00:29:29,950 –> 00:29:33,610
were paid a hundred dollars cash a day
that was it

398
00:29:33,610 –> 00:29:37,90
now the days were long they were 12 hour
days but I don’t I didn’t care i would

399
00:29:37,90 –> 00:29:41,649
have work 16-hour days four hundred
dollars or free probably because it was

400
00:29:41,650 –> 00:29:47,500
such an exciting thing to do and ABC CBS
NBC paid a hundred dollars today CNN did

401
00:29:47,500 –> 00:29:54,850
not it was mostly students and see its
CNN said that it was an internship and

402
00:29:54,850 –> 00:29:59,290
they would write a letter you know for
anyone who needed it saying you know how

403
00:29:59,290 –> 00:30:02,678
good the person worked in television how
much the person learned about television

404
00:30:02,679 –> 00:30:09,70
but that was their payment was like a
student internship nowadays in

405
00:30:09,70 –> 00:30:13,480
situations like that CNN probably pays
whatever the network’s die but at that

406
00:30:13,480 –> 00:30:17,860
point they they didn’t so how is your
dream received by your family you know

407
00:30:17,860 –> 00:30:24,280
it’s interesting it was encouraged my
first time abroad at sixteen my father

408
00:30:24,280 –> 00:30:28,90
was a little nervous about it in my
mother my grandparents paid for half the

409
00:30:28,90 –> 00:30:32,139
trip and my parents paid for the other
half of the trip I got my spending money

410
00:30:32,140 –> 00:30:35,590
together but at that time job that what
you were getting four marks to the

411
00:30:35,590 –> 00:30:38,620
dollar which is kind of like getting
four euros to the dollar to diamine we

412
00:30:38,620 –> 00:30:43,750
you could live like kings and queens
then in 1967 so you didn’t need much to

413
00:30:43,750 –> 00:30:49,840
enjoy yourself it’s funny like I said my
mother was less concerned about being

414
00:30:49,840 –> 00:30:55,300
away for six weeks that my father my
father focused his concerns for his 16

415
00:30:55,300 –> 00:31:00,370
year old son one what was scheduled to
be an afternoon tour of East Berlin

416
00:31:01,130 –> 00:31:07,430
our group spent a long weekend in Berlin
and we went through the wall and my dad

417
00:31:07,430 –> 00:31:11,270
thought they’re gonna you know they’re
going to kidnap me from my brain

418
00:31:11,270 –> 00:31:14,720
I mean I was kinda smart but I was the
lifestyle nobody would kidnap me from my

419
00:31:14,720 –> 00:31:18,740
brain but he was concerned about my
being away from home for so long and

420
00:31:18,740 –> 00:31:23,570
concerned about going into East Berlin
and the cold war and all that and it

421
00:31:23,570 –> 00:31:28,460
became kind of a running joke in the
family that you know god help mom if

422
00:31:28,460 –> 00:31:32,390
they kidnapped me because you’ll never
hear the end of it but when we were

423
00:31:32,390 –> 00:31:35,150
seated on the bus to go through the wall

424
00:31:35,150 –> 00:31:39,590
our guide told us the do’s and don’ts no
don’t bring any you know Western

425
00:31:39,590 –> 00:31:43,520
newspapers in there or you know Western
magazines their time running like that

426
00:31:43,520 –> 00:31:47,510
because you know there’s censored don’t
really talk to East Berliners when

427
00:31:47,510 –> 00:31:49,310
you’re when you’re over there

428
00:31:49,310 –> 00:31:52,399
you really won’t get in trouble but they
could get in trouble because it’s such a

429
00:31:52,400 –> 00:31:56,900
closed society that for all the police
know the East Berliners having a lot of

430
00:31:56,900 –> 00:32:01,160
the conversation with an American spy
you know and they did give us you know

431
00:32:01,160 –> 00:32:02,690
really nervous

432
00:32:02,690 –> 00:32:06,200
the adults as well as the students
because our teacher shop ruins were

433
00:32:06,200 –> 00:32:10,310
probably going into a communist country
therefore the for the first time too and

434
00:32:10,310 –> 00:32:14,210
then at the very end of her spiel the
tour guide made a very well practice

435
00:32:14,210 –> 00:32:22,280
joke she said now don’t worry too much
please at least seventy-five percent of

436
00:32:22,280 –> 00:32:26,750
all the people who go into East Berlin
come back the same day and it crack the

437
00:32:26,750 –> 00:32:31,100
ice we all left but at that point I
thought of my father I thought oh dear

438
00:32:31,100 –> 00:32:33,800
God please let me be one of the
seventy-five percent because if I’m not

439
00:32:33,800 –> 00:32:35,510
my mother will never hear the end of it

440
00:32:35,510 –> 00:32:38,810
mom will never hear the end of it but
you know as I said they were they were

441
00:32:38,810 –> 00:32:42,800
really supportive of it and neither my
mother knew my father really ever

442
00:32:42,800 –> 00:32:47,120
traveled much my mother kind of had a
desire to travel but it never happened

443
00:32:47,120 –> 00:32:51,739
and my dad was perfectly content living
in his own backyard assist my enjoy

444
00:32:51,740 –> 00:32:56,360
lives in baltimore and my father making
a trip to baltimore was a very big deal

445
00:32:56,360 –> 00:33:00,260
you know a little bit outside of his
comfort zone so he was never going to

446
00:33:00,260 –> 00:33:03,890
get to Europe but even though i was
thinking about him of course recently

447
00:33:03,890 –> 00:33:08,210
for father’s day my dad was very
supportive even though you know my

448
00:33:08,210 –> 00:33:11,810
things weren’t his things you know my
dad was a great athlete when he was in

449
00:33:11,810 –> 00:33:12,710
high school

450
00:33:12,710 –> 00:33:17,510
and he probably you know figured out
early on that I was never going to be a

451
00:33:17,510 –> 00:33:22,549
football hero like he was but he never
made me feel inferior for that he never

452
00:33:22,549 –> 00:33:28,39
he didn’t he didn’t need to relive his
life his glory days from high school

453
00:33:28,39 –> 00:33:32,629
through me he always supported what I
was interested in and you encouraged me

454
00:33:32,630 –> 00:33:37,580
to be myself which was pretty cool
especially for a guy from his generation

455
00:33:37,580 –> 00:33:42,740
I think yeah definitely it’s it’s nice
when family members can put their own

456
00:33:42,740 –> 00:33:49,669
beliefs or the their way of life aside
for your way of life so you can do what

457
00:33:49,669 –> 00:33:51,559
you feel is right for your life

458
00:33:51,559 –> 00:33:56,000
yeah i mean that’s exactly true Joe and
I saw that of course with the students

459
00:33:56,000 –> 00:34:01,159
some of them really forced by their
parents wishes to go to one college over

460
00:34:01,159 –> 00:34:05,360
another because the parents one of the
new one thing rather than another thing

461
00:34:05,360 –> 00:34:11,899
you know somebody who really had a
leaning love of the Arts and was sort of

462
00:34:11,899 –> 00:34:17,690
encouraged by or really kind of for
spite his parents to you know go to MIT

463
00:34:17,690 –> 00:34:23,540
because his parents want to do that and
we wasn’t very happy there and you know

464
00:34:23,540 –> 00:34:27,619
now is you know very happy he did find
his way eventually but it wasn’t an MIT

465
00:34:27,619 –> 00:34:31,879
you know majoring in a science so I’ve
seen that over the years a lot and I’m

466
00:34:31,879 –> 00:34:37,730
just very happy that my parents were
supportive of you know what I wanted to

467
00:34:37,730 –> 00:34:38,780
do with my life

468
00:34:38,780 –> 00:34:42,679
so what steps did you take to get
started in teaching I got into teaching

469
00:34:42,679 –> 00:34:49,250
kinda for the back door in a way I’ve
always been interested in languages and

470
00:34:49,250 –> 00:34:56,270
travel but also in religion and theology
I was raised episcopalian and I was

471
00:34:56,270 –> 00:35:01,790
always fascinated by that and I majored
in German at wake forest but i minored

472
00:35:01,790 –> 00:35:05,750
in religion i took enough courses in
religion that way for us to two major it

473
00:35:05,750 –> 00:35:06,750
actually

474
00:35:06,750 –> 00:35:12,120
I debated for years whether i would do
something with languages or become an

475
00:35:12,120 –> 00:35:17,850
Episcopalian priest and it took a while
but I made up my mind to you know become

476
00:35:17,850 –> 00:35:22,380
an Episcopalian priest there was a
seminary called the show the house which

477
00:35:22,380 –> 00:35:27,210
is about 30 miles outside of Milwaukee
Wisconsin and i applied there and was

478
00:35:27,210 –> 00:35:32,850
admitted in the fall of nineteen
seventy-five I went out there and I

479
00:35:32,850 –> 00:35:37,500
quickly discovered when I got there that
there was more arrogant than God might

480
00:35:37,500 –> 00:35:42,420
call to be a priest and I really didn’t
think that that was the right path for

481
00:35:42,420 –> 00:35:43,80
me

482
00:35:43,80 –> 00:35:47,910
so after just a couple of months there i
left and of course that was a very

483
00:35:47,910 –> 00:35:53,250
difficult period in my life I had this
dream of becoming a priest for years and

484
00:35:53,250 –> 00:35:58,470
suddenly you know that dream was
shattered and i had to decide you know

485
00:35:58,470 –> 00:36:01,859
what I wanted to do with my life I had a
degree in German but I didn’t have a

486
00:36:01,860 –> 00:36:05,70
teaching certificate and then i think
you know i found out that i could get a

487
00:36:05,70 –> 00:36:09,600
teaching certificate through what was
then Glassboro State College and i took

488
00:36:09,600 –> 00:36:12,750
the necessary courses to get a teaching
certificate you know in Glassboro State

489
00:36:12,750 –> 00:36:18,870
College and I think it took it took two
years but in the fall 1977 I you know

490
00:36:18,870 –> 00:36:23,430
became a teacher and fortunately it was
what I was meant to do I think all along

491
00:36:23,430 –> 00:36:28,109
and you know there was enough of a of a
pastoral dimension and teaching to sort

492
00:36:28,110 –> 00:36:35,130
of satisfy whatever need there is no in
mated to do that and it became a career

493
00:36:35,130 –> 00:36:41,430
that I loved and what when I think about
it i’ve traveled so much mainly because

494
00:36:41,430 –> 00:36:47,40
i had the opportunity to travel i had
the summers off while teaching I had you

495
00:36:47,40 –> 00:36:51,300
know 10 days in the spring and I could
take students over to Germany and had

496
00:36:51,300 –> 00:36:54,810
become a an Episcopalian priest I
certainly would have done some traveling

497
00:36:54,810 –> 00:36:59,310
but I would have done anywhere near the
amount of traveling that i was able to

498
00:36:59,310 –> 00:37:02,940
do as a teacher of German it was
fortuitous that if I if I found out that

499
00:37:02,940 –> 00:37:05,970
I couldn’t that I didn’t like teaching I
don’t know what I would have thought

500
00:37:05,970 –> 00:37:08,970
maybe I would have tried to get that you
not UN gig

501
00:37:09,500 –> 00:37:13,550
after all a quick question you were a
teacher when you went to work for NBC

502
00:37:14,60 –> 00:37:19,790
yes I i was on sabbatical a gateway had
a sabbatical policy and I took a year

503
00:37:19,790 –> 00:37:24,860
off to go study in Moscow is wonderful
and I’m i was very fortunate because a

504
00:37:24,860 –> 00:37:29,990
lot of high schools don’t have a
sabbatical policies and gateway no

505
00:37:29,990 –> 00:37:35,720
longer has it which is a shame but in
1987 you know they did and it just

506
00:37:35,720 –> 00:37:38,990
turned out to be I mean the year to go
to the Soviet Union

507
00:37:38,990 –> 00:37:42,830
I mean a couple of years earlier
Gorbachev had come into office but these

508
00:37:42,830 –> 00:37:46,370
policies hadn’t really gotten off the
ground yet and a couple years later it

509
00:37:46,370 –> 00:37:52,40
was cool for an attempted coup against
him he he survived a coup but that was

510
00:37:52,40 –> 00:37:56,60
the end of this area also took over and
then the country went to pot for a while

511
00:37:56,60 –> 00:38:01,9
and now it’s still trying again
splitting is very exciting time and sob

512
00:38:01,10 –> 00:38:04,490
history to be there so what roblox have
you hit along the way

513
00:38:05,000 –> 00:38:09,680
oh that’s a good question well dropping
out of minnesota house was a big

514
00:38:09,680 –> 00:38:14,270
roadblock along the way i would say that
really threw me for a loop

515
00:38:15,110 –> 00:38:19,550
you know eventually you know got out of
the funk after that and started taking

516
00:38:19,550 –> 00:38:25,10
these courses so that was a major was a
major roadblock and then I’ve been lucky

517
00:38:25,10 –> 00:38:31,70
with these trips I’ve had a couple of
into misadventures but nothing that i

518
00:38:31,70 –> 00:38:32,690
didn’t survive because I’m here

519
00:38:32,690 –> 00:38:38,210
yeah talking with you i was very lucky
gateway is a wonderful place to work

520
00:38:38,210 –> 00:38:43,760
I had great friends there and i enjoyed
a wonderful career there was a potential

521
00:38:43,760 –> 00:38:48,470
roadblock when I spent that year in the
Soviet Union you know they hired a

522
00:38:48,470 –> 00:38:51,770
teacher to take two to take my place for
that year

523
00:38:52,790 –> 00:38:56,000
and she came into a very difficult
situation because most of my students

524
00:38:56,000 –> 00:38:59,420
like me and you know I was only going to
be she was only going to be there for a

525
00:38:59,420 –> 00:39:03,740
year and it was difficult for her but I
guess we’re going out that you know the

526
00:39:03,740 –> 00:39:08,479
german teacher hated the german teacher
and you know that my German Roman fell

527
00:39:08,480 –> 00:39:14,600
there was a time I think when my job
there was in jeopardy . because they

528
00:39:14,600 –> 00:39:18,950
would fire me but she’s laid me off
because even if a tenured teacher

529
00:39:18,950 –> 00:39:23,330
doesn’t have the kids in the classroom
then the 10-year teacher is out of a job

530
00:39:23,330 –> 00:39:28,940
but again gateway was very supportive
and gave me a couple of years to do a

531
00:39:28,940 –> 00:39:32,630
little extra recruiting for german and
my colleagues in the language Department

532
00:39:32,630 –> 00:39:37,340
understood it and didn’t feel threatened
by it and it did take a couple of years

533
00:39:37,340 –> 00:39:42,290
to build the enrollment up again in
German but i did but i often think back

534
00:39:42,290 –> 00:39:46,700
on that and if gateway had been less
supportive wanted an excuse to drop

535
00:39:46,700 –> 00:39:50,450
German save some money they they could
have and I would have been a

536
00:39:50,450 –> 00:39:55,549
thirty-eight-year-old in the middle of
his career trying to find another job

537
00:39:55,550 –> 00:39:58,790
and whether I would have been able to
find another teaching job or not I’m not

538
00:39:58,790 –> 00:39:59,690
sure

539
00:39:59,690 –> 00:40:03,380
so that was a potential stumbling block
but fortunately because everyone is so

540
00:40:03,380 –> 00:40:09,20
supportive it it didn’t happen and I was
I remember when a when my when I first

541
00:40:09,20 –> 00:40:12,680
got the job at gateway my mother wrote
me a letter congratulating me on getting

542
00:40:12,680 –> 00:40:17,359
the job and giving me some other
motherly advice and that her main advice

543
00:40:17,360 –> 00:40:25,940
was to keep my mouth shut and not to
mess up and the day I came into the

544
00:40:25,940 –> 00:40:31,220
house my mother’s been going for 11
years but my next day gateway I walk

545
00:40:31,220 –> 00:40:33,919
through the door and I said out loud

546
00:40:33,920 –> 00:40:38,120
mom I didn’t mess up I didn’t
necessarily keep my mouth shut but I

547
00:40:38,120 –> 00:40:38,839
didn’t mess up

548
00:40:38,840 –> 00:40:44,420
you’d be proud of me i yeah i left the
job a well-liked teacher you know who

549
00:40:44,420 –> 00:40:48,470
kept German alive for 34 years and
you’ll be proud of me and I’m sure she

550
00:40:48,470 –> 00:40:49,819
was where she is

551
00:40:49,820 –> 00:40:54,560
how did you overcome not being a priest
anymore look at you going through that .

552
00:40:54,560 –> 00:40:58,549
i well that was a difficult time in my
life but I have unfortunately I had good

553
00:40:58,550 –> 00:41:00,700
friends and family who

554
00:41:00,700 –> 00:41:05,140
love me and you know that was hard and I
was depressed for a while I left the

555
00:41:05,140 –> 00:41:10,89
seminary and you know late October but i
did find out that in February I could

556
00:41:10,89 –> 00:41:15,430
start taking education courses it at
Glassboro State Teachers College and

557
00:41:15,430 –> 00:41:21,220
once I began doing that I met people you
know made new friends might always be

558
00:41:21,220 –> 00:41:26,589
stimulating intellectually again and
gradually I came out of this funk that

559
00:41:26,589 –> 00:41:32,259
you know I was in but it was not an easy
in and easy time in my life because I

560
00:41:32,260 –> 00:41:36,280
had it took me years to decide to become
a priest and I had made up my mind to do

561
00:41:36,280 –> 00:41:40,660
it and then I got out there and found
out that really you know wasn’t for me

562
00:41:40,660 –> 00:41:45,490
and I was told by the Dean that was
probably best that I leave and spend

563
00:41:45,490 –> 00:41:48,970
some time thinking and you know
reflecting and but if I decided to come

564
00:41:48,970 –> 00:41:52,598
back they wouldn’t make me go through it
the admissions process again that i

565
00:41:52,599 –> 00:41:57,460
would be you know accepted right away
and after the thinking in the reflecting

566
00:41:57,460 –> 00:42:03,10
I realized that it was not the path for
me I thought that show the house was

567
00:42:03,10 –> 00:42:08,260
very almost monastic a lot of time spent
not just a cat in academics but in

568
00:42:08,260 –> 00:42:13,990
chores around the campus and in
reflection and prayer meditation and I

569
00:42:13,990 –> 00:42:18,339
wasn’t sure you know I knew there was an
arrogance and what i thought was a call

570
00:42:18,339 –> 00:42:22,930
from God to do this work but I thought
that after three years of praying and

571
00:42:22,930 –> 00:42:26,589
you know meditating at the show the
house it would chip away at whatever

572
00:42:26,589 –> 00:42:31,359
arrogance was there and I would be able
to understand what really was inside

573
00:42:31,359 –> 00:42:35,650
whether it was really a true you know
calling from God or not and I didn’t get

574
00:42:35,650 –> 00:42:40,900
chance to do that either for early but i
did my reflecting and praying afterwards

575
00:42:40,900 –> 00:42:43,569
and realize that i did make the right
decision

576
00:42:43,569 –> 00:42:48,9
I never did go back to show house well
it seems like you turned out pretty well

577
00:42:48,10 –> 00:42:50,140
well thank you very much for that

578
00:42:50,140 –> 00:42:54,519
so yeah Israeli parts of your dream that
haven’t quite worked out yet

579
00:42:55,89 –> 00:43:03,190
well I can’t say that there are it’s
always been my dream to explore as much

580
00:43:03,190 –> 00:43:08,619
of the world as i can and continue
studying languages i was very lucky with

581
00:43:08,619 –> 00:43:13,539
the position at gateway I’ve been very
lucky in my you know retirement and

582
00:43:13,539 –> 00:43:17,829
there are some things in the back of my
mind like the Peace Corps I’ve always

583
00:43:17,829 –> 00:43:21,190
thought that might be it a great thing
to do when I’m ready

584
00:43:21,190 –> 00:43:24,640
the oldest volunteers apparently 80 so
I’ve got a few years to decide you know

585
00:43:24,640 –> 00:43:27,910
before that but so far so good

586
00:43:28,779 –> 00:43:34,480
knock on wood so is their favorite
memory like to share

587
00:43:34,480 –> 00:43:39,10
there are so many in Goethe’s Faust the
deal that face makes with Memphis

588
00:43:39,10 –> 00:43:44,500
tahvalli’s the devil is that if he can
ever say to a moment in his life linger

589
00:43:44,500 –> 00:43:52,329
that works so beautiful than the devil
can have his soul and the devil thinks

590
00:43:52,329 –> 00:43:56,79
he can make them happy by giving him
love romantic love and that doesn’t work

591
00:43:56,79 –> 00:43:59,589
out by giving him you know fame and
fortune and you know that doesn’t work

592
00:43:59,589 –> 00:44:07,359
out but there is a point you know when
he’s able to say to is to this moment in

593
00:44:07,359 –> 00:44:12,640
his life linger that are so beautiful in
german it’s violet talk to be so sure

594
00:44:13,210 –> 00:44:18,160
and it’s one of my favorite quotations
and we’ve all had these moments in our

595
00:44:18,160 –> 00:44:23,348
life when we want to we want them to
linger because they’re just such

596
00:44:23,349 –> 00:44:27,400
beautiful experiences and I’ve had you
know many of them have been lucky enough

597
00:44:27,400 –> 00:44:31,29
to have you know many of them in my
travels

598
00:44:31,569 –> 00:44:35,829
otherwise they are just so many
saltsburg is one of the most beautiful

599
00:44:35,829 –> 00:44:37,829
cities on earth

600
00:44:37,829 –> 00:44:43,739
and there’s this medieval fortress there
and I remember being this with kids and

601
00:44:43,739 –> 00:44:47,249
the kids were exploring this medieval
fortress that I’ve been to with kids and

602
00:44:47,249 –> 00:44:51,959
15 times before and I was there once as
a kid myself this beautiful spring day

603
00:44:51,959 –> 00:44:58,890
there was a baroque you know concerto in
the plots in the square down below that

604
00:44:58,890 –> 00:45:02,549
I could hear wafting this beautiful
spring day the birds chirping I’m

605
00:45:02,549 –> 00:45:06,29
sitting on the walls of a medieval
fortress and I said that me and linger

606
00:45:06,29 –> 00:45:09,269
the arts of you was one of many moments
in my life that I wanted to linger

607
00:45:09,269 –> 00:45:10,859
because they were so beautiful

608
00:45:10,859 –> 00:45:16,380
I’ve been very very lucky so you
mentioned a little bit before but your

609
00:45:16,380 –> 00:45:18,180
dreams for the future look like

610
00:45:18,180 –> 00:45:24,598
as i said i do is much travel and I can
I I like to travel vigorously I like to

611
00:45:24,599 –> 00:45:29,339
swim i like to hike i like the bicycle
and I’m thinking to myself that i’ll

612
00:45:29,339 –> 00:45:33,569
travel that way is no long as i can and
then after I get too old to travel that

613
00:45:33,569 –> 00:45:39,779
way I’ll take cruises and one day God
willing all you know live long enough so

614
00:45:39,779 –> 00:45:43,949
that i’m even to all to take cruises my
German teacher from high school mrs.

615
00:45:43,949 –> 00:45:49,440
cote she’d have to be 95 and I called
her a week or two before she passed away

616
00:45:49,440 –> 00:45:53,880
and she was still sharp as attack we
talked about the headlines in the paper

617
00:45:53,880 –> 00:45:59,849
that that morning we talked about
ourselves and you know what she was

618
00:45:59,849 –> 00:46:04,589
doing what I was doing she wants told me
that Kip now that I’m not able to travel

619
00:46:04,589 –> 00:46:13,140
anymore i have all these wonderful
memories I sit know here in my chair and

620
00:46:13,140 –> 00:46:17,459
I think which little pup was it where
such-and-such happened in Hamburg was it

621
00:46:17,459 –> 00:46:22,259
the one across the street from the you
know from the castle or was and you know

622
00:46:22,259 –> 00:46:28,109
she’s a hip it’s very rewarding it’s
wonderful that I had these like this

623
00:46:28,109 –> 00:46:32,69
lifetime of memories to look back one
and when she was saying that even I

624
00:46:32,69 –> 00:46:35,219
thought to myself you know something one
day I’m going to be in the same boat

625
00:46:35,219 –> 00:46:38,880
lord willing I’ll live long enough to be
too old to travel and when I’m too old

626
00:46:38,880 –> 00:46:42,550
to travel i have all these memories to
look back one so that’s what I’m

627
00:46:42,550 –> 00:46:47,200
no that’s how I’m hoping it will it will
work out as far as unfulfilled dreams I

628
00:46:47,200 –> 00:46:52,600
had the dream of the Peace Corps it is a
dream and I’m not sure I always thought

629
00:46:52,600 –> 00:46:57,250
I was proud of myself in the fact that
gosh I i did the year in the Soviet

630
00:46:57,250 –> 00:47:01,750
Union I wasn’t living you know in a hot
with a dirt floor but it was difficult

631
00:47:01,750 –> 00:47:07,420
living in Moscow in 1987 your food
shortages and fresh fruit and vegetables

632
00:47:07,420 –> 00:47:11,890
in the winter and they turned the water
off the hot water off for a couple of

633
00:47:11,890 –> 00:47:16,89
weeks just randomly I mean they were
there were problems coping you know with

634
00:47:16,90 –> 00:47:19,420
living being an American they’re being
pampered and I’ve always prided myself

635
00:47:19,420 –> 00:47:23,770
on the fact that you know I’m still able
to I could in the Peace Corps sleep on a

636
00:47:23,770 –> 00:47:29,740
cop earth and in a hot if i needed to
you know but now that I’m getting a

637
00:47:29,740 –> 00:47:33,430
little older and I’m wondering about
that a little more how that might work

638
00:47:33,430 –> 00:47:38,49
two years a two-year commitment to
living in the middle of nowhere

639
00:47:38,50 –> 00:47:42,340
um and maybe in conditions that aren’t
so comfortable because as you get older

640
00:47:42,340 –> 00:47:47,20
the iphone brightest things happen you
know and it’s not as easy to live less

641
00:47:47,20 –> 00:47:50,590
comfortable as it might have been 20
years ago even so we’ll see but that is

642
00:47:50,590 –> 00:47:53,650
that is that is has been has been a
dream for a long time and we’ll see if

643
00:47:53,650 –> 00:47:57,460
it happens or not there’s any last
thoughts you’d like to share

644
00:47:57,460 –> 00:48:01,330
I’d like to thank you for this
invitation this occasion it’s been

645
00:48:01,330 –> 00:48:08,410
really great talking with you I like
everybody who can to get out of their

646
00:48:08,410 –> 00:48:13,89
comfort zone and you know travel I meet
a lot of people who you know what I’ve

647
00:48:13,90 –> 00:48:16,360
always I’ve always wanted to travel but
I should have never gotten around to it

648
00:48:16,360 –> 00:48:20,530
and of course your life can go by saying
you’ve always wanted to travel one you

649
00:48:20,530 –> 00:48:24,220
know have never gotten around to it and
i think this kind of a fear of the

650
00:48:24,220 –> 00:48:27,939
unknown which is very human i fear the
unknown as well but you know if I let

651
00:48:27,940 –> 00:48:32,680
the unknown keep me in south jersey I
never would have gone anywhere or done

652
00:48:32,680 –> 00:48:33,970
anything

653
00:48:33,970 –> 00:48:39,40
and so I’d like that and of course being
a lover of the theater and a lover of

654
00:48:39,40 –> 00:48:44,920
choral music as I am i would recommend
for everyone to go see apply it you know

655
00:48:44,920 –> 00:48:49,480
go to a choral concert because they’ll
enrich your lives that there and-and-and

656
00:48:49,480 –> 00:48:54,970
choral music will enrich your life begin
with those thoughts

657
00:48:54,970 –> 00:48:58,720
well thank you so much for coming on
this job really glad he took me up on

658
00:48:58,720 –> 00:49:01,959
the invitational you’re quite welcome
and then we got to me it’s been pleasure

659
00:49:01,960 –> 00:49:06,400
you have a website that you plan on
updating at some point right

660
00:49:06,400 –> 00:49:11,410
I I do yeah I am i have a blog and as i
said i mentioned earlier that i use

661
00:49:11,410 –> 00:49:16,960
facebook is kind of a blog and write
about my travels and upload pictures and

662
00:49:16,960 –> 00:49:20,680
you know and that kind of thing on
facebook but also about a blog called

663
00:49:20,680 –> 00:49:22,480
tales to tell

664
00:49:22,480 –> 00:49:31,240
and I transferred from stories and some
photos onto that blog but and when I get

665
00:49:31,240 –> 00:49:34,990
it about three years ago I had every
intention when I retired of really

666
00:49:34,990 –> 00:49:41,589
working more with it and on but it
hasn’t happened yet but you’ve inspired

667
00:49:41,589 –> 00:49:45,940
me as a matter of fact to know revisited
and you know do something but it will

668
00:49:45,940 –> 00:49:48,220
get the link input in the show notes

669
00:49:48,220 –> 00:49:51,399
okay thanks very much Joe well thank you
very much for coming on the show

670
00:49:51,910 –> 00:49:55,569
you’re welcome the pleasure thank you
for joining us for this episode of the

671
00:49:55,570 –> 00:49:57,770
dreamers podcast

672
00:49:57,770 –> 00:50:03,590
follow us on twitter and dreamers
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673
00:50:03,590 –> 00:50:06,590
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674
00:50:07,500 –> 00:50:11,700
if you or someone you know would like to
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675
00:50:11,700 –> 00:50:19,710
please send an email to j and j parr .
co this podcast is copyright 2014 by j

676
00:50:19,710 –> 00:50:20,820
parr . cone