A little reflection

Ken is in the states and won't be back for another few weeks (5 weeks total!). I wish you could see the fields of orange poppies in bloom. They are wild flowers and as the yellow of the canola fades, it is taken over by bright orange poppies!
I stayed behind to finish up the semester. It is hard to believe that I have been teaching for a year. It seems like yesterday that we we sitting in the airport in Cedar Rapids, getting ready for the adventure. And the adventure continues. The school system here is very different. They are not worried about students cheating but instead are concerned that everything be equal and the same. So we work for hours on establishing a standard set of examinations that can be used year after year. If a student does not pass their final exam the first time, they are given two more opportunities to pass it. Even though we enter all of the grades on the computer, the students must still bring in their little books that we have to sign and write their grades in.
I have been walking even more lately. With Ken gone and gas at about $7.00 per gallon here, it makes more sense to leave the car just sit. Besides everything is very close here. Of course we get a little different perspective on the news here. One of the issues that has troubled me is why no one is pointing out the obvious reason that oil is over $120.00 per barrel. Four years ago our dollars bought around 30 Czech Crowns and oil was around $60.00 a barrel. Now our dollars only buy 15 Czech Crowns and oil is $120.00 a barrel. Since oil is traded in dollars that means that the oil merchants who must sell their oil in dollars are only getting dollars worth 1/2 of what they were four years ago. So if they want to get the same value in their local currency they have to double the dollar cost of the oil. I'm not saying that I like it, but I think the public has to change its focus to the real problem and that is the falling value of the dollar and the worldwide fall in confidence in the United States, its policies and its leaders. The Czech just shake their heads and can not believe what has happened to the US in the last 8 years. For us, personally it has doubled our expenses if you think in dollars. I am trying to think in crowns and in that respect, their has been some inflation that has increased the cost. Unfortunately, that great Czech beer that used to be about 25 cents for a big glass full is now, with the dollar and inflation over a dollar a glass. Still a bargain however. However eggs are $2.00 a dozen and butter is around $5.00 a pound. Being here doesn't give us much of an opportunity to assist in changing the American policies. I will have to leave that up to you.
Well that's enough politics,..I have to get back to reading essays. Take care and comment or email.