August 22nd, 2006:

• Stand for peace: After a brief morning intro, we had our first round of “Stand for Peace”, our educational curriculum. I am teamed with Danni, Rafa, Raoul, Kathleen, and Kenzo. For our first attempt, we worked with 4rth graders from the Osseo school district. They were very quiet and patient with us, thankfully, because we were quite nervous and a bit unorganized (which, of course, drove me nuts). Though we didn’t get through all the activities, I think the kids had fun. They laughed a bit and they appeared to understand the overall message. Hopefully next time we’ll get our transitions down so we don’t lose their attention and energy.
• Dinner with Jane, Joel, and Kristen: Back home, Yamil and I had barbecue with Jane and Joel. Kristen joined us for a bit. I really enjoyed this. We talked about education and some of the affairs of the world. I’m beginning to find that ERIK DOES HAVE OPPINIONS! Check that out.
• Mai Tais while Jane is at Jail: For the evening, Yamil and I walked around a local mall and went to a bar at PF Changs. I was trying to find him scorpion bowls as he has never tried them, but unfortunately they only had Mai Tais. Meanwhile, Jane was visiting one of her friends, a young man she had befriended who is presently in jail. She clearly has a big heart. She helps to run a coffee shop, Segue, which targets the young adult/ adolescents in the area. How cool, huh? And she clearly gets to know her patrons and becomes an integral part of their lives. If only there were more Janes in the world and more safe spaces for teens to “chill” instead of getting into trouble.

August 21st, 2006: Goodbye KC and the Spellmans. Hello Minneapolis/ St. Paul

This is getting to be tough. Just as I get to know my host families and create some bond, I have to leave. It’s strange to think that prior casts would only stay with host families for a matter of a few days. At least I had a chance to get to know the Spellmans a bit. I just think that it was so cool how it worked out that I stayed with them. Barb had met my mother at a conference in Boston, where Mom had mentioned about my upcoming participation in UWP. Weeks later, Barb heard from a friend in town that UWP was looking for host families. She made the connection and requested to have me as a host student. Networking can bring about many wonderful things!

So today we traveled 8.5 hours to Minneapolis. My bus date for this trip, Kevin. He and I had been hosted with Wouter in Colorado and there’s a good chance that I won’t see him again until after I finish this tour. I’ve been doing it for years, but I’m still not a fan of saying goodbye. We had a fun bus ride though…attempting to get comfortable and get some semblance of sleep, joking around, sharing stories, and watching RENT (someone had the good idea to bring the video of RENT to show on the bus for those who didn’t understand it when we saw it live at Starlight). I have such great friends here. It’s strange to think that eventually we’ll all be going back off to our corners of the world.

After a long trek, we finally arrived in Minnesota…Julie’s home state. This is going to be an action packed week, I hear. I can’t wait. I am hosted with Yamil with the Lundquist family. Another adventure begins.

August 20th, 2006: Show Day at American Royal, KC

Other than a brief lecturette comparing “My family and my home” to others in the cast, today was focused on building the set and rehearsing for the show. I enjoyed the day’s lecturette. I had a chance to speak a little more with Yamil from Mexico and learn a bit about his family.

Merchandising went better than I expected today. Eduardo purchased some receipt books at our request, which made keeping track of orders and adding them up infinitely easier. I think Laura, Michelle, Shana and I did well for sales. Still there are so many requests for CDs of our current show. I wish we could cut a disc to sell.

I had a pleasant surprise today. I caught the Barb and Michael just as they were dropping off lunches for the cast (Thank you so much for helping us out). I noticed Michael wearing a Boston shirt. Back home, I wouldn’t have given it a second thought. Today, it warmed my heart. It really made my day.

Though we definitely did not pack the auditorium’s 5,000 seats (Sorry, Kevin, we tried), the show went well. The Spellmans certainly had a positive reaction J I was told that Mathew had made a comment to the extent of “Man, Erik can bust a move!”

I was particularly thankful to have had my third opportunity to sing the Unspoken Words solo. It was looking like the staff were going to rotate someone else in, John (who has more of the rocker style voice that they are looking for), but in the end they didn’t. I’m trying not to get my heart set on dancing certain dances and singing certain songs for fear that I might disappoint myself when the staff changes the line-up. I’ve just got to go in with the mindset of “I’m just happy to be here. Everything else is just gravy”.

We had a special guest in the show today that left many with teary eyes. There was a mother-son duet, who performed a beautiful song about a mother’s desire for her son to have the best life possible. Apparently, the son had been diagnosed with diabetes at a very young age. I can’t remember too much at this time of night, but I think the song is called “A mother’s wish” and they have a foundation to raise money for children with diabetes.

August 19th, 2006: FREE DAY (mostly) and RENT

These free days are the best. It started with a pancake breakfast with the Wilson’s (UWP alum). I was so thankful to have pancakes again. I love waking up at Mom’s house to fresh pancakes. Today I was able to enjoy this treat with my friends from California, Japan, Arizona, Canada, California, and Massachusetts and their host families. Though early (we were supposed to be there at 8, we arrived at 9:15), it was a great way to start the day. From there, the Spellmans took me to the Plaza, Union Station, and Oklahoma Joes (great BBQ in a gas station)! I think the Plaza is one of the most beautiful shopping areas I have ever seen. The architecture reminds me of what I’ve seen in Italy. At night, it’s magnificent. Apparently there are more fountains here than in Rome.

That night we received a special treat. We were taken back to the Starlight theatre to see Rent. HOW COOL. This is a great show. Thankfully, I had seen it before on video because there is so much going on stage at once. The “foreigners” had a lot of difficulty following it. I hope we can watch the video together so everyone can understand what had happened. Either way, this was a great experience for us as a cast, to watch a professional show (and to market our own show with our green T-shirts).

August 18th, 2006: Hot Topics continue

Though relatively short, this was an intense day. We were given two big activities to learn about ourselves. First, we were presented with activities to talk about our synchronicity (how well we work together and how much time and personal style plays a factor). We were initially asked to close our eyes and attempt to count out loud, one at a time, as high as we can as a group without saying a number twice or repeating it. We were only able to get to 12. We were told that over time, this number will increase. I certainly hope so.

Next, we were presented with an activity to determine our personality styles in how we value time. We were asked to line up outside and then, depending on how we would answer time-related questions, we would either step to the right…or take a step to the left. Those on one the right hand side were monochromic, or people who value efficiency and completing tasks. Those on the left hand side were polychromic, or those who value time with people and getting multiple projects done. I was basically in the middle, just a bit to the right. This seems accurate. I value getting things done, on time if possible, but in my field I work with and for people. People ARE my job. So if I’m not focusing on my interaction with people (and maybe letting a few things slide here and there as far as scheduling goes), then the paperwork and appointments are pointless.

Again, we were asked to dive into hot topics. We held three discussion groups, though we could only participate in two due to timing. I chose to engage in the discussions on War and Abortion. This was a good challenge for me. Often times I find that I avoid such conversations as I feel that I shouldn’t have a stance on these things. I’m generally so neutral….a peace maker. I was eager to see where my strongest thoughts and opinions would lie.

Lord knows how this happened, but I found myself in an odd situation where I was defending our current president, “W”. Many of the non-US citizens were bashing his thick-headedness and questioned why he would press forward with a war that his comrades in the UN, in addition to the public he serves, greatly disagrees with. I reasoned that leaders do need to take into consideration the opinions of others. However, good leaders make decisions for “the greater good” and, right or wrong, will follow through on those decisions. Otherwise the leader will be viewed as indecisive, weak, and undeserving of respect. I believe this is why John Kerry lost the last election, unfortunately.

The discussion on Abortion was, as expected, intense. Being a group of mostly women, the general perspective leaned towards pro-choice. However, there were some “devil’s advocates” and a few pro-lifers who put their two cents in. Personally, I’m a pro-choice guy. It isn’t my body, so I don’t believe that I have a say. If I were a woman, I believe that I would find this an amazing existential dilemma. When does life begin? To be spiritual, when does a baby receive its soul? Is abortion killing, or mercy. My feelings waver on these things. Though, as I did point out to the group, a child learns quickly whether he or she was wanted or not. Those who know they are unwanted often lead MISERABLE lives. I’ve seen these children in therapy. Depression, suicidality, personality disorders (including sociopathology and antisocial personalities) run rampant with this population. Why would you want to pre-dispose a child to this?

Some tears were certainly shed by members of the cast, but I believe we survived these conversations. Tonight I attended dinner with extended members of the Spellman family. They really are a wonderful crew. They were all SOOOO interested in UWP and its mission.

Tonight, I played monopoly with the boys until about 10:30. I wanted nothing more than sleep after 9pm, but I realized that with all our late nights, I hadn’t really had time to spend with them. It was worth it. I could barely focus my eyes on the numbers in front of me, and I couldn’t match the locations on the boards with their “deeds”, but that was okay. We all had great laughs. It would have been sad to miss out on this bonding opportunity, just for sleep. I can do that in December J

Presentations, dance practice, and a sweaty performance

August 17^th, 2006: “Ohio Gozaimas (sp?)” Japanese for “Good Morning”

First day of school for Michael and Matt! What’s encouraging is that they are looking forward to going to school! How often do you hear kids say that!? These brother’s are a real trip.

The cast worked today at American Royal, a large local Agricultural organization. They developed materials for their educational programs. I worked on dances. I am starting to feel a bit out of the loop with all these dance and vocal workshops. At Kevin’s (staff) recommendation, I noted this to our statistical coordinator, Simon (from Denmark. He was my “bus date” on the way to Kansas City). Simon is aware of the situation. There’s three of us who haven’t participated in a CI in a few weeks and who may not participate for another week or so ::sigh::. I’m very thankful to have singing and dancing roles in the show. I’d just like to be sure that I get the complete UWP experience, not just the performance angle of things.

Anywho, I practiced dance today until our BTS (or brief show) at the Starlight theatre. Thankfully, those were not my only activities. Over the past week, several cast members and myself put together a presentation on “gay culture”. We were composed of cast who identify themselves all along the Kinsey scale (American researcher from the 1940s who proposed the idea that sexuality is not necessarily as concrete as many think. According to him, people fall along a spectrum from 1 – 6. “1” being completely heterosexual and “6” being completely homosexual). Respectfully, nobody was expected to expose their orientation. This made for a wonderfully safe presentation and the cast never demanded the information.

I’m glad it went well because I spent, what felt like, an eternity trying to get everybody coordinated and putting everybody’s ideas together. The final concept was a talk show in which “experts” were interviewed by a host and the audience (the cast). This proved to be a great presentation. As expected, this became a “hot topic” ripe for debate, especially from those with strong religious affiliations. Emotions were elevated certainly. I look forward to diving into the topic more with cast members.

The BTSs at Starlight were, well, sweaty. We held them outside (it’s an outdoor theatre). It was exciting though. We were the opening act for RENT.

That and both my suspenders popped off during our swing dance :O I look forward to at least ONE uncomplicated performance. Wait…that would be boring. Scratch that. Let the adventures keep coming. Just let me keep singin’ and dancin’.

Pride and Dignity

Wednesday August 16^th, 2006: Harvesters

Our first CI in Kansas City today was with Harvesters, a HUGE food bank that serves the entire city. Though I had to work on vocals all day for the show, the cast worked on numerous projects to clean, organize, and package meals for people and organizations in strong need for food. That evening we participated in a hunger banquet. This was a cleaver idea that I may try to replicate to some degree with my clients at some point.

The concept was that each participant receives a new identity. I became a poor coffee farmer. Most of us were poor. The remaining guests were given identities as middle class or upper class citizens. Just as soon as we were able to settle into our seats (I sat on cardboard boxes), the organizers informed us that there had been some shifting among the classes. Some of the “middle class” participants had lost their jobs, were going to be paid less for their products, or had been phased out, so they were forced into the poverty group. One or two were able to procure solid jobs, so they were able to move from the poverty level to sitting in chairs with the middle class. There were no shifts (that I can remember) within the upper class. Sounds representative.

We proceeded to eat. The upper class had their choice of foods and drinks at their candle lit dinners. They were served by waiters. The middle class were given fewer choices and were allowed to serve themselves. The rest of us, the poor, were given small servings of rice and half cups to drink. Point made. I was STARVING already and the rice did nothing to quench my hunger.

I noticed cast members beginning to get restless. One decided to steal some food from the rich. Others attempted to “pan handle” and beg for food. I decided to stay put. I didn’t like the idea of begging for food. A friend of mine who happened to be in the upper class dinner asked me if I wanted some more food. I told him that I would be alright.
Though I’m sure he did this with the best of intentions. He threw a bundle of bread at me. I was stunned. I had to take a pause for fear that I might yell at him. How dare he throw food at me. I spoke with Susan from New Zealand (an OT) about the interaction. All the interactions were very representative of how the classes interact. I was most struck by how strongly I wished not to beg for food in order to maintain my dignity. I pondered. How do you respect the need for dignity for those in need. Experience and instinct says, USE respect and provide those who may need help with opportunities to choose help on their own terms. Don’t throw help at them!

All over the place

Tuesday August 15^th 2006: We were all over the place today. This morning we had our first Cast Meeting. This was a doosey. Cori encouraged us to hash out our issues. After a little hesitation, the truth came out. Cast began venting frustrations about the lack of free time, roles in the show, mixed messages from staff, lack of “real” emotion from the cast members (I was notified prior to entering into the program that historically the European members found American’s to be fake and unreasonably happy), and fears of losing individuality. For the most part, I kept my mouth shut and listened as most were expressing concerns that I would have mentioned. However, I did pipe up in staff’s defense when a particular issue of confidentiality came into question.

I’m impressed. Cori and the staff took a huge risk in holding this venting session, but it was very necessary. It’s about time for us to get down to the nitty gritty and start hashing out our issues with each other. If we can’t do it here on the micro scale, then how can we expect entire countries to do this on a macro scale?

After some serious processing we were able to regroup and prep for a bit of sight seeing. Today we were to tour KCTV5. We were able to go in and see the news room, play around with the green screen, see the grand control centers, and spend a few moments in the offices where the stories were written. This was a new experience for me. I decided to strike up a conversation with the camera guy. He appeared pleasantly surprised to have someone show interest in his work. I figure, it’s all well and good to meet the person who stands in front of the camera…but where would that person be without the camera man?

The remainder of the day was spent in “Sports Time”. A considerable amount of us decided to go to the local outdoor pool. It was then that I realized how much I missed the ocean. I was so thrilled to be swimming in the water and to have a chance to lie down and soak in some sun. Everybody’s got their poison. Some smoke. Some drink. I get high on sunlight.

North Platte into Kansas City

Monday August 8^th, 2006: Travel Day & First day in North Platte, Nebraska

So this is what the rest of my tour will look like. Today, Wouter and I said goodbye to David and Thora (and in some part to each other) and head onto our two busses at Tivoli campus to begin our travels to North Platte, NE. It was so strange saying goodbye to David and Thora….in addition to saying goodbye to the many staff we had worked with so intensely for the past month. Let’s just say that many tears were shed by all.

For this trip, my bus buddy was Tyler from New Mexico. He just recently graduated from a military high school and had heard about Up With People through a relative who had traveled years ago. Tyler was most drawn to the community service aspect.

I had a great time learning about Tyler, his upbringing, his family, his past-times, and his thoughts on war and religion.

(If I’m remembering correctly, his family is intact. He has two brothers and he was raised Christian (Baptist and Methodist?). He enjoyed going away to his military school and he hopes to go further into the armed services, hopefully to learn how to “blow shit up”. There were a few gay people out at his school, but he really couldn’t stand them because they were “fags” (too swishy). We had a great talk about homosexuals who give other homosexuals a bad reputation, meaning “fags”. It was enlightening to hear from him that he appreciates Bob and I and how we act around others.

Tyler enjoys spending time with friends and attending drinking parties. He’s been in fights and finds himself perseverating over a recent skirmish in which an acquaintance attempted to steal some beer from him and during this interaction a gun was drawn. He decided at that time not to persue this battle, but continues to run through it over and over in his head. He and I talked at length about honor and respect and how flashing of weapons is a “pussy move”.)

Our first destination in North Platte was the local bowling alley. As many of you know, I am not a huge fan of bowling. I just never found a nack for it. However, this was BIG BALL BOWLING, like I had done in Uganda. WHAT A BLAST! Wouter, Kirstin, Jeff, Dong, and I played nearly two rounds and laughed the entire time.

At 5:30, we met our new host families. Ammar from Syria and I were to be hosted by the Engel family. They were identifiable by their “small child’s toothbrush”. Jay and Amy and their two eldest children, Jordan (14) and Jacob (12), greeted us. Their youngest, Adam (8) was at a birthday party.

After our first meal together, tacos, we went off in their big Suburban truck (I think that’s what it is), we went to pick up Adam. This was some BIG birthday party. 40 children, mostly around the age of 8. For a while, Ammar and I stuck near Jay talking about the differences between Nebraska, Mass., and Syria. I found myself rapidly getting figity. A) I wanted to play on the HUGE blow up terrain parks that this family had invested in for the party and B) I wanted the families to see Up With People engaging with the kids. So, in typical Erik style, I dove in with the kids. I think I did the right thing because all the kids and all the adults started smiling at us and the host of the party began asking us about UWP.

Ammar took a more conservative route and watched. I’m really interested in getting to know Ammar. His perspective is so different from what I am accustomed to hearing and reading from the media, especially with regards to issues in the Middle East. I hope to learn a lot from him. Thus far, I’ve learned that people in Syria favor things on the right. Interesting.

The bulk of the remainder of the night included a tour of the town and a sharing session in the Engel’s living room. Ammar and I shared our host family gifts and different books about our home areas. Adam and Jacob played music for us on the piano and talked about what they had learned about in school with regards to United States and world history. Jordan was more reserved, but I was able to engage her in conversation about dance.

Alas I should probably get to bed. Ammar is already trying to sleep and I’m typing by a lamp at the foot of the bed. This week, I share a bedroom with a Syrian in the house of, what seems to be, very traditional Christians. This could make for an interesting combination. Let’s see what flies J

Wednesday August 9^th, 2006:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAY!!! I hope you’re having a wonderful day. We’ll have to celebrate your day when I get back. Thank you for all your support.

Practice time at a new location on a new stage. Our show will be at North Platte High School, in an auditorium that fits about 1200. Imagine if we can fill it. Most of the day was spent in practicing bits and pieces to get our bearings on how we will work with the stage.

This evening we went to the ranch of Buffalo Bill where we were given a tour of his home and fed by local cattle farmers (not surprisingly, there weren’t many food options for the vegetarians in the group). I found myself sitting with several cast and staff members having the most RANDOM conversations about childhood cartoons (local and foreign), toys, and vomit stories. I really enjoy these opportunities to kick back and chat (seemingly) about nothing. It really makes the world seem smaller and less intimidating when you can just chat with people from other nations.

Thursday August 10^th, 2006:

Another aggressive gesture has been made towards the American culture. I heard today, initially through my host brother Jacob (good for him for being so up to date) that there was an attempt made to destroy several flights heading from London to the U.S. using bombs engineered with a disposable camera and an explosive cleverly disguised as a sports drink. How frighteningly creative.

We could take this as an omen that Up With People should just stop. Give up. Take ourselves out of harms way. Instead, we will continue on with our tour. Such events highlight the need for this organization. Certainly with fear in my bones I do wish that we could tour to the Middle East to let the cultures there know that all Americans are not bad people! We are not all selfish, power hungry, rich, grey haired white men trying to force our “family values” down other cultures’ throats. Unfortunately, “Middle East” is not in our itinerary. However, thankfully, we have Ammar here with us. He has already been helping us to understand better why there is such animosity towards the U.S. I hope that the people he meets along the way will be as willing to listen to him.

Thus far I’ve learned that much of Syria’s animosity towards the United States is due to our “unfair support” of the Israelis. The Syrian perspective is that the Israelis are the cause for all the war in the Middle East and that the U.S. should not intervene.

…..Back from a break. I am actually in the midst of finishing up a conversation with Ammar and Jay (host Dad) about religion and the parallels between the Islamic Koran and the Christian Bible. Jay and I didn’t realize that there were so many stories in common, including those of Jesus, Moses, and Joseph. This further brings to question, “How different, REALLY, are all the religions in the world?”

We’ve also been talking about politics (Get this, Maki is going political). Ammar began the conversation talking about how surprised he is that U.S. media does not show more about events in the Middle East. My response was that we tend to focus on those things that seemingly impact us directly. That and many Americans feel that the battles in the middle east have been going on for thousands of years, and will continue to do so until the end of time. Why bother focus on it. To be honest, that has been my perspective.

Ammar attempted to provide Jay and me with recent events (within the past 75 years) in the Middle East, such as Israel’s takeover of Palestine. He is amazingly knowledgeable. He admits to having done lots of research on his part. I really wish I had a note pad so that I could recount the dates and dealings. I feel so ignorant. In my dream world I would have a video camera and there would be a representative from Israel here to give the other side of the story. I guess I will “just” need to be a more avid reader. I’ve heard from several sources that British media tends to be more balanced. BBC, here I come.

I have to give Jay credit. He fully admits to living in a sheltered area of the country, where he concerns himself little with the politics and wars overseas. I appreciate his honestly. I asked him why he chose to host UWP students. To this he responded that he wishes to get to know people from other countries, not so much their politics. Very cool.

Oh, and by the way, we had a mini show at Cody Park. We had a BTR (?) for 1^st Financial Bank’s family barbecue. I think it went relatively well. Of course, I perseverated over my one screw-up (I spun the wrong way in “Keep the Beat”). Regardless, the crowd was appreciative and we all had fun playing volleyball and Frisbee.

Friday August 11, 2006:

Unfortunately, this was my second day missing CI. However, it was my own doing. I volunteered to help out the merchandising team. It seems I will be helping to sell shirts, buttons, and pictures before and after the shows. Time to dust off my salesman hat.

Though I would have liked to have participated in the community service project for the day, I did enjoy the opportunity to get to know Michelle and Laura. We even had two lunch breaks (thanks Gabby for inviting us).

Tonight my host family, the Engels, offered a barbecue for host families and their cast members in the neighborhood. Olga, Deka, and Laura joined us for dinner, pool time, and smores (yumm). Such a great time, kicking back and acting goofy.

Right now I’m practicing Village and Sound of Piece with Adam. I’m psyched that he and his older brother, Jacob will be joining us on stage tomorrow. Maybe we can convince Jordan (their sister) to apply for UWP in the next few years.

Saturday August 12^th, 2006: Disturbing news and our first show on the road.

Today was supposed to be all about practicing and workshops for the show tonight. Instead, we received some really difficult news from Cori. Unfortunately, two members of our cast will have to leave. This may possibly leave us without a band!

This really shook the troupe. Personally, I was in shock and I decided to think later and do some care-taking first. So I checked in with everybody I could see who was sitting alone. Thankfully, I was not the only one playing this role. It struck me how this is a great crew. I don’t have to play therapist to EVERYONE. We honestly care about each other, like a family. We really take care of each other.

Amazingly, we rallied for the show. It was a success. Nearly all the audience members I interviewed said they loved it…save a few “older” women who said that the music was not their style. They were at least willing to agree with me that the energy and enthusiasm of the cast was positive. (Hey Wayside, I’m still thinking strength-based!)

After the show, I flew to the merchandise table to help make some sales (I’m now on the merchandising team. Time to take my retail experience off mothballs). As soon as that died down, I was off to help out with admissions. When I was done with my responsibilities, I met the Engels in the café. Ammar was helping the boys to get autographs from every cast member. He has a great heart. I really wish we had more time to chat and get to know each other. Maybe we’ll be hosted together again?

Sunday August 13^th, 2006: Chill Day

Oh, my, how much do I love sleep? I think I slept for a solid 10 hours! This was a much needed day. I went for a walk (would have ran but my knees are acting up again), showered, and then the Engels took us out for some last minute sight seeing. We checked out the military memorial, the trading post, and…after a nice dinner with Amy’s parents, we (Jay, Amy, Jacob, Adam, Ammar, and I) went to a small amusement park where we raced carts and played around on bumper boats. Great way to end our time in North Platte. Jordan joined us later after completing her cheerleading practices.

Monday August 14^th 2006: Goodbye to North Platte. Hello to Kansas City!

It’s late now, so I should really get some sleep. It was sad to leave the Engels. They were a sweet family. However, I am now living with the Spellmans: Barb, Crhis, Michael, and Matt. I’ve been so fortunate in my host families. I believe that this will be a great week, not better than the past few weeks, just great in a different way. Hopefully with this pirated wifi connection (ssssssshhhhhhh!), I’ll be able to maintain more regular contact. Now, time for sleep.