Abstract

So much to say, where to begin: I'm in a hotel room in Pittsburgh. I leave tomorrow morning for DC, and then a day after that, Armenia where I will serve live for 27 months and serve as a Peace Corps volunteer for two years.

Maybe I should explain the title for those not currently in an MA TESOL program. Newer theories of language have used chaos theory and complex systems theories to analyze language and believe that language is best viewed as a complex adaptive system. It is constantly changing as it is being used, effectively "the very act of playing the game changes the rules." Crazy stuff. The most obvious example that comes to mind is the usage of Google a proper noun referring to a company, as a verb. How it became a verb isn't as important as just that it did become one. Language adapted.

So what does that have to do with the title of this blog. Mostly I just liked it and thought it was clever. Maybe I"ll regret it but who cares. And also I think I'm a complex adaptive system, and not that I'm unique, I think we're all pretty much that, from the cellular level all the way up to our social interactions across time and space using the internet.

The plan for the next couple days:

Wake up at 4:00 am to catch the 4:30 am shuttle.

Fly from Pittsburgh to DC at 6:15 am.

Have a day of orientation in DC.

Hopefully see Eleanor in DC.

Leave the next day from DC at 5:40 pm

Get to Vienna at 8:40 am

Hang out in Vienna for 14 hours.

Leave Vienna for Armenia at 10:30 pm.

Get into Armenia at 4:45 am.

Go nuts.

THE END

Well I need to be up in 4 hours so I'm going to go to bed and hopefully I'll be able to post again soon.