So how about that American Idol??

I miss pop culture. And you know what's hilarious? Not only the fact that I knew little about pop culture to begin with, but the fact that the people here think I'm a total pop culture freak, queen of all things pop culture. I try to respond, but usually I just choke on disbelief and inability to express how inaccurate that is.

Saturday night...

Person: Who's that G3 volunteer? Ed... Ed... Ed Wood?

Me: Ed Wood, director of Plan 9 from Outer Space?

Everybody: You are a freak!

Me: ...

Things like that. I need need need a live, streaming College Bowl meeting to be broadcast across the internet. It'd be just like old times, except I wouldn't be able to ring in, since there's no need to waste money to implement a buzzer system I'd never use.

This is for you guys, though: the following is a quote from my 11th grade class's actual English textbook:

"The main task of the All-Union Lenin Young Communist League is to educate the young men and women according to the principles of Marxism-Leninism, to fight bourgeois ideology, to develop friendship among all peoples, to educate people who will live under communism. The Komsomol members of our days are working hard to solve the problems of the technical revolution."

Soon to be followed in another article about O. Henry:

"A happy end was what Americans required as a change from the sadness of life and O. Henry tried to please his public."

So there you go.

Permanent site! And only 5 minutes left on the internet, which I hereby dedicate to you guys, and mostly to Lisa, the comment-leaver. This one's for you.

So I'm running a cute little summer camp next week, but other than that, it's nothing for a month till school starts the 18th. Isn't that exciting? That's about all I have to say. But I should be online a lot more often now since there's 4 internet cafes here. And that's it.

Still here!

8 weeks later, Jennifer has yet to quit the Peace Corps. This has surpassed her own expectations, she is happy to say. She also notes that her new site (consult your local Victor if you need a name; apparently I'm not supposed to share specific site information publicly, not that you'd be familiar with it anyway) is full of amenities and a bigger TV than she had in the US. Small host family because the dad works in Moscow (?!) and the brother studies in Tbilisi, so she's left with a mom and sister, but it should be all good. There's a newly-renovated school with a computer lab, a neighboring school has wireless internet (this is Peace Corps?), and also several parks, one with ping-pong tables and one with a big screen that broadcasts music videos and TV at night. And lots of ice cream. Due to this 3-day site visit, I highly recommend Peace Corps to everybody.

You know what's cool? I have friends here. And I tell them all about the days of yore in College Bowl, and that guy who knew everything about movies and music, and that guy who knew everything about anime and video games, and that guy who knew everything about the Civil War and American politics, and that chick who knew everything about British invasion and TV shows that I've never heard of. I may have used the word "freaks" in describing you guys, but it was in the best possible sense, and I can't wait to come back and visit after I'm done, and fulfill my role as that lame person who wasn't that good at College Bowl during college but wants to relive her glory years as filler. Just one more tournament, that's all I'm asking.

I love e-mail, guys, and if you put a dot between jennifer and mcfann and then put @gmail.com after it and send a message, I'd freaking love it. And I'm still on the College Bowl listserv, so I'll stalk you that way, too.

Sakartvelo foreva, nakhwomdis megobrebs.

Hey all

So why not post from here? It eliminates the necessity of making people check my travel blog, and it's a good way to blow the last ten minutes of internet access that I have. There's not much to tell yet, except that my host family is great, and they're really big on gardens and making wine/vodka/cognac/chacha here... and the cherries are amazing. I don't even like non-maraschino cherries in the US, and these are great. Apparently the pears are bad this season because my host father tasted one and said that only Russians would eat them.

So karaoke in July 2007?

So, you have a passing interest in knowing what Jennifer McFann is doing thousands of miles away, but not so strong an interest that you want her e-mailing you every freaking day? Fear not! With the egotistical assumption that everybody cares to know her life story, she has created a travel blog. Its easy-to-remember address is http://jeningeorgia.blogspot.com so you can remember and check it from anywhere! From an internet kiosk! From the library! From your friend's house! Its portable memory-friendly address travels anywhere with you, and all she asks in return is that you comment on the occasional post so it doesn't feel like she's all alone on the other side of the world.

Which she will be.