Beginnings

It would seem so dreadfully cliché to start a blog about a journey with a quote from Tolkien, but to be cliché is fairly acceptable these days among the lower classes, and since my pretensions at refinement are, in truth and honesty, nothing but pretensions, I'll give in and begin with a quote by Tolkien. Actually, having begun with a backhanded defense of my own literary laziness and general association with the hoi polloi, it would be more precise to say that I'll now continue with a quote from Tolkien. But precision is exactly the thing that helps people to land on the moon, and since it's much more fun to aim for the moon but land on a distant star by accident, precision will henceforth be discarded in the view that precision excludes the possibility of fortuitous mistakes. So, let's begin with the cliché quote from Tolkien:

“Not all who wander are lost." 

 There now. You probably thought I was going to start with that quote about it being a dangerous business going out one's door. That would have been beyond cliché. It would have been downright plagiarism. And there is little in life more loathsome than plagiarism (although soggy breakfast cereal comes extremely close). 

 Wandering. The word sounds a bit lonely. Perhaps adventures can be lonely. I'm sure that there will be lonely days ahead in Greece. But wandering also has a certain charm to it. If I knew where this wandering will lead, it would be a lot less fun. Perhaps it takes wandering to find something unexpected. 

 So here's to wandering. Here's to two years of teaching in Greece. Here's to adventures. Here's to cliché Tolkien quotes: 

“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”