Annoying year-end letter--NO WAY--that's not how I roll!

The "must have" gift of the season....poseable Peace Corps figures (college degree and surly disposition not included)




















Dan the man (he's from Illinois but claims "Cali")
Baby Seth, Jess, and Jen are excited about judging an English competition
David and Nativia getting the Xmas on in Batumi






Well, it's only a week until you losers in the west celebrate Christmas, whereas I and my bretheren here in Orthodox-land still have 3 weeks of holiday shopping left. I'll bet the major retailers in the US and Europe wish that Pope Gregory had never changed the calander. What better way to celebrate the season than by bying more stuff Blech!:(
OK, now that my anti-materialism rant is out of the way, let me bring you up to speed. My college was basically shut down by the government, the "Three R's" in this case being Revolution, Reform, and Reassessment, leaving me without any eager young Georgians to teach. After some time, the Peace Corps found me another school in Senaki and I'm very happy there. I am known as "Mr. Jonni", which I must say, has a VERY cool ring to it. I traveled down to Batumi for a weekend and just this past weekend went to the town of Lanchkhuti, where I was an honored judge in an English competition. (it's not that big of an honor...there were 12 of us). I was very impressed with the students and of course, the Supra we had afterwards.
I have been making a DVD that has a bunch of pictures and music on it, and it is about halfway done. I hope to get that out to all the good girls and boys in the next month or so. It will be late for the holidays, hell it may even be late for tax day, but my creative genius can not be rushed! Speaking of gifts...the winner of the Stalin T-Shirt contest was John Shaw, a former student of mine at PCCS. (Pilar...I am so disappointed in you). For those who did get the right answer (Sam and Curtis), if you want a shirt, I'll pick one up for you the next time I go to Gori. I am thinking alot aboutPortland and PCCS of late...the KKKKK will be happening on Friday and I will miss the various shenanagins that the holiday season in Portland always brings (Zoolights, Peacock Lane, Tuba Christmas, etc). Still, life here in Georgia is good and in a few days it will be 2008. A new year with new adventures and friends! Til next time, Merry Christmas and Happy Chanakuh!
All the Best,
John