Classes as usual. Kathleen headed to the airport for her visit to our program in Izmir. The 4-week group headed off for the Issyk-Kul excursion.

So this is kind of silly, especially out of a 50+ man, but I'll say it anyway. Kathleen has always been incredibly impressive to me. Her Russian is stellar, her German as well. She is focused, ethical, and never spares herself in doing things well. She is almost superhuman to my way of thinking.

This week, though, she arrived in Bishkek with monstrous jetlag. No surprise, of course. And for the first time I caught her making mistakes in Russian. I found that oddly encouraging. She is not superhuman, just a remarkable human.

Some years ago I found myself pushed to the limit. I decided to start taking a bit of pity on myself in terms of pushing too hard. That was probably a good decision. But over the last few years, I think I have grown to easy on myself. And I think Kathleen's example may help me push harder again.