Ontological Orators

The fascination people have with historical places is not fully understood but is no less powerful because of it. Tourists pay thousands of dollars to stand beneath the Eiffel Tower, kiss the Blarney Stone, Walk through Check Point Charlie, or to stand on the Beaches of Normandy. It’s a part of their history that they have a vague emotional memory of. Some people would even go as far as to call it an inherited memory and others reincarnation. When Patton stood near some ruins in North Africa he recalled, "It was here. The battlefield was here. The Carthaginians defending the city were attacked by three Roman Legions. Carthaginians were proud and brave but they couldn't hold. They were massacred. Arab women stripped them of their tunics and their swords and lances. The soldiers lay naked in the sun, two thousand years ago; and I was here."

On some level, Hilary’s motivation for her journey to England was based on this phenomenon. Her entire academic career was also grounded partially in it. Part of her and her sister’s for that matter, disappointment in London was due to the absence of that feeling. But their experience in the Cathedral at Westminster made up for the rest of the city. Seeing the bodies of actual saints entombed in glass for centuries was more than enough to make the chills of history climb up and down their spines. The devotion of millions of Christians could be felt every time they took a step or walked past rows of candles. Silence was kept inside and truly honored the name sanctuary. After sending up several of their own prayers for loved ones far away, in health and not; they passed through the doors and returned to the secular world with lightened spirits.

Their school week was pleasantly busy. Between classes and after school activities, the girls rarely had time to analyze their situation. Which they knew to be a good thing. Both outside of their comfort zones, the sisters attended every school activity. Hilary because she was holding onto her last year of college with a desperate grip; and Deirdre because it was her first year and didn’t want to have any regrets. They presumed this method would work because after all as Lance Armstrong once said to a defeated Peter La Fleur in the cinematic masterpiece Dodgeball, “Well, I guess if a person never quit when the going got tough, they wouldn't have anything to regret for the rest of their life.”

Despite the sister’s shared aversion to uncontrollable situations like foosball, pool, ping-pong, badminton and bowling they succeeded and failed at all of them. Hilary teamed up with an English classmate to dominate a foosball match but later lost, with the same partner, at a game of pool against her sister and another Englishman. Later in the week Deirdre succeeded at defeating her sister in three matches of badminton, Hilary maybe winning two sets out of the six. Hilary fared no better against another, even less experienced, classmate. Hilary decided the solution to her lack of badminton skill would be to purchase some athletic attire more fitted for the game.


The more comfortable NSA activity was the presentation of the first film in the Bourne trilogy. Having just watched the Bourne Identity with her Grandfather Ziebarth, Hilary attended purely for social reasons. She had great hopes of sitting by her latest male interest but was maddeningly seated behind him throughout the movies entirety.

The girls’ most archived adventure of the week was the humanity department’s social in Moore Close. There, Hilary and Deirdre met Dr. John Baildam. He was the cheeriest Vice Principle the girls had ever met. Unquestionably English, he met the girls with intellectual and self-deprecating humor. They immediately took a liking to him and enjoyed the cakes and drink provided—Well, Hilary did.






Friday evening a pile of rubbish was set ablaze by the NSA for the annual fall bonfire. Excited beyond reason, both girls wondered if there would be marshmallows there. It occurred to them that the American staple, available at every corner market, might not be in attendance. With genuine concern, Hilary asked the activities coordinator/pastor, Geert, if they would. He replied in his honey-coated, Holland accent that he would try, but they were hard to come by. Apparently they’re only available in England during the weeks surrounding Guy Fawkes Day. Deirdre’s immediate disdain for the holiday was palpable. She even verbalized it, which lead to a brief discussion of the holiday with the gentleman from Holland who really had no informed opinion but knew that it was offensive to a lot of people. Hilary thanked him for his efforts concerning the s’mores issue and walked away debating her sister whether Guy Fawkes was a hero or just a terrorist they agreed with.



This picture shows Deirdre's feelings towards Guy Fawkes Day celebrators

The event itself was destined for greatness because there would be a great deal of fire, a sunset and sitting in an open field. These ingredients were only improved by the full stock of marshmallows that were roasted with great care and nostalgia. The usually irritating feeling of sticky fingers just made the girls feel closer to their beloved United States and summer evenings spent around campfires with friends and family.




New mates Christina (American) and Maria (Dane)

Deirdre after losing a marshmallow to the flames






The end of some honky-tonk


The emotion made the girls remember the Saturday night previous when the school set off fireworks after a Saturday evening service. Hilary, having missed the July fourth fireworks that year, made sure she saw every explosion in the sky that night. Deirdre and her both, shared how strange it was to be looking at the sky, seeing the fireworks and hearing the Star Spangled Banner in their heads--but not in their ears. They wondered if any other Americans were experiencing the same confusion. Hilary just pretended for a few moments that it was the fourth of July, while Deirdre borrowed her camera and tried to capture the fireworks on film.





The idea of change occurring at stationary locales came full circle Sabbath morning when their new friend Dr. Baildam gave the sermon. He spoke of having crossed the Iron Curtain before the fall of the Berlin Wall and after. He reminisced about looking out over the village of Oberzalberg from Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest and wondering how amazing it was that the actions of a society determined to remove violent intolerance was able to now have the Fuhrer’s retreat as a tourist destination. While the sermon was mostly about praising multiculturalism, tolerance and diversity; Even Hilary and Deirdre’s cynicism was diminished for the forty-five minutes he spoke. The quotation of German philosophers and English literature was so enjoyable that they listened with pleasure, instead of defensively against the usual blind-tolerance speeches they were so accustomed too. Ultimately concluding with Immanuel Kant's request of mankind in Latin, sapere aude, “dare to know.” He stated that we too are in an age of enlightenment that demands we know our world. In the unavoidable, global society people reside in today the choice is to either sapere aude or abeo.

The sisters exited the sanctuary with pride and not so much prejudice. Pride that they attended a school that had lecturers like Dr. Baildam and a softened prejudice that comes from being an American in a foreign country.