Archive for Life

*More things to look forward to…

Tuesday, November 24, 2009 · Filed under Life

Well, there are probably better things I could be doing at 7:15 on a workday morning than blogging (like drying my hair, making a turkey sandwich, and heading to the bus), but as I’ve been awake for quite some time (I may have gone to bed embarrassingly early last night) I suppose I’ll write while I’m thinking about it.

Yesterday while I was waiting for bus number two of four I started thinking about more things I’m looking forward to in the not-so-distant future:

1. Skiing!  I’m not a great skier, but I had a really good time last winter and have been daydreaming about it since July!  (In fact, I was just thinking about skiing while in the shower, which inspired this Tuesday morning blog post).  I’ve heard that Crystal Mountain (where I briefly lost my cell phone and wiped out numerous times last January) is already open and I’m sure more places will follow soon.
2. Seattle Language Academy.  I’m not definite about this, but I’m playing with the idea of taking a language class at SLA again after Christmas.  I took Arabic there my first fall in Seattle, and I think it would be fun to learn a language now that I’m done with school.  I haven’t decided which language yet.  I might continue on with the Italian I studied in college, or try something totally new like Korean, Chinese, Russian, or French…
3. Atlanta.  Throughout college I went to ATL fairly often to hang out with my brother and other friends in the area.  I haven’t been there even once since I moved to Seattle, but I’m driving down with my brother after Christmas.  I’m looking forward to being back in the city and spending time with Jeffrey and his friends.
4. Learning how to use Dad’s camera.  I have my Dad’s 1985 Nikon film SLR but I’ve only used it twice since he lent it to me.  I’m hoping to finally read the manual and start improving my photography skills.
5. Boston.  Also not definite, but the annual TESOL conference (the professional organization for my field) is in Boston in March.  I’ve been wanting to visit Boston for some time now and I haven’t made it to TESOL yet since I started teaching, so I’m hoping to go this year!

Okay, now it’s time to make that sandwich!

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*An honest update.

Sunday, November 22, 2009 · Filed under Life

Well, if September was ‘quite a month’ (according to my last post), this entire fall has been ‘quite exhausting.’  It’s had its ups and downs, but this roller coaster ride (especially the past few weeks) has worn me out.  Between being hired for my first community college job the day before the quarter started and playing catch-up for the entire session and then both starting and ending a relationship in less than two months, I’m definitely in need of a good rest.

Needless to say, I’m thankful for Thanksgiving and so glad that this is a three-day workweek followed by a four-day weekend.

Also, even though my heart is heavier than usual right now, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking and reflecting over the past few days, and there are quite a few things I’m thankful for and looking forward to.  I’ll save my thankfulness for Thursday’s post, but here are some of the things, in no particular order, that I’m looking forward to in the upcoming weeks:

  1. The short week/long weekend coming up.
  2. Thanksgiving dinner with friends.  Although not being with family is always sad, I’m excited to have a chance to relax and spend time with friends.  Great food + great friends = a great time ☺
  3. The end of the quarter.  I’ve really enjoyed teaching at the community college, but I’m also looking forward to the break.  I’ve learned a lot this quarter and will be teaching the same classes in January.  I’m looking forward to having a little more planning time to update my syllabi and get acquainted with my new texts before classes start.
  4. Teaching at only one school in January.  Although the decision to leave Kaplan after Christmas was a tough one, I’m looking forward to a saner schedule and having a little more time for myself.
  5. GOING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!  I absolutely can’t wait to be at Sea-Tac and on a plane, flying South to visit friends and family!  (And to eat some real good fried greasy food)!  I’m counting down the days!  (24 and a half).
  6. 2010 and seeing what new adventures unfold in the new year.
  7. Finishing rearranging the furniture in my room and getting rid of lots of STUFF in my room.  I tried to rearrange my room last night by myself, and succeeded in moving the bed but breaking my desk.  I’m hoping some of the guys who are coming for Thanksgiving will help me fix the desk.  Then I can really start to get rid of the junk I’ve accumulated and make the space a little less chaotic.
  8. Going to bed early and getting up in time to enjoy a cup of coffee and read my Bible before the long day of teaching-teaching-teaching tomorrow… good night!

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*September was quite a month!

Thursday, October 1, 2009 · Filed under Life, Seattle, Teaching

Once again, a month has gone by without a single blog post.  However, this time there was a good reason- and more than one!

I am pretty much settled into my new apartment (housewarming party this weekend, yay)!  Jessica and I are having a lot of fun as roommates, and I’m enjoying “rediscovering” Seattle again, as I join her in trying new places.  (Cupcake Royale, which is only a few blocks from our apartment, has become a personal favorite)!

royale

However, although the new apartment is great, we’ve had quite a bit of trouble getting our Internet set up.  In fact, someone came to our apartment for the third time today, and the result is the same: still no Internet.  For this reason, I haven’t had many chances to blog.

I’ve also been busy with lots of good things; in the past two weeks I’ve started dating one of my most favorite people, Fredy, (=D) and started teaching two classes at a local community college, in addition to still teaching at Kaplan and doing Microsoft tutoring!

Fredy is a really cool guy; I met him about a year or so ago through my friend Jied and we go to the same church.  We’ve been friends for a while so dating him now is fun.  Teaching at the community college level is something completely new for me and presents some new challenges, but the first couple of days have been good.

While I think October is going to be another busy month, I think it’s going to be a nice one!  Hopefully I’ll find a little more time to update this… if not, I’m sure you’ll hear from me in November!

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*Another move.

Saturday, August 29, 2009 · Filed under Life

Thursday was my two-year anniversary of living here in Seattle.  I ‘celebrated’ on Friday by moving out of my studio and into a new apartment in Ballard.

Why move?

Jessica, a friend from South Carolina, just moved out here (yesterday) to go to grad school, and having a roommate again sounded like a lot of fun.  (I’ve enjoyed the peace and quiet of living by myself, but if you know me, I can only handle so much peace and quiet)!

We got a great deal on a newly-renovated apartment and spent yesterday afternoon moving in.  Thanks to my amazing friends, we were able to move everything out of my studio in just one trip (without even renting a U-Haul)!

I’m excited about the change and looking forward to living in Ballard, but after living in 4 apartments in the last 12 months, I hope that I won’t be changing apartments again soon!

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*My own lists.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009 · Filed under Just for Fun, Life

Well, after seeing Seattle on so many lists, I was reminded of a couple of my own lists that I made a few years ago while I was studying abroad in Italy.  I was 21 at the time and made two lists of things I hoped to have done by age 25.  I have about 10 months left to finish this list, so I guess now is a great time to review them.

The first list, dated “Martedi, 30 Maggio 2006 alle sei di sera” (Tuesday, May 30th, 2006 at 6 in the evening):

  1. Visit 25 different countries.
  2. Speak 3 languages: English, Italian, and Slovak.
  3. Complete an Ironman Triathlon
  4. Publish a book/or be published in a magazine.
  5. Read the entire Bible
  6. Get a Master’s degree or live in a foreign country for at least 1 year.

The second list, written only a couple of weeks later (14 Giugno 2006, Mercoledi, alle 17:45 while on a train somewhere between Bologna and Ancona, Italy, headed towards an over-night ferry to Split, Croatia) was entitled 25 x 25 and was supposed to be 25 things to do before turning 25.  (I only ended up with 12, many echoing things in the first list):

  1. Read the entire Bible
  2. Publish something
  3. Olympic distance triathlon
  4. 1/2 Ironman
  5. Ironman triathlon
  6. Visit 25 countries
  7. Get MA or live in a foreign country for at least a year
  8. Speak 3 languages
  9. Graduate from college
  10. Go whitewater kayaking
  11. Visit the Rockies
  12. Visit a developing country

So, now, three years later, how have I done?

list

My  first thought, glancing at these lists for the first time in three years is, wow, those are some ambitious goals.  Also, it’s interesting to see how dreams and goals change over time; if I made a list right now of things I hope to do before I turned 25, it would be a little different.  However, it’s also interesting to see that I’ve already reached some of those goals.

Since everything on the first list is repeated in the second, I’ll just look at that one:

  1. Read the entire Bible: I spent over two years working on the entire Bible, had read about 80% of it, and then lost my checklist where I was keeping track of what I had and hadn’t read sometime this year in the pipe freezing/apartment moving fiasco.  Since then, I’ve started over completely.  I still hope to finish it by next May!
  2. Publish something: ✓ Even though three-sixty-five was self-published, I think that counts for this one!
  3. Olympic distance triathlon: I had forgotten about this goal, but I’m actually contemplating doing a sprint thriathlon at the end of this month.  I think completing an Olympic distance before May is possible…
  4. 1/2 Ironman: Probably not gonna happen...
  5. Ironman triathlon: Definitely not gonna happen… and that is okay with me!
  6. Visit 25 countries: If you consider Vatican City a country (and officially, it is), then I’ve been to 24!  I’ve got 10 months to travel to one more country… any suggestions?  (And any monetary donations you want to contribute?  … Just kidding)!
  7. Get MA or live in a foreign country for at least a year:  ✓ Finished my MA about three weeks ago!
  8. Speak 3 languages: Hmm, I should have defined “speak.”  I can speak bits and pieces of lots of languages now, thanks to my students.  As for speaking three languages well, I still need to work on that.
  9. Graduate from college: ✓ Enough said.
  10. Go whitewater kayaking: Haven’t done this, probably won’t.  I’d still like to some day, and Washington would be a great place to go, but right now I have a lot of other things I’d rather do…
  11. Visit the Rockies: ✓ Drove through them on the way from NC to WA.
  12. Visit a developing country: Haven’t done this yet… maybe this could go along with #6?

After looking at those lists, I’m somewhat tempted to make a new, up-to-date list.  If I do, I’ll be sure to post it here.  Also, if any of you reading this has a similar list, or wants to make a list of things you hope to do before some point in time, post it as a comment… I’d love to read them!

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*Degree complete!

Thursday, July 16, 2009 · Filed under Life, School, TESOL

Well, I am officially a Master of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages now. At least, I have a degree that says so!

Finishing grad school is a great feeling- for the first time in my life, I am done writing papers and taking exams with no future plans for writing or taking any more! (I’m sure I will still be grading quite a few, but that’s another thing entirely).

I had a really great experience at SPU- the program has wonderful professors and I learned so much from both them and my classmates. While I won’t miss the assignments, I will miss seeing my classmates on a regular basis.

The craziest part of it all is that I have now finished doing what I moved to Seattle to do- get a master’s degree. So, this naturally leads to the question that everyone has been asking… what’s next? That’s a great question, and one that I do not have a direct answer for, yet. (However, if you’d rather know the Latin roots of a word like “unanimous” or the difference between the simple past, past progressive, present perfect, present perfect progressive, past perfect, and past perfect progressive, I’m happy to answer those questions, with examples. Email me).

For now, I’ll still be teaching as usual and tutoring for Microsoft. I’m looking for another part-time job as well, preferably teaching an ESL class at a community college, but I’d be up for something that didn’t require planning and preparing as well. I’m also planning to finally complete a very long application for living in a particular country that is close to my heart… but we’ll see what happens with that.  Details will be given when there are details to share.  It’s too early to know anything yet!

One thing is for sure… until further notice, I am quite content to be in Seattle enjoying the sunny weather of summer, the amazing coffee, cheering on the Mariners, and spending time with my incredible friends, not stressing about school!

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*March is here… and halfway over!

Saturday, March 14, 2009 · Filed under Life, School, Teaching

Wow, the past few weeks have flown by.

Good news!  I’ve been back in my apartment for two weeks now.  Everything (except the overhead light that won’t turn on) is as good as before, or even better: I’ve got new carpet, a new ceiling, one new wall, and a fresh coat of paint.  Last night I had some friends over for a housewarming party (after being out of my apartment for nine weeks after the pipes froze, I figured a proper ‘warming’ was definitely needed)!

I’ve been teaching Level 4 for five weeks now, which means I’m halfway through the Level 4 curriculum.  I really loved teaching Level 3, so I was a little surprised to find that I think I like Level 4 even more!  Level 4 students generally have better speaking skills and a larger vocabulary, so you can discuss more interesting topics.  I have a great class right now, with students from Japan, Korea, Thailand, Libya, and Taiwan.  (My students from Turkey and Kuwait are on vacation, but will be back soon).

Winter Quarter this year has turned out to be one of the most time-consuming quarters of grad school thus far, but luckily it will be over after class on Monday night.  Next quarter I’ll be taking Phase II of my Practicum, which means I’ll be doing a combination of observing and teaching.  I’ll only be taking one other class, Professional Issues and Ethics, which I’ve heard is interesting, but not too time-consuming.

Spring break starts after class on Monday; I don’t have any exciting trips planned, but Kary, one of my roommates from college, is coming into town on Thursday… I’m really excited to see her and to play tour guide in Seattle!

Okay, I better get back to work on my final project for sociolinguistics… stay tuned for more posts soon!

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*It’s Been a Few Weeks.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009 · Filed under Life, School, Teaching, Work

Oh let’s see, as always, it’s been a while since I’ve updated this. January turned out to be a pretty eventful month. As if working two different jobs, being a full-time grad student, doing my teaching practicum, and having to move out of my apartment wasn’t enough, I also experienced running out of gas and having my wallet either lost or stolen (still not sure which). All of this happened during the first two weeks of the year, and the last two things happened within two hours of each other!

Luckily, I was able to get gas with no problem (thanks to AAA) and have pretty much taken care of canceling and replacing all of my cards, etc in my wallet. (I still need to get a new Blockbuster card and SPU ID, but neither of those are of immediate need). Also, the rest of the year since then has been much less exciting!

Work and school have been keeping me busy. I’ve officially been teaching for a year as of tomorrow, which is hard to believe! It’s true that experience is the best teacher. Everything I’ve learned in my TESOL program has been helpful, but being able to actually try out the methods and activities we discuss in class has been invaluable! I’ve definitely learned a lot (and, in my opinion, become a much better teacher) since I first started last February!

Since I came back to Seattle after Christmas I’ve been teaching my same Level 3 Intermediate class that I began with a year ago. I’ve had a fun, diverse group this year, including students from seven countries: Japan, Korea, Italy, Turkey, Kuwait, Libya, and Thailand. Tomorrow, however I’m moving to Level 4: Upper Intermediate. I’m looking forward to the change, although I’m sure a new level will present new challenges. Two of my current Level 3 students (from Turkey and Kuwait) are also moving to Level 4 tomorrow, so I’m sure it will be nice to have some familiar faces in the class.

My practicum has also been going well. I’m currently in the first phase of the two-phase practicum, which means I’m mainly observing the teachers. I do interact from time to time, acting as a teacher assistant of sorts. I’m available to answer questions and check classwork, as well as participating in discussions from time to time. As one of the students put it, they’re getting “two teachers for the price of one.”

Outside of school and work I’ve been busy doing… well, honestly, other than church, not much else. A couple of weeks ago I went skiing with two of the Italians I know here in Seattle (one former and one current student). We had a great time, but it definitely took me a while to get the hang of skiing again. (Thinking about it afterward, this was probably the first time I had gone skiing in eight or so years). I’m going skiing again in a couple of weeks with work as the “chaperone.” Hopefully I won’t embarrass myself too much!

The church I go to here in Seattle, Blue Sky, (which is actually in Bellevue and not Seattle) has been getting bigger lately. In fact, my “small” group has gotten quite big- we’ve had 17 or 18 people coming every week lately. Because we’re so big, we’re going to become two groups in a couple of weeks. Sam (the current leader) will lead one group and Mark (my former roommate Heather’s husband) will be leading the other. I’m still not sure which group I’ll be in, but I am looking forward to being in a small small group again!

Oh yeah, and for anyone interested in the status of my apartment, they finally started fixing it last Monday. I stopped by on Friday afternoon to see how repairs were coming, and was surprised to discover that the ceiling and one of the walls were completely gone! However, I was even more surprised (pleasantly surprised) when I stopped by this afternoon and found that a new ceiling and wall had already been installed, and the three holes in another wall had been patched. Hopefully this is a good sign that progress is being made and I’ll be able to get back in soon!

Alright, I think that’s everything for now; hopefully I’ll have a chance to update again soon.

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