Monthly Archives: December 2006

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Today was my last day at school. I will be forever grateful for everyone’s guidance here. It is still hard to believe that now I am a fully qualified art teacher. I remember struggling to figure out where my life was headed at Xavier and disgruntled because I thought everyone else had theirs figured out. Looking back I would not change my criss crossed path through majors and career options for anything; each has better prepared me. I am sad to leave but anxious to start a classroom of my own and to meet my next group of students.

Ask An American!

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In several Personal and Social Education classes I have been a guest speaker. I usually refer to the topic of the classes as Ask An American. The students after writing down their questions are able to ask me questions about being an American and in a futile attempt I try to dispel their stereotypes and clear up misconceptions. The students then made presentation posters about American life. I was pretty proud of my class discussions about America. Here’s a bit of what the students learned, in their own words:
“Thursday the 23rd of November is a special day for those in America. This day is called THANKSGIVING! You can guess what they do on this day.”
“Thanksgiving started in the 1600s when two pilgrims set off in a boat called the Mayflower. They got to America in 165 days. Sadly the ship got wrecked and only 50 pilgrims survived. They caught site of the land and were welcomed. They had a huge meal and they thought about the good things that happened that day.”
“At Thanksgiving you let people in your houses even strangers for dinner.”
“People say that all Americans eat is junk, fatty foods, but that isn’t necessarily true. Because most Americans drink 2 litres of water a day so their body don’t dehydrate.”
“America is a very famous place for fast food. They super size all their food and that’s why most of America’s people are obese.
Thanksgiving is basically the American version of Christmas and is a big celebration to all across the USA. America is a very big place for celebrating.”
“American food sizes are different to ours, because we have small, medium, large but they have an extra large as well which is huge.”
Well, I think my job as an American Ambassador here is done! I have dispelled the media myths about my culture. I’m off to drink a coke.

On the Road Again

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This weekend we travelled over to the Norfolk Coast. Our first stop was Sandriam, the winter home of the Queen Mum. We drank tea at the tea room and set out to see the grand estate. But being that the Queen Mum herself was there we could not see the house or any of the grounds except for the gift shop. Outside of the giftshop was a lawn full of lollipop trees. I felt like Alice intruding in on the Queen of Heart’s garden and hoped to see someone painting the flowers red but no such luck.
Our next stop was at the lavender fields with rows of lavender and a shop full of everything possible made from lavender: beer, liquor, tea, scones, flour, soap…
From there we stopped along several different villages to shop and site see. There were surfers all along the beach. Since there were no waves the surfers used giant kites to pull them along the water. Lunch time concluded at a small pub for, of course, fish and chips. I was also tricked into eating a small complete fish that had been fried. (I ate bones, eyeballs the whole deal.)
Several towns later we stopped at friends for dinner and ate a gorgeous English dinner while jamming out to Queen.
Cheers!

Cheers!

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Cheers has become my new favorite expression although I am still trying to find the appropriate times to use it. It seems to be an all inclusive hi, how are you?, I’m fine, thanks in one word! Now that I think I have that mastered this week I’m going to figure out the meaning of cheeky, a word no one has been able to define except that it deals with mischievous behavior.
My highlight of the week came in overhearing a student tell a friend as I walked past that I was her favorite teacher. It is nice when students are appreciative!
Everything is continuing fine here. It’s the first of December and as the days get darker the excitement for the holiday season has been mounting. I am anxious to be home but trying not to think about it because I know my time here is very limited.
So, to everyone reading this, I miss you and will see you soon!!
Cheers!