It's just like ALIAS in real life! I probably shouldn't be so excited about foreign spies living in the US...

cool or creepy?

I have a student who is a clown.

Enough said.

I just finished reading some of the nicest journal entries from my level 2 writing students. Their assignment was to write 1 paragraph (~8 sentences) about things they like about themselves followed by 1 paragraph (~8 sentences) about things they disliked (physical appearance, personality, abilities, etc). Almost all of them started their entry with "this was really hard for me to write about..." Now if it had been me, it would have been because I couldn't think of enough good things to write. But all of them mentioned it was difficult because they couldn't think of things they disliked.

I know what you're thinking. Arrogant Asians, right?

But no, this class is actually mostly Hispanic students, all from different cultures, some LDS, some not. All of them said the loveliest things about themselves without being a bit proud or obnoxious. And their dislikes were honest, but not degrading or full of self-loathing. I don't know what went wrong in my wiring, but I've never been like that. What good things I could come up with were usually short and half hearted and the bad list long and self-contemptuous.

I'm not hinting at a "oh, no you're so wonderful" kind of comment to this post. I'm just wondering what you would have written about yourself. Would the postivies or negatives have been easier?

You've heard the expression "publish or perish" right? From the way I've been going, I'm not going to make it much longer (I'm trying to start something, really I am!), but T-rav is well on his way with his very first published work. Aside from some odd corrections his non-native English speaking professor made, it's pretty dang good.

Go Irish go. I hope they have better luck than previous blockade breakers.

Fire!

The most exciting thing just happened. Two cute, innocent looking Korean girls were playing around before class by a fire alarm...and accidentally bumped into it, causing the alarm to go off and everyone to evacuate the building.

YES!

I love fire drills. They're so exciting (except when you think of all the books that could burn if the building were actually on fire). And I've always secretly wanted to pull a fire alarm.

So we all dutifully exited the building to the beautiful sunshine, though some less enthusiastically than others. I was ecstatic about this chance to hang out in the sun until I unwisely opened my mouth and mentioned to someone with Authority that it was just an accident and that I had seen it and Mr. Authority made a call and suddenly the alarm went off and we all had to go back inside (and now I had no excuse for not being prepared for my next class).

But it was a glorious few moments.

oh how things change

Exactly one week ago, if you had asked me my summer plans, I would have told you that they involved spending an extended time in Kyrgyzstan (the small central Asian country just west of China), speaking Russian and hanging out with Kyrgyz peeps while Trav did his internship. Alas, due to 1 very stubborn UVU bureaucrat (and the slightly unstable political situation in Kyrgyzstan- they just had a coup a few weeks ago), his application for approval from UVU was denied, leaving him without an internship and us without plans for most of the summer.

My, how quickly thing can change.

So now what do we do for the next 3 months?

the new girl

With a ring in her very straight and well-shaped nose and her long, straight, black hair, she reminds me of a gypsy. She defies the world with her body language and smoldering gaze (in an angry not seductive way). And as of today she's my newest student.

I've seen her around campus a few times and always given her a wide berth. You don't want to get in the way of that kind of attitude! Today our conversations went something like this:

Me: Welcome to class. What's your name?
her: (mumbles as she glares at me)
Me: One more time, please?
her: ****! (her name, not a curse word. but it kind of sounds like one)
Me: Here's your syllabus. Please read it (as I flee back to my table)
after class:
her: Is it always going to be like that?
me: Like what? About Native American tribes?
her: (nods sharply, says nothing, arms folded defiantly)
me: No, just some days. So if you're bored by Indians, don't worry. We'll do other things.
her: (nods again)
me: (thinking I detect a glimmer of a smile, I smile back. What little smile there may have been suddenly disappears, and she stalks out of class).

Suffice it to say, this girl is far from warm and fuzzy. And even if she's not as bad as she seems upon first impression, she's still a bit...intimidating. I'm hoping we can bond over her being Middle Eastern and me loving everything about Arabs, but I'm skeptical. We'll see how things develop.

glorious sleep

I had a 5 day reprieve from school last week. Our original plans involved driving to some exotic location and lounging on the beach, but due to other possible future travel developments and the need to save our pennies, we opted to stay home. It was actually quite pleasant; we did a whole lot a nothin'. Most of our time was spent reading, lounging, watching movies (I recommend Goodbye Lenin and Bulletproof Monk-it really is as awesome as it sounds), interspersed with eating and a bit of gardening.

Oh, and sleeping, did I mention that? I discovered that when I have no reason to get up, my body will naturally wake itself up after exactly 7 hours and 50 minutes of sleep. At first I thought it was just because of the sun shining in my window, but then the sun went away for 3 days and I still woke up right on schedule. And I felt absolutely great. I guess I hadn't noticed how tired I had been getting from skipping sleep. Who knew your body actually does need 8 hours!

Alas, after such a great discovery, I'm back in school, and with it comes fewer and fewer restful hours during the night. I suppose that gives me one reason to be grateful my church doesn't start until 1:00- at least I'll have Sundays.

a lesson on Muslim headscarves

If you've ever wondered the difference between a burka, hijab, and chador (or wondered what they are in general), check out this article from the bbc. It's about a law passed in Belgium that bans women from wearing a burka, but if you scroll down about halfway, there's a lovely set of pictures with accompanying explanation about headscarves.