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Oybrit

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Vermont and Montreal [Aug. 10th, 2007|10:33 pm]
[Current Mood | vacationed out but happy]

My sister Agnes and I took a vacation this week to Vermont and Montreal. Why Vermont, you ask? You'll see! I'm lazy to type in too much detail, so I'll try to do this with pictures:

We left Jersey City on Monday morning and drove through Connecticut, Massachusetts, and most of Vermont. After looking for two hours for lunch, we stopped at Montpelier, the capital of Vermont, for lunch. We weren't picky, but there's NOTHING along the highway that's lunch food in Vermont! We went back on the road after a quick bite and in half an hour, arrived at our first stop:



Waterbury, VT, home of the BEN & JERRY'S Factory! We toured the factory, shopped in the gift shop, visited the Flavor Graveyard, and of course, ate at the scoop shop.





After our tour, we drove about half an hour to Burlington, VT. We checked-in to our B&B, which was right in downtown. It was kinda Gilmore Girls like, but smaller - it only had four rooms. We walked to the waterfront before dinner and looked out at Lake Champlain.



We then ate at Church street, a pedestrian only street filled with restaurants and little shops. We finally called it a night and headed back to the B&B.

The next morning, we drove about two hours to Montréal, Quebec Canada! After we checked into the Delta Montreal Hotel, we headed over to Chinatown for lunch. Nothing really cool there, just a quick lunch since we were hungry. After lunch, we walked to Vieux-Montreal, Old Montréal. This is my favorite part of the city. It has several narrow, European-like streets with old buildings and cobblestones.

Here is, in order, a street in Old Montréal, Notre-Dame Basilica, and City Hall.







We also walked around the Vieux Port, the Old Port right by Old Montreal. It has a a lot of bikers, skaters, and people just chilling out. Really nice area, but i don't have a picture of it. We walked back to the hotel to officially check in and rested for a bit. We then picked a restaurant in the Plateau district and walked over to that neighborhood. The area has a lot of restaurants and shops, very city like. We ate at L'Academie, which was delicious!! My sister got mussels and fries, and i got a veal dish. We also had an appetizer called Coquille St. Jacques, which is a shell with scallops and shrimp with a cream sauce and topped with cheese. Very good. Here is a picture of the restaurant (we sat on the third floor by the corner window!) and from Google, a coquille:





After dinner, we walked to a nearby park and had some gelato. YUMMY! Finally, we went back to the hotel and called it a night.

The next day, we took the Metro to Biodome de Montréal, a museum with animals from four different ecosystems - Tropical Forest, Laurentian Forest, Marine, and Polar World.



My two favorite animals there are:



and



The penguin all the way to the left was sleeping!!!

After the Biodome, we took the subway to the Plateau for some lunch. Lunch today was trying two different things: poutine, which is french fries, cheese, and gravy, a common snack in Montreal, and a smoked meat sandwich from Schwartz's. Schwartz's is famous, and the line to the place ran to the end of the block! Both were good, but the sandwich was sooooo good. I would go back right now to have another one. Here are pics of poutine and the sandwich thanks to Google, and Schwartz's which I took:







After our stomachs were fulfilled, we walked through the Plateau district back to the hotel to rest up for a bit. We headed out a little later to the Latin Quarter, which i think we missed, cause we didn't seem to see anything special there. We walked from there to Old Montreal for a French dinner at one of their many restaurants. I had this shrimp with rice dish that was super yummy. We walked around Old Montreal after dinner where i took some night time pics:





We finally walked back to the hotel for the night.

The next morning, we grabbed a quick breakfast and drove out to Parc la Fontaine for some tennis! Cause there has to be some tennis when you go on vacation with my sister. We played for an hour in beautiful weather, amazed at how the courts were full at 11am on a Thursday. It was fun. We drove back to the hotel for a shower and headed out to brunch. Afterwards, we walked to McGill University. We walked through its hilly campus as we headed towards Mount Royal. We walked up the mountain, slowly, cause i was tired and lazy. We got to the top where we saw a nice view of Montreal. Nice, but not awesome. The view of HK from the top of their mountain is much much better. But here we are, at the top:



Afterwards, we walked down the mountain to the Underground City. The Underground City is basically a handful or so of malls connected that is, like it's name says, underground. The locals like to go there during the cold cold winter days and the super hot summer days (btw, it was not hot or humid when we were there - the weather was awesome!). We walked through there, just to check out the malls, not really to shop. It was pretty cool, but it reminded me of some of the HK malls so I wasn't awestruck or anything.

We then took the subway to the Plateau District where we had a second meal at L'Academie. I forgot to mention it earlier, but this place was cheap considering we had mussels and veal. We had something a little different this time, but we kept the mussels. They were THAT good. We walked back to the hotel after dinner, one last time through the streets of the Plateau District.

We looked up directions to a recommended ice cream shop in Outremont. Again, what's a vacation with my sister w/o ice cream?? We drove out there, because this part of town was farther and less walkable. We were looking for parking as we got close and found a spot - directly in front of the store!! Seriously, we looked so cool getting out of the car and getting right into the line that stretched out the door. It was awesome luck. We ordered sorbets - i had strawberry, and my sister had citron. It was very very goooood. I wish i knew enough French to know what the other flavors were. But it's ok, bc strawberry is my all-time favorite flavor, and i like to try it at different places. I was happy enough. Here is a blurry picture of the ice cream shop:



With the sorbet sitting nicely in our stomachs, we drove back to the hotel for the night.

The next morning (today), we had breakfast at the hotel and drove alllll day home. I'm tired of driving, and i'm actually sore from it. I'm glad to be home, but it definitely was a great trip. More pics will be up soon.
Link1 thought|Any thoughts?

short kindergarten update [Dec. 2nd, 2006|02:28 am]
[Current Mood | sleepy]

3 months of Kindergarten has passed. A third of the school year. Yikes!

This week, I got the horrible feeling that i'm not teaching well or teaching the correct things in the correct way in the correct order.  I felt my kids weren't really learning much, were bored, and no longer excited for school.  So what did i do? i decided to rearrange my hallway. (remember, my "classroom" is in the hallway.) With the help of Shawna, the Get Set teacher, i rearranged things to create more open space while finding tons of space for classroom materials.  The kids seem to really like the new change, and are excited to find so many things in the room they never knew about before. I also put up my word wall, since the rearrangement freed up a whole empty wall for display. So, freak out about being a horrible teacher is temporarily over.  But i still feel slightly uneasy about what I'm teaching.

However, the Owner and Director does not provide any feedback or guides to help my lessons.  I basically make up EVERYTHING, from the order i do certain things, to what things to teach.  It makes me feel disorganized, and that i'm not allowing my students to develop academically the way they may in a public school.  I get good job's on my lesson plans all the time, but i don't feel it's that great. This is my first ever teaching job, so i honestly don't know where to begin and when to begin what things. But, given the lack of support from the director and the lack of a classroom, this is the best i can do.  I expected a little more guidance and feedback from my boss.  So i will keep teaching and doing what i think is right, and hope my kids absorb some of what i say.  When they actually remember something, i always find myself amazed.  Maybe my expectations for my kids are too low.  But, i will try my best and hope for a better job next year.  I do want to finish out the year at Goddard.

My kids are getting a lot better, behavior wise.  I've implemented the traffic light system to monitor their behaviors.  Green lights are good, and 3 or more in a week gets you a prize, 2 if you get all green for the week. Red lights means i have to talk to mom and dad.  It works amazingly well for one of my kids.  He gets scared at the mention of yellow light, and basically frightened if on red. He does everything imaginable to get himself back to green, from pushing in all the chairs to saying, "Miss Betty, you have pretty hair."  I have to say, it also helps when parents reinforce the desired behaviors at home too.  For some happy (but makes me look horrible as a teacher) news, my most annoying kid is going on vacation for TWO weeks!! She's not a bad kid, but she's just annoying, and always has a smirk on her face after i say something to her.  She'll be back for two days and then i'm leaving for HK.  I'm super duper excited about that. :-D

Thinking ahead to next year, i'm revisiting the idea of teaching English in Hong Kong.  The pay is almost double of what i'm making now, I'd be in HK, and teaching English! It will be less politics for the English teachers than for the regular classroom teachers, which is also nice. AND, I will have students from K-6.  I like the Kinders, but sometimes, i wish i had some older students who understand things i say. I find it hard, but fun sometimes, to explain everything in the simplest form. HK would give me a mix of all the ages. I've also always considered getting an ESL certificate, so a year teaching English in HK would actually be good experience for that and to see if i really like ESL. And the opportunity is there, and i don't have to go to some foreign country all by my lonesome.  HK is familiar to me; it's my second home.

This will all depend on if i get a job here in the public schools.  If i do, i'm staying. But if i can't find one, do i want to get a new job teaching K in a daycare, or do i want to spend a year in HK teaching English? Luckily, I have some time.

Ok, this was supposed to be short, and now i'm findiing myself thinking all over the place and rambling so i'm just going to stop here.  A busy and fun-filled weekend of lunch with the HS group, some christmas shopping, Friends Scene-It, QT with my sister, and a Sixers game to see Randy Foye. Have a great weekend! :)
LinkAny thoughts?

Oh Kindergarten... [Oct. 17th, 2006|10:52 pm]
[Current Mood | how cute!]

Walking down the stairs at school today:

Me: Rachel, walk a little faster please. Try and stay in line with the class.
Rachel: OK, Miss Betty.
David, at the front of the line, completely serious, and not trying to be rude at all: Rachel always walks slow poke, Miss Betty.
Me: Yeah...
David: I always walk fast poke.

:)
Link1 thought|Any thoughts?

Why i LOVE the teaching part of my job [Oct. 12th, 2006|08:10 pm]
[Current Mood | glad tomorrow's FRIDAY!]

So the theme at school this week is "Construction Site."  Today, we had a visit from a construction worker who brought a backhoe digger, the machine that has a big scooper thing in the front and a digging arm thing in the back.  This afternoon, i was feeling pretty lazy and not at all creative so for art, i asked my students to draw a construction scene with different machines and buildings.  So they're drawing, and one kid, James, decides to draw a series of pictures.  He walks over to me and tells me he wrote a story.  So i had him dictate it to me, as I wrote the story out on each page of his story. "Once upon a time, a backhoe digger was digging up dirt.  Then the cement truck puts cement on the ground."  He continues, giving me a sentence for each page.  Soon, all my kids decide they want to write stories (draw, really).

A few minutes later, Rachel walks over and shows me her story.  She's dictating each page to me, and on one of her pages, she has a backhoe digger with a purple scribble on it.  She tells me, "The backhoe digger got a badge (the purple scribble) because he did a good job digging up dirt."

Comments: I am amazed as to how James, only 5 yrs old, turned my somewhat boring art activity into such an awesome project that all my kids eventually took part in.  What i thought would take a measly 10 min ended up being an hour long. I loved it. Rachel's story is exactly why I love teaching and playing with little kids.  I love how little kids think inanimate objects are just like people, and how they can also get badges or stickers or special treats when they do a good job. Did i used to think like that when i was little? 'Cause that is just too darn cute.  If you really think about it, why not? It DID, after all, dig up all that dirt.  Ofcourse he deserves a badge.


Anyways, i'll leave you with a funny story. James, mentioned above, likes to give everyone his phone number.  All the girls AND the boys.  Even me.  I think he's just showing off that he knows how to write his phone number. Last week, he gave his number to Katie, a teacher who often covers my break.  When i came back from my break today, she told me about James and his habit of giving out his number:

"Miss Katie, did i ever give you my phone number?"
"Yes, you gave it to me last week when I covered for Miss Betty."
"Then why didn't you ever call me?"

:-D
Link2 thoughts|Any thoughts?

I would like all my friends to have a seat criss-cross apple sauce on the magic carpet please! [Sep. 29th, 2006|11:48 pm]
So I've been meaning to update this - really, i have.  Teaching has just been keeping me super duper busy. 
 
Quick update on life outside of teaching:
* On Labor Day, I went to the US Open with my sisters and my mom.  I think this is the 3rd year we've gone, and it was great.  There were lots of rain delays in the first week of the tourney, so on the day we went, we actually got to see the big names like roddick, nadal, davenport, sharapova, navratilova, and more.  Weather was also excellent! not super hot, not cold.  (actually, i managed to get a little sunburned!)
*I rearranged my room, thanks to mom, so now i have my double bed back! And i got a new bed frame from IKEA (where else?)! :-D
*My sister helen moved out of center city, which i think kinda sucks (for my own selfish reasons :P). however, her new place is kinda home-y, and there are six tennis courts in her back yard. i'm not totally into the NFL (i only watch the eagles, mostly), but she has all the games in the league on tv.  most of my sundays will be spent there. (see? selfish reasons exist for liking the new place too :P).
*Mom went to HK today.  Means i have to start cooking and doing my laundry again. got really used to not having to do that the last 5 months. :)  but i'm seriously considering going to HK this christmas, so i'm excited! :)
*Most of my shows are back (LOST premieres next week!), and boy do i need them.  The kids just wear me out. I also picked up a few new ones too. Probably not the best idea, but oh well.  After work, i eat dinner, watch tv, then sleep. That's my schedule.

Ok, now the teaching update:
*I've been there 7 weeks (has it been that long??), 4 of which were teaching. the first three weeks were fine - i was basically babysitting the kindergartener's who were going to 1st grade starting sept. Those three weeks, i was prepping for the year - decorating my classroom (hallway, really - more on that later), meeting with the parent's i'll have this year, and general planning. I was nervous those three weeks, trying to make a good impression for the director and owner, but because the kids i had were about to go into 1st grade, there wasn't much i did with them.  they just wanted to enjoy the last few weeks of summer. so i constantly felt i wasn't doing what i was supposed to be doing and constantly felt like the new kid in school.
*My classroom: It's actually really a hallway, not a classroom.  It's definitely one of the bad parts about the job, not having my own space and privacy.  Basically, the owner of the school can hear me all day if she sitting in her office down the hallway.  Other teachers and parents can walk through my "class" at any time, though most have tried to not walk through during my teaching. But two yr olds down't know that, so i do get random toddlers visiting throughout the day. Despite the lack of a class, i do have two tables, a chalkboard, a computer, shelves for supplies and games and such, and a carpet area for circle time. So it works.
*My kids: I have 8 of them.  7 from 9-11:30. the 8th comes for the afternoon, bc he goes to public school kindergarten in the morning.  i have 4 boys and4 girls, though one is a tomboy, so it's basically 3 and 5. The four boys are the true definition of boys - loves legos, video games, wrestling, and tackle football inside the school.  so without the actual classroom, it often looks like i can't control my kids. but i blame the lack of a classroom, not my kids. the four boys have actually been at the school since like toddlers or even younger, so they know each other really really well. which is why they wrestle every minute of every day. the girls - two are your typical girls.  likes to color, play in the kitchen, play house. the other two however, are, well, strange.  one is half chinese, mom being chinese.  however, dad is a chinese professor at lehigh, so i thought she'd be really cool.  oh was i wrong.  she called me miss billy for the first week of school, and all the other kids would just yell at her, "it's miss BETTY!". haha....she stares at the preschool teachers when their door is opened. she draws on the table, even when she's told not to. she scribbles when i ask her to draw a specific picture. and she hits. a lot. even after my constant reminders to her about not hitting. just soo strange.  she complains no one wants to play with her, but half the time, i think, why would they want to?  the other girl is sweet when she's in a good mood.  but that mood can change in the blink of an eye.  if i ask her to do something in the slightest negative connotation, she's pissed at me and the rest of the world.  i actually had to send her to the office one day because during one of her fits, she started hitting my other kids and then threw her pencil at me.  she was in the office for more than 30 min. she's one that wants attention and positive reinforcement. she cannot handle anything negative, even if i say, "i like your letter, but make sure that line is straighter." almost everyday, something happens to her where she'll be pissed.  most of the time, i've just ignored her, and slowly she joins the class again. she's gonna be tough to handle.  So though i only have 8, they're a tough bunch.  It would help to have an actual room. Oh well. 
*The teaching: This is the part I LOVE. we do morning circle time, singing our weather song and days of the week song when we do calendar and weather. we've done some letters and numbers (no letter people, Liz! i wish i had them, cause i loved them too!), learned about our 5 senses and Fall.  Done some gym activites and even taught some spanish! :) Yesterday, as a class, we wrote an acrostic poem for FALL.  Surprisingly, they did great with it!  i even got compliments from the director! I had to help rephrase some things, but it was cute:
    Falling leaves
    Apple picking time
    Leap into leaf piles
    Leave house for trick or treating
*Miscellaneous:
    Lesson plans are not fun to do. 
    Goddard has too many little guidelines to follow.
    I love the end of the day when the classes mix. i get to play with the preschoolers. one girl, for example, does not talk all day at school. I'm told she talks at home a lot.  she's super cute, so i made it my misson to get her to talk to me. i started chasing her and tickling her outside on the playground. she laughs and giggles, and i pretend to not run fast enough to catch her. after a few weeks of this, yesterday, she finally started talking to me.  "you can't catch me!" as she's running right in front of me, trying to get me to chase her.  i love her! :)
    I'm also the only teacher in the school that doesn't have an assistant teacher.  for most of the day, i don't really need one.  but it's annoying to have to ask another teacher if i can go to the bathroom or step out of my "class" for a second so my kids are not unsupervised. i have to waste time doing things like getting lunch ready or cleaning the tables while in other classes, one teacher is teaching/interacting with the kids, while the other is cleaning tables or getting lunch ready. it's probably just me, but i always think when the director is around checking the classes, my kids are always just playing, bc i have to be doing things i can't do when i'm interacting with the kids. oh well.

So to sum up:
*I love the teaching.
*I love little kids.
*My kids are tough, and some are strange.
*I don't like my classroom situation, but i can't do much about it.
*I don't really like my hrs (8:30 - 5:30) - I don't get home till after 6!
*Work makes me super lazy and super tired.

I think that's about it. It's almost bed time. (Yes, it's 11:45 on a Friday night, but i'm exhausted!) Thanks for reading! G'night!
Link4 thoughts|Any thoughts?

"Did I just impart knowledge?" -- Chandler on FRIENDS [Aug. 9th, 2006|08:07 pm]
[Current Mood | happy, excited, accomplished]

So i never update unless i have news so.....get ready for this......

....I HAVE A JOB! :)

Starting next Tuesday, August 15th, I will be a Kindergarten Teacher at The Goddard School in Doylestown!!!  The Goddard School, if you don't know, is an excellent childcare and pre-school center. One of the best early childhood centers around!  The center serves children ages 6 months to 6 years, Infants to Kindergarten.  I will be teaching the Kindergarten!  I will have a small class, about 10 students, but they're my students! And i'll have my own area; remember, preschools don't really have classrooms, more like open areas.  It's pretty nice, actually, and it'll work just as well as a classroom.  There is still a chalkboard and everything. :)

All summer, I haven't really heard much from school districts or private schools.  I went on interviews, but i guess they didn't work out so well.  So we enter August, and I still don't know what i'm doing in the fall.  The only thing I knew for certain was that I did not want to sub. Getting a phone call at 5:30 am, telling me to go to some school and watch a class anywhere from Kindergarten to 6th grade?  Nope, not me.  So, i guess you can say i was getting desperate, so i decided to look in the paper for any teaching related jobs.  I saw a lot for childcare centers, such as a teacher for the 3 yr old room.  That's when i realized i could teach kindergarten, since my certification is technically K-6, in one of these centers.  So i went online and looked in papers and found several places hiring Kindergarten Teachers in the preschool/daycare setting.  I called two, one being Goddard. The first one was Mulberry, which is a pretty good center.  However, the lady that interviewed me just asked me questions and wrote down my answers - without looking up at me.  So i would have to wait until she was done writing before asking the next question....it was awkward. 

I called Goddard and set up an interview with them for this Monday morning.  I went in and filled out a pretty detailed application, including a statement of teaching philosophy and complete the sentences, which i thought was a lot of fun! (ex: All children are ______.)  I thought it was such a clever way of getting to know the applicant.  Anyways, afterwards, I spoke with the school's owner.  She was awesome - sooo friendly and welcoming.  She didn't ask me interview questions, but just talked.  In the end, she found out what other interviewers would without asking me any typical interview quesetions.  She told me about the other applicants and basically why she didn't want to hire them.  She also wanted me to meet with the current Kindergarten teacher, so we can talk more about curriculum and teacher stuff.  So i set up a meeting for the next morning at 7:30am!  I met with the teacher, and she showed me lesson plans, curriculum stuff, and other small things.  After that meeting, I was pretty sure I had a job.  They even gave me a health form to fill out! BUT, nothing was confirmed yet, so i didn't want to get my hopes up.  They told me they were making the decision that day, so i'll hear from them in the afternoon.  All day at work, i was waiting. and waiting.  Finally, she called and offered me the position, as long as i commited to her and not leave if a SD wants me.  I told her i was totally committed, and today, after work, i went to pick up the employment papers! :)

So, it's not a 3rd grade class in Pennsbury SD and a trillion dollar salary, but i think it's a good start.  Small school, small class, small kids, and even though it's a very low salary, i get to TEACH kindergarten!! :)  I'm nervous and scared about having my own students and teaching, but right now, i'm just excited and happy that i don't have to sub.  I can't wait to start on Tuesday! :)
Link4 thoughts|Any thoughts?

Tennis camp! [Jun. 22nd, 2006|05:34 pm]
[Current Mood | excited]

I got back from the Nike Adult Tennis Camp in Amherst on Tuesday night.  It was soooooo much fun!!  The days were simple: food, tennis, rest, food, tennis rest, food, tennis, dessert, sleep.  Six hours of tennis a day!  We stayed in the Amherst dorms, which weren't anything spectacular, but it was fine.  We ate at the Amherst dining hall, which was 'Nova-like. For dinners, we walked into the town of Amherst.  It's only a few blocks, but it was cute.  And they have an icecream shop. That's all i really need. :)

As for the camp itself, it's run by this guy who's been doing it for years.  It is VERY organized and well run.  Most of the pros are college players who just finished their first year of college.  One of them just finished her first year at  'Nova.  The pro that gave me my private lessons is GOING to be a high school senior!! I couldn't believe how young they all were! But they're very good, both at playing tennis and teaching tennis.  And they're very professional but also enthusiastic.  They're all able to see the small things in your stroke and help correct them.  At the end of camp, my private instructor even game me a written evaluation of my strokes and some general things i should work on.  And he's in high school!!!  Each session, we mostly drilled - forehands, backhands, volleys, serves, overheads, approach shots, singles and doubles strategy, and even serve and volley! I think my volleys improved the most, and if you know anythng about my tennis, that is definitely good news.  Oh, I even aced one of the pros when we were playing doubles!! I didn't even know i could do that!

All that tennis, however, made me super tired and sore.  Actually, i was tired after the first session. My legs felt like they were going to give out any minute, but that didn't stop me from playing.  I also got several blisters on my hand, but it's all good.  What's tennis w/o a blister? (and in my case, a blood blister....ewwww!).

Anyways, i'm back now.  Got a tan (a BIG sock tan), but surprisingly, not burned! And the tiredness/soreness is almost all gone.  Which is sad, cause that means it's allll over.  I feel like i haven't played tennis in such a long time now, after all the tennis the last few days. I wanna go back. I can't wait to go back next year.

Next week, i start camp - as a counselor. :)  I'm ready to start....tennis camp got me alll excited!
LinkAny thoughts?

hmmm.... [Jun. 6th, 2006|12:35 am]
[Current Mood | slightly annoyed]

there's nothing on tv right now, so how about a short update? let's see...

I moved back home for good last week and set up my room. It's still in the process of being organized (because i'm a) sooo lazy, and b) as one person calls me, a bum), but i like my room.  It's nice and cozy.  Only bad thing is my stuffed friends fall off the bed a lot in the middle of the night because i don't have the bed against a wall anymore.

I got my first sunburn of the season at....SNEAKER DAY!  For those who don't know, which i think is most of you, Sneaker Day is more commonly known as field day, but Belmont, my old elem. school, gives it it's own name.  I went originally to watch my cousins participate in the Red and White fun, but my old gym teacher  invited me down the field to help out.  I ended up staying there the whole day, and got burned on my shoulders and backs of my knees. Yeah, i'm good with getting burn at weird spots. Ears, backs of knees....Good thing i own gallons of aloe vera gel.  It's ok though - i love sneaker day! and white won!

I had my first camp meeting.  I was told that the 5 yr old head counselor couldn't come back last minute, and since the 5 yr old numbers were low, i'm now head counselor of the 5s and 6s! :)  We got into our age groups, and my fellow 5/6 counselors and i came up with themes and started ordering materials.  I like the group of counselors i'm working with....i'm just not used to being the head counselor.  we also have a lot of the same kids from the 5/6 group last year, so there will be some familiar faces! :)  more meetings to come this week!

i got new tennis shoes!  and they were free! and i'm excited for tennis camp! weeeee!

i saw over the hedge.  hehe....i liked it! not great like Neeeemo, but still good.  now do i want to see cars when that comes out this weekend? it's pixar, but it's cars.....i'll have to think about it...

i've been watching lots of French Open, which probably adds in the excitement for tennis camp.  i'm all for Nadal winning this again, and for the women's, i pick clijsters. 

ok, i think that's all the updates for now....g'night!:)
LinkAny thoughts?

This and that... [May. 15th, 2006|01:00 am]
[Current Location |Home on the couch]
[Current Mood | relaxed]

Haven't updated in a long time. Guess there's no excuse now since COLLEGE is OVER! :)

This semester was fun.  I had a nice schedule - four  classes, no Fridays, and nothing earlier than 11:30.  Finally.  Classes were not bad either: Music (which was the easy A class, but I secretely liked it), Cognitive Psych (Diego for the second time around made me a little nervous, but i have to admit, he was much much better this year), Foundations (extremely boring class, can't say i learned too much, except for the fact that my professor has something against Hungarians, but he's a nice guy who obviously knows a lot), and Social Psych (my favorite class by far - glad i saved a fun psych class for my last semester).  Turns out senior year was my best year of college, which is probably not the norm.  Don't get me wrong, i still got senioritis and managed to watch all my tv.... Also cheered on the basketball team all the way  to the Elite Eight, but lost the NCAA pool against my sister and now i have to pay for her icecream everytime we go out for icecream until October :).

Right now, i'm just waiting for graduation.  That's kinda scary.  I'm happy that school is over (at least for now), but i'm not quite ready to go into the "real world."  The teacher job fair this spring was very overwhelming, and i can't believe i have to really work now (that is if i find a job).  Anyway, back to the present.  I just spent a weekend at home, after my last final ever on Thursday afternoon.  For the first time in a very long time, I actually came home to both my parents!  I didn't have to turn on the water or anything!  Mom AND dad are home for graduation, so this past weekend was a very family weekend.  Both sisters also came home on Friday night, and Saturday was shopping at the New Hope and Flemington outlets.  That's what my dad likes to do - shopping.  My mom and my sisters and I usually wait for him to come out of the store, which is not what you usually see at most malls.  It's pretty amusing.  Today, we had a nice BBQ with the extended family at my cousin's house, our old house.  I miss our old house.  It's pretty.

This week is Senior week.  I'll be attending a few of the Senior events, and going out all over the place with Liz.  Most of the things we want to do involves food. Funny how that is. :) It's gonna be a nice, fun, relaxing week.  Saturday, we'll be having the traditional graduation dinner with the extended family in Chinatown.   Also, my dad can see all the extended family in one shot.  :)   There should be like 2 or 3 big tables = lots of people!  Finally, Sunday, the big day!! 10am commencement, noonish Psych department ceremony (that's where i offically get my diploma and get to hear "Betty Ho Ying Cheung").  We'll head back home after all that and have an awsome dinner at home, to avoid the Mainline crowds.

After that, my summer can start.  Nothing crazy planned for the summer, but i'm sure it'll be fun and relaxing.  I'm going to NIKE tennis camp (!) with my sisters and cousins in mid-June!! Four days of tennis in Amherst.  I'm finally gonna learn how to volley.  We also get free tennis shoes! :)  I'm soooo excitied - i've never been to camp before (as a camper)! A week or so after I come back, I'll be starting work at camp.  I'm going back to the Falls Township summer camp, but this year, I'll be a head counselor!! YAY!  I get the 6 year old group, which is exactly what I wanted!  And $12/hr too! :)   I'm very excited for camp, probably too excited. :)  Hopefully, i'll find a job this summer too.  (Notice how i haven't really mentioned my job search so far...)  I've applied to several districts and the Independent School Consortium, but haven't heard much back yet.  I've been told it's still too early for SD to post jobs, so hopefully that is the case.  After graduation, i'll spend a LOT of time applying and job hunting. 

Other good things: graduation presents (new flat panel monitor from my AWSOME sisters, earrings and tennis camp from my parents, earrings and graduation Monkichi [stuffed animal monkey} from my aunt), spring weather, sleeping in, having nothing to do! :)

All in all, life is pretty good! 
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I'm updating cause I don't want to do homework...what else is new...:) [Jan. 25th, 2006|07:17 pm]
[Current Mood | excited]

So I haven't updated in a looooong time. Oops.  It just shows how lazy I am.  I apologize now for how long this may be.

So since last time I updated....

Student Teaching is over. :(  I absolutely LOVED it, and would wake up every day at 6:30 in the morning instead of taking classes.  I loved my school, loved my coop, love my students.  I can't wait to go back to visit, and I can't wait to be a teacher.  On my last day at Cynwyd, we had a pizza party.  Many students gave me small gifts or cards, and I, in return, gave each student a personalized bookmark and the following story:

Once upon a time, there lived a girl in a land far, far away.  She often left her home, without permission from her parents, and wandered around town.  On one particular day in the middle of August, she found herself in an unfamiliar part of town. When she noticed she was lost, she tried her best to find her way back home. She crossed rivers, walked through towns, and saw many amazing things along her way.  However, with every turn she made, it was the wrong turn.  She walked into French caves, climbed the Great Wall, and even watched as people prayed in Jerusalem.  She had a map in her pocket, but she soon found it was of no use.  This was because the map was only of Antarctica, one of the seven continents of the world.  But imagine what she would have seen there! (Polar bears and flamingos, perhaps?)  
    She continued walking, although now it was more like running, because all she wanted was to go home.  Go home to her family and some moon cakes (no waterslides, though).  Soon, the girl was not paying any attention to where she was running and fell into a deep hole.  She waited and waited to land at the bottom of the hole, but she just kept falling.  As she was falling, she noticed that it was getting hotter and hotter.  Soon it was just too hot.  A rumbling and moving began around her, and before she knew it, she shot out like a canyon from a fiery volcano.  As the lava flowed down the mountain, she found she had landed in an extremely unfamiliar place.  Not knowing where she should go next, she decided to just keep walking straight. 
    She soon got very tired from walking so she decided to take a small nap under a tree.  She dreamed of many other magical places, like the caves in Australia, the animal carvings in India, and even the Seventh Sister.  In the middle of her dream about the communities around the world, she was wakened by a fairly odd man.  Startled, the girl thought to herself, “This man looks absolutely MAD!”  While she was still rubbing her eyes, the man spoke.  “Hello there, my friend!  My name is Minute.  The folks around here call me Mad Minute.  I can’t say for sure I know why though… What’s your name?”
    The girl quickly told him his name, and told him she must be going.  Before she left, the man handed her a small brown ball.  “Eat it, for you look lost.  This will show the Earth.”  As strange as this was, the girl took a bite right down the middle and saw what he meant.  She thanked the man and continued on her way. She continued to see incredible things along the way, but suddenly, after a few days, she arrived at a very tall, but very nice building.  Tired and cold (she was always cold), the girl walked into the building.  She walked around, seeing a library and a lunch room.  She saw a gym and a big stair case.  She followed the stairs up and up, and continued to wander the halls of the building.  She looked into the rooms around her, and in the first room on the left was something she was so happy to see.  She walked in and 17 smiling faces were busy at work.  She greeted the nice lady at the front of the room and the lady introduced her to the 17 smiling children. 
Soon enough, the girl began telling the children all the things she saw on her way here.  She told about the long fall into a hole, the volcano she shot out of, the many different places she visited, and even the strange man named Mad Minute. They loved her stories (at least she thinks they did), and the children asked questions about her fabulous experiences.  This lasted for many weeks.
At last, however, after 15 weeks with the seventeen always smiling children, the girl told them she must leave.  She had found a map during her stay with the lady and the children, and she had finally found a way to return home.  After a long goodbye, the girl left the room, left the hallway, and left the building.  She was incredibly sad to leave the children, for they were the first group of children she had ever told her stories to.  Using the map, the girl walked home, thinking how she will never ever forget this wonderful, intelligent, unique, and special group of children who all together was called 3B.

After many semesters of night classes and the craziness that is Rosemont, I'm all done with Education. I can't believe it. I've passed all my classes, created an electronic portfolio, and passed my LAST set of Praxis. Eeeshk!

I finished student teaching on a Friday, and the following Monday, I was on a plane to Hong Kong!  Saw my parents, grandparents, Violie,  aunts, uncles, and tall cousins.  Three of my four HK cousins are either my  height or taller than me.  Including the one that is 12 years old. :)  HK was warm, very warm.  Mid 60s each day.  I love winter in HK.  I shopped a lot, and by a lot I mean I brought back the BIGGEST suitcase my dad had, and i still couldn't bring everything back.  ( Good thing mom will be back in March!) I also ate a LOT.  My favorite lunch meal is fishball noodles with iced lemon tea.  Favorite dinner food? That's hard, but since i had it three time, it must be hot pot. I would put a picture of hot pot here, but it never works.  Just trust me, it's soooooo good.  My favorite midnight snack? HK version French Toast.  Favorite breakfast? Violie's eggs. :)  I spent Christmas and New Year's in HK. Nothing too special on Christmas - we opened presents at midnight.  Mom got me earrings, dad got me a Puma schoolbag (that i picked out!) On New Year's, my parents and I went downstairs to the pavillion outside our mall (our apartment building is connected to a mall) for the countdown.  Only there were A LOT of people there, so they closed off all the exits to the pavillion except the farthest one.  We went out the exit and around the mall until we saw the HUGE crowd.  When we got there, the count was down to 5.....4....3....2.....1.....HAPPY NEW YEAR!  Glad we JUST made it! We took a few pictures and then walked back upstairs. It was really fun! :)

Back in the US, i had a week to do unpack and repack for school (aka do absolutely nothing and sit on the couch the entire day!). Classes started last week.  Last semester at 'Nova. I'm ready for school to be over.  I want to teach! :) Anyways, this semester, i'm taking four classes, my earliest class is at 11:30, and NO FRIDAYS! Doesn't meant he classes are good though.  Charm of Music is ok, seems easy, but boring.  We do listen to various musical clips that I do strangely enjoy.  Then there's Cognitive, with Diego. Physio with Diego was hell, but it seems he's a little better in Cognitive.  Still a lot of work though. Worst class of the semester would have to be Foundations. Prof is weird - he wore a suit on the first day of class.  By suit, i mean power tie, nice material, cuff links, and shiny shoes.  Maybe he had a wedding to go to. :) He voice is really scratchy, and he doesn't speak loud enough. AND, the history of Psychology begins with the Neanderthals.  Did you know that? Best class of the semester is probably Social Psych.  Professor is really nice, although she lectures the whole class.  She gives good examples though, and the stuff is interesting.

 In other news, I have slowly started knitting, although it's just rectangles cause i don't know what i want to make. It's all Helen, Liz, and Kristin's fault. I'm also really excited for this weekend.  It's Chinese New Year, and Liz and I are going up to my sister's for Hot Pot! More food! There'll be a fairly big group, so it should be fun (and YUMMY!) . And lastly, random news, Brian Dawkins is going to the Pro Bowl!

Ok, now you're updated.
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