the weather here has really mellowed out lately. it's noticeably cooler in the mornings now, and the rain has stopped completely. there was actually one morning last week where i was ashamed of myself: i felt so cold that i wore a long-sleeved sweater to school--me, a canadian, not being able to stand above-zero temperatures!
i have a feeling i'm going to freeze to death when i head home for christmas break (which, btw, will be from dec. 22 to jan. 5). a teacher that used to live in canada, but has now lived in mexico for about 20 years tells me that my feeling is absolutely right. greaat.
it's funny how i haven't really been hit by an overwhelming bout of homesickness yet. i've never been away from home for longer than two months before, so this is the longest i've ever been outside of canada (almost four months now). of course, i miss certain aspects of home (some ppl, live shows, real record stores, lemon meringue pie), but i don't feel like i can't go on w/out those things. maybe it's easier to handle b/c i know i'll be home next month. or maybe losing the tip of my finger, being stung by a bee and catching pink eye have distracted me from feeling culture shock (or would they all just speed up the process?). who knows.
i do feel a little sad for my housemate though, 'cause i'm pretty sure she's been bit by the homesick bug pretty hard. i suspect it may have hit her harder b/c before moving here, she'd only been outside of alberta once, for a two-week vacation or something. hopefully, she'll feel better soon.
this weekend is a long weekend b/c the school is celebrating the U.S. thanksgiving. i've had two turkey dinners so far this year, one being the one that left me bloated for a week last month and the other was last night at a restaurant which a father of two of my students owns. both were delicious. it was cute to see my grade 11 student working w/ his dad last night, learning the ropes and preparing to take over the business.
truly, these kids are, for the most part, a very good-natured bunch. they're not the snooty, bratty, stuck-up children of privilege some ppl would expect them to be. it's true that some of them (the grade 12's in particular) are very immature and whiny, but i'm pretty sure i prefer dealing w/ that than a bunch of asshole-ish punks.
thursday was a half-day at school, and the second half of the half day was taken up by the high school talent show. the student council hosted it and gave it a saturday night live theme, sprinkling comedy sketches in btwn the talent acts. some of it was actually pretty funny. there was a spartan cheerleaders sketch, an appearance by hans & frans, and a weekend update which included a news bit about how my pink eye was beginning to fade and how my finger had "miraculously" regrown (it kind of has, too--the nail is almost fully back, but the feeling in the tip is odd and you can see the scar where the stitches used to be).
most of the talent in the show consisted of students singing showtunes or pop ballads in english or spanish to recorded accompaniment. two acts had live guitar accompaniment. there wasn't very much variety. only one duo did a dance routine. nevertheless, it was an enjoyable 90 mins, especially b/c a group of us (3 teachers, 8 students) sang "seasons of love" from jonathan larson's RENT (those of you who've known me long enough know i was OBSESSED w/ this musical in high school) to close the show.
tomorrow some of us teachers are going to the wedding of a father of three of our students. this man also happens to be a millionaire (perhaps even multi-?), and the nuptials are going to take place at his home, which i recently saw described as "palatial" in a local rag. i have to admit that i'm probably going to feel a little awkward and out of place there, but i don't think the opportunity to gape at the lush and lavish lifestyle of the rich comes along everyday, so i'm willing to trade in a little discomfort for a peek. i'll let ya know how it goes.
[i know in my last post i said i'd write about the testosterone-heavy gender this post, but i think i'll save it for next time.]
i have a feeling i'm going to freeze to death when i head home for christmas break (which, btw, will be from dec. 22 to jan. 5). a teacher that used to live in canada, but has now lived in mexico for about 20 years tells me that my feeling is absolutely right. greaat.
it's funny how i haven't really been hit by an overwhelming bout of homesickness yet. i've never been away from home for longer than two months before, so this is the longest i've ever been outside of canada (almost four months now). of course, i miss certain aspects of home (some ppl, live shows, real record stores, lemon meringue pie), but i don't feel like i can't go on w/out those things. maybe it's easier to handle b/c i know i'll be home next month. or maybe losing the tip of my finger, being stung by a bee and catching pink eye have distracted me from feeling culture shock (or would they all just speed up the process?). who knows.
i do feel a little sad for my housemate though, 'cause i'm pretty sure she's been bit by the homesick bug pretty hard. i suspect it may have hit her harder b/c before moving here, she'd only been outside of alberta once, for a two-week vacation or something. hopefully, she'll feel better soon.
this weekend is a long weekend b/c the school is celebrating the U.S. thanksgiving. i've had two turkey dinners so far this year, one being the one that left me bloated for a week last month and the other was last night at a restaurant which a father of two of my students owns. both were delicious. it was cute to see my grade 11 student working w/ his dad last night, learning the ropes and preparing to take over the business.
truly, these kids are, for the most part, a very good-natured bunch. they're not the snooty, bratty, stuck-up children of privilege some ppl would expect them to be. it's true that some of them (the grade 12's in particular) are very immature and whiny, but i'm pretty sure i prefer dealing w/ that than a bunch of asshole-ish punks.
thursday was a half-day at school, and the second half of the half day was taken up by the high school talent show. the student council hosted it and gave it a saturday night live theme, sprinkling comedy sketches in btwn the talent acts. some of it was actually pretty funny. there was a spartan cheerleaders sketch, an appearance by hans & frans, and a weekend update which included a news bit about how my pink eye was beginning to fade and how my finger had "miraculously" regrown (it kind of has, too--the nail is almost fully back, but the feeling in the tip is odd and you can see the scar where the stitches used to be).
most of the talent in the show consisted of students singing showtunes or pop ballads in english or spanish to recorded accompaniment. two acts had live guitar accompaniment. there wasn't very much variety. only one duo did a dance routine. nevertheless, it was an enjoyable 90 mins, especially b/c a group of us (3 teachers, 8 students) sang "seasons of love" from jonathan larson's RENT (those of you who've known me long enough know i was OBSESSED w/ this musical in high school) to close the show.
tomorrow some of us teachers are going to the wedding of a father of three of our students. this man also happens to be a millionaire (perhaps even multi-?), and the nuptials are going to take place at his home, which i recently saw described as "palatial" in a local rag. i have to admit that i'm probably going to feel a little awkward and out of place there, but i don't think the opportunity to gape at the lush and lavish lifestyle of the rich comes along everyday, so i'm willing to trade in a little discomfort for a peek. i'll let ya know how it goes.
[i know in my last post i said i'd write about the testosterone-heavy gender this post, but i think i'll save it for next time.]
posted by oxymoron @ 4:02 PM
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