School's out for SUMMER!

I finished my summer school classes! (One diversity term paper and ESL curriculum DONE.) To celebrate, today Ari and I went to see The Man Who Fell to Earth (the Bowie sci-fi film is playing at the local arthouse theater), and then I ordered a brownie sundae (vegan, of course), and THEN I bought some 4-inch platform shoes at DSW for $30. So I can be a giant.

Perhaps my "summer school is finito" celebration was a bit excessive.

I have a feeling this is a common summer school conundrum.

Aagghh. Writing a paper on a Saturday night does not work if your neighbors decide to throw a patio party and blast reggaeton/rap/banda etc. music until after 1:30am (it's still going). And it's too hot to close a window.

Blerg.

Don't Judge

So today, I asked my students to write about a "turning point" in their lives, and to imagine how their lives could have/would have/might have been different if that turning point had not happened (we're practicing conditional right now).

When I've done this topic in the past, I've noticed that it tends to bring up topics from the students' past that can be painful or depressing (how they had to leave their family behind when they came illegally to the U.S., for example). However, I wasn't really worried about students writing those types of stories today, as I naively assumed that because most of my students are quite rich, they generally must lead privileged, happy lives.

Wrong! One of my Japanese students today wrote a story about how she got kidnapped when she was 5 years old. And how she was held for ransom for three days, until her kidnappers gave her up (and were apparently arrested by the police). What am I supposed to say to that?

I guess it just makes me thankful, in a way, that I have as much time as I do (12 weeks, if the students stay for the whole session) to try to get to know these individuals and where they come from. It's a good wake up call now and then to realize that there is no way I will ever have them figured out (as much as I subconsciously assume so), and that is, ultimately, a good thing, I think. It's a reason I love teaching.

Talkin' Bout My Generation

The cafe at Teachers College always hosts a local music group/singer on Wednesday evenings. Tonight (right now, as I'm posting this) they have a folk pair playing covers on acoustic guitar and harmonica-piano (What is that instrument actually called?).

And they just played "No One Else" by Weezer. YES! So great. I don't think I've ever heard anyone play that live (not even Weezer the one time I saw them). These kids are definitely from my generation.

Czech Yo'self

You know NYC has a lot of summer movie series when it's even offering a series of free Czech movies.

I mean, call me ethnocentric, but how many famous Czech movies are there really?

Sans meubles, mais ici!

I am officially a resident of Brooklyn! Or "the BK," as all the cool kids call it.
Ari and I moved in on Thursday night (a last minute rush decision, as it turned out I'd have to move by myself if I waited until Friday). We loaded up a hired minivan in Harlem at 10:30pm and got everything moved into our 4th-floor walk-up by 1am. Hooray!

We also have essentially no furniture. Thankfully our kitchen has a bar, so we basically just ate our meals standing around that. Until yesterday, that is, when we made a trip out to Ikea and bought some bars stools. ($20 each! What a steal!)

Now our next pressing order of business is getting a microwave. I complained to my coworkers today about our lack of a microwave, and they made fun of me for not being willing to heat everything up on the stove or in the oven. But I do not retract my opinion. The radiation from microwaves may be dangerous, but it's so much faster and easier to use, gosh darn it!

Anyway, this turning into a rambling, pointless post. My main point is: I have moved into my new place. I will post some pics as soon as it looks somewhat decent.

And if you want to send me a microwave as a housewarming gift, I will graciously accept it.