We are in Italy...right now. Woohoo!
Happy Halloween, everybody.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Italian Holiday
We hate to brag, but after three grueling weeks in the teaching profession, we are officially on holiday for the next fortnight. I know, try not to be jealous.
Tomorrow we are off to Paris, and Monday we will fly to Milano. We are going to spend five days in the Cinque Terre, hiking, lounging, beach-combing, and above all....gorging on delicious fresh pasta and pesto (which is a regional specialty- you learn something new every day).
Like Suzy and Greg however, we are still awaiting our paychecks from our respective, benevolent European countries. It will be an exercise in self-restraint. But how much Italian shopping could we do when we are only each taking a backpack. We will be sponging out our clothing in tiny hotel sinks for the next week.
One spot we plan to visit is Lucca, an ancient Italian city which is still surrounded by huge ramparts. I (Caitlin) have my heart pretty much set on renting a tandem bike and riding on top of them, but Kade is skeptical I think about sharing a bike.
Note: we are flying on Vueling airlines, which I think is relatively new and definitely cheap. Check it out if you are flying in European territories. And unlike those heathens at ryanair.com and easyjet, the price they show is inclusive of taxes. So they don't show a 10 euro fare and then add 80 euros in taxes.
Just our tip of the day.
So if you need us in the next week, we will be checking email occasionally, but will mostly be out of the loop. If anything groundbreaking occurs, send carrier pigeon.
Tomorrow we are off to Paris, and Monday we will fly to Milano. We are going to spend five days in the Cinque Terre, hiking, lounging, beach-combing, and above all....gorging on delicious fresh pasta and pesto (which is a regional specialty- you learn something new every day).
Like Suzy and Greg however, we are still awaiting our paychecks from our respective, benevolent European countries. It will be an exercise in self-restraint. But how much Italian shopping could we do when we are only each taking a backpack. We will be sponging out our clothing in tiny hotel sinks for the next week.
One spot we plan to visit is Lucca, an ancient Italian city which is still surrounded by huge ramparts. I (Caitlin) have my heart pretty much set on renting a tandem bike and riding on top of them, but Kade is skeptical I think about sharing a bike.
Note: we are flying on Vueling airlines, which I think is relatively new and definitely cheap. Check it out if you are flying in European territories. And unlike those heathens at ryanair.com and easyjet, the price they show is inclusive of taxes. So they don't show a 10 euro fare and then add 80 euros in taxes.
Just our tip of the day.
So if you need us in the next week, we will be checking email occasionally, but will mostly be out of the loop. If anything groundbreaking occurs, send carrier pigeon.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Happy Birthday, Seth
We know that our singing is painful, but that's what you do for the people you love.
Monday, October 8, 2007
School days, school days
So they totally play "Grace Under Fire" on a Belgian TV station we get here.
Caitlin: The students are really bad, when they left class this afternoon I had a little panic attack in the classroom thinking there was no hope for the rest of the year. They really can't just be quiet, who on earth wants to be a teacher? Sorry to all of you who have masters to be just that.
I separated two chatty-pants French girls who couldn't put a sock in it. I think I may have made permanent enemies. I feel like the teenagers are forming factions to avoid work, English, and me in general. My students are very poor, and for the most part don't think that learning a foreign language is all that important. A lot of them have never traveled farther than Lille ( the capital of our region- about an hours train ride away.) However they have had all the advantages that imported rap music can offer.
The French teacher who is my acting advisor and best friend, Mr. Lienard waxed nostalgic about his first year teaching in a high school. He told me he didn't sleep through the night once the entire year. He likened work in the classroom to standing naked in front of a room of strangers, and quieting whispering students to watching 6 boiling pots of milk at once.
Needless to say I'm not feeling encouraged.
Of course the problem may be as simple as the fact I didn't come appropriately equipped with dry-erase markers. I think forced writing on the board would do a lot for my power quotient. I did take liberal use of my new found authority to walk about the room at will and randomly assign passages to be read aloud. I tried to think about what teachers look like in movies when they are hard at work teaching. I tried also to think like Sam Buffaloe. What would Sam do? While I don't have nearly the power that comes with a beard like his, I tried to laugh when I thought he would, and hold my hands up in front of myself like he does when making a point.
Maybe they don't like my new hair. Who knows. So far French people seem crazy, why else would they watch "Grace Under Fire?"
Caitlin: The students are really bad, when they left class this afternoon I had a little panic attack in the classroom thinking there was no hope for the rest of the year. They really can't just be quiet, who on earth wants to be a teacher? Sorry to all of you who have masters to be just that.
I separated two chatty-pants French girls who couldn't put a sock in it. I think I may have made permanent enemies. I feel like the teenagers are forming factions to avoid work, English, and me in general. My students are very poor, and for the most part don't think that learning a foreign language is all that important. A lot of them have never traveled farther than Lille ( the capital of our region- about an hours train ride away.) However they have had all the advantages that imported rap music can offer.
The French teacher who is my acting advisor and best friend, Mr. Lienard waxed nostalgic about his first year teaching in a high school. He told me he didn't sleep through the night once the entire year. He likened work in the classroom to standing naked in front of a room of strangers, and quieting whispering students to watching 6 boiling pots of milk at once.
Needless to say I'm not feeling encouraged.
Of course the problem may be as simple as the fact I didn't come appropriately equipped with dry-erase markers. I think forced writing on the board would do a lot for my power quotient. I did take liberal use of my new found authority to walk about the room at will and randomly assign passages to be read aloud. I tried to think about what teachers look like in movies when they are hard at work teaching. I tried also to think like Sam Buffaloe. What would Sam do? While I don't have nearly the power that comes with a beard like his, I tried to laugh when I thought he would, and hold my hands up in front of myself like he does when making a point.
Maybe they don't like my new hair. Who knows. So far French people seem crazy, why else would they watch "Grace Under Fire?"
Thursday, October 4, 2007
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