- If a man named King Midas comes up to you while you are waiting at a bus stop and stands really close to you blowing cigar smoke out of his nose, beware, he may grab your butt!
- If someone puts gasoline in garbage cans, and has aerosol spray and matches attached a dorm room could blow up. You think they would evacuate the building but I guess not... kind of scary!
- The beach is beautiful but don't forget to reapply sunscreen or you may have sunburn on your 15 hour plane ride.
- When you fly into LA the pollution is really evident and you can't see the mountains even though they are near to you.
- When you put six people who have never meet each other from all corners of America together, expect amazing things!
- There are Christian Pow Wow's in CA.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
What I Learned In California
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Greetings From Pasadena!
Hello Friends!
Well, I made it to California in the middle of a HEAT WAVE!! IT WAS HORRIBLE!!!! In less than three hours riding in the plane I experienced a 50 degree weather change. It was very difficult the first few days. On Sunday our team participated in a Scavenger Hunt which lead us to downtown Pasadena where we searched for over an hour in over 100 degree temperatures for a restaurant called the Equator. We only had our clues to go by no restaurant name, so we had to talk to random people on the street and ask for help a lot. We were greatly relieved and pleasantly surprised by the restaurant and enjoyed a nice lunch there. Despite the heat, our team did not give up and we ended up winning the scavenger hunt at 4:00 almost a hour and a half after the deadline. We worked together and did not give up like all the other teams! It was nice to see a movie at the budget theater to cool off before heading back to campus for an evening of very hot sleeping!
My team for Hungary consists of six people. They included: Chelsea, Adrienne, Tim, Cristianna, Amy, and myself. I am the oldest on the team and the only teacher, but am so excited for the enthusiasm on the team and willingness to learn. We have been teaching practice lessons and sitting through many mini workshops which are helping us to be good teachers overseas as well as teaching us how to adjust to living in a new country. The days are long and jammed packed with mini lectures and workshops.
Well, I have to sign off and prepare my mock lesson for the day! I am so thankful for cooler weather! With the cool wave going though I have been able to at least sleep which was not easy the first two nights here. I will post more later! Enjoy your day!
Well, I made it to California in the middle of a HEAT WAVE!! IT WAS HORRIBLE!!!! In less than three hours riding in the plane I experienced a 50 degree weather change. It was very difficult the first few days. On Sunday our team participated in a Scavenger Hunt which lead us to downtown Pasadena where we searched for over an hour in over 100 degree temperatures for a restaurant called the Equator. We only had our clues to go by no restaurant name, so we had to talk to random people on the street and ask for help a lot. We were greatly relieved and pleasantly surprised by the restaurant and enjoyed a nice lunch there. Despite the heat, our team did not give up and we ended up winning the scavenger hunt at 4:00 almost a hour and a half after the deadline. We worked together and did not give up like all the other teams! It was nice to see a movie at the budget theater to cool off before heading back to campus for an evening of very hot sleeping!
My team for Hungary consists of six people. They included: Chelsea, Adrienne, Tim, Cristianna, Amy, and myself. I am the oldest on the team and the only teacher, but am so excited for the enthusiasm on the team and willingness to learn. We have been teaching practice lessons and sitting through many mini workshops which are helping us to be good teachers overseas as well as teaching us how to adjust to living in a new country. The days are long and jammed packed with mini lectures and workshops.
Well, I have to sign off and prepare my mock lesson for the day! I am so thankful for cooler weather! With the cool wave going though I have been able to at least sleep which was not easy the first two nights here. I will post more later! Enjoy your day!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Six Days
All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware
~Martin Buber~
~Martin Buber~
Well, I am down to the six day mark. In six days I will be in California ready to begin my preparation for my summer adventures. This week we found out some of the places we will be living and working while in Hungary. It has been a fun weekend looking up the various places on the internet even if I could only read some of the sites. The dreaded, very difficult Hungarian language is still tripping me up.
Our time in Hungary is going to be jammed packed. We will be working at four different English Camps in the surrounding Budapest area while we are in Hungary. These camps will be located in Tahi, Budakeszi, Rakoskeresztur, and Bicske. Even though I have not a clue how to pronounce these names I am excited to move around to different locations and have variety while we are gone. At the end of our work camps we should have a few days to tour and sightsee and relax our brains and bodies before coming home. We will be coming home a week earlier than originally anticipated, however this change has brought me great relief. I was very worried about having only a few days getting everything ready at school and not having time to adjust to life after being away, but I feel so much better knowing I will not have to feel so pressured once I get home.
Well, I think that is everything. I have all my bags packed and I am ready to go…well except for my carry-on… I will post again before I leave for CA with any last minute news! I hope all the dads out there had a Happy Father's Day!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
16 Days And Counting....
Well, a great school year is done. I have been putting my trip to Hungary in the back of my mind so that I could focus on getting through the last weeks of school. It was not an easy group of students to say good-bye to and was an even harder end to the year knowing that my teammate next door was moving on to a new school. I don't think I should have passed along all my unused Kleenex boxes. I think I used a whole box myself the last day of school! Now that school is over, I can finally focus on my work in Hungary.
I will be leaving for training in California in 16 days. I know the next few days will go quickly as I pack and prepare to live out of my suitcase for the summer.... PLEASE LET MY SUITCASE ARRIVE WITH ME.... that is my greatest traveling fear! The last weeks have been nerve wracking. The weekend before Memorial Day we heard that the people who are normally the contacts for Hungary were in a bad car accident and unable to do the program for the summer. I was a bit nervous when we had to come up with a backup plan since my heart was set on going to Hungary. After lots of work from the home office in California, they found some new contacts and Hungary is back on. It has been an up-down-all around journey the last couple weeks, but I feel a lot better knowing all the research and language studies I have been doing are not going to waste. The Internet has been a wonderful thing. I found two people on Face book who will be on my team this summer and we have been chatting back and forth. I am feeling better knowing I will at least be able to put some faces with names when arriving at training.
I am off to do some organizing and packing! I hope that all you teachers out there enjoyed your last few days of school and will be enjoying your summer break! I will be posting again as more news comes my way about where we will be working and living this summer. We hope to know before leaving for training!
I will be leaving for training in California in 16 days. I know the next few days will go quickly as I pack and prepare to live out of my suitcase for the summer.... PLEASE LET MY SUITCASE ARRIVE WITH ME.... that is my greatest traveling fear! The last weeks have been nerve wracking. The weekend before Memorial Day we heard that the people who are normally the contacts for Hungary were in a bad car accident and unable to do the program for the summer. I was a bit nervous when we had to come up with a backup plan since my heart was set on going to Hungary. After lots of work from the home office in California, they found some new contacts and Hungary is back on. It has been an up-down-all around journey the last couple weeks, but I feel a lot better knowing all the research and language studies I have been doing are not going to waste. The Internet has been a wonderful thing. I found two people on Face book who will be on my team this summer and we have been chatting back and forth. I am feeling better knowing I will at least be able to put some faces with names when arriving at training.
I am off to do some organizing and packing! I hope that all you teachers out there enjoyed your last few days of school and will be enjoying your summer break! I will be posting again as more news comes my way about where we will be working and living this summer. We hope to know before leaving for training!
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