Happy birthday to my sister Kendra who is now 17!
Thankfully I forgot to post this first, which means you'll see it first, which is just right.
We celebrated her birthday tonight, and you can see photos at the above link! (she'll love me for passing that bit of info on)
Friday, June 30, 2006
A tale of OPIs
This morning I called my French professor from Grace in order to have my OPI (Oral Proficiency Interview) with her. This was my second French OPI... or actually the third, since the first was a practice to estimate student levels during the Intermediate French class, which was in a galaxy far, far away, many, many lightyears ago. Oops, lightyears measure distance and not time, right? Wrong. They measure both, given the theory of relativity. But I'm getting off subject (which I have a perfect right to do on a Friday night, right? Wrong... well, okay, I'll stop being annoying. By the way, can you tell anyone's had to write a lot of French style dissertations lately: thesis-antithesis-synthesis?)
The second OPI, late in the fall 2005 semester, was to determine my level before leaving to study abroad in France. Somehow I attained Advanced despite having spent a several-hours-long Language Table lunchtime of speaking French and German, followed by the Spanish OPI (in the cafeteria), followed at last by the French OPI, all on several hours of sleep. Afterward my brain felt tired.
Today's OPI was post-study-abroad and resulted in Superior, the highest level attainable. Praise the Lord!
(For those curious, ACTFL describes what characterizes the various OPI levels.)
The second OPI, late in the fall 2005 semester, was to determine my level before leaving to study abroad in France. Somehow I attained Advanced despite having spent a several-hours-long Language Table lunchtime of speaking French and German, followed by the Spanish OPI (in the cafeteria), followed at last by the French OPI, all on several hours of sleep. Afterward my brain felt tired.
Today's OPI was post-study-abroad and resulted in Superior, the highest level attainable. Praise the Lord!
(For those curious, ACTFL describes what characterizes the various OPI levels.)
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Never too little time
Oh, how sad. I had to spend most of my free time this evening working with other languages.
Writing an email to the lady who will host me in Argentina was a real exercise, especially after four-and-a-half months of a similar language (it will take a while to switch from et to y). In fact, it was such an exercise that it will have to be finished tomorrow, with the help of my handy little nineteen-years-outdated Spanish-English dictionary.
After that was helping Derek resolve the last and deepest questions encountered in his German textbook. Good thing we did it tonight, since he's been done with that subject for a while and much of the German in his head is clearly undergoing deactivation, that perfectly normal process which kicks in at school year's end to make brain room for more important things, like enjoying summer vacation.
Writing an email to the lady who will host me in Argentina was a real exercise, especially after four-and-a-half months of a similar language (it will take a while to switch from et to y). In fact, it was such an exercise that it will have to be finished tomorrow, with the help of my handy little nineteen-years-outdated Spanish-English dictionary.
After that was helping Derek resolve the last and deepest questions encountered in his German textbook. Good thing we did it tonight, since he's been done with that subject for a while and much of the German in his head is clearly undergoing deactivation, that perfectly normal process which kicks in at school year's end to make brain room for more important things, like enjoying summer vacation.
Sunday, June 25, 2006
A more-or-less real post
Well, the last three or four posts haven't been much of anything, just fillers to prove that I still exist and go online for at least a few minutes a day. You try working all day and sitting down in front of your computer after supper without feeling like falling asleep.
Just to be redundant, it's really good to be home. Two weeks have already flown by. Since this summer is a mere five weeks long, I set three simple goals:
1) Sleep, so I can
2) Work and
3) Study Spanish
It's hard to sleep a lot when your only free time is the evening and then you want to get up and do things the next day... especially since the sun come sup before six. It takes discipline to be lazy. Or instead of laziness, we could just call it reparation for past sleep loss and preparation for future sleep deprivation.
Yup, it's good to be home and be a real countrified girl again and do all those important things: do hard physical work, watch Lone Ranger episodes with my siblings (you have to have enough people: some to laugh at it and some to protest the laughter), try to help Carolyn decide which car color should go with which day if she were to have a different car for every day if the week, dig trenches with Jason, and eat real home-grilled burgers and huge bowls of ice cream (instead of, say, a nice cut of meat or a little bowl of ice cream - refined, I suppose, but sometimes you want the burger or the big bowl).
Of course, sitting at an outdoor café in the sun and drinking an expresso while chatting with a friend and people-watching isn't bad either. And I do miss speaking French. I just get 'looks' around here if I try that, especially (how typical) from the boys.
That's as much of an update as I'm coming up with for now. Updates are boring anyway.
Just to be redundant, it's really good to be home. Two weeks have already flown by. Since this summer is a mere five weeks long, I set three simple goals:
1) Sleep, so I can
2) Work and
3) Study Spanish
It's hard to sleep a lot when your only free time is the evening and then you want to get up and do things the next day... especially since the sun come sup before six. It takes discipline to be lazy. Or instead of laziness, we could just call it reparation for past sleep loss and preparation for future sleep deprivation.
Yup, it's good to be home and be a real countrified girl again and do all those important things: do hard physical work, watch Lone Ranger episodes with my siblings (you have to have enough people: some to laugh at it and some to protest the laughter), try to help Carolyn decide which car color should go with which day if she were to have a different car for every day if the week, dig trenches with Jason, and eat real home-grilled burgers and huge bowls of ice cream (instead of, say, a nice cut of meat or a little bowl of ice cream - refined, I suppose, but sometimes you want the burger or the big bowl).
Of course, sitting at an outdoor café in the sun and drinking an expresso while chatting with a friend and people-watching isn't bad either. And I do miss speaking French. I just get 'looks' around here if I try that, especially (how typical) from the boys.
That's as much of an update as I'm coming up with for now. Updates are boring anyway.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
A note to the girls
Do you want your fingernails filed? If you don't mind a slightly flattened look, may I suggest at least two hours of sandpapering, especially a good bumpy stretch of plaster-patched drywall.
(Warning: Frequent pauses to check progress are highly recommended)
(Warning: Frequent pauses to check progress are highly recommended)
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Drywalling is fun
It's also long work. Trevor came up to the partly-done 2nd-floor-addition bathroom to watch me for about ten minutes. Then he slid off the stool and left, announcing, "You not very far yet."
Thanks a lot, Bud. You're a big encouragement. Don't you know job security when you see it? The longer the project, the longer I have work.
Actually, I think he got bored because Jason wasn't there to trade smart remarks.
Thanks a lot, Bud. You're a big encouragement. Don't you know job security when you see it? The longer the project, the longer I have work.
Actually, I think he got bored because Jason wasn't there to trade smart remarks.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Time
It isn't that there aren't enough hours in a day. It's that we try to do too much. Or too little.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Down with homework
It's already almost 10:30 and bedtime, so I'll just leave you with some quotes from this NYT article.
"And when parents are told that their children's skills will slip without summer homework, we have to wonder: if those skills are so fragile, what kind of education are they really getting?"
"Most studies have found little correlation between homework and achievement (meaning grades and test scores)..."
"... many [teachers] told us homework assignments are an 'afterthought'."
That last one makes me glad I missed out on experiencing homework till college. If I ever teach, I'd rather skip homework altogether than waste my students' time and neurons.
"And when parents are told that their children's skills will slip without summer homework, we have to wonder: if those skills are so fragile, what kind of education are they really getting?"
"Most studies have found little correlation between homework and achievement (meaning grades and test scores)..."
"... many [teachers] told us homework assignments are an 'afterthought'."
That last one makes me glad I missed out on experiencing homework till college. If I ever teach, I'd rather skip homework altogether than waste my students' time and neurons.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Help wanted!
I need some kind of Most Recent Comments system for my blog. Who can help me? I'll find you a suitable reward if my nearly-eternal gratitude isn't enough.
[Update: read Comments for Wilson's helpful suggestion. Just scroll down past the "Recently" section on sidebar to view the end result. Let other Blogger users profit!]
[Update: read Comments for Wilson's helpful suggestion. Just scroll down past the "Recently" section on sidebar to view the end result. Let other Blogger users profit!]
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Modern language
Did you know that obstaculizar is a real Spanish verb? Reminds me of the French bloquer. You can easily imagine the translation. Language makes me laugh, it's so often... rigolo, marrant, drole. (Sorry, "funny" just doesn't cut it.)
Good clean dirt
Here in Iowa we take pride in our good black soil, rich enough to make this state one of the most fertile areas in the world. But underneath we've got our share of clay. Try digging in the stuff for six hours - especially when it's damp. After one or two tries, there's more sticking to your shovel than you're taking out of the hole, which suddenly renders digging a great alternative to weight lifting.
(Jason and I are getting the necessary holes, pipes and trenches ready in the addition and breezeway basements in order to move the sump-pump from the former into the latter, which will become the Grand Central Pumping Station for the mansion, I guess.)
I handed a couple good clay-ey clods up to Ethan and Nolan because I remembered the happy hours we older ones used to spend making our own pottery. Clay was a precious commodity. We would hunt for 'clay mines' in the piles of dirt dug up from the addition and garage basements. The clay veins would always be lighter - kind of golden. Once found, the clay had to be molded quickly before it dried into crumbly orangey dirt.
But it passed... the age of the dirt mountains and the rock piles covered in glorious forests of weeds... and boring civilization took over.
Of course, some things don't change. Like the dead mouse Jason found and buried.
(Jason and I are getting the necessary holes, pipes and trenches ready in the addition and breezeway basements in order to move the sump-pump from the former into the latter, which will become the Grand Central Pumping Station for the mansion, I guess.)
I handed a couple good clay-ey clods up to Ethan and Nolan because I remembered the happy hours we older ones used to spend making our own pottery. Clay was a precious commodity. We would hunt for 'clay mines' in the piles of dirt dug up from the addition and garage basements. The clay veins would always be lighter - kind of golden. Once found, the clay had to be molded quickly before it dried into crumbly orangey dirt.
But it passed... the age of the dirt mountains and the rock piles covered in glorious forests of weeds... and boring civilization took over.
Of course, some things don't change. Like the dead mouse Jason found and buried.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Foreign policy pop quiz
"We should recognize that, in this new twilight world of global terrorism, conventional standards of government conduct will have to be rethought as we adapt our security agencies and our laws to the threat. Pre-emption is better than punishment. Much better."
Hmm. And do you know who said this?
"It is not enough to do one's best. What is required is rather that one do what is necessary for success."
Hmm. And do you know who said this?
"It is not enough to do one's best. What is required is rather that one do what is necessary for success."
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
28 hours
Saturday was a long day.
I got up at 4:15 a.m., took the 6:01 three-hour train to Paris, took two metros to the Charles de Gaulle airport, took a bus to the terminal, took a flight to Philadelphia, missed my connecting flight to Chicago, took another one a couple hours later and arrived in Chicago, where Ardith met me and drove me to her house... my dear sister who probably waited three hours for me and drove eight hours total and didn't get to bed before 2:30 a.m. Sunday morning.
Needless to say, we were good Christians and skipped church to observe a day of rest.
(Can you tell that I started to write a long detailed description and got sick of it and decided you would too?)
I got up at 4:15 a.m., took the 6:01 three-hour train to Paris, took two metros to the Charles de Gaulle airport, took a bus to the terminal, took a flight to Philadelphia, missed my connecting flight to Chicago, took another one a couple hours later and arrived in Chicago, where Ardith met me and drove me to her house... my dear sister who probably waited three hours for me and drove eight hours total and didn't get to bed before 2:30 a.m. Sunday morning.
Needless to say, we were good Christians and skipped church to observe a day of rest.
(Can you tell that I started to write a long detailed description and got sick of it and decided you would too?)
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Friday, June 09, 2006
Just saying au revoir
And don't worry, I won't drag it out too long 'cause I'm typing this on a French keyboard in La Maison de l'Université. Why, you ask? Because for some reason my WIFI card decided to quit working this morning. Or maybe it's just the laptop failing to recognize it. Must be getting tired, since the same thing happened the last couple days... only this time it really happened! Too bad, but no big deal, since I leave tomorrow.
So this is the last post from France!
Everything's ready for the trip. All my tickets bought - except for the two metros between the train station and the airport - and my plane's still on the same schedule according to the automated voice on the phone yesterday.
Now the rest of the day will just be buying a gift for my host family and spending time with them.
Bye from Dijon and enjoy your Friday!
So this is the last post from France!
Everything's ready for the trip. All my tickets bought - except for the two metros between the train station and the airport - and my plane's still on the same schedule according to the automated voice on the phone yesterday.
Now the rest of the day will just be buying a gift for my host family and spending time with them.
Bye from Dijon and enjoy your Friday!
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Party pictures!
First, la pique-nique after our last class together on Friday (which happened to be Grammar):
What a spread!
Everybody (mostly) digging in.
Second, la grande fete Friday night of the three classes of Niveau 5 and one class of Niveau 3 (because we all had the same professor).
Our table
Group of four; left to right: Korakan, laosien, whose camera is responsable for all these fine pictures; Isabelle, notre chère professeur; Tina (seated), franco-danoise, and the other Isabelle, a student this time, canadienne.
Three of us: me, Tae (japonaise, a very good friend), and Korakan.
Bigger picture
Another group picture: Korakan, me, Tina, and Sarah - the other student from Grace at Dijon.
Yep, that's me, the party girl. I was laughing so hard while they made me hold the champagne glass and the wine bottle!
And this was Wednesday night after all the exams and a theater production put on by our friends, including Korakan: Tina, me, Tae, and Korakan.
Hope you enjoy. :)
(and hope you don't have too many problems, i.e. getting back to the blog page from the pictures - sorry, I don't know how to fix that)
What a spread!
Everybody (mostly) digging in.
Second, la grande fete Friday night of the three classes of Niveau 5 and one class of Niveau 3 (because we all had the same professor).
Our table
Group of four; left to right: Korakan, laosien, whose camera is responsable for all these fine pictures; Isabelle, notre chère professeur; Tina (seated), franco-danoise, and the other Isabelle, a student this time, canadienne.
Three of us: me, Tae (japonaise, a very good friend), and Korakan.
Bigger picture
Another group picture: Korakan, me, Tina, and Sarah - the other student from Grace at Dijon.
Yep, that's me, the party girl. I was laughing so hard while they made me hold the champagne glass and the wine bottle!
And this was Wednesday night after all the exams and a theater production put on by our friends, including Korakan: Tina, me, Tae, and Korakan.
Hope you enjoy. :)
(and hope you don't have too many problems, i.e. getting back to the blog page from the pictures - sorry, I don't know how to fix that)
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Touristing is hard work
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I probably walked at least 2 hours total each day. Then this weekend... between walking around Paris (with or without my friend) and visiting la Musée d'Orsay (I'm so nice - got you the English site) and le Louvre and standing in lines, it was not a vacation for my feet, which are about dead now.
But it was a super great weekend. I didn't make it to London but Paris was plenty, and it was lovely to come back to Dijon. Dijon seemed huge when I first arrived, but it's very homey after four months and compared to Paris.
I just don't see how the tourists do it - visiting all the sites and seeing all the museums and touristing in general. Three days was nearly too much. Maybe everybody understands the bus and metro system better than I do so they don't end up walking everywhere.
Since I slept in late today, it's now time to go back and have lunch around 3 p.m. Sounds great, huh?
But it was a super great weekend. I didn't make it to London but Paris was plenty, and it was lovely to come back to Dijon. Dijon seemed huge when I first arrived, but it's very homey after four months and compared to Paris.
I just don't see how the tourists do it - visiting all the sites and seeing all the museums and touristing in general. Three days was nearly too much. Maybe everybody understands the bus and metro system better than I do so they don't end up walking everywhere.
Since I slept in late today, it's now time to go back and have lunch around 3 p.m. Sounds great, huh?
Friday, June 02, 2006
notice
I'll be in Paris for the next couple days visiting a friend and seeing museums for free (not sure yet about London).
Everybody have a good weekend!
Everybody have a good weekend!
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