Domesticated

So I've often surprised myself with my ability for domestication. I'm definitely not perfect, but I'm doing a lot better at all the household stuff than I thought I would. I've never had a home to really claim as my own. A whole house! Now, I need to take care of it. I'm cleaning the counters, doing a lot of dishes (I don't know how Emily manages to use so many dishes whenever she cooks), doing laundry, vacuuming, taking out trash, sweeping the garage (I don't know why the leaves like our garage so much, but they really like our garage), cleaning sinks/toilet/tub, and cooking. The cooking thing has worked pretty well. We've done a good job at eating pretty balanced meals (at least dinners) since we moved in.

The only thing that has been a bit of a challenge for me is becoming scheduled. Typically I have a list of tasks to do, but when and where and how I do it is all pretty flexible and I kinda make the decisions as I go. I live my life this way in many respects. I'm not good at setting clear schedules for myself (or keeping to other people's schedules => being late...but culturally I'm polychronic, so that is my excuse all you monochronic/live-by-the-clock people!). Emily and I differ sharply in this regard. She had tried to adapt to my way of living and it left her feeling frustrated and behind and that caused some issues. So, now I'm trying the scheduling thing and my life has never been this scheduled. In some ways, it is really really good, just takes some getting used to. For instance, I love that we have set nights where we are in charge of dinner. We also have things like cleaning time scheduled, grocery shopping scheduled, exercise together scheduled and I've got this chart that tells me all this. The only thing I really don't like is having a regular bedtime or wake up time scheduled, so I've protested this. Since I don't go to school at the same time each day, I prefer to maximize the potential for sleep based on when I need to go to school. Plus, if I'm pretty useless in the mornings so I can't get up earlier and expect to use that extra hour productively. It will end up being wasted. I'm more productive at night so I'd rather stay up the extra hour to get things done.

The sad thing is it looks more and more like we'll have to schedule in fun time. This has always been more flexible, but lately it seems like she's been so much more busy...always working on something and staying up late...so I've found myself free and she's not and then I'm frustrated because we can't spend much of that "quality time" with each other doing the things I love doing with her. So we end up not doing much (except dinner time, which is usually an hour endeavor together). So, now I'm thinking that I'm going to need to have her pencil me in so we can do things together. It's a bit sad, but I guess a necessity of two busy grad students and surely I'll be really busy at some period this semester and the roles will be switched. The other thing is that I think it is weird to keep track of how much we spend on stuff for the house and food. She has a spreadsheet and I'm suppose to give her my receipts when I buy something and then we see if we've been spending equally and pay the other the difference at the end of the month. To me, I think it is a strange concept, even though I can see the logic behind it. But it is definitely not something I would of thought to do.

Anyhow, it has been an interesting learning experience living with Emily. I love it though. She left this week for a trip to Taiwan to visit her dad and his family and without her here the house definitely feels a bit emptier. She is very good for me and (I think) I'm pretty good for her too. So, things have been working out well and I'm really enjoying all the wonders, joys, trials, and tribulations of the domestic life.

Becoming Island Boy Again

So, today was the first day I was able to look around at the mountains and palm trees, breathe in the island air, and think I love Hawaii. I probably won't be able to do that much the next few days when the hurricane rolls in. But I'm glad I can do that now.

Before I left I was incredibly stressed out (unfortunate for Emily). I wasn't ready to leave the comfort of my California life. I wasn't ready emotionally to part with my family and say goodbye to my home. I wasn't ready physically having had to work everyday up through that Thursday long hours and spending the last week trying to pack in as much as possible. I didn't have that time to decompress, process, say goodbyes, prepare myself, and relax. I was bitter because I wasn't ready to deal with the stress of preparing my classes, being president of HATESL, and especially of not knowing where the hell I was living (or staying Friday) when I got back.

I feel better know. Thursday I called my friend Julie (who is very French Canadian) and she was so willing and ready to help me and let me stay with her. I'm so lucky to have her. And then yesterday I went to house hunt and saw about 5 places. There was one place I found on craigslist that I was really excited to see, but I went to these other places first. Each was so old and shabby and small and bare and I just wasn't happy with them. Plus they were in neighborhoods my mom wouldn't want me living in. One was definitely livable, but wasn't great. Then I picked up Emily and we went to this one in Manoa which was a one bedroom basement apartment in a gorgeous home. It blew us away. It was so beautiful and clean and new and spacious. It comes fully furnished, has built in washer/dryer, and...a pool! Not to mention an incredibly gorgeous view of the mountains. I was immediately sold and so was she. So I got it. It'll be perfect for visitors. And it'll be my first chance to have a place all to myself. I'm soooo excited about it.

Today we have a welcome cooler for new students in our program. I'm looking forward to meeting them. And who knows what else I will get up to. I think it should be a fun time.

Feeling happy.

Question of the Day

Carpet or hardwood floors in your home??

What do you think?

Not that I'm shopping or remodeling or something, but I think it speaks to one's personality.

Feeling the End Drawing Near

It's funny the difference a week can make. Last week was so stressful and I felt like I'd never be able to complete all the tasks I needed in order to get through it and in order to be prepared for next semester. Things seemed to be drawing to a rapid fire close and the summer sun was setting and I wasn't ready. Now, however, I've completed some of those tasks, caught up on some SB paperwork, found more support and encouragement from others and generally feel more relaxed. It helped a lot to have Madi here. She stayed a few nights with me and having someone else around to hang out with and to motivate me to cook (I made a wicked chicken stir fry that night), exercise, and generally take care of myself was great. She and I are a lot alike and we get along really well together, so it's always great to spend more time with her. I also think taking time to ran away from things and going up to Tahoe to visit Stasia last weekend helped too. Some water and fresh air and deep breaths and time to write. Plus gorgeous stars. I love it there.

This coming week, however, may be more stressful. I've got to start wrapping up things for Summerbridge, plus Emily will get here midweek. It's been two months since I last saw her which seems like forever in some ways, especially since we haven't been able to talk much this past month thanks to her 24 hr babysitting of high schoolers on a community service trip to Hawaii. Now, she'll be here and it's a little scary. I hope it goes well. I want to show her so much, yet there is so little time since I'll be working. And my sister will be here on Friday too. Lots of people around that I want to see before I leave the following week. Oh. It is a little overwhelming thinking about it.

I think I will retreat back and start cleaning up my room.

P.S. If you were at all interested in the fallout from the Stephanie visit, here goes. In case you didn't know, she ended up coming to SB to do a site visit. I had little contact with her, but when I did try to approach her to tell her congrats on graduating and going to Singapore, she gave the same kind of cold-shouldered, indifferent response as she had a year ago. Apparently the year hadn't changed her much, while I felt like a very different person standing before her. Sad really. But I'm proud of how far I've come this past year and of all I've accomplished and how I've carried myself.

On 7-7-7

So, today was supposedly the "perfect day," as the attendant in the Downtown Plaza parking garage so pleasantly reminded me. I suppose "perfect" isn't exactly the best word to describe my day, but it was relatively near perfect. I started the day with some Baker Ben's donuts and finally took my car to Jiffy Lube for an oil change and check up. Funny how much smoother your car runs after one of those, which makes you wonder just how bad it was beforehand. Then I headed out to Davis to join Erica for a while. I really love the small town feel of Davis. It makes me think more and more that I would like living in a smaller town as opposed to the city. We walked around and visited some stores, we did some bike browsing and I learned all about the types of bikes available and what it means to have 21 gears, and then we got some lunch and talked and enjoyed a perfect day outside. It was beautiful and there was a nice breeze. Very relaxing and healing to sit and talk with her. Then I met up with Josh downtown to see Transformers: The Movie. It was only the second movie in the theaters that I've seen this year. The first one was Spiderman 3 which I went to see by myself when I first got back to California from Hawaii. I really was never a fan of Transformers as a child, but Josh was. Still, I loved the movie. It was funny and action-packed and just good! I would recommend it to all. And then I came home. The only thing that would have made it better would be a home cooked meal when I got home. Alas, the cupboards were bare and so it was quite simple. Nonetheless, the day was good and hopefully tomorrow can be too. Hope you all had a happy 7-7-7 day.

A Stephanie Encounter

actually, i had an encounter with stephanie on the phone today. i had called in to the national office for a conference call with all the fellows in the program and the coordinator. as we were introducing ourselves he stopped us to let us know that stephanie would be joining us. apparently she's been working in the national office doing some recruitment work and has an interest in the fellows program (or just in not disappearing from my life). she didn't say anything; i guess that's what bothered me. i had no intention of ever contacting her again after all this one-way communication from me to her. and then today i felt like i was forced into another one-way communication with her. anyways, it surprised me to say the least, but i recovered and the call went fine. still, i wished i hadn't had any contact with her. i supposed i was warned not to get involved with a summerbridger, as long as i'm in the network i won't get rid of her.

ug. i feel in a rut. i think some sleep will help and having a more active weekend. if you want to talk or do something, please call. =) on the plus side, i received some wonderful pictures from my trip to san diego from michelle with the baby evie. and i had some photos of my own developed and printed. plus i sent my home video of my childhood off to be turned into a dvd. not all together unproductive today, but i definitely could've done my work for hatesl like i was supposed to. i'm such a horrible event planner and president. okay, so that isn't true. i've been catching people saying that all week and making them take it back, so it would be hypocritical of me not to catch myself. i will work on it, i just need more energy than a friday can provide. maybe some sleep will help.

Independence Day 2007

So during my hour long traffic jam escaping the Cal Expo fireworks mania, I wrote an entry in my journal that I thought I'd share with the world. Happy Fourth!

Celebrating independence is still a strange concept for me. I feel as though it was something that was forced upon me and that I continue to struggle with. It's true that I need some alone time, but I'm also unhappy being alone so much. This past week has been hard form me because I've felt as though I have been giving so much. Trying to take care of and support others (my teachers, a couple of teachers in particular who have been struggling, some of my friends, Emily working in this new role, and my grandma) and I haven't gotten a lot of love and attention back. I've always been pretty spoiled and selfish growing up and the whole being selfless thing is quite taxing and I'm not even sure I'm very good at it. I still don't think I've help some of these teachers much. Leadership has proven difficult in this sense. And so, I've been taking care of myself...independent I suppose. And I haven't done a horrible job, but I'm at the point now where I want someone to sit with me and listen to all my problems and hold me and encourage me and care. Emily is so unavailable without cell phone or computers where she is working which compounds things a bit. I've seen two spectacular fireworks shows the past couple of days and only wished I could hold her (although I did get to hold Tyler for a bit today which was nice). Anyways, I guess I'm just a bit drained emotionally from pouring out aid, support, and encouragement nonstop this week.

I went with Grams to dinner (a rare feat for her) and my brother and Tyler joined us and then we saw the Cal Expo fireworks from the parking lot which were cool. Yesterday after SB I went with some of the teachers out to a River Cats game and it was definitely one of the top two best baseball experiences EVER!!! Sacramento lost, but we were the best cheerleaders the River Cats ever saw. So much fun. So, that's how I spent my holiday. Back to work in the morning. Oh my. And August with all the scariness of starting school again will be creeping up shortly. Ah!

Feeling: Overwhelmed (and I'm really not taking on that much)

Final-ed

Well, I finished the semester. And a whole day (5 classes) of dealing with high school students. I disliked the two sophomore classes the most and liked the freshmen classes the most. 3 of the classes were filled with exams, but the other two I had to do some teaching. I was really proud of my Spanish and I totally think I could teach high school Spanish, although I don’t think I want to after today. I’m sick, but not too bad (yet) and I just finished my last paper. Actually it was the longest paper I’ve ever written (but I’ve been working on it all year…definitely could not have finished in an all-nighter). Next week I will turn my attention to HATESL matters and planning my trip home. I can’t believe it is coming so soon!! I have Summerbridge stuff to think about as well. I am so glad I survived the semester. Overall it wasn’t too bad. The montón of my students’ papers sucked and I did have a lot of classes to attend, but I liked it. I learned a bit. I’ve now been exposed to many poets I never knew before. I learned a lot about how you do research and learn a second language. But mostly I learned what it means to fall in love. I mean really fall in love.

Injured (or Crippled?)

When God tells you not to run down a hill, you should listen.

He made my backpack unzip as I began my usual sprint down the hill I live on to my volleyball class early Wednesday morning. I stopped and zipped it back up and started off again, not realizing that was my sign to slow down. Sure enough, moments later, I stepped on a huge mango seed in the road and went tumbling. I sprained my ankle pretty bad and cut up my palms and knuckles. It was a sad sight and I haven't been injured like this in so long. I hobbled down to campus to the Student Health Center and they made me wait (all bloody and battered) for 40 minutes before finally seeing me and cleaning the wounds and putting some bandages on. I didn't get crutches, but I wish I did. Anyhow, I'm limping around but the swelling seems to be under control. Luckily Emily had just hurt her ankle a few months ago and knew how best to take care of it. Elisa teased me about being old and prone to falling down. I did not find that funny. =)

It should be okay, although in a month I'm doing this volunteering for the Bolder Boulder race (I think it's like 6 miles) and I hope it will be up for some exertion.

Summer Plans

My tentative summer schedule:

May 3: Classes end
May 11: Final paper for my 650 class due (then I'm done with school!)
May 19: Going back to Sacramento
May 21-23: Breakthrough Leadership Institute (admin training for Summerbridge)
May 25-31: Trip to Denver/Boulder to visit Emily and her family
June 7: Vinny's graduation, Sis leaves
June 8-11: Visit Lissie & Michelle in SoCal (visit Disneyland?)
SUMMERBRIDGE SACRAMENTO: I'll be Dean of Faculty this summer
August 2: Emily comes to visit me in Sac
August 10: Going back to Hawaii to start another crazy semester, this time as President of HATESL

Ahh!! Should be too much fun!!!

April Musings

Let's go backwards in time to try and recap the last month's activities:

First of all, SPRING BREAK!! It was a bit hectic. The first part was spent trying to give feedback to some of my students' library research papers. Then Stasia came!! It was so amazing to actually be able to share some of my Hawaii life with someone I really really care about. As always, these kind of things pass by so quickly, but I really hope she found it worthwhile. We got to talk and go on some nice walks. We had an adventures beach camping trip on the North Shore with Emily, Autumn, and Julie. We visited with some huge honu (turtles) and swam in the ocean and camped on the beach, s'mores and all...and then got robbed. Actually Julie lost a lot of things (expensive things), but her insurance is paying her back for most of it. Yay for Canadian insurance! Anyways, that was kind've a bummer, but the trip itself was good. We also stopped by the Dole Plantation and saw all sorts of pineapples and Emily and I hosted a crepe party for our friends. I also took Stasia to some good vegetarian dim sum and explored Chinatown a bit. Overall, things were good. There are so many other things to show her, but we ran out of time. The biggest thing for me was that she was able to meet Emily and they really liked each other and I was finally able to show someone from home how wonderful Emily is and how much I care about her.

Then reality hit and I had papers galore, both to write and to grade. So much work, but I survived it all.

My birthday fell on the day after one of my major papers for the semester was due. I celebrated with my students. They had written happy birthday on the board in different languages when I got there and my students from East Timor gave me these really nice scarf-like things to wear that are like leis in their country. Another student in my second class baked brownies for everyone and I got some other really nice gifts from my students. Then I went to lunch with a bunch of my friends and that's where Pongo read the poem mentioned below. It reads:

Mat is...
Mat is the talons of an eagle.
Mat is the stud in Second Language Studies.
Mat is the pork in pork fat.
Mat is the warm feeling you have early in the morning when you are snuggled in your blankets and don't want to come out.
Mat is the choke after a really good laugh.
But most of all...
Mat is...
My friend.

And I got so many other wonderful gifts for my birthday. I feel so loved and special. Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who sent something.

On Saturday, the birthday celebration continued with a gathering at my house and some authentic Mexican food. We made cheese enchiladas with a killer mole sauce. Yum! And there were lots of people there and good company and good food is a good combination. Sunday I went to the Kokua Festival hosted by Jack Johnson and there was a lot of environmental hippiness, beer drinking, and some good music with the Cruz Brothers (a Hawaiian group), Eddie Vedder (from Pearl Jam), and Jack Johnson. He's a Punahou grad, if you didn't know (along with Michelle Wie and Barack Obama).

I am almost done with my teaching. I managed to grade 31 10-page research papers in two days and 31 4-page literature analysis papers in 1 day. Crazy!! But I've gotten some really +positive+ feedback from my students in their reflection letters and evaluations and so I feel like all the work has been worth it and most everyone got something out of this class and a few even enjoyed it! Enjoyed a writing class!! =)

So, moving on towards May, I think things will be great.

Pongo's Birthday Poem

In case you missed my birthday lunch this year, here is a link to a recital of a lovely Pongo poem for me. I think you will enjoy finding out what part of Second Language Studies I am. =)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFeumIc3d-Y

Hawaiian Love Music

Emily has been taking a Hawaiian Ensemble class and learning to sing in Hawaiian. On Wednesday she had her first concert performing some Hawaiian love songs. Actually it was really beautiful. There is a recording of it posted on YouTube, so check it out if you can. She is in the front row of the girls in a pink dress (if you can find her).

Aloha!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpf4hiz5SCc

New Religion

I have discovered Pastafarianism and you should too, if you haven't already. I'm a convert.

http://www.venganza.org/about/open-letter/

Enjoy...

Aha! I found a picture! Or two! Long and short hair...

The Reason Why

Okay,
So I figure I can expand on my last entry of mysterious giddyness. But first, you should know what I'm not doing right now that simply must be done before 8:00am tomorrow morning:
- Write a letter of recommendation for one of my students who is desperate for money (pressure!)
- Plan tomorrow and Thursday's classes
- Prep for those classes (but I suppose I could try and plan to not need things for prepping tomorrow...)

Well, those are the essential things. I've got 30 more 5-6 page papers to grade (about 10 hours worth of work) to do by next Tuesday. Oh, but that's next week. Live for today!

I know I will survive this semester, I'm just not sure how and in what condition. Hey! (continuing my tangental update) I went through a whole series of interviews and have finalized my position as Dean of Faculty for SB Sacramento this summer. So I will be back home and working for Summerbridge (again) and it should be pretty cool.

But EVEN COOLER: I have been in a pretty good mood the past few weeks because, not only did I get my computer back, but it also became clearer and clearer that this girl that I totally liked since literally the first day I arrived here (though I thought she had a boyfriend) actually really liked me too. We officially disclosed this last Monday, although we'd been spending a lot of time together all semester (and not just because we share an office). She has become my best friend over the course of the semester, I feel so comfortable with her, and we match well. Plus, she thinks I'm pretty great too, which is very good. Her name is Emily and she's in the same program as me. Actually, she's the president of our student organization so she is very well liked. She loves art and appreciates my poetry and she was born in Taiwan and moved to Colorado in third grade and went to a prep school in Connecticut for high school with Meryl Streep's son (who was a big jerk). And she speaks Mandarin and French and is outdoorsy. And I'm a big fan. "But does she treat you good?" my grandma asked. Yes, she does. =)

So, not only do a feel a strong bond with someone now and have an outlet for creativity, energy, and love, but I generally feel more motivated about life and school and making sure I'm taking care of myself, which is very good. So there. If you need any more details, you'll have to call. :p

=) I don't have a recent picture of her (or any recent pictures for that matter), but at least you'll have an idea of what she looks like. She's the one by me. And once I get my camera, I'll actually be able to add more pics to my Flickr site.

A HAPPY Monday

I am SOOOOO happy right now. =) I thought that was noteworthy.

BIG smiles

Paradise Again

After a week and a half of being without my computer, I was reunited last week. My faith in humanity restored, I am supremely happy again. Actually last week was quite a tough week, but I made it through and I gave a conference presentation on Saturday which went well.

Tomorrow is a holiday and I'm going to the beach. After working for a while. I love living in Hawaii! I should also mention that I have also been spending a lot of time with a new friend and that has made things even better. Plus, this week is not so busy and Stasia will be coming to visit for Spring Break. Lots of good things in store, I suspect.

Gung hei fat choy and Happy New Year! May the Year of the Boar bring us all riches and happiness. =)

Tragedies...

It seems like I cannot escape tragedy, even in the new year. My computer was stolen on Wednesday. It only took 15 minutes of stupidity and forgetfulness to do it. A sad world. I was so busy and frazzled that day and afterwards I still had to do so much work that I ended up not sleeping and I haven't really recovered since. It is pretty sad. I'll write more soon.

Social Saturdays

With a new outlook on life, I endeavor forward. Feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the ups/downs and responsibilities of life, I decided that, instead of doing the masses of homework and other tasks to do (trillions of things, in fact), I set out to the beach. Sandy Beach, to be exact and it is probably the farthest away from home I've been all semester. I spent about five hours at the beach. It was fabulous. I went with Autumn and Julie and we swam (with some massive waves! they made us tumble, sommersault, and think of a tragic death, but it was exciting all the same) and we talked, but mostly we lounged. I listened to the ocean, I soaked up some sun, I watched the clouds forming and passing by. It brings a new sense of peace and I feel recharged to move forward with this semester which is proving to be a challenging one- academically, professionally, and personally.

So despite all the millions...sorry, trillions of things to do this weekend, I spent all day at the beach, came home and wrote this message (after washing out the sand), and now I'm off to the mall to catch a bite to eat (maybe do some homework) and then go to a friend's house for a little partying. What am I thinking?!

Well, here is my to do list for the weekend (mind you, this only for the weekend and neglects the fact that I have many things to do throughout this horrible Week 4):

-Read Schmidt (1983) Interaction, acculturation, and acquisition of communicative competence 35 pages
-Read Hinkel Ch. 1 Cultures of Learning 21 pages
-Read Atkinson & Ramanathan (1995) Cultures of Writing: An Ethnographic comparison of L1 and L2 University Writing/Language Programs 29 pages
-Read Cahn (2004) From ideology to inquiry: Mediating Asian and Western values in ELT practice 18 pages
-Read Duff & Uchida (1997) The negotiation of teachers' sociocultural identities and practices in postsecondary EFL classrooms 36 pages
-Read Flowerdew (1998) A cultural perspective on group work 8 pages
-Grade 15 of my students essays (2-3 pages each) at 20 minutes each = 300 min = 5 hours
-Finish my application for Breakthrough's Future Leaders Fellowship (4 short essays)
-Lesson Plan for Week 4 of my classes

p.s. I'm not going back to Hong Kong this summer.

And my Spring Break is on March 23-April 1... in case you were interested (hint, hint)

Autumn Cake

By the way,
My friend Autumn had a birthday last weekend and she also got engaged to Judson Cake over the break. So, if you do the math, her name will eventually be Autumn Cake. Cleverly, I got her a book about how to choose the perfect wedding cake (to start her cake book collection), and it feature wedding cakes for all seasons, including an Autumn Cake.

Hahaha!! Single T...you so clever!! ^^v

I also decided that choosing the wedding cake is one of the aspects of wedding planning I would like to have a say in.

Finding Innisfree

I think it is so funny that I'm taking this volleyball class. It brings back all these memories from high school. I started giggling when, on the first day, she made us run around the gym 3 times and then we did some stretching and drills. Wednesday was a lot of fun because we just got to play the whole class and my team kicked ass. She lined us up on a line and counted us off to divide us into teams. A bunch of people just went off to whatever team their friends were on and, even though the teams were supposed to be even, our team only had six people. Did you ever do something like that? (I know I did in middle school). Well, it worked out fine. In my Creative Drama class we are learning about how to teach drama to little kids. I went and saw a youth theater presentation of Sadako and the Thousand Cranes. Did you know that the story isn't super popular in Japan? It is such a common story here. Anyways, my attempts at folding paper cranes failed quite miserably, but I had a good time. I was invited by the SLS department's secretary and she brought along her two daughters. I've hung out with them a couple of times, but for some reason her daughters really confide in me. Both of them tell me things that are bothering them or they were wondering about and don't want to tell their mom. Obviously, they aren't anything too terrible or scandalous that I had to tell their mom about, but I think it is so weird that they trust me so much, even though I haven't spent that much time with them. Even my nieces won't just tell me all this stuff. But it is a nice feeling too.

So, my poetry class is trying my patience. Not only is the professor so inefficient (we've spent 48 minutes introducing ourselves one day and often nothing happens for the first 15 minutes) and does he try and run through 10-20 poems in one class period and he completely neglects any poets that either wrote after 1950, aren't White, or aren't Western, but there are a bunch of these stupid undergrads in the class (and they are all English majors). I used to think I was so patient and didn't let stupid people bother me much, but it is really difficult in this class. I think because there are so many. A bunch of stupid surfer dudes making random stupid comments. And then all these ditsy girls talking a lot, but saying nothing. BUT! There is this one girl in particular who is full of excuses, complaints, and doesn't know when to stop. She has sent emails to the whole class asking for reading assignments (cuz she didn't write them down) or accusing someone of stealing her iPod (which she later remembered she left in our professors office...surely she was there to complain and give more excuses). She even apologized later and then took it back because there are a lot of "sketchy" people on campus and someone stole her friend's phone the week and so really, she decides, it was okay to accuse us of stealing. And she IS blonde, but I don't know if that is the natural color or not. And she wears almost nothing to class and complains about how cold it is. And when she introduced herself on the second day (after coming in late) she said she didn't like poetry and wasn't really interested in the class, but just needed an English class around that time and it was the only one that fit. Ah! She would be enough on her own, but when added to all the others, it makes for a rough class.

Umm...I'm going to give a conference presentation next month at Hawaii TESOL annual conference and I got this job offer to work at Punahou and be an Assistant Director for the PUEO program which is very similar to the Summerbridge program. But more about this later. For now, I'll leave you with some words that I really liked from W.B. Yeats, thanks to my poetry class:

"And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow"
-from "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" by William Butler Yeats

So where is your Innisfree?

Notes from my students

To follow-up the earlier post, here is a list of ways students addressed me in their emails:
Mat
Mathew
Mr. Espinosa
Mr. Mathew
Prof.
Professor
Professor Mathew
Professor Espinosa
Sir

Can you think of any more?

Oh, and my favorite question:
"Could you please tell me what annoys you most about students' behavior because I would really like to know how to behave properly so I will not upset you."

Winter Weather?

None here.

I thought you might enjoy knowing that yesterday I was wearing a tank-top, shorts, and slippers (i.e. flip-flops).

Today I had to teach so I wore nice jeans and a collared shirt.

Enjoy freezing! Hehehe...

Teaching College: Day 1

So my first day of classes went so well!! I felt like a real college teacher (and like they respected me) and we had fun and I got to know them and I'm excited about my classes and students. I can tell it will be a challenge to figure out how to meet their needs and I may not be super successful at first, but I will try. My students come from all over: Korea & Japan (of course), China, the Philippines, France, Vietnam, Taiwan, East Timor, and Slovenia. My first assignment was to have them write me an email to practice formal emailing and communicating with professors/asking questions, and a few of them addressed me as Professor. I swear I told them to call me Mat, though you may not believe me. Anyways. It was great today.

But the real teaching begins Thursday and I wouldn't claim to being prepared. Better get on that. And I am enjoying having an office and "office hours" because I am way more productive there than at home, but (my new computer is a Mac) and all the excitement I had and desire to own a Mac is slowly fading away. Every once in a while I stumble upon something I think is neat and more efficient, but I'm more frustrated with it than not. That surely has something to do with the model and my ineptitude and unfamiliarity and other factors, but still. My opinion of Macs is going downhill.

The most exciting moment of the week was looking at the online class schedule thing and seeing my name appear. It is a fantasy I've explored many times in my head and now it has come to life! I'm officially a faculty member!! :)

Check it out:
http://myuh.hawaii.edu/uhdad/avail.classes?i=MAN&t=200730&s=ELI

My class is ELI 100 sections 3 and 4.

And to top it all off, it was a gorgeous day and I came how to the most amazing sunset since Tahoe. Ahhh.

M Espinosa

p.s. To make my life easier, I dropped one of my SLS classes (bilingual ed) because I couldn't fathom writing three 20+ page research papers due the final weeks of class. I might add another "for me" class to make up for it. :)

Safe in Aloha Land

Hawaiian again...

I left a 20 degree morning to arrive to 80 degree beauty. Along the way I watched Snakes on a Plane. I don't if you understand. I was watching SNAKES ON A PLANE on a plane! And on a Hawaiian Airlines plane going to Hawaii (in the movie they are flying a similar route between Honolulu and LA on a South Pacific plane). It was fun (especially because the old lady sitting next to me wanted to watch it with me), but it made me sick. It was definitely pretty gruesome and a bit scary, just to warn you. But there are some damn funny lines like "I've had enough of these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane!" Classic.

So, I slept for 14 hours last night. That means I was exhausted from my vacation. And I went to the beach today. Already experienced the best of Hawaii. :)

Mute

I spent a good portion of the day not talking. And it wasn't because I didn't have anyone to talk to. I actually communicated with nods, gestures, and by writing in a notebook. The reason was because I had dental work (i.e. wisdom teeth pulled) and I was supposed to be biting on gauze and my mouth was full of blood and my face was numb. Yuck. Still, it made for an interesting experiment seeing as I had things I needed to do despite the surgery. Like buying new tires for my car and ordering a prescription (vicadin for the pain). I felt like the people were very considerate of me, but treated me normally still the same. The awkward part was not being able to say thank you and goodbye and so I'd try and be polite with my eyes. Also, since my face was all numb, I felt like I looked very stoic, even just walking down the street. So I tried to keep my eyes friendly and I have no idea how it worked.

So, lots of blood, but not much pain yet. Tomorrow I board the plane though.

Oh. And Joey convinced me that I need to move to San Francisco to teach after I finish my grad program. Hmm. Maybe...

Dawning 2007

A brand new year.

My year started out with waking up next to people who love me. Then a stroll on an incredibly gorgeous and warm San Francisco Monday to a good old-fashioned American diner named Mel's. I have high hopes for this year. The tragedies of 2005 led to the great depression of 2006 that really didn't go away until melted in the Hawaiian sun. Never completely healed, I started tearing up over my mom yesterday because I needed advice on tires and wanted her, I stand strong and optimistic...ready to embark on whatever journey 2007 is prepared to take me. And it will be a journey, as all years worth living are, and I will emerge ever so slightly changed. I'm eager to see what is to come. I have high hopes for the year. I have high hopes for more memories and smiles and adventures and growth and love. I plan to learn a lot. And I'm going to do more traveling (more? you ask). I hope I can take you along with me. This is fixing to be a beautiful year.

After escaping to the island, I returned to the mainland stronger. Now, as I return to the island, I'm no longer escaping, I'm living.

An Island

Sometimes
you need an island

To escape
into like a cocoon,
the ocean
a barrier to strife.

Shielded in your island world
the metamorphosis starts,
you can't see across
so you begin to look within

Until you are strong enough
to return to the mainland
where you left behind
your tears and sorrow

Because sometimes
you need an island.

Home for the Holidays

I can't believe it is almost over. As a matter of fact, it was a bit overwhelming. I found myself really worried about school, feeling completely unprepared to teach, and also feeling like I'm wasting my time here, like I should be out doing exciting things and seeing people and all for every last second I'm home. I guess it led me to realize how overwhelming it can be to have so many wonderful people in your life, all of whom I should be calling or emailing or having dinner with in the next few days. Oh well. I'm trying. It may be overwhelming, but it also makes me feel super blessed. Like I'm the luckiest person in the world to be so loved.

But I'll save that rant for Valentine's day as per usual. For now I'll tell you that I've had a wonderful break. My visit with my sister, while full of grama drama, was so worthwhile. It made me start thinking about how much I wish she and her family was a more regular part of my life. But I do talk to her a lot. I just hope my kids can have a good relationship with their Auntie Barbara (especially since they will miss their Grandma Di). Then there was the best Christmas Eve celebration of recent years. My family was so spirited and there was lots of food and laughing and singing and dancing and games and I read stories to the kiddies until Santa himself was ready to make an entrance. New Year's in San Francisco with Joey and more bonding with good friends to bring in the new year with loved ones. Oh, good times for all. It will be hard to get used to the new work ethic that the semester begs, but I have made some wonderful memories this break and those will carry me through till the next time I see all you crazy fools.

p.s. Thank you so much for taking the initiative to call me or write me or visit me. I love it!