I have a ton of updating to do on this blog, I know. There's the ILC and OSC events to talk about, plus another really cool baby shower and some general baby stuff. But first, I really need to brag.
Yesterday, I finished my master's degree. Today I got grades back on my last two major assignments and I can now say with some certainty (though the final grade hasn't actually come through, the numbers are pretty clear) that I managed not only to complete it, but to get through the whole thing with straight A's. I am wandering around my living room doing the happy dance!
It feels really really really (add a few more there if you like) good to be done! The degree is a Masters of Arts (Education) in Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in English as a Second Language. In normal people language, I studied how to put together the information that is taught in a class and how to teach it effectively with special emphasis on how to best help students who are not yet fluent in English. I think I've earned my break from academia... and a trip to the Steak Salon (the reallly nice steak house here) to celebrate...
Showing posts with label Grad School. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Grad School. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Monday, August 11, 2008
Back to normal...
So life has returned, more or less, to normal (whatever that is). However, there are a few cute pictures to share. These are from my most recent trip to the biopark, also known as "the visit where we discovered that all monkies are dirty little thieves:
There's a baby kangarooin that pouch.
For the record: there was nothing in that cup. Some other tourists gave it to us because the monkies really are curious about what (edible) might be in there. They also were curious about the contents of Alisa's purse, and abducted some tissues to investigate. When the monkey found that the tissues were not food, he proceeded to drop them on us one at a time (tasting each one first, just in case) from the safety of a very tall tree.
So there ends the traveling pictures for this visit. But stay tuned: OSC (Officer's Spoused Club) and ILC (International Ladies Club) start back up next month, and there is definetely a visit to a limestone cave in the plans. (I'm OSC vice president now, which means I know where we're going much earlier in advance.)
Back in the real world, I've been working hard lately on a rather unpleasant assignment for my first ESL course for grad school. It's a timeline of policies relating to educating English Language Learners, or more accurately, two timelines that say more or less the same thing. It involves reading the chapter and then typing the whole thing into a chart the teacher provided, then looking online endlessly for more policies that may not have been mentioned in the book. I can see how knowing some educational policy is good, but this is a bit crazy. Luckily, it's also finished now. I'm worried about it though, because my grade in the class is not as high right now as I'd like it to be. I've been experiencing a strange lack of motivation... can't imagine why...
It's August, so it's HOT HOT HOT. Zack think's it's dryer than it was last year too (water shortages here we come). So I spend a lot of time just hiding in whichever room happens to be air conditioned. The base has been posting "black flag" warnings every single day. Black flag means no outside PT allowed because it's too hot. I don't think it's gotten over 100 yet, but it really is pretty miserable out there. The heat doesn't really seem to phase the Japanese people, who simply put on hats and use parasols and procede to throw all kinds of lovely festivals in August.
Dory especially hates August because August is the month of fireworks and thunderstorms in this country, and she hates the big booms. There were fireworks shows on the second and third, during the annual Sasebo seaside festival (I went last year and it was a lot like a fair in the states minus the rides, so I skipped it this year.) Then there have been a few thunder storms (more thunder than rain), so she's acquired a fear of going outside, and only will go to the park with extreme coaxing. When we get there, she does what she has to do and runs home as if she's certain something terrible is lurking on the other side of the grass. This suits me just fine at the moment because, as I may have mentioned, it really freaking HOT, so I don't want to be outside anyway.
I have invested (finally) in a parasol. I used to scoff at the idea that a flimsy piece of fabric could keep a person cooler. Then I went to China and got heat sick three days in a row. On the fourth day I used an umbrella and still felt super hot, but didn't end up sick, so that convinced me. Now I take my parasol with me even when I'm just going to the park (which is about the only place I go outside lately). One time I went down without it, and a little old lady in the park commented on the heat, then motioned at her head (she had a parasol) and looked worried for me, indicating that it was far to hot to go anywhere with out at least a hat. I was amused. I'm more diligent about the parasol now.
Other than being hot all the time, though, I'm really feeling pretty good. I just can't eat the way I would choose to. The baby is mostly vegetarian. I can eat the occasional meat if it's cleverly hidden in something like a lasagna or Mexican food (the baby loves anything Mexican, just like Zack). But mostly I'm eating carrots, watermelon, and crackers. Cereal is good too, and milk products are okay. Full meals, however, are a no go, and forget cooking, too. Poor Zack hasn't had a decent meal at home for like a month now. I don't know if I feel more sorry for him for the lack of good food or for me since I really do like to cook and it's just not happening now.
Zack, however, has turned into super husband. He's always been great around the house, but he's gone into overdrive lately. This weekend he swept all the floors, did the dishes, did all the laundry, and organized the desk while I worked on school work from the safety of the airconditioning and told him how nice he was repeatedly. Any time he came by, he'd grab my glass of water and refill it. It was really really sweet. He's also learned to cook steak that he assures me is delicious. So that's good.
The biggest challenge digestively so far (other than the fish market) was last night. I taught an 8:00 to 9:00 class, and last week I had told them that my birthday is coming up. One of my bosses, Mike, also has a birthday this week, so one of my students announced that she was going to make a pizza and bring it to class to celebrate. I had intended to not eat much before hand, but I forgot all about it until I arrived at class and Mike reminded me. I was not feeling especially super anyway, but I was determined to eat it, since she was making it by hand, and I just hoped that it was 1) small, so I'd only have to eat a small piece and 2) relatively topping-free. No such luck. The pizza was a 12 x 9 inch (or so) masterpiece with homemade crust topped with corn, onion, mushroom, shrimp, ham, and bacon as well as the usual cheese and sauce. We split it four ways, giving me a rather large piece to pick at. Mike knows I'm pregnant, but I'm holding off on telling my students. Luckily, this girl was very kind and told me that if I didn't like any toppings I should just pick them off, so I did a good bit of "picking off" toppings and ate mostly crust. (The crust was excellent.) I managed to keep it down and teach a lesson, then I came home, drank some ginger ale (my new favorite cure for most tummy issues), watched Zack work for awhile and crashed into bed feeling pretty icky. It was very frustrating.
Other than those occasional frustrations, though, things really are going quite well. We made our first baby purchase about two weeks ago: a crib. We were seriously considering not getting one until our next move, but several expert Moms said we would regret it, and this one was five bucks at the thrift shop on base, so we figure we can use it here then redonate it if we don't especially like it. Also, one of my friends here told me she has the exact same crib and it's excellent. She also volunteered to help us put it together and/or help me check to make sure there weren't any loose screws or anything before we actually put a child in it. She's very nice like that. So it's sitting, dismantled, in our spare room. Zack is talking about putting it together the next time he's home on a weekend.
So we're plugging along. Upcoming events you might see a post about include (but are not limited to) Obon this week, a doctor's appointment and an OSC meeting the week after that.
There's a baby kangarooin that pouch.
For the record: there was nothing in that cup. Some other tourists gave it to us because the monkies really are curious about what (edible) might be in there. They also were curious about the contents of Alisa's purse, and abducted some tissues to investigate. When the monkey found that the tissues were not food, he proceeded to drop them on us one at a time (tasting each one first, just in case) from the safety of a very tall tree.
So there ends the traveling pictures for this visit. But stay tuned: OSC (Officer's Spoused Club) and ILC (International Ladies Club) start back up next month, and there is definetely a visit to a limestone cave in the plans. (I'm OSC vice president now, which means I know where we're going much earlier in advance.)
Back in the real world, I've been working hard lately on a rather unpleasant assignment for my first ESL course for grad school. It's a timeline of policies relating to educating English Language Learners, or more accurately, two timelines that say more or less the same thing. It involves reading the chapter and then typing the whole thing into a chart the teacher provided, then looking online endlessly for more policies that may not have been mentioned in the book. I can see how knowing some educational policy is good, but this is a bit crazy. Luckily, it's also finished now. I'm worried about it though, because my grade in the class is not as high right now as I'd like it to be. I've been experiencing a strange lack of motivation... can't imagine why...
It's August, so it's HOT HOT HOT. Zack think's it's dryer than it was last year too (water shortages here we come). So I spend a lot of time just hiding in whichever room happens to be air conditioned. The base has been posting "black flag" warnings every single day. Black flag means no outside PT allowed because it's too hot. I don't think it's gotten over 100 yet, but it really is pretty miserable out there. The heat doesn't really seem to phase the Japanese people, who simply put on hats and use parasols and procede to throw all kinds of lovely festivals in August.
Dory especially hates August because August is the month of fireworks and thunderstorms in this country, and she hates the big booms. There were fireworks shows on the second and third, during the annual Sasebo seaside festival (I went last year and it was a lot like a fair in the states minus the rides, so I skipped it this year.) Then there have been a few thunder storms (more thunder than rain), so she's acquired a fear of going outside, and only will go to the park with extreme coaxing. When we get there, she does what she has to do and runs home as if she's certain something terrible is lurking on the other side of the grass. This suits me just fine at the moment because, as I may have mentioned, it really freaking HOT, so I don't want to be outside anyway.
I have invested (finally) in a parasol. I used to scoff at the idea that a flimsy piece of fabric could keep a person cooler. Then I went to China and got heat sick three days in a row. On the fourth day I used an umbrella and still felt super hot, but didn't end up sick, so that convinced me. Now I take my parasol with me even when I'm just going to the park (which is about the only place I go outside lately). One time I went down without it, and a little old lady in the park commented on the heat, then motioned at her head (she had a parasol) and looked worried for me, indicating that it was far to hot to go anywhere with out at least a hat. I was amused. I'm more diligent about the parasol now.
Other than being hot all the time, though, I'm really feeling pretty good. I just can't eat the way I would choose to. The baby is mostly vegetarian. I can eat the occasional meat if it's cleverly hidden in something like a lasagna or Mexican food (the baby loves anything Mexican, just like Zack). But mostly I'm eating carrots, watermelon, and crackers. Cereal is good too, and milk products are okay. Full meals, however, are a no go, and forget cooking, too. Poor Zack hasn't had a decent meal at home for like a month now. I don't know if I feel more sorry for him for the lack of good food or for me since I really do like to cook and it's just not happening now.
Zack, however, has turned into super husband. He's always been great around the house, but he's gone into overdrive lately. This weekend he swept all the floors, did the dishes, did all the laundry, and organized the desk while I worked on school work from the safety of the airconditioning and told him how nice he was repeatedly. Any time he came by, he'd grab my glass of water and refill it. It was really really sweet. He's also learned to cook steak that he assures me is delicious. So that's good.
The biggest challenge digestively so far (other than the fish market) was last night. I taught an 8:00 to 9:00 class, and last week I had told them that my birthday is coming up. One of my bosses, Mike, also has a birthday this week, so one of my students announced that she was going to make a pizza and bring it to class to celebrate. I had intended to not eat much before hand, but I forgot all about it until I arrived at class and Mike reminded me. I was not feeling especially super anyway, but I was determined to eat it, since she was making it by hand, and I just hoped that it was 1) small, so I'd only have to eat a small piece and 2) relatively topping-free. No such luck. The pizza was a 12 x 9 inch (or so) masterpiece with homemade crust topped with corn, onion, mushroom, shrimp, ham, and bacon as well as the usual cheese and sauce. We split it four ways, giving me a rather large piece to pick at. Mike knows I'm pregnant, but I'm holding off on telling my students. Luckily, this girl was very kind and told me that if I didn't like any toppings I should just pick them off, so I did a good bit of "picking off" toppings and ate mostly crust. (The crust was excellent.) I managed to keep it down and teach a lesson, then I came home, drank some ginger ale (my new favorite cure for most tummy issues), watched Zack work for awhile and crashed into bed feeling pretty icky. It was very frustrating.
Other than those occasional frustrations, though, things really are going quite well. We made our first baby purchase about two weeks ago: a crib. We were seriously considering not getting one until our next move, but several expert Moms said we would regret it, and this one was five bucks at the thrift shop on base, so we figure we can use it here then redonate it if we don't especially like it. Also, one of my friends here told me she has the exact same crib and it's excellent. She also volunteered to help us put it together and/or help me check to make sure there weren't any loose screws or anything before we actually put a child in it. She's very nice like that. So it's sitting, dismantled, in our spare room. Zack is talking about putting it together the next time he's home on a weekend.
So we're plugging along. Upcoming events you might see a post about include (but are not limited to) Obon this week, a doctor's appointment and an OSC meeting the week after that.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
One minor crisis averted...
I swear the minute Zack leaves things around here go to pieces. Or may be they don't, but I just notice the loss of someone to worry at. Either way, things have gone a little crazy here in the last week or so. For one thing, I've started a new class for my degree. It's the last one in a series that is essentially designed for us to create these things called Action Research Projects. It's what we do instead of writing a thesis. We pick a problem we notice at our work setting, research solutions, and then pick one to try out, sort of, except we're not required to actually try it out if we can't for whatever reason (in my case because I'm not teaching enough classes). Instead we make up data and go through the motions of writing the 30ish page report. At first, I thought this final class wouldn't be nearly as bad as the last one (which was a nightmare that I coincidentally went through the last time Zack left). For one thing, this time we only have one more chapter left to write, whereas last time we had four chapters to write in the same amount of time. Also, upon first glance, the teacher seemed pretty cool. Now, though, I have my doubts. We had to resubmit our first four chapters and he's torn all the other students' papers to shreds and hasn't given me any feedback at all (we're having technical difficulty). So I'm living in absolute terror of what he'll have to say.
To complicate matters further, I'll be out of town for a solid week of this class sightseeing with my in-laws. Don't get me wrong, I'm totally excited about the trip and seeing them, but it will make editing my paper a bit more complicated. Plus there's the small matter of cleaning the house and packing and all that, which brings me to the minor crisis.
It occurred to me Sunday (when the kennel is closed) that I hadn't reserved a kennel space for Dory while I'm gone (I was hoping Zack would be home) at the kennel on base. So Monday I went in to get my space, and of course they're all booked up. I should have expected this since American school is out and it's prime traveling time for Navy-folk (many of the other ships just got home, so people are going on vacation). The kennel people gave me names and numbers for three Japanese kennels and wished me luck, and I was not looking forward to calling them myself and trying to sort out the details in broken Janglish. Instead, I planned to take the numbers to my Japanese class tonight and get my tutor to translate for me.
Then on the way to class I passed a dog-related store, just like I do every week, and it occurred to me that there are also dogs in there every week, and that it's nice to know where to take the dog when you're ready to leave on vacation. So I walked in and successfully asked them if they have kennel services. (This was a major success for me.) They do, but only for small dogs (which is good since Dory's nice and small). Not only do they have the services, they cost 10ish dollars less per day than the kennel on base. All the kennel spaces were visible from the front desk, and everything looked pretty good, so I successfully booked Dory's stay at a kennel not two blocks from my house without using English or a translator. I'm very proud of myself.
So that's one issue down, two or three hundred more to sort out. I can do this...
To complicate matters further, I'll be out of town for a solid week of this class sightseeing with my in-laws. Don't get me wrong, I'm totally excited about the trip and seeing them, but it will make editing my paper a bit more complicated. Plus there's the small matter of cleaning the house and packing and all that, which brings me to the minor crisis.
It occurred to me Sunday (when the kennel is closed) that I hadn't reserved a kennel space for Dory while I'm gone (I was hoping Zack would be home) at the kennel on base. So Monday I went in to get my space, and of course they're all booked up. I should have expected this since American school is out and it's prime traveling time for Navy-folk (many of the other ships just got home, so people are going on vacation). The kennel people gave me names and numbers for three Japanese kennels and wished me luck, and I was not looking forward to calling them myself and trying to sort out the details in broken Janglish. Instead, I planned to take the numbers to my Japanese class tonight and get my tutor to translate for me.
Then on the way to class I passed a dog-related store, just like I do every week, and it occurred to me that there are also dogs in there every week, and that it's nice to know where to take the dog when you're ready to leave on vacation. So I walked in and successfully asked them if they have kennel services. (This was a major success for me.) They do, but only for small dogs (which is good since Dory's nice and small). Not only do they have the services, they cost 10ish dollars less per day than the kennel on base. All the kennel spaces were visible from the front desk, and everything looked pretty good, so I successfully booked Dory's stay at a kennel not two blocks from my house without using English or a translator. I'm very proud of myself.
So that's one issue down, two or three hundred more to sort out. I can do this...
Friday, February 1, 2008
Big Day
Lots of super cool things happened today, so I thought I'd share. Here they are in no particular order:
1) I successfully got my car into its parking spot despite the fact that there were cars parked in two of the spots I normally would use as room to turn around. I'd done it before with one or the other spot full, but never both.
2) Zack and I both got brand new ID's that reflect his promotion. He is now a Lt. JG, or O2, and that information is not only on his military ID, but also mine. The ID making process was not nearly as annoying as I'd been lead to believe, either.
3) I got my brand new laptop! Now, not only am I able to write a whole paper for my grad school classes without worrying that the computer might freeze at any moment, destroying all my hard work, I can also sit ina giant arm chair watching a movie while I write. I don't have to deal with error messages the moment my computer opens. AND it has a built in video camera. So I've spent all afternoon playing with my new toy. Life is very good.
1) I successfully got my car into its parking spot despite the fact that there were cars parked in two of the spots I normally would use as room to turn around. I'd done it before with one or the other spot full, but never both.
2) Zack and I both got brand new ID's that reflect his promotion. He is now a Lt. JG, or O2, and that information is not only on his military ID, but also mine. The ID making process was not nearly as annoying as I'd been lead to believe, either.
3) I got my brand new laptop! Now, not only am I able to write a whole paper for my grad school classes without worrying that the computer might freeze at any moment, destroying all my hard work, I can also sit ina giant arm chair watching a movie while I write. I don't have to deal with error messages the moment my computer opens. AND it has a built in video camera. So I've spent all afternoon playing with my new toy. Life is very good.
Monday, September 3, 2007
Life as Usual
Wow, I can't believe it's been two weeks since I posted anything. I've been pretty busy in comparison to the weeks before that. For one thing, I've been in a class that calls itself, "Measurement, Evaluation, and Ethics in Research" for my masters degree. What it really means, as I discovered about a week into it, is Statistics. (Insert scary music here.) The last time I took a math class was in high school (I somehow managed to pass out of the college stuff), and I was not especially excited about doing it now. Several minor panic attacks later, I've survived the class and even have an A, don't ask me how. So hopefully I can say good bye to the scary numbers for another several years.
Also, word has finally gotten out that I teach English, and I'm starting to get regular job offers. I was told before I arrived that I'd be able to find plenty of work, all I had to do was tell everyone that I teach English. I've been doing that, and now I'm finding that I may actually get more work than I know what to do with. I'm still only teaching one class at the junior college, but one of the other teachers there said she took on a class at a high school here and isn't sure she'll be able to keep it, so I may pick that up.
The rest of what I've been doing has been private stuff. Last Monday and Wednesday, I worked with a Japanese woman who gives English lessons to kids around here. Each lesson was a group lesson that lasted about an hour. The kids ranged in age from six to about eleven. The Japanese woman led the class and I would occasionally read a phrase for the students to repeat back and I'd make sure they were pronouncing it right. Then we all played some go fish with their vocabulary. Good fun.
Tuesday was my first ever private lesson. My student is a woman who owns a stationary shop down town. She lives above it, and her house is really pretty cool, let me tell you. Teaching her basically means going to her house and talking to her for an hour, after which she pays me. Sometimes she'll apparently ask questions relating to her shop, but mostly it's just talking to her. Nice deal. And tomorrow, I go meet a group of ladies who is looking for a new teacher to do much the same thing once a week for them. As Navy people move away, all their students are suddenly becoming available, and I'm enjoying the chance to get out and teach.
While I'm out doing all this teaching, Zack is still buried in work. Today he is celebrating labor day by only spending a few hours at work instead of the whole day. I think he's feeling more confident about what he's doing, though, so that's good. Also, he's super excited about Appalachian's defeat of Michigan. Our little alma mater always did have a good football team...
We'll let you know when we get out of Sasebo again for some sightseeing...
Also, word has finally gotten out that I teach English, and I'm starting to get regular job offers. I was told before I arrived that I'd be able to find plenty of work, all I had to do was tell everyone that I teach English. I've been doing that, and now I'm finding that I may actually get more work than I know what to do with. I'm still only teaching one class at the junior college, but one of the other teachers there said she took on a class at a high school here and isn't sure she'll be able to keep it, so I may pick that up.
The rest of what I've been doing has been private stuff. Last Monday and Wednesday, I worked with a Japanese woman who gives English lessons to kids around here. Each lesson was a group lesson that lasted about an hour. The kids ranged in age from six to about eleven. The Japanese woman led the class and I would occasionally read a phrase for the students to repeat back and I'd make sure they were pronouncing it right. Then we all played some go fish with their vocabulary. Good fun.
Tuesday was my first ever private lesson. My student is a woman who owns a stationary shop down town. She lives above it, and her house is really pretty cool, let me tell you. Teaching her basically means going to her house and talking to her for an hour, after which she pays me. Sometimes she'll apparently ask questions relating to her shop, but mostly it's just talking to her. Nice deal. And tomorrow, I go meet a group of ladies who is looking for a new teacher to do much the same thing once a week for them. As Navy people move away, all their students are suddenly becoming available, and I'm enjoying the chance to get out and teach.
While I'm out doing all this teaching, Zack is still buried in work. Today he is celebrating labor day by only spending a few hours at work instead of the whole day. I think he's feeling more confident about what he's doing, though, so that's good. Also, he's super excited about Appalachian's defeat of Michigan. Our little alma mater always did have a good football team...
We'll let you know when we get out of Sasebo again for some sightseeing...
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Busy Busy
This week has been full to the brim of things to do, despite (or especially because) of the fact that the boys are gone. Every morning this week, I subbed for another teacher at the junior college. It was my job to make their students talk, and to get them to fill out one specific survey. That's it. I scrambled through the materials they gave me when I started working there, and the time possitively flew. I guess I'm used to planning fifty minutes at a time, and these classes were forty. Everything took longer than I expected, so that was great. The first day, we made sympathy cards for their teacher, whose grandmother had died. The next day, we did the survey as an interview, that spilled into day three. Since then, we've been playing games that involve talking. I've been loving being in the classroom again.
Also, this week I started class two of my masters degree. This one is called Action Research, and is part one of a three part set that is meant to help us do our major research project for the degree. Step one is to identify a problem at your school that you might be able to aliviate. STRESS! If you haven't noticed, I love my school, and I hope it never changes. It took me most of the week to 1) do the reading to figure out what I was supposed to do and 2) identify any problem at all, much less the three we're supposed to start out with. So that's kept me very busy and very freaked out. Research makes me nervous. But I think I'll like it once I get past the panic attack. That's going to take awhile, though.
Friday, I had agreed to keep Mel's cat while the movers were packing up her stuff. She came over before school to drop him off. I let him wander relatively free while I was getting ready. Before I left for school, he had jumped out a window, and I was certain he was lost and gone forever. If I didn't have to go to school, I would have spent the morning running around the neighborhood calling for him, but I couldn't. Instead, I called Mel and begged forgiveness. I told her the window through which he escaped was still open, and I'd look for him the minute I got home. Then I set about feeling super super guilty. I thought of everything Mel's done for me since I've been here, and that just made it worse. Visions of squished cat danced through my head. I got in my car to go to school and promptly saw the cat running across the road. I threw the car into park in the middle of the (very narrow one-way) road and dashed after him. It didn't take long for me to lose him again, and the honking from the street indicated I really better get to my car. So I gave up and went back to feeling guilty. When I told the teachers at school what had happened they assured me that Mel was going to die of grief, so I went home determined to find the stupid cat or die trying.
When I got home, the cat was in the house acting like nothing was wrong. I closed the window and called Mel. As it turned out, she spent all morning freaking out. She even got someone to come stay with the movers so she could go looking for him. Obviously, she didn't have any luck, and she was certain she would never see him again and she was devastated. I felt horrible. Then, we investigated further and realized that the window he jumped out leads to a balcony (the realitor called it "not safe" when we saw the place originally), and from there, there's no where to go. Literally. We decided that he would have had to stayed on that balcony or he never could have gotten back in. SO, as it turns out, the cat was on my property the whole time, and I chased some other cat through the road, and Mel worried for nothing. :::sigh::: At least he's back safely. Next time, I'll tell her to take him to the kennel on base.
Friday's class was actually my childcare class, too. I had planned what I thought was 90 minutes of work and expected to have extra time at the end of class. We got through 10 minutes of my plan. Their level is low, and things take time. So I can relax a little about lesson planning and expect to get through less material this semester. But I like them. They're a good class. We're going to be fine.
After all the chaos of that day, I enjoyed a lovely bath before bed just to relax enough to sleep.
Saturday, I let myself sleep in, then set about doing the masters work I had been avoiding all week. That took most of the morning. Then I cleaned up the house (it was getting pretty bad) and took care of Dory. Back home, I allowed myself an afternoon of play time before Mel came over to go out for dinner and then come back for a movie. Saturday was also the last day before the election. Mel and I did not realize this when we arranged to go out for dinner together. At seven, the trucks with the speakers were out in full force, and outside on the streets, people had gathered in support of their favorite candidates to wave and cheer. Even the guy who owns the Mexican restaurant was fascinated watching the vans go by and the people yell. It was insane! I think my hearing got worse. We enjoyed dinner, all the same. The Mexican place makes fresh guacomole, so that was yummy.
Then at 8:00, everything had to stop, so walking home after ice cream, it was so quiet it sounded, as Mel said, like the world had ended. We watched our movie and I allowed myself to go to bed early.
This morning, it was pouring down rain, and the silence of the night before was still pervasive. No one is out and about today, which suits me just fine. I went to church, came home, finished my school work for the week, and here I am. Next week is looking a lot less stressful, and I'm glad.
I'd have some pictures for this post, but SOMEONE :::glares playfully at Zack::: took my camera with him. We'll be investing in a new one soon, he assures me. In the mean time, words will have to do...
Also, this week I started class two of my masters degree. This one is called Action Research, and is part one of a three part set that is meant to help us do our major research project for the degree. Step one is to identify a problem at your school that you might be able to aliviate. STRESS! If you haven't noticed, I love my school, and I hope it never changes. It took me most of the week to 1) do the reading to figure out what I was supposed to do and 2) identify any problem at all, much less the three we're supposed to start out with. So that's kept me very busy and very freaked out. Research makes me nervous. But I think I'll like it once I get past the panic attack. That's going to take awhile, though.
Friday, I had agreed to keep Mel's cat while the movers were packing up her stuff. She came over before school to drop him off. I let him wander relatively free while I was getting ready. Before I left for school, he had jumped out a window, and I was certain he was lost and gone forever. If I didn't have to go to school, I would have spent the morning running around the neighborhood calling for him, but I couldn't. Instead, I called Mel and begged forgiveness. I told her the window through which he escaped was still open, and I'd look for him the minute I got home. Then I set about feeling super super guilty. I thought of everything Mel's done for me since I've been here, and that just made it worse. Visions of squished cat danced through my head. I got in my car to go to school and promptly saw the cat running across the road. I threw the car into park in the middle of the (very narrow one-way) road and dashed after him. It didn't take long for me to lose him again, and the honking from the street indicated I really better get to my car. So I gave up and went back to feeling guilty. When I told the teachers at school what had happened they assured me that Mel was going to die of grief, so I went home determined to find the stupid cat or die trying.
When I got home, the cat was in the house acting like nothing was wrong. I closed the window and called Mel. As it turned out, she spent all morning freaking out. She even got someone to come stay with the movers so she could go looking for him. Obviously, she didn't have any luck, and she was certain she would never see him again and she was devastated. I felt horrible. Then, we investigated further and realized that the window he jumped out leads to a balcony (the realitor called it "not safe" when we saw the place originally), and from there, there's no where to go. Literally. We decided that he would have had to stayed on that balcony or he never could have gotten back in. SO, as it turns out, the cat was on my property the whole time, and I chased some other cat through the road, and Mel worried for nothing. :::sigh::: At least he's back safely. Next time, I'll tell her to take him to the kennel on base.
Friday's class was actually my childcare class, too. I had planned what I thought was 90 minutes of work and expected to have extra time at the end of class. We got through 10 minutes of my plan. Their level is low, and things take time. So I can relax a little about lesson planning and expect to get through less material this semester. But I like them. They're a good class. We're going to be fine.
After all the chaos of that day, I enjoyed a lovely bath before bed just to relax enough to sleep.
Saturday, I let myself sleep in, then set about doing the masters work I had been avoiding all week. That took most of the morning. Then I cleaned up the house (it was getting pretty bad) and took care of Dory. Back home, I allowed myself an afternoon of play time before Mel came over to go out for dinner and then come back for a movie. Saturday was also the last day before the election. Mel and I did not realize this when we arranged to go out for dinner together. At seven, the trucks with the speakers were out in full force, and outside on the streets, people had gathered in support of their favorite candidates to wave and cheer. Even the guy who owns the Mexican restaurant was fascinated watching the vans go by and the people yell. It was insane! I think my hearing got worse. We enjoyed dinner, all the same. The Mexican place makes fresh guacomole, so that was yummy.
Then at 8:00, everything had to stop, so walking home after ice cream, it was so quiet it sounded, as Mel said, like the world had ended. We watched our movie and I allowed myself to go to bed early.
This morning, it was pouring down rain, and the silence of the night before was still pervasive. No one is out and about today, which suits me just fine. I went to church, came home, finished my school work for the week, and here I am. Next week is looking a lot less stressful, and I'm glad.
I'd have some pictures for this post, but SOMEONE :::glares playfully at Zack::: took my camera with him. We'll be investing in a new one soon, he assures me. In the mean time, words will have to do...
Saturday, April 21, 2007
The Daily Grind
March 30th, 2007
Over the last week, while Zack was away, I found myself a routine to follow. I spent Monday doing the kind of normal stuff that would bore you all to tears. Tuesday, everything happened at once. Ombudsman training started, and I started working on a Master's Degree online. The Master's Degree is through the University of Phoenix. They have an office over here in the education center and apparently classes start every Tuesday (it's Monday in Phoenix). My degree will be a MA of Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in English as a Second Language. Everytime one of my classes ends, I'm automatically enrolled in the next one.
Other than being online, it's a lot like any other program. There's an online classroom, and an attendance and participation policy that require me to log on at least a certain number of times per week and to comment on what's being said in a productive way. This class is the "Introduction to Grad School" class, though that's not what it's called. Most of the students are also going for some kind of Curriculum and Instruction degree, so that's nice. Most are in the states, but we've got one student in South Korea, and one in the UK. I like it so far because I can get on whenever I have time. It's not something that requires me to be somewhere at a specific time. The downside so far is that I have to learn APA format, and I've taught MLA for three years now. :::sigh::: I guess I deserve it. And it certainly could be worse.
Ombudsman training has been very interesting. The best summary I can give you is that being an ombudsman is like being an information booth for the families from your ship. If they have a question, it's your job to either have an answer, or know where to find one. The average family, as it turns out, thinks the ombudsman is a babysitter, taxi driver, and automatic best friend, so most of the problems they face involve convincing people that this is just not so. They're not even required to manage the social stuff. That's the responsibility of the Family Readiness Group. Mostly, they keep up communication between the ship and the families, so everyone knows more or less what's going on and how everyone is doing.
The other important thing I learned is that the CO's wife and XO's wife can't be ombudsman. They have their own special title. So the only person who is currently trained to be an ombudsman on Zack's ship other than the current one is me! The leader of the class suggested that if I was concerned, I could probably work with Carmen (the current ombudsman) until she leaves and then take over. I'm thinking I'll do just that. The job actually requires a lot of the same skills as teaching, actually. I found myself constantly comparing it to dealing with parents at school. So I think I'll be okay. I've talked it over with Carmen, and I will be putting in my application soon. So that's it. No more commitments for me. I am not sticking my nose in anywhere else... for now....
Tuesday night was also Japanese class, which was reading focused. For those of you who may not know, Japanese has at least three alphabets (I've heard up to five depending on how you count them). Hiragana is a set of letters that represent the basic sylables of Japanese (there's 40-some). Katagana does the same thing, but is used for foreign words and sometimes italics. Kanjii is a modified version of Chinese characters where each symbol represents a word. There are 2000 some of those. To read a Japanese newspaper, for example, you have to be able to read all three alphabets. I am getting decent at the hiragana alphabet, but katakana is still really hard for me, and they're not even trying the kanji with me. It was exhausting.
Wednesday after ombudsman class all day, there was yoga and then University of Phoenix. Thursday I finally didn't have much to do when I got home and allowed myself to go to bed a little early. Friday evening I hung out with Mel again. Then Zack arrived back!
The trip was a little rough on him because the weather has not been very nice lately. I guess the waves got pretty bad at times, but he didn't get seasick, so that's good. I think most of his trip was devoted to working on turnover, since Tim leaves tomorrow. Turnover for the Suppo involves a lot of counting because he'll be responsible for everything that is (and isn't) on the ship once it's done. So you have to make sure you have what the inventory says you have. He also spent a lot of time reviewing training. He says it makes a lot more sense now that he's seeing the practical side of it. If you ask him flat out, he says he likes his job, and I think he's excited. It's just a lot of responsibility, so I'm sure he's a little nervous, too. It's Saturday, but he's back at work again for a meeting or something... He laughed when I suggested he'd have some time off this weekend. So what the other wives say is true: even when they're here, they're not here.
So we're both plugging away and keeping busy. The weather is clearly changing. When we first arrived, we couldn't stay in any room for long without heat and slippers. I haven't turned a heater on in about four or five days now. It's been alternating between beautiful sunny days and rainy or cloudy and humid days. Today, it's warmer outside than in, and it's very cloudy, humid and windy. I think it may have rained in the night. If what the rest of the Americans say is true, summer is going to hit us any second now. In the mean time, all the trees are blooming, and it's really lovely.
Over the last week, while Zack was away, I found myself a routine to follow. I spent Monday doing the kind of normal stuff that would bore you all to tears. Tuesday, everything happened at once. Ombudsman training started, and I started working on a Master's Degree online. The Master's Degree is through the University of Phoenix. They have an office over here in the education center and apparently classes start every Tuesday (it's Monday in Phoenix). My degree will be a MA of Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in English as a Second Language. Everytime one of my classes ends, I'm automatically enrolled in the next one.
Other than being online, it's a lot like any other program. There's an online classroom, and an attendance and participation policy that require me to log on at least a certain number of times per week and to comment on what's being said in a productive way. This class is the "Introduction to Grad School" class, though that's not what it's called. Most of the students are also going for some kind of Curriculum and Instruction degree, so that's nice. Most are in the states, but we've got one student in South Korea, and one in the UK. I like it so far because I can get on whenever I have time. It's not something that requires me to be somewhere at a specific time. The downside so far is that I have to learn APA format, and I've taught MLA for three years now. :::sigh::: I guess I deserve it. And it certainly could be worse.
Ombudsman training has been very interesting. The best summary I can give you is that being an ombudsman is like being an information booth for the families from your ship. If they have a question, it's your job to either have an answer, or know where to find one. The average family, as it turns out, thinks the ombudsman is a babysitter, taxi driver, and automatic best friend, so most of the problems they face involve convincing people that this is just not so. They're not even required to manage the social stuff. That's the responsibility of the Family Readiness Group. Mostly, they keep up communication between the ship and the families, so everyone knows more or less what's going on and how everyone is doing.
The other important thing I learned is that the CO's wife and XO's wife can't be ombudsman. They have their own special title. So the only person who is currently trained to be an ombudsman on Zack's ship other than the current one is me! The leader of the class suggested that if I was concerned, I could probably work with Carmen (the current ombudsman) until she leaves and then take over. I'm thinking I'll do just that. The job actually requires a lot of the same skills as teaching, actually. I found myself constantly comparing it to dealing with parents at school. So I think I'll be okay. I've talked it over with Carmen, and I will be putting in my application soon. So that's it. No more commitments for me. I am not sticking my nose in anywhere else... for now....
Tuesday night was also Japanese class, which was reading focused. For those of you who may not know, Japanese has at least three alphabets (I've heard up to five depending on how you count them). Hiragana is a set of letters that represent the basic sylables of Japanese (there's 40-some). Katagana does the same thing, but is used for foreign words and sometimes italics. Kanjii is a modified version of Chinese characters where each symbol represents a word. There are 2000 some of those. To read a Japanese newspaper, for example, you have to be able to read all three alphabets. I am getting decent at the hiragana alphabet, but katakana is still really hard for me, and they're not even trying the kanji with me. It was exhausting.
Wednesday after ombudsman class all day, there was yoga and then University of Phoenix. Thursday I finally didn't have much to do when I got home and allowed myself to go to bed a little early. Friday evening I hung out with Mel again. Then Zack arrived back!
The trip was a little rough on him because the weather has not been very nice lately. I guess the waves got pretty bad at times, but he didn't get seasick, so that's good. I think most of his trip was devoted to working on turnover, since Tim leaves tomorrow. Turnover for the Suppo involves a lot of counting because he'll be responsible for everything that is (and isn't) on the ship once it's done. So you have to make sure you have what the inventory says you have. He also spent a lot of time reviewing training. He says it makes a lot more sense now that he's seeing the practical side of it. If you ask him flat out, he says he likes his job, and I think he's excited. It's just a lot of responsibility, so I'm sure he's a little nervous, too. It's Saturday, but he's back at work again for a meeting or something... He laughed when I suggested he'd have some time off this weekend. So what the other wives say is true: even when they're here, they're not here.
So we're both plugging away and keeping busy. The weather is clearly changing. When we first arrived, we couldn't stay in any room for long without heat and slippers. I haven't turned a heater on in about four or five days now. It's been alternating between beautiful sunny days and rainy or cloudy and humid days. Today, it's warmer outside than in, and it's very cloudy, humid and windy. I think it may have rained in the night. If what the rest of the Americans say is true, summer is going to hit us any second now. In the mean time, all the trees are blooming, and it's really lovely.
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