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Friday, January 25, 2013

Days of the Week | Learn English | Vocabulary

Looking for videos to post on my teaching webpage, I found this little gem.  Kind of silly...but it is interesting to hear where the names for all the days of the week came from!  Did you know this?  Have a look. ;)

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Where to begin...?

I guess you could say that getting back into the swing of things after Christmas break has been a little rougher than usual.  Even now, I should really be doing some prep for tomorrow's classes.  But it's been so long since I actually blogged that I'm taking advantage of my dinner time (yes, I'm eating at the moment) to sit down and do it!

I'm not sure why these past weeks have been so hectic.  I just feel like a hamster running in its wheel--getting just enough done not to fall down, but never making enough progress to be able to take a rest.  Part of it is due to the fact that I've taken on another job.  That's right, Spain is brushing 26% unemployment and it seems to be because I am super-employed! ;)  Ha!  Kidding.  I feel lucky to be in the position I'm in, even more so with things the way they are at the moment.

As I was saying, I took another job.  This time it's a course offered through the city for business people who need English in their day-to-day work or have more contact with English speakers because of their jobs.  The truth is I was pretty excited about this class, if for no other reason than it's fun to do something different and this certainly is.  My students are obviously all adults for a change, between the ages of 30 and 70.  And I am limited to 25 hours of class time to get them using (ie. speaking) English!

Obviously in 25 hours it's impossible to become fluent in a language, but I do believe you can learn the most important phrases and words to be able to get by in a variety of situations.  That's my goal for the class.  It's a highly practical course, so in class we practice pronunciation, and speaking.  I'm limiting grammar explanations to a minimum, especially since they've put me in a classroom without a chalkboard!

There is a great difference in level and experience with English in the class as well as students from all business sectors: from secretaries, to lawyers and business owners to artists!  I decided that the best way to meet the demand of such very different students was to give them access to self-study methods.  I've created a webpage where they can find all manner of links to different grammar exercises, listening activities, videos or newspapers in English.  And I am also creating a page per "unit" with specific help for the vocabulary we're learning.

This week has been the first week of classes and wouldn't you know Monday I came down with a cold!  Yesterday I canceled my classes to lie low and drink orange juice with honey...  Today I'm feeling better, but I'm still terribly congested and my nose is turning pink from so much blowing!  Needless to say, between prep work and being totally zapped for energy from this cold, blogging hasn't been high on my priority list. ;)

The rest of my classes are going well.  I still go up and down, some days better than others, but I think that's pretty normal.  In general, I feel much better prepared and most importantly, I feel like my students are learning.  I am especially pleased because I can tell that my university classes are helping me improve my teaching style.  It's always good to know you're getting your money's worth, right?

Things at the bar are pretty slow, but that is also very normal in January.  Everyone's blown their money at Christmas and now they're saving for Easter.  With the exception of the odd weekend here or there...we'll have to wait for Palm Sunday to do good business.  This Saturday, however, we're doing another pancake feed.  I'm hoping it will be more successful than last time.  Everyone who came to the last one LOVED the pancakes and I've had more than one person ask when we'll do it again so...  We've got all the goods--maple syrup, etc--and Saturday morning I'll be making about 40 eggs worth of batter!

Life is good.  I can't complain.  But now I'm going to have another glass of OJ and hit the hay.  Planning can wait for tomorrow.

Friday, January 18, 2013

Bela's Balloon!

I apologize for being so absent on my blog.  There are things to tell, but no time to sit and tell them!  But I was able to let this video upload while I was studying this morning because I want to share it with all of you.  My dog makes me laugh...what can I say?  Unfortunately, I didn't think to record this from the very beginning.  When Angelines first threw the balloon at her, she was afraid of it!  It was hilarious to watch, and so I ran to get the camera.  But as you'll see, she got over her fear pretty quickly. ;)

I promise a real blog soon.

Enjoy!




Thursday, January 3, 2013

Happy New Year

2013's arrival was a blur.  You saw the poster I made up advertising our New Year's Eve party at the bar.  To say that it was a success would be an understatement.  Around seven in the evening my nephews and I went to the bar to blow up balloons.  We hung a huge net from the ceiling and filled it with balloons.  We also had a few helium-filled ones.

Around 8:30pm we closed, cleaned up a bit and headed to dinner at my sister-in-law's house.  Dinner was delicious, although, as always there was too much food to properly appreciate any of it!  I've said it before, but I'll say it again, Angelines's family reminds me a lot of my own when they're all together: lots of laughter, jokes, teasing and general rowdiness.  Things would be downright dangerous if the Wilbanks were in the same house! :)

Blowing up balloons in the back. ;)
At tweleve o'clock we ushered in the new year with the traditional twelve grapes (eaten in the first twelve seconds of the new year), quickly kissed everyone, toasted with cava and then rushed out the door to open the bar.  Angelines had two people working with her plus me...and the four of us were up to our eyeballs in work!  We had made a photo-call for people to take pictures with, but by 2am, there were so many people that it was impossible to take pictures with it and I was too busy pouring drinks, cleaning glasses, and restocking refrigerators to take them anyway.  I got a few at the beginning of the night and a few more when things cleared up a bit around 6.

It was a good night.  The balloons were a hit, although people popped them in about two seconds!  We handed out glow bracelets, earrings, glasses, rings and straws as party favors and around 5 we cut the cakes my sister-in-law made for us to serve.  The place was packed.  Angelines was worried we'd run out of glasses because people were ordering faster than we could get them washed!  ...But we didn't.  We were busier than we've been in years, but it all worked out.  You could say we started the year on the right foot. ;)

I came home around 6:30 to let my poor puppy out of her kennel (after nearly 12 hours!), and called my parents to wish them a Happy New Year.  Angelines got to bed around 8.  Needless to say we spent most of the first day of the year sleeping.

Here are some of the pictures I got before things got to crazy:

All ready for dinner...

One of A's expert bar-hands sporting some of our glowing  party favors.   Check out the light-up balloons we found!
 
One of the few pictures at the photo-call.

...Filled to bursting!

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Rose Parade 2013

First and foremost: Happy New Year!!  May 2013 be filled with love, friendship, health, fun and adventure.  

Some of you who are on facebook know that my dad's a Rotary big-wig this year--District Governor of District 5190.  Well he was invited to participate in this year's Rose Parade with the Rotary International float!  That's a once in a lifetime offer, and you'd better believe my mom wasn't going to let him pass it up. ;)  

Before heading to bed this morning at 7am (yes, heading to bed...not waking up!) I called my parents since I figured they'd be going to sleep before midnight given the big day ahead of them.  I was right.  At 9:30pm, I caught them just before hitting the hay.  My mom informed me that my dad would be on the "wrong" side of the float from the cameras... but that the parade would start about 5pm Spain time.  I made a sleepy mental note, and headed to bed.

So this afternoon at five in the afternoon I looked up a live stream of the Rose Parade.  However, I couldn't find a line-up of the floats and my poor dog had been without a walk for nearly 24hrs!  After watching Grand Marshal Jane Goodall's introduction, I decided it was safe to go for a quick walk with my puppy.  I was about half a mile from home when I saw an email on my phone from my friend: I totally just saw your dad on TV!!!  I ran home as fast as I could.  

I missed it.  Although KTLA promises an instant replay of the parade.  This time I'm not moving from the computer. ;)  Thankfully, my friend had her wits about her and snapped these two pictures with her phone.  Yet another instance in which you've gotta love technology: I get news in rural Seville, Spain that my dad's on TV in Pasadena, California from my friend in Iowa via my cell phone!! :)  What a small world.

Enjoy the pictures.  Looks like my dad's having a blast--what else is new?



Happy Happy 2013!!!!