Being a teacher is a fun job. You have all kinds of crazy things happen in a day. These are just a few in the last two days.
Yesterday morning: (After a student lost his glasses and can't hardly see a thing), "Miss O, I can't find my eye (a huge magnifying glass he's been lugging with him all week). Can you read this math problem to me cause I sure can't see it!" Poor guy! He can't ever figure out if his math homework is right or not cause he can't see what he is doing. Glasses should be arriving some time next week.
Yesterday evening: Since I arrived here two weeks after all the students did, they were all anticipating my arrival and were trying to imagine what the new teacher would be like. One senior was recounting what she thought I would be like. She knew I would be teaching the first half of senior Bible (Defending Your Faith) but not the second part on Marriage and Family (for obvious reasons!). Of course she gathered that I must not be married (and thus wouldn't know much on that topic), so she started conjuring up images of what I must be like--an old spinster with her hair always tied up in a bun. She declared to me yesterday that she was pleasantly surprised that her imaginings were completely wrong... In fact, at first they wondered if I was a new student on campus and then were surprised to find out I was the new "spinster" teacher they had all been waiting for...
Today: (Helping a student on their science lesson regarding the reproductive system), "Miss O, can you help me find three similarities between the male and female reproductive systems. I'm having a hard time..." Ya, I have to admit, that's not the easiest thing to find similarities with! I must have impressed them with at least some knowledge of A&P, so when I was finished helping them, the next question came: "Miss O, are you a doctor? Like, can you treat cancer and operate on people?" Emphatically no! That would definitely not be me!
It's the type of job that keeps you on your toes, gives you lots to smile and laugh about, and always keeps you busy with tons of grading and lesson planning... speaking of which, that's what I should be working on now rather than this post.
So here I sign out,
Yours truly,
Miss O
Ps. I had the most amazing thing happen in D&R class this week! God is really working on the hearts of some of my students. I will try to share that later on.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Sunday, September 9, 2007
My New Home..
Well, as most of you know, the border guards let me into Canada. In fact, the border guard I had was so nice, he was going to let me in without checking some of my crucial documents! So now that I have been here for a little over a week, I have to share with you some of the many things I have experienced so far.
Mom has been with me this whole week. That has been such a blessing! She has helped me get my room in order, my office set up, and has worked with several of my right brained students with their math skills. I will miss her so much when she leaves on Tuesday!
My classes are going well. I have great students and the staff are wonderful. It's been slightly difficult coming in 2 weeks late especially since I started teaching right when I got here... no time for a breather. But that's ok. Here are just a few pictures of my new home. The scenery is absolutely breaktaking!
The first picture is the main building on campus. Located inside is the chapel, the cafeteria, administration offices, classrooms, library, and computer lab. The mountains around it are just amazing! The second picture is the view that I have from my place. It sits up on a little ridge and looks down into the valley. All over the property are lots of fruit trees. There are apples, plums (both purple and green--which are so good, I must add), pears, apricots, cherries, grapes, and of course carrots! (They grow organic carrots for market.) It is so nice to have fresh fruit to eat every day!
I took a trip to the thriving "metropolis" of Lillooet (20 minutes away) last Sunday (population approx. 2700). Along the way, we saw a bald eagle and a black bear! That was so awesome to see!! I couldn't get a picture of the bear because he was shy and ran away before we could get close. But here is the bald eagle.
On the way down, we ran into this thing called the "Slide." Someone had mentioned it, but didn't tell us what it was. Man was I in for a surprise...I came around a bend on the steep mountain road, and the road went from two lane down to one. The one side was straight up, the other straight down to the valley floor. They had some type of land slide some time ago and it completely messed up the road. After much repair, they finally cleared one small lane. Periodically rocks still fall off the cliff onto the road and you can see them all piled up along the edge. (Several staff members here have had rocks fall into their windows from the ledge.) Most of that section of road has concrete barriers (a recent addition, thankfully!) but one spot still opens straight down to the valley floor beneath. What makes it interesting is when you have to pass other vehicles (especially logging trucks) when you are in the slide. So from what I have heard, Highway 12 is the worst in Canada. I don't doubt it!
It doesn't look that bad from this angle, but the sides are almost vertical with the little road along the edge.
Here is the section that has no barriers.
It is all one lane with potholes and fallen rocks along the edge.
From what I understand, many people have died over the slide. But I know I have angels that are looking out for me so I have no need to fear. "The angel of the Lord encamps round about them that fear him and deliveth them." I am so thankful that God delivers--not just from physical harm, but if we let him, he will deliver us from spiritual harm as well by delivering us from sin! Now that's a promise!
Oh, yes, today I had another new experience... something I had never seen before. About 200 feet from my house along the trail I walk down to school, I ran across this "pile" of stuff. Anyway, since I wasn't sure what it was, I had to do a google search to identify it! Can you figure it out? (Hint: I didn't get close enough to it to see if it smelled like pepper, but I didn't see any bells in it! Mom did say it had carrots in it though!)
Mom has been with me this whole week. That has been such a blessing! She has helped me get my room in order, my office set up, and has worked with several of my right brained students with their math skills. I will miss her so much when she leaves on Tuesday!
My classes are going well. I have great students and the staff are wonderful. It's been slightly difficult coming in 2 weeks late especially since I started teaching right when I got here... no time for a breather. But that's ok. Here are just a few pictures of my new home. The scenery is absolutely breaktaking!
The first picture is the main building on campus. Located inside is the chapel, the cafeteria, administration offices, classrooms, library, and computer lab. The mountains around it are just amazing! The second picture is the view that I have from my place. It sits up on a little ridge and looks down into the valley. All over the property are lots of fruit trees. There are apples, plums (both purple and green--which are so good, I must add), pears, apricots, cherries, grapes, and of course carrots! (They grow organic carrots for market.) It is so nice to have fresh fruit to eat every day!
I took a trip to the thriving "metropolis" of Lillooet (20 minutes away) last Sunday (population approx. 2700). Along the way, we saw a bald eagle and a black bear! That was so awesome to see!! I couldn't get a picture of the bear because he was shy and ran away before we could get close. But here is the bald eagle.
On the way down, we ran into this thing called the "Slide." Someone had mentioned it, but didn't tell us what it was. Man was I in for a surprise...I came around a bend on the steep mountain road, and the road went from two lane down to one. The one side was straight up, the other straight down to the valley floor. They had some type of land slide some time ago and it completely messed up the road. After much repair, they finally cleared one small lane. Periodically rocks still fall off the cliff onto the road and you can see them all piled up along the edge. (Several staff members here have had rocks fall into their windows from the ledge.) Most of that section of road has concrete barriers (a recent addition, thankfully!) but one spot still opens straight down to the valley floor beneath. What makes it interesting is when you have to pass other vehicles (especially logging trucks) when you are in the slide. So from what I have heard, Highway 12 is the worst in Canada. I don't doubt it!
It doesn't look that bad from this angle, but the sides are almost vertical with the little road along the edge.
Here is the section that has no barriers.
It is all one lane with potholes and fallen rocks along the edge.
From what I understand, many people have died over the slide. But I know I have angels that are looking out for me so I have no need to fear. "The angel of the Lord encamps round about them that fear him and deliveth them." I am so thankful that God delivers--not just from physical harm, but if we let him, he will deliver us from spiritual harm as well by delivering us from sin! Now that's a promise!
Oh, yes, today I had another new experience... something I had never seen before. About 200 feet from my house along the trail I walk down to school, I ran across this "pile" of stuff. Anyway, since I wasn't sure what it was, I had to do a google search to identify it! Can you figure it out? (Hint: I didn't get close enough to it to see if it smelled like pepper, but I didn't see any bells in it! Mom did say it had carrots in it though!)
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Joy in the Journey
Before I left Michigan, I was talking to my friend Michael about journeys and how some people are so anxious to get to their destination that they don’t enjoy the journey along the way. So I was determined that on my journey to Canada, I would try to find the little things to enjoy about the trip getting there. Wow! It has been crazy… but here is just a little recap about my journey…
Day 1:
Got off around 10am—later than planned, but I had to go to the post office and ship three large boxes to Canada that didn’t fit in my car.
Stopped near Berrien for about ½ hour. My friend Sedric met us at the interstate to say goodbye. That was a nice sendoff out of Michigan.
Minnesota has a 65 mph speed limit and is crawling with policemen. Passed maybe 20 along the road—almost all with a victim. Thankfully none were me…
Had a good travel day. Shanuk traveled well. I am pleased. She even loved her little “cave” in the backseat. She loves hiding in small places.She did freak out in the hotel, though, with all the new sounds of the TV, the toilet flushing, the blow dryer, etc. At one point, she tried to crawl into the night stand that sat in between the two beds. She’s way too big so only her head and shoulders fit in, but she would have stayed there a long time except that we finally coaxed her out. I wish I had my camera right then to catch the moment. I laughed so hard!
Day 2
Woke up with a super sore, swollen, red finger. (I cut it very deeply a week ago and then it developed a rash that spread down to my knuckle. My medical friend Albert said to just keep an eye on it and if it started to get painful and turn red, then I should probably have it checked. A bad infection could lead to a bone infection… not cool! So anyway, today it looked awful… Decided I should get it checked, but where?? Stopped at a medical clinic in Wisconsin and spoke to a nurse. She said to soak it in Epson salts. So thanks to Wendy’s and Starbucks for supplying the hot water, we had a little infirmary on the road. At night we wrapped it in charcoal.
Went through another new state—North Dakota. I had been to every state west of the Mississippi except this one, so that was fun. (My total number of states I have now seen is 47.) It is so flat though! But there are a lot of wetlands. It is neat. Speed limit—75 mph. Temperature slightly chilly at 65 degrees. The people here drive funny. I was ready to go straight through a green light and four cars turned left right in front of me as if they had the right of way. Good thing I stopped or there would have been a major accident. Later, I read the sign from the direction they came “Left turn yield on green.” I guess they don’t know how to read…
Got to the hotel and tried to start my computer. Dead… It freezes whenever I log on. Stressing out since none of my recent lesson plans have been backed up. I have a lot of files I need for school on Monday. I’ll figure it out in the morning.
Day 3
My finger looks and feels so much better. Another soak in Epson salts and another charcoal poultice. I’m turning black…
My computer was hijacked today!! Someone took it over—three times! I realized I needed to get some urgent care on my computer since there are no IT guys at the school and I really need my files for class on Monday. Besides since I can’t even log into my computer, I may be without a computer for months till I get it fixed and I just can’t afford that. So I called Microsoft tech support and spent four hours on the phone with them. The first guy helped me log back in (learned more about my systems configuration than I ever knew before!) and clean out all the spyware, adware, viruses, etc. He was so helpful. But after I finished with him, one particular virus that was logged in a windows system file was still there. So I was patched to another PC security guy who spent another two hours cleaning my computer some more. Craziness! I don’t know how I got all that junk, but I thank God that it is all off and my computer runs so well now! I am virus free!
Got off from the hotel around 2pm (had to stay at the hotel so the IT guys could access my computer through the internet, but it set us off so late in the day. Had an 11 hour drive in front of us, but dad set our reservations closer in so we didn’t have to drive so far…)
Yesterday I was telling mom how barren North Dakota and then she told me she had justs seen a commentary about a man who quit his teaching job to come back to his podunk little town in North Dakota and try to revive the dying town. He started making metal sculptures—some of the largest in the world. She couldn’t remember where in North Dakota they were. As we were traveling today, we passed on of the huge sculptures along the road and mom yelled out, “That’s one of those sculptures I was telling you about.” This man’s town was 15 miles off the interstate, so we took a side diversion to see them. They were so cool.
Got calls along the way from Adriana, Justin, and Joe. Oh, yes, and from Dr. Anonymous who called at 1:30 am his time while he was on call at the hospital. (He was paged while I was talking to him to check someone’s EKG so he had to run to see if his patient was ok. He called me back later to say the guy was fine…good thing or I would have felt terrible if someone had a heart attack while the doctor was talking to me in his on-call room!) Anyway, I am so thankful for all my friends who have called me along the way to say goodbye, see how I am doing as I travel, and wish me a great rest of the journey.
Day 4
Got off this morning in decent time. The first morning we have not had any major incidents. Good thing considering we have a thirteen hour day in front of us (because of all the craziness yesterday…) That should put us within two hours of the Canadian border. We are trying to get to the border with plenty of time tomorrow just in case I have trouble with my papers.
Got to the hotel around 11:30. Exhausted.
To the border tomorrow…
Day 1:
Got off around 10am—later than planned, but I had to go to the post office and ship three large boxes to Canada that didn’t fit in my car.Stopped near Berrien for about ½ hour. My friend Sedric met us at the interstate to say goodbye. That was a nice sendoff out of Michigan.
Minnesota has a 65 mph speed limit and is crawling with policemen. Passed maybe 20 along the road—almost all with a victim. Thankfully none were me…
Had a good travel day. Shanuk traveled well. I am pleased. She even loved her little “cave” in the backseat. She loves hiding in small places.She did freak out in the hotel, though, with all the new sounds of the TV, the toilet flushing, the blow dryer, etc. At one point, she tried to crawl into the night stand that sat in between the two beds. She’s way too big so only her head and shoulders fit in, but she would have stayed there a long time except that we finally coaxed her out. I wish I had my camera right then to catch the moment. I laughed so hard!Day 2
Woke up with a super sore, swollen, red finger. (I cut it very deeply a week ago and then it developed a rash that spread down to my knuckle. My medical friend Albert said to just keep an eye on it and if it started to get painful and turn red, then I should probably have it checked. A bad infection could lead to a bone infection… not cool! So anyway, today it looked awful… Decided I should get it checked, but where?? Stopped at a medical clinic in Wisconsin and spoke to a nurse. She said to soak it in Epson salts. So thanks to Wendy’s and Starbucks for supplying the hot water, we had a little infirmary on the road. At night we wrapped it in charcoal.
Went through another new state—North Dakota. I had been to every state west of the Mississippi except this one, so that was fun. (My total number of states I have now seen is 47.) It is so flat though! But there are a lot of wetlands. It is neat. Speed limit—75 mph. Temperature slightly chilly at 65 degrees. The people here drive funny. I was ready to go straight through a green light and four cars turned left right in front of me as if they had the right of way. Good thing I stopped or there would have been a major accident. Later, I read the sign from the direction they came “Left turn yield on green.” I guess they don’t know how to read…Got to the hotel and tried to start my computer. Dead… It freezes whenever I log on. Stressing out since none of my recent lesson plans have been backed up. I have a lot of files I need for school on Monday. I’ll figure it out in the morning.
Day 3
My finger looks and feels so much better. Another soak in Epson salts and another charcoal poultice. I’m turning black…
My computer was hijacked today!! Someone took it over—three times! I realized I needed to get some urgent care on my computer since there are no IT guys at the school and I really need my files for class on Monday. Besides since I can’t even log into my computer, I may be without a computer for months till I get it fixed and I just can’t afford that. So I called Microsoft tech support and spent four hours on the phone with them. The first guy helped me log back in (learned more about my systems configuration than I ever knew before!) and clean out all the spyware, adware, viruses, etc. He was so helpful. But after I finished with him, one particular virus that was logged in a windows system file was still there. So I was patched to another PC security guy who spent another two hours cleaning my computer some more. Craziness! I don’t know how I got all that junk, but I thank God that it is all off and my computer runs so well now! I am virus free!Got off from the hotel around 2pm (had to stay at the hotel so the IT guys could access my computer through the internet, but it set us off so late in the day. Had an 11 hour drive in front of us, but dad set our reservations closer in so we didn’t have to drive so far…)
Yesterday I was telling mom how barren North Dakota and then she told me she had justs seen a commentary about a man who quit his teaching job to come back to his podunk little town in North Dakota and try to revive the dying town. He started making metal sculptures—some of the largest in the world. She couldn’t remember where in North Dakota they were. As we were traveling today, we passed on of the huge sculptures along the road and mom yelled out, “That’s one of those sculptures I was telling you about.” This man’s town was 15 miles off the interstate, so we took a side diversion to see them. They were so cool.
Got calls along the way from Adriana, Justin, and Joe. Oh, yes, and from Dr. Anonymous who called at 1:30 am his time while he was on call at the hospital. (He was paged while I was talking to him to check someone’s EKG so he had to run to see if his patient was ok. He called me back later to say the guy was fine…good thing or I would have felt terrible if someone had a heart attack while the doctor was talking to me in his on-call room!) Anyway, I am so thankful for all my friends who have called me along the way to say goodbye, see how I am doing as I travel, and wish me a great rest of the journey.
Day 4
Got off this morning in decent time. The first morning we have not had any major incidents. Good thing considering we have a thirteen hour day in front of us (because of all the craziness yesterday…) That should put us within two hours of the Canadian border. We are trying to get to the border with plenty of time tomorrow just in case I have trouble with my papers.
Traveled through the rest of North Dakota, then Montana, Idaho, and Washington. I think Shanuk really like the scenery today. She usually falls asleep in the back of the car, but today she was awake most of the day and just sat in the back seat looking around. I would have to agree it was very pretty.
Got to the hotel around 11:30. Exhausted.
To the border tomorrow…
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Goin' Ridin'
Today was a first for me...Going motorcycle riding. Responding to my previous post that my car still has a drinking problem, a friend recommended a solution... get a motorcycle. He says they drink a lot less. Well, I haven't gone so far as to get a bike, but today I did go riding. It was my first experience and it was sooooo much fun! My friend Justin came down for the evening and took me riding so that I could see what it was like. I had a blast! So here are just a few photos that say I actually tried it!
Oh, btw, for those who are wondering about my visa situation, it still hasn't come yet. So I haven't left for Canada yet like I had planned to on Monday. But I am not complaining. It gives me more time to spend with my wonderful family! I will treasure all the moments I can get!
Oh, btw, for those who are wondering about my visa situation, it still hasn't come yet. So I haven't left for Canada yet like I had planned to on Monday. But I am not complaining. It gives me more time to spend with my wonderful family! I will treasure all the moments I can get!
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
I feel blessed...
On Wednesday of last week, I was traveling down to Berrien Springs Michigan to deliver a bag to a friend who was taking it to Canada with her. On the way down, my turn signal started smoking on me! (Whoever heard of that!) Yes, I know, I have an apostate car... it smokes and drinks. But thankfully I took it through a stop smoking program and that is fixed, but I am still struggling with its drinking problem...sigh. Anyway, while I was at the dealer, I asked them to give my car a physical (after all, I had to go through a medical exam in order to go to Canada so I figured my car may need it as well.) They came back with this list that included changing my left front wheel bearings, engine gasket, and fuel filter, and flushing the transmission fluid and coolant. They wanted to charge me an outrageous amount of money. I about choked when I saw how much they wanted me to pay. But God has blessed me with many friends in many different professions, one of them being a mechanic (he was also a professional figure skater in Russia. I guess those type make the best mechanics since they are quick on their toes and get the job done faster! :)...). So I called up my trusty friend and he said he could do it at a vastly reduced cost. I went to his shop today and he saved me almost $730! Even at 134,500 miles, he says my engine looks terrific, shows almost no signs of rust (which he says is remarkable for a Michigan car), and should last me a very long time. In addition to all the work he did, he gave me a free engine cleaning so now it looks spic and span. On the way home, my car ran great--more power and smoother shifting. It runs as well as it did 60,000 miles ago when I got it! I feel very blessed.
Here is the fine specimen of my engine and my mechanic friend Vladimir Levchenkov...
Oh, btw, did you know that transmission fluid is pink? It is really quite beautiful. So for those of you guys who need to get in touch with your feminine side, just remember that your vehicle sports some lovely pink stuff!
Here is the fine specimen of my engine and my mechanic friend Vladimir Levchenkov...
Oh, btw, did you know that transmission fluid is pink? It is really quite beautiful. So for those of you guys who need to get in touch with your feminine side, just remember that your vehicle sports some lovely pink stuff!
Monday, July 30, 2007
Blessings and Friends!
This past weekend was an amazing one--full of many blessings and friends. I went down to Berrien Springs to visit one of my best friends Melanie. It was a spiritually charged weekend and a fun one as well. On Sabbath, my friend Reuben preached. His sermon touched on the fact that it is our God-given commission to make disciples. But in order to make disciples, it is important to know what a disciple is. What are the characteristics of a disciple? He then took us to John 13:35 that says we will know a disciple by one main characteristic--love for one another. That love consists of being willing to give and receive reproof and correction that is intended to build up another person and help them in their quest to be more like Jesus. The motto that we each should have when a person shares with us our faults is to say, "Thank you for caring enough to share." It may not always be easy to take, but if it means having a character more like Christ's than it is more than worth it!
After church we had a young people's potluck during which I found a little bat drowning in the toilet! Poor thing! He was more than grateful to be rescued. (To say the least, he shocked me a great deal. That is not what you expect to find in the toilet!) Then after visiting and singing to several individuals in the community, we went to the beach to have sundown worship. It was amazing!! I miss the beach so much. Here are a few pictures...
Melanie and I. Melanie is one of the most awesome friends you could ask for! Thanks for letting me spend the weekend with you!
There were some awesome dunes that you could jump from. Here Melanie and I are trying pair jumping. Kyle says that we are so good we are on our way to Beijing for the Olympics. I do think our landing needs a bit more work!
Crazy friends are the best. Do we win the prize for cheeziness?
I had no idea Melanie was making a funny face and she had no idea I was. Well, here is the result. Great minds think alike!
On my way down! Thankfully Reuben caught me.
This is how people from Tennessee wear their pants. Or maybe it is how they keep their neck warm. We are still trying to figure it out. Maybe Kyle can help us understand the mind of a Tennessean...
Kyle's prized catch--fillet of sole.
These next four pictures are the artistic talent of Melanie. I think they are awesome and wanted to share them...
After church we had a young people's potluck during which I found a little bat drowning in the toilet! Poor thing! He was more than grateful to be rescued. (To say the least, he shocked me a great deal. That is not what you expect to find in the toilet!) Then after visiting and singing to several individuals in the community, we went to the beach to have sundown worship. It was amazing!! I miss the beach so much. Here are a few pictures...
Melanie and I. Melanie is one of the most awesome friends you could ask for! Thanks for letting me spend the weekend with you!
There were some awesome dunes that you could jump from. Here Melanie and I are trying pair jumping. Kyle says that we are so good we are on our way to Beijing for the Olympics. I do think our landing needs a bit more work!
Crazy friends are the best. Do we win the prize for cheeziness?
I had no idea Melanie was making a funny face and she had no idea I was. Well, here is the result. Great minds think alike!
On my way down! Thankfully Reuben caught me.
This is how people from Tennessee wear their pants. Or maybe it is how they keep their neck warm. We are still trying to figure it out. Maybe Kyle can help us understand the mind of a Tennessean...
Kyle's prized catch--fillet of sole.
These next four pictures are the artistic talent of Melanie. I think they are awesome and wanted to share them...
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Great Bear Tips!
Today I was doing some research on the internet to learn more about my new home in Lillooet British Columbia. I came across a website for the District of Lillooet British Columbia that has tons of information about its history, things to do, places to see, etc. One of the sections had pictures of wildlife that live in the area including mountain goats, big horn sheep, cougars, and of course, bears. I was especially amused by the caption under the picture of the bear.
Wear small bells to warn bears you're coming and carry pepper spray. Black Bears are in the area if you see 'scat' with berries and rabbit fur in it. Grizzly Bears are in the area if you see 'scat' that smells like pepper and has small bells in it.
Wow! That's one important informational tip! I will have to remember that when I get to Canada. I think I'd rather look out for the bells though considering I don't treasure the thought of sniffing bear 'scat'! I'll let you know if I come across any when I am up there.
Wear small bells to warn bears you're coming and carry pepper spray. Black Bears are in the area if you see 'scat' with berries and rabbit fur in it. Grizzly Bears are in the area if you see 'scat' that smells like pepper and has small bells in it. Wow! That's one important informational tip! I will have to remember that when I get to Canada. I think I'd rather look out for the bells though considering I don't treasure the thought of sniffing bear 'scat'! I'll let you know if I come across any when I am up there.
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