Demo Lesson Headaches

Pull the football away one more time, I dare you.

NOTE: This will be one of my rant-y posts. I try to keep them to a minimum, but sometimes I just have to let it all out and complain in English. Skip this one if it's not your cup of tea!

First of all, what is a Demo Lesson?

An ESL Demo Lesson is a lot of things, but none of them efficient, or even very useful, that I could see. This is the basic takeaway I have from my first (hopefully only, ever again) Demo Lesson. It was a series of hoops, like many things in Education, but some of them were ablaze, and some got pulled away at the last minute, like Lucy pulling away Charlie Brown's football. I made it through successfully, but it wasn't without unnecessary frustration pitfalls.

The Worst Way to Connect with Western Culture

That's right, I reviewed HP INK and BUBBLE WRAP.
It's time to re-evaluate my recent life decisions.

This was my project this morning. It just occurred to me how stupid it was. Dumb homesickness.

It is not the first completely pointless project I've undertaken on days when I don't feel like leaving my room and confronting the alien culture outside my door, but it's by far the one that screams "GET OUTSIDE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! YOU NEED VITAMIN D AND FRESH WATER, STUPID" the loudest.

What AM I doing, you ask? I'm reviewing and rating all my past purchases on Amazon.com. If that's not a completely pointless activity, I don't know what is. Maybe something like waterproofing desert hiking gear, or trying to improve the cheeseburger. Pointless. Time-passing. Life-wasting.

What other pointless things have I done to stay inside the English Bubble? Oh, let's see...

ScienceNews: Vietnam Develops Invisible Forcefield, Flabby Foreigner Flummoxed

It's true, my friends. It was shocking how effective it was.

Let me tell you the embarrassing tale.

This was my goal: The front door to the big outside world.
Or rather, the door that leads to the alley that leads to the
big outside world.

After getting up early (about 3am) I was feeling pretty good. I'd had a good excursion Saturday, and added a number of things to my todo list that I felt were important. I felt confident in my first experiences with street vendors and xe om (motorbike taxis - so damn pushy!) and gotten a lot of water for my hotel room.

I got up and got ready for the day, showering in my crazy shower-room, and even whistled a little bit (I haven't been singing much since I got here... weird). I dressed, looked in the mirror, told my reflection how nice he looked (he needs some encouragement sometimes) and popped open the todo list. My first 20 minutes was spent reorganizing and prioritizing, followed by a quick 'n dirty flurry of internet activity that took 5 or 6 things off that list. It felt good. I felt good. It was time to go foraging for food and more water. Maybe I could find some more banh mi!

(Aside: Because most meals are cooked from fresh ingredients on the spot, I'm assuming this hunter-gatherer behavior will continue for awhile, until I can find an American grocery store that sells frozen burritos, ha ha. Protip: unattainable fantasy alert.)

International Relations

We've all got our own 'Continuing Adventures' going on in our lives all the time, and I want to stay on top of all the important things going on in each of your lives. This post will be about the art of International Communication!

I like writing letters, and in recent years have even gotten better at reading and responding to them! (I know, it's such a novel concept.) But whether it's a letter or postcard in the mail, or a text, phone call, email, or video call, I want to hear from you, and I'll want to reach out, if for no other reason than using English words with other English speakers will keep me sane and grounded in an strange culture.

So here is a list of the various ways and methods you can get in touch with me. If you'd like to connect via any of them and don't know my details, use the contact form in the sidebar to send me an email and we can work it out.

In short... Let's be friends!