2 inches of snow. And hours of darkness everyday. MI winters are like purgatory. Not quite miserable enough to be Hell, but definitely not nice enough to be heaven! I keep telling myself it's a small price to pay to be home again, but sometimes I'm not sure.
It's not really the cold that's annoying. Yes, it's very chilly here, but with the right clothing (and boots, and coat, and gloves, and hat, and scarf) and central heating, it's really quite comfortable most of the time. And who doesn't like cuddling up in front of a warm fire under a heavy quilt sipping hot chocolate? Very nice.
But the snow sucks. I woke up to the sound of fingernails scratching my bedroom window. At least, that's what I thought it was, so I immediately freaked out. Alas, it was my wonderful father shoveling the sidewalk (under my window) at 6am. And the entryways of buildings are always wet and dripping with snow. The roads are icy and dangerous. Seriously, if Jesus wanted people to live with snow, He would have been born in a colder country.
Another thing about MI winters that I never noticed before - how dark it is here in the winter. I had heard about SAD (Seasonal Affect Disorder) where people get depressed in the cold winter months, but I honestly thought it was all balderdash. I mean, millions of people survive northern winters every year! Then I moved to MX. I spend most of my day exposed to sunshine. The sun is rising as I wake up (around 7am) and sets after I get home (6pm). I spend 2-3 hours driving in bright sun every day. My classroom is in a building, but that building has an open courtyard, meaning that the "hallway" outside my room is exposed to sunshine. I'm groggy all day here as I wait for the sunshine to come out and wake me up.
I'm going to need some serious convincing to stay here longer than a few weeks!
Can I be a snowbird at 30?
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
Coming back
Some wierd thoughts as we come back to the USA for a few weeks:
Traffic - the roads are so wide, and open, and fast-moving, and nearly empty! And everyone follows the rules, even with no cops around. There's even signs telling traffic where to go and why a road is closed. It's almost like information overload. I've actually been early a few times, due to traffic being better than expected. (My expectations changed, not the traffic).
shopping - it is amazing how much junk food we have available. There are way too many brands of non-food products here. I mean, how many kinds of chips does a normal person need?
Visiting Target was like an anthropologist on vacation - I kept seeing stuff we "needed". They even have special aisles of pre-boxed gifts, organized by price range. There were aisles and aisles of "home accessories" which basically meant cheap junk made in Asia that someone is telling the American public we need in our homes or they will look empty and ugly.
church - there is just something about worshipping in one's own language that makes our heart sing. I was singing and crying and laughing all at once. I couldn't praise hard enough, it was just so wonderful to be able to worship together with everyone and not once feel confused or out of place.
home - our home is in very good shape. They guys are taking good care of our house. But there is still a surreal feeling to live out of suitcases in our "own" house. I don't like the food in the fridge, I don't use the products in the bathroom, I don't read the books on the shelves, I don't watch the channels programmed on the TV. It feels more like visiting a dear family member's house than our own - we feel comfortable enough to wash our clothes, and get our own drinks, but not enough to walk around in a towel.
Traffic - the roads are so wide, and open, and fast-moving, and nearly empty! And everyone follows the rules, even with no cops around. There's even signs telling traffic where to go and why a road is closed. It's almost like information overload. I've actually been early a few times, due to traffic being better than expected. (My expectations changed, not the traffic).
shopping - it is amazing how much junk food we have available. There are way too many brands of non-food products here. I mean, how many kinds of chips does a normal person need?
Visiting Target was like an anthropologist on vacation - I kept seeing stuff we "needed". They even have special aisles of pre-boxed gifts, organized by price range. There were aisles and aisles of "home accessories" which basically meant cheap junk made in Asia that someone is telling the American public we need in our homes or they will look empty and ugly.
church - there is just something about worshipping in one's own language that makes our heart sing. I was singing and crying and laughing all at once. I couldn't praise hard enough, it was just so wonderful to be able to worship together with everyone and not once feel confused or out of place.
home - our home is in very good shape. They guys are taking good care of our house. But there is still a surreal feeling to live out of suitcases in our "own" house. I don't like the food in the fridge, I don't use the products in the bathroom, I don't read the books on the shelves, I don't watch the channels programmed on the TV. It feels more like visiting a dear family member's house than our own - we feel comfortable enough to wash our clothes, and get our own drinks, but not enough to walk around in a towel.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
the news
Yesterday morning, we heard some horrible news as we were waking up. Even though we had mentally prepared for such news, hearing it was still horrible.
Denial clouded my brain as I struggled to wake up and realize this wasn't a dream.
Depression kept me stuck in bed, cowering under the covers.
Anger ripped through me as my head woke up, and my rage fueled me into action.
Soon, we were packed and ready to go home.
There was nothing we could do, nothing we could say, that would change the news or make the blow any better, but we felt like we had to be there.
ok, so we were planning our trip home anyway, but now it felt like we were going home for a funeral. Denial, depression, anger, and finally, action. The grief process. I felt ashamed to react this way to news that wasn't the death of someone I loved. But it did feel like someone, something had died at least.
It was the death of a dream.
For 3 generations, the US auto industry has fueled dreams in Michigan. Blue collar, white collar, pink collar, and service industries in the state are directly tied to the auto industry. Those of us who don't work directly for automakers or suppliers have someone in our family who does or work to serve those who do. Autoworkers pay taxes for roads and schools and libraries and prisons and welfare, their insurance pays for doctors and hospitals, their offerings pay for churches and charities, their salaries pay for flights and vacations and houses and haircuts and parties and college tuition. There is not a single person in MI who will not lose money this year. We all lost something today.
When the senate decided not to help us, it was the death of a dream.
Our dream.
The American Dream.
The Michigan Dream.
We're living a nightmare.
Denial clouded my brain as I struggled to wake up and realize this wasn't a dream.
Depression kept me stuck in bed, cowering under the covers.
Anger ripped through me as my head woke up, and my rage fueled me into action.
Soon, we were packed and ready to go home.
There was nothing we could do, nothing we could say, that would change the news or make the blow any better, but we felt like we had to be there.
ok, so we were planning our trip home anyway, but now it felt like we were going home for a funeral. Denial, depression, anger, and finally, action. The grief process. I felt ashamed to react this way to news that wasn't the death of someone I loved. But it did feel like someone, something had died at least.
It was the death of a dream.
For 3 generations, the US auto industry has fueled dreams in Michigan. Blue collar, white collar, pink collar, and service industries in the state are directly tied to the auto industry. Those of us who don't work directly for automakers or suppliers have someone in our family who does or work to serve those who do. Autoworkers pay taxes for roads and schools and libraries and prisons and welfare, their insurance pays for doctors and hospitals, their offerings pay for churches and charities, their salaries pay for flights and vacations and houses and haircuts and parties and college tuition. There is not a single person in MI who will not lose money this year. We all lost something today.
When the senate decided not to help us, it was the death of a dream.
Our dream.
The American Dream.
The Michigan Dream.
We're living a nightmare.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
It's not really beginning to look even a little bit like Christmas, actually
Yeah, so I'm doing all I can to get ready for Christmas:
- send Christmas cards check
- finish Christmas shopping check
- staff Christmas party check
- tickets bought & bags packed almost checked
- finalizing all visiting plans check
- eating green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, etc. check
- letting a pointsettia die on my desk check
- listening to hours of Christmas songs every day check
- wearing my jingle bell earrings, which honestly scare me if I move too quickly check
- watching sermon from the states on the internet to "prepare" me for Christ's birth check
NOT WORKING!
yeah, so it's chilly here and all, but come on! It's still like 60 degrees every day! The leaves never fall, it doesn't even rain this time of year. It feels like September. Like eternal September. Like no matter what I do, I'm living in a freakin' Mexican version of Groundhog Day, where every day is exactly like the one before.
I need a good, cold, Michigan kick-in-the-pants to get ready for this holiday season!
- send Christmas cards check
- finish Christmas shopping check
- staff Christmas party check
- tickets bought & bags packed almost checked
- finalizing all visiting plans check
- eating green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, etc. check
- letting a pointsettia die on my desk check
- listening to hours of Christmas songs every day check
- wearing my jingle bell earrings, which honestly scare me if I move too quickly check
- watching sermon from the states on the internet to "prepare" me for Christ's birth check
NOT WORKING!
yeah, so it's chilly here and all, but come on! It's still like 60 degrees every day! The leaves never fall, it doesn't even rain this time of year. It feels like September. Like eternal September. Like no matter what I do, I'm living in a freakin' Mexican version of Groundhog Day, where every day is exactly like the one before.
I need a good, cold, Michigan kick-in-the-pants to get ready for this holiday season!
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Reading
Most high school librarians have to deal with a group we call "reluctant readers". These are kids who can read, sometimes very well, but choose not to read recreationally. Some choose not to even complete assigned reading. Of course, it's super tough for librarians and literature teachers and other bibliofiles to comprehend this, because reading is one of our favorite activities! It's kind of like the PE teacher trying to get me to care about basketball.
I'm not sure, but it's likely that I have a higher percentage of "reluctant" readers than most.
2 reasons:
1. My students speak 2 or 3 languages. Merely being able to spell in all of them is very difficult. Getting to the point where they can read on grade level in any of the languages is difficult. Choosing which language to read in is even more difficult.
2. For those of my students whose primary language is not Spanish, they have limited access to reading material of any kind. So Korean becomes the language of their parents and English becomes the language of homework, and Spanish becomes the language of friends. None of those activities involves a lot of reading.
But right now, guess what? We'd probably win the award for the highest number of students choosing to read. And they're all reading the same thing:
TWILIGHT
Some of my kids have never finished a book in any language. But they're picking up Twilight and reading it, cover to cover, as fast as they can. And they're coming in every day to tell me how many pages they've read (it's become bragging rights) and to talk about parts of the book. I've never connected with teens on this kind of literary level before. It's amazing. Of my 20 HS students, at least 10 of them are either reading the book right now, just finished the book, or want to read it over Christmas. (An additional 2 or 3 are listening to it on their Ipod, bc reading is still too tough for them or they couldn't find an English copy of the book.) Two other teachers are reading the books, too.
This is insanity!
Thanks Stephanie Meyer!
I'm not sure, but it's likely that I have a higher percentage of "reluctant" readers than most.
2 reasons:
1. My students speak 2 or 3 languages. Merely being able to spell in all of them is very difficult. Getting to the point where they can read on grade level in any of the languages is difficult. Choosing which language to read in is even more difficult.
2. For those of my students whose primary language is not Spanish, they have limited access to reading material of any kind. So Korean becomes the language of their parents and English becomes the language of homework, and Spanish becomes the language of friends. None of those activities involves a lot of reading.
But right now, guess what? We'd probably win the award for the highest number of students choosing to read. And they're all reading the same thing:
TWILIGHT
Some of my kids have never finished a book in any language. But they're picking up Twilight and reading it, cover to cover, as fast as they can. And they're coming in every day to tell me how many pages they've read (it's become bragging rights) and to talk about parts of the book. I've never connected with teens on this kind of literary level before. It's amazing. Of my 20 HS students, at least 10 of them are either reading the book right now, just finished the book, or want to read it over Christmas. (An additional 2 or 3 are listening to it on their Ipod, bc reading is still too tough for them or they couldn't find an English copy of the book.) Two other teachers are reading the books, too.
This is insanity!
Thanks Stephanie Meyer!
Monday, December 1, 2008
Coming home
I'm not sure if I've written this before...
For two weeks before Thanksgiving, our friends and acquaintances were asking us if we were going "home" for the holiday. Well, we weren't going to our house, but I do think we went "home". We got to see family and friends, and spend a long weekend being very American. In many ways, it was a trip home.
But then, as we were packing Sunday morning, I mentioned - in my head or out loud - about how we would be "home" in just a few hours.
So, did we go home or leave home for Thanksgiving?
Less than 2 weeks from now, we'll be flying again. Although, whether we're going "home" this time is still unclear. :) We are going "back" to "our" house, albeit a house filled with people and things that are not our own. And after 3 weeks of that, we'll travel "home" again.
Maybe "home" is where your story begins. And our story begins - wherever!
For two weeks before Thanksgiving, our friends and acquaintances were asking us if we were going "home" for the holiday. Well, we weren't going to our house, but I do think we went "home". We got to see family and friends, and spend a long weekend being very American. In many ways, it was a trip home.
But then, as we were packing Sunday morning, I mentioned - in my head or out loud - about how we would be "home" in just a few hours.
So, did we go home or leave home for Thanksgiving?
Less than 2 weeks from now, we'll be flying again. Although, whether we're going "home" this time is still unclear. :) We are going "back" to "our" house, albeit a house filled with people and things that are not our own. And after 3 weeks of that, we'll travel "home" again.
Maybe "home" is where your story begins. And our story begins - wherever!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)