Q8

"When you're ready to revise a draft of your writing, ask yourself whether you've expressed yourself in the best possible way."

Do people really do this?
Usually when I write something, I throw down whatever comes through my brain and hit SEND or close my journal. End of story. These days, no one is terribly concerned with grammar, punctuation, spelling, or even any resemblance to English with MSN and other chat languages. With the commencement of the new school year, I have been reflecting on my experiences over the past few years of teaching; I now have a new found respect for every Language Arts teacher I've ever had, not to mention those who are currently helping mold the minds of little ones as we speak.

My 11th graders seem to be eager learners, but face the challenge of having English as a second language. Though most of them have attended private schools for their entire educational career, there are still aspects of English that remain tough for those whose first language is Arabic. I am a huge supporter of being bilingual (obviously), so I post these quotations from a recent homework assignment with a light heart. I am in no way making fun of my students' intelligence (I have some bright ones!), but find that the mid-brain translations can often be funny.

My all-time favorite is from last year, when a student found something to be too difficult: "Miss, why you make for me like this?"

1. My wish in this world is to become an engineering person.
2. I want to be skinny thin.
3. This is a huge different year for me.
4. I am half American, half Kuwaiti. My father is half American, half Egyptian, and my mother is Kuwaiti.
5. We need to open the lights.
6. My wish is to be a great architecture and design amazing buildings.
7. My color is not so good today.

Opening quote from Revising English with Style, Glencoe Language Arts,

Friday Night

Today was a typical Friday. We went to church in the morning, came home to relax, and then I started working on my year plan and lesson plans for the week. This evening, I went out with the other new teachers from my school to a restaurant called the Palm Palace, so named for the many trees and glass walls looking onto the courtyard. Even though I'd seen and heard about it, I had never been there. It's pretty close to home and has lovely Lebanese food, so Chris and I will definitely be returning for a date some time.

In more exciting news, Chris and I received our paperwork signed by our previous employer so that we can legally work at our new jobs here. We are totally amazed at how God has brought us through so many hoops, and *I think* there is just one left to go. Living long term in a foreign country is not really as difficult as we seem to make it, as long as you don't decide to switch jobs half-way through your contract. Apparently, people don't like that.

On a different note, we figured out why there are so many pigeons outside the kitchen and bathroom windows; one of the neighbors throws birdseed out for them. Twice a day, around the same hours, we hear this light trickle of matter cascading down over the side of the building. I don't know what floor it's coming from, but it's kind of funny to be able to tell the time by the sound of the birdseed. There's no hanging laundry out on the line...

The hot, hot weather is starting to subside, which means the beginning of the school year is right around the corner. I have Open House with parents from 9-12 on Sunday, and then the students come Monday. I'm not exactly ready, but I still have two days!

For those of you to whom I've promised pictures, there is a new album on my "Through Photos" link that include the last few weeks of summer. Be sure to check them out!

Love from Arabia,
Steph

Freezing at 20 degrees

I found a minute to collect my thoughts and type an entry, so I am sitting here with a cup of hot tea and in my favorite fleece pullover. "Stephanie," you may say, "Isn't it REALLY hot there?" Why, yes. Right now it's about 44 degrees Celsius outside, so about 110 Fahrenheit; however, our apartment is set at 20C (about 68F). Chris likes to keep it brisk, so I adjust accordingly :)

Though it took a few extra days than planned to arrive, we are in our Middle Eastern home and settling. While we had a two-day stay in Istanbul, we were able to experience some of the Ramadan festivities in the evenings. While we did get to eat things like falafel and hommos in the States, it just doesn't hold a candle to how the Turks and Arabs make it fresh.

We are in our new apartment and mostly organized, and this week was my first week back to school. For the time being, we are doing a lot of preparation for when the students start next Monday. We'll continue to have shortened days until Ramadan is over (9am-1pm with students), and then we'll resume the regular class schedule of 7:30am-3pm. When Chris and I first returned, we woke up at weird hours of the night due to jet lag, but I think we'll be adjusted to our regular sleeping schedule when by the time Eid comes, too.

So far, it has been pretty pleasant to be back. All of our paperwork to transfer to our new jobs seems to be in order and getting processed, for which we're very thankful. I have had the opportunity to talk with a lot of the new teachers that I'll be working with, who have all been extremely welcoming and interested in helping me with every dumb question I ask. There is a lot more diversity of teachers' nationalities at my new school, so I have some native Spanish speakers to practice with in my spare time! I think I've spent some part of each of the last five days with my best friend here, too, which definitely helps with the adjustment back to desert/city life.

I think it's going to be a good year.