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May 10
I've
been gone for quite a while it seems. I wish it were so. I dream of being in
Victoria right now, but it's much too expensive to fly there at the moment.
But to explain my absence, I've just not been connected to the Internet. In
the process of getting the name on our phone line switched from the
landlady's to my roommate's, the Internet service cut out and was not fixed
for a while. Though my roommate specifically asked them if this switch would
affect our Internet service at all, and Telus stated that it would not, we
were without Internet for 8 days--7.5 perhaps, to be exact. What gets me is
that we were given so much false information. The first time, they said there
would be no disruption of service, then after the connection died, I called,
only to have them tell me it would take a day or two to reconnect and that we
would have Internet by the next day, and this was also false, as we learned
two days after my phone call when we still didn't have any Internet. So we
called again that day to have them tell us we wouldn't have any Internet for
another 2 days, and 3 days later, we still didn't have anything. So after
calling once again to find out what was going on, I learned that it had to do
now with our modem and some degenerated wires in the box down the street, so
they had to send out a technician, who couldn't come until 2 days after that
last phone call. And I couldn't even rant about my frustration on my blog
here because I didn't have any Internet connection!!!
Anyways,
I'm glad to be finally re-connected, although I acknowledge that my
dependence on and love for the Internet is probably not healthy. Still, this
connection gives me the option to work from home when I like as well, so it's
not just all for play!
Outside
of that, I've been keeping busy anyways. I worked about a 10-hour day today
between two jobs as I finally started at the hospital for an evening shift
and had to be at school early in the morning for an 8:15 meeting. Normally I
begin at 10. I was lucky to get to go home early today from the school,
though, because the kid I normally work with at the school wasn't able to
make it in, so I got about an hour off. That made it nice because it meant
less rushing between jobs.
I'm
also disturbed by the news about another Canadian that was severely injured
in Mexico. I don't know why we are all of a sudden hearing about this more
than we used to. I don't know if it's just that we're now hearing about it
more or that it's actually happening more than it used to. It injures my
heart in a way, because I consider Mexico my other home, and it saddens me
that a country and people I love are doing this to my own countrymen. I don't
want Canadians to feel afraid to go to this wonderful country, but a few
incidents like this could ruin it for a lot of people.
April 30
But
not for the reasons I would have imagined, like doing another master's or
PhD. I am going back to grade 7 and 8. With my job at the jr high, the one
kid I was supposed to help is not returning to the school after all, so I now
have a guaranteed 1.5 hours free before my other kid shows up. So they've
decided that rather than having me hang out in the behaviour class where the
teacher (or teacher's aide) to student ratio is anywhere from 3:4 to 3:1, I
should help some kids in regular classes that are having some struggles.
Like, there are ESL students and what not. So, I kind of get to go back to
school, which is pretty interesting, because I basically get paid to go back
to school. You'd think I'd find it useless or repetitive, but let's face it,
how many of us remember what we learned in grade 7? The more significant
point is that I get to take a class I never had the chance to take in jr
high, which is foods. So I'm learning how to cook stuff and getting good
ideas for easy recipes, which is really fun. I'm also in Language Arts,
Social Studies, Science, and Math--mostly math. I thought this would be
horrible, and I must admit that I'm still a little afraid of it because it
was always my worst subject. So I'm wondering, how will I help anyone? But
the math teacher in whose class I spend the most time is an AWESOME math
teacher. I wish I would have had him for math when I was in school. He makes
it fun and repeats concepts enough so that you might remember them. I'm
excited about that because I feel like I might actually learn math all
over again and even understand it this time.
Yes,
I am a geek, as you may be wondering just about now. I do love to learn. And
yes, I can see your eyes rolling, so don't try to hide it. Moreover, I often
felt that my inability in the maths closed off options to me in life, such as
studying astronomy or being a better statistician, which would help me in
research and/or psychology. In any case, I love having options, so when some
are closed off to me, it's kind of upsetting for me.
Anyways,
these April and May showers are simply lovely. As much as I love the sun and
miss it when it's gone, these rains have been perfect for my mood, and
coupled with a warm cup of tea and Ella Fitzgerald playing, there is little
better in the world that can suit the melancholia in my soul.
April 23
I
remember my friend Angela had a funny entry her blog about a souped up mini
van she saw, to which she remarked: what's the point? I whole-heartedly
agree, and then I saw a mini-van that almost compared to what she described
the other day. I can't really say it was souped up, but it was this Toyota
mini van with the wheel on the right side--like they would have in England,
for example. Now my point in this case: why is a Toyota mini van like that
worth importing?
In
the meantime, I must make and addition to this entry, and that is to tell you
about this hilarious music--and I use the term loosely--that my friend in
Hong Kong told me about. Apparently there's this woman, named Wing, that tried to turn
Western pop and rock music into Chinese opera. You can take a listen to it if
you click on the link. My roommate and I were incredulous, and it gives you a
good laugh. I don't intend to insult any Chinese person or Chinese culture in
general, so please don't mistake my intention of putting this here! I can
list several Westerners that are worse! 
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April 16
You
know, sometimes the English language really boggles my mind! I was playing my Boggle
game
today, which I got from a cereal box, and I sometimes get annoyed with the
words they have in their list that I've never heard of and that don't appear to
be words in the English language. However, what amuses me is the number of
words in the English lexicon that we simply do not know because we don't use
them anymore, and then when other countries try to translate some of their words
into English, they use these archaic or uncommon terms, and they come out
sounding funny.
One of
the first of these types of words I learned was the word "bumf." I
first saw this word in a photo my cousin sent from China. The photo was of a
sign in a bathroom telling users to please place their bumf in the waste
basket, or some such thing. I thought this was a made-up word until I decided
to check out the Oxford Dictionary, just on the off chance it was
there. Sure enough, there it was! Oxford defines it as a noun meaning useless
or tedious information or also toilet paper. It originates as an abbreviated
form of the word bum-fodder, which meant roughly the same thing. Well, who ever
uses this word! But the funny thing is that I actually heard someone I know use
it the other day!! I commented to her that I thought it was strange for me to
hear that word being used, and then she felt self-conscious about it because
it's fairly normal to use it in England, where she had been living for the past
several years, and she told me she was going to try not to use it here. Well,
that was just interesting!
In my
Boggle list of words, specifically, there was a word "titbit." I
first posted this word in a photo from Malaysia last year, and I thought this
was a hilarious typo. I was wrong again! Turns out this is the British form of
the North American word "tidbit," so that was lesson number two. I
don't know, maybe I just know too many people with dirty minds, but somehow I
think titbit would catch on in the wrong context here in this part of the
world.
April 14
I
finally got around to hooking up my camera again today now that I have
re-installed its corresponding software so I would edit those bird photos for
those of you left still reading my blog--it's a dwindling audience. It's hardly
surprising because I haven't really led a very adventurous life lately,
although I always seem to end up in some situation or another no matter how
small or large. Anyways, I'm happy to be able to bring these photos to you
because they are cool. This bird was pretty nifty. So check out my second last
album there of random photos, and you should see them there.
In
terms of my little adventures, one of them, I'll say, is one of those things
that makes you roll your eyes and ask yourself why you never learn. I was on my
way to my dad's house for supper the other day and had to pick up some
sparkling water from somewhere and a few things from Dollarama. I was thinking
I would do it at Towne Centre since there is Dollarama and a Safeway, but then
as I was on the freeway, I was nearing Southgate when I remembered that they
now have a Dollarama, so I thought it would be less out of the way to stop
there rather than Towne Centre. So I pulled in. At first, I didn't know where
the store was because I had never seen it before there, although I remembered
the mall signs announcing its grande opening. The smart thing to do would be to
just check the store directory, so I looked at it upon entering the mall. But
it took me like 5 minutes just to locate it on the map because I didn't know
what kind of a store it would be classified as, department store, speciality
story, or whatever. Turns out it's a specialty store, in case you ever need to
know this. So I headed for it and got sidetracked by Reitmans for about 5
minutes--I promise, no longer than 5 minutes! I headed downstairs to the store
only to see that about half its stock was gone. The shelves were really
bare,and I was only able to find about half of what I was looking for. Well, it
wasn't the end of the world, but I had been hoping to get it all for a project
I was doing at work the next day. Then I went to find sparkling water. I
thought I would just get a small bottle at Rexall Drugs since it was on the way
out to my car rather than buy it at Safeway, which was very out of the way.
When I got to Rexall, they had nothing, so I had to go back to Safeway
to get it, but that meant going back to the directory to find it because I
couldn't remember how to get there! Well, let's just say that instead of it
taking about 20 minutes, which it would have at Towne Centre, it took me an
hour in Southgate. Note to self: when you haven't got time, don't waste it in
places you aren't familiar with!
As
for the older people I mentioned in my title, I'm referring to people in
seniors' homes. I sang for about 45 minutes at a seniors' home yesterday
afternoon, and it was so good. The lady phoned me today to thank me again, and
she said some of the people were still talking about it today. What's
remarkable about it, though, is that she said most of them never remember
because they have Alzheimer's or various degrees of dementia, so the fact that
they remembered me she thought was significant. Wow. That just makes me feel
really good. This was the third time I've performed for seniors in a home. The
first time was dancing Flamenco with my old troupe, and the second was with
some friends singing mostly Latin American and Spanish folk songs. This time I
was solo. I just love it because the people enjoy it so much. There was this
one lady there who was just clapping and smiling the whole time--and my songs
were all slow-ish ballads, not ones you can clap to--but she did, and you could
tell she was just in her glory. The only thing I didn't know was why she burst
into tears in the very last song. My dad had come just to watch, and he thinks
that she probably just had memories come back to her. That's what I thought of
when I chose my songs, like what could I do that would bring back good memories
for them. Who knows what lost loves, first kisses or first dances, music that
was popular when their kids were born, and all that kind of stuff was going
through their minds? To give them some happiness, joy, and pleasure in a place,
which is for many a dumping ground, well, let's just say it brings tears to my
eyes to think of it.
There
was another lady there that was a nun, and she had lived in a convent most of
her life. She just loves music and told me she enjoyed every one of my songs.
It was nifty.
Folks,
if you're thinking of putting your own folks in a home, please don't forget
about them. Visit them, and visit them often. I leave you with a joke that one
of the old timers told me yesterday:
Did
you hear about the minister? Well, their church needed a new furnace, so he
asked everyone for a special donation that day to cover the cost of the new
furnace. When he went through the basket, he saw a $1000 bill in it, and he
held it up, asking who had been so generous. A little old lady put up her hand,
so the minister thanked her profusely for her generosity, and he said, since
you've donated so much, I'd like to let you pick 3 of the hymns today. So the
lady stood up, stretched her finger out, and started pointing: "I'd like
him, and him, and him!"
April 07
Kelly
and I had Saturday night fever the other night when we decided to watch this
John Travolta flick--just for kicks, I might add, not because we actually
thought it would be a good movie. It lived up to our expectation that it would
be really cheesy. The disco was great,and the acting was terrible. But the
unexpected part was the storyline. I thought it was going to be solely about
dancing, but they had a number of other stories going on, most of which they
left unfinished unfortuantely. It was more raunchy than we expected as well.
So, I can come away saying it wasn't a great movie but good for music and
dance--kind of like a lot of other dance movies out there. I would still
recommend anyone seeing it just because it's a classic, I think, and it's darn
funny.
This
Saturday, I'm just enjoying a night with the house to myself. Not doing a whole
lot but will have to get some work done during the rest of this weekend.
As
I'm writing this, I'm chatting with one of my former students from Mexico, and
he has just informed me that he is going to put a concert we did together on
You Tube, so as soon as I know the link, I will post it on my blog so you all
can see it. I had a great DVD of it, but it got misplaced before almost anyone
at home got to see it, so I'm happy that I'll finally be able to share it with
you.
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