Finals has been finished. Maybe forever if I passed the Husserl exam. New haircut ushers in new era.
Monday, June 25, 2007
IT IS DONE
Finals has been finished. Maybe forever if I passed the Husserl exam. New haircut ushers in new era.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Good Grief
Please tell it's not true...did someone really get suspended for TALKING about cannabis??? Does anyone know about this? What the heck is happening in Saskatchewan???
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Something nice
I love jumping on beds. So, whenever I feel bad about the world in general, or I feel like I really need a pick-me-up (literally) I go to this site, Hotel Bed Jumping HQ. I find the simple things in life are what matter, like jumping on your bed and making youself appear silly in mid-air.
I love these people, whoever they are. =)
This especially helps when you still have two finals left.
Finals are hard.
But Bed-jumping isn't. =D
I love these people, whoever they are. =)
This especially helps when you still have two finals left.
Finals are hard.
But Bed-jumping isn't. =D
The Bomb
I found this extremely funny. There is a good reason why this is a good idea, namely that in any notion of non-combative bombs that stop people from having the will to fight...biological determinism at its finest...is something that most governments would want to consider. Whether such a thing could be made...well, it's an interesting thought. Go homo or go home, eh? I think the main problem with this is mentioned in the article, namely that if people had new and conflicting states of desire that this would somehow completely make them incapable of acting. Not true, I say. Not true.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Father's Day
I just wanted to say Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. Being a dad is hard. It's very hard. And I have two dads. Which normally means that I have to get two crappy gifts every year and disappoint two people on a single day. To compensate for this, I didn't buy them anything this year because that would have been crappy. (And postage-wise, expensive and uncalled for.) Part of what's hardest is being away from those people who matter most, especially on days like this. So take some time and appreciate your Dads, (Or Dad singular if you happen to be so unlucky) because they certainly deserve your time. I have a lot to be thankful for, and I got to talk to them both on F-Day, and that made me happy.
I owe both of them a lot, and I wouldn't be who I am (the good parts) without them.
Thanks to Dad 1 for making me a good listener, and a thinker.
Thanks to Dad 2 for giving me a sense of humour, and a strong work ethic.
Happy Father's Day.
I owe both of them a lot, and I wouldn't be who I am (the good parts) without them.
Thanks to Dad 1 for making me a good listener, and a thinker.
Thanks to Dad 2 for giving me a sense of humour, and a strong work ethic.
Happy Father's Day.
Je Fini!
I am FINISHED!
You have no idea how happy (and, yet, sad) I am, but I am finished teaching english, for at least as long as it takes for me to find a career in a some other way! =D Well, regardless, I'm finished teaching English in Tienen, anyways. Marianne has already hired someone else. =)
Anyways, I thought I would just take you around where I work a bit, since I'm finished there and everything. (Therefore meaning that I can't get fired for anything I say here. Eh heh.)
This is Classroom 9, also known as the only nice classroom we had. It's all cushy, and has nice plants, and is the biggest, and this is where we keep
a) the cards with all the information about lessons on them
b) the stereos needed for the lessons
c) all the children's material which never gets used (Who wants children's lessons in Tienen???)
d) any new material for new students Marianne leaves in here and, most importantly,
e) Where Marianne keeps all the cookies and candy. Honestly, every Berlitz school I've been to seems to have cookies and candy. Strange, because it never gets eaten by the students, as far as I can tell. =/ Who eats this??? I only ever saw Marianne eat a cookie once, and the Forem people (unemployed language learners) just MASSACRE the stuff, but other than them, I have no idea who eats these things.
This is the poster of the 'levels' in Berlitz. Yes, Berlitz levels. We train people to learn how to tell what level someone is at. Level A is 'Absolute Beginner' and Level 11 is 'Native Speaker.' Naturally, I'm somewhere around a level 2. My English good. Real good.
I should also tell you that this poster, and any and every poster of Berlitz makes, is required by Berlitzian law to be included in every school. Therefore, you are, as a teacher (rather sadly, I would say) greeted by the same 4-5 posters every time you walk in a Berlitz school. Does no one else care that the teacher's are infected with the propoganda much better than the students are???
This here, is classroom 1. I don't really like classroom one. It's where I spent most of my time freezing because I forgot to TURN ON THE HEATERS EVERY TIME EXCEPT ONCE. One thing that I don't understand about Berlitz is why they always buy the kind of heaters that have to be turned on...it's cheaper to regulate the temperature, isn't it? Anyways, this classroom was memorable. And dank. And chilly. And the temperature would not bother me, but I spent most of my time in there on little to no sleep, so it HAD to be cold, OR I MIGHT FALL ASLEEP. AND THAT WOULD BE BAD.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find the poster of the Sesame Street Friends (All rights reserved) that I wanted to show you, but this will have to do. This is Tingo. Everyone who teaches kids lessons knows Tingo. Why? Because Tingo is a Muppet created specifically for Berlitz Kids Lessons, and the instructor is encouraged to use the Tingo hand puppet to help explain words to children.
....
Kids Teachers hate Tingo.
Tingo is the kind of Muppet that little children have nightmares about. His (Her's? Its????) eyes are just a little too big and lifeless, and the puppet would give me bedwetting tendencies for the rest of my life if I were the child approached with this thing. Maybe it's the green and orange and purple fur. Maybe it's the marsupial-like tail. I have no idea. Needless to say, most of the Berlitz kid's instructors feeling towards Tingo is that Tingo would be good for disciplining little children because it's SCARY, not because it's FUN. My good friend C said that she planned to tell kids that Tingo was going to come to their house and eat them if they were bad during an english lesson. We thought Tingo would be more effective if we attached large teeth to Tingo. Unfortunately, such a plan never saw the light of day. Sad.
This is classroom 15. Clasroom 15 has no carpet. When it gets hot, classroom 15 smells. Smells like a dentist's chair. Badly. There is almost nothing worse than being in classroom 15. It smells even worse than classroom 12. Ugh. Classroom 15, I will not miss thee.
And, that...is that. That is the last I will see of Berlitz in Tienen.
But I still have to send them claim forms for my expenses because Marianne said she didn't like the way I did them.
....
Some jobs never die.
You have no idea how happy (and, yet, sad) I am, but I am finished teaching english, for at least as long as it takes for me to find a career in a some other way! =D Well, regardless, I'm finished teaching English in Tienen, anyways. Marianne has already hired someone else. =)
Anyways, I thought I would just take you around where I work a bit, since I'm finished there and everything. (Therefore meaning that I can't get fired for anything I say here. Eh heh.)
This is Classroom 9, also known as the only nice classroom we had. It's all cushy, and has nice plants, and is the biggest, and this is where we keep
a) the cards with all the information about lessons on them
b) the stereos needed for the lessons
c) all the children's material which never gets used (Who wants children's lessons in Tienen???)
d) any new material for new students Marianne leaves in here and, most importantly,
e) Where Marianne keeps all the cookies and candy. Honestly, every Berlitz school I've been to seems to have cookies and candy. Strange, because it never gets eaten by the students, as far as I can tell. =/ Who eats this??? I only ever saw Marianne eat a cookie once, and the Forem people (unemployed language learners) just MASSACRE the stuff, but other than them, I have no idea who eats these things.
This is the poster of the 'levels' in Berlitz. Yes, Berlitz levels. We train people to learn how to tell what level someone is at. Level A is 'Absolute Beginner' and Level 11 is 'Native Speaker.' Naturally, I'm somewhere around a level 2. My English good. Real good.
I should also tell you that this poster, and any and every poster of Berlitz makes, is required by Berlitzian law to be included in every school. Therefore, you are, as a teacher (rather sadly, I would say) greeted by the same 4-5 posters every time you walk in a Berlitz school. Does no one else care that the teacher's are infected with the propoganda much better than the students are???
This here, is classroom 1. I don't really like classroom one. It's where I spent most of my time freezing because I forgot to TURN ON THE HEATERS EVERY TIME EXCEPT ONCE. One thing that I don't understand about Berlitz is why they always buy the kind of heaters that have to be turned on...it's cheaper to regulate the temperature, isn't it? Anyways, this classroom was memorable. And dank. And chilly. And the temperature would not bother me, but I spent most of my time in there on little to no sleep, so it HAD to be cold, OR I MIGHT FALL ASLEEP. AND THAT WOULD BE BAD.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find the poster of the Sesame Street Friends (All rights reserved) that I wanted to show you, but this will have to do. This is Tingo. Everyone who teaches kids lessons knows Tingo. Why? Because Tingo is a Muppet created specifically for Berlitz Kids Lessons, and the instructor is encouraged to use the Tingo hand puppet to help explain words to children.
....
Kids Teachers hate Tingo.
Tingo is the kind of Muppet that little children have nightmares about. His (Her's? Its????) eyes are just a little too big and lifeless, and the puppet would give me bedwetting tendencies for the rest of my life if I were the child approached with this thing. Maybe it's the green and orange and purple fur. Maybe it's the marsupial-like tail. I have no idea. Needless to say, most of the Berlitz kid's instructors feeling towards Tingo is that Tingo would be good for disciplining little children because it's SCARY, not because it's FUN. My good friend C said that she planned to tell kids that Tingo was going to come to their house and eat them if they were bad during an english lesson. We thought Tingo would be more effective if we attached large teeth to Tingo. Unfortunately, such a plan never saw the light of day. Sad.
This is classroom 15. Clasroom 15 has no carpet. When it gets hot, classroom 15 smells. Smells like a dentist's chair. Badly. There is almost nothing worse than being in classroom 15. It smells even worse than classroom 12. Ugh. Classroom 15, I will not miss thee.
And, that...is that. That is the last I will see of Berlitz in Tienen.
But I still have to send them claim forms for my expenses because Marianne said she didn't like the way I did them.
....
Some jobs never die.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
The Big, big stupid long story that we've been waiting for since forvever and a day
Ahem.
Hello.
Sorry it's been a while.
I have been waiting to save my post 250th for whether I handed in my thesis on time, or whether I deferred until August.
I deferred to August.
I decided I would put the whole thing in cartoon form, since this would be more like a regular thing in my life, and not like a life-defeating incident. So, on with the story! Because I'm fine with it and nothing is wrong-like! Yay!
When I handed in 1/3 of the 2/3rds of my first draft that I was finished to my promoter, he told me to scrap it all. I will not go into reasons for why this is so. That's incriminating and blogs are public and that's all that needs to be said on the Internet. =) Needless to say, I was a little put off.
I talked to my mom about this, and she suggested that I put everything into it and try to finish on time, since they, my family, were coming over to see me graduate, which looked really-not-likely-going-to-happen-on-time, and she was very unimpressed with this idea. My mother...........encouraged me--strongly--to hand it in on time. When I thought about it, really, she was (is) right. There was no reason to stop working on it until 'after' final exams. It would just ruin the summer for me, and taking a break before exams is not necessary. Work hard now, not later. It was something I had forgotten. Sometime lazy Belgium makes you lazy.
So, I decided, what the heck. I didn't think I would get it in on time, but I would write it like I was planning to. Considering that I was back to square one (again, let's not talk about why) I had, really, nothing to lose. The worst that could happen is that I didn't hand it in on time, which, really, wasn't that bad. It was already looking like that.
So, I started writing my thesis the day that classes finished, on...um...15th of May? Maybe a little later, and it was due on the 29th of May. Anyways, something like that. Between working teaching English, classes finishing, and other small details, I was somewhat busy, but I managed to write for many, many, many hours a day. Many.
Surprisingly, somewhere around a week before it was due, I realized that I WAS going to be finished on time. My promoter offered me an extension of two days (if I wanted to rush it) when he had told me to scrap the 'other' draft, so I could hand it in on the 31st, if I wanted. I COULD actually hand in my thesis on time. Granted he wouldn't read it, but this bothers me less and less these days about whether he reads it or not. As long as 'I' think I can defend it, and I'm coherent, it's fine. I've read enough literature to kill about an acre of the rainforest, and I'm pretty sure my mark won't change that much if I had handed it in June or August, really...since there are 'secret' marks applied here...they're concerned about you making deadlines here...very um, continental. Best way to say it, I guess.
I was very happy, and I started to get really excited. I was going to be done my thesis on time! Life is good again! But naturally....
Something bad happened.
I worked on it almost non-stop for the next week. I sent drafts to Ginny and Patrick to read and wrote everything else up, little details, etc., checked a lot of small things, and when the first draft was ready, I went to a little cafe, and ate apple pie and drank European Nestea while I corrected it. It was terrific. I asked my promoter for an extension, and got one, even to June 1st, but I had to specifically ask the person in charge of 'accepting' theses, which I did. No problem, although I was a little scared because I was taking a big risk not having time away from my thesis like that. But...y'know. Can't live scared forever. Worth a shot, anyways.
Now, around 11am in the morning it was due, I just needed to dress up my conclusion to be finished, and then I would print it, and hand it in before 4pm at the institute. No problem, or relatively little. However, I really felt that something wasn't right.
And something wasn't.
I had screwed up part of my MAJOR argument and my conclusion.
...
.........
I realized that I had made a HUGE mistake, and assumed something in my conclusion that I thought was implicit in my entire thesis, and it wasn't there. I realized I was missing a whole strand of argument that needed to be in place for me to say what I wanted to say.
It was about 12pm, and I had 2 options. I needed to write an extra 10-15 pages that were actually worthwhile to 'fix' my problem, or...I could do it the easy way, which is simply take out the half-baked strand of argument that I had included in my conclusion, which was the extended and interesting argument where I thought my thesis was leading.
Naturally, I tried to do the more mature thing.
Anyways, the grand result of this was that, considering that I was going to a wedding at 5pm, and my thesis was due at 4pm, there was no way for me to get it in on time, and be sane. In fact, by 2pm, I realized there was no way I could possibly handed it in without having my head handed to me on my defence, which I just couldn't accept. That wouldn't be alright for me. So, I mentally faced the big scary fact that I got my hopes up for nil, and really, that it was very, very stupid, and that I needed to e-mail said thesis reader, and tell them I couldn't submit. Of course, I suppose I would have e-mailed the person in charge directly, but that was a little more than I could mentally handle at that point. I really just wanted to quietly slink my tail between my legs and walk away until I actually handed it in. I faced the fact that I wasn't going to hand it in on time, and that was that. No excuses, no regrets. I went to the wedding, I was half-baked, I'm pretty sure Ralph thought I was more than a LITTLE weird that day (until I finally told him that I hadn't slept in two days) but the food was nice, the company was great, and it was just like when somebody dies, you just need to be around people. And I was. Everything was fine. Really! Just fine! No worries!
..........
...................
Maybe I didn't handle it, ahem, QUITE that well, but that's how I handled it once I came down off the thesis high I had been on. Granted, it didn't get handed in on time, and while that means a lot of non-bonuses for me, I'd rather do something I'm proud of then hand in crap, since the reaction to it is going to be the same from my promoter and the reading committee, which is: "This is crap! I don't understand or agree with any of this!" However, the only way I'll possibly be able to walk away from that experience with any kind of feeling of non-regret is by doing the best that I can. And that doesn't mean doing anything but what I can do best, which is not much, but I'd rather put a little more effort into things. I think that would be best.
On the bright side, I realized that I SHOULD be proud of myself, because I wrote 94 pages (excluding references) in less than two weeks.
I don't know how I did that.
So, I'm keeping positive about it, and everything is 'more' fine than it was a couple of weeks ago. I'm glad that I had this experience. It sort of taught me that even hard work, the hardest kind of work sometimes doesn't win the day, and it kinda screws everything up when the 'big deadlines' get passed, and that's alright. I'm really happy I tried. It didn't work out, and I looked a bit foolish (Who asks for an extension and then says they can't hand it in because they made a big mistake? Who does that???) but I think it'll be alright. I am going to work hard for the next while, and hopefully with the help of a PhD student, I will be able to hand in something a little better than what I had orginally planned.
OK, I have to go to bed. I'll start posting more regularly now that life is happening again for me!
Hello.
Sorry it's been a while.
I have been waiting to save my post 250th for whether I handed in my thesis on time, or whether I deferred until August.
I deferred to August.
I decided I would put the whole thing in cartoon form, since this would be more like a regular thing in my life, and not like a life-defeating incident. So, on with the story! Because I'm fine with it and nothing is wrong-like! Yay!
When I handed in 1/3 of the 2/3rds of my first draft that I was finished to my promoter, he told me to scrap it all. I will not go into reasons for why this is so. That's incriminating and blogs are public and that's all that needs to be said on the Internet. =) Needless to say, I was a little put off.
I talked to my mom about this, and she suggested that I put everything into it and try to finish on time, since they, my family, were coming over to see me graduate, which looked really-not-likely-going-to-happen-on-time, and she was very unimpressed with this idea. My mother...........encouraged me--strongly--to hand it in on time. When I thought about it, really, she was (is) right. There was no reason to stop working on it until 'after' final exams. It would just ruin the summer for me, and taking a break before exams is not necessary. Work hard now, not later. It was something I had forgotten. Sometime lazy Belgium makes you lazy.
So, I decided, what the heck. I didn't think I would get it in on time, but I would write it like I was planning to. Considering that I was back to square one (again, let's not talk about why) I had, really, nothing to lose. The worst that could happen is that I didn't hand it in on time, which, really, wasn't that bad. It was already looking like that.
So, I started writing my thesis the day that classes finished, on...um...15th of May? Maybe a little later, and it was due on the 29th of May. Anyways, something like that. Between working teaching English, classes finishing, and other small details, I was somewhat busy, but I managed to write for many, many, many hours a day. Many.
Surprisingly, somewhere around a week before it was due, I realized that I WAS going to be finished on time. My promoter offered me an extension of two days (if I wanted to rush it) when he had told me to scrap the 'other' draft, so I could hand it in on the 31st, if I wanted. I COULD actually hand in my thesis on time. Granted he wouldn't read it, but this bothers me less and less these days about whether he reads it or not. As long as 'I' think I can defend it, and I'm coherent, it's fine. I've read enough literature to kill about an acre of the rainforest, and I'm pretty sure my mark won't change that much if I had handed it in June or August, really...since there are 'secret' marks applied here...they're concerned about you making deadlines here...very um, continental. Best way to say it, I guess.
I was very happy, and I started to get really excited. I was going to be done my thesis on time! Life is good again! But naturally....
Something bad happened.
I worked on it almost non-stop for the next week. I sent drafts to Ginny and Patrick to read and wrote everything else up, little details, etc., checked a lot of small things, and when the first draft was ready, I went to a little cafe, and ate apple pie and drank European Nestea while I corrected it. It was terrific. I asked my promoter for an extension, and got one, even to June 1st, but I had to specifically ask the person in charge of 'accepting' theses, which I did. No problem, although I was a little scared because I was taking a big risk not having time away from my thesis like that. But...y'know. Can't live scared forever. Worth a shot, anyways.
Now, around 11am in the morning it was due, I just needed to dress up my conclusion to be finished, and then I would print it, and hand it in before 4pm at the institute. No problem, or relatively little. However, I really felt that something wasn't right.
And something wasn't.
I had screwed up part of my MAJOR argument and my conclusion.
...
.........
I realized that I had made a HUGE mistake, and assumed something in my conclusion that I thought was implicit in my entire thesis, and it wasn't there. I realized I was missing a whole strand of argument that needed to be in place for me to say what I wanted to say.
It was about 12pm, and I had 2 options. I needed to write an extra 10-15 pages that were actually worthwhile to 'fix' my problem, or...I could do it the easy way, which is simply take out the half-baked strand of argument that I had included in my conclusion, which was the extended and interesting argument where I thought my thesis was leading.
Naturally, I tried to do the more mature thing.
Anyways, the grand result of this was that, considering that I was going to a wedding at 5pm, and my thesis was due at 4pm, there was no way for me to get it in on time, and be sane. In fact, by 2pm, I realized there was no way I could possibly handed it in without having my head handed to me on my defence, which I just couldn't accept. That wouldn't be alright for me. So, I mentally faced the big scary fact that I got my hopes up for nil, and really, that it was very, very stupid, and that I needed to e-mail said thesis reader, and tell them I couldn't submit. Of course, I suppose I would have e-mailed the person in charge directly, but that was a little more than I could mentally handle at that point. I really just wanted to quietly slink my tail between my legs and walk away until I actually handed it in. I faced the fact that I wasn't going to hand it in on time, and that was that. No excuses, no regrets. I went to the wedding, I was half-baked, I'm pretty sure Ralph thought I was more than a LITTLE weird that day (until I finally told him that I hadn't slept in two days) but the food was nice, the company was great, and it was just like when somebody dies, you just need to be around people. And I was. Everything was fine. Really! Just fine! No worries!
..........
...................
Maybe I didn't handle it, ahem, QUITE that well, but that's how I handled it once I came down off the thesis high I had been on. Granted, it didn't get handed in on time, and while that means a lot of non-bonuses for me, I'd rather do something I'm proud of then hand in crap, since the reaction to it is going to be the same from my promoter and the reading committee, which is: "This is crap! I don't understand or agree with any of this!" However, the only way I'll possibly be able to walk away from that experience with any kind of feeling of non-regret is by doing the best that I can. And that doesn't mean doing anything but what I can do best, which is not much, but I'd rather put a little more effort into things. I think that would be best.
On the bright side, I realized that I SHOULD be proud of myself, because I wrote 94 pages (excluding references) in less than two weeks.
I don't know how I did that.
So, I'm keeping positive about it, and everything is 'more' fine than it was a couple of weeks ago. I'm glad that I had this experience. It sort of taught me that even hard work, the hardest kind of work sometimes doesn't win the day, and it kinda screws everything up when the 'big deadlines' get passed, and that's alright. I'm really happy I tried. It didn't work out, and I looked a bit foolish (Who asks for an extension and then says they can't hand it in because they made a big mistake? Who does that???) but I think it'll be alright. I am going to work hard for the next while, and hopefully with the help of a PhD student, I will be able to hand in something a little better than what I had orginally planned.
OK, I have to go to bed. I'll start posting more regularly now that life is happening again for me!
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