28 April 2002

 

22 April – 6h45 – A wonderfully sunny day again!

 

It’s the start of a new week. No more practise exams! Hooray! Well, I do have to do a speaking practise exam on 19 May, but that’ll require little preparation.

 

The power came on at 23h last night. I left my bedroom light in the on position so I’d know when it did. 

 

I noticed that in the TV guide this week they no longer have a listing for the Travel Channel. Instead, it’s TV5, a Swiss channel (in French).

 

21h – On the way to work today, I noticed that the trees that have white flowers in the spring have started blooming. The flowers don’t stay on the trees for long. I also I noticed that a restaurant put tables and chairs outside. It’s the first I’ve seen of them. I guess it’s almost sitting out season.

 

My effort to take class photos continues. I took one of Group M today. I’ll try to get B & G tomorrow, which will leave me with only E to go. I can’t take that one this week because one of the students is in Germany for the week. 

 

23 April – 6h21 – A wonderful sunny day again!

 

According to the CBS Evening News:

·        An Al Queda captive said that they now have the technology to build “dirty bombs.” I have no idea what that is.

·        Moussaoui, the 11 September conspirator charged with conspiracy, stood up in court in Virginia yesterday and said that he was praying for America’s destruction.

·        Iraq is calling for Arab oil producers to back his oil embargo to protest the USA’s support for Israel.

·        The French elections. One of the people to be in a run off election is being called an anti-semite, as he called the Holocaust a “detail” of history.

·        Yesterday was Earth Day in the USA.

·        A tornado went through southern Illinois.

·        Actor Robert Blake was arraigned on murder charges yesterday.

 

7h48 – According to TVN24, we’re going to be the warmest part of Poland again, it’ll go up to about 18C today and 17C tomorrow.  I love it.

 

20h30 – Weather according to PULS: 7°C tonight, tomorrow 12°C, Thursday 14°C, Friday 16°C, Saturday 12°C

 

I took my Group G class photo. Only two to go (B & E). B was missing a student today, so I couldn’t. Perhaps tomorrow. One of the students from E is in Germany for the week, so I know I cant take their class photo this week.

 

There was a brief mention on CNN about a train accident in Placentia, California. A MetroLink commuter train collided head on with a freight train. That’s all they said.

 

24 April – Cloudy and gray now.

 

According to the CBS Evening News:

·        There were 2 killed and over 200 injured in the train accident in Placentia yesterday.

·        90 workers were arrested in DC area airports for falsely obtaining security badges.

·        More on terrorist making a “dirty bomb.” A dirty bomb is a “radiological bomb.”

 

7h44 – According to CNN:

·        The arrests at in DC were of more than 100 workers for immigration violation, lying on job applications and obtaining false security credentials.

·        Flight crews will soon be carrying stun guns on USA airlines.

·        The driver of the MetroLink train saw the freight train coming and stopped his train and told everyone to get down. The driver of the freight train saw the computer train and tried to stop, but couldn’t stop in time. I wish I had the internet at home so I could get more details of the accident.

 

It’s Wednesday. Here’s my usual Wednesday routine: I leave my flat at about 13h15 and go to the grocery store to buy bread. Then, I walk to work via the centre of the city so that I can go to a greengrocer and buy tomatoes, peppers and broccoli (I can’t buy broccoli at the grocery store) and walk by the currency exchange in the centre of town to check the exchange rates.  After work, I’ll stop by the supermarket in the centre of town and buy meat (sliced ham and chicken breast) and take a taxi home.

 

Interestingly enough, MetroLink appears to use double decker trains, like we have in Europe. This is the first time I’ve seen them in the USA.

 

8h50 – Boston Public is on. It’s episode 4 again. They run it on Thursday nights, then rerun the following Wednesday morning.

 

9h20 – It’s partly sunny now.

 

10h45 – It’s cloudy again.

 

11h48 – What have I done so far today? I’ve written two emails (to be emailed at a future date), graded fifteen tests and corrected twenty-two essays. I’ve also planned out my lessons for today and have made a supplemental activity for one of my classes. It’s time for lunch.

 

12h35 – According to Sky News:

·        There’s a paedophile hunt in process in Britain and people 15 – 50 are being arrested. 75 houses were raided. It’s based off of internet chartrooms. Some of the arrested are in the medical profession, teachers, care workers and a scout leader. Sick.

·        British Air is cutting 12 regional routes and 500 more jobs. They’re also beginning a London – Venice route.

·        A body was found in a river near the house of the girl that has been missing for several weeks, but it’s been confirmed that it is not her body. If I remember correctly, this is the second time they’ve found a body in her town that wasn’t hers (the first one was on a railroad track).

 

21h30 – I couldn’t take the Group B photo, as I was missing four students. Hopefully next Tuesday.

 

On “The Car’s The Star” this week: the VW Bug/Beetle! I love Bugs! I love the presenter of this series, Quentin Wilson. He used to be on Top Gear when I first started watching it a couple of years ago and did a great job. He’s a very proper British gentleman.

 

The Volkswagen was never officially called the Bug or the Beetle. It was always called the Volkswagen.

 

Here are some of the things used for advertising the Volkswagen.

“Ever wondered what the man who drives the snow plow drives to get to the snowplough? This one drives a Volkswagen. So, you can stop wondering.”

“Live below your means.”

“No use in showing the ’62 Beetle. It still looks the same.”

“Ugly is only skin deep.”

 

I’ve always wanted to own a VW Bug, but that will probably never happen. I will definitely go to the VW Plant in Wolfsburg when I’m there this summer. I don’t think I’d like to own a new Beetle, unless they made a New Beetle Cabriolet. Perhaps they do already, but new Beetles aren’t sold in Poland, so I don’t know.

 

25 April – A wonderfully sunny day!

 

According to the CBS Evening News:

·        There’s now a terrorism warning about treats against America’s supermarkets and shopping centres.

·        More about the “dirty bomb”

·        The Burlington Northern freight train in the California accident ran a red light.

 

7h04 – According to Sky News, the body found in the river yesterday wasn’t of the missing girl. The search resumes.

22h25 – I’m home. I decided to break free of the bonds of winter today. I didn’t wear my winter coat. I wore my fleece instead.

 

After work, Saikat’s adult beginner students invited us out for dinner. We went to Napoli and talked for about 2 hours. It was a lot of fun. Dorata, Marek, Marion, Ewelina, Dorata, Joanna, Monika and Lucinda came.

 

Interestingly enough, many of them are teachers. Both Doratas and Monika teach Polish, Marek teacher computer studies and geography, Joanna teaches gymnastics and also works with students in need of rehabilitation, and Marion teaches history. Joanna even teaches one of my students! Most of them live about 20 kilometres out of Mragowo in Piecki and I have an adult student in my CAE classes that lives out there and teaches English at a public school. They all knew her.

 

26 April – Cloudy and gray.

 

6h30 – According to the CBS Evening News:

·        There’s a wide spread inquiry about Wall Street pumping up bad stocks to keep profits growing. Brokers are hyping stocks that aren’t good investments because they get payment from the companies.

·        There are forest fires in Bailey Colorado, near Denver.

·        There was an explosion and partial collapse of a 10 storey building today.

·        The House voted to abolish the UNS and break it into two divisions.

·        American airlines lost a passenger. An elderly couple was supposed to be met by an American airlines escort at DFW to be taken to a connecting flight. The elderly woman went to the bathroom and hasn’t been seen since (she has Alzheimer’s disease). The family has filed a $10 million lawsuit for negligence.

·        The USS Cole finally returned to it’s home in Norfolk, Virginia yesterday.

 

8h42 – It’s sunny now.

 

23h50 – Pizza night was fun. Abay, Anu, Malwina and Joanna joined us.

 

27 April – 6h15 – A cloudy start to the day.

 

According to the CBS Evening News:

·        There was a schoolhouse massacre in Erfurt, Germany yesterday. An 19-year-old expelled student went back to his school, shot 17 people (13 teachers, a school secretary, 2 students and a police officer), before killing himself.

·         US economy has grown 5.8% in the first quarter of this year, bouncing back from recession.

·        Merrill Lynch has apologised for hyping stocks that weren’t worth anything.

·        A singer Lisa Lopez TLC died in an SUV accident. She was 30.

·        The Osprey, a helicopter/airplane hybrid that has been grounded for two over years due to safety reasons, has been cleared to resume testing again.

·        South Central Los Angeles 10 years after the riots. The actually 10 anniversary is on 29 April. Rodney king is serving time in a drug treatment house after another run-in with the law.

·        “Everybody Has A Story” was on! It was about 39 year old Rich Dufault in Killdeer North Dakota. He’s a high school teacher and basketball coach. Two years ago, in his first year as head basketball coach, the team went to the state championship, which they almost won. 

 

I remember the LA riots very well.  I was in Utah at the time and watched them on TV. I remember seeing the mobs of people running though the streets of Los Angeles and there not being any LA cops around (the person in the news copter said “Where are the police?”). I remember seeing the Rodney King and Reginald Denny beatings for the first time.

 

7h30 – Africa Direct – a new series on BBC World.

·        The first black South African airplane pilot who is a captain. There are only 20 black pilots in South Africa.

·        A group of women in Cape Town who are building their own houses brick by brick. They learn the skills and build their house themselves. They’ve started brining in unemployed men, teaching them skills and having them help. The program is called the Homeless People’s Federation Across South Africa. It was started by a group of 12 women who wanted better houses.

·        A walking tour of Luanda, Angola.

·        A project in Nairobi to get Africans emailing eachother in their mother tongue.

·        Tourists visiting the Cape Coast Castle in Cape Coast, Ghana, where a lot of slaves were sold and exported all over the world. Many of the tourists are African Americans who are descended from that part of the world. 

 

8h – Really dark clouds are coming in from the east. It looks like it’s going to start pouring down rain at any minute.

 

8h08 – It’s raining now.

 

14h30 – It’s clearing up a little.

 

15h – According to Sky News, there’s been a shooting at a casino in Laughlin, Nevada! At least four people are dead. They didn’t say what casino it was at. It happened at the Only Sky News reported it as a lead story. CNN and BBC World decided that the Middle East was more important.

 

15h10 – They have a Bullhead City (Arizona – across the river from Laughlin) fireman on the phone…he thinks it was a “Hell’s Angel” gang related shooting. It happened at 2h30.

 

15h11 – CNN is now reporting it.

 

15h15 – BBC World is now reporting it from DC. They pronounced Laughlin as “lockland.”

 

18h – I’m watching Gymnastics on EuroSport right now.

 

18h58 – Hang on to your hair! It’s VERY windy out.

 

21h20 – Katie Couric was on the Jay Leno show. She has long hair and she’s coloured it blond!! Whenever I had seen her before, she had always had quite short hair! Now, she appears to be going for a Kathie Lee look.

 

28 April – A wonderfully sunny day.

 

6h31 – According to the CBS Evening News:

·        The shooting in Laughlin was at Harrah’s. I know it well as I’ve stayed there before. It’s one of my favourite places in Laughlin. They used to have a really good buffet also.

·        The German gunman from a few days ago was a member of a gun club and a marksman. He was licensed to own guns.

 

I’ve decided to use the internet today. There are web pages I wasn’t able to access at the internet café on Friday and Saturday, so I’ll go to the other one today, in hopes of accessing them. The pages are about English teaching jobs in Germany.

 

7h15 – I’ve started my laundry so I can hang it out in the sun today. The sun hits my balcony just after midday, but If I start it now, it’ll be done right before I go to use the internet, so I’ll hang it out and it’ll be able to dry while I’m gone.

 

8h32 – The religious show was based off of “I know God saves his anointed,” from Psalm 20:6 today:

·        Who are God’s anointed? Anyone who is in Christ. 2 Corinthians 1:21

·        When does God save the anointed? In the day of trouble.  Psalm 20:1

·        Why does God save the anointed? Because we trust in Him. Psalm 20:7

·        How does God save the anointed? When people pray for help. Psalm 20:6, 1; Psalm 56:9

 

14h20 – Very dark clouds right now. Rain is going to pour down soon. I just brought my clothes in form the clothesline. Thanks to the sun we had earlier today, and the wing we’ve been having since 11h, they’re dry.

 

The white flowers are gone from the trees. They’ve been replaced by leaves.

 

14h38 – It’s raining heavily now.

 

Inside Africa

·        From Sudan: Freeing child slaves who were abducted from their families.