7 January, 2001
1 January – The beginning of a new year dawns. It snowed heavily throughout the night, tapered off to flurries around 10h and ended at 11h. It’s very cold (-5C) and windy. A good day to stay in.
On CNN, there was a program that had a tour of some of the floats that will be used in the Tournament of Roses parade in Pasadena (California) today. I used to love to watch the parades that happened on this day in the USA.
As I’ve mentioned before, Thanksgiving to New Year’s was my favorite time of the year when I lived in the USA. It’s different now that I live in Poland. I still love the Christmas season, however it’s lacking the festivities that there are in the USA. That doesn’t mean it’s worse in Poland, just different. One thing that is better is that the Christmas season doesn’t end here until mid January, due to a few Catholic holidays that happen in January. So, I will leave my Christmas decorations and lights up until others take theirs down. I guess that with putting them up the day after the USA’s Thanksgiving and taking them down after the Polish religious holidays, I’ve merged two cultures. Or something like that.
15h – I’ve been very lazy about learning Polish. I really want to learn, however, haven’t committed myself to it. I guess that my New Year’s resolution is to learn to speak better Polish. My Polish is okay. I understand more than I can say. I am able to make myself understood and get what I need in shops, buy train/bus tickets, etc. However, I can’t have a conversation with someone, which is what I want to be able to do by June. We are not having Polish lessons this year since Lucja returned to teaching in Polish public schools last September, so I’ll have to do it on my own.
21h – Even though it would have been a nice day to stay in, I ventured out this evening. I went to Mary’s flat to meet Ian. He was a teacher at our school for the school year before Mary and I came (he is British). He is back in town for Christmas and New Years to visit his (Polish) girlfriend, Justina. He’s a nice guy. Ian is now teaching in Spain and seems to like it. We visited for about three hours and swapped stories about our town, teaching stories, etc. I’m glad I went. The teacher that Ian worked with, John, was also in town for a while, however, he left for Gdansk on 31 December, so I didn’t get to meet him.
This brings the total number of former teachers that Mary and I have met to three for her and two for me. We met Julia last summer, around the beginning of June I think. She was the very first teacher that the school ever had and taught for three years. She married one of the students, Sylwek, and they moved to England four years ago. They were visiting for a month and brought their daughter. I looked through my journals from before I left to travel last summer, but don’t find any mention of her. I guess I was just too busy and forgot. She was very nice.
2 January – 6h35 – I got up to watch the CBS Evening News this morning (John Roberts was sitting in for Dan Rather). They showed clips from both the Tournament of Roses Parade and the Mummer’s Parade! I loved it. They also showed clips from Vegas, NYC, Moscow and Sydney.
Back to work today. At least it’ll be an easy day for me. Tuesdays are my easiest days. I’m not saying that I don’t have to do any preparation, however, it is a lighter preparation day than my other days. Mondays are by far the days that require the most preparation.
The other good thing about January is that I only have to teach for 19 days, then I have two weeks off for winter holidays. Hooray!
I slept terribly last night. I feel like I didn’t get any sleep at all. I hate nights like that. I might try to see if I can sleep some more after the show is over.
21h – I survived the first day back to work. It was a good day. I had my G, B, and F classes. All were great classes. The students in G were tired and still trying to get back into the swing of school, but it went well.
I’m pushing one of the students (Tom) in my G class a bit. He’s learned a lot (I taught him last year also) and is doing very well. When we do speaking and/or vocabulary activities, I give him the hardest parts. I also give him a few guidelines to work within when others aren’t given them. I’m not doing this to be mean, but to give him more of a challenge. I know that he can do it and want to help him realize his potential.
I received a package (which was mailed on 3 Nov) from my friend Carol in California and a Christmas card from my friend Josiane in Luxembourg today. They arrived sometime during the holidays and my boss brought them to work today. I also received a Christmas present from my boss’ family. It almost killed me to wait until I got home to open them.
Carol knows me too well. She sent a big box of Reese’s peanut butter cups. They’re my favorite kind of candy and I can’t get them in Europe! A perfect present! She sent it in a cool box also! Thanks, Carol!
Josiane, great to hear from you. Thank you very much for the card.
From my boss’ family, I received two wonderful presents. One was a very nice Citizen watch! It’s beautiful and I love it. It’s silver, which is the color I prefer (over gold). They also gave me a very nice shaving kit, which I was in desperate need of. My old one is about 15 years old and is falling apart. Thanks everyone.
Tonight, the roads are very icy, it’s cold and it’s sleeting, so I did something different and took the city bus home. The closest bus stop to the school is in the center of town, which is a 10-minute walk, and it is on my way home, so I did it. I had bought a bus ticket earlier in the day in case the weather wasn’t good this evening. This is the first time I have ever taken a bus in my town as I like the walk. I don’t plan on taking the bus often, however, when the weather is bad, I will. It was quite convenient (I finish work at 20h and it comes at 20h18) and It saved me 25 minutes of walking.
I talked to Lucja about two of my Pre-Intermediate classes today. Groups M & B are doing very well, especially M. I told her that those classes are going to finish the Pre-Intermediate book around the beginning of April and wanted her permission to begin the Intermediate book (usually we only do one level per year). She granted it. I expected M to do as well as they are, but not B. However, B is a different class this year. I only have four of last year’s students, the others are new and their English is quite good. I will not push G group. I will work on more of their foundation of English at the Pre-Intermediate level. They will begin the Intermediate book next year.
Interestingly enough, yesterday I wrote that I was going to work on improving my Polish, today I heard Mary asking Lucja if we could start Polish lessons again. I guess Mary & I must have been on the same wavelength as I hadn’t said anything to her or Lucja about that.
I found Law and Order on the tellie this evening (channel RTL 7). It’s probably been on for a long time, but under the Polish name, Prawo i bezprawie, I didn’t recognize it (or maybe not). I love that show.
3 January – Once again it was sleeting on the way home from work. I didn’t take the bus, though. On Wednesdays, I walk home with one of my students, and my friend, Chris (17years old). He is in my M class and it is my last class on Wednesday nights, so we walk home together as he lives close to me. I look forward to our weekly walk home and chat.
Two of my students from my G class moved to my M class today. One of then was in M last year and I recommended that both go (the are good friends) to M as it is much faster paced than G, which is what they need. The one that was in M last year was use to the people in that class and I think he was glad to be back in it. The other one didn’t know what to think. In G class, he was the oldest (last year and this year) and his English was the best. In M class, he is one of the youngest and everyone speaks English as well as he does, many speak it better. It’ll be a big adjustment for him.
Starting next week, the tests that I give M class are going to get harder. They’ve all been doing too well on them, so I am doing it to give them more of a challenge. I know that they are capable of doing more than the tests that came with the book, so I am going to amend them. I don’t expect their grades to go down. I will make B group’s tests a bit harder also. I love that my Pre-Intermediates are doing so well. It really makes teaching satisfying to see such good progress in students.
Cars tested on Top Gear this evening: Land Rover Freelander (a SUV), a contest for the best inexpensive car that one can buy for under £6000 (the Proget Kanari, Fiat Seciento and the Citroen Saxo First – the Citroen won), Alfa Romeo Spider (a look back), and the Ford Transit (mini van).
Today was the swearing in of the new Senators, including Hilary Clinton, for the 107th Congress of the USA. She was sworn in by Al Gore and Bill Clinton was also present. They showed a reception afterwards and as the applause was dying down for Hilary, the crowd started chanting "Four more years; Four more years" for President Clinton. No such luck.
4 January – It’s a very foggy, gray day. It looks like it might snow. Great! We could use some more!
The show European Rail Journeys (on the Travel Channel) was in Poland at 11h today. They started in Gdansk and visited Torun, Warsaw, Kielce and Krakow! They did an EXCELLENT job! It’s about time a show portrayed Poland positively!
I tried my ATM card today and it worked fine. I also pulled the balance on the account and it appears to be accurate. I wonder why it didn’t work before Christmas? Oh well, it doesn’t matter. At least it works now.
Lucja told us that we will start Polish lessons after winter break, as it is the end of her term and she is very busy at this time.
I’ve just about decided that I will go to Lithuania for winter break.
The students in my I class were terrible today. They didn’t want to do any work or speak English, only Polish. So, that class will have a surprise quiz on Monday.
Talking is great. I’ve told students in all my classes that we can talk about (almost) anything as long as it’s in English. Many of them speak wonderful English, but don’t want to, as they sometimes have to search for words. I’m trying to convince them to speak English even if they don’t know the exact words so that they will get use to using other words to describe what they are trying to say.
I think I’m beginning to get a sore throat.
5 January – I was very tired last night and went to bed at 22h30. As a result of that, I got up at 5h30 this morning. That’s okay, I was able to watch CNN’s American Edition (on at 5h30). I wish they had it on at a normal time so that I could watch it on a regular basis. However, the only time they did that was during the election.
Here’s what I learned from that show..Chicago has had the snowiest December ever, with more coming. The California electricity deregulation plan from 1994 is having big problems. It’s going to be 66F in Miami today. (that is very cold for them, however, I would gladly take it if we had it here). The people of New Hampshire elected an official who’s views are things such as "It’s okay to waste a cop; children shouldn’t have to go to school," etc. They said he ran as a republican after getting kicked out of the Libertarian Party and hid his views during his campaign. However, a reporter brought those views to light on Sunday in the newspaper.
According to Sky News, with a general election coming up in Britain private citizens are giving £2 & £4 million donations to their parties. That’s amazing that a private citizen would be allowed to donate that much. People complain that the USA is run by big corporations (which, to a point, I agree), however, those same people would have to say (but won’t) that Britain is run by the interest of big donors.
The magazine George, founded by JFK Jr. and kept going after his death, will end its publication run next month. Despite an increase in readership, it was losing money due to advertisers pulling their ads. That’s too bad as it gave many people something to remember him by. I’ll have to have someone in the USA purchase a copy and mail it to me.
7h05 – Dawn has just begun to break. That’s the problem with getting up this early...I don’t know what to do. I’m on my third cup of tea, it’s too early to vacuum (out of respect for my neighbors who may be sleeping, I don’t vacuum before 9h) , the Travel Channel doesn’t come on for another hour and I can’t think clearly enough yet to work on planning lessons. Maybe I’ll go back to bed after I finish this cup of tea.
8h59 – I did go back to bed for almost two hours.
6 January – There was a great show on the Travel Channel today about Los Angeles, one of my favorite cities in the USA. They even showed Universal Studios and Disneyland, two of my favorite places. I love that city and have had some great times there. The last time I was in Los Angeles was 1995. I would love to go back, but have no idea when life will bring me that way again.
I have a cold as well as a really bad sore throat and can barely talk. I hope I get better by Monday. My students would be very happy if I couldn’t talk.
I made a wonderful chili last night. I used a seasoning packet that I had bought last month at Tesco in Warsaw, 200 grams of goulash beef, 200 ml of crushed tomatoes, 100 g of onion, and 100 ml of kidney beans. It came out VERY well. I have a few more packets of the seasoning, which I will use. After the are gone, I will probably just use the chili powder that I always use with rice.
7 January – I was very tired last night, probably an effect of being sick. I fell asleep on the couch during Jay Leno’s 1st monologue (the show begins at 20h30). I missed the rest of the show, the 2nd show and all of the Conan show (no big loss). I woke up at 23h and moved into the bedroom. I slept until 7h30 this morning.
I had a really weird dream last night. I was on an airplane to Australia. We landed somewhere in southern Australia, which is where I was going, but they wouldn’t let us off the plane. The Australians said that all entries to the country had to go through Sydney. The plane took off again to go to Sydney, however we went via Laos! We had a stopover in Laos and they let us off the plane, but wouldn’t tell us when the plane would leave again. They took us in a bus to a big shopping mall (in reality, there probably aren’t any in Laos) and told us not to miss the bus back to the plane, but wouldn’t tell us when it was leaving. We browsed around for a while then went back to where the bus would leave from which, coincidentally enough, looked exactly like the bus station in my Polish town. Then I woke up.
I watched the religious shows this morning on MSNBC. There are now two half-hour shows. The first one starts at 8h and is called The Exalted Word Broadcast and the preacher is Randy Morrison. I’d never heard of him before, but he was okay. He was talking more about money management than religion. He kind of intertwined the two, but had a bigger focus on the former. I probably wont watch his show again. He uses the New American Standard Bible. I don’t know much about that one as my choice is the King James version, but I assume they’re essentially similar.
The second was the show I like (more information and the website have been posted in a previous journal). The preacher, Bayless Conley, is very enthusiastic and only preaches about god and the bible. Here are the scriptures that were studied:
Matthew 8: 23 – 27
Luke 8: 22 – 25
Acts 27: 14 – 15, 18 – 25, 34 – 36
Matthew 14: 22 – 32
Mark 6: 41 – 52
John 6: 16 – 21
These are all about storms, with the parable being about the storms that people have in their lives. Here are the points he wanted to emphasize:
It’s been - 44 to - 57C in Siberia. That’s cold even for them.
The musical Fun in Acapulco was on today at 10h on TVP1. It’s from 1967 and stars Elvis Presley. I’m not an Elvis fan, but this musical was quite good. Plus, I love Mexican sounding music, and most of the other things that go along with it.
12h45 – WOW! The sun came out for about two minutes. The sky appears to be clearing off to the east. Maybe we’ll see more of it!
15h45 – National Lampoon’s "Vegas Vacation" was on today. It was great. Interestingly enough, they had basically the same "Ferrari scene" as National Lampoon’s "Summer Vacation." It was great to see Vegas again, even though this film is from 1997. They also showed Hoover Dam, which I love and have a great picture of. Interestingly enough, at the end, they went to a casino that they entered through a big lion. That wasn’t there when I was there last (1995). I wonder if it really exists?
18h03 – Interesting, on "Meet The Press" they showed that 11 of the African American senators objected to the 25 Florida electoral votes being awarded to the Republicans when a full recount wasn't done to confirm that decision. During the House of Representatives session confirming the election of W as the next president of the USA, one if the questions asked to all of those senators by the chairman of the House (Al Gore) was," Is the objection signed by a senator?" One of the responses was "Mr. Chairman, I don’t care if the objection is signed by a senator." All I can say is, "You go, girl!"
