All posts tagged: random

Staying Positive

Published by Sula H.

Holidays. Winter break. That means 1 1/2 month of solitary confinement on a campus that is nearly completely deserted. Sounds dull? Well … but there are some positive things about that, if you just look hard enough. Like the internet. I can finally do stuff online now after 4 pm in the afternoon without getting stuck on a website that takes like an hour to open. Why? Because the students are gone. Because no one is watching online soap operas and plays computer games anymore as soon as class is over. Because there simply aren’t enough people on campus to slow down the internet so much that no one can do anything online at all anymore! So, that’s great, right? After all, it is “yay” for winter holidays that give me a break!

Keeping Up

Published by Sula H.

Can you tell I’m behind? Life just keeps coming at me, interfering with my plans and making things a little challenging. But then, I guess it’s a good thing to stay busy with real life. After all, a week from now, the students will be gone and life around campus will turn real quiet. So, I’d rather take that chance of extra time with my friends before I’ll have to go into hibernation!

Thrown for a Loop

Published by Sula H.

Got off on the wrong foot today. At least that’s what it seems. First thing I realized after getting up this morning was that it was raining. Yet again. Now, rain isn’t necessarily a bad thing -except when it rains on Mondays or Tuesdays. That’s when my classes are on the far end of the campus, which means, I have a long way to get there. And when it rains, I can’t really ride my bike to class, and that means, I need twice as much time to get to work, which is twice as much time to get soaked by the rain. Second thing, last night, I wasn’t able to get the copies I needed for class today, so I had to get them this morning before class. But you know how things work when you leave them to the last minute (which is why I usually do everything I can to avoid that) – they throw you for a loop. Now, in order to avoid that loop, I made sure to get up …

What Mountain Climbing Has To Do With Cookie Baking

Published by Sula H.

I went mountain climbing with friends today; and thanks to one of my friends, I learned something new. There’s that old saying that goes like this: The earthen vessel may not blame its potter, asking, “Why have you made me this way?” Likewise – my friend felt free to instruct me as we were hiking – the baker shouldn’t blame his cookie: “Why have you turned out so sweet!?” And don’t you know – I had to agree with my friend: There’s quite some truth to that. What? You’re still not quite understanding what cookie baking has to do with mountain climbing? Well, here’s the story: I’d brought some homemade cookies with me for sharing as a snack with others during the hike (it’s Christmas season after all). I’d made those cookies combining two recipes, and while they still tasted pretty good, they also were a little too sweet for my liking. It made me feel like I had to apologize for the cookies when sharing them. But my friend was right: I couldn’t really …

Getting Ready: Christmas Greetings

Published by Sula H.

  Ok, so let’s get one thing straight. When it comes to birthdays, holidays, etc. I’m usually not the most organized person. As a matter of fact, it’s rather likely for me to get my act together after the event, and I’ve been known to present birthday gifts, Christmas presents, etc. even months later. I even have one birthday gift sitting on my shelf that I meant to give to a friend almost three years ago. It’s still sitting there, all packed up and what not, just waiting to be handed over to its true owner. So, you get the point: I’m not an early bird when it comes to gift giving or even card sending, for that matter (and it’s not something I’m proud of, really!) This year, however, is special. As a matter of fact, I managed to mail out my Christmas cards a week before Thanksgiving (though psst! – I’m not telling you here that I meant to mail those cards last year, and the year before; just never got to it). …

Why I Love My Job

Published by Sula H.

There are many reasons for why I love my job. One of them is that working with freshman students reminds me a lot of working with first graders. In high school, Chinese students – generally speaking – have to work and study so hard that literally they hardly have time to live, enjoy life, spend time with friends, develop socially. So, when they come to university, in many ways they are like little children, just discovering the world. Many a times, therefore, I’ve had it happen to me that I’d run into one of my students outside of class, and their excitement about seeing me overpowers any reservations – they wave at me with great enthusiasm, give me a big hug – just like a first grader would do – and tell me how excited they are to see me! Or they keep telling me about how they love their English teacher (that’s me!), and how beautiful they think she is (that’s me again – though basically every foreigner is beautiful/handsome in their eyes). Or …

Fall Frolic

Published by Sula H.

It wasn’t super early at the time, but I was still in bed the other day, when I received a message on my phone by my friend, telling me that she’d found a place on campus where there were plenty of leaves falling off the trees, lying on the ground, and no one around to rake them away – yet. Well, I answered, by the time I’d get there, everything was sure to be gone – remember the tree hitters? But then I decided to give it a shot anyways. I asked some of my photography friends to join, and we went over there, and were in for a nice surprise. There was the long, empty road, covered with leaves, and it was the perfect setting for this … And this … And here is even more  … Saying Thanks And I’m thankful today that I’m done with classes, and that it’s a new day, of a new week, with lots of new chances.

Saturday Feature: Bake Sale

Published by Sula H.

Bake sales are great! They happen about twice a year, and it’s the one chance you get to indulge in western style baked treats. Our bake sale offers the full range of deliciousness: cookies, cupcakes, bagels with cream cheese, granola, and full size cakes. And this time they offered apple cider, coffee, and other hot drinks. There always is a silent auction for all the cakes, and the profits of the bake sales go to support orphans in our area. So, not only do you get to have yummy treats, but your treats also get to help children in need. What better way is there to indulge oneself?

Why I Love Midterm Exams

Published by Sula H.

Seeing my post the other day, you must think now that midterm exams for me are a thoroughly nasty thing. But to be honest, I also find enough reasons that actually make me like midterm exams – the most important one being that they usually give me an extra day or two off work. Now, who doesn’t like that, right? So, I’m guessing weighing the good and the bad of exams, it comes to a tie, which means that I haven’t spent an altogether awful week so far. And I’m really thankful that my house is warm and cozy now! Yay for heaters that work!

Why I Hate Midterm Exams

Published by Sula H.

You would think that as a teacher I don’t mind exams, but that’s not quite true. Yes, it is true that I get to give the exams, not take them. But I still don’t like them. Because giving an exam is just as hard work as taking one. Because for two hours you have to pay 100% attention to each of your students; because you’re not allowed to slack – even for a moment (as it could mess up the students’ grades); because students come with expectations, and all are hoping that you’ll give them an A, which simply doesn’t happen; because you get to hear the same phrases over and over; because exams are just boring, and annoying, and really hard work – whether you give them, or you take them. I’m just glad that for me the midterm exams are over. And I’m glad that the heat in my apartment finally kicked in, which means heater day is in effect! Having heat now, is something that I’m really thankful for, esp. since it …