A tiger in the city

I took the day off of teacher-training intensity and wandered around with James (after waking up at noon).  We met up with one of my cohort, Daria, and ate crêpes and then went across the street to a coffee shop where I had one of those great French teeth-eating espressos.  And then it was on to our favorite English-language used bookstore down the street, S W Welch, which Daria had never been to but fell in love with on the spot.  We bought a number of books to upsize our downsized book collection at home.  We're incorrigible.

What books did I buy, you ask?  Two David Guterson novels (East of the Mountains, and The Other), a book Daria recommended (the curious incident of the dog in the night-time), and a book on Chinese astrology by Master Zhongxian Wu (The 12 Chinese Animals).  I find Chinese astrology much more compelling than Greek with its elemental system based on water, fire, earth, metal, and wood.  I spent quite a bit of time working with it at one point in my life and gained a greater understanding of myself through delving into those mysteries.  Whether I “believe in” it or not is beside the point.  It is a millenias-old tradition that carries the weight of time and provides another way in to the human search for meaning.  As a mystic, I believe in anything that speaks to the depth of experience here on earth.  If you're wondering, I'm a Water Tiger.

And then James and I walked around a little more in the Mile End neighborhood and I took a few photos.  My first time out with my camera this visit.  I have been totally consumed with lesson planning for the past week, and will be again next week.  It was great to have a break, and the weather was gorgeous.  A blessed day.

3 down...

...5 to go!  I'm almost halfway through my teaching practicum for the CELTA certificate.  It's more work than I've had to do in decades, but so far I'm surviving.  And performing sufficiently well.  I will definitely be a better teacher of English to non-native speakers when I'm done with this course.  And I'll have some more good friends, to boot!  Our team of 4 teachers (we're divided into 3 teams for the duration of the practicum) is becoming a support system, catching each other when we begin to fall and cheering us on when we're rising to the challenge.  Even one colleague I couldn't connect with at first moved with me today to a new level of understanding and empathy.  If you give someone (and yourself) long enough, you'll break through the barriers and find common ground.  One of the real strengths of this sort of endeavor is being forced to work with someone you might otherwise never have chosen to know.  And finding out how much you can like each other.

Onward and upward!

Sign of Our Times

The number of times the words "faith" and "self" have been used in written works in English from 1800 to 2008 (the most recent year available).  [Google Books Ngram]
 

My brain on CELTA

Coming apart like a two-bit suitcase…

Why

I've been getting more and more stressed out by the thought of my upcoming practicum, as well as by the whole idea of having to teach this stuff.  This morning at church when I looked at the RefuJesus icon that James has placed in the center of the chancel, larger-than-life-size, I recalled the real reason I'm doing this.  It's not a performance thing.

"RefuJesus" - David Hayward (www.nakedpastor.com)

It's not all up to me.  I've got help.