Waiting Room

My life is kind of on hold right now. I'm waiting to figure out what I'm doing so that I can then figure out what I'm doing. Should I go to Chile? Should I stay here in Texas and try to find a teaching job?

Could someone please tell me what to do?!

I've been working as a substitute teacher the last few months and let's just say, it has not been one of my most favorite jobs. I've had high school kids asking me out on dates and a 4-year-old breaking his arm on the monkey bars. Being a sub is particularly frustrating because you never know what to expect each day. And I am one of those people that likes to know what's coming.

I think a lot of people become teachers because they like the sound of their own voice.

And you pick up on the general atmosphere of a school within five minutes of entering the building. Not all schools are created equal.

It's raining today and I'm having one of those lazy days where doing nothing sounds perfect. I'm sure there is something more productive I could be doing but we all know that's not going to happen. So let's get the pajamas back on, break out the ice cream and hope that I get a sudden realization of what I'm supposed to do with my life.

Ahhhh.

Mail

Dear NYC,

How are you? I hope you're doing well and recovering from all of the holiday celebrations. I'm sure you're getting ready for New Years Eve and the big night and I'm sorry I won't be there to see it. Because, I'm back in Texas. Yep.

I had a great time in my last month there and I made sure to squeeze in a few more shows and do lots of window shopping. Or mostly just looking at all the window displays done up for Christmas. In October, I was so ready to get out of the city but now that I'm home, I'm really starting to miss it.

In fact, here are some of the things I will miss about you, NYC:

• French toast from Elephant & Castle
• Walking everywhere
• the Wafels and Dinges Truck
• H&M
• speaking Spanish with all the people in my building
• wearing boots, a scarf, a hat and gloves to go outside
• Broadway shows
• all the crazy, I mean, interesting people you see everyday
• good restaurants
• Central Park
• my neighborhood (Yay the Village!)
  

But, in order to be fair, here are some things I will not miss:

• riding the subway
• working at night
• wearing boots, a scarf, a hat and gloves to go outside
• the cost of living
• the crazies

All in all, it was a terrific experience. So thanks! And I hope to visit you soon. Real soon.

Love,
Lisa

Halloween: Where Everyone in NYC Can Be Normal For One Day a Year

Having survived my first major holiday in the Big City, I felt it was worthy of a blog. Last night, the annual Village Halloween Parade passed right by me on 6th Avenue and I was one of the crowd braving the rain to see all the craziness. Above is a picture but as it was dark and raining, most of my pictures turned out terrible. But it was still worth it! I saw pretty much every costume imaginable: Popeye, a hotdog, Bert and Ernie, anything resembling a zombie, Uncle Sam, and about 5 Lady Gagas. Apparently that was quite a popular costume. Besides all the random costumes, there was a water/sea themed section, one part like Chinese New Year, a Mardi Gras/Day of The Dead moment, and three (yes three!) Michael Jackson dance numbers. Two Thrillers and one Beat It.

I stuck around for over an hour, but by then, the rain was really coming down so I called it a night. I grabbed some candy corn from the lobby and I felt like my Halloween was complete.

Nothing really exciting has been happening around here other than the Halloween festivities. I've been feeling kind of homesick this week and feeling like I'm just ready for this whole New York experience to be over. It just gets kind of boring doing everything by yourself all the time. But I know I still have over a month left here before I go home for Christmas and I'm still trying to make the most of it. And Amber and my mom are coming to visit around Thanksgiving so that's something to look forward to!

Last weekend, I went to Central Park to see the pretty fall leaves. Here's a picture I took!

I see famous people all the time.

That title may be misleading. There could be a problem with the word all. But it does happen. During Fashion Week, I saw several (7!) celebrities coming and going from the tents in Bryant Park. And yes, while the majority of them were stars of the CW variety (Blake Lively, Michelle Trachtenberg), I was still completely thrilled. Star struck, you might say. And ok, maybe saying you saw Hilary Duff isn't the coolest thing you could ever say, people know who she is! And I saw her! In person! So there.

Today, I had another celebrity sighting. I was leaving my building and I see...Maggie Gyllenhaal casually crossing the street in front of me with her daughter. This whole event lasted about 12 seconds and for the first 9 of those seconds, it didn't register who she was. And then it did. And then I stared. Just a little bit.

Lest you start thinking that my time in the city has been nothing but glamour and celebs, I will tell you that a lot of my time has been spent reading library books in Starbucks and wandering around places by myself. Although those times are about to end as I am starting two (count 'em two!) jobs on Monday. For my first act, I am working as a tutor for some ESL courses at a local community college. (Glamour left and right) Also, I'll be teaching an evening ESL class at a language school in Brooklyn. I am really excited to start both of them. I think they'll be interesting and I think I'm ready to take on my own class. I am not, however, excited about taking the train to Brooklyn every night. Ugh.

Here are some things that I have checked off my NYC To-Do List:

• MOMA
• The Met
• The Natural History Museum
• Frozen Hot Chocolate from Serendipity
• Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge
• Pizza from Grimaldi's
• Lots of Central Park
• Lots of Broadway shows: 6 and counting!
• Highline Park
• See celebrities

But oh, there is so much more left to do!

September 11, 2009

It's hard to believe that it's been 8 years since 9/11. I was reading this article today about how a lot of young people were remembering where they were when they heard about the attacks. I guess it's sort of our generations' 'where were you when you heard JFK was shot?'. I remember where I was, in the band hall in high school. I remember the patriotism that everyone felt at that night's football game. I remember feeling shocked and confused watching all of the images on the news.

But I think it became more real today even though it's 8 years later. It's easy to forget that you live in the city where this happened. And my school is literally a block away from the World Trade Center site, but you can still forget. I walked by the site the other day and it's amazing how little progress has been made. I don't know what the hold-up is, but it looks and feels like it happened a lot more recently. But for the most part, I don't think about being that close to the site on a daily basis. Although I remembered the other day when they were testing some kind of evacuation drill and we could hear the loud voice telling people to leave the building. It all came back to us then.

I felt like the people here were more aware of it today too. A friend here told me how she lost someone that day and I could see it still affecting her. Even the subway ride this morning seemed quieter. Or maybe I'm just reading too much into things.

I guess I don't really have a point to all this other than I think that that moment forever changed our country. And probably all of us, even if we don't know exactly how. And that I think I need to do more remembering, and less forgetting.

One week down...

Well, the first week here has been...crazy. The week went by so fast and I'm really liking my classes so far. I've already had to teach three lessons so far, but they haven't been too bad. I guess all that teaching I did last year was worth something! : )

I have made it through my first NYC weekend and I have to admit, it was not my favorite. I hadn't really been feeling sad or lonely at all this week until the weekend. It was raining most of Saturday so I spent it inside working on a paper. I walked around my neighborhood some today and that was pretty interesting but there's only so much walking around by yourself that you can do. So in conclusion, today I feel like going home. But maybe tomorrow I'll feel differently.

Also, everyone around here is entirely too fashionable. I have now decided that all of my clothes are horrid rags that must be replaced immediately. Except one must also have money to buy all of these expensive items. Alas. Pass me that rag over there. I guess I'll wear it tomorrow.

Hello from the Big Apple!

I am here! I made it!

Well, I got to NYC two days ago and it has been a crazy couple of days. I started my CELTA classes yesterday and I'm really excited about it. I've met some great people and we got straight to work planning lessons. I taught my first lesson today and I think it went alright. I've spent tonight planning tomorrow's lesson. Man, when they say this is an intensive course...they mean it.

I haven't really gotten a chance to see much of the city yet, but that will change! I hope to at least make it to one cultural something this week. Maybe a museum? A show? I don't know yet.

An exciting piece of news...a Pinkberry is right down the street from where I'm staying! Yum..frozen yogurt!