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!

Paul McCartney!

Ever since I was in the 6th grade and saw The Beatles Anthology on TV, I have loved Paul. I wanted to marry him (much like millions of girls all over the world) and he was definitely my favorite Beatle. I dreamed of finding a time machine and going back to 1964 to go to a concert!

And last night, I finally got to see him! He played last night in Dallas and it was amazing. Over two and a half hours of great music. I heard all the songs I had always wanted to hear: Yesterday, Let it Be, Hey Jude, Something, Jet and I Saw Her Standing There. And a million more. It was so much fun! It was the last night of the tour and he looked like he was having a really great time.

He's still got it.

Goodbye Summer

I can't believe it. I can't believe how fast this summer has gone by. I have only a few more weeks of blissful nothingness to enjoy before it's over (ack). I had quite a few things to accomplish this summer and I think I was pretty successful. Even though some things didn't quite work out how I expected.

First, Spain. Or I should say, Spain!!! I love that place. I had a great time getting to see so many of my favorite Spanish places and faces. And the food. Ohhh...the food. Mmm. It might have been worth it just to eat at all my deeply missed restaurantes. I think Batey and Amber had a good time, I hope they did. We were all pretty exhausted by the end of it. Almost two weeks of non-stop going and seeing and eating and sweating. Yes, Sevilla and Madrid were mind numbingly hot at times. But we survived and we didn't kill each other and ended up having a pretty good time.
Highlights include:

• Tortilla espanola, pisto, patatas alioli, bravas, croquetas, 100 montaditos, chocolate sandwich, gofres...I could go on and on.
  
• Scotland! Really cool place. We kept saying we learned more about the plague and torture than we ever had before.
• Street musicians
• Spain friend time
• Missing our flight - Not really a good time actually.
• Looking for Nessie at Loch Ness.
• H&M
• Our cool apartment/hotel we stayed in.
• The zombie monk we saw running around in the streets of Edinburgh
• and so much more!

After that big adventure, we definitely went to some New Kids on the Block concerts and met the boys! Yes, it was a dream come true. Here, I'll even include a photo of the big moment.So there you have it. Me, next to Jonathan Knight. Swoon.

We also saw Reik in concert (amazing) and I went to a family reunion (good times). Batey and I went to New York to look for apartments and it was possibly the worst trip I've ever taken. Rain, stress and frustration. A recipe for a trip to remember.

So after all that and much decision making, I have decided to move to NYC. Officially. I will be making the journey solo, but I am beginning to look at it as an adventure and not the trail of tears. I will be taking classes to get certified to teach English and I will be living a residence while I look for somewhere else to live. Or until I run out of money and have to move back home. Whichever comes first. Chicken or egg. So I leave the 23rd of August and I will probably be freaking out any minute now. It hasn't really hit me yet. I'm still debating the merits of certain members of my shoe collection but I'm sure I'll realize what's really happening soon. And watch out when that happens.

But for now, wish me luck! I'm excited about this next year. It's definitely not what I thought I would be doing this year but now that I've finally decided to forge ahead with this crazy idea, I think it just might work. Naive optimism? Maybe. But at least I'll get to see some great Broadway shows while I'm there.

The Summer of All Summers

Well, it has begun. The summer of all summers is here and I can hardly believe it. It will the busiest/craziest/most expensive/wonderful summer of all time.

Things going down this summer:

• Spain trip - almost two weeks touring Spain and Scotland with Batey and Amber
• Reik concert
• New Kids on the Block!
• family trip to San Antonio + family reunion
• trip to NYC with Batey to look for apartments
• move to New York!

So, as you can see by this list there are many things to accomplish in the coming months. We leave for Spain in a week and I could not be more excited. I love the Spain and I'm really looking forward to seeing some of my favorite Spanish people friends while I'm there. I'm also excited about introducing Batey and Amber to my former home. It will be crazy I'm sure, but the three of us usually have a pretty good time. Hey, we had a blast in Denver and there was nothing going on there.

I hope to update this blog more this summer so stay tuned for the riveting adventures of me in crazy places. Happy summer!

It's April Time

It has been such a looong time, huh? Let's skip the recap and jump right in.

How about, your fav and mine, in a bulleted list?

• I have almost survived my first year of teaching. I'm quite proud of myself, if I'm allowed to say it. My kids might all fail the TAKS test and actually regress academically, but me, I have survived. Hopefully the former won't happen.
• I do get a little sad when I think about not seeing these kids again. The same thing happened last year with my kindergartners. I wonder how long that will last. Will I miss every year's group of kids? Or will they just all blur together?
• Me encanta el verano. It seems more fitting to express that in Spanish for some reason. It's not just that "I like summer" but a more literal translation, "I am charmed by summer". Many things are charming: snow cones, flip-flops, sleeping past 5 in the a.m., sun shining, reading books whenever I want, watching a movie in the middle of the day, and many more. I could add a million things to my ode to summer.
• Did I mention it's going to be the summer of all summers? Many exciting things are happening. Stay tuned.
• The other day one of my kids said "Ms. Beck, can I get a drink? I have the hip-hops."
  

School's Out for Summer

In case you didn't know, it's hot in Texas. Specifically, it's hot in my apartment. Well, just really my room. Why? No answer to that.

So what are you doing these days? Well, I'm hanging out. Looking for job, not too actively (mental note: Must become more active in job search). I'm kind of in a break between teacher certification classes so I don't really have a whole lot to do. Which is fine by me. I love that I am doing nothing but still getting a paycheck. Yay for schools and yay that they spread your pay over 12 months.

I really have nothing to say but felt like saying it. So, here are some bullet points:

• I want to take a trip. I'm planning something for next summer, but this summer is looking dismally local. Well, there are a few trips to Austin planned.
  
• I have had many sno-cones this summer. Some of my new favorite flavors are raspberry w/ white pina colada and blackberry w/ cream. Yum.
• I could eat mexican food every day.
• I love So You Think You Can Dance. But every time I watch it, it makes me want to take dance classes.
  
• Bullet point.

Ok, that is all. I'll try to do something exciting so that I can tell you about it. Ok?

Will you be my friend? I need more friends.

So....been a long time.

Next Saturday is the big Odyssey of the Mind competition and I cannot wait for it all to be over. It is no longer fun just life-force-sucking and stressful. These kids are driving me crazy with their complete lack of motivation and utter laziness. Were we like this in 5th and 6th grade? I hope not. Kids these days have terrible attitudes and poor work habits. Maybe it's just these kids. I hope so.

So after Saturday, my life can begin again. On to the next big event....Spring Break! I am so excited!! I need a break, I need to get out of this town, and I need to see some sights. How can this all be accomplished? Why, a road trip! On a Saturday very soon, we will be loading up in someone's car and heading off on the Grand Tour of the South. We will be touring 6 scenic states: Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Well, I hope they're scenic, as I haven't been to most of these.

Here are things I'm most looking forward to: Elvis paraphernalia, Southern accents, biscuits and gravy, the Nun Bun, blues music, the Nash Trash tour, the Civil Rights Museum, Chattanooga-the home of moon pies, road trip mixes on the ipod, reading maps, and eating some good comfort food. What I will regret: Dollywood not being open while we are there. One day, Dolly Parton, I will come see you and your park of amusement.

So woo hoo! I am counting down the days! Three weeks to go! (I believe.)

I am ready.

Are you?

For Kali or Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

Since I apparently have not posted in awhile, here's the skinny:

Well, we got through another major holiday with the kiddos. I guess two major holidays if you count Veterans Day, but anyway. We had our little Thanksgiving program and the kids were incredibly cute with some dressed as pilgrims, some as Native Americans (Indians come from India) and some dressed as turkeys. Definitely a photo opportunity.

So that was a great success and now we've begun to prepare for the holiday extravaganza that is Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Eid al Something or other/Saint Lucia Day/ Anything else we can think of. Yes, indeed, we will be discussing and making some sort of art and craft with each and every one of these holidays. And there will be singing and snowmen and snowflakes and Santas galore. We've already had the Santa conversation because one of the kids has been telling all the other kids that Santa isn't real. A few of the kids quickly became panicked when they heard this and came running up to me. "Miss Beck, Miss Beck, is it true? Is Santa Claus real?" I just told them, "Well, Santa Claus comes to my house. Everyone has a different opinion and not everyone has Santa Claus, but he comes to visit me!" What else could I say? I couldn't squash their five-year-old hopes and dreams! So after being reassured, they all responded with a proud "me too! He comes to visit me too!" So take that, you unbelieving five-year-old.

I do have a life outside of work, I promise. Well, at least I think I do. Oh, I just thought of a story I could tell you about a fifth grader that I'm having to cut from our Odyssey of the Mind team, but that would be work/school-related and I'll restrain myself. So in other news, I got a new phone that I'm not entirely sure how to use. I went to the mall yesterday and remembered why every year I tell myself I'm going to buy everyone's Christmas gift in July. Too bad I never remember that when it actually is July.

Woo, ok, maybe I don't have a life outside of work. Two and a half weeks more of school then I can do something else for a few weeks. Like sleep past 5:45 in the morning on a weekday.

If it was socially acceptable, I would go to bed at 8:00.

Kids are walking germ factories. I think I have been sick in some way or another since the school year began and today is no exception. I finally went to the doctor this afternoon and got some medicine so I should be on the mend soon and I can't wait. It will be awesome not to carry kleenex around in pocket at all times.

So, in case you didn't know, holidays with kindergartners are fun. We celebrated our first one, Halloween, with a class party complete with costumes, cupcakes, and head injuries. Yes, one of our kids got a minor concussion on Halloween because, darn it, those princess shoes are slippery on that gym floor. But no worries, she is good as new and back at school learning important things, like Indians come from India and Native Americans did in fact wear clothes. My, the things we talk about. So now that Halloween is over, we're moving on to the next big event: Thanksgiving. And we've already started with the arts and crafts. We sure do make a lot of stuff in Kindergarten. For example, for Halloween, we made bats, bat hats, ghosts, witches, pumpkins, two kinds of jack-0-lanterns, two kinds of skeletons and who knows what else. So I can't wait to see what we'll do this month. Today we made scarecrows and we're starting our turkey invitations for the little Thanksgiving program we're going to have. I feel sorry for the parents who have to decide what to do with all the arts and crafts we send the kids home with. What goes on the fridge and what do you put away for a bit so that they'll forget about it and then you can sneak it into the trash? A parent's dilemma.

In other news, I had a good weekend. My friend Lindsey took me out Sunday and we went to the modern art museum and took the tour in Spanish. Oh, it made my heart happy to hear Spanish. Te echo de menos Espana! And then we found the closest replicas of cafe con leche and a napolitano this side of the Atlantic which made our day. I've really been missing Spain lately. I think it's with all the cold weather and I've been wearing some of the stuff I wore when in Madrid, that it's really made me miss it. I miss walking down the streets and seeing other people out and about too. I miss getting warm in a cafe. I miss speaking Spanish everyday and hearing it spoken. I miss having only 7 shirts and not really caring about it. I miss wearing scarves.

Well, in honor of election day, I'll leave you with this comment overheard today in class:
Teacher: Does anyone know who Uncle Sam is?
Kid: Yes. He's that old man that wants your money.

I'm gonna shake, shake, shake my sillies out.

I made a kid cry today. Well he deserved it. He was being crazy all day AND had an attitude about it so I had to write a little note in his folder. He didn't get his smiley face for the day so he cried. But the great thing about 5-year-olds is that you can get on to them in one minute and then tell them to give you a hug the next minute. And they actually do it! They will give you a hug no matter what. Unconditional love. It's the greatest. Those are the things that make my job bearable.

It's fun because now I'm starting to learn all of their personalities and believe me, no two 5-year-olds are alike. I had always just grouped them in the "small-ish children" category but they're pretty cool. They're growing on me at least. Well, everyone except the bad ones.

One little girl came up to me today and said this:
"Excuse me. I have a booger."
I said, "All righty."



I went to Lubbock this weekend and had a great time. It made me miss college life. Although I felt deeply relieved when my friends still in school had to actually crack a book and study while I found something else to do. Being out of school for over a year, it is getting harder to imagine actually having to go to class or write a paper. If I ever go back for grad school, it will definitely be an adjustment. Oh, but let's not think about that today.

Attack of the Spider Monkeys

So, things are going ok. The kids are great and we're all starting to get the hang of things. I even had the kids all by myself one day and we all survived unharmed, so I count that as success. We even had our first fire drill and only no one screamed and only 2 kids cried. So also a success. We're going on our first field trip next week so that should be pretty interesting. I think we'll have about 15 parents chaperoning as well which makes me more nervous instead of less nervous. This one mom told me that it was just too far to send her baby by herself so she has to go too. Lady, we are going to Dallas. But whatever.

Here's something that happened the other day...

Kingergarten Boy: Ms. Beck, do you know that the world is going to end tomorrow?
Me: I think tomorrow it will just be Wednesday.
KB: No, there will be an attack of spider monkeys tomorrow.
Me: Well, are you prepared?
KB: Oh yes. I always have God's sword. (Begins to make slashing sword motions with his hands.)
Me: Oh, that's nice.


Maybe I shouldn't encourage them, but it's just so funny.

Please Sit On Your Bottom

Today was picture day. Even though our kids wear uniforms, it was still fun to see them with their hair fixed and clothes clean anticipating picture day. I loved watching them sit on the little stool and smile their little smiles. If only they were this cute all the time. And I had my picture made too. It's weird to think that I will be immortalized in some kid's yearbook for all of time now. I know I have looked back at my old yearbooks and it's crazy to think that I'll be in someone's yearbook. And I'll be one of the big pictures too. Maybe even under the heading "Faculty". Weird.

This week there have been good days and bad days. It seems like when one kid is acting crazy, all of them decide to act crazy. Like stand on the toilet seat and sing or all start repeating the same words over and over and over. These two kids today were just sitting at their table practicing writing their names and saying "he's weird, he's weird, he's weird" again and again. Why? Because they have to drive you crazy. It's their job.

But today was a good day. Not only were the kids pretty alright, but I had lunch with the
Spanish teachers today and got to practice a little bit of the español. Yay! And one of the Turkish teachers invited me to have dinner at her house this weekend. I'm looking forward to that. She's so sweet and you know I love the multicultural foods. So I'll let you know how that goes.

That's about all. Our dog is leaving us this weekend to go back to Kuwait. Tigger, it was nice knowing you. I will miss you but I will not miss cleaning up your vomit.

Life with 5-year-olds.

So school has started and I'm getting used to being around these crazy kids all day. As you may know, I'm working with the kindergarten class and we have 26 wee ones. I have some favorites and some that make me want to pull my hair out. Woo hoo. But I do like it for the most part and I get to relive my own 5-year-old days. My favorite part of the day is story time. And nap time. Because that's when I get to eat my lunch and they're somewhat all quiet. I have never appreciated the "quiet" more.

So I don't think my calling in life is to teach kindergarten or anything, but I think I might try teaching. What? I have no idea. What grade? Not a clue. Just a thought.

We all know that kids say the darndest things, so I'll try and include some funny kid stories.

Too bad I can't think of one now.

Nice Work If You Can Get It

So I'm officially on vacation.

Last week at work, The Principal offered me a new job. The position is for a teacher's aide in the kindergarten class. It's not really what I had in mind for my life, but I think I'm going to take the job. I was hoping to get something working with ESL but they don't really need anyone at this particular school, just for kindergarten. So I guess we'll see how that goes. I feel like I should be doing something more exciting, like that it's kind of embarrassing to say that I'm working as a teacher's aide when I have a college degree. I'm a catch. But it's just for a year and I will at least be in the school environment. Maybe I can figure out if teaching is something I want to pursue at the end of this year or I can just walk away and try something else. That's one thing about this stage of life I'm in: I can pretty much do anything. I'm not tied down to any one area of work or even city to live in. I could move to Mexico or Vermont next year.

I guess that's both good and bad. Because I'm a planner and I like to know what's ahead of me and there are just too many options. But I'm trying to enjoy the positives of this and really broaden my ideas for the future. Because, really, who knows? No one.

So...in taking the aide position, they no longer need me to work in the office for the summer and I don't have to report back to work until August 15th. Vacation!! Woo!! Although it's only 3 days into this vacation, and I'm worried about being bored. But I do have a rather exciting trip planned in the very near future. San Diego here I come! I'm going to visit my friend Anne that lives out there and I'm very excited! I've never been to California before and I'm looking forward to seeing the Pacific Ocean for the first time. I am ready for the beach.

So if anyone has any ideas on how to spend these weeks of vacation I've got left, let me know. And preferably not anything that costs too much money (as I will not be making any in this period).

Oh, we are all moved into the new apartment and it's looking good. I think we picked a winner. And our new roommate/dog, Tigger, is doing splendidly and is enjoying all of the attention he's been getting from his three lovely roommates. I'll include a foto.