School resumes on Wednesday, three days into the new year. Goodbye, Honors Earth/Environmental Science class - hello, "Nature of Science" class!

But until then, another visit to the Triangle is due tomorrow, this time to deliver a package to a former teaching colleague and take her from the airport to the hotel, where she will stay for one night before going back to her home country.

Have a happy and prosperous new year!

I do not know where family doctors acquired illegibly perplexing handwriting; nevertheless, extraordinary pharmaceutical intellectuality counterbalancing indecipherability, transcendentalizes intercommunications' incomprehensibleness.

For mathemagicians: this snowball sentence is (probably) the longest sentence in English language in which the nth word contains n number of letters. I first encountered this sentence in my textbook back when I was in high school (many years ago) and thought it was amazing. I mean, when do you use the word transcendentalizes in everyday vernacular?

In Canada, my home and native land, education is a provincial matter. In order to 'pass' a course, the minimum grade is 50%. If you managed to get an 80% (=A) average, you would be considered an honors student, and you could gain admission as an arts or science student at most Canadian universities.

In the United States of America, where everything is "bigger and better", education is a federal matter. In order to 'pass' a course, the minimum grade is 70%. If you managed to get an 80% (=C) average in N.C., you would be considered an average student, and you would be lucky if you could gain admission as a liberal arts student at some community colleges in the USA.

For example, at UCLA, for Fall 2006 admission, they received 47,317 applications, of which ~21,000 had GPAs of 4.0 or above in high school. Like the U.S. dollar, where inflation reduces purchasing power, grade inflation reduces the value of a student's high school GPA as a measurement of achievement. Read more about grade inflation here in a USA Today article.

Hope you had a nice Christmas. It was raining for most of the morning; I stayed at home and worked on some top secret documents.

Apart from driving to RDU airport twice, my winter break has also included a pre-Christmas dinner with my "adopted" family and their relatives in Graham (near Burlington), and a Christmas dinner with Hungarian friends in Fayetteville.

My sister is on the tail of a new teaching job in Newmarket, Ontario. She is going there to visit early in the new year. We'll see how that plays out.

Two 200-mile drives in twelve hours. I went to RDU International Airport twice, to bring acquaintances a little closer to their vacation from Raeford. I am now an expert on posted speed limits, exit numbers, and lane closures.

1st trip, Wednesday, 4 p.m.
(insert four hours' sleep here)
2nd trip, Thursday, 4 a.m.

Of note: on NC highway 55 headed east in Apex, I saw a car with North Carolina tags, but on the right side of the bumper there was an Oilers sticker.
Coincidentally, the last time I was on this highway in June, I saw CN railcars as I approached an underpass. Signs of Canada in Apex!

Do not try to drive a car with three wheels and a rim: a lesson in physics -- it will not go very far. Better to pay for taxi cab fare to the auto parts store.

Today I finished putting in my grades (now there's only the attendance left to do). In the afternoon I had to proctor (invigilate?) an Algebra II end-of-course test. Tomorrow I have to do the same thing for both morning and afternoon. One day until the weekend (where I will watch Tv and catch up on sleep). Six more days until I get an uninterrupted holiday break.

I was in Greensboro yesterday for the ViF Holiday Celebration. After reuniting with a few colleagues, I left for home (a 100-mile drive) at 23:45. This is after I've been up since about 2:30 in the morning (see previous post time stamp). So the smallest distractions along the way will make me jump.

1. On I-73 S/I-74 E/U.S. 220 S: A medium-sized mammal crossing the highway, taking his or her time, while I am barreling at 65 mph. I missed it by maybe two metres.
2. On N.C. 211 E: There is a railroad track that parallels this two-lane highway. It is crossing an access road without stop gates when it toots the horn (in case I am turning onto this road, which I was not). It made my heart pound like crazy.
3. On N.C. 211 E: I am the only car going eastbound (obviously, since it is past midnight). A car flies by in the other direction. Then FOUR police cars with their flashing sirens on trail him/her, following the car to who-knows-where. All I know is that I am not guilty of speeding.

It was also interesting going into the 24-hour grocery store in Aberdeen at 1:00 to pick up some things. There were two customers in this humongous store: me and a guy buying some liquor. Then there were all those stockers along every aisle. At this time of day, only self-checkout lines were open, and the guy initially had no way of showing his ID to the computer.

There is a 12-minute break between first and second periods every day at school. During this time (called the walking breakfast), students with a little pocket change can purchase mini sausage biscuits, donuts, fruit snacks and fruit punch in a can. This way, students can eat before school, after first period, during lunch, and after school.

What interests me is the donuts. They are Super Donuts, a product labeled as meeting USDA child nutrition requirements, because they are fortified with vitamins and protein, and supposedly served in all 50 states. Well, for a donut that is about 100 grams (fine), but contains >10 g of fat, of which 4.5 g is trans fat, I would have some trouble recommending it to young'uns.

A new day, and two new leaders in the Canadian political system. First we have Stephane Dion as the new Liberal leader (who came from behind the favourites, Michael Ignatieff and Bob Rae), and Ed Stelmach as Alberta's new premier (who came from behind the favourites, Jim Dinning and Ted Morton). Subsequent ballots were counted differently for each election, but the third place finisher (i.e. trailed after the first ballot/runoff) became winners in both cases.

Dion = Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition Leader
Stelmach = Thirteenth Premier of the Province of Alberta

I am sitting here at my computer on an early Sunday morning. I had planned a road trip to Columbia, S.C. today, but decided that with only one week until final exams (for the students, not me!), I'd should be planning ahead. Maybe during the Winter break. Then again, this is the second time I'm postponing. Initially, I had this trip planned out for the day after Thanksgiving (not for the shopping, just because it was a holiday) but was too tired on that day...

Ah, I found my missing textbook yesterday -- it was in a student's bookbag (figures). The corners were a little damaged from the toting over a couple of weeks, but it's going to be locked up from now on, with the other items I have had to replace.

And where have the gas prices gone? We're over $2.25/gallon again.

Effective December 1, the sales tax on general items (not food) in North Carolina is decreasing a quarter-cent (which means 0.25%) to 6.75%, 7.25% in Mecklenburg County. That means you will pay 25 cents less taxes for every $100 you spend!

No school today. I am still a little dismayed by the fact that I can't find my teacher's edition of the textbook. I am sure somebody took it, probably on Monday. My classroom is quite unsecure, for reasons I can't discuss publicly.

I am also wondering how am I going to take all of my stuff home when it comes time to return home. Mostly everything that is made of paper will go to the recycle bin or left at the school. Maybe a few of my older clothes will go to the donation pile. Books? I don't know, depends on how much I liked them. The paper making kit I got from a science workshop last summer will probably be left at the school, minus the blender (since I like it, but will leave it with my hosts) and the photo printer I got with my computer will stay here. But it's too early to worry about this right now.

About Black Friday...

Living in America means that everything a person can possibly want is offered exponentially. That means there might be ten times the choices when it comes to choosing a basic loaf of bread (white, whole wheat, whole grain, whitewheat, potato, butter - and several brands for each variety), a package of gum, or a pair of leather shoes. On top of that, there are many retailers in the business (see gas stations, drugstores and supermarkets) offering the same products.

Last year, I was having Thanksgiving dinner with the family of a dear colleague, and they musingly offered to drop me off and let me shop the following morning if I wished. (They don't shop, they buy.) I told them I was fine. This year, however, I will ... stay away from the crowds. I don't understand why people would line up for hours so that they can save $3 on a DVD, or purchase a computer that will land on the clearance rack in a month's time anyway. Well, maybe I might go shopping for groceries, or visit a park, because everyone will be at Wal-Mart or Best Buy.

In Canada, where Boxing Day is the equivalent of Black Friday, I spent the last couple of them at home. And I didn't lose any sleep.

This post is about U.S. and Canadian currencies. Well, apart from the fact that in Canada we don't have $1 and $2 notes anymore, and receiving a $2 note as change in the U.S. is (relatively) rare, but we love $2 coins in Canada.

Why is it that our denominations for amounts less than one dollar are 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50 cents, but the bank notes are 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100? There is something strange here.

If you're going to have a 25-cent piece, you may as well split up the dollars into sixteenths so that we have 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 dollar coins, just like the way Americans do measurements when using inches or cups. (I am kidding.)

In the U.S., the coins are labeled as follows: "one cent", "five cents", "one dime", "quarter dollar", "half dollar". What the heck is going on? Be consistent. At least in Canada they got that right (see system two below).

system one: "hundreth dollar", "twentieth dollar", "tenth dollar", "quarter dollar", "half dollar"
system two: "1 cent", "5 cents", "10 cents", "25 cents", "50 cents"

Americans use a mix of both systems in their coinage, but written entirely in English. This might pose a problem if you aren't familiar with English. Thinking metric and counting coinage would be a lot easier if we had a 20-cent piece instead. Just like they do in Europe, Australia, and southeast Asia.

OK, so I haven't been to NYC lately, but has everyone there become like "miss NYC"? This was gleaned from a forum moderated by the Charlotte Observer's high school sports writer:

Well coming from the 1st largest city in the USA aka The Big Apple ( NYC for all you Charlotte trailor bumpkins) we dont like any of the sports coverage at this newspaper and we demand either better coverage or hire real reporters and writers who know how to cover sports. Pick up a copy of the NYTimes and read it very carefully if you can read. Try to imitate it the best you can. Your NFL and NBA coverage is terrible to say the least. We dont really care much about high school but we are certain it stinks as well.

To which Langston Wertz replied:

You can always do a reverse field and go back to NYC. It's OK. Us trailer trash bumpkins, we'll be OK down here.

Great reply, sir.

Today is a holiday (in lieu of Veterans' Day), so there is no school today. In Canada, you only get a day off if the 11th (Remembrance Day) happens to land on a weekday. Not this year...

They don't wear poppies in the U.S. like they do in Canada.

Anyway, what am I going to do with all this newfound free time? Grade tests and projects, plan for next week (a five-day workweek!) and make a test. I also need to get some groceries. I'm getting really good at shopping. I only need to go once a week now, and don't need to spend any money in between.

I just came back from Mi Casita. Let me tell you, I have never spent $9 on dinner (a burrito, a taco and an enchilada) and still felt hungry afterwards. But now I have!

I woke up at 5:30 this morning (after going to bed at 22:00), which proves that no matter how late I go to bed (and whether I set the alarm or not), I can never get more than 7.5 hours' sleep.

No plans for this weekend - I think I will have the students grade each others' test papers next week, since they all got more or less the same test. The teaching couple (with two kids) who moved to South Carolina this year after getting better jobs are coming back to Raeford for a visit (and find another realtor to sell their house), so I might have dinner with them tonight.

Oh, and I need to do laundry and clean my room. That will take the whole day!

Well, there are about six weeks remaining in the semester. I'm trying to find out what to do in the upcoming weekends (besides lesson planning)...

Dunn - NC Cotton Festival - November 3-4
Chapel Hill - 19th Annual Sculpture in the Garden - through November 17

Plus, there's Veterans Day (Remembrance Day in Canada) and Thanksgiving. Wow!

Connections to my seemingly isolated life in the past few days...people thought of me. How nice of them!

Telephone calls from
1) Yanceyville, NC (a VIF teacher from the Philippines)
2) Greenwood, SC (a former teaching colleague who moved back home to start a new job)
3) Edmonton, AB (family, o' course)

Text messages and emails from
1) San Bernardino, CA (a great friend)
2) Fayetteville, NC (a fellow VIF teacher who teaches in Hoke County)
3) Edmonton, AB (a great friend)
4) Coquitlam, BC (my sister's friend, with whom we lived for a month in Montreal this summer)

In case you've been counting (and I hope you haven't), this is post #200 of my blog. Not much to say except that I am ready for the weekend, and I have only taught two days this week (Monday was a teacher workday and Tuesday was parent-teacher conference day).

Last Saturday, I was driving on U.S. 74 to Charlotte (again, this time for a VIF workshop) and I might have gotten a ticket of some sort. I hope not, since I was only going about 5 mph over the speed limit in Marshville (the home of Randy Travis). In fact, the deputy sheriff's car passed mine as we crossed the county line. I was suspicious because the line of cars in front of me (four or five cars) were driving through the town (and through many traffic lights) alongside the police cruiser (pretty courteously, it seems), but then all of a sudden (a couple of miles down the road) the line pulled into the gas station with the police cruiser, as did the car behind me. If only I had taken N.C. 218 from Polkton instead...but I still arrived about 15 minutes late.

Anyway, I am so tired, but I have so much work to do!

I was just thinking about how I have $1.13 left in my wallet until tomorrow. So that means no eating out, and no Dollar Menu from McDonald's since they haven't gotten out of their trans-fat food preparations yet.

I fixed myself a great big plate of spaghetti and meatballs for supper once I got home (at 5 p.m. today, since this is midterm week and no more tutoring) and thought how it might cost about $10 at a restaurant. Cooking at home is definitely cheaper.

1/3 of 1 lb. (=150 g) box of thin spaghetti: about 17 cents
1/4 of 10 oz. jar (=184 mL) of spaghetti sauce: about 26 cents
1/5 of 8 oz. bag (= 45 g) of shredded cheese: about 25 cents
5 Italian-style meatballs (1 oz. each): about 32 cents

Deluxe dinner for about a dollar. Healthier and tastier than Kraft Dinner, McDonald's or Chef Boyardee. And more filling than any Hungry-Man XXL dinner.

I went to Charlotte today, to visit a couple of their museums.

The Levine Museum of the New South in downtown Charlotte featured the history of the Old South from the Civil War (ca. 1865) to today (hence the name) and the evolution of the region from cotton to banking. The special exhibit was from Cambodia to Carolina - a story about immigrants coming to our fair state.

The Charlotte Museum of History is well-worth visiting. The exhibits are very Charlotte and Mecklenburg County-centric but there is a guided tour that lasts about 1.5 hours where you get to see the rock house that is at least 250 years old. Our guide, Gary, told us about the history of many words and expressions during the tour, such as "sleep tight" (when rope beds had to be tightened) and "curfew" (a fire blocker that had to be used in certain hours of the night).

Gary told us that he thinks the Charlotte Bobcats, New Orleans Hornets and Utah Jazz should trade names. (The previous NBA franchise was the Charlotte Hornets before they moved to the Big Easy, and the hornet is an important symbol for the Queen City.)

Lately, I've been working real hard on my lesson plans, since they are checked regularly by administration and the curriculum coordinator. We need to have the whole week done for Monday mornings. I graded more tests yesterday while watching Mythbusters on Discovery Channel.

I haven't even left Raeford (except to go to Fayetteville, on Friday nights, to go shopping for essentials) since my sister returned home on the 23rd of August (and that was a non-stop early morning drive to RDU airport). I just sit at home and watch Tv and work on the computer, and imagine what I will be doing one year from now.

I did go the NC Turkey Festival parade in downtown Raeford last week. Pictures to come (when I find the time, of course).

Today was fun. There are a grand total of two photocopiers working on campus, and they require a code (and mine doesn't work...it's supposed to be the last four digits of your SSN). So lots of teachers couldn't make copies this morning. The digital duplicators were screwed, and the machines on the Gibson side haven't worked for some time now.

Friday (yesterday) was the first day of classes for most of North Carolina. There is a state law that says that school can't start before August 25 (intended to benefit the tourism industry). Year-round schools are exempt. So is our high school (we obtained a waiver). That way, we can finish first semester before the Christmas break. Sixteen down, one hundred and sixty-four to go.

Pluto no longer a planet? Oh well, the textbook we're using (printed two years ago) was already sitting on the fence. We'll just skip that section now when we do the astronomy/solar system unit.

On Saturday, I made my first visit to Charlotte in nearly nine months. My sister wanted to go shopping, so I took her to the biggest shopping centers that I could think of: Carolina Place Mall (in nearby Pineville), South Park (not to be confused with the cartoon of the same name), and Concord Mills (in nearby Concord; the most popular attraction in North Carolina.)

Tomorrow is Convocation at Hoke County Schools. I was told that we (teachers) get a motivational speech among other things. And this whole time I thought it was a ceremony for our seniors (kind of like the procession one goes through after finishing a university degree). Students get the day off.

Last time I blogged, I was ready to leave for Canada by car (on a vacation, of course). I had limited web access (because I'm too cheap to use those Bell Internet kiosks).

I've been in Raeford for nearly three weeks now, and eight days of school have already passed. Probably the most important thing that has happened between my return to the USA and today is the acquisition of my new notebook computer, an Apple MacBook (base model with Combo drive). On the side I also purchased a white 2 GB iPod nano and a Canon Pixma iP4200 photo printer. I visited the new Apple Store at Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh to buy these items during tax-free holiday (August 4-6).

The students are pretty good this year; pretty well behaved, or maybe just because our administration was cracking down.

Went on a day trip to Chapel Hill last Thursday, with the purpose of completing a walking tour at UNC. Guided tours weren't offered that day; but the C-TOPS orientation for incoming freshmen and their parents were taking place.

Approximately 73% of undergraduates complete a course during intersession. Guess there's nothing better to do in Chapel Hill (I'm kidding). I ate lunch at the Lenoir dining hall, where there were three services open: Subway, Chick-fil-A and a smoothie stand.

Walking through Venable Hall, I noticed that the science buildings were as old and smelly as the ones at the UofA. Their students' union is a little bit more well-funded though; they have large screen Tvs for students to watch. That day, it was the U.S. vs. Ghana World Cup match.

What's great about Chapel Hill is that their transit system is fare-free. So you can ride around campus and across town to your heart's content. It would also save you on transportation costs.

It's a shame the Oilers didn't take home the Stanley Cup. Oh well.

Yesterday, I took my leased car to Burlington (~160 km away) to the car dealership for servicing (oil change and tire rotation). I was told to bring it in before lunchtime, 'cause it might take a few hours, so I arrived at 10:00 on the dot. They loaned me a courtesy car.

Obviously, Burlington isn't exactly a tourist destination. I went to Burlington Square Mall, where I spent most of the time browsing in Books-A-Million. The mall was very quiet. Then I found Target by accident, where I bought some cheese for my lunch. I then headed downtown on US 70, where there were more buildings with the LabCorp logo than anything. The historic part wasn't that historic (okay, I couldn't find it). The downtown is very quiet too, even for a weekday.

A few hours later (13:00), I was told it would take a couple more hours because they're going to do a complete servicing (brakes, transmission, and all). So they told me I could take the loaner out again if I wanted. I went down I-40/85 to Greensboro, which took about 20 minutes. I went to the visitors' center in downtown, where the lady told me I could leave my car there and go for a walk. So I did. Up and down Elm Street, with a stop at the public library.

Six-and-a-half hours after I arrived in Burlington, my car was ready. They even updated my state safety and emissions inspection for free! I arrived back home (via Chapel Hill and Carrboro, where I got lost and found UNC by accident, but it was late and I had no time to visit) just in time to watch the Stanley Cup Finals.

Ah, yes. Living in the South not only means that people don't understand what "pop" is (see previous posts), but if you ask for tea, don't be surprised if it's cold, comes in a 355 mL (12 oz.) or larger glass, and is loaded with sugar. If you want to be extra sure, you either ask for "sweet tea" or "unsweet tea". Of course, if you're a Yankee or a Canadian, this is better known as "iced tea".

In fact, the sugar content of the tea (Luzianne brand) served at the school cafeteria was so high that it violated the State's dietary regulations for prepared student meals. As a result, only teachers could buy it at lunch since the beginning of this year.

According to author Robert St. John, tea gets sweeter as you travel deeper into the South. That rule also works for women, too. I suppose this is true as well.

I have just returned from a three-day paper engineering workshop at NC State University in Raleigh. (Well, I arrived on Monday evening after teacher workday and departed on Thursday afternoon.)

One of the first events I attended on Monday evening was the viewing party the Carolina Hurricanes had at the RBC Center. We watched Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals on the scoreboard. I was surrounded by Hurricanes fans. I couldn't reveal my true loyalties because I was afraid of getting swallowed by the crowd alive. So when the Hurricanes scored, and the guy next to me wanted to give me high fives, I had no choice but to put out my palms. We did this twice (Carolina ended up winning, 2-1).

NBC showed Edmonton fans getting off the LRT at Coliseum, and the attendees booed that.
They booed when the broadcast was showing the Oilers skating onto the rink, and when Ryan Smyth was being interviewed, so I couldn't hear what he was saying. It's odd how Hurricanes fans say that Oilers fans are crazy, and they are just as loud and rambunctious.

The Storm Squad was their version of cheerleaders for hockey. The blonde-haired young ladies came out and were slingshotting OLN-labeled stuff into the crowd.

I was watching Game 3 last night on NBC. On the evening local news before the game, the sports reporter (who was in Edmonton) noted that, unlike in Raleigh, there are no tailgating parties before the game. Southerners like their barbecue (=shredded pork with barbecue sauce, along with beans and 'slaw on a bun). Edmontonians would rather have a hot dog and beer inside the arena.

Of course, the fans at Rexall Place were booing every time Doug Weight touched the puck. The commentators said that the fans were booing "the old economic system", and not Weight. Yeah, right. If he really wanted to stay with the Oilers, he would have signed for less money.

The winning goal wasn't pretty, and I know Brind'amour wasn't happy with it, but the rules say it's a goal, and in Game 2, Weight kicked one in with his skate and it somehow counted.

I got two pieces of mail today, both from Citi. And I guess good credit history from Canada doesn't transfer over to the U.S.

1. "We regret that we are unable to approve an account for you at this time because of the following:
- The consumer reporting agency serving your area has reported no credit history for you.
- The consumer reporting agency serving your area has reported a limited credit history for you."

2. "Apply for the Citi Upromise Card at www.applynow.citicards.com, using the invitation number above..."

Too bad the credit card I wanted was the first one (Diamond Preferred Rewards MasterCard). The second one (Upromise MasterCard) is useless to me but somehow, they actually solicited me for that one.

You know you live in a hockey town when the front page headline on the daily paper is "Roloson gone for series" with an accompanying article, with additional coverage on the next page.

Tonight I was trying to make up a final examination for my second period class and watch hockey at the same time.

The Stanley Cup Finals: Carolina vs. Edmonton.
I must be the only Oilers fan in Raeford. No, wait, there's another student, and it's because he's a northerner (Philadelphia). But that's about it.

Game 1 was tonight at the RBC Center in Raleigh. Edmonton builds a 3-0 lead late into the second period. Then the Hurricanes score four straight (three in the third) to take the lead. Hemsky ties it. Then with under 1/2 minute to go, there is a fumble between Conklin and Smith, and Brind'amour gets the easiest goal of his life. Crap.

And I still have to finish making my test...

I watched game 5 of the Edmonton-Anaheim from start to finish on OLN last night, and it was worth every minute. I was a little antsy at the end, when the Ducks had a two-man advantage and an extra attacker, but thankfully they didn't score. Four more wins to the Stanley Cup. Go Oilers!

So the school year's almost over. This is Memorial Day weekend in the U.S., which means there's only four more teaching days to go, and four test days the following week.

Haven't been out much lately since spring break, when I made a day trip to Myrtle Beach. Last week I went to the Triangle area for a couple of events. I volunteered at Artsplosure 2006 in downtown Raleigh, and then I went to the Jordan Lake recreational area for a picnic hosted by VIF.

Can't wait to get back to Canada for the summer.

I am happy that the Edmonton Oilers made it to the second round. I am disappointed that the Montreal Canadiens were eliminated in six games after losing the last four in a row. But not surprised.

I was really tired last night after staying up late a few times this week to watch hockey and plan lessons at the same time. For supper, I ate an entire 312 g Totino's pizza that I bought on sale for $1 before heading off to bed. The pizza crust was so hard that it scraped the roof of my mouth, causing layers of skin to come off, and still hurts at the moment. The toppings looked like it could have been the filling from a Taco Bell supreme burrito.

The Canadiens whipped the Hurricanes pretty convincingly last night, 6-1. In their own backyard, no less! And they were outshot by a margin of over 2:1.

This is going to be a great series.

Spring Break: Ten days of freedom.

Peeve: Driving at 75 mph (10 mph over the speed limit) on I-95 at dusk, and being passed by all sorts of vehicles, including 40 ft trailers loaded with dozens of new cars. Where are the highway patrol officers when you need them? Putting up "No Need 2 Speed" signs every few miles isn't cutting it.

New places visited: Myrtle Beach, Raven Rock State Park, Pinehurst

TV shows that I hadn't seen before (and enjoyed): The Andy Griffith Show; Whose Line Is It, Anyway?

This is for y'all who give me a confused look at the restaurant when I say I'd like an orange pop, please. This isn't a Yankee term, either. One of my friends from NYC didn't have a clue what pop was the first time I used it. She said, "Oh, you mean soda."

I think of "soda" as what y'all call "spritzer".

Your Linguistic Profile:

55% General American English

20% Yankee

15% Dixie

5% Midwestern

5% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

While you're waiting for my next blog entry, try to solve one of the most popular (and difficult) riddles on the Web, called Notpron. There are 138 levels, and less than one out of every 100 000 visitors have completed it, and only after working on it for several months or years.

You are free to search the web for clues (but finding spoilers will ruin the fun, so add -notpron to all of your Google searches.) You do need to know some basic things, like knowing where the URL shows up on your browser, and viewing the page source, but nothing else that's too technical.

I've been working on this for over an hour now, and have only gotten to level six.

Yesterday, some of the ninth grade teachers (and a few others, too) went on a retreat to Caraway Mountain (just outside of Asheboro, in Randolph County). The scenery was excellent, and the facilities were too. We got to ride the brand-new activity bus. The presenter was a little late but she was an excellent speaker. We kept her for the afternoon session as well. The topic of the day was team-building.

We escaped the rain. It rained for the most part while we were on the bus, but it held up otherwise. I would have loved to see the area a bit more.

Lunch consisted of roast beef, broccoli with cheese sauce, boiled potatoes and a roll. Dessert was banana pudding. We also had a glass of sweet tea. I finished everything on the plate, it was so delicious.

Four more teaching days until spring break arrives!

Phew! This blog is getting dusty. But what can I say, there's too much schoolwork to do around here and not enough time to do stuff like blogging anymore. You've probably heard me say this many times already. Anyway, today was a teacher workday- I had to prepare report card grades for each of my classes. It was an enlightening exercise.

One teacher had her notebook computer stolen from her locked classroom late last Friday. Another teacher had some money taken from her moneybag (which is used to collect school fees and the like). Reasons why not to leave anything unattended. Heck, students take things even when the teacher is in the classroom!

Nine weeks down; nine to go.

Today I "met" my homeroom class for the first time in over a month. And did they revert back to their former behavior in a flash. We were supposed to be watching videos related to Black History Month for a whole hour, but many students (e.g. all but one) did not take the activity seriously.

Aujourd'hui, j'ai rencontré mon classe titulaire pour la première fois depuis un mois, pour regarder des filmes célébrant le mois de l'histoire africain-américains. Regrettement, les élèves avaient les mêmes attitudes et comportements que la dernière semestre, et rien n'a été accompli.

I'm glad it's the weekend. The sleep deprivation gap had gotten to me this week when I was figuring out what material to teach, and spending a lot of time doing it (to the early morning hours).

I have more thieves in the classroom this term. Really, I wonder how long I can go without locks on any drawers. Things stolen from my classroom this month: two large chocolate bars, a handful of Starburst, two AA rechargeable batteries, four magnifying glasses. I have a vague idea of who they are but of course I can't say with certainty.

Ugh. Tomorrow is Presidents' Day, which means that for most Americans, it's a holiday. (In Canada, my home province of Alberta has Family Day.) It is also Parent-Teacher Conference Day in Hoke County, which means that it's not a holiday for teachers. Nope, we don't get any holidays until spring break (mid-April).

Today, gasoline prices are around $2.20 per gallon in Raeford, and my favorite station in McCain on NC 211 is charging an astronomical $2.33. BUT, in Gaffney, SC (not too far from Charlotte) you can fill up your tank for the wonderful price of $1.77 per gallon. What's going on?

Today was the first time I have been in the presence of snow in Raeford. It happened at 9:35 in the morning. A few girls in my class started screaming so loud you would have thought they had hit the jackpot. In any case, the snow had all melted within an hour, and life was back to normal. Except for the smell in the boys' restroom, which smelled conspicuously of marijuana.

Two weeks into the second semester, and I'm back to working seven days a week at school. We have finally finished Chapter 1 - an introduction to earth science and the SI (metric) system. A little unfortunate that meters, liters and kilograms don't work very well with American kids. At least most of them know scientific notation.

Super Bowl XL takes place in Detroit today. An American classic that I will miss because school is in the way.

I sometimes think, "What am I doing here?" while I am spending my weekend either: a) grading papers; b) planning lessons or c) creating assessment materials.

Now that VIF has me totally confused about the summer travel options with their mix-up (choice of a taxable $750 renewal "bonus" or a tax-free round-trip airfare, details not specified), I don't know what to do for next year. Alberta still seems to be lacking in terms of hiring new teachers.

But the new semester has finally arrived. Eighty new students, of which three are exceptional children. Only one troublesome class this term and I'm getting on top of them. I am also making daily use of my new LCD projector by creating PowerPoint presentations (despite how much I despise the software).

First semester is officially over. Although we had a shortened week, it felt longer than a regular week. Administer tests, supervise "lunch", grade tests, enter marks into computer. Repeat as necessary.

Yesterday was a teacher workday. I had all of my grades in by 11 o'clock. I went out for lunch with two teachers at Mi Casita in Fayetteville. There were other teachers from Rockfish-Hoke Elementary there. One of them was the third VIF local advisor for Hoke County that the other two do not know well. She is from Calgary, so she's a fellow Albertan. It's her second round with VIF; she likes the weather (of course). I spent the afternoon figuring out how to cram 30 students into 26 desks, and creating a seating plan for each of my classes.

I went to School Tools in the evening to buy more stuff, and went to visit my Hungarian colleague G. to talk and talk. A great day, for the most part.

Today is Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, so the schools are closed today in Hoke County (as in much of North Carolina). I am taking the opportunity to finish grading projects that were handed in before the Christmas break, because the final grades are due by Friday!

I really want to get next term off on a good start, so (hopefully) I'll be writing some lessons in advance, and reading up on some classroom management stuff this week. How I long for the next long weekend...

Last night I bought a portable shortwave/AM/FM world band radio from Food Lion (who would have thought?) in Fayetteville for $2.49. Cheaper than a gallon of milk. Hopefully it will be able to pick up my favourite radio station, CBC/Radio-Canada International, from Raeford. I tried it just now, and I'm not picking up anything too interesting, but I guess it's because I'm sitting near a whole bunch of high frequency wave-emitting devices (cordless phone, cellphone, wireless router).

We are in the prelude to the end of semester tests. I have finished my final examination, which is 100 multiple-choice questions. One more teaching day remains until testing begins.

I guess I will have to put my notebook computer order on hold. I was hoping that Apple would update their iBook models, but they revamped the PowerBook models instead (now known as MacBook Pro), and those are too rich for my blood.

I spent this past weekend at NCCAT (N.C. Center for the Advancement of Teaching) in Cullowhee with some three dozen ILTs from Hoke County. We were attending a series of seminars on poverty in schools. I learned a lot, and the food was exquisite. Better than anything I can prepare at home. The bus ride was 5.5 h each way, not including stopovers.