Halifax

Dad and I were walking along the waterfront in Halifax this afternoon, and it was beautiful enough to take a picture of, so I guess I have something to blog!
And while I'm at it, here are some favourite photos of hummingbirds I took last time I was at Grammie's house. I have to say, you really need to have a lot of patience and a good chunk of free time to get a clear shot. Those buggers move fast!

Summer in Halifax is great. I finished one week of full-time teaching last week, but I'll be down to part time for the rest of June. I'll be happy to have a lighter workload of grading and lesson planning! Other than that, my big news to report is that I bought my Olympics tickets yesterday. The website was open at 2pm, and you were put into a virtual waiting room to be randomly selected to be able to buy tickets. I had to wait about an hour, but got on in time to get almost all the tickets I wanted. Of course, this was the second phase, so the cheap seats for the big events like the Opening Ceremonies and figure skating were long gone, and I couldn't bring myself to plunk down $500 to watch the Pairs short program. I ended up buying a ticket to the Victory Ceremony three nights; medals, flags, anthems and a concert! Plus I'll be going to three events; women's hockey (Canada vs Switzerland), women's halfpipe snowboarding finals, and doubles luge. I might try to get figure skating or speed skating tickets later on. I booked my hostel bed, so the whole thing won't be too expensive, and I planned it for the week of study/reading days at university, so the timing is perfect. I'm so excited, I love the Olympics more than anyone else I've ever met (well, Carole's a tie!)

Week in Ontario

Well, it's been a while since my last post, I know. Jill suggested that I blog, though, so here it is! My posts may be sporadic over the summer just because I'm in Nova Scotia now and the majority of my readers are probably hearing my news from me or via the family gossip line. Here are some pictures from my week in Ontario, including brunch with the family, days wandering the Art Gallery and the Royal Ontario Museum, and Niagara Falls with Louise.
The new skyline with that amazing cube building on the left.
Always my favourite section at the ROM (or any other museum), the fine jewelry.
A new favourite section: cultures from around the world, including this South African beaded doll.
Beautiful graffiti
The new look of a favourite mall in Thornhill, Promenade
Sitting in a giant chair at the Ripley's museum. Not quite sure what it was, but they said it was a photo opportunity so...
The Falls
As for my summer so far in Nova Scotia, it's been great! My latest news would be that I joined the gym so I can do my favourite fitness classes that I loved in Taiwan and Sydney. Also today I found out that my Hollywood in Halifax camp I was supposed to direct is officially cancelled. Thankfully I've had a few weeks to get used to the idea (we had only a few students register), and I think this will make for a better summer. I'm starting substitute teaching on Monday, full time for a week and then part time for all June (a writing class!) It will be nice getting the experience with university aged students and the pay is better than camp, with fewer hours and weekends free. I guess the only other news is that it is freezing in Halifax this weekend, around 8 degrees Celcius today. Brr.

Almost Finished

Only a weekend left in Edmonton! Thankfully I have a road trip to some national park called Elk Island (to see Elk, Bison, etc.) and a free K-Os concert to keep me occupied. I am so looking forward to my week in Toronto, especially seeing Michelle, Aunt Carole & Bill, playing tourist with Louise and spending all day wandering the ROM and AGO. Oh, and just travelling is good enough for me... put me on a plane! As for the flu pandemic, it's not on my mind at the moment, and I don't think I'll be wearing a mask on the plane. I am glad that I thought to buy that Nectarine Mint antibacterial hand gel when I was last at Bath and Body Works, though!

Anyway, these last few weeks have been pretty intense school-wise, including preparing for my very first presentation at an academic conference (well, we were co-presenters). It was the Alberta TESL mini-conference and my pronunciation instructor spoke about how to teach pronunciation and then each of the students in my class spoke for 5-10 minutes about some successful tasks we used in out tutoring sessions this semester. I think we all did a great job, and I was thankful that, as Carole pointed out, we were forced to get over our fear of public speaking at as teenagers. I felt anticipation but no nerves, and I trusted my memorization to remember what I was supposed to say. Anyway, this is our pronunciation class after the presentation, and also my closest friends in the TESL program:
Dr. Tracey Derwing, Miao, Me, Sabine, Amy, Bonnie & Jun

The nice thing about all the hard work this semester is that it paid off! And, since I don't think anyone from the UofA reads this, I think this is a safe place for one sentence of bragging? I got an A+ in Teaching Pronunciation and in my Education Research class, and an A- in my Statistics class! I was relieved with the stats grade (I didn't understand 90% of what the professor said) and really proud of the research grade because it was such a difficult class. Of course, grades really don't matter that much, but at least I'm leaving the opportunity open if I want to go for a doctorate ten years down the road.

Anyway, this week has been one giant to-do list. I've crossed almost everything off, including handwashing all my winter sweaters, going for a physical at the student health centre (I just walked in: convenient and free) and figuring out the Canadian tax system. I'm celebrating my first free "nothing-that-I-should-be-doing" afternoon by watching Funny Face.
If you haven't seen Funny Face in a while, I highly recommend renting it and singing along: it's such a cheerful movie. I was also considering Roman Holiday, but that always makes me melancholy at the end.

Last random thing to report: the opera. This week I went to see La Traviata by the Edmonton Opera Company. I splurged a bit and sat in the very front row, centre, about six inches to the left of the conductors head. It was worth it! I felt like I was the only person in the audience, I could see every expression and the voices were so much more intense than they are from the speakers in the second balcony. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of the second balcony and obstructed view seats- I would never have been able to see all of the arts performances I've seen around the world if I had to pay full price! Next year they are putting on Rigoletto, Othello and the Pirates of Penzance, and I'll be back to the nosebleed section where starving students belong.

I was thinking I should put a clip of the opera on here, and this is one I stumbled upon. The song is an aria from La Traviata, but the Muppets make it more interesting!

Calgary Tower

Last set of overdue pictures from the weekend in Calgary. We had a gorgeous dinner in the revolving restaurant atop Calgary Tower. The longer days of spring meant that we arrived in sunlight at 8pm and watched it set before we left a few hours later.

The food was incredible too. When I saw that "Digby scallops" were on the menu, I had to order them. There was something very surreal about eating them in such glamorous surrounds compared to the "charm" of Digby, NS where they came from (that's where camp was last summer, and I have many fond memories of scallops by the Bay of Fundy). Yes, there are only three scallops on my plate... a reminder to eat slowly.
And crème brûlée for dessert! Obviously that's my friend Amy in the picture with me, she's one of the few students who started the program full-time in the fall with me.
The weekend passed quickly, but it was a great first introduction to Calgary.

More of Calgary

Here are the pictures of the hotel. It might not seem like something worthy of it's own blog post, but you have to remember that I often sleep in a bunk bed in a shared room at a dingy youth hostel. The only hostel in Calgary was $30 a bed, so I ended up convincing Amy that if we put that $60 towards a real hotel room, it would be worth it. The Fairmont Palliser downtown had an amazing deal, and the location was perfect (that's the hotel and the Calgary tower in the picture above).
The lobby had a great marble-and-warm-lighting kind of atmosphere.
And the room was "cozy" with all the nice toiletries and cushy bathrobes.
I also loved the pool! (though I didn't take this picture)

I really should be studying for finals, but it's more fun to put up pictures from my weekend trip to Calgary. Overall it was a nice weekend away with my friend Amy, and the highlights were the zoo, dinner at the revolving restaurant in the tower and staying at an elegant hotel downtown. Oh, and Denny's for breakfast, but that's just cause it brought back memories of childhood roadtrips in the States with my family!

Anyway, for today, some pictures from the zoo. I really enjoy zoos, and Calgary's was small enough to walk around in a couple of hours with a pretty good range of animals. If you've ever been to the zoo with me, you know I've developed a bit of a fixation with monkey exhibits in my adult life. Picture from Ebay where an unloved Gundy is selling for $115 USD!

Who knows why- Mom thought maybe it was because Carole and I had much loved identical stuffed monkeys named Gundy and Mindy (yes, Gundy comes from the brand name Gund, and Mindy rhymes with it). My orange Wrinkles slippers were named "pumpkin" and "pie", and due to an inability to reach a compromise, both Carole and I named our polar bears "Pola." Good thing we developed some creativity later in life!

Anyway, as for the real monkeys, four of the species had adorable babies born within the last three months. And, of course, I took pictures.
The one above is my favourite. A bit alien-looking but so cute when she ran around.
The spider monkey is above, and the one below was so tiny, the babies head seemed about the size of a quarter.
Of course, there were other animals too.



More to come tomorrow (that is, if I survive the statistics exam...)

Still here

I'm still alive and in Edmonton. All I can think about is my schoolwork that has to be finished over the next few weeks and my trips to Toronto and Halifax for the summer. Especially now that spring has come to Alberta, it just makes me want to jump on a plane. But first I have to finish this beast of a research report. It was quite discouraging Wednesday when I realized I had written 20 pages and had only done the appendixes, references list and title page. If you're wondering why I start with the stuff people usually do last, it's because I like to get the "easy" stuff out of the way and have the satisfaction of crossing four things off my to-write list. For example, writing the "meat" today took the whole day for six pages. Yikes- it feels like wading through mud. I'm hoping that if I work non-stop tomorrow I can finish most of it so I can relax a bit on Easter Sunday. And then I have Monday for final proof-reading. I'm learning a lot- did I mention that? It's slow going because it actually requires thought (instead of just typing whatever comes into my head and relying on my writing ability to make it sound intelligent even if it isn't). I don't know if anyone would be interested, but here are the research hypotheses (which condensed, means I'm looking at ways that teaching and classroom management affect classes like Carole's where all the kids just talk in Turkish instead of listening or participating in English :)
Among Turkish Preparatory Year students in English language classes, the higher the quality of teaching that the teacher provides and the more collaborative the teacher’s approach to classroom management, the less the unsolicited use of the first language in the classroom. This effect will occur because the higher the quality of teaching the teacher provides and the more collaborative the teacher’s approach to classroom management, the greater the students’ perception of class robustness will be, and the greater the perception of robustness, the less the unsolicited use of the first language in the classroom. However this relationship between perception of class robustness and unsolicited use of the first language will be larger for students with high self-efficacy in the class than for students with low self-efficacy.

Last Week of Classes

The semester is screeching to a close, and I am coming to terms with all of the work that I need to finish. I have all of April; one huge research report, three exams (one for pronunciation, easy as pie and two really difficult ones, statistics and research methods). Oh and a statistics problem set that I'm trudging through at the moment. I find the professors notes completely confusing, and it probably doesn't help that I have Shakespeare's As You Like It on DVD in the background.

I re-discovered the wonders of the public library last weekend. I had been just getting books from the university library, they had everything I needed for school, plus I could find the literary classics, slightly dated travel guides and even 1980's knitting pattern books. But when I went to the main branch of Edmonton public libraries downtown, I just wandered around drooling. There were so many books, magazines, audio books, CDs, DVDs that I would love to look at! How to choose between fiction, travel, crafts. I got too overwhelmed and put most of it off for another day. They also had an annual booksale in a basement parking lot. Library booksales are increidble, and you would not believe the number of tables (or the number of people!) Thankfully, I made a logical decision to limit myself, which also allowed me to finish looking in under two hours. After all, I have a very small bedroom, and no bookshelves.

This may sound weird, but my other big excitement last weekend was doing my Canadian tax return! This is the first year I've done my own Canadian tax return (I figure Dad's accountant needs a break), but it's not intimidating after having figured out tax returns in four other countries (one in Chinese). Plus, I found that one of the programs, ufile, is free for students, and it was a breeze! Amazing. Even if I had to pay, it would be well worth it. No extra forms to fill out about student credits or income from two provinces, it's all taken care of.

And my last bit of news, which may make some readers jealous (and hungry) is that I went to Red Lobster this week! I hadn't been since I lived in Ontario, and apparently they don't have them in the Maritimes (strange?) But it only took two bus rides and a short walk to find one in Edmonton! The salad tasted the same, the biscuits were divine, and the whole resturant had the same feel as the one we used to go to in Thornhill. I was really wanting to get scallops, but I eventually thought they might not be as good in land-locked Alberta in winter as they are fresh from the sea in Digby! I went for crab linguine instead. Here's a picture I found online to remind you...

Chuzzle

You know you're not quite disciplined enough for graduate school when you find yourself playing Chuzzle instead of writing your pronunciation paper.

I Gave in to Etsy

It's been a few months now that I've known about Etsy (thanks to Maureen mentioning it on her blog). Every so often I went on, spent hours drooling over handmade jewelry and made a wishlist. I always managed to talk myself out of purchasing though:
1. The exchange rate was really bad for a while
2. There were so many pieces I loved, I couldn't afford all of them, yet I couldn't pick a favourite
3. It might be easier just to buy something in a store
But today I gave in. Real stone earrings are way too expensive in stores in Edmonton, and the exchange rate has been improving. Plus these two pairs of earrings really jumped out at me. I had decided to sleep on it, and then I got dressed this morning and went to my jewelry trees. It turns out I needed something cheerful with some blue and red to brighten up my navy hoodie/coral tee combo. Sure enough, there was nothing that would work! So both the earrings are in the mail, I'll let you know when I get them if I'm still in love with Etsy.Look how cute!!!

Spring has sprung?

Yes, it's been a while since my last post, but I've noticed the other sister/cousin/friends blogs are all lagging too, so maybe it's just that time of year. Anyway, that gives me lots to report!

Two weeks ago I went down to Banff to see Louise before she left for South America. It's always nice to get out of Edmonton, and I really like the relaxed atmosphere in Banff. Plus the Greyhound bus ride is always a nice six hours of staring at the scenery (five hours of flat and the last hour of mountains). The Greyhound in Alberta is a bit better than Chicago or Toronto, but it's still a surreal place. Every single time I ride on the bus I overhear someone talking about the criminal justice system or their previous misdeeds. While waiting for my connection in Calgary, the couple next to me spent an hour comparing their experiences in the jail system. It seems that women's prison is "way different" from men's prison, and that provincial jails are much cushier than federal prison. The things you learn...

Banff was great except that I was really, really sick most of the weekend. I rarely get sick and I can only think of two or three times that I have been that sick. Part of it was my fault, I wouldn't give up my chance to try snowboarding just for a sore throat and cough. Louise and I went up Sunshine where she's been working in a restaurant on the hill. We took a 15 minute gondola ride to get to the village and we went to her staff accommodations to get layered and geared up. One of her friends had extra snowboarding equipment I could use, so the only downside was that I didn't have snowpants. We started on the learning slope (you couldn't really call it a hill) and Louise patiently taught me the basics. I was pretty lucky to have such a great teacher, and I felt like I was picking it up pretty quickly. I didn't feel completely confident to go to a real hill, but Louise, as a friend, knew that it would be the only way to learn (it's much harder to snowboard on a slope than on a hill!) So, she decided that we would not be allowed to go inside for a warm lunch until I had gone down the real hill at least one time. Unfortunately my camera wasn't working, so the only documentation of my snowboarding experience is a dark snapshot on Louise's cellphone. These pictures will give you an idea, but it was overcast and snowy when I was there.Louise was most worried about the getting off the ski lift part at the top of the hill, but I aced that test (ie, did not fall over and force them to stop the ski lift so others didn't trip over me). Then came the hill, which seemed extremely steep, but I made it down without any big issues. Of course I fell over many times, but I mastered an efficient way to get back up (involving rolling onto your stomach, then standing up facing the top of the hill so you can get your balance before continuing). All in all, it was a very successful first time down. Most of it should be attributed to Louise's superior teaching skills, and a bit to my natural ability. I could see myself trying again some weekend, and really enjoying it. But, as it was, as soon as I got inside for lunch, all the snow started melting on my jeans and I got really chilled. And breathing cold air was really painful for my throat. So, back to Louise's place to change into dry clothes, then a hot beverage to drink on the gondola back down.The rest of the weekend I was a pretty lousy guest... I had a fever that night and then couldn't move much the next day (possibly fatigue from being sick, possibly from the snowboarding). Thankfully Louise took good care of me, and I advised while she packed for her trip. She's in the Galapagos Islands at the moment, and wandering around Ecuador and Peru for the next few weeks. I was thinking of going to join her after school's done, but I decided just to time my visit to Toronto so we'll be able to meet up when she returns and I can hear all the stories.

Yes, I am going back to Toronto for a visit from May 4-11. I'm very excited, and already planning out all the things I want to do and see. It's been 2 1/2 years since I was last back for a visit, and it wasn't very expensive just to buy a one-way flight from Edmonton and then another continuing onto Halifax. As for the summer, I'll be working with the same language school I worked with last year, although the girls from the UAE won't be coming back (sad). Instead, I'll be working with Hollywood in Halifax, which should be smaller and much less stress. Plus Carole has decided not to teach, but to do some studies at Dalhousie, so I think we'll be able to enjoy our time together more (she'll want to hear my stories, but we can also talk about things other than camp!)

Skating

Finally I have some pictures to put up here. I think colours and tone really represent winter in Edmonton. I took the picture above because of the weird pink sky (it was only 2pm). I finally went to one of the big parks with a frozen lake/pond for an afternoon of ice skating. The lake was surprisingly large with two islands to skate around. It took about five minutes for a lap if I skated fast, 10 minutes for slow. It's been a very, very long time since I went skating on a pond, it definitely requires more energy, concentration and balance than rink skating.
I loved skating there and I'm going to try to go more often. It was so peaceful.
The only downside was that the bus didn't stop for me on the way home. And, since the bus route runs every hour, I would freeze if I sat waiting there for the next one. So instead I had to trek up the hill and walk home in the cold. I composed my letter of complaint to the Transit Commission in my head on the way.

More knitting

I'm busy with school these days and Edmonton is cold. Nothing new, I guess. I wasn't sure if I should just do another knitting post, but I'm assuming a good majority of my readers (all 10 of you) are knitters so here goes. I was so inspired by Maureen's latest blog post that I'm about ready to run out and buy what I assume is some pretty pricey yarn. But aren't the colours gorgeous! Also Mom told me today that she's finally found a way to get paid for knitting. Granny's Garden hats are too cute for words. As for my latest project, I sent it to Carole in the mail. She has a mini computer that she lugs to and from school everyday, so I made it a cheerful cable knit cover. Cute, eh? I also sent her more IKEA stuffed mice for Charlie, and she's promised to put up a picture of him and his prize possessions. Supposedly he likes the white one best- she's done a scientific study.

High Praise

I was waiting in the LRT metro station downtown yesterday reading my book. An "eccentric" old man walked by me and started talking loudly in a sing-song voice. I'm pretty good at ignoring such things (every single ride on public transportation in Chicago seemed to involve a similar encounter), and I couldn't really catch what he was saying. But I got the last word... lit-er-ary. I took it as a compliment!

Take a Break

It's reading week! I can't even tell you how great it is to sleep in a bit, go to the gym, and relax with my morning coffee. Plus I'm catching up on my personal to-do list as well as trudging through the workload of my classes. Not much else to report, but here's a youtube video some of you might enjoy (at least everyone in my pronunciation class enjoyed it!)

Muffin-y Goodness

Well, I'm surviving the cold, still enjoying most of my classes, and managing with the workload. I had my first really late night working until 3am on Thursday- 12 hours straight of reading pronunciation articles and writing pedagogical implications. I was really proud that I finished and it was fairly good quality. And, believe it or not, I didn't put it off until the last minute, I started two weeks ago, and had been working on it whenever I had a spare moment. But I have been engulfed with TA work (30 hours last week, 30 hours this week!) and my research class which has an incredible workload. Anyway, after the next few days of marking midterms, I have reading week (just in time). It corresponds with Alberta's "Family Day" Holiday, which was instituted to help depressed people through the miserableness of winter. I feel that! Anyway, as to the title of my blog post, I feel the need to proclaim my love of Tim Hortons' low fat cranberry muffins. I always scoffed at low fat muffins in the past (why bother if they taste like cardboard), but now that I've tried them, I can't go back. I always get a low fat cranberry muffin when I need something sweet and it's so much healthier than my previous favourite, the sour cream glazed donut. And, lest you think the cranberry would make it tart, the reason I love it is because it's so sweet and reminds me exactly of vanilla flavoured cakes from my easy bake oven in childhood (seriously!)

My pretend cat

I am running out of mental and emotional space this week. I had assignments to grade for my TA job that took eight hours Friday and another eight hours Sunday. Plus all my schoolwork took all day Saturday, so I feel like I need a weekend after my weekend. Unfortunately I have a huge journal review due on Thursday night, and midterm grading next weekend (probably at least another 15 hours!) But the great news is that next week is a reading week so I'll be able to stop for air. Yesterday, after a particularly weary day in the world of academia (which, granted, is no where near as wearying as the real world or, even worse, the world of high school students that Carole is swimming through) I was spent. I went home after a nonsensical three hour statistics lecture to find a little brown paper package on the kitchen counter. With wonderful timing, So Young (college roommate from Korea) had sent me the sweetest gift. She knows me well, it was a small stuffed cat. He/she doesn't have a name yet, but it's lovely to pet for stress relief (not to the point where you'd doubt my mental stability, of course!) Submissions for names will be accepted in the blog comments. I wish, of course, that I could have a real cat; maybe one of these...