So a friend of mine on facebook shared link and to be honest it kind of annoyed me. http://www.cracked.com/article_19785_5-ways-modern-men-are-trained-to-hate-women.html

I feel like the idea that everything men do is intended towards impressing women is a conceited and mildly ignorant statement. Read and discuss amongst yourselves if you so desire..

Updates for Taiwan: We bought our plane tickets!!! The official dates are July 5-30. They were almost $3,000... Thank goodness the University in Taiwan is footing that bill... I only have to pay for tuition and fees.Although I'm really struggling with lesson plans. Partly because I've never written one before. The other reason is that I'm worried that all the awesome and ridiculous games I played to make my language learning experience fun are way too juvenile for the university level. I'd think they were fun... but I'm notoriously easily amused.

RICHARD III opens Thursday!!! For those of you who are unaware, for the past month or so I have been in rehearsals for Shakespeare's Richard III. I'm Lady Anne. Basically, Richard seduces me, marries me, I get crowned his queen, and then he kills me. Super. (It's actually really fun.) It's the first time I've ever done Shakespeare and it's certainly an adventure.

Finally, recent events in my life have been somewhat difficult. It's been a learning experience to say the least, although I'm slightly disappointed in myself and some of my reactions. I've found myself behaving in a juvenile fashion. Thinking about it, I've realized for myself that my parents were right when they said focusing on the negative things aren't going to help. This has pushed me one step closer to getting my tattoo. I've been thinking about getting the Greek word "agape," meaning unconditional love, on my wrist in cursive. I need the reminder that even if someone has hurt me or I'm not their biggest fan, I still need to show them love. In the words of my ENG 100 teacher from my freshman year of college, we need to "practice being nice" and eventually it'll stick. Contrary to popular belief, practice doesn't make perfect. It makes permanent.

Happy Easter everyone!

I had a delightful weekend filled with Easter joy and general merriment due to my silly family (and close family friends such as the ever cantankerous Luke Krajcik).

The highlights include:
~Cassie and I sang like warbly old ladies during church as per tradition.
~My brother, Brad, decided that we were all past the age when the Easter egg hunt needed to be closely monitored by our parents, mind you, our ages are between the range of 16 and 23. The rule was that we each get 12 eggs, but Brad decided that since we were old enough, it was a free-for-all. He took to finding the eggs, claiming the candy, and then promptly re-hiding the eggs. This caused great ire for the less athletic of us.
~I had the privilege to meet Taquito. My cousin's turtle. We're not quite sure what kind of turtle he is, so I will call him a pocket turtle. He is approximately an inch and a half across and quite adorable. While he does have an actual aquarium for his home, he tends to spend more time in Makenzie's pocket and/or purse.


Moving on, this past week and weekend also contained three birthday celebrations! Last Thursday was my best friend Lisa Miske's surprise party!!! On Saturday we celebrated my Grandma Boettcher's birthday, as well as Great Grandma Oberstadt's 100th birthday. Oh Boy! Let me tell you, that is quite the accomplishment, although it is not a goal for me. I've become a fan of my independence and would not like to return to a life where I depend other people for my daily existence and activities. Granted, I suppose to a certain extent it is inevitable.

In other news, I just finished the second book in the Hunger Games Trilogy! Usually I pride myself in being a book snob. Meaning, I read the books before I see the movies. With the Hunger Games, this was not the case. However, while I watched the movie (feeling a little guilty), I was able to simply enjoy it rather than comparing it to how I imagined the book or being mad that they took something out or didn't follow the book exactly the way it was written. What I have discovered, more often than not, is that if you read the book first, you will be disappointed by the movie.

Since this is supposedly a blog about me being  TESOL Teacher, I guess I should include something about that. While looking through the activity idea book, there was one about riddles. An example of one of the riddles is as follows: "A man lived on the twelfth floor of an apartment building. Each day, when he came home from work, he took the elevator to the eighth floor, got out, and walked up to his apartment on the twelfth floor. The elevator was in good operating order and went all the way to the twelfth floor. Why did the man walk up those four flights of stairs?" Now I'm sure you're quite curious as to what the answer is. I would prefer you gave yourself a moment to think about it, but if you'd rather not think too hard, here's the answer: "He was a midget and could not reach any button above '8' on the elevator panel." WHAAAAA?! Is that even politically correct anymore?! I think I'll just skip that activity or maybe use a different example...

Thanks for your attention to my blathering! <Yes, that is a real word!

I received the packet of various teaching materials and ideas that our professor wants us to look over for Taiwan. I open it and the first activity made me laugh out loud. Maybe this is more of an inside joke for my family, but I'm sharing it nonetheless. The activity is intended, in the English learning world, for practicing asking questions.This is the first time I've ever thought to use it in an educational setting. I used it for a Christmas party and, according to my friend A.J., it is a drinking game called "Celebrity."

Now, I don't really know a name for the non-drinking, classroom appropriate version of this game so instead I'll just explain it. You write the name of many different famous or well-known individuals on small pieces of paper and tape it to each participant's back. Then, you wander about asking questions about your person in hopes to determine their identity. Or, as my family tweaked it because we're rather easily distracted, we have one person do it at a time. Then, everyone can appreciate the ridiculousness that ensues. We also make it more personal, including people who are a part of our lives. So, here's a shout out to the Boettchers!

Speaking of the Boettchers, I'm excited beyond belief to see them this weekend for Easter. So much hilarity and adventure will occur. I also plan on eating my body weight in various forms of hard boiled eggs, which I have recently developed a strange affection for.

Well, here we are. The moment I've fought since I was in the sixth grade. This moment consisted of a child's dream to grow up and be a teacher and the realization of how much work it really was . A never-ending stream of grading, lesson planning and determining curriculum was not the life I picture for myself. Working at the YMCA as a summer camp counselor had turned me off to ever interacting with children that were not my own. Hearing some of the tales of my dear mother's substitute teaching experiences weren't very encouraging either. With all of this working against me, I tried to plan out what I did want from my life. I knew I wanted the adventure and excitement from theatre. I wanted the interpersonal relationships of communication. Now, what can I find that includes those things and also doesn't really seem like work...?

I recall a time in seventh grade when I turned in grammar homework and my teacher told me that I "was good at it," and that "I should become an English teacher." I scoffed, rolled my eyes (as most 11 year olds tend to do) and shrugged it off. I was still determined that teaching WAS NOT the right thing for me. Throughout high school, I resisted the encouragement to "attend Martin Luther College" and "join the ministry." I didn't want to become the stereotype: go to MLC, marry, live in happy, conservative wedded bliss with my children. But that's another topic for another time.

I was always pushed by my parents, especially my mom, to do my best, learn as much as I can and travel. To me, the best way to do this was by leaving the realm of private, religious based education and jumping into a public university in the exotic and distant land of River Falls, Wisconsin where my father attended college. I started out as Undecided Major with a Minor in Musical Theatre. Throughout my college career, that Minor is the one thing that has not changed. Second semester, I lept into Communication Studies. After taking Sophomore Seminar, decided it wasn't for me. Side stepped into Digital Film and Television Sophomore Year, where I made delightful silly friends and became one of the hosts of Focus on U, the esteemed (but rarely watched) student run TV show. Junior Year, deciding I wanted to travel and also for giggles, I picked up and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Minor. Uh oh. I loved it. Diagramming sentences, phonetics, and language acquisition were all the new exciting things that filled my dreams and hopes. Now, I am contemplating changing my Major to an Education TESOL Major (and by contemplating, I mean I'll change it next semester). This is the moment I've been fighting. I'm going to be a teacher. I have to take all the education courses that are required to get into the program, take the Praxis I, take the classes needed to be certified and then take the Praxis II and I'll be certified in WI! And then on to MN! To top it off, I'll probably get my Master's while I'm at it. I mean, I'll probably be here for 5 years at least. Why not just add a year or two?

Now this explanation wouldn't be complete without the travel opportunity that got the ball rolling. At the beginning of this year I was desperate for an adventure. Then in my Intro to Linguistics course, I was introduced to the month long trip to Taiwan in July to teach English at the University in Taipei. There was no going back.

This blog will serve as a means of reassuring my darling parents, family and friends that I'm still alive while I'm there and also to document my thoughts and experiences. It'll be my journal because, realistically, who even uses real tangible diaries anymore. If you do, get with the times!!! But seriously, the purpose of this blog will probably evolve over time so don't get too comfortable.


B