Road Trip

Wheeee.

Botanical gardens in Montreal

AJ and I just returned from a 2200 mile roadtrip, mostly through the province of Quebec.

The car (and AJ) at mile 1002.

I'm not going to turn this into an epic travelogue, but I will tell you that we:

• met many Canadians who spoke no English
• ate poutine
• ate elk, bison and moose
• saw a moose along the side of the road
• learned the French word for moose
• saw three species of whales and grey seals
• saw the most Canadian sign ever:

We also stopped into Rochester to visit Rosa for a night! Hurray for a mini-management reunion. Rosa made a great ratatouille and we took a sweet field trip to the Mega-Wegmans. Oh man, best grocery store ever. I could live on only the cheese cases (I counted 7, not counting the deli) or the bagged shredded stuff.

Anyway, we're home now and I have to return AJ to New Haven soon, which is good for him but sad for me. Funny to think that oh-lev are seniors now and oh-ten is dispersed. But Baltimore is gaining another YPMB alum in Marina, who's going to be working for a Hopkins lab. One more reason you should totally come visit me.

Where even the earth can't sit still...

Howdy everyone…hope it’s been a good summer! Here’s my update on the never-ending party that is Cali (well that’s what I want you to think anyway…mwahaha). Aside from working like crazy for a few months, I survived my first earthquake!! And my second, and my third, and my 10th, 20th…what can I say? Maybe my coming to this state got the earth all excited. It was kind of amazing that our quake—technically Mexico’s quake—was larger than the one in Haiti, yet only two people were killed. I suppose Mexico’s building codes are a lot better than they appear.

But just as earth-shattering, our state was just graced (alas too briefly) with the presence of Christopher Michael Young. During his 24-hour layover before heading back to China, it was Monica's and my job (with the help and chauffeuring of Monica's bf Jonathan) to sell the Golden State, and give him a sensational sendoff.

This included of course the Cali essentials: In-N-Out, Yogurtland, the beach. But the highlight of this time was the visit to the gay country bar. Yes, you read that right. Thanks to the brilliant suggestion of Kate Kraft (who met us there), we found ourselves plunged into Chris Young heaven. It seems safe to say that the state of California (and possibly a few of its male dancers) seduced him that night.

This is the dance floor, where there was line dancing and couples dancing (with some REALLY good dancers)…




And our 一起 picture (“yiqi”, meaning together)—by the way, that is Monica’s sweet pool in the background:



I would like to note that as far as recent posts are concerned—here is the tally:
California: 2
The rest of the world: 0

Get cracking, world!


PS--The fortune from my Chinese dinner tonight, from a place with a tendency for unusual fortunes:

"Remember three months from this date! Your lucky star is shining."

What happens three months from this date (east coast time), on November 20, 2010? The Chinese are always right. Always*.

*Knock on wood

Disneyland!

Steve came to visit and of course we drove down to Anaheim for some Disney fun! We also met up with two of my coworkers in China, Michael and Zoe...


This is us getting breakfast at La Brea Bakery... (Michael on the left)

For Rita!!!

We went on Star Tours on its very last day!!! It will be closed for a year for renovations, and they're putting in a new Episode 1-3 themed version.

Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin... hilarious shot of Steve. On this ride you can spin your own car.

Tower of Terror!!!!


Sleeping Beauty Castle

And of course, on the drive back up to Morro Bay, we stopped at In-N-Out! mmmmm!!!

Miss you all and hope we can see each other soon! Heading out to Xiuning, China in one week. See ya real soon!

--Annie

Oh, I almost forgot... we went to San Francisco for a day. Met up with James and Susan, Ben Somers, and other peeps.

Graduation

Who's going? Where are you staying? I just made an impulse buy of a plane ticket up for graduation, and I cannot wait to see everyone who's coming!

ADDENDUM

Jae just informed me that we may need tickets for Class Day on Sunday. So, if you want to go see Bill, let me know and I'll let Jae know how many tickets '09 needs. Gracias!

I have not in fact disappeared from the face of the planet.

I've just been in graduate school. Just wanted to let you know that no, I am not dead; b, a life update is coming, probably this weekend, and 3, I'll be in the Have for Commencement weekend.

Stay tuned. Love you all, miss you more.

Baltimore is awesome

So, as some of you know, I just moved from a marginal neighborhood to a nice one. (If you need my new address or phone number let me know!)

I went back to the old place today to collect a few stray items, and while I was there, I caught the latest gossip from the block. Apparently someone living on the block has enemies, because last night, about 4:30 am, someone lit her car on fire. As in, from the gas tank. They were attempting to make it explode, but they failed. Instead, the gas tank lit on fire, and melted the entire back end of the car.

Yes. It is still on the street, mangled and charred and everything. I love this city.

I'll try to update again from Egypt (I leave Sunday).
Love from Charm City!

Spring Break! (finally...)

Woo, my spring break is finally here! Now, I need to apologize before I start this post because I know I only talk about school on here, but considering that teaching and taking classes about teaching are pretty much the only things I do nowadays, you'll have to forgive me.

First off, my school has been all over the news, both international and local! That's right, we heard tell of someone seeing this clip, featuring my two principals recruiting in the Iberville Projects next to my school, in Japan:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/world_news_america/8604181.stm

The second clip comes from the local news. Last week was state testing in Louisiana, which basically meant that K-2 were kicked out of the building all week so as not to risk disturbing the testing environment. Throughout the week we fed exotic animals, visited two colleges (Tulane and Dillard), and completed 10 hours of service learning. The latter is what we made the news for. We had an anti-litter campaign where we teamed up with a local community center and service organization. We picked up trash around the school, placed trashcans in the neighborhood, and on the last day held an anti-litter parade (you know how New Orleans loves its parades) complete with handmade cardboard signs. Here's the clip from the news segment:

http://www.abc26.com/videobeta/bb75e563-8152-4cf6-aae6-f0474ed36994/News/160-Kindergarten-first-and-second-graders-teamed-up-with-the-Phoenix-of-New-Orleans-to-clean-up-lower-Mid-City

Makes me smile :)

Also making me smile is my long awaited spring break! I'm super excited about my plans - I'm going to New York City baby! My principal and a couple other teachers and I are going on an all-expenses paid trip to observe three of the best charter schools in the city. I love doing this sort of thing because I get such great ideas for my classroom. I observed some schools after The Game and ended up bringing back a behavior management plan that has since been implemented school-wide (not to brag or anything). Also, while in New York, my entire suite has decided to use me coming as an excuse for a reunion, so all of us will be converging there next weekend! I could use me some Yale loving, let me tell you.

Well, that's the update from my front. What's happening in your neck of the woods?