Portland

I registered (well...sort of!  Keep reading.) for three conferences between the 16th and 29th of March.  The first was last week, and the last two are both on the West Coast.  I flew to Portland via Chicago yesterday, arriving at 11:30 p.m. (Pacific...2:30 a.m. Eastern!).  Fortunately, the airport shuttle driver Ryan was prompt, and my conference buddy and I were soon checked in, unpacked, and asleep.

I awoke at 6 a.m. to my cell phone ringing.  A student was calling to tell me that she couldn't come to class today.  I took that to mean that she hadn't remembered that I wasn't teaching class today!  Not long after that, we managed to make our way to the lobby, meet some other conference go-ers, find our way to the Max (Portland's trolley system), and arrive at the conference site!

Once we arrived, I had a little shock.  Apparently, I either forgot to register for this conference, or my registration got lost!  There is a little bit of humor in this, considering I was co-presenting a session at this conference with my advisor!  My name was printed in the conference program, but I was not registered to attend!  Haha.  I'm inclined to think that the error was on my end.  It is very plausible that when planning for this trip, last November, I thought I would register later and just never got around to it!  Either way, the same day registration rate was only $5 more.  My account can handle that difference.

The day was packed with good sessions, but by the end of it, my introverted self needed some silence.  As much as I have enjoyed the last week, it hasn't allowed ample time for solitude.  My roommate had plans for dinner and I made plans of my own.  I found a Starbucks, got myself a latte, walked in the drizzly rain for a little bit, and then went back to a quiet hotel room.

It was great! :)  Portland is already blooming and it's a delightful temperature, which has come to mean "not freezing."

Tomorrow is the start of the last of my three conferences.  This has a whopping 6500+ attendees.  The program book is quite literally a book.  Speaking of the book, I need to decide on my sessions for tomorrow!  Just to be clear, I am definitely registered for this one!

Lunch

At long last, I was able to reconnect with a student from a few semesters past.  She hasn't been able to come to class, but we have been keeping in touch via text.  In light of my new found freedom (haha!), I arranged to have lunch at her house.  When I arrived, she had made a proper feast for us!  She said she was celebrating that we could finally get together.

After a leisurely lunch, we had our tea. :) I've missed those little tea cups heaped full of sugar.

My Second Surprise Party :)

My students felt badly that they all hadn't been prepared to celebrate my birthday last week.  When I returned on Thursday to our class, they were ready to party once more!  I don't understand why everyone doesn't want my job! :)

Steel City

Sunday through Wednesday, I was in Steel City for an adult education conference, hoping to glean a wealth of information on teaching English to adults.  While the conference was somewhat anticlimactic, I still enjoyed getting to see a new city.  

This was my favorite house, dubbed La Petit Maison Verde. 

This is the very last picture of me as a 29 year old!

The conference may not have been all that I hoped for, but it was still a good experience and a fun trip.  Now, I have high hopes for my two conferences next week, which will take me out to the West Coast!

Birthday Surprise

My "sister", my one student and friend who is my age, decided to surprise me on my last day of class before leaving for a conference.  She knew I would be away on my birthday.  CL stopped at a store on her way to class to get a cake.

She also gave me a pair of handmade slippers!  Her aunt (who is still in China) made them.  I think they are awesome!!

The best moment of all was my students singing Happy Birthday to me.  It isn't a matter of language, because their language is advanced far above the level of Happy Birthday.  I might not be able to articulate it. I felt such love and kinship and I felt so blessed to be loved and cherished by these dear people.

After a very busy year, I am going to know what it is like to only have two jobs to juggle.  In January, I started to realize that my job requirements kept increasing.  My priorities need to be my teaching and my graduate program.  My students have started asking to meet outside of class, and I wanted to be able to meet up for coffee or for a meal with them.  I kept not having time to do so.  I missed writing, in my journal, on this blog, writing just for the love of writing.  I wanted to be able to sit through church without being poised to dash out if my phone rang because I was on call.  For that matter, I wanted to only be responsible for one phone number!

I had to have a few solid days/weeks of thinking, praying, and journaling (which is part of how I think!) to balance what I wanted to do with what I needed to do.  I wanted more time, that was undeniable.  But the challenge was to decide if I could manage it.

As it often does, it comes down to my own faith.  Will I look at the lilies of the field?  I have Matthew 6:28-34 on a little post card on my mirror because I need that reminder.

The final decision was to turn in my notice at ML and to keep my job at the gym and of course, my teaching job.  Today is my last day at ML, and I'm rather excited to turn in my badge.  It has been bittersweet at times.  Although this job has been demanding and incredibly far out of my comfort zone, it has been a blessing to me financially and relationally. The response to the news of my departure has been touching.  I've gotten sweet emails, thoughtful presents, and kind cards from the people that I've worked with for the last ten months.

It is undeniable that this was a good decision at the right time.  The journaling and thinking and praying always pays off!  I feel peace.  I feel anticipation.  I feel the thrill of a new challenge ahead of me.

My "spare" time will quickly be accounted for in the next few months.  I'm reaching the point where I need to make concrete plans for my thesis, which I will be writing in the autumn.  As part of my thesis work, I'm committing myself to language study.  Ideally, this needs to begin now for me to have any semblance of usable language by the autumn.  I also have been itching to begin the research aspect of my thesis.  And then, there is my current class, which promises to be one of my most challenge grad courses yet.  "Advanced Instructional Design and Assessment."  Yep, that doesn't sound easy.

There is also some travel in the works!  I'm in the process of sorting visas and plane tickets for countries 35 and 36, and there may be a few more border crossings in the not too distant future.  But for right now, it is time that I get ready to head into ML for my last day.

For everything there is a season, and time for every matter under heaven.  

Ecclesiastes 3:1

Proud Teacher Moment

My students amaze and impress me on a daily basis.  They are so patient with me as their teacher and they are so curious about English.  This may not always translate into fabulous English, but I'm very pleased to note visible improvements for all of my language learners.  

The student closest to my age, CL, is a gem.  She calls me her sister, which means so much to me.  She was asked to speak at my organization's Lenten Luncheon, which was focusing on the ESL program for the first time in recent years.  She was to speak for about 5 minutes, in front of approximately 80 people.  Those details alone can intimidate many people, but remember, she was also speaking in her second language, a language she knew nothing of four years ago!  She wrote her speech entirely on her own.  

We left from our ESL class to go to the luncheon.  I drove, and two other students came along to support CL. I had to laugh when I realized that I was the only non-Mandarin speaker in my car.  Although I didn't understand a word of the chatter, every now and then, English would slip into the conversation and I could get a sense of the conversation.  Then, someone would stop to translate for me so that I would feel included.  

CL was very nervous and said she couldn't eat anything for lunch until after she spoke.  Fortunately, she didn't need to wait very long.  She gave her speech and I was so proud!

She was amazing.  She made people laugh, which I told her is such a compliment when giving a speech in the USA.  She had altered her speech a bit from when she had rehearsed in front of our classroom, and her words of appreciation really humbled me.  

I have no idea if the fundraising was a success, but I certainly know that CL's speech was!