English Episodes #11 - A new chapter begins

I finished up with my pre-intermediate class late March so that I could start teaching a Cambridge Advanced Exam prep course (think a harder TOEFL test). I was so sad to see my group go; they've really made a great community (as well as a quite amusing one). That said, I had about a 1/3 of my class leave that last Friday as well, so it was a fitting time to close that chapter.

But the funny bits from the vault!

We learned that one of our cohort had to get reconstructive surgery on his nose twice after it was messed up in a fight with his friend. He'd called it plastic surgery, but we learned nuance of the two types (Note: These are folks that have a hard time talking about past events with nuance but they totally get the difference between elective and non-elective surgery). Anyway, it fit into our discussion of medical vocab, what to say at the doctor, etc. This guy explained that they had to take cartilage out of his ear to put into his nose and now the tip of his nose is hard, not squishy.

Imagine a classroom of folks all pushing on the tips of their noses at the same time.

It gets funnier.

As we're pondering these facts, another pipes up: "So, can you use your cellphone like this?" He puts his hand in front of his nose and mouth, the speaker being next to the nose. Laughter begins but escalates when our surgery recipient agrees and says: "Yes! And I put my earphones here" pointing to his nostrils.

We all lost it. It was a great ending class with lots of photos, a few tears. We also did a fun writing exercise that I post excerpts from later.

Last Friday I ran into one of my former students after class who started to cry on me and gave me a hug. She said that I was the best English teacher she'd ever had, that we'd learned so much more than just speaking. It moved me more than I can truly say - she's so sweet and was so obviously emotional in a way I'd not expected at all. We took photos together after she'd wiped her tears and promised to see each other soon "on the Internet."

I only friend my students on the book of face after they are my students. It's easier that way.

Thoughts on pain & death

That's quite a downer of a title, isn't it?

But these are things that are circling in my head right now: I'm at a great cafe in my neighborhood getting ready to do some writing work. The barista I remember from a few visits ago - her friend had died and she was looking to go back home to Florida for the funeral that weekend. I gave her a hug before I left and wished her well. Then today I asked how it went - as with most funerals it sounds like a cathartic experience, one she said was really spiritual and moving. That there's a connection between that group of friends that wasn't there before - it makes me think of Billie and what happened when he died in such an untimely way in 2004. There's something about losing a friend (or hearing about the loss of a friend) that makes me think about mortality in a more tangible way.

I survived my first MRI today as well - the narrow tube was like a spaceship and I kept my eyes firmly shut on the advice of a friend who'd had one before. Deep breathing served me well and now I have a crazy CD of pictures of my spine... Perhaps now the doctor types can tell me why I want to cut off my right hip because the pain gets so bad. Here's hoping.

Next post will be more entertaining, I promise.