First Teaching Day

The first teaching day has been completed. In the morning I had 5 girls who are 5th graders. Most are eleven years old. This means they have studied English about 2-3 years in their school curriculum. We spent most of the time playing multiplication bingo. This gave them a great deal of practice saying numbers from 1-144 in English. We ended up with Hokey-Pokey and Simon Says.

Back to the hotel for lunch. We were treated with a wonderful meatball soup. This was followed by a cold chicken salad. This has small pieces of chicken and lots of green beans and corn. I would never have thought of this combination, but it truly was very good.

In the afternoon I had 6 students who are 4th graders. This means they have studied English about one year in their school curriculum. They remembered me from May 2012, for the first question was : "Bingo?" With this group I worked on the pronunciation of the English alphabet. These students may say A, but really mean E. Likewise they may see E and really mean I. They do have good vocabulary, and it's 21st century vocabulary.  I was using some alphabet cards that had a letter and a picture; for example, the card for D shows a duck. I asked them to give me another word that began with each letter. I really enjoyed that F is for Facebook.

Back to the hotel for a nap for I had not fallen asleep until 3 AM. I was really tired.

We had a very nice dinner comparing notes about our day, with 3 us teaching English, and 3 volunteers working at the Children's Hospital. With today's phones, we really can compare notes. One volunteer brought back video of herself rocking a child and while the video was being recorded, slipping out of the chair. The look on her face is indeed priceless.

So a very good day. Just hope to actually sleep tonight!

From A to B

Yesterday morning I left Amsterdam on a 7:10 AM flight. It was a cool, rainy morning.

My first flight took me to Paris. Then it was a long, long trek to the terminal and gate for my flight to Bucharest. However, we arrived in Paris a few minutes past 8 and I didn't need to be at the gate for the next flight until 9:55, so it was a long, but not stressful trek.

 Upon arriving in Bucharest I wondered if I had managed to somehow take the wrong flight. Nothing looked familiar. Then I began to realize we had come to a new terminal. We had to make a long trek to the old terminal for passport control and baggage.

Soon, however, I found the country manager and the other team members; I was the last arrival.

 We loaded up luggage and then began the drive to Barlad.

After about two hours we stopped in Bazau and had supper at McDonald's.

Bazau is a fairly large city with many interesting buildings. Below is a church I noticed near the McDonald's.

 As we continued north we went through an area of vineyards, now dormant in March. We also began to see snowbanks in areas sheltered somewhat from the early spring sun.

It was dark when we arrived in Barlad. We quickly checked into Hotel Moldova, and about the first question was "What's the password for the wireless?" I learned at breakfast this morning that some had already done Skype conversations back to the states. I was SMS to a friend in Poland via Skype.

Here's my room. Soon the bed with the suitcase will also be covered with teaching materials. We are off to a good start.

You Must Have Two Desserts

By the time readers you get to the end the title of this posting will be more clear. However, it also serves to speak to the day which was divided into two exploring segments.

I didn't get much more rest in bed than I had on the plane the previous night, but it surely was more comfortable. By 4:30 I decided to give up. After all, at home I would still be up running around -- hard to adjust the body clock in 24 hours. Came down to breakfast and was immediately approached by a man asking me if I could answer a question. Apparently he and his drinking buddies were having a discussion and needed someone to settle it. He spoke English but was just drunk enough to not make much sense. I got a bite to eat and a cappuccino and seated myself far away from these guys. However, I could hear them, "Oh it's 5:00. Maybe it's time to go to bed!"

I wandered over to Schiphol Plaza to scope out my where I should be for my early morning flight tomorrow morning. Airport was still very quiet at this time. I spent some time exploring the art.

The base of this is a world map. The poles come up from each of the continents and one can push a button and see a video from a city on the continent. For example, the North American choices are New York City and San Francisco.

This sculpture is called Sun Rider and is the work of  Arthur Sprocken.

The above is called Polyester Knot and is the work of Shinkichi Tajiri.

I headed outdoors to find out where the 300 Conexxion bus to Haarlem stops. I enjoyed this view below when I stepped out the door.

Went back into Schiphol Plaza and back to Grand Central Cafe. I had a another cappuccino and a croissant with cheese. Then I came back to room and crawled back into bed, looking for a nap and hoping the weather report of sun by noon would be true.

Woke up at 1:30 PM and yes, the sun was shining. I got a train ticket and headed for Amsterdam Central. I had in mind to go have a meal at the Sea Palace restaurant, a place that has been on my list since last summer. However, construction caused a bridge closure and I ended up on the wrong side of canal and really didn't want to back track a lot to find another way across the canal. I knew the Amsterdam library had a very nice cafeteria, so I headed there.

I got a sandwich and a piece of cheesecake. However, when I was paying for it, I got the idea I had done something wrong.  Turns out I was supposed to have two desserts for 2.75 euros, apparently some kind of special -- so I went back to the dessert station and picked up a second one. This truly is a problem I've never encountered before.

Enjoyed wandering around here looking at exhibits within the library, including the banned book exhibit. This type of exhibit is something my university library does this time of year, too.

Headed back to the train station. Noticed a new sign since last summer.

Now it is very easy to see what trains stop at Schiphol without having to read all the fine print for each individual train on the schedule.

The Netherlands railroad is truly helpful, for when I got to platform 14 I found two staff there to answer questions, and they were kept quite busy by tourists.

Love the hats!

Off to find some supper and then will curl up on my bed with the BBC. There are some good things on tonight. What a treat to have TV that really has some interesting programs. I'm beginning to go days at a time without turning it on while at home.

From Minnesota to Amsterdam

Yesterday, March 6, I began a journey from Saint Paul to Barlad, Romania.

As  noted in my previous blog we had received a dump of snow. I called for a shuttle ride, a service provided by my building management, and found that I had to leave at 2:30 PM rather than 4:00 as I desired. The shuttle van had been involved in an accident and so a small car was being used for transportation which lessened the amount of riders for each trip. So I was all checked in for my 7:35 PM flight by 3 PM. This included a review of my passport both by TSA and the Delta staff person who checked in my luggage. I had more than enough time to wander around the airport!

I went in to the G concourse all the way down to about gate 30 for I have discovered the wonderful Mill City cafe from other trips through the airport. I had a very nice turkey sandwich there. Then I walked a bit into the sky way that connects the two long wings of the airport. I got this beautiful view out the window there.

 Finally it was time for the flight to begin organizing and boarding. I was surprised to be paged. The Delta staff wanted to check my passport. I'd never had that happen before. But then as I waited I noticed about 40 people got paged. I surely couldn't figure out what we all might had in common that called for this extra check of a passport.

It was an uneventful flight, and that's certainly the best kind. The only surprise was how good the food was. For "dinner" I chose the cold salad. it came with grilled chicken which was very good and the salad greens and dressing were very good.  For breakfast we had a breakfast sandwich and a banana.

Passport control  in Amsterdam was a bit more stringent than I've encountered before. I had to answer some detailed questions about where I was going, did a I have a ticket back to the states, and also did I have enough money to support myself. This, plus the extra passport check, made me wonder if there is a security warning of some kind quietly in place.

I checked into the Citizen M hotel at Schiphol and elected to pay for an early check in for I didn't want to add another 3 hours of sitting around to this trip. Took a 2 hour nap and then opened up the Internet to deal with things rolling in now from North America.

Wandered back to Shiphol Plaza to look for a couple things I had forgotten to pack. I went into a supermarket. Enjoyed seeing the products there. Two things took my eye in particular.

I thought these guys were cute. The containers are for cheese spread. I was amazed at the idea of "cheese spread" in a country noted for production of fabulous cheeses. I tried to read the packaging and I'm guessing this product comes from Germany.

The shop was full of Easter chocolates, something I may pick up on my way home. However, I was surprised to find Christmas chocolates on a shelf.

The Christmas chocolates were not even on sale! In the United States this would have been on a clearance sale on December 26 and two days later the shelf would have been full of things for Valentine's Day.

I went to my favorite restaurant in Schiphol Plaza -- and I am really lucky to be able to travel so much to have a favorite restaurant here! I ordered the burger special.

 Oh, yes, the wonderful French Fries here come in a paper cone. The burger includes sliced cucumbers. We often use pickles, but I'd never thought before about using raw cucumbers. It is very good!

I was really thinking about lingering longer over a coffee, but couldn't see my waitress. Suddenly there she was saying, "How about a coffee?"

A very nice evening getting onto Europe time. 

Snow, Beautiful Snow?

Yesterday a friend said on Facebook, "I'm so done with winter." That's really how we feel in March. And then the insult this week of a double snowstorm. The first one started early Monday morning to make rush hour a mess. I had a 9 AM meeting and the driving was not pleasant. it By late afternoon when it was time to go to Polish class, the snow had stopped and the major streets were in "good winter driving condition."
I got to the neighborhood early and stopped at the near Nicollet Island Inn to make a reservation for Easter Brunch. Walking out I noticed a lower level outdoor cafe, not quite yet ready for sitting in the sun with a cup of coffee.

The snow began again about midnight.

I looked out my window and saw this unusual sight.

The above is not a Photoshop trick. The shadow really did look golden brown.

I awoke on Tuesday morning to a lot more snow. I had an appointment to get my nails done so chugged out of the garage through the snow.  By the time I got to the more main streets, the driving was good. Glad I worn boots instead of shoes (and only a week ago I was dreaming about wearing sandals to this appointment!) for most of the sidewalks were not yet shoveled.

The snow was wet and there was not much wind, so the world was very decorated.

I had a class last evening. By the time I left for that the sun was shining. Most everyone showed up for class, but I heard from one student who wrote an e-mail saying, "I spent 3 hours in the ditch this morning waiting for the tow truck. I'm not coming to class and will take any penalty that causes." Well, no penalty if she somehow takes an opportunity to make things up. I say at the first class that if students act like adults, I'll treat them like adults. It is simply the total lack of communication or explanation that drives me crazy. Our student population is not 18 year olds living in a dorm. Part of being a professor in a university like this is working with students while they blend "life with learning."

Tutoring Adventure

My granddaughter is taking a quite comprehensive anatomy and physiology course as part of her high school curriculum. She has an exam on Tuesday on the nervous system and asked for some tutoring help. We went to a Culver's Restaurant and worked hard on concepts such as parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system, sodium-potassium pump, and peripheral nerves. A family was dining next to us and when they got ready to leave, the mom in the group approached us and saluted my granddaughter for studying so hard. What a nice and unexpected thing.

Service Fair Adventure

The blog has been quiet because all that is out my window is gray and snowy.

At Thompson Park Lodge, West St. Paul, MN while attending the Minnesota Department of Health Oral Health Summit, February 22

Snow Covered Roof at St. Olaf College, February 28

While we don't have as much snow as other places in the Midwest, at this point winter does get tiresome! I simply didn't want to waste everyone's time complaining about it.

Today I went to St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota as a volunteer for Global Volunteers to participate in the College's World Wide Service Fair.

There were many organizations represented, but in wandering around I found only one other that really offered the possibility of doing something internationally.

We had a lot of students stop by and ask questions. There was great interest in the program in Ecuador. Apparently through something from the College students had been there before and fallen in love with the country. Near the end one young man stopped by and explained he was going to Europe anyway this summer and thought he might as well do something.

The time went by very quickly.

This was my first time on this campus and enjoyed wandering about the building. I found the campus radio station.

There is a lot of art work, always interesting to see.

The painting below is called A Matter ofTime and the artist is Jill Ewald.

Lunch was provided by the College in the nearby Viking Theater Room.

Here I found some interesting wall sculptures.

The one above is called Leif Ericsson and the one below is St. Olaf.

Sorry I did not get the artist's name.

Fun to be in a new place! Enjoyed doing this volunteer activity very much. Hope we get some new volunteers.