morning assembly @ CJC

somehow this seems nostalgic to me

misnomers

• An inchworm is neither an inch long, nor a worm.
• Greenland is icy and Iceland is greener)
• Panama hats are not made in Panama, but Ecuador
• The “lead” in pencils is made of graphite and clay, not lead
• Northwestern University is in northeastern Illinois, a midwestern state.
• “Tin foil” is almost always actually aluminum.
• Catgut is made from sheep intestines.
• The Hundred Years’ War did not last for 100 years but 116.
• Head cheese is actually a meat product.
• “Horny toads” or “horned frogs” are actually lizards.
• Though a starfish is star-shaped, as the name suggests, it is not a fish.
• The titmouse is a bird, not a mouse.
• Jellyfish are not fish.
• Scotland Yard is located in England.
• The “funny bone” is not a bone — the phrase instead refers to the ulnar nerve.
• During its peak, rush hour often lasts more than an hour, with very little, if any, movement.

the current “in” thing …

resurrection sunday was a blast. and it was awesome to celebrate the victory that Christ won for us. after lunch, and a quick baptism briefing, we had time to spare. and it just so happened that a bunch of others, also had time to spare. half went to sleep.

while the rest of us, had a go at our new pastime (well, it’s not that new actually).

table tennis.

it was really great fun! from the running commentaries, to the great shots, and the near misses – it was riveting and noisy all at the same time. and the kids got in on the action too.

well, you figure out who the kid is!!

but i had so much fun!
let’s do it again!

silly billy dilly & young friends

walking around this morning was unbelievably fun. it was the company and the craziness – of laughter, of photos, of standing in the wind, of sharing food – that made it truly carefree, and connecting and just so refreshing for me. i think N would say we were all acting very silly billy dilly!! 

it’s really odd and almost unreal for me, but its been kinda neat to hang with the kids too – and i think its safe to say that these guys have become my first real young friends! how cool!

teaching and learning

i think over the years, i’ve spent a lot of time teaching – or trying to teach – afterall Jesus did say go into all the world… and teach them …. 

but i’m not so sure how much actual learning has been taking place. 

for example. yesterday, i taught a class where i had to literally teach/talk for 2 and a half hours. today, a mere 11 hours later, someone from the class only remembered one line. i guess that’s better than nothing, but it does make you wonder. either you’re doing it wrong, or that there is a better way to do this. 

____________

Any genuine teaching will result, if successful, in someone’s knowing how to bring about a better condition of things than existed earlier. {John Dewey}

The task of the excellent teacher is to stimulate “aparently ordinary” people to unusual effort. The tough proplem is not in identifying winners: it is in making winners out of ordinary people. {K. Patricia Cross}

Teachers who cannot keep students involved and excited for several hours in the classroom should not be there. {John Roueche}

(more quotes found here)

to sit and chat

it was nice being able to just sit and chat. it’s funny how, even though we can see one another so often, that it takes slowing down and being and sharing for us to really connect. i was glad for last night.

and then there was two

it originally had six. and through a series of unknown and rather unfortunate curious moments, we are now left with two. 

ah, but for how long more?

missed call

it’s the second time this week i’ve missed the call, and somehow that bothers me. have i become so busy (again)?

10 years late, but better late than never, no

my curiosity in this film started one day, last year, as i walked into my office, and two friends were watching some old movie on a laptop. (yes i do have an odd sort of a job that allow my friends to be in my office while watching movies). they were sharing a pair of headphones, and it seemed that they were waiting for a particular one moment in the film. it was merely happenstance (if one believes in such possibilities) that i walked in on that precise moment. they were enraptured (not, mind you, at my walking in, but rather at the moment when she (a famous actor) stands before him (a self proclaimed, and sadly, undisputed loser)  to deliver that now famous line “I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.”) it was watching their sheer pleasure of the moment, that peaked my inquisitiveness,to perhaps one day, find the time to watch the show myself. 

today was that day. 

and like them, i too found myself enthralled at that particular brand of humour, a brand  most would refer to as ’british humour’, and at the same time, feeling the wretched pain of a heart broken from loss. the pathos masking the pathetic truth of the lovers situation.

the movie is Notting Hill. it first came out in 1999. so it’s taken me ten years to watch it. but i enjoyed every bit of it just the same – from the self-deprecating wisecracks of william (played by Hugh Grant, who’s middle two names are incidentally ‘John’ and ‘Mungo’) to his quirky and idiosyncratic friends and their lives, to the beauty of Julia Roberts , and the strange antics of william’s room mate!

i thoroughly enjoyed this show.

better late than never i say.

any late people out there – well, it’s never, really, too late, you know!

my favourite new toy!

i think everyone in the world needs to have one of these – a label machine. for some reason, it has brought me much joy. and it has brought me the inspiration i needed to get organised!