Ernest goes to Iraq

Hey Vern! No, different Ernest.

EnglishteacherX, the cause of my cynicism, nay, skepticism. whatever. He introduced me to Ernest. Well, he provided a link to his blog. I read the blog, bookmarked it and check it often.
Fucking Ernest is going to Iraq.

and I thought my life was an adventure :-(

Adios

what in the hell does that mean?

My friend told me that most Spanish speakers don't know, either; at least in the literal sense.

they just use it as "Good bye" which isn't entirely unrelated.

"adios" 'to god'

"good bye" 'god be' from 'god be with you'

i confirmed his suspicion, well, it happend with a single speaker. he keeps telling me adios at the edn of class and as I don't care for it much, I told him what it meant. his was a bit shocked. he's a native speaker of Spanish.

i prefer the "hasta luego"

Spring Break, Cancun!

Yippie, I've got the entire week off! and I won't be paid a dime! Yippie!

They are in Cancun, I'm at home. My home is not in Cancun.

I'll have to report that!

A few weeks ago, I started a class with 14 year olds. Already, we're onto our first irregular verb: 'to want'.

So, we were going around the class, expressing what we want.
Most students say pretty innocent things such as "peace," "love," "video games."

Seems easy enough, right? Wrong!

We arrive at Bjorn, tall and lanky yet otherwise unremarkable except for his habit of politely greeting me every freakin' time he sees me in the hall way. With a simple smile, he proclaims his want: "dynamite!" The class erupts in laughter. I chuckled a bit as well until I felt an increasing sense of discomfort.

"Hmm..." I respond, "I'll have to report that to the director." "Okay, well then, moving on, Mary, 'what do you want?'" "Wait, hold on, by the way, Bjorn, what do you want to do with the dynamite?" I inquire.

He reveals a shit eating grin and quips, "Blow stuff up!"

"Yeah, I'll definitely have to report this."

I still haven't reported it.

Jesus H. Christ

Yeah, she didn't have a proposal ready. I shouldn't have expected her to but I did. I knew this was our first meeting and how could she have known what is in my head unless I vocalize my thoughts, write them on paper and hand it to her, send them electronically through a computer, through the internet, to her computer, then to her brain. This hadn't occurred to me until I sat down in front of her, she looking at me with that head, that face that said, "okay, talk! what is it that you desire?" My strategy was DOA - Dead on Arrival. So much for keeping my mouth shut. Such an utter failure on my part, such an incompetence in the art of war - contract negotiations - that no less than ten minutes later my proverbial cards were on the table - I disclosed my current salary. For her part, she disclosed how much my employer was charging her. I guess that evened things up a bit (not really, but that's what I keep telling myself).

I then laid out my wishes: to be hired directly by the school, to be an exempt employee - salaried with a paycheck 12 months a year, and an increase in hours. She duly noted my demands and informed me that she would respond one and a half months later.

Jesus H. Christ!

Contract Negotiation

Greetings lads,

Tomorrow, I go in to meet with the director of one of the schools. Topic of discussion: contract for next year. Game plan; keep my mouth shut. From there, I'll consider the proposal and respond at a later date. What I'm hopin' for: paid summers, sick days, and a decent wage. If I can get it, paid lunches and all the free holy bread and sacred wine to get me into heaven! Wish me luck, mates!

Another Perk!

If you remember the fancy shoes that I was given a few weeks ago by one of my students, you may be suprised to hear that he showed up to school last week with another little surprise for me, a foot ball, the Nike T90 Electra. It's pretty bad ass as it has a kind of translucent blue finish, it looks like a freaking crystal ball. Retailing for around $30, I say it's not a bad deal! I mean, how much is an 'A' in 7th grade Spanish class worth? Hell, I've been giving them out for practically nothing. Although, the other day, for some stupid reason, I had the 5th and 6th grades take a test and the 7th grade write an essay. I say stupid because I don't have any real intention of grading this crap! But the students keep bugging me about it. I wish they would just bugger off.