Women's Day!

Happy Women's Day, everyone!

International Women's Day isn't something that I've ever celebrated before... but here in Ukraine... it's a big freaking deal. Considering that I am not a mother and I am not a wife... I did not expect a lot from today.

However, my students amazed me. Seventeen roses, bouquets, boxes and boxes of chocolates, paper flowers, cards... I had to buy a bag from someone to carry it all home.

Strangely, however, this was not the most moving part of my day.

Yes, it was wonderful that my typically reluctant tenth formers had the nerve to interrupt my class to present me with flowers and a card... but... honestly? The best part of my day was when I met the mother of one of my students. She told me that her son has described me as 'the most tender of people,' and that as a mother, it meant the world to her that I had put the effort in to be kind to her son.

Moral of the story: Even if someone is loud, occasionally rude and a little obnoxious (as the student in question is), be kind. They appreciate it even if they don't tell you!

I hope you are all having a great day!

How to be Awesome

Take eight apples.

Wash.

Peel.

Slice.

Boil a medium sized pot of water.

Add apples.

Let boil for 7 minutes.

Add two spoons of sugar.

Let cool.

Drink apple flavored water.

Save apple slices in same pot.

Mash up with some of the water.

Add cinnamon.

Congrats! You just made apple kompot AND apple sauce!

A few notes: The apple-water (kompot) is best served chilled. Make a lot, put it in a pitcher and store it in the fridge. Also, if you have a lot of apples about to get rotten, this is a great way to use them. I think it's better to use a sweeter variety of apple and less sugar. 

Dear mom: This summer when you go blueberry picking... GO CRAZY. We are making kompot together this Christmas when I visit! 

Enjoy!

Things I Learned Today

It is always important to remember that no matter what your profession is, no matter how old you are, no matter how smart you think you are... you are always, always, always a student.

In light of that, here are some things I learned today:

1)If you have high blood pressure... pour yourself a glass of whiskey and add chestnut blossoms - miracle cure?
2)Wine is like... arm floaties... it's fine when you're five, but at a certain point, people are going to stop taking you seriously.
3)When you ask a Ukrainian student to write what his/her school will look like in the year 2500, don't expect space ships and the moon... you will still read 'teacher gives no hometask' and 'there will be no uniforms'. The future is irrelevant, they will still want the same things!

and finally,

4)Don't expect too much of yourself... if you are always on time, always prepared and always happy... people will start to expect that... and expectations are never good!

That's all the wisdom I have to offer you today! Have a great evening!

A Perfect Sunday Evening

Although I haven't gotten a chance to Skype with my family today (I think my sister forgot me??), it is still turning out to be a great evening.

What could be better than listening to The Carpenters with an absurdly large mug of strawberry green tea and lesson planning about art history? Not much :)

I hope everyone else is enjoying their Sunday just as much!

Sherlock!

Hmmm...

The Bandwagon

I'm usually late to catch on to trends... and to an extent I usually avoid them. That being said, my parents' most recent package to me included The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

All of my coworkers laughed at me this week as I read the pages in between classes, and even brought it with me to the cafe to eagerly devour the pages.

I am not a fan of mystery novels usually, with the obvious exception of A.C Doyle, but I have to admit... I enjoyed the book.

Three major problems I had though:

1) Did anyone else notice that every time Larsson introduced a female, he explained her sexually? Literally up until page 386 every single time Larsson wrote about a woman, he explained how she was in bed, or how sexually active she was, or how sexually attractive she looked. I don't know if he did this in hopes of people noticing considering that most of the book is dedicated to speaking out against female violence.

2) It was interesting to see, (and this isn't just Larsson), that every time a girl is in a scene, the audience must be told what she is wearing... if a man is in a scene, his outfit is never described unless it is to make him sound ridiculous.

3) I'm curious if I'll encounter an answer to in the next book - Blomkvist is repeatedly displayed as the definition of a moral man, and yet he will have sex with anyone. My question: Is this supposed to be Blomkvist's only shortcoming, or is this Larsson's way of encouraging polygamous relationships?