Difference between Canadians and Brazilians… May 12, 2009

In case you are wondering about the answer to the above question I can explain it very easily for you. Last week I ran out of coffee filters at home and did not have my morning cuppa. I stopped at a very nice bakery beside my son’s school to get one to go. I stood by the counter and the waiter came over and took my order. He told the woman working behind the counter to make me a large coffee with milk to go. It took her several tries to get the correct quantity of coffee in the cup. She filled the remaining space in the cup with hot milk. So the percentage of milk greatly outweighed that of the coffee. Then the real drama began. It took her ages to find a lid that fit on the take-out cup she poured my coffee into. She rooted around in the drawer under the espresso machine and pulled out various packages of lids. Apparently none of them fit really well, but the one that she finally chose would have to do.

That scene is in stark contrast to any coffee place I know of in Canada. There are a ton of different take-out cups, lids and sleeves to choose from at even the most ordinary coffee place. People as a general rule do not go to a bakery or coffee place to sit down. Usually they are rushing off somewhere and take their beverage and snack with them.

Typically Brazilians sit down to sip their coffee and eat a snack. There seems to be time for such an activity. In fact, some of the homemade snacks that are available throughout the day do not even exist in Canada.

The coolest thing ever… April 7, 2009

I was joking around in my class the other day telling my students that my blog is a model for them. It was so hilarious when I said that because one of my students immediately pooh-poohed my comment. She thought I was being conceited and taking advantage of being the teacher. You have to work really hard to pull one over on them because they constantly are checking you. For example, if you plan what may be an excellent lesson, but do not have clear instructions, they will tell you. If you don’t plan an excellent lesson and don’t have clear instructions, they will tell you. Do you see where I am going with this? What I meant to say about my blog is that I always try to have my audience in mind. I know who reads it and what I can say. I try not to rant, rave and clear up petty disagreements here. Just because I don’t write about them doesn’t mean they don’t happen, they just don’t get recorded here. So I started a blog with them in class and then they themselves started their own blogs. The most amazing things have come out of these blogs. My students are writing about all kinds of different topics and reading each other’s writing. (Right now they are on a kick where they are all posting polls – but that’s another story.) They are also reading my blog and enjoying it! I think that part is fantastic. I originally started the blog for my family and to have a record for my own kids, but I love how my students are the ones who are constantly commenting and visiting the blog. This inspires me to come up with a better blog schedule and to write more for them. Isn’t that the coolest?

Seven years ago today… February 5, 2009

Today is my daughter´s birthday.  She is seven years old.  It is really pretty hard to believe.  I was making a presentation about her life to be shown in her classroom and it is surprising how she now looks like such a girl.  She is no longer a baby or a toddler.  She is not even chubby-faced anymore.  Sometimes when I look at her she takes my breath away, other times it is because I am starting to get overheated at something she has not done or done to her brother.

I remember the day she was born very clearly.  I was 100% unprepared for the birth and that whole process.  I was just told not to go to the hospital too early.  As it turns out, we almost did not make it to the hospital.  We put the car in the car park and she was born 45 minutes later.  In fact, it was a bit of a miracle that we were able to get my doctor on the phone and over to the hospital on time.  Anyway, the big news of this memory is that when Chichi was first born and screaming a lot, the nurses put her on my chest very close to my face.  At that point I stroked her forehead and said Mommy´s here.  She stopped screaming immediately when she heard me speak.  Her reaction to my voice was one of the most powerful moments in my life and one I am never going to forget. 

I love telling my daughter the story of her birth day.  It is such a beautiful first line.

What is the first line in yours?  Apparently mine had something to do with an absent parent and a Montreal Canadians game.  I am not sure if it is fact or fiction, but it most certainly is the start of a great story.