End of Monsoon

I think I can say that the monsoon season is over. We have had two days of no rain. It was been a very wet season, but that has been good as we needed the rain. Last year was a drought and water was quite scares over the winter. So hopefully this year will be better in terms of agriculture and electricity. The days are cooler and at night now, a light blanket is needed.  So that is refreshing too.
I like seasonal changes. Soon I will need to flip my wardrobe, I suppose. 

Football

So yesterday I was sitting at home and the neighborhood erupted! I figured Nepal had scored a goal in their game against India in the semi-finals of SAFF. It was quite funny! I didn't have to actually watch the game, I just knew when Nepal scored. Even the dogs went crazy!
Nepal ended up winning their group with a two to one score! Jia Nepal! 

What Did Della Wear?

In US History class this week, I had the students come with jokes that included State names. Some of them did their homework, others did not. But I had them all create a little book and collect jokes from each other to fill their books. I told them that now, wherever they went they could be the life of the party and show off their knowledge of the US.   I am not sure they were convinced, but most of them got the book done and were chuckling... okay groaning... at the jokes as they left the class.

By the way... Della wore her New Jersery.

Capturing Dragon Gold

Figuring out the next move

Dragon Gold.

In Dragon Training Club this week, we played a quasi-game of chess. It was a good strategy game and some of the kids got into it.

I created a 5 by 5 game board and put a bag of gold in the center square on the back line. The students each took a square and then after answering a question about dragons ( snap dragons, dragonflies, komono, and dragon lore) they got to move forward or capture an opponent). It was quite interesting to watch them make decisions.

When the blue Dragon team was in position to steal the gold, they were so excited they were jumping up and down! But they had to answer the question correctly to actually get the gold. It was quite a tense moment as they worked out the answer.

All in all, I think it was a good training and they get to do some critical thinking!

Toodleoon!

Listening to Classic Music More

In library class the other day, the students were all giving reports about three topics: their favorite sport, music, and animal. We got to the end of the reports and one of the students said, " What about you?" I told them that my favorite animal was -wait for the drum roll - an AARDVARK! To which one of them said, " Aardvarks are so ugly." To which I replied, " And that is exactly why I love them so much!"
The next thing was the favorite sport. I mentioned that I had two favorites..one was a group sport - volleyball, and the other was an individual sport - racquetball. I had to explain the racquetball a bit, but when I used the term 'squash' a couple students went "AHA!". When I mentioned volleyball, one of the boys said, "That is such a girls' sport!" Another student jumped in, " There was no girl and no boy sports!" I thought that was quite progressive for him.

The final topic was music. I had to think about it, but finally said, " I like classical music." They asked why and I replied, "When you listen to classical music, your synaptic nerves grow and this in turns causes more connections within your brain and therefore makes you faster at connecting the dots." One the students looked at me and said, ' I guess I need to listen to more classical music."  And another replied, " I think we all need to." I just grinned.

Later we were working on class notes and one of the student's said, " If I had listened to more classical music before, I would know this!"
I had to walk away from her to keep from laughing!

Of course next week, I will have to let them know that any type of brain activity or stimulus can have the same affect. But in the meantime, maybe moms and dads across the city will thank me for bringing a bit of culture into their lives and a little less hip hop!

Chicken of the Sea Noodle Soup

I am sick. I have been fighting a cold/flu all weekend and today I went to work, but ended up coming home early, because I was wiped out.  I have been drink hot liquids and even taking meds ( you know I am sick if I actually take meds!!), but today when I got home I wanted soup. Chicken Noodle Soup!
But alas there was a dilemma!  (There always is in this country). I had no chicken because there have been growing outbreaks of bird flu in the valley and chicken is taboo at the moment. Plus I didn't have any defrosted.

I decided to go ahead and start making noodle soup, when I remembered that I had a can of Chicken of the Sea...good old Charlie! So now I am sitting here waiting for my Chicken Of the Sea Noodle Soup to cool a bit so I can slurp it up. Not sure that my soup has the same wholesome properties that the regular chicken noodle has for healing colds and the flu. But I am willing to test it out! 

Quiet Day in the Burg

It's a quiet day in the burg and I am just working on sorting papers and getting ideas on to the computor.  I have listened to a couple sermons and sung along to praise music.  I like days like this. It is nice to have one occasionally.