“Please please don’t write anything awful,” I begged the reporter over the crackly cellphone line. “I just got this new job and I really like it and I’m not trying to get thrown out!”
Darren chuckled and calmly replied, “I’m a reporter. No one would talk to me any more if I violated their trust. This will be a positive, inspiring story, really.”
The Herald reporter was true to his word, and what follows is the link to the article about my [...Read More!]
Tomorrow, after a year-long Leave of Absence to circumnavigate the globe, I return to being an English teacher in the Boston Public Schools!
I am super, super psyched. A year away has given me massive new appreciation for living in beautiful Boston, for the great people here, and for being a teacher in BPS.
“But,” some of you may be asking now, sniffling slightly, “does this mean the end of this blog?”
No, no, and NO! Most certainly not! This is self-declared “Educational [...Read More!]
The world’s relationship with Muslim culture is one of the most intense and important topics around these days.
And thus it is with joy and hope for all humanity that I bring you an absolutely beautiful story from last week in our multicultural ESL class.
Let us allow the story to unfold through the words and pictures of three women in our class: Mafer from Venezuela, Yuri from Japan, and Meaad from Saudi Arabia.
By Mafer, from Venezuela: Before coming to Boston, I disagreed [...Read More!]
Are you a diligent student seeking a place to study that doesn’t smell like your little brother’s socks?
Are you a tourist to Boston who enjoys lovely spaces which photograph well, but don’t charge a tiresome entrance fee?
Are you a hip 20-something questing for a quiet space to rock out the Internet?
Are you an economical human who is sick of spending money on music and books, or on that obligatory coffee which will allow you to sit in a nice cafe?
Step [...Read More!]
We have discussed where clothes you donate might end up, but what about the BOOKS you toss into the “Donation” bin?
Me, I only had a hazy idea of how my old tomes might be used. Did they find a second life as firewood? Toilet paper? Food storage? Sometimes I worried about my cast-off literature’s fate.
And thus it was with absolute joy, during the three months I volunteered in Ghana, that I learned of Youth Creating Change of Ghana‘s genius Reading [...Read More!]
Pop quiz:
You’re an ESL teacher at an accredited English language school in Boston’s posh Back Bay.
Where do you take your students for the final field trip of Session 8?
Obvious Answer:
First to bowling, then to a hot dog-eating contest, of course!
I’ve written a photo essay about Laos, but what follows is far classier: a photo essay documenting a hot dog-eating challenge!
To be frank (haha!) I think you’ll dig the tale’s shocking twists.
And you’ll have to wonder: would YOU be up [...Read More!]
Today is my ONE YEAR anniversary of taking that first flight out of Boston into the 9-month journey that would ultimately span Japan, Southeast Asia, Ghana, Iberia… and a whole heck of a lot of learning and fun!
How to celebrate? By sharing with you my absolute FAVORITE building in Boston. I am panting a little as I write this, I love this structure so much. Please honor my love and read attentively.
The building I’m most in love with in Boston [...Read More!]
Article #12 in the ESL Student Life Stories Project, by Mei from Taiwan, age 35.
Pedestrians First! The cars stop behind the white line whenever I cross the road here in Boston.
I am so surprised by the street action! I come from Taiwan, where drivers and passengers always contest each other.
Sometimes in Taiwan, a driver will curse at you if you don’t let his car pass. He will scream: “Hey, man! Where are your eyes?!”
But when [...Read More!]
I can’t drive a car and I don’t really want to learn.
Lame?
Meh… naw.
It just means I’ll always be forced to live somewhere with adequate public transportation…
…meaning I’ll always have the joy of the train/bus reading commute!
My current hour round-trip MBTA ride means an hour of delightful book time each day.
One reason Boston is so deep in my heart is because its buildings are so darn sexy. They’re sleek, tasteful, not overly huge… and a lot of them are nice and shiny!
This post is the start of a series of odes to Boston architecture, so it’s only right to start with the biggest and best: the Hancock Building.
The John Hancock Building, located right near the Copley stop on the Green Line and the Back Bay stop on the Orange Line (and [...Read More!]
My name is Lillie and I thank you for reading and taking part in this journey.
I'm the Boston coordinator of a national event on extended travel on 9/14/10. Sign up for details at: MeetPlanGo.com!
| Copyright 2010 Around the World "L"! | Suffusion WordPress theme by Sayontan Sinha |