Saturday, August 25, 2007

My New Job

I’m pleased to announce that I recently accepted a job with Northeastern University in Boston, MA.

Two classmates from SIT (Shei & Yukari) and I will begin teaching in the English Language Center just after Labor Day. I will teach an Advanced Reading course that will cover The Great Gatsby and Lord of the Flies, as well as an Intermediate Composition course.

Needless to say, I’m very excited about moving to Boston, and I hope that many friends and family will come visit in the near future.

Please get in touch.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Aruba


I don't know how to write about my recent family trip to Aruba. People might think I'm making it all up. My mother, stepfather, brother and I went to a destination wedding for two people I'd never met.

Should I write about the day we were leaving, and my brother was driving down from Asheville? He went to pick up his car from the downtown lot where he'd left it the night before and found his back window broken out and Sirius radio stolen. Then, he went to get gas and drove off with his wallet on the roof of his car. Luckily, he had his passport, so we all made the flight to Aruba, but Delta lost his luggage. The most unbelievable part of this is it all happened my brother's birthday!

On the other hand, maybe I should write about our second night in Aruba when my brother, mother, and I sat around a lounge bar by the beach drinking frozen bugaloes and mango martinis while having an intense family disagreement until 3 o'clock in the morning. The third time the security guard came by to ask us to be quiet, he had to remind us we were on vacation in Aruba and should relax.

Perhaps folks would rather read about the father of the bride hosting a yoga class on the beach early one morning. He was so hung over he could barely think of any standing poses for people to do and kept falling over in the sand while attempting the tree pose. Later, he went parasailing and vomited on himself while his wife refused to reel him in because she said, "He'd want to get his money's worth out of the ride."

I know… I can write about the wedding itself. The beautiful setting by the water as the sun went down, the flowers, the music, the girl in a thong that walked by the bride and groom while they were exchanging their vows, and the absent minded preacher who continuously lost his place in the prayer book and completely forgot to give the newlyweds their rings!

Possibly, it might be best to write about the reception party by the hotel pool. While the father of the bride danced nonstop to the cover band and somehow managed to sweat what looked like a smiley face into his dark grey T-shirt, my brother was taking bets on who would be the first to jump in the swimming pool. After asking the maid of honor to jump in with him, "You be Thelma; I'll be Louise," I took off and dove in. My brother picked up the maid of honor and carried her in; the groom and his best man were right behind, and eventually the all other groomsmen and bridesmaids followed.

In the end, I guess it doesn't matter what I write about, at least there was a happy ending.