Scene: My classroom, helping a student who was having difficulty with the differences between long vowels and short vowels, particularly long a as in ape and short a as in apple.
Miss Hillary: Ok, so what's a word that has the long a sound in it? Aaaaaay.
Student: Umm...
Miss Hillary: I'll give you a hint... 'I don't want to work, I just want to....?"
Student: Um? [it wasn't the best clue on my part, but I was thinking of the word play]
Miss Hillary, making a "play" kind of gesture: I don't want to work, I just want to....?
Student: Ummm... OH! DRINK!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Water is Life
My heart sometimes aches for Kenya, and especially for the Rendille and for Korr. Here is a video about the need in Northern Kenya. It is full of my friends, narrated by my pastor, and has an interview with Nick and Lynne, the missionaries I stayed with while I was in Kenya. It was so good to see their faces and hear Nick's voice.
Watch this video and enter in to the place and the people that have captured my heart!
Watch this video and enter in to the place and the people that have captured my heart!
Water is Life from AIM On-Field Media on Vimeo.
The ball is rolling
When a friend of mine saw my re-designed blog and read my latest post, he said to himelf, "Uh-oh. Hillary sounds like a missionary to Africa who is trapped in Canada." Something in that resonated in me for sure. I feel like I'm home, but I'm not home. Though I have to say, the label of 'missionary' still seems foreign to me. But 'trapped in Canada?' I think that feels very true.
Over the last few weeks, my plans have been coming a little bit clearer. I've decided that I want to do my required training over one concentrated year in a seminary program instead of bit by bit while I continue to work full time. It's definitely the fastest way to get it done, and I think it will be beneficial to me to be around other people who are studying the same thing that I am. I've found one program that looks really good, and opens a number of possibilities for me (though I'm still researching a few other schools, too).
Of course, going back to school requires a lot of money. I was hoping for a few different housing options - getting a roomate, establishing a community house in the house I'm in right now, etc - that would allow me to save some money this year before going back to school, but none of those options have really worked out.
In fact, my housing situation has been less than ideal for the last six months or so. The owner of the place I've lived for the last eight years has decided to put the house up for sale. It was on the market for four months or so, and didn't sell, but in that time, my landlords (also renters, who lived upstairs) bought a house and moved out. I was all but told I could take over the whole house until the owner put it back on the market in the spring, but at the last moment, the owner changed his mind and rented the house to someone else. I could still stay in the suite, but I was disappointed not to be able to start the community house I had been hoping for.
Since then, it's been extremely frustrating dealing with the owner, who never returns phone calls or emails, and still hasn't fixed something he said he would fix over two months ago. And of course, there are adjustments with new people upstairs, too. Mostly cause of issues with the owner (and my own desire to stay SANE!), I've been feeling very desperate to get out of here.
And so, the need to move and the need to save some money for school has led me to the following solution... I'm moving back in with my parents!
It's been just over ten years since I moved out, and now, at almost 32 years old, I'm moving back in! (I feel terrible about the timing of it all... my sister just moved out on Labour Day, so for the first time in nearly 32 years, my parents have had the house to themselves. Now, just a month later, I come over asking to move back in! Eeek!)
My parents have been extremely gracious to let me stay for a very nominal charge, and I think I should be able to save enough for an entire year of tuition and fees.
So the first step in the plan to get back to Africa is underway!
I forsee a heck of a lot of sorting, cleaning, purging, and packing in my future.....
Over the last few weeks, my plans have been coming a little bit clearer. I've decided that I want to do my required training over one concentrated year in a seminary program instead of bit by bit while I continue to work full time. It's definitely the fastest way to get it done, and I think it will be beneficial to me to be around other people who are studying the same thing that I am. I've found one program that looks really good, and opens a number of possibilities for me (though I'm still researching a few other schools, too).
Of course, going back to school requires a lot of money. I was hoping for a few different housing options - getting a roomate, establishing a community house in the house I'm in right now, etc - that would allow me to save some money this year before going back to school, but none of those options have really worked out.
In fact, my housing situation has been less than ideal for the last six months or so. The owner of the place I've lived for the last eight years has decided to put the house up for sale. It was on the market for four months or so, and didn't sell, but in that time, my landlords (also renters, who lived upstairs) bought a house and moved out. I was all but told I could take over the whole house until the owner put it back on the market in the spring, but at the last moment, the owner changed his mind and rented the house to someone else. I could still stay in the suite, but I was disappointed not to be able to start the community house I had been hoping for.
Since then, it's been extremely frustrating dealing with the owner, who never returns phone calls or emails, and still hasn't fixed something he said he would fix over two months ago. And of course, there are adjustments with new people upstairs, too. Mostly cause of issues with the owner (and my own desire to stay SANE!), I've been feeling very desperate to get out of here.
And so, the need to move and the need to save some money for school has led me to the following solution... I'm moving back in with my parents!
It's been just over ten years since I moved out, and now, at almost 32 years old, I'm moving back in! (I feel terrible about the timing of it all... my sister just moved out on Labour Day, so for the first time in nearly 32 years, my parents have had the house to themselves. Now, just a month later, I come over asking to move back in! Eeek!)
My parents have been extremely gracious to let me stay for a very nominal charge, and I think I should be able to save enough for an entire year of tuition and fees.
So the first step in the plan to get back to Africa is underway!
I forsee a heck of a lot of sorting, cleaning, purging, and packing in my future.....
Monday, October 04, 2010
Clever little monkey!
I have a grade two and three class again this year. They're very fun (and a little crazy!), and they often make me laugh. Here's a gem from the other day from a student I've nicknamed Sunshine:
Miss Hillary: Ok, please put your books away and come to the carpet for our lesson.
Sunshine: Wow! That went fast!
Miss Hillary: Well, you know what they say, "Time flies when you're having fun!"
Sunshine: Oooh! We should have fun in math!
Miss Hillary: Oh! So you like math, do you?
Sunshine: No! I want us to have fun so it goes by fast!
~~~~~~~~~
In othernews random though babbling... getting back into blogging seems weird. I don't know what to write about. This redesign needs tweaking, I think, so random posts like this one don't seem out of place. I know, I know, I just posted about anything and everything before, so why not now? And apparently I need to share how strange this feels for me.
Lots more to share coming up about some crazy, wacky, big-life-changes kinda plans! That is, if I can muster enough energy after my full days at the zoo! :)
Miss Hillary: Ok, please put your books away and come to the carpet for our lesson.
Sunshine: Wow! That went fast!
Miss Hillary: Well, you know what they say, "Time flies when you're having fun!"
Sunshine: Oooh! We should have fun in math!
Miss Hillary: Oh! So you like math, do you?
Sunshine: No! I want us to have fun so it goes by fast!
~~~~~~~~~
In other
Lots more to share coming up about some crazy, wacky, big-life-changes kinda plans! That is, if I can muster enough energy after my full days at the zoo! :)
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