The title of this entry is a quote from Sophy, a former student of mine who uttered it when I told her about the Korean habit of combining self-serve onions at Costco with ketchup and mustard to make a quick snack (and accompanied it with a facial expression of utter disgust). Whatever one may think about it, it's a very efficient use of low-value ( Read more... )

The title of this entry is a quote from Dr. Cesar Maldonado, the chancellor of Houston Community College, who uttered it when explaining to the new full-time faculty why he chose to become an engineer rather than a veterinarian. A preserved cat's circulatory system apparently pushed him so far that he couldn't continue to follow his original career ( Read more... )

The title of this entry is a quote from Marlen, a student in my grammar class last semester, who uttered it after I observed that the fire safety lesson in our textbook asked students to point out the CO2 detector in a picture. While I'm sure that excessive plant growth - or perhaps the growth of an alien plant with a taste for human flesh and ( Read more... )

The title of this entry is a quote from Anna, the unexpected valedictorian of my night class. She used it to describe the classroom in which we were originally situated, which had an uncanny tendency to stay too cold for long sleeves yet too hot for a jacket. On that point, at least, students from all over the world - and their instructor - could ( Read more... )

The title of this entry is a quote from Felipe, a student in my night class who always has a clever excuse for showing up late. The class is full of people who are either creative or intelligent or both, so his sense of humor definitely does not go unappreciated. It was put to even better use during a group presentation, in which he worked with the ( Read more... )

The title of this entry is a quote from Danny, a student in my last grammar class who was as memorable for his bawdy sense of humor as his ability to make meaningful contributions to discussions about business culture and etiquette. He delivered it during a mock interview in which he was the interviewee, prompting the interviewer to ask him "Are ( Read more... )

The title of this entry is a quote from Cindy, a student in my morning Listening & Speaking class. No, she wasn't announcing that she was pregnant with the Antichrist; she was merely ravenous after listening to her colleagues deliver presentations about what kinds of food they would serve if they opened a restaurant together. I thought it was a ( Read more... )

The title of this entry is a quote from Camila, one of the more spirited students in my PLA class. She uttered it after typing a string of gibberish in the answer fields of the website we were using, then calling me over and saying something was wrong with her computer. After laughing at my attempt to pronounce her answers, she insisted that yes, ( Read more... )

The title of this entry is a sobriquet bestowed upon me by my brother. I earned it after telling him that it was extremely inconsiderate to lag behind someone who was driving in a lane that ended, then speed past them and almost take off their side view mirror when they tried to merge. My brother, however, rejected my line of reasoning and even ( Read more... )

I have mixed feelings about New Year's resolutions. On one hand, I realize that they're a common tradition associated with the turning of an old year into a new year and the personal changes that we want to effect in our lives throughout; on the other hand, I realize that comparatively few people keep their resolutions, and I don't think that ( Read more... )