Because this was way more fun than grading 12-year-olds' essays...
My friend Lauren posted this survey of sorts on her blog and passed it along to me. Thank you, Lauren, for this opportunity to procrastinate further!
10 years ago: I was 15, and a sophomore at Norfolk Senior High. I was thinking high school was pretty fabulous because I got to play my clarinet in the marching band and go to play practice after school. (Yes, I was a nerd, but a happy one.) I was also ridiculously in lurve with a guy who would later turn out to be my first (and only, as far as I know) gay ex-boyfriend. Every girl needs one! I spent way too many hours on the phone with Julie and Megan, and probably not nearly enough time trying to figure out Geometry. I had a part-time “job” at a local department store, which occasionally involved having to dress up like a giant bear and hand out balloons with the aforementioned Julie.
5 years ago: I was a sophomore at Concordia University who loved college but was convinced the world was ending because I’d just broken up with my (non-gay, this time) boyfriend. Note to self: if the only thing you have in common with the guy is playing the clarinet, it ain’t meant to be. I was also trying to figure out what I thought about this weird Travis guy I was friends with. Go out with him, our friends said. It’s not like you have to marry the guy. I was obsessed with the soundtrack from Rent and starting to realize that maybe I wasn’t quite so politically conservative as I had previously thought.
One year ago: I had been living in Indonesia for about four months and wanted nothing more than to GO HOME. I hated teaching because I thought my 11th grade English class wanted to set me on fire (some of them were kind of evil like that) and I missed my family, friends and dog. Plus, culture shock’s a real beast. I was trying to be excited about the countless opportunities that were presenting themselves to me, but I was too homesick to think about much besides leaving Indonesia. I was trying to figure out how to be a good teacher, but I was also convinced most of the kids thought I was a total moron. Goals for my first year of teaching? Survive. That’s it.
Yesterday: I woke up to my cat biting my feet at 5:45 a.m. I hate morning, and though my alarm clock is annoying I prefer it to pointy little teeth gnawing on my toes. Thankfully, I sincerely love my job (and, incidentally, Indonesia) now so getting up and going to school wasn’t a bad thing. The first six periods of the day were uneventful. Seventh period came and things went crazy. The editor and layout editor of the school newspaper, which I just started this year, were going nuts trying to finish putting the paper together. They spent their, and my, lunch period in my room with their laptops, and the three of us worked to get things ready to print. Eighth and ninth period were spent running between those two and a library full of 8th graders, all researching for the debates they start on Monday. After school, still frantically, I went between checking on the newspaper and chatting with another student who was having boy trauma and needed a sympathetic ear. She reminds me so much of me 10 years ago! (Though perhaps with slightly different boy trauma.) I felt bad because my newspaper kids kept racing in and out of the room while she poured her heart out, but she didn’t seem to mind too much. Finally, the paper was finished and it was time to go home. All this time, it had been growing dark outside. It’s the rainy season, and thunderstorms here are UNBELIEVEABLE-and I’m used to Nebraska weather, it takes a lot to impress me! By the time we got home the rain was coming down in sheets, and we’d only been home for a few minutes when Kale and Katie’s maid called, frantic because they weren’t home, she couldn’t find them and their house was flooding. Back to school, then to their house to help mop up their new kitchen/wading pool. Around 6 we finally got home, where we promptly crashed. I crawled into bed early, read a chapter of Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie and fell asleep, only to be woken up minutes later by my cat biting my feet.
5 Snacks I Enjoy: popcorn made on the stove (no more microwaved nonsense for me, thanks), Cheetos, strawberries, Fritos with cheese dip, and ice cream sandwiches. Four out of those five are both hard to find and very expensive here, though, so I have to resort to lesser snacks. I could give up snacking, but that would be no fun at all.
5 Songs I Know All the Words To: almost anything Dave Matthews Band, Stuck in a Moment (U2), Fever (Peggy Lee, etc.), All That Jazz (Chicago soundtrack), Ice Ice Baby (Vanilla Ice) I know, I’m awesome. If there’s a problem, yo, I’ll solve it.
5 Things I’d Do With 100 Million Dollars: travel to South Africa (my new destination obsession) and Europe, give a lot to the local orphanages here in Indonesia, pay off my debts and the debts of my close friends and family, build a no-kill animal shelter for lost or abandoned pets, build a real theatre at Concordia. If I could do six things, I’d also build myself a wiener dog ranch because, seriously, what isn’t great about that?!
5 Places I’d Run Away To: Bali, South Africa, Thailand, Europe, home
5 Things I’d Never Wear: I have to agree with Lauren on this one, I’ve seen my old yearbook photos. I have neither standards nor shame. Hi, my name is Erin and I once owned (and wore!) neon green stirrup pants. God bless the 80s.
5 Favorite TV Shows: CSI, Globe Trekker, Scrubs, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, West Wing
5 Biggest Joys: my friends, my dog and cat, my family, sleeping in, when I feel like I accomplish something with my students
5 Favorite Toys: my iPod, computer, cell phone, anything that makes my cat freak out, books
5 People to TAG (pass this on to): I’m a nerd, I don’t know enough people with blogs to post this on! But I do know lots of people with e-mail addresses, so I shall name the first five I think of: Kelly, Kristin, Julie, Dan, and Mindi.
10 years ago: I was 15, and a sophomore at Norfolk Senior High. I was thinking high school was pretty fabulous because I got to play my clarinet in the marching band and go to play practice after school. (Yes, I was a nerd, but a happy one.) I was also ridiculously in lurve with a guy who would later turn out to be my first (and only, as far as I know) gay ex-boyfriend. Every girl needs one! I spent way too many hours on the phone with Julie and Megan, and probably not nearly enough time trying to figure out Geometry. I had a part-time “job” at a local department store, which occasionally involved having to dress up like a giant bear and hand out balloons with the aforementioned Julie.
5 years ago: I was a sophomore at Concordia University who loved college but was convinced the world was ending because I’d just broken up with my (non-gay, this time) boyfriend. Note to self: if the only thing you have in common with the guy is playing the clarinet, it ain’t meant to be. I was also trying to figure out what I thought about this weird Travis guy I was friends with. Go out with him, our friends said. It’s not like you have to marry the guy. I was obsessed with the soundtrack from Rent and starting to realize that maybe I wasn’t quite so politically conservative as I had previously thought.
One year ago: I had been living in Indonesia for about four months and wanted nothing more than to GO HOME. I hated teaching because I thought my 11th grade English class wanted to set me on fire (some of them were kind of evil like that) and I missed my family, friends and dog. Plus, culture shock’s a real beast. I was trying to be excited about the countless opportunities that were presenting themselves to me, but I was too homesick to think about much besides leaving Indonesia. I was trying to figure out how to be a good teacher, but I was also convinced most of the kids thought I was a total moron. Goals for my first year of teaching? Survive. That’s it.
Yesterday: I woke up to my cat biting my feet at 5:45 a.m. I hate morning, and though my alarm clock is annoying I prefer it to pointy little teeth gnawing on my toes. Thankfully, I sincerely love my job (and, incidentally, Indonesia) now so getting up and going to school wasn’t a bad thing. The first six periods of the day were uneventful. Seventh period came and things went crazy. The editor and layout editor of the school newspaper, which I just started this year, were going nuts trying to finish putting the paper together. They spent their, and my, lunch period in my room with their laptops, and the three of us worked to get things ready to print. Eighth and ninth period were spent running between those two and a library full of 8th graders, all researching for the debates they start on Monday. After school, still frantically, I went between checking on the newspaper and chatting with another student who was having boy trauma and needed a sympathetic ear. She reminds me so much of me 10 years ago! (Though perhaps with slightly different boy trauma.) I felt bad because my newspaper kids kept racing in and out of the room while she poured her heart out, but she didn’t seem to mind too much. Finally, the paper was finished and it was time to go home. All this time, it had been growing dark outside. It’s the rainy season, and thunderstorms here are UNBELIEVEABLE-and I’m used to Nebraska weather, it takes a lot to impress me! By the time we got home the rain was coming down in sheets, and we’d only been home for a few minutes when Kale and Katie’s maid called, frantic because they weren’t home, she couldn’t find them and their house was flooding. Back to school, then to their house to help mop up their new kitchen/wading pool. Around 6 we finally got home, where we promptly crashed. I crawled into bed early, read a chapter of Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie and fell asleep, only to be woken up minutes later by my cat biting my feet.
5 Snacks I Enjoy: popcorn made on the stove (no more microwaved nonsense for me, thanks), Cheetos, strawberries, Fritos with cheese dip, and ice cream sandwiches. Four out of those five are both hard to find and very expensive here, though, so I have to resort to lesser snacks. I could give up snacking, but that would be no fun at all.
5 Songs I Know All the Words To: almost anything Dave Matthews Band, Stuck in a Moment (U2), Fever (Peggy Lee, etc.), All That Jazz (Chicago soundtrack), Ice Ice Baby (Vanilla Ice) I know, I’m awesome. If there’s a problem, yo, I’ll solve it.
5 Things I’d Do With 100 Million Dollars: travel to South Africa (my new destination obsession) and Europe, give a lot to the local orphanages here in Indonesia, pay off my debts and the debts of my close friends and family, build a no-kill animal shelter for lost or abandoned pets, build a real theatre at Concordia. If I could do six things, I’d also build myself a wiener dog ranch because, seriously, what isn’t great about that?!
5 Places I’d Run Away To: Bali, South Africa, Thailand, Europe, home
5 Things I’d Never Wear: I have to agree with Lauren on this one, I’ve seen my old yearbook photos. I have neither standards nor shame. Hi, my name is Erin and I once owned (and wore!) neon green stirrup pants. God bless the 80s.
5 Favorite TV Shows: CSI, Globe Trekker, Scrubs, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, West Wing
5 Biggest Joys: my friends, my dog and cat, my family, sleeping in, when I feel like I accomplish something with my students
5 Favorite Toys: my iPod, computer, cell phone, anything that makes my cat freak out, books
5 People to TAG (pass this on to): I’m a nerd, I don’t know enough people with blogs to post this on! But I do know lots of people with e-mail addresses, so I shall name the first five I think of: Kelly, Kristin, Julie, Dan, and Mindi.
posted by Erin @ 11:24 AM
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