handwritten on July 5, 2016
We arrived in Las Vegas around 9:30 in the morning. Though shocking at first, it became became apparent that every indoor hotel or airport would be filled with flashing, gambling machines. I do not gamble, but it was certainly interesting watching those that do.
The terrain around Las Vegas is surreal. Essentially, it looks like a flashing city in the middle of desert and mountain plains. If you look at the surrounding land and the city, the city itself looks out of place. We walked along the main stretch of the city which includes New York New York, the Hershey store, various hotels and a stretch that apparently imitates what Italy actually looks like. At one point we stepped inside a...
handwritten on January 24, 2016
This past Martin Luther King's Day, I had a chance to discuss a quote with my students during morning meeting. Interestingly, it was the first time I had come across this particular quote. This quote, I felt, was important to share with my students for a variety of reasons. January is a difficult month for all students. In some ways, I do feel as if everyone's spark dims a bit due to the snowy weather and gloomy skies. It is in these months of January and February where it is truly important to find a new spark and remember WHY we do what we do. A few questions I am still trying to answer as a new teacher include the following: "What is Education?" "What is the purpose of Education?" "...
handwritten on August 8, 2015
We were feeling adventurous this particular morning, so we took a walk outside. I believe we ended up in an open market that happened to be in a poorer section of Changsha. People were selling vegetables, fish, meat and fruits. Sadly, the people were selling their food next to heaping piles of garbage. Apparently this is where garbage is taken in the city of Changsha. Because of all the people, the garbage is piled up high.
Many of the buildings in this area were older and looked as if they were going to fall apart. Unlike in the United States where older building are either kept up for years or renovated, the older buildings in China are torn down to make way for new buildings. They do...
handwritten on August 8, 2015
Today was our final day in the mountains. It's amazing how quickly time goes when you are on an adventure. We woke up around 5:30 to get in line by six to visit another portion of the mountains. Luckily, we were at the front of the line. Thus, the waiting was not an issue. By 7:30, the man at the head of the line had cleared our passports and we were on our way up to the mountain top via the cable cars. The view was just majestic. The length of the ride was 25 minutes-a pretty significant amount of time and gives a clearer picture of just how high the mountains were in this particular area. One of our first adventures was to walk across a very long glass tile ledge. Basically, if you looked...
handwritten on August 6, 2015
We woke up this morning around 7:00 and walked downstairs in the lobby of our hotel for a buffet breakfast. I found this to be fascinating because it was set up like any buffet you may see in the United States. However, instead of the usual ham, eggs, bacon and so forth there were purple sweet potatoes, eggs, porridge, pork buns, dumplings and other such food varieties. I took many pictures of this buffet, and I will be sharing these at a later date.
Instead of traveling up the mountain today, we traveled down the mountain. This was slightly scary because the steps were so small. Not only did your calf muscles begin to shake after a period of time, but you were constantly thinking about...
