I have finished my first "week" of "work." It was actually only 3 days, and it was mostly PD meetings. So nothing to stress about. Good news - I survived the first days. Starting the new job brings back those memories of school - it is somewhat like reliving your first day of high school. Walking in to a strange place, not really knowing anyone, or where to go to the bathroom, or where to eat, etc. etc. Thankfully I am a grownup now and can overcome such trials. Plus there are lots of new faces in the high school, since all the 10th grade teachers are new. Only problem is that my face is apparently a little too young-looking, since I had to answer the question, "So is this you first year teaching?" a few too many times for my liking.
This coming week I will be able to go to my own school building and get accustomed to my classroom. Hopefully we will have some free time in the coming days - and I hope my lab equipment is arriving soon!
In other work news, Rachel has a full time job now. Yeah, that's right, she's full time. She was called and asked to take on more classes, and decided to go for it. Teach 2 more classes for 2x the pay. Alright! So she will have 3 classes of World Studies and 2 classes of American History.
Finally, I have been taking full advantage of our new neighbor - IIT. This small university offers some fun perks. 1) Their 9 hole disc golf course is a fun diversion which I have played on ~5 times so far. Friday I played twice, and scored +3 and +4 over par, respectively. I need to work on my putting. 2) They have a little known bowling alley / bar in the basement of one of their academic buildings. It is only open Thursday and Friday nights (really...that's it) but it is cheap and we can walk there. We find ourselves walking over there enough...maybe I should enroll! Second masters?
-alan
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Sleep troubles?
For the past weeks, I have been setting my alarm even on days I could sleep in, because I did not want to be too sluggish once I returned to work. I woke up today with no trouble, though my body is feeling a little worn. I should be sure to get to bed extra early.
But perhaps the larger sleep troubles have been with Rachel? Yesterday morning I had to carefully tiptoe my way to the bathroom...because Rachel's bedside table was toppled on its side, drawer splayed open, lamp pulled out from its socket. And she awoke with no memory or recollection of what happened...
-alan
But perhaps the larger sleep troubles have been with Rachel? Yesterday morning I had to carefully tiptoe my way to the bathroom...because Rachel's bedside table was toppled on its side, drawer splayed open, lamp pulled out from its socket. And she awoke with no memory or recollection of what happened...
-alan
Monday, August 23, 2010
First day...
Tomorrow is my first day of work. It is teacher meetings - and my first introduction to the staff.
To prepare, we went back-to-school shopping today to fill some holes in our professional wardrobe.
Exciting times!
-alan
To prepare, we went back-to-school shopping today to fill some holes in our professional wardrobe.
Exciting times!
-alan
Purple scavenger hunt
Being big NU fans, our eyes are always open for anything NU. Rachel's favorite past time of late is looking at the rear windows of cars - because any NU employee has a small purple sticker there for parking purposes. She found one car on our street, and now she is pointing them out to me everywhere we go.
But in Target the other day, we found a bonanza. Which is a shock, because big box retailers never carry NU gear - they usually only have pro team and maybe some Notre Dame stuff.
So when I sauntered into the shoe department, I was shocked to see a half aisle of purple staring back at me. Flip-flops and slippers. Lots of them. And all on clearance! Needless to say, we stocked up.
-alan
But in Target the other day, we found a bonanza. Which is a shock, because big box retailers never carry NU gear - they usually only have pro team and maybe some Notre Dame stuff.
So when I sauntered into the shoe department, I was shocked to see a half aisle of purple staring back at me. Flip-flops and slippers. Lots of them. And all on clearance! Needless to say, we stocked up.
Strange transition
A common question asked of us this summer has been, "How are you doing transitioning back to life in America?"
The truth of the matter is that we have easily eased back into life here. Familiar neighborhood, same church, many old friends, and nearby family have made our move largely stress-free. We also do not get some of the adjustment issues faced by some who return to America from destitute areas - our day-to-day interactions were with a very materialistic Chinese middle class. Walking into an American grocery store, or into a mall does not cause us to freak out, because on certain levels it is not that different from what we experienced in China.
One strange thing, however, is the adjustment to light. Daylight, in particular.
In China, I did not own sunglasses until I had already lived there for 6 months. I actually bought some because we were traveling out of the country. The cloud cover simply made it unnescessary.
But since moving back to Chicago, my sunglasses have hardly left my side. Situations where I would not have given sunglasses a second thought a few years back, I now find myself squinting without them. I think my eyes have not yet adjusted to life in a land of sun.
-alan
The truth of the matter is that we have easily eased back into life here. Familiar neighborhood, same church, many old friends, and nearby family have made our move largely stress-free. We also do not get some of the adjustment issues faced by some who return to America from destitute areas - our day-to-day interactions were with a very materialistic Chinese middle class. Walking into an American grocery store, or into a mall does not cause us to freak out, because on certain levels it is not that different from what we experienced in China.
One strange thing, however, is the adjustment to light. Daylight, in particular.
In China, I did not own sunglasses until I had already lived there for 6 months. I actually bought some because we were traveling out of the country. The cloud cover simply made it unnescessary.
But since moving back to Chicago, my sunglasses have hardly left my side. Situations where I would not have given sunglasses a second thought a few years back, I now find myself squinting without them. I think my eyes have not yet adjusted to life in a land of sun.
-alan
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Food attack
A few pictures, highlighting Rachel's highs and lows for the week:
Rachel cooked Indian food for Sarah and Dave - including the fabulous Tandoori chicken seen above. My favorite, though, was the fresh, homemade naan. Both were grilled outside. We love our grill!
Feeling particularly adventurous, Rachel made pasta. I applaud the effort, but the 1/4" thick pasta was a little chewier than either of us could stomach. Now she knows why pasta makers are key.
-alan
-alan
Friday, August 20, 2010
Officially employed!
I turned in my paperwork on Monday, and I am now officially employed for the 2010-2011 school year. Hooray!
Rachel has had some snafus, but got it cleared up and registered her paperwork yesterday.
Now, it is time to turn my attention towards the upcoming school year. I will begin teacher inservice next week, as I will have 3 days of teacher meetings. I already traveled up to Evanston to meet my coworker, so that we could talk about supplies for the lab. The new chemistry lab needs a lot of stuff, and I am worried about getting everything I need - and in a timely fashion. If I REALLY knew what I was doing, I could have done this weeks ago.
alan
Rachel has had some snafus, but got it cleared up and registered her paperwork yesterday.
Now, it is time to turn my attention towards the upcoming school year. I will begin teacher inservice next week, as I will have 3 days of teacher meetings. I already traveled up to Evanston to meet my coworker, so that we could talk about supplies for the lab. The new chemistry lab needs a lot of stuff, and I am worried about getting everything I need - and in a timely fashion. If I REALLY knew what I was doing, I could have done this weeks ago.
alan
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Back in town!
Our final summer 2010 getaway is in the books - another week spent in Michigan, this time in Farmington Hills with my parents. It was a nice, relaxing week on the whole. There were tentative plans for me to attend a week-long chemistry training, but there was not room for me. It was a somewhat a relief, because otherwise I would have been around much less. So instead, I played golf; Rachel picked blueberries; I went to see my sister's chemistry lab; Rachel went shopping.
Back in Bridgeport, we got a wild "welcome home." On Sunday, there were 2 parades (yes, TWO) that went down our street. The first one had floats and marching bands - it was a celebration put on by St. Jerome's, the Croatian church up the street. We missed it, but my parents were here and took some pictures. Later we walked up to the church festival and enjoyed some yummy sausages and fried dough. I love the summer in Chicago!
More bizarre (but not unusual for this area?) was the St. Rocco's parade. This parade was sponsored by a men's club that runs out of a church in Chinatown. The church, though it is half Chinese nowadays, was started and is still attended by the Italian immigrants and their descendants. The parade is a fundraiser, as the men carry a statue of St. Rocco around to parishioners' homes and collect donations. For each donation, the band plays a little ditty in celebration. Apparently this goes on for hours. The house across the street set up a big party, and we were alerted to the parade's presence when we heard an incredibly dangerous amount of firecrackers being set off outside. Our backyard is littered with red paper that the wind blew in. Reminds me of China at New Year's time! Best off all - think of the membership of this very exclusive club: a bunch of old Sicilian guys...you catch my drift.
Oh Bridgeport, our crazy home.
alan
Back in Bridgeport, we got a wild "welcome home." On Sunday, there were 2 parades (yes, TWO) that went down our street. The first one had floats and marching bands - it was a celebration put on by St. Jerome's, the Croatian church up the street. We missed it, but my parents were here and took some pictures. Later we walked up to the church festival and enjoyed some yummy sausages and fried dough. I love the summer in Chicago!
More bizarre (but not unusual for this area?) was the St. Rocco's parade. This parade was sponsored by a men's club that runs out of a church in Chinatown. The church, though it is half Chinese nowadays, was started and is still attended by the Italian immigrants and their descendants. The parade is a fundraiser, as the men carry a statue of St. Rocco around to parishioners' homes and collect donations. For each donation, the band plays a little ditty in celebration. Apparently this goes on for hours. The house across the street set up a big party, and we were alerted to the parade's presence when we heard an incredibly dangerous amount of firecrackers being set off outside. Our backyard is littered with red paper that the wind blew in. Reminds me of China at New Year's time! Best off all - think of the membership of this very exclusive club: a bunch of old Sicilian guys...you catch my drift.
Oh Bridgeport, our crazy home.
alan
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Grill!
We had our first meal prepared by the new Weber - blue cheese burgers with grilled onions on a pretzel bun. Almost all of our meal was provided thanks to local farmer's markets, which make Rachel giggle/smile/cry/skip/dance all at once. The freshness was definitely key, though. Good taste, and the grill make it super easy.
Rachel also loves food pics.
Today was a flurry of household activity, as I painted bathroom #2 and Rachel turned our junk room into a respectable office / guest room. I can say now that we are officially unpacked and moved in.
Huzzah!
Check out our clean hallway!
-alan
Friday, August 6, 2010
Back on the blogosphere
I noticed that it has been a couple of weeks since we have been on the blog. I suppose that means we have been having too much fun this summer!
One of those weeks, we were gone and without internet and phone. So I will use that as our excuse. [Our phone service is through Cricket, which is new but cheap. Once we went north of Grand Rapids, we had no service. You get what you pay for!]
We spent some R&R in northern Michigan. First we camped at a state forest near Interlochen, which is the site of the famous fine arts camp. I think we did it just so we could take a picture worthy of a magazine ad with our Prius.
Actually, it was also nearby the Cherry Republic, a cherry-themed restaurant/shop that we had been 3 years prior; this afforded us the time to stock up on cherry jam, cherry salsa, cherry BBQ, etc... Yum!
It was not only about shopping, though. We did enjoy being in the woods again. It is no Boundary Waters, but it is worlds away from Chicago.
We had some encounters with wildlife, though not the way we expected. It was not in our walks in the woods, or out on the lake near our quiet campsite. At a beach near Traverse, we stopped for a snack. There was a lone seagull walking, but it was soon chased off by a mother duck and her 3 ducklings. Surprisingly, they headed straight for us, and circled our feet as they squawked for food. Just a bunch of city ducks, begging!
We also had a nice fire as we read from our spooky story book.
From there, we went on to spend a few days at Karen and Phil's cabin in Bellaire. We got a good re-introduction into Midwestern life, thanks to several games of bags [aka "cornhole"]. It was a competitive time all around, as we played a lot of cards and some Catan. Phil proved that Allmens cannot be beat, as he won several times despite being a rookie at the versions we played.
I also tried to water ski....unsuccessfully. It was not pretty.
This week has been a continuation of our home-making adventure. We have moved more into the decoration phase - pictures, artwork, shelving, mirrors, clocks - there has been a lot of work getting things on the walls. Add to that some more new furniture to put together, and you get the idea of what's been going on here. There are tools everywhere and the junk needs to get put away. Hopefully we will be cleaned up by Sunday, when we leave for a week to visit Michigan.
Finally, a fun purchase - our new grill!
I can't wait to eat tomorrow :)
Also on tap, I will paint our bathroom tomorrow. That is the FINAL part of the apartment that we will be painting. I can't wait to dump all these paint cans and supplies.
-alan
One of those weeks, we were gone and without internet and phone. So I will use that as our excuse. [Our phone service is through Cricket, which is new but cheap. Once we went north of Grand Rapids, we had no service. You get what you pay for!]
We spent some R&R in northern Michigan. First we camped at a state forest near Interlochen, which is the site of the famous fine arts camp. I think we did it just so we could take a picture worthy of a magazine ad with our Prius.
It was not only about shopping, though. We did enjoy being in the woods again. It is no Boundary Waters, but it is worlds away from Chicago.
We had some encounters with wildlife, though not the way we expected. It was not in our walks in the woods, or out on the lake near our quiet campsite. At a beach near Traverse, we stopped for a snack. There was a lone seagull walking, but it was soon chased off by a mother duck and her 3 ducklings. Surprisingly, they headed straight for us, and circled our feet as they squawked for food. Just a bunch of city ducks, begging!
We also had a nice fire as we read from our spooky story book.
From there, we went on to spend a few days at Karen and Phil's cabin in Bellaire. We got a good re-introduction into Midwestern life, thanks to several games of bags [aka "cornhole"]. It was a competitive time all around, as we played a lot of cards and some Catan. Phil proved that Allmens cannot be beat, as he won several times despite being a rookie at the versions we played.
I also tried to water ski....unsuccessfully. It was not pretty.
This week has been a continuation of our home-making adventure. We have moved more into the decoration phase - pictures, artwork, shelving, mirrors, clocks - there has been a lot of work getting things on the walls. Add to that some more new furniture to put together, and you get the idea of what's been going on here. There are tools everywhere and the junk needs to get put away. Hopefully we will be cleaned up by Sunday, when we leave for a week to visit Michigan.
Finally, a fun purchase - our new grill!
Also on tap, I will paint our bathroom tomorrow. That is the FINAL part of the apartment that we will be painting. I can't wait to dump all these paint cans and supplies.
-alan
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