Thanksgiving

Middle of the pack

This year Thanksgiving started off like the last two, I ran a 5K race. This year it was back in downtown San Jose like the first Turkey Trot I ran in 2011. Last time I ran they had 21,000 runners and this year I ran with 25,000 of my closest friends. I like when they close a downtown to let people run in the middle of the street. This time we ran past city hall and then past the arena where the San Jose Sharks play. It was fun and they fixed some of the problems they encountered 2 years ago. Last time the finish line narrowed and everyone walked for about 2 minutes before going over it. In case you were wondering my finish time was 35 minutes and 22 seconds.

After I finished

That is faster than I have run in the past 2 years. I will keep going with my running, but I'm not sure what I will try to do next year. The first year I ran I had a goal to run 2 5K races a month. That was hard to do, but I ran 24 races that year. This year I wanted to run 12 10K races a month. I only ran 3 races that were 10K or more, but I have run 11 races so far and I will run one more next month to finish my goal of 12 in the year. I'm thinking of joining a running club that runs every Wednesday and try to do as many as I can when I'm not on the road.
After I ran I came home and cleaned up and got ready for Thanksgiving dinner with my daughter. On Monday we went food shopping and decided what we would eat. When I got home I waited for a while for her to come over and she was a little late so I put the turkey in so we didn't have to wait too long to eat. The turkey took 4.5 hours to cook. So when she came over we just talked and watched tv for a while. We started preparing the other food when we had about an hour and a half before the turkey was done.

Sarah prepared dinner

The salad was easy so I threw everything in a bowl and mixed it all up, we bought a bag with the salad and croutons and dressing so it was easy and tasted good. She peeled the potatoes and I cut them and put them in to boil. When done we prepared the mashed potatoes together experimenting with how much milk and butter to put in. They turned out great! The corn was easy, microwaveable. The turkey came out and while we waited for it to cool we made gravy. I had researched it to find out what was the best way. I found the flour in my cabinet, and looked at the expiration date, 3/2009! Oh well ... I put all the drippings from the turkey pan into a bowl and put it in the fridge for a few minutes so the oil would separate. Then we put in the drippings, oil, and flour and it didn't work out right. Too much flour and it looked more like potatoes and gravy then it did gravy! Sarah suggested we throw it would and start over so we did and it turned out great!! We ate and were stuffed. We waited for an hour and had strawberry cake. Sarah left soon after because she was going to go shopping at the mall at 11pm. We had a good time and I had a great Thanksgiving! The only thing missing was my oldest 2 daughters, but they were with us in our thoughts.

25,000 runners waiting to start

Greening of California

If you read the title to this blog and thought I was going to talk about saving the planet then you were wrong. I drive around California and find it is all brown and boring these days. It hasn't rained a lot in a long time. Last Thursday we got the first substantial rain in 7 months. I like when it rains because then the grass turns green! All of my pictures these days show dirt brown grass that doesn't look good in pictures. I can't wait till that brown grass gets some water and starts to change color! I can't wait until I am writing about how I wish the rain would stop.

In most places it is green in the summer and brown (or white) in the winter. Here it is brown in the summer and green in the winter. I think I would rather have it the California way rather than the everywhere else way. I hope the rain comes soon, I am practicing my winter complaining already!!

Running out of gas!

Last night I stayed in Yreka, California because I had to work in Dorris, California in the morning. I had filled up my gas the day before in the afternoon before I drove up to Yureka. When I got in the car I noticed the gas was low, but I figured I had enough gas to get the Dorris. After I got on the road I realized I had an hour drive to get to the high school and the gas was getting lower and lower. After about 20 minutes the car buzzed telling me it was low on gas. It said I had 50 miles left before empty. There were lots of hills and the gas went down fast.

 As I was realizing I was running out of gas I noticed there were 2 CHP cars behind me. The speed limit was 55 so I put my cruise control at 56 and kept my eye on my rear view mirror. As I was driving up the hills I started sweating that I was going to run out of gas. The closest town was 20 miles away and the car said it had 10 miles until empty. I pulled over to the side of the road and let the CHP cars pass me. There were many trucks on the road and they were going 50 MPH so I pulled in behind them. I noticed my car outside thermometer said 16F. Now I was sweating and scared because my car said 0 miles before empty.

10 miles to the closest town where there was a gas station. Yellow light flashing and my car saying 0 miles till gas is empty. I was hoping the hills would be down and I could coast after the car ran out of gas. Sweat dripping down my face and I was worried it would freeze when I ran out of gas and I would die on the side of the road. The road started going down a little and then leveled out. The road was straight and I could see buildings in front of me. Only 3 miles left, at least it was straight and I wouldn't have to wonder what direction to walk.

I was thinking of pulling to the side of the road with a little gas in the tank so I could stay warm while waiting for AAA. Only a little further and I could see the Shell sign. I made it! I didn't care how much the gas was, it was almost $5.00 per gallon. The lady at the Shell station was the most wonderful person I have seen in a long time. I was so happy. I had started calling AAA two times, I was so sure I was going to freeze on the side of the road because I was dressed for San Jose weather. I am THANKFUL that cars lie!

Phone is stuck to his ear

Today I was driving listening to an audio book. It was a book written many years ago, before cell phones. It said the girl was talking on the phone so much it was like it was attached to her ear. I started to laugh thinking of the blue tooth in my ear was the same thing as a phone attached to my ear! I wonder how many other sayings are like that, where we said it before as a joke, but now it is really true! Well, I better get to sleep since tomorrow I have to Dorris, California. Check it out on a map, it is right on the California/ Oregon border!

Small Schools

Today I went to Elk Creek High School. I talked to 16 students in the school. Those 16 students were more than half the students in the whole school. The school has a total of 31 students, 7 teachers, and 1 counselor. We all have preconceived ideas about small schools like this. We presume that the students feel that they are getting an inadequate education. Of the 16 students I talked to half of them scored above the 50 percentile in most subjects than all the other students at the same grade level around the nation.

We presume that the students don't like going to such a small high school. These students were very happy. They were like a family. Everyone knew each other, they knew each others strengths and weaknesses. These 31 students grew up with each other. They live near each other and always expected high school years to be this way. The sports teams have been playing with each other all their lives. Some of the teams are good and some aren't. There are 12 girls on the basketball team and only 15 girls in the high school.

The school doesn't have enough boys that want to be on the baseball team so it includes girls and there is also a softball team. These kids are happy and they have a good education. The school district provides for them what they need and want. My daughter's school has 1600 students and 3 counselors so the ration is one for more than 500, this school has a ration of one counselor for 31 students. There is one student taking Spanish II and they don't have a teacher for it so he does it by internet in he library.

I'm an advocate for small schools. But, small school usually means 1200 students or less. 31 is tiny not small. I was very impressed with the students, teachers and staff at this school. I think this school district is doing something GREAT for their students!!

Saving 50%

I went to the Dollar Store last week and did some shopping. The weird thing with that is going shopping, because I almost never go shopping. The other weird thing is I went to the Dollar Store which I have only been to once or twice. The Dollar Store is next to CVS which is where I was going to originally so I went there instead. I needed two things, shaving cream and hair conditioner. I figured I might as well save some money since neither of these things I needed to be good quality. The hair conditioner I got was a name brand that I used to use a few years ago and I have always been happy with the brand.

Sometimes this stuff is in dollar stores because it is over stocked in other stores, which was this case since the brand name is something I like and the expiration date is not close. That cost $1 versus the $4.50 at CVS. I bought two bottles since I was saving 75% off the regular price. Then I went over to the shaving cream and I didn't see a brand I knew so I bought one that looked like the same container Gillette Foamy comes in, which I usually use, for $1. I usually pay $2.50. I bought a few more things for one dollar and went home. The hair conditioner was no problem except it didn't smell as good as other brands.

The next morning I used the shaving cream. It was foamy when it came out of the can, but when I put it on my face the foam didn't stay thick. It immediately turned into a watery consistency. It was terrible! I would have rather used just water rather than this stuff. I have used it for 3 days and today I went out and bought Gillette Foamy. Sometimes saving money isn't as important as buying quality. I saved 50% of what I would buy the shaving cream at another store, or another way of saying it is I saved $1.50 and wasn't satisfied with what I got.

I find the same is true with toilet paper, you can save some money and not necessarily happy with what you get. My children's mother used to tell me that getting high quality things is worth the extra money if you can get exactly what you want. I used to date a girl that would buy 10 watches at $10 rather than buy one watch at $100. She liked doing that because she looked at watches as being accessories rather than only being time pieces.  My daughter got a $500 watch because she wanted to show people she had expensive taste. Sometimes quality is more important than saving money, and sometimes it isn't!!

Eating out with Sarah

Tonight my youngest daughter and I had a dinner date. I am trying to have dinner with her two or three times a week. She has a college class until 5:30 so I picked her up at her house and we discussed where to eat. I gave her several options, I told her we could eat at the taco place, Armadillo Willy's (BBQ), Korean food, Indian food, Black Angus (steak), or Cheesecake Factory. She suggested we go to the mall food court. I was a little hesitant to do that, it seemed a little impersonal.

We drove down to the mall. Gave us some time to discuss what she is up to today, the colleges she is applying to, her relationships with her friends and sisters and mother. When we got to the mall she really knew about what was going on than I did. She works at the mall and wanted to show me the new food court. There were new food places I haven't seen before. We ate at a great Japanese food place and it was great. We had a nice dinner and then walked around the mall and looked for clothes for me and she wanted to know if I knew what kind of clothes she would wear, and I did!

It is nice to get to know my kids on a personal level, not just a father level. We went and met one of her friends at her work place and it is nice that she isn't embarrassed to be with me. My youngest daughter will soon be gone away and it will really be hard for me. It is good to get to know her as an adult before she goes away. Having dinner with her as often as I can allows me to get to know her in a better way. I'm proud of all three of my daughters, but then again I have said that often!!

Easy to get in trouble

Sometimes I get into trouble in the most innocent situations. Yesterday I worked in a school that I have been visiting for 4 years. This school has over 600 students I need to work with. I work with four classes a day for 7 days in a two week period. It feels like a marathon when I work there. I have a very good relationship with the staff and faculty in the school. They specifically request I help their students each year. During November I am like a part of their staff. One lady asked me to tutor her son to help him pass the test he has to take to join the military.

This school is an occupational center that teaches different job skills. The first period the students studied how to be veterinary assistants and the second period were future medical assistants. In the afternoon the same teachers and occupations, but different students. In the second period I was asking students questions. I called on one girl and didn't know her name so I called on "the girl with glasses". Seeing the look in her eyes she was a little upset I identified her as the one wearing glasses. After all the students were working on their own I went to talk to her and apologized for identifying her that way.

She asked me why I identified her as wearing glasses. I laughed and asked her how else she would like to be identified. She was waring bright red lipstick and I asked if she would rather be identified that way. She said anything other than glasses would be better. I asked what other way I could identify her, she was the only black girl, she had a strange haircut with the sides shaved short and the rest piled on top, what did she think was better than glasses? She said I should see her in her normal clothes rather than medical "scrubs" because she always wore loud clothes.

I finished the class and didn't think anything more about the conversation. When I came back to the school after lunch for the third and fourth classes I was told that the girl complained that I only identified her as being black. She said I made her feel bad because I couldn't see past her race and criticized her because of her race. I stood there with my mouth open. The lady talking to me about it and the teacher were both there and told me they thought I handled it perfectly. The couldn't understand why the girl was so upset. She had told them it wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't a white man.

I don't understand why that isn't racist, should I be offended that she identifies me as a white man when she is upset I identify her as a black girl (which I didn't know I had done). I guess I shouldn't call on anyone in any class so I don't offend them. I can't win with some people ...

Many years ago I worked in an adult school teaching ESL. I did that for 9 years and I was a fairly good teacher. While teaching I found out that it was easy to get in trouble there too. I started to realize the people I tried to help the most were the people that get me in trouble most.

I had all nationalities in my class. One year I had two Palestinians in my class that I often talked to. When I needed help in the class they were the ones that volunteered all the time. I looked at them as friends as well as students. One guy, Ali, came late to class one day. We were doing a standardized test and I had to keep students spaced out, two to a desk. Ali came in and brought a chair to a desk with 2 pretty girls at it and move his chair between them. I asked him not to sit there since we needed to keep the seating at 2 per table. He didn't say anything to me and moved to another table.

The next day my boss called me into her office and told me Ali had complained that I was prejudiced against him for asking him to move. She asked me why I had asked him to move instead of one of the girls. I told her the girls looked a little distressed and were cowering when he sat down. I told her that she had given me the directions to have only two students per table. I asked her how I should have handled it and she said I shouldn't have asked him to move, but asked for a volunteer to sit somewhere else. I was on "probation" for 6 months and counseled on a weekly basis.

November Oxford Class

Today I started a new weekend certification class for people that want to teach ESL in other countries. This is the first time in almost 2 years I have taught in Santa Cruz. The location has been changed since I taught there last. It is out off the beaten path in and area I haven't been to before in Santa Cruz. The room was nice and there was only thing I had to change when I taught there. One wall has a mirror so it was hard to do the exercise where I draw a picture on the board and one student describes it to the other.

 The students with their backs to the board could see what I drew on the board in the mirror. I just drew the picture on a piece of paper and taped that to the mirror. When I need to do something I figure a way to make it work. This class is the smallest I have had in almost 2 years. There were 9 people signed up for the class. Three of the students registered didn't show up this morning. One student that wasn't registered came to class. She went home early because she was sick and her sister contacted me tonight saying she might not be back tomorrow.

The six other students are very interesting. There are two friends that went to high school together. One wants to go to Korea and the other wants to go to Turkey or Poland. She is a little hesitant about going to Turkey since she heard that many Turkish men are not polite to women. One woman is older and wants to be able to teach English when she travels to other countries. She met her husband on his sailboat when she was in Mexico and seems to travel around the world on the sailboat a lot these days. Of the six students there is only one guy.

He has been taking care of his invalid grandmother for the past six years and wants to teach in Japan. He is burned out in helping his grandmother and his family agrees that he needs a break. Another girl in the class is half Japanese and studied Japanese language and culture. She wants to teach in Japan and wants to eventually get her Masters in a Japanese school and maybe even a PhD. She wants to teach in a Japanese college. She has heard many disappointing things about teaching in Japan and I am trying to find out the true facts for her from my old students that are there.

This is the first time I have had a student in my class that attended the same high school that I went to. It is fun to talk to her about the high school. She wants to go to Korea so she can find out more about the school system and why it is so good. She wants to know why it is one of the top school systems in the world. It will be interesting to find out what she discovers.

Driving long distance

Today I drove 5 hours after working in the morning. The drive was wonderful. 2.5 hours through the mountains and then 2.5 hours on the freeway that I drive on often. I stop and take pictures while I'm driving so I force myself to stretch my legs. As I drive I listen to audio books. This week I'm listening to The Racketeer by John Grisham. Last week I listened to The Sycamore Tree by John Grisham. The beginning of last week's book it introduced John Grisham as the best storyteller in America I totally agree and think that was a great definition of him.

Driving through the backroads of California is really fantastic and eye opening. I really like seeing the areas that not many people travel to. I like the small towns that are boring to some people, but to me they are an adventure. I like to see the chimney that is left after the house burned down 100 years ago. I don't mind the long distance driving if there is something to see alone the way. I have my camera and a good book to listen to and it is much better than sitting at a desk 8 hours a day.

Writing about nothing

I try to write in this every day, but I often don't really have anything to say. That is why I post the pictures I really like so there is some reason to check out my blog :). Today I worked in a continuation high school. Usually continuation high schools have very low scoring students. This continuation high school was full of high achievers. I was impressed because most typical high schools have students that score between 20 and 40 on the test. This high school most students scored between a 30 to 60! I was impressed and I made sure they knew how good they did.

After I finished working in that school I drove 3.5 hours north to Susanville. I really like the drive to Susanville because it is through the mountains and forests. I didn't stop and take pictures today and that wasn't good. When I don't stop and take pictures then I don't stop and my legs pay the price when I get to my destination. I ended up going for a 2 mile walk when I got here to stretch my legs. I enjoy walking in the downtown of small towns. Lots of old houses and sometimes museums and sometimes small hole in the wall cafes.

Susanville is an interesting town, and I really like the people here. I have been thinking of moving when my youngest daughter finishes high school and I would love to move to a small town. With my job I can live any where in Northern California. As I drive around to different cities and towns I always keep my eyes open to see where I want to live. Susanville is nice, but it is a long distance from everywhere. I would like to be more central, but I don't like extreme weather. I previously wrote what my dream job would be and that would be ideal in a small town!!

Taehee or Theresa

Yesterday I met a Korean girl that has been living in San Francisco for 5 months. She had the same story of many foreigners that come to the USA to learn English, she hasn't made friends with anyone except people from her country. She introduced herself as Taehee and we talked for a while before a seminar I was teaching and she attended. She asked for my advice on how to make friends with Americans. I told her the first thing I would suggest to her is to change her name to an American name.

I told her the story about a girl in my class many years ago that was great. She had a very positive attitude about everything and was nice to everyone. She had a Vietnamese name that I couldn't pronounce and I didn't want to say it wrong so I never called on her. She was very friendly, but had no friends in class. I thought it had something to do with the same problem I had, no one wanted to insult her by mispronouncing her name. One day she came to me with her eyes watering and asked me why I didn't like her. I told her I didn't understand why she thought that and she told me that I never called on her. I told her I thought she was great, but I couldn't pronounce her name so I didn't call on her.

 She looked so sad that I asked her if I could give her an American name and she perked up and said she would like that. We decided on Sandy and I then told the class her new name. The following day Sandy was the most popular girl in class and everyone often talked to her and she had many friends in class. I then often had to tell Sandy not to talk so much in class.
I suggested to Taehee that she start by adopting an American name. I suggested Theresa since it sounded a lot like her Korean name. she agreed and I introduced her to everyone else as Theresa.

Many people disagree with me in giving people from other countries American names. They are purists and say that Americans should learn to accept people from other countries and embrace their multiculturism. I think individual people want to be accepted in a group. If Theresa is introduced to other people and they say hi and ask how she is that is a lot better than Taehee being introduced to a group and people automatically ask for her name again and again and then they focus on that rather than the person. Fight the multiculturism battle another time and become a part of the group first.

One of my favorite people is a Korean (SueHee) that grew up in Japan (Shoka) and then came to the USA (Sarah) and has friends around the world. People call her the name they know her as and she is well adjusted and feels comfortable where ever she is.