Mother's Day Weekend/Last Week

I hope all of you have enjoyed the beautiful weather this weekend and that you've had a Happy Mother's Day with or without your mothers. My husband, daughters and I celebrated at a Mets baseball game last night. It was a great game, especially since the Mets won! It's really starting to seem like the summer is beginning now that I've been to a game!

I was a little down today since my own mother is not doing that well these days. The combination of her birthday (3 days ago) and Mother's Day made me wish she still understood what those special days mean. My family tried to help cheer me up, though, so I got through the day OK.

I'll see you all tomorrow for the beginning of our last week! It's hard to believe we'll be done so soon. It has been a pleasure being your teacher. You're an incredibly cooperative class and each of you has made so much progress in the past 14 weeks. All of you should be proud of your progress! You are also extremely nice, respectful people. I've enjoyed coming to work every day. THANK YOU!

A Taste of Summer

On Saturday, my husband, my younger daughter and I went to Brighton Beach and Coney Island in Brooklyn. Those communities are right on the beach. There's a boardwalk that connects them to each other, and one of my favorite things in the world is to walk along the ocean. The weather was absolutely perfect. The sky was blue, and the sun was warm, but not too warm. We ate some Russian food since it's a very Russian neighborhood, and we had ice cream, of course. We also rode the huge ferris wheel that is in the amusement park there. I was terrified because we went in a swinging car, but I'm sure most of you would think it was the least scary ride in the world! All in all, we had a day that felt like summer. I recommend that you try out these neighborhoods, especially in the spring before the boardwalk and beach get incredibly crowded.

The Homestretch

Have you ever heard of "the homestretch"? It's an expression that describes the last stage of a project. We are getting to the homestretch of our semester. This is the point when I get a little sad about leaving you and some of you will get a little sad about leaving each other.

It is sometimes tempting to work less hard at the end of the semester, but please don't. There is still time to improve all of your English skills. Please let me know how I can help you the most in the last 3 weeks of school. Specifically, if there is something you want to work on in lab this week or next week, let me know. Let's make the end of the semester the best three weeks of all! I'm looking forward to seeing all of you again tomorrow and hearing about your vacations (even if they were boring like mine!)!

Passover

Tomorrow night is the beginning of an important Jewish holiday called Passover. I've been spending the weekend, and I'll spend the next two days, cleaning the house and cooking for the holiday. It lasts 8 days, but the first two nights are the most important. Those are the nights we get together with friends and relatives and have a huge meal that lasts for many hours. We eat, but we also read a book that has the story from the Bible about the Jews' escape from Egypt 3,000-4,000 years ago. Although I have to do so much work to prepare for the holiday, I love it. I get to see my close relatives and friends, eat good food, and think about how lucky we are to be free and how we hope all people will be free some day.

Impulsive Trip

I am definitely not an impulsive person. I am a planner. Yesterday, though, I suggested that my husband, daughters and I take a trip to Philadelphia. My daughter had just decided to go there for graduate school in September. I knew she would enjoy walking around the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, which she will be attending. She got home from work at 2 p.m., and we all hopped in the car. It took around 2 hours to get there. We walked all over the campus and the surrounding streets. We were all impressed by what we saw and had a wonderful time being outside in the beautiful weather. There are more trees in bloom down there. I guess the slightly more southern location makes the flowers bloom earlier. The whole experience made me think I should be more impulsive more often. I wonder where I'll go next week. Any suggestions?

Autism

Have you ever heard of autism? It's a disorder that affects the social and communication parts of the brain. There's a new documentary about two autistic men who learned to communicate for the first time by using a typing device. I "listened" to these two men and the director of the movie at a lecture last week. It was fascinating to hear their stories and to learn how relieved the men are that they can finally communicate. They only started typing in middle age, so until then they could never say what they were thinking. Can you imagine being locked in your own mind like that? Their stories give hope to all the parents of children who have autistic children. Maybe their children will be able to communicate someday, too. If you want to see a trailer for the movie or find out more, you can go to http://www.wretchesandjabberers.org/

Hospital Care

I hope none of you has had much contact with hospital care in the U.S. or in your countries. I haven't had much contact myself, but in the last few years, my mother has been in and out of the hospital. She went in again last Tuesday, and she's still there. She went in with a minor stomach problem, and just can't seem to get out. This is partly why health costs are so high in the U.S. The medical system orders unnecessary tests and keeps people in the hospital for too long. Some of the professionals who are taking care of her are wonderful, but some seem very neglectful. She has Alzheimer's Disease (that means she has lost most of her memory), and so she can't ask for help. That means the nurses have to remember to take care of her. They don't always do it. I know some of you want to go into health care professions. I know you'll do your best to improve the system and patient care!