Silly Sentences

As a treat for my 5A class after a double session last week, we played BINGO today in class. I have a bit of a unique system for playing- we create our own boards. Choosing five different categories, we come up with five examples within the category as a class. For example, the category could be animals, and as a class we come up with panda bear, lion, snake, zebra, and spider. All of these are recorded on the board and then the students fill in their blank bingo cards however they see fit.

When it comes time to play, I randomly choose (usually from sheets of paper folded up) the letters B, I, N, G, or O, and say one of the words from the board.

There are many reasons I play this way, but one of the benefits is the activity we can end the class with: silly sentences. The assignment is to create sentences using a word from each of the categories. Here are some examples of work today... enjoy :)


"The red Romanian cat does math and plays ping-pong."

"The blue English zebra danced when it was learning P.E."

"When I was playing basketball in the math class, a green zebra said that he went to Spain a weekend ago."

"When I learnt for science in my car, go to England to play water polo, I saw a purple cat playing basketball."

"Last month I went in England when I saw a man in yellow clothes who was playing tennis with a cat but he don't know Romanian."

"Last month, when I was in Sweden for a math exam, when I saw a big rat, big like a giraffe, purple, playing ping-pong with a hand, and with the other he was playing P.E."

"When I learnt English in Spain I saw a yellow cat playing ping-pong."

"In my purple room I dance, I think at Italy and at my zebra's English homework."

"When I was to Spain, I bought for my cat a green book to learn math and I played ping-pong."

"When I was in England, I saw a blue man wearing a red cat."

"I saw a red rat in Spain, that was playing ping-pong and study math with his friends."

"I live in Romania and while I was playing tennis I saw a blue giraffe that likes P.E."

"I have a purple zebra who is learning math in Romania when I'm dancing."

"I learning to be green and my Spanish rat who is a tennis star is doing science."

"When I play basketball in Italy I always think that a blue giraffe will dance in front of me."

"Italy's rats are purple and they are good at the science tennis."

Just admit it... my job is cooler than yours.

Momentary Living

We officially booked our flights last night. Flying out of Chicago on August 30 gives me an actual, real, tangible date. A specific point in time that I can measure and count down to and plan for.

I should clarify something. When I say "we," I am talking about myself and someone else. I basically began looking into a position in Romania as a result of a conversation I had with this person. We both went to Romania in May of 2009 through a trip with school, and it was here that I left a portion of my heart. We talked a lot about life after graduation, and D~ casually (I thought) mentioned going back to Romania. I began looking into this possibility and did some quick research and applying and interviewing. When I jokingly invited D~ to Bucharest after getting confirmation of a teaching job, he also decided to pursue a year teaching English in Romania. So, I am lucky enough to have someone both familiar and terribly entertaining to embark on this journey with. And it is truly an inexpressible comfort to know someone in the same hemisphere, time zone, and country.

Anyway- we are now the owners of real and actual tickets for a real and actual flight to Romania. My entire life, I have been looking forward to the future. And while there is nothing wrong with anticipation, I fear that I am missing things on the way. This blog is obviously about teaching in Romania, but I am acutely aware that everything this summer will impact that up and coming time. Every experience in my entire life is contributing to the experience I will have in Romania, and for obvious reasons they matter tremendously.

And so with resolve, I am committing to "momentary living." Not living for a moment, but living through the moments. A million little things happen daily that I don't want to miss, especially as I look forward to this looming departure date. For I am in danger of living on the surface for this entire summer, simply existing without being affected or creating an effect. I am committing to acknowledging the insignificant, the chol, the seemingly meaningless.

In in that spirit, here are wonderful kid quotes from the day:

Munchkin #5: "You have a red face Stephanie. And it is kinda soggy."

Munchkin #2: (With a wave of the wand) "I declare it shall be COLD. Chillium! Wow! I feel it working already."

Munchkin #6: "I like these things."
Stephanie: "What things?"
Munchkin #6: "These round things under your shirt."