babble...but not really

as many of you know, i have been out of touch with the bloggin world for quite some time. so today, i decided to frequent some of the sites i haven't been to for quite a while. i was reading my darren's blog and was inspired to write about nothing like he does...so here i go:

so anyway, today in my class we were talking about the differences in cultural communication. like how we all take it for granted that nodding means yes, shaking means no. in some other cultures, our gestures aren't what they mean here. i'll give you a real life sample of what i mean. yesterday one of my grade twos got in trouble with the teacher. she was trying to talk to him seriously and kept saying, "look at me in the eye when i'm talking to you!" but the kid just wouldn't look at her. consequently, he got himself into more trouble. however, i think that we need to be prudent & culturally sensitive as teachers, b/c in some cultures, kids are explicitly taught that talking to authority figures (seniors even) in the eye is a sign of disrespect. this is the opposite for north america. similarly, once i got in trouble in teaching an adult ESL class the thumbs up and thumbs down model (to show me whether they understand) b/c my course director/host teacher told me that those gestures are very offensive in some cultures (e.g. farsi).

on a completely unrelated topic, i think that i'm anti-mushy. as in, i dislike announcing to the whole world that "I (heart) ken" or "I LOVE ken." really, think about the last time that you saw that on my msn name. Similarly I refrain from calling him baby or being super mushy with him in public. that's not to say that i'm anti-PDA (public display of affection) cause i believe that certain forms of PDA are appropriate (e.g. hand-holding, linking arms, a kiss on the cheek, a hug) for certain times. i will not, for example, hold hands with ken around my parents, or sit closely to him for fear that my mother will lecture me about "tempting men with my bodily flesh." what i do instead, if i'm excited about something, or someone, is that i tend to talk about them ALOT. you can ask my brother how much i babble about ken, or ask ken how many times i've said, "i like (insert the name of one of my friends)." and as daniela tells me, naomi complains that i talk about ken too much.

off onto another completely unrelated field is that i realized recently why i wanted to become a teacher, or do all the things i've ever dream about doing. i realize that one of my passions in life is to instigate change. i don't know at which point in my life that i started to develop this passion. maybe i was born with an excess of empathy or something but the point remains. i want to be an advocate for change. i entered into teaching, hoping that i could teach future generations to globally conscious citizens - to care for the future sustainability of our environment, to help fix the structural inequalities we have in our world, etc. however, since entering into this program i've lost that vision. i see teachers as complacent individuals who simply teach no more than what the prescribed curricula tells them to teach - there isn't any originality in the lessons, as long as they receive their paychecks every month. for this reason, i've lost interest in teaching & am considering entering into the field of academia, doing research and policy-work on some of the injustices faced by immigrants in this society. but every now & then, i get glimpses of the fun & creativity that is to be haved in teaching (like yesterday). i am at a crossroad.

hmm, so my attempt to make this a light & fun post like darren's didn't really work. oh well. better luck next time.