The Diary Of John
What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy? - Gandhi
Friday, October 10, 2003

For My Baby Spice Girls

My students think Avril Lavigne is great, I think shes cute lol

My little Spice Birls love Avril Lavigne, they told me in an essay in their midterm exam they think she is fantastic lol. So just for them a photo of their heroine to make them laugh. I will have to remind them to come here and look as they are typical teenagers who have so many things attracting their attention. At the moment though the main thing is... BOYS!!!!! lol. They have become little man-hunters ;-)

I have around an hour then i have to go to the other school to give conversation classes, im a little nervous though, i always am when i meet a group i have never had contact with before. Its going to be alot of fun though, i have prepped some stuff on powerpoint as well to get them going. I think its going to be great for them and me too as i can try out some stuff that i didnt get the chance to at the other schools. Ill post on how it went later or more than likely tomorrow..
Okay time to go.... Bye lol
posted at 9:57 AM by john |  

Wednesday, October 08, 2003

Man.. am i bored lol

Imagine working in a place where no secretaries can speak english? i have to get people to translate everything i say even though the secretaries get free english lessons lol. Sounds crazy right?... but its true, none of them can understand a single word of english and some of them have worked here for god knows how long :-) They cant even communicate with the students in english at the most simple level such as, hi, bye etc.. Good job they have me then isnt it? lol

Anyway enough of that, at the moment i am here waiting for my students to arrive so they can do their midterm exam. This time its my MEC2 group who should have no problem with the test. The biggest problem i have will be staying awake for 90 minutes, theres no coffee here as the cleaner cant make it properly. Shes a bit lazy really and waits for everyone else to do her job for her. Ill go over to the bakers and get some coffee though before the lesson starts as its just a couple of minutes walk from here.

Hmmm i got the other school in Taguatinga on the messenger program and they cant speak a word of english either. I told them i am george w bush and that the cia helped me hack into their computer lol. i ask you, would you believe that if someone told it to you? lol now they are trying to figure out who i am lol

Oh well time to go here, ill post again later :-)

posted at 1:20 PM by john |  

Tuesday, October 07, 2003

Only one more to go!!

Yeah just one more exam and ill be finished here for the day or rather the night. i'll take the exams home to correct i think or ill be here until 10pm lol. Still i think all of my students that have taken their exams so far have done well and passed.... Nice :-)

Okay off to the bakers while i have some free time before the next lot arrive to start theirs :-)

posted at 5:31 PM by john |  

Oh it looks different lol

Im using a different computer at work and the blogger post page is completely different because its using a better version of internet explorer than the others in the lab lol. I wonder if they have managed to cure that terrible scrolling problem it had before now as it was really irritating lol. It looks nice though, very blue ;-)

I just finished correcting my first set of midterm exams for my TT1 group and they all passed lol. They have a feedback class tomorrow morning about this exam but i think they will all be really happy :-). Sometimes they get so stressed at exam time that even telling them to drink lots of coffee doesnt help them lol. Later this afternoon i have more exams for my other groups so its going to be a little boring just sitting there watching them writing in silence for most of the evening and night too. I want to correct as soon as i can though because i have alot of groups and dont want to have loads to do all at once at the end opf the exam period.

Well i can see they didnt fix the scroll problem quite yet as i cant see the bar to scroll the text up and down on the right hand side of the screen :-( Still im only using this computer because the other one is very slow for some reason this morning so it doesnt really matter

Hmm the secretary just gave me some sheets of paper that one of my students left for me to read.... in portugues lol. apparently its some course at UNB but im not sure exactly what its for lol. Ill translate some of it later and find out what it is or just go to the UNB website and see if there is an english translation for it... Oh my student just called me to tell me that this paper is for another students not me lol.. can you see how crazy things get here sometimes? ;-) They have feedback tomorrow so ill pas it on then when they are all here :-)

Okay ill go and get off home as i have to be back here in a couple of hours to give another set of exams..

posted at 9:43 AM by john |  

Monday, October 06, 2003

At the school.....

Finally got some decent internet speed lol. And just completed the blogger customer service as well lol, it only took a few minutes. I have some stuff to print here but the printer isnt working at the moment so ill do do at the other school when i go there in a few minutes.

I picked up some books from the house to read while my students complete their exam, books that the school in Formosa gave to me to read so i could find some interesting ideas for conversation classes. They have quite a few good ideas not only for conversation classes but also for other ideas as well so i'll photocopy a few of the good parts so i can give the books back to the school on friday when i go to give my first class there.

Right off i go, for the fun is about to start.. well nearly anyway lol

posted at 12:02 PM by john |  

Grrr i hate the phone system here in Estancia lol

This place must have the worst phone system in the Country, this morning i keep getting disconnected :-(. Im going to go over to the school and use their dsl instead as i can catch a bus from there to go over to the other school later on afterwards. I was visiting another site to finally get around to posting some comments but i cant stay online long enough to get more than a few posted lol.. Sorry Joáo, ill try from work okay? :-)

Just stuffing my face here with coffee and coconut biscuits.. Why?? Because i like coconut flavored biscuits lol.. Hmmm just out of curiosity, Danielle, Tatiana or Joáo are you here reading this? A couple of my students emailed me the other day telling me they have been reading this site of mine too lol.. I guess they also dont have anything better to do right? ;-)

Im have to search out some lyrics at the school online, i need some Red Hot Chilli Peppers and lyrics by The Calling as well. I love using lyrics in class as the students love to do anything different from methodology :-). On the plus side though songs are a great way of getting lots of vocabulary so i like to encourage the students to listen to music. Im going to try to find someone to make me up some clips cd's with just rock songs and groups on it as alot of my students love this sort of music :-). I coiuld listen to the cd and type the lyrics as i listen but i need to print them too so its easier to just go to the school and use their stuff lol. After all its for their pupils lessons right lol. i just need one copy as the secretary will photocopy it for me :-).

Time to get my arse off this seat and get moving here lol

posted at 9:58 AM by john |  

Exam day

Today my students start their exams lol, for them it must be quite interesting but for me there is only one word to describe it - BORING lol. Why?.. because i get to sit for 90 minutes watching them do their tests in silence. How i am going to stop awake lol. Still once they are over it doesnt take long to correct them luckily. I dont think that any of my students will fail, they are all intermediate, advanced or master and wont have any problems with the exam.. i hope lol. I have just one today i think as the others will delay for a lesson or two to give them time to prepare. Am i worried they wont do well?.. No.. but some of them are a little nervous lol

Ive got to get around to going to look for a tv and dvd player this month, everytime i try to find time for this something always comes up lol. I have seen the ones i want now and just have to go to the store and buy them. I checked the models first online to make sure they were good ones and they said the dvd player i would like it great for the price. Of course in America its even better for the price lol I dont really need a video machine as i never record anything from the tv here, plus dvd's come in many languages including english :-) Alot of old films also come on dvd too, i wonder if my parents can send me films from england and they will play on players here?? I will have to check this out to see what dvd region Brasil would come under.

I must remember to pick up an envelope today too as i have some photos to post to my family, i might take out my other camera and snap off a few pics with this one instead of the other. Mine is okay but its a manual camera and a pain in the arse to use but has a great zoom lens on it. Its a bit heavy for carrying all over the place though. I'll see how i feel later and also if the weather holds out as at the moment its a bit cloudy. Maybe we are going to get some rain, at least it will kill off some of the dust :-) I should have taken it with me when i went to see the art exibitions but i didnt know i was going at the time lol. My family back in the UK love seeing photos of Brasil

Hmmm let me hunt around here for a cd to listen to...

**Huele A Tristeza - Maná**

Wow i havent listened to this cd for a while lol, I bet my neighbours must think that i am crazy.. (well crazier than usual for someone from England lol) because i change the music all the time, but has to be better than that cracker-shit they listen too all the time lol. Hmmm gospel has its place in the world but not every five minutes of the day.. well not in my day ;-). they can look on it as a sort of education if they like, that other music is fun too and young people use it to celebrate life, (But would i call myself young? hmmmm.. i will think on this lol) it must get so depressing listening to songs telling you that you are full of sin and that we have to grovel on our knees like unworthy dogs for forgiveness :-(. I find this very sad

I have to remember to take a video back to the store this evening, they all watched it here yesterday while i was on the phone to my parents. I was going to have a look at it this morning but i wont have time to see it before i have to go over to Sobradinho. I suppose i could watch some of it while the students are busy with their exams lol, Somehow though i dont think they would let me get away with that, i get alot of leeway as it is :-)

Okay time for me to go do something here or i'll be here still when its time to go and i have yet to type some emails too lol

posted at 8:26 AM by john |  

Sunday, October 05, 2003

Just increased my phone bill by $100 lol

God i dread to think how much that phone call to England has just cost me, its going to be big though as any sort of phone call overseas here is really expensive. Its always funny when i ring there though as i guess my accent has changed a bit so they alwaysd dont realize who it is on the phone lol. I know it sounds a little crazy right? :-) Was nice to catch up though with everyone there and they are going to post me some stuff like cds, newspapers and magazines and stuff to use here in my lessons. shame my brothers werent in though so i could say Hi to them as well but they are all out somwhere with friends. Ill try to get some new photos from them to post online.

Im debating whether to go a walk into Planaltina, theres not alot on the tv at the moment and a half-decent film only on later tonite. The nutty professor is on the tv at the moment but ive seen it before so i wont bother watching it again. Ill listen to some music instead and search online for some Chat-up Lines that i wanna try out using in class just for a bit of fun. I like to drop these crazy things in sometimes at the beginning or end of the lesson just to do something different. Than i think maybe ill go into Planaltina to get some ice-cream.. now that i thinks a good idea lol

Time to surf before i stuff myself silly ;-)

posted at 12:02 PM by john |  

Good Morning... Bon Dia... How are ya? lol

After a few liters of coffee i am finally awake lol. I have 19 emails this morning.. WOW.. its just a shame that 17 of the are junk emails. Reading some of them is amusing but having bigger breasts wouldnt suit me i think ;-). One bad thing about Hotmail is all the junk email that gets sent to it.

I spent some time this morning correcting excercises, you cant imagine how exciting it was lol. Still most of them are done and i can do the rest tomorrow at work when the students are doing their midterm exams. Its wierd but the exams are easier to correct and grade than the normal excercises, i can usually correct them after the exams so that i dont have to take them all home with me :-) I had a few things to type up to use in conversation class too but ive got those done as well.. Yeah!!!!!!!

Yesterday i spend the afternoon and evening with Tatiana watching films and also visiting the Centro Cultural Banco Do Brasil. We visited the Andy Warhol Exibition which was really cool (But unfortunately Mr Worhol didnt get around to taking my picture which i think would have made a wonderful addition to the collection lol). They were also showing art by Keith Haring too, was interesting to see, alot of the pictures were done in a grafitti way, i read the pamphlet and apparently this was his sort of unique style :-). Anyway if you gays and gals get a chance you should go to see this as it was really interesting :-)

Paintings By Keith Haring

By Keith Haring


By Keith Haring


We also caught a couple of films too, one at the Academia De Tenis (I probably spelt that wrong lol) and then at the Centro Cultural. The first one was about the life of Robert Evans, who worked for Paramount Pictures and changed the fortunes of the company and although he loved his job, things didnt always go as he hoped they would. Its well worth seeing :-)

At the Cento Cultura they were showing films from Denmark, and we watched Alguém Como Hodder, about a little boy whos told he is going to save the world. He meets people along the way who help him, a fairy gives him advice along the way too. I liked this film alot, it was with portugues lengendas but i managed to understand most of what was happening. You guys should also go check these film out too (Yes my students, that means you too, go get some culture okay? lol) Oh and Tatiana.. thanks alot for taking me to see these :-)




WOW, could this be the longest thing i have written thats not about anything to do with school? lol.. Gosh ill be writing about myself before long... hmmm well maybe not ;-)

I think lunch is ready and im starving so ill go eat and hopefully my parents will ring after ive finished eating and not in the middle of lunch lol

Newsletter

Enter your email address below to subscribe to Johns Weblog!


powered by Bloglet
Contributors
John
Roberta

Archives
  • 03/16/2003 - 03/22/2003
  • 03/23/2003 - 03/29/2003
  • 03/30/2003 - 04/05/2003
  • 04/06/2003 - 04/12/2003
  • 04/13/2003 - 04/19/2003
  • 04/20/2003 - 04/26/2003
  • 04/27/2003 - 05/03/2003
  • 05/04/2003 - 05/10/2003
  • 05/11/2003 - 05/17/2003
  • 05/18/2003 - 05/24/2003
  • 05/25/2003 - 05/31/2003
  • 06/01/2003 - 06/07/2003
  • 06/15/2003 - 06/21/2003
  • 06/22/2003 - 06/28/2003
  • 06/29/2003 - 07/05/2003
  • 07/06/2003 - 07/12/2003
  • 07/13/2003 - 07/19/2003
  • 07/20/2003 - 07/26/2003
  • 07/27/2003 - 08/02/2003
  • 08/03/2003 - 08/09/2003
  • 08/10/2003 - 08/16/2003
  • 08/17/2003 - 08/23/2003
  • 08/24/2003 - 08/30/2003
  • 08/31/2003 - 09/06/2003
  • 09/07/2003 - 09/13/2003
  • 09/14/2003 - 09/20/2003
  • 09/21/2003 - 09/27/2003
  • 09/28/2003 - 10/04/2003
  • 10/05/2003 - 10/11/2003
  • 10/12/2003 - 10/18/2003
  • 10/19/2003 - 10/25/2003
  • 10/26/2003 - 11/01/2003
  • 11/09/2003 - 11/15/2003
  • 11/16/2003 - 11/22/2003
  • 11/23/2003 - 11/29/2003
  • 11/30/2003 - 12/06/2003
  • 12/07/2003 - 12/13/2003
  • 12/14/2003 - 12/20/2003
  • 12/21/2003 - 12/27/2003
  • 12/28/2003 - 01/03/2004
  • 01/04/2004 - 01/10/2004
  • 01/11/2004 - 01/17/2004
  • 01/18/2004 - 01/24/2004
  • 01/25/2004 - 01/31/2004
  • 02/01/2004 - 02/07/2004
  • 02/08/2004 - 02/14/2004
  • 02/15/2004 - 02/21/2004
  • 02/22/2004 - 02/28/2004
  • 02/29/2004 - 03/06/2004
  • 03/07/2004 - 03/13/2004
  • 03/14/2004 - 03/20/2004
  • 03/21/2004 - 03/27/2004
  • 03/28/2004 - 04/03/2004
  • 04/04/2004 - 04/10/2004
  • 04/11/2004 - 04/17/2004
  • 04/18/2004 - 04/24/2004
  • 04/25/2004 - 05/01/2004
  • 05/02/2004 - 05/08/2004
  • 05/09/2004 - 05/15/2004
  • 05/16/2004 - 05/22/2004
  • 05/23/2004 - 05/29/2004
  • 05/30/2004 - 06/05/2004
  • 06/06/2004 - 06/12/2004
  • 06/13/2004 - 06/19/2004
  • 06/20/2004 - 06/26/2004
  • 06/27/2004 - 07/03/2004
  • 07/04/2004 - 07/10/2004
  • 07/11/2004 - 07/17/2004
  • 07/18/2004 - 07/24/2004
  • 07/25/2004 - 07/31/2004
  • 08/01/2004 - 08/07/2004
  • 08/08/2004 - 08/14/2004
  • 08/15/2004 - 08/21/2004
  • 08/22/2004 - 08/28/2004
  • 08/29/2004 - 09/04/2004
  • 09/05/2004 - 09/11/2004
  • 09/12/2004 - 09/18/2004
  • 09/19/2004 - 09/25/2004
  • 09/26/2004 - 10/02/2004
  • 10/03/2004 - 10/09/2004
  • 10/10/2004 - 10/16/2004
  • 10/17/2004 - 10/23/2004
  • 10/24/2004 - 10/30/2004
  • 10/31/2004 - 11/06/2004
  • 11/07/2004 - 11/13/2004
  • 11/14/2004 - 11/20/2004
  • 11/21/2004 - 11/27/2004
  • 11/28/2004 - 12/04/2004
  • 12/05/2004 - 12/11/2004
  • 12/12/2004 - 12/18/2004
  • 12/19/2004 - 12/25/2004
  • 12/26/2004 - 01/01/2005
  • 01/02/2005 - 01/08/2005
  • 01/09/2005 - 01/15/2005
  • 01/16/2005 - 01/22/2005
  • 01/23/2005 - 01/29/2005
  • 02/13/2005 - 02/19/2005
  • 02/20/2005 - 02/26/2005
  • 03/06/2005 - 03/12/2005
  • 03/13/2005 - 03/19/2005
  • 03/20/2005 - 03/26/2005
  • 03/27/2005 - 04/02/2005
  • 04/03/2005 - 04/09/2005
  • 04/10/2005 - 04/16/2005
  • 05/01/2005 - 05/07/2005
  • 05/08/2005 - 05/14/2005
  • 05/15/2005 - 05/21/2005
  • 05/22/2005 - 05/28/2005
  • 05/29/2005 - 06/04/2005



  • Links

    Atom Xml Feed

    Search

    Search term:
    Case-sensitive? yes
    exact fuzzy

    Weather In Brasil

    The WeatherPixie


    Crazy stuff

    Rate Me on BlogHop.com!
    the best pretty good okay pretty bad the worst help?

    There is on this site right now


    Credits


    Weblog Commenting and Trackback by HaloScan.com

    Blizg - The blog resource.

    john. Lives in Brasilia/Brasil, speaks English and A little Portuguese.
    This is my blogchalk:
    Brazil, Brasilia, English, Portuguese, john.