I Am Trying...

I am trying but I can't seem to find the time to compose a blogpost. The last two weeks have been so hectic and filled up with many activities that I am just too caught up in time. For the moment I would prefer to be a full time author instead of having to keep up with so many things and people. Not that I am tempted to compose now a few 'exciting'posts but they would never live up to the personal 'high' standards I have set.


The 'bad' news is that next week I won't find time either to type away. Stallie will be abroad! On Tuesday she is boarding for Rimini, Italy! Meeting up with international educational staff! In between very tiring and for sure also interesting meetings and visits I will try to catch some breath with a nice glass of Italian wine, a filled up plate of spaghetti or pizza and some 'gelato' for dessert. 'Torte Della Nonna' would top it all off!

Still, these are the kind of projects were you find out that European democracy is in practice a lot harder then you ever imagine. And that diplomacy is a gift not many people are granted. I will have to try being 'Elasti-girl'for sure if it comes down to getting across a certain issue we are already dealing with for months! Not to mention the fact that having to listen to many foreign languages and intrepetors can wear me out mentally! Trying to listen carefully and stay tuned is for sure one of the biggest challenge the coming few days!

I will be tempted to blog but in this case I will be asked to do this for the common cause and not for my own benefit. This is if we do have access to the internet and it works. On a previous Comenius trip we were not granted that promised hotel service. It already causes me stress to think we arrive at a hotel were they will just tell us very plainly that they won't grant us access to their fantastic internet unless we pay extra for it. On their website they tell their future guests they have got free WiFi The outragously 'funny' excuses they come up with is that this is only fictional or that their webmaster has 'forgotten' to update their website! Yeah, right!


Stallie has also some issues with packing her suitcase this time. Travelling light is the ultimate mission before boarding the plane at Charleroi airport. Uhm, that is like telling Stallie she can only pack a toothbrush and some underwear. Not to mention the fact that buying a bottle of Limoncello or some fridge magnets as Italian souvenirs will be out of the question! Books won't be an issue this time because I am still working on my level of Italian. So, guaranteed no extra 'book-weight on this trip!


The worst of all is that my faithful tiny camera did just pass away! While being on the annual family weekend of the YCC A was so nice to drop my camera on the very old and wooden floor of Vianden Castle. The castle itself is worth a detour but I won't recall it as being a hallmark visit. Because it does now stand for the place where my camera just gave up after six very long years and keeping me company all over the world. Not a single experienced cardiologist was able to perform succesfully CPR on it! AHHHH!!! That I will be boarding with no camera in my carry on luggage will make me feel rather naked! I will have to try being content with the shots my colleagues will shoot! Still, nice luggage-wise because less weight and more room for bottles of Limoncello!

So, after a manic Monday in which I will try to prepare many for me being absent for almost a week I will boarding the plane to meet up with happy educational crowth. Some I will only meet for the first time. Others I will be hugging and kissing (according to their National cultural heritage and kissing code!!) for a 2nd time. Trying to remember who only prefers handshakes is an other issue!

Seems I will be trying many things the next few days and I will also try to keep in mind the many things and thaughts I do wish to write about but just don't have time for. Uhm, seems that I have just composed a post and my intentions were to only try to keep it short. Oh boy, packing is going to be so damn hard if this even already turns out to be a disaster!

P.S.: I am heading for the country where many lovely things come from! Besides 'Romeo&Julia' and many other 'sexy' people it is the home country of Laura Pausini. She is Stallie her all time favorite carmusic performers. When cruising on the Belgian highways I am singing along with her. Yes, I do know that I sing off key for sure. But I am on my own in a car so I don't care a fig! I will be trying to copy some of the vocab she has tried to teach me but chances are that I am using them in the complete wrong context! After all, I am only trying......

What Does a Teacher Make?

This year I teach on Wednesdays! Not this is something exceptional but for a person who was the last five years at home on that specific day it is. Turns out it is a lot harder to get rid of that 'free day'-feeling then to the getting used to not teaching that day! Need time to recuperate from just being out there between 7 pm and 12 am. Normally I can go on teaching 24/24!

Still can't seem to find the right paste and once I am in my classroom I am staring into they eyes of kids who are mentally not present. 'Wednesdays is only half a day of school but it is 4 hours too much', they are sending straight at me. On this particular day of the week they are stuck me for two hours straight! On top of that I teach them social skills and I move into the computer room (I am still dreaming of a room filled up with Apple computers that all work efficiently for 100%!!!) with a bunch of 'newborns'.

So yesterday the 'mean' teacher Stallie was active. My grade booklet was out and I felt like being a referee during a Champions League football game. Lots of whistle blowing and tons of red cards! Best of all was when I let them grade themselves. LOL! Some gave them outrageously low grades and other did think they deserved the highest score and are up for the Nobel price. Also the excuses they came up for not handing in their home assignments were too good to be true! But I always give them the benefit of the doubt before I call the shots(grades)!

By the time I left the school building it felt like I had been running a marathon. Like they sucked all the energy out of me. Not that I had not made any predictions about this specific group but you always hope you are mistaken for once. NOPE!! These kids are going to kick some ass with me. A bunch of teenagers who are on the loose! Will a course of social skills bring what it takes to turn them into 'better' behaving citizens? Uhm, hard to say, check or even grade!

All I know is that I will for sure be very challenged by this lively group of kids who want to be everywhere but not between the four walls of my classroom. I have already been 'head banging' against the black board and rolled my eyes in all possible directions. At a certain moment I even felt like a sparkling (still keep up the make-up promise!!) decorated xmastree in the middle of the summer: completely out of place.

While driving home I was wondering why I still do this, why teaching does matter to some and others not! When I made the choice that all I wanted was to teach I had some others in mind who were up for medals of honor. Teachers who I still call exceptional and I do 'try to copy' once in a while. These are the ones who thaught me so much more then just facts, numbers, dates, formulas and symbols. Not that all my classmates did agree on my personal shortlist ... Lets face it: hating French as a subject must have been also very hard on the teacher. Guess she/he never got a fair chance.

By the time I got home and opened my mailbox I found a very nice message (to be found at the end of the post) of one of my all time favorite teachers: Mrs McC!!!! She is the one who got me hooked on anything that is written in the English language, she thaught me to write in a proper way and above made me first think and reflect about what I was about to put down on paper.

In her classroom I felt always at home and this even when I was thousands miles away from my hometown! Still miss her and wished it was a bit easier to talk to her in person. She is out with me many times in a filled up classrooms and this in the good and also harder times I am having out there!

Chances are pretty high that I am not up for a medal on a Wednesday but I do know all my pupils deserve the right to get useful education. And no, I don't make a fortune by doing this. And yesterday the whole A+ and C- bit took place in my classroom, but they are still not aware of this! LOL!

There was even a kid who wrote this word on a sheet op paper not knowing what this stood for and what made me even LOL out harder! He thaught I came from Mars when I asked him to explain to all of us what he had written down. 'Just 'LOL', I guess!', was his answer! What do I make as a teacher? For sure millions of inner smiles even on a Wednesday!

Cool Travelling

This girl loves travelling! Lately this is kind of hard because my other significant one does not share those genes. P is a bit the boring kind when it comes down to discovering the unknown. He does not have the urge to pack a suitcase and go out there and let adventure take its course. Stallie does and is bitten very badly by the travelbug. The last few years I have travelled alone and leaving behind A&P. Must sound a bit egocentric but believe me a Stallie who has been out into the world does function more effeciently.

Because I do now travel less then I would wish for I had to search for some substitute travelling. First of all there are my books and they take me on many breathtaking outings. Especially with the expertise of Nicola and her very clasy bookclub I have visited many surprising and less obvious countries. Some of these booktrips manage to fuel me up for a whole long dark and travel free Winter.

Still, I am forced to do so much more then just reading and I had to come up with something else as well to let me travel without having to book a trip to the tropics or the arctic. And because a woman ends up a lot of time in a kitchen I started to use this as my basecamp. It is in there that I not only experiment with food and try to copy some five star chefs like Jamie,Nigella & Bill but also enter my very own designed travel agency and board on the next plane.

How do I manage to do this? Well, thanks to the imaginary multi tasking ability women are blessed with! While stirring, frying, grilling, mixing, seasoning, pouring and baking I also need to open my fridge once in while. When P and I bought this very cool equipment I remember I just considered it useful but at the same time rather boring. After all it is not the American Dream Fridge I am desperately after. The one that spits out ice cubes to spice up my home made mojito! At first sight this is just a very uninspiring white fridge!

Well, I hope that once you stand still in front of it you will see so much more. Chances are when you take the time you will see the pimped up version that I daily get to meet up with. It is covered by tons of 'cool' magnets of all kinds, shapes, sizes, colors and materials. This rainbow collection forms my private travel brochure and enables me to be 'place'worped.

So while my candle light dinners and quick lunches are prepared I might be:
- on my way to London to attend a banquet at Hampton Court in the presence of Henry VIII
- standing on top of Rockefeller and kissing P while the sun sets over NYC
- wandering through Zûrich nibling on the sweet champagne macarons by Sprüngli.
- getting lost in the Louvre and then having 'café au lait avec un croissant' in one of these post card cafés in Paris.
- sipping a huge glass of sangria after a long fiesta in Madrid.
- hiking across the green hills of Ireland where tons of sheep cross my path.
- boarding for an other ride on the Space Mountain in Disneyland Paris.
- strolling through the streets of the mysterious Tuscan village of Volterra (Twilight!!) and enjoying the best gelato ever.
- trying to decipher the Pheostos Disc in a pub of Thessaloniki.
- holding on to P while he is steering a heavenly blue Vespa through the streets of Rome.
- sunbathing on a Mexican beach in the company of the best cocktails ever!
- reading precious manuscripts in the mysterious library of Trinity College in Dublin
- guiding tons of friends through Brussels and going into many chocolate shops
- reading Pride&Prejudice in the background of Castle Howard and hoping Mr Wet T-shirt Darcy will walk by.
- recovering in one of the luxerous hospital beds at Hospice de Beaune.
- speeding over the Golden Gate Bridge of San Fransico behind the wheel of yellow Ferrari California (Top Gear Cool Wall side effect!)
- ....

Can travel all over where I am while cooking. Many of these sticky thingies have spiced up my day. Thanks to them I manage to survive the cold, rainy, less sunny, snowy and gloomy days. This also thanks to the help of generous family & friends who were so kind to spend some of their travel budget just on my benefit. You can all be sure that this touches me sincerly! It means that I was travelling a bit along with you all!!!

Of course P & A have claimed also some inches of the fridge to leave behind their personal objects of affection. P goes wild for the imitation Cool Wall of Top Gear! Every summer I try to update it by bringing home the summer issue of Top Gear with the latest magnets. We differ a great deal when it comes down to cars. Thanks to these little white magnetic tiles we can discuss cars without any casualties. I move my favorites while he is at the hospital!

A has got a whole animal farm up! Including sounds! I can tell you that it sometimes freaks you out to hear a sheap while you are frying fish. And lately he has figured it out that when he goes for magnets that he can have an extra souvenir when were are on a trip! Smart shoppaholic in the making!

So, in case you want to travel along and don't want to spend a fortune on taxes, luggage, passports and other travel essentials then just give me a quick call. But there are no guarantees on the star quality of the meal because when I am travelling to Mexico the chili con carne might be a bit too spicy according to your taste buds. And then a visit to a medieval hospital as Beaune might not be your best destination ever!!! But don't worry I am about to order my Doctor Carlisle Cullen magnet and then you are up for the best care ever!! COOL!!!

The Preaching Teacher

Weekend!!! I just got out of my car and feel like all the energy just left my body the moment my feet hit the threshold of our house. Right now I would love to check into a beauty farm and have every single treatment that is on their menu! Not that it has not been fun out there! Truely enjoyed my teaching moment and do feel very content about my ambitious life. Also I felt a bit relieved to find out that I still got that bit of magic that it takes to be called a 'good' teacher by others.

Yes, sometimes I feel a bit scared that there will come a day that I don't feel the same when teaching. After all it is my audience that is sending out the signals. Best test is a religion lesson! Because it is in there you go in blind. No guarantees what so ever!

When I decided to take that subject as a minor at teaching college I did it because I truely wanted to. Not that I do consider it a calling but still. In those three years I found out that it is the most complex subject to teach when dealing with teenagers. My professors were very demanding! And yes I not always felt very secure. Some of my lesson plans came back covered in the most loved color of all and made me scream out loud for mercy.

During that time I did find out that teaching that subject can bring me so much more. Okay, the History and English bit I do still miss! That my teaching history took me to a special ed school that is filled up with extra ordinary kids who can still push me to the edge of my abilities I consider now a true blessing.

So yes, I admit it here now very openly the moment that I know that I get to teach religion in a class I am a happier and content teacher. Why is that? Well, because it is during these lessons that I am granted to enter the lives of many. It is during these 100 minutes that I am given the priveledge to get to know my pupils better. Not that they grant me immediately access to their inner sanctum! Nope!

When it happens that teenagers grant you permission to enter that part of they vulnarable lives I do realise that I need to be careful. That I have to be honest myself and also not act as the Pope himself. Even in there I try 'to be Switzerland' but at the same time try to act according to my true beliefs! And I do open up and tell them that there are also moments that I feel so mixed up, not know what life should stand for, wonder if there is a God out there, doubt the fact that religion can make the difference in somebody's life, feel so down when people seem to 'abuse' religion and that I do think that the 'promised' land or peaceful world is still not in sight!

Today I was granted once more access and God (;-)) did it feel so damn (pardon my French)good to be a teacher. I had them right where I wanted, totally focused and their hearts on their sleeves. Before I knew we were sitting on that one magic carpet ride that makes me fly high up in the sky! These are the moments that I would like to have a complete camera crew in my class room to let you all find out that the present youth has got some very strong opions and does have the ability to reflect very soundly about many hot topics.

I do think that this is today not something that you should take for granted and especially as a religion teacher. Today two current affairs made me feel a bit less sure about my own belief! First of all the announced Koran burning activity that was called for to remember 9/11 and second the final report of the Commission Adriaessens (that deals with abuse in the Catholic Church in Belgium!). Both made me suddenly a bit less outgoing when dealing with belief and faith!

In the Koran burning I do not see the point. But I do know enough about the US and they way they take their Bill of Rights and the 10 amendments to heart. It is a shame that I know the Constitution a great deal better then my own Belgian regulations. But I had two great teachers at Hoover High who guided me through it all. Still, you can't justify an act like that by just pointing at a certain amendment.

And yes, I did download the final report of the Commission to see black on white what the very bleak accounts of many hurt souls was. I felt a bit out of place to be granted the opportunity to read the painful stories of people who got hurt where it hurts the most and this by people who we grant sometimes unconditional trust and seem to be flawless! There is not one adjective suitable enough to express my opinion about it. It has silenced me! Yes, also my special ed kids already pointed out very sharply what they think about it.

So when one of my students (because that is how I approach them even at a special ed level because at 16 or 17 you do want to be taken serious!!!) asked me what the point of religion is, I did feel so at home in my own classroom. Not that I am able to give them a straight forward answer to one of the most fundamental questions that is to be found out there. I am not after those when teaching about any religion or when we cover the basis of non-belief.

It is my first touch stone as a religion teacher that I am not out there to judge any pupil on their personal belief or values. Still I challenge them travel along when I tell them about the numerous inspiring stories that there out to be found. Also I let them in on what my personal opinions are and how I look at the sometimes rather ****** ** world .

So, the passion is still there when it comes down to teaching. To teach or to preach? Those two verbs rhyme but I do think that the first still becomes me better. I am very grateful to my pupils that they point out once in while when I am about to cross that line! Makes me at least the most 'believable' teacher I can be!

P.S.: Yes, I do still pray! This against all odds!! But at least I try! This is also one of the songs I will be using in my classroom to engage in an other inspiring & spiritual talk!

In a Nutshell

I could blog about many things! Still, back to school means also that there will be not that much time as wished for to blog away. So in order to manage my time a bit more efficiently I will try to share with you in a nutshell what Stallie current affairs passed by the last few days:

- My first day back in front of filled up benches and tons of teenagers who were already putting me to the test. Some of them were ready to take the bar exam! They were cross-examining me the whole time when we were going through the general regulations booklet! Was tempted to open my class room door and force them to run numerous laps around the nicely landscaped patio! 'Dead Poet Society'- tactics will be part of my teaching tactics when these kids are pushing it a bit too far!

- A his first days @ Elementary school and me screwing up as a mother! On the 1st of September I already totally lost it! The word 'ik' will never be the same again at this house. But the homework part in combination of being a mum-teacher is rather hard. The first pencils were killed by me because they made less soft landings on the floor of our living room! Thanks to N&M I finally managed to let go.

- My too early mornings when I met up with a zombie in the bathroom mirror. I still manage to keep up the promise to take care of myself a bit more. Make-up is now an essential of the whole morning routine. And yes, I made it also to F, my hairdresser, who took care of my distressed hair. The moment he planted his shiny pair of scissors in my messy hair I felt quite relieved.

- Forgetting to take my stomach medicine and then have to say no to coffee for a whole day. For one day I felt like I could just sleep while standing! Not that the it's five star quality coffee that is to be found in the teacher's lounge but I do need that one cup as a kick off. Boy, was I happy when the day came to an end!

- Traffic pains! Stallie is very mean once she gets into her car. You better watch out for the moment she passes by and you are planning to make your car do something that seems to be out of place on the road. Friday traffic was the most painful of all. Stallie was so bitchy the moment a shiny Volvo with two people dressed up in power suits made a u-turn and was begging to get in front of me (behind me there was a major traffic jam!!!! I was already standing there for half an hour!) I was tempted to call the driver names that can't be posted here! P still does not get that he has to grant me a cool down moment once I got out of the car. So the result was that the car crashes I escaped from took place in our kitchen!

- My 'newborns' and the observation process! The 1st of September my classroom was visited by many. Seemed that my class was the place to hang out. There are some very interesting new ones that by just taking one glance at you know that it will be James Bond Action once in a while! The ones with ASS are the always the ones that will grant you the biggest teaching challenge ever. The files I get to read for the moment take me to a different & very intriguing world!

-Eilio di Rupo who hangs out a lot at the Royal Palace! Still no government! The newspaper (that I get to read on P his shiny and cool iPad) I sometimes wish to delete because for the moment I feel so allienated by what I can read in there. Reading about national politics is for the moment like reading the Bible story of the Tower of Babel! And don't start me on the whole Brussels issue! That topic manages to drive me insane!! P says he even can tell by just observing my body language that I am very anxious and ill-temptered by the political play ground that I get to see on TV and read up on in the news articles!

Now, it is weekend and I can't wait to meet up with my old and new friends at the bookclub. Nicola's bookclub is meeting up this Sunday to discuss the four humorous books we covered for the Summer read! I am tempted to tell these booklovers 'pure sange' that I have reading the Twilight Saga on top of these four! Still, I do not know if this is such a good idea. After all, I do not wish to be evicted from my favourite club! Stallie is going to enjoy her first weekend as a teacher and the best news of all I have Mondays off! At least one day that you can safely make u-turns on the Belgians roads without having to put up with Stallie her outspoken body language!! Because even with some make-up on this is not the prettiest side of my personality to meet up with!