Super Kids 6, Unit 2: Lost in Hawaii
Peter is at the airport and can't find his sister. A man helping asks, "What is she wearing?" and "What does she look like?"
The goal of this lesson is to get the students to be able to ask and answer both of those questions, while also using objective and subjective pronouns (He is taller than her. She is shorter than him.)
The vocabulary: long blond hair, short brown hair, straight black hair, curly red hair.
(She has long blond hair and blue eyes.)
Easy enough, right? I had some great ideas for activities, like bring in some magazines and let the students go through and describe the people in the ads.
See the problem yet?
I stood there in 7-Eleven staring at the magazine rack after flipping through about 8 magazines, picturing how my activity was going to pan out... He has straight black hair and black eyes. She has straight black hair and black eyes. She has straight black hair and black eyes...
I'm just sayin...
Showing posts with label 7-Eleven. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 7-Eleven. Show all posts
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Q & A: Part 1
Frightened by the legitimate threat of becoming just another burn out, I've decided to post the Q & A's in installments. With that being said, thank you to those who sent questions, and please don't hesitate to continue entertain me (and my billions of readers) with your questions!
Also, if you're wondering how I got here in the first place, please re-direct your attention here.
Q: Hello Johnny, I would like to know your thoughts on 7-11 (in Taiwan, of course).
A: In a word: convenient. Even in Shijr, there is a 7-11 (or Family Mart, or Hi-Life) within ear shot of the next one. One of my favorite sarcastic jokes (which will never get old) is when I'm on the phone either giving/taking directions and I use 7-11 as a reference point. There are 4 on the main floor of Taipei Main Station alone.
Practically speaking, however, 7-11 in Taiwan takes "convenient store" to a new level. In addition to buying my tea, breakfast, and beer there, I can also pay all of my utility bills there. They scan the bills, take the cash, and bada-bing bada-boom you're on your way.
Q: Who are the people from all over the world?
A: I'm assuming this is in reference to my ClustrMap, which boasts IP addresses from 28 countries around the world, including the recent addition of Nigeria, which gives me at least one red dot in each of the 6 inhabited continents.
The only thing I can attribute to this is the button on the top of the page that says "Next Blog," which when clicked, brings you to a randomly selected blog. I've used it a bunch of times and found some pretty interesting sites, but a lot of times I'm directed to a blog in another language. So unless you know the people in Peru, Kuwait, or Brunei Darussalam, these people will remain a mystery.
Thanks again for the Q's, more A's are on their way!
Also, if you're wondering how I got here in the first place, please re-direct your attention here.
Q: Hello Johnny, I would like to know your thoughts on 7-11 (in Taiwan, of course).
A: In a word: convenient. Even in Shijr, there is a 7-11 (or Family Mart, or Hi-Life) within ear shot of the next one. One of my favorite sarcastic jokes (which will never get old) is when I'm on the phone either giving/taking directions and I use 7-11 as a reference point. There are 4 on the main floor of Taipei Main Station alone.
Practically speaking, however, 7-11 in Taiwan takes "convenient store" to a new level. In addition to buying my tea, breakfast, and beer there, I can also pay all of my utility bills there. They scan the bills, take the cash, and bada-bing bada-boom you're on your way.
Q: Who are the people from all over the world?
A: I'm assuming this is in reference to my ClustrMap, which boasts IP addresses from 28 countries around the world, including the recent addition of Nigeria, which gives me at least one red dot in each of the 6 inhabited continents.
The only thing I can attribute to this is the button on the top of the page that says "Next Blog," which when clicked, brings you to a randomly selected blog. I've used it a bunch of times and found some pretty interesting sites, but a lot of times I'm directed to a blog in another language. So unless you know the people in Peru, Kuwait, or Brunei Darussalam, these people will remain a mystery.
Thanks again for the Q's, more A's are on their way!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Do NOT try this abroad
It's not really fair to try to convince you that everything over here is easy as pie. You'd be silly to believe it, anyway. I've been twelve timezones away from my home for a whole month, I speak the bare minimum of the native language, and for awhile, I didn't have a cell phone. If only Dave was black, I'd have 90% of a comedy screenplay written. But Hollywood or not, with these ingredients, something was bad was bound to brew. Let's turn back a few pages, right at the part where I thought I knew Taipei City like the back of my hand...
I had received an email from Julie, my agent, with the time and location of my initial interview so she could begin pimping me out to the best schools in Taiwan as soon at possible. 3:00 pm? Keelung Road? Section 1? XinYi District? Shoot, that's right near Taipei 101, and I had been there once in my life. Not to mention I'm practically best friends with a guy who knew a guy whose brother dated a girl's cousin whose grandfather worked for the friend of a civil engineer that helped design the road system in Taiwan. All that means is that I was ready to brave Taipei City without a map. Word of advice: do not try this abroad.
I got off the subway, came up from underground and surveyed the scene. After a few weeks in Taiwan, it turns out that I have an above average sense of direction. I gauged the wind and started walking in the estimated direction towards my destination. I checked my watch; and because I planned to have a time cushion, I had about 25 minutes until my interview. Strolling along, confidently making lefts and rights at seemingly appropriate places, I started to get a little nervous. I had a few street names stored in my memory that I knew exactly what to do upon seeing them, but it had been 10 minutes and I hadn't seen any of them, which was a problem. I looked around and saw that I was in the shadow of the tallest building in the world, looming above me in all its collosal glory. At the next corner there was a map.
Aha! I was walking the wrong direction! I walked in another direction for a few minutes before I started to get the feeling that I was still not headed the right way. It happened to be that I was at the base of Taipei 101.I knew the compass direction from Taipei 101 to my interview, but an unfortunate fact about Taipei is that it glows. That is, there is always a very thick layer of smog and/or rainclouds covering the sun, giving the city a fluorescent light effect. No shadows, no distinct source of light. I found another map on a corner. Within the next 10 or so minutes, I had graduated from a casual, confident walk, to an "oh no, I have 2 seconds left to cross the street" sprint. The occasional map on the corner was like finding pit stops in The Amazing Race, and I said a silent prayer before approaching each one, hoping that the "You are Here" bubble was closer to Julie than the last one. The minutes ticked by, 3:00 came and went, and frustration and panic ensued, accompanying an already existing large amount of perspiration, fast running, and a cornucopia of curses (FYI- there is an automatic 2 points added for every use of the word "cornucopia" in everyday conversation).
Naturally, I blame two things other than the stupidity of not bringing a map: Keelung Road stops being Keelung Road for awhile. It turns into another road that brings you to a place that is not Keelung Road. What's up with that? And the other thing: North is not always "up" on the maps on the street. I was used to reading maps that followed a universal, logical pattern, so I was making lefts that should have been turn around, go 3 blocks and make a rights.
Sure enough, I made it to my interview, and only 15 minutes late at that (Julie was very understanding*). Let this be a lesson to Taiwan-goers: always write down the address in Chinese, always carry a map, never say "near a 7-Eleven" as a serious point of reference, and never assume Up is North.
*considering she told me her office was on the 13th floor and the elevator only went up to 12. Talk about a panic attack to interrupt the sigh relief when I found the building...
I had received an email from Julie, my agent, with the time and location of my initial interview so she could begin pimping me out to the best schools in Taiwan as soon at possible. 3:00 pm? Keelung Road? Section 1? XinYi District? Shoot, that's right near Taipei 101, and I had been there once in my life. Not to mention I'm practically best friends with a guy who knew a guy whose brother dated a girl's cousin whose grandfather worked for the friend of a civil engineer that helped design the road system in Taiwan. All that means is that I was ready to brave Taipei City without a map. Word of advice: do not try this abroad.
I got off the subway, came up from underground and surveyed the scene. After a few weeks in Taiwan, it turns out that I have an above average sense of direction. I gauged the wind and started walking in the estimated direction towards my destination. I checked my watch; and because I planned to have a time cushion, I had about 25 minutes until my interview. Strolling along, confidently making lefts and rights at seemingly appropriate places, I started to get a little nervous. I had a few street names stored in my memory that I knew exactly what to do upon seeing them, but it had been 10 minutes and I hadn't seen any of them, which was a problem. I looked around and saw that I was in the shadow of the tallest building in the world, looming above me in all its collosal glory. At the next corner there was a map.
Aha! I was walking the wrong direction! I walked in another direction for a few minutes before I started to get the feeling that I was still not headed the right way. It happened to be that I was at the base of Taipei 101.I knew the compass direction from Taipei 101 to my interview, but an unfortunate fact about Taipei is that it glows. That is, there is always a very thick layer of smog and/or rainclouds covering the sun, giving the city a fluorescent light effect. No shadows, no distinct source of light. I found another map on a corner. Within the next 10 or so minutes, I had graduated from a casual, confident walk, to an "oh no, I have 2 seconds left to cross the street" sprint. The occasional map on the corner was like finding pit stops in The Amazing Race, and I said a silent prayer before approaching each one, hoping that the "You are Here" bubble was closer to Julie than the last one. The minutes ticked by, 3:00 came and went, and frustration and panic ensued, accompanying an already existing large amount of perspiration, fast running, and a cornucopia of curses (FYI- there is an automatic 2 points added for every use of the word "cornucopia" in everyday conversation).
Naturally, I blame two things other than the stupidity of not bringing a map: Keelung Road stops being Keelung Road for awhile. It turns into another road that brings you to a place that is not Keelung Road. What's up with that? And the other thing: North is not always "up" on the maps on the street. I was used to reading maps that followed a universal, logical pattern, so I was making lefts that should have been turn around, go 3 blocks and make a rights.
Sure enough, I made it to my interview, and only 15 minutes late at that (Julie was very understanding*). Let this be a lesson to Taiwan-goers: always write down the address in Chinese, always carry a map, never say "near a 7-Eleven" as a serious point of reference, and never assume Up is North.
*considering she told me her office was on the 13th floor and the elevator only went up to 12. Talk about a panic attack to interrupt the sigh relief when I found the building...
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