Off I Go

It's been a busy, busy end of the school year, but it's nearly over. I taught my last class of the quarter today, and the students sat there, staring at me with that look that says, "I dare you to teach me." Honestly, at this point in the school year, we're all exhausted, dreaming of lazy beach vacations or cottages on lakes: long lazy days spent doing nothing more than listening to the cicadas rattling around in the trees. I can't say that I know anybody who will actually have that summer, but it sure sounds nice.

Over the next week, I'll grade a couple hundred papers, slap together what's left of my study abroad class, pack a bag, hop on a plane with 24 students and my co-leader, and set off for the UK. I hope they love this trip. I hope it's just as exciting and memorable as they hope it will be. I hope they love English tea more than English ale, that they don't kill me for making them read T.S. Eliot, and that we bond. This last quarter has left me feeling like a completely mediocre teacher, so I could use some of that bonding I feel when a class really clicks.

I'll be blogging though my five plus weeks abroad. Three and a half of them from England and France with my students and co-leader, and then for almost two weeks from Scandinavia. I'll be meeting my friends Dwight, Cindy, and Paul for a whirlwind tour of Copenhagen, Stockholm, Bergen and the fjords, and Oslo. Scandinavia is a new thing for me.



Harlaxton Manor
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Celebration

This is the season of awards ceremonies at my university. Every time I turn around, there's another one: I'm not complaining, just remarking. Today, I went to a good one. One of my former students won a university award for a paper he wrote in my class. He's a great student--a former marine who is smart and hardworking. And such good writer, too. There's something really wonderful about seeing someone who deserves it being celebrated in front of his family and professors. Watching him accept his award made me feel good for him and about the work I do. I get to hang around with the most remarkable people. What a life.



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