Thursday, December 07, 2006

Getting to know one another

As Tai recommended, we - or at least you - need to get to know one another. I may know you from lessons and e-mail, but you don't really know each other. Even those who have posted and read one another's introductions in the discussion group would benefit from "renewing" acquaintanceships.

You can introduce yourselves in new posts or as a comment to this post. You can also complete your profiles to include more information if you wish. The downside there - it's more public. I have a few student introductions in a .doc file and can pull more from the students folders. Gosh that sounds like unnecessary work, doesn't it? I'd much rather you introduce yourselves.

Even though you know me and I have introduced myself many times, I'll set an example by going first. Besides, we change over time so our introductions should too.

Now 63, I still live in Mountainair NM - in the same house in the same small town. I am not the town and the town is not me but my continuing to live here may say as much or more about me than my interests or even my reading habits. Louisiana and California seem worlds away now ... and the overseas haunts of my youth further still, as though in another quantum continuum.

The population of Mountainair grew since my first introduction and then lost population. No one here can agree on whether the town is booming or dying. The demographics have shifted somewhat just since I moved here almost six years ago. That is bound to affect the character of the town. The "old timers" are closely split between Hispanic and Anglo. Both groups are very insular and suspicious of change. Some new comers are retirees looking for cheaper land and who grew up in small towns and now want to retire to one. Others are somewhat younger, more prosperous, and fleeing urban areas. Most of these I would say are from California.

I chronicle all this on my blog, my web page and the Chamber of Commerce web page that I maintain. The Mountainair Vanessa used to teach college - face to face at UNM Valencia (actually a 3rd rate community college masquerading as a branch campus of NM's flagship university) and then courses at for-profit online colleges. I am pretty burnt out with that teaching. The pre-Mountainair Vanessa used to teach horseback riding in Lafayette, Louisiana and then comparative literature at the University of California. The current Mountainair Vanessa has a couple of local, part time sources of supplementary income but wrote the first draft of a novel last month (the third in as many years) as is now trying to spend more time writing. I have thought about substitute teaching at the high school and may still have to do it, but I would not be able to pace myself . Working a full day without control over pacing invariably leaves me wiped out for the next 2-3 days.

I live by myself and have two ponies, a dog, and a clutch of outdoor cats (the numer varies). My daughter lives in Albuquerque. She has a baby - my first grandchild - and got married last month. She also works full time as a lawyer on the NM Labor Board and usually so busy that I do not get to see as much of either her or Deacon as I would like.

These days I rather feel as though I am in yet another transition period. I do not know where it will end up but doubt it will take me away from Mountainair.

Now it's your turn...

12 comments:

  1. Hi, everyone,

    My name is Ginyin. I come from Taipei, Taiwan, a small island beside China and between Japan and Philippine. Our official language is Chinese, however we still use many different dialects in the public. I am a nurse and am working in mental health center for over six years. I love my job. It is very challeging and interesting. Execpt work,I like travelling, but not many chances to go overseas. I hope someday I can travel around the world.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ginyin

    Oh, there is so much more you could have written?

    What about your home town? What it is like? Were you born there?

    How long have you been a nurse, and What do find most challenging about your job?

    Does studying English have to do with work, travel, or boith?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I was born is Taipei City, the capital of Talwan. Taipei City is a very busy and crowded. There are about 2,600,000 people, and about one third of the people moved in from the other counties or cities There are some historic buildings and from Chin Dynasty, some museums, such as National Palace Museum, art museum, history museum,spring museum, and a national park in the city.

    I work in pediatric psychiatry department for over six yesrs. Most of my clients are children and teenages. Some of them came from a broken,disfuction family, and some came from a common, ordinary family, just like you and me. I do not just take care of one patient, but a whole family. When a child is sick, It will has a great impact on the other family members. Parents may feel guily, and siblings may feel scare. Every child is unique. Besides, keeping chilren away from their parents could be very stressful for chilren. So the most chellenging is that I have to let kids trust me and work with me under this condition during a such short time visit.

    Learning English is important for me because many latest professinal periods and great books are written in English. So imroving my Enlish ability will help me keep update my knowledge and sharpen my skills more easily. English will become handy as well when I travel to another county.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ginyin

    What a marvelous and expressive word picture of Tapei City and your work and life there.

    The hospice nurse who took care of my mother originally trained as a psychiatric nurse. The training goes far beyond that for a standard RN and is actually the equivalent of nurse practitioner.

    The European Digital Librarywill no carry a lot of medical texts and journals. In the US, you might find MedLinea useful resource. Merck is also online.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi All,

    My name is Irfan. I live in Sarajevo, the capital city of country Bosnia and Herzegovina. My country is a small country in south-east Europe and Sarajevo was Olympic city in 1984 year.
    I`m forty-three, male. I live with my wife and my son. I'm DNA analyst and I work in DNA laboratory in Sarajevo. My job is making statistical calculations and analyse blood samples.
    I`m in the EFI class since april 2005. I graduated on Faculty of Mining and Geology, University of Tuzla and I`m B.Sc. in Mining Engineering. I love hiking and biking. Simply I love nature but unfotunately I dont have enough time for these activities.
    Please visit these link to find more facts about my country and my city. Believe me, everything what you see in this short promotion film is true.

    Enjoy Life Bosnia and Herzegovina



    TOP 10 Adventures

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi everybody,

    My name is Khadija. I am female. I have 28 years old, married, and having 3 children. The ederly, Aya has 8 years old , Hiba has 7 years old and Saad(a boy) has a year and half old.
    I live since July 2002 in Kenitra which is situated in the west of Morocco and 30 km far from Rabat the capital of Morocco. I was born in Taza a small city knowing by his wonderful nature. Now, when I go to my native city to visit my mother and my brother, I feel that my soul has been returned to me. I needed a lot of time to adapt with the change I mean the move from Taza to Kenitra.

    What do I for living? I'm still an university student, studying Public Law not the Private Law to see the difference. We study about the international Organizations, how the Budget of the Nation is made and voted, how work the administration offices,...
    I want to make mention that I have a bachlor's degree of Economic science.

    Concerning my hobbies, since I was child I enjoy cooking. Recently, I plan to create my own food blog. So, I must have some basic knowledge of HTML and photography that what I'm trying to do by surfing on the Net.When the idea will be concretized, at this moment, you will have the opportunity to judge my talent!
    Also, I enjoy reading books about history and biographies. In plus, swimming is my favorite sport,but with all my engagement of life I don't practice it regulary.

    Finally, I 'm a person who needs to learn and to learn. I don't imagine life without learning that explain why I'm learning English. Also,there is another reason more objective that after I will finish my studies, I plan to form my own Import-Export company.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Irfan

    How did you get from mining to DNA analysis? It sounds as though there might be quite a story there. It does put you in a profession sort of related to Ginyin's. At least some of your analyses have to be for medical purposes.

    I bet once all the introductions are out, there will be a lot of connections among students. I've seen some but I bet there will be more. Kim's son is studying in a health care field, and both Khadija and Rajeev are in law (and my daughter is a lawyer).

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous4:58 AM

    Hi,everyone,

    My name is Sophia, I come from China.
    I live in Chengdu , Sichuan, a beautiful province in the west of China.Chengdu is the hometown of Panda.
    I am thirty-one years old and work as a design in a software company in Chengdu.I love me job and work hard.

    My hobby is reading,travelling,and other.

    I am glad to know you in the blog.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Khadija - I am on a list that sends link collections on a number of topics. One is food blogs. I'll have to save some to post here.

    Having lived in North Africa (and eaten well), I can't wait to see recipes for some of my favorites.

    Nandita, a clas member who has signed up to read the blog, is also interested in cooking. That's my guess since "kitchen" is in her gmail user name.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi,everyone !
    My name is Mark.
    I live in Bat Yam,small town in Israel.Our official language is hebrew,however lot documents of my job wrote by English.I'm technician in Israel Post company.I serve sorting post machines.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Vanessa and all,
    My name is Pattanee and my nick name is Ning, that why my blog show my nick name. Because of almost Thai people always have two names real name and nick name. Also I have last name is Sungsuwan. I’m 36 years old and came from Thailand. I moved to Sweden almost 7 years but this year I’m following my husband to USA for his 6 months work contact. This is my first time in USA and we’re lived in Schaumburg, Chicago for 4 months. Last week we’re move to Nashville in Tennessee.

    I’m unemployed and before I worked at travel agency is Travel Consultant in Sweden. I know that quite boring if don’t have anything to do at day time when my husband go to work. However my routine job is house-wife and other I spend time with my computer that I can found many interesting information and sight-seeing in town.

    In the beginning my brother invited EFI link and I waiting for long time until the beginning of December I heard more in formation. After that I could join Vanessa’s beginner class. I very appreciate to join learning English on EFI.

    I know that my English quite poor. However I try to read all in English, watching TV and listen radio and writing everyday.

    By the ways thank you very much for your recommend material and all exercise links. My time everyday and the day very busy to study.
    Best Regards,
    Pattanee or Ning

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi eveyone

    My name is Paula Olave. I from Chile,
    I live with my parents and my sisters in Concepcion. Concepcion is south of Chile.

    I am 26 years old, I am a electrical engeenier, but now I am without job, I graduate recently.

    I like to read police novels, I play computers game.

    I like to program in Matlab (Matrix Laboratory )

    I need to learn english, because the best books and papers about electrical engeenering are in english and rare time in Spanish

    ReplyDelete

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