Columbus Day

M

onday was a holiday, I think. Of course that didn't mean that I didn't have work... or class... Every school in the DC area had school off except us. According to my students, this is because our school is an "international school" International School? Ha! We are as international as Southwest Airline, the Greyhound of the skies. Well, I'm just as enthused about our "status" as an international school as my students are...

So, anyway, I asked if we should celebrate Columbus Day as virtually everyone else in the city is. All these eyes were looking at me with hope and gleeful anticipation.

"Yeah, let's celebrate Columbus Day! That's the spirit, Professor!"

I feed off of this kind of enthusiasm. Yeah, baby. Give me that look. show your expectation and anticipation and hope. I feel their emotions filling my body. I'm growing, getting larger, blowing up.

"Columbus came to America and discovered a beautiful land, a land abundant in natural beauty," I say with my own eyes wide open with joy. "Indeed, Sei Shonagon expressed her views of the most beautiful time of the day for each season. and in celebration of Columbus Day, we too should express our views of the beauty we have seen in and around our own birthplace."

And I go on to call on each student and have them tell the class what is the most beautiful season in the city or town they grew up in, as well as the most representative hour of the day in that season, a la Sei Shonagon. Those from Florida said Spring in the morning, before it rains in the afternoon. Others described the beauty of the clouds right before a tornado, and the various monochromatic shades of the snow on a sunny winter day.

It was a very nice class and I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did. Heheheheheheh...

BTW: Since it was a relaxed class--well, more relaxed than most--one particular student mentioned how he appreciated the joke on the first day of school, when I started the class in Japanese. I mentioned back at the beginning of September that it seemed that no one reacted in shock or horror, and that really bummed me out. Well, when this student mentioned this, a number of other students nodded in agreement. Apparently many of them were actually freaking out: "Is this Japanese literature class IN Japanese?" "Am I in the right class?" This bit of information was refreshing and rather pleasing--in a pixilated kind of way. Hahahaahha. As it turns out, even though I had class, it was a very nice Columbus Day.

So did you work on Columbus Day?

Spelling Counts

A

s an instructor of literature, I love words. It is expressive and conveys our thoughts and feelings at a distance. There is nothing that can replace words and language. It is at once abstract and concrete. A word, such as... say, "grass" is made up of four different letters, five in all--g-r-a-s-s--each of which have nothing to do with "grass", that green stuff covering the fairway of a golf course. And while it is an abstract comprised of totally unrelated "letters", when put together in the right way and order, it can convey a specific, concrete and real image of the green vegetation that grows in your front yard or maybe even fills your stash.

Be that as it may, for class, I have students write papers, giving them an opportunity to express their thoughts on a particular literary piece. I tell them that they must write clearly, succinctly and properly. Usually, clear and succinct are not a problem, but "properly" sometimes becomes an issue. Handing in a single-spaced paper is not appreciated. A hand-written essay is returned promptly--I won't even try to read it. And, of course, typos and spelling errors will bring a grade down significantly. As a paper written at home outside of class, the student has the opportunity to write and edit it without the immediate stress of a time limit, and so it should be perfect in this respect. It doesn't matter if it is a typo or a misspelled word; in either case, it detracts from the paper. One typical error is to spell the word "cannot" at two words: can not. Bad, bad, bad! Another one I often see is the word "lose" spelled with two "o"s. It drives me crazy when I read an otherwise fine sentence, such as "Kikuchiyo does not realize that he will loose his life."

"Loose his life"?!?

Does this mean all he needs to do is tighten it? When I see this, I want to scream, "One 'O'!".

"But it's only spelling," some will say. "Can't you understand it by its context?" others argue. True. But it takes away from the reading experience. It is a bump in the road, and it is the students duty smooth the path for the reader. Besides, school is where you hone your skills, practice self-discipline in preparation of "real" work. Let's say you get a job at a consulting firm, and you write a report for a client which includes the sentence, "Under these conditions, consumers will loose all interest in the product." Do you think your boss will be happy with this misspelling? Do you think that the "you can understand it in context" excuse will fly? Hardly...

I recently read an article somewhere about a refugee from Cuba who came to the U.S., who became successful after he "defecated". Okay, I'm sure the person meant "defected" instead of "shat", but I think you'll agree that certainly in this instance, spelling should count.

I'm Exhausted

I

apologize to all my non-football fans. There are three things that have kept me preoccupied this Fall: Work (and loads of it), M's immigration situation and all the legal hoops I have to jump through to get it resolved, and of course, FOOTBALL. I just can't stay away from it. It is the only thing that keeps me sane, that keeps me energized. It is my release from the everyday stress I am faced with at work and at INS--actually its CIS (Citizenship and Immigration Service) now.

So yesterday, the Bruins played Cal. An undefeated Cal. A Cal ranked in the top 10. THAT Cal. We were--for some inexplicable reason--favored by one an a half points. But Cal was ranked 10th in the nation. My beloved Bruins were ranked 20th. TWENTIETH! Man! It's been a long time since we were ranked that high.

So Cal comes in with their boy genius, Coach Tedford, and a running game that is truly awesome. Before three minutes have even elapsed, Cal scored two touchdowns. That's right. At the 12 something mark of the first quarter, Cal is already up 14-0. All I could do was convince myself that there was 57 minutes left... and UCLA need every one of them. They managed to catch up 14-14 by the beginning of the second quarter--whew, all they had to do was stay calm down, thought. But by the end of the half, it was 27-21 Cal, and in the fourth quarter, with less than 10 minutes to go in the game, it was 40-28. FORTY TO TWENTY-EIGHT!

I was about to cry.

At 9:17, with a 4th and two on our own 42, the Bruins excute a fake punt. Page takes the ball and rushes well beyond the first down marker, and we get even better position for a personal foul by a Cal player. I guess they were pretty pissed off to be fooled by a fake. The Bruins ultimately score a TD--Cal 40-UCLA 35--but the defense HAS to hold Cal and get the ball back for one more touchdown. This does not look promising, as Cal has been running all over the place. I scream at the defense (as if they could hear me). I turn my UCLA baseball cap inside out--rally hat--as if that would actually work. I'm beggin' pleadin' on my knees, "C'mon you Pac-10 refugees!" And we manage to hold Cal and get the ball back. But we're on our own 25 with 2:30 left. But in less than 90 seconds we march down for a TD. Mo Drew--whose grandfather had a heart attack at an earlier Bruin game and died the same evening--ran 20 yards to finally put the Bruins on top 41-40. But there is more than a minute left and Cal is indomitable, so I'm holding my breath and yelling at the TV screen at once--is that possible? The Cal QB Ayoob throws an interception right into the arms of Trey Brown--son of Bruin legend Theotis Brown--and we hang on. We run the ball to eat up the clock and... we score again with 0:00 on the clock. Cal 40-UCLA 47

My heart was racing. I was hyperventilating. Even M, who normally sits with me but is usually occupied with other things, was mesmerized. Sugoi (awesome). That's all she could muster. Me? I had a million words: Oh man! Great. Crap. Oh man! Exciting. Dude! Can you believe it? Exhilarating. Oh man! I love ya'! Exhausting. Oh man!... Okay, maybe not a million, but more than M.

So anyway, that was my Saturday night. How was yours?

I Finished! Barely...

W

ell, I'm finally finished... I think. I sent my stuff to the editor on Saturday night... or was it Sunday morning? The UCLA game started at 10:15 over here on the East Coast and I wached most of the first quarter as I ate dinner, but turned off the TV... I TURNED OFF THE BRUIN GAME! Can you imagine?!? M was REALLY impressed. She gave me a, "This paper must be pretty serious" look... As a university instructor/scholar, I am required to research and publish, although my teaching load offers little time to do this. So when I have the chance, yeah, I gotta be serious.

So, anyway, it's past 11:00 on Saturday night, and I'm supposed to send the paper in by... Saturday. Not that it matters I suppose. She said anytime Saturday and i figure she's going to read it on Sunday, but still. I want the email dated Saturday, so I'm tryng to type as fast as I can, trying to stay focused on the task at hand. But in recesses of my mind, I hear, "Bruins are losing... They must be hearning half time..."

Aaaaaaaaargh!

Alright, already!

Well, I finish at 11:50 PM or so, and write an email, outlining exactly how i repsonded to the issues she raised in her feedback. 1-2-3, attach file, send.

I look at the clock. 12:04 AM. This Cinderella has turned into a pumpkin. Oh well, I send in the paper anyway, rather sad that I couldn't send it in by midnight. I head dowsntairs to turn the TV back on. I'm sure that the way UCLA has been playing, that it should lift my spirits a bit. Third quarter has just started and... and... and... UCLA is losing to lowly Washington 10-0!

Oh, noooooooooooooooooo!

Fortunately, as I squrim and cringe for the next hour or so, the Bruins find it within themselves to score three touchdowns, the last one on the final drive to take the lead for the first time and win 21-17.

Whew. That was a close one. We dodged a bullet. The Bruins barely won and I got my paper in, just barely late. Oh well...

No, I'm not finished...

N

o, it has nothing to do with the Bruins, although that in and of itself would be reason enough. But no, that is not it. Yesterday, I got a call from an old friend who happened to be in town, and we went drinking (I will talk about him later)... and I am now paying for it. I am working furiously to get this paper out sometime today to my editor. I am addressing the issues she raised in her feedback. Aaargh! What am I doing on Xanga?

Thank God the Bruin game is on late tonight. A 7:15 PM kick-off at the Rose Bowl means a 10:15 game here on the East Coast so I have the rest of the day to focus on my work. I WILL GET IT DONE! I have to, because I must see my belolved Bruins spank them Huskies from the University of Washington. UCLA's offensive engine is purring like a dream and I doubt that the UDub doggies can stop it--as long as UCLA stays focused on the task at hand. Quarterback Drew Olson was named Pac-10 offensive player of the week and the Sporting News National player of the week after we beat Oklahoma. He has developed into a fine QB after taking a lot of heat the past two years. He is proving that he has the skills; he was perhaps under-achieving. But we must contain the doggies' QB Stanback. He is mobile and has a good arm. But I am sure our D will focus on him. If they do that, the game should be over rather early. But still, they shouldn't overlook them.

Speaking of which, I shouldn't overlook my work. Time to get back to the grind...