Forrest Gump

Life certainly is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get. That's how I feel about the movie Forrest Gump. I just don't get it.

I have watched it several times, even tonight. I still don't understand what the message of the movie is.

I certainly feel for Forrest. I have experienced many of the same emotions he has had. I have waited and waited for my "Jenny" in my life. I have done the unconventional and somehow come out just fine.

But I still don't know what it is all about. And it just ends with a feather floating in the air after he has sent his son off to school.

Mind you, there are times when I just don't get things because, like Forrest Gump, I am pretty naive about life. If anyone can help me, please send me a comment. I will be sure to post it. I'm sure I'm not the only one who is confused.

ESL adventures

I really love teaching ESL. Every day brings a laugh or two. It sometimes works out that my students teach me a thing or two about life, particularly when I hear their stories. I am thankful and happy for the life I have lead.

Names in other cultures are fun, too. In one class, one of the students is named Heh, pronounced as if you were saying, "Hey, Jude." Unfortunately, this is the way I often greet people, which has her looking at me every time I meet somebody.

In the same class is a woman with the name Pie, but it is pronounced "pee". Another has the name Kah Kah, which sounds like it is spelled. So in the same class I have pee and caca, which is the word for poo in French.

The challenging part is trying to communicate with adults who often have no clue what I am saying. You have to be innovative in explaining a concept. For example, some of the students put the small "p" above the line. How can you tell them that it is too high when they don't know the words too and high?

What I did was loosen my belt and pull my pants up as high as I could so they looked silly and said that when they wrote their "p"s, they looked funny like this. Well, the whole class cracked up. You know what? It worked. Somehow they got the idea.

There are times when it is pure joy. One of their favourite songs is "Hello, Goodbye" by the Beatles. As soon as I sing, "You say yes," they sing, "I say no," and off we go with the whole song. It's magic.

My hope is that one day their English will be good enough that we will be able to sit down over a cup of coffee and discuss anything and everything.

I subscribe to a daily email from Kim Komando, a woman who is a high tech guru in the United States. She has a video of the day. Usually they are pretty good. This one is exceptional.

This one is by Malaysian director Yasmin Ahmad, who died of a stroke in July.

All I can say is get out your Kleenex.

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Brian Clark

He is my connection to the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Brian Clark was one of the few people who worked above where the planes struck the towers and survived. I was shocked to see his face on the television many months after.

It's funny how people weave into your life, exit and pop up again many years later. Brian Clark was on my softball team in 1973, I believe. He played second base. Offensively, he wasn't a huge threat, but he rarely made an error defensively.

Knowing he lived through the terrorist attack made it more real to me. Often we hear of tragic events, but really don't relate to them. They happen to others far away. Brian brought it much closer to me.

When you hear his story, it is quite amazing. Initially he was leading a group down the stairs in the South Tower. A couple of people were coming up and told everyone that it would be better to go higher. An argument started among the employees. Brian heard a voice of a trapped man on the floor they were on. He went to extract him from the wreckage. When he returned to the stairwell with the man, nobody was there.

At that point, he could have gone up like everybody else did. He didn't. He continued down the stairwell. That decision saved his life. Within a few minutes of his leaving the building, it collapsed, killing all who were inside it.

I remember the CBC asking if he felt any guilt. His response was that he didn't. They had made their choice and he had made his. He wasn't responsible for their decision.

I feel there are some life lessons to learn from this story. Sometimes everybody tells us the direction we should follow. They tell us to go up, when we strongly feel we should go down. We can be swayed by what others say. They can put fear in our hearts and their words may seem logical. Sometimes we need to be like Brian. We need to do what we feel is right, even if it means going against the grain. It may mean going through some immediate discomfort and working your way through wreckage. At the end of it all, it may mean your release from disaster. Sure, you could have climbed to the higher floors and experienced momentary relief, but the result was sad.

Regardless of whether there is anything to be learned from this, Brian put a human face to the story, bringing it a lot closer, and making it real.

I'm Going To Change My World

I want to change my world
I want to change my world
I want to change my world
Change my world

I'm going to change my world
I'm going to change my world
Yes, I'm going to change my world
Change my world

I will turn the night to light
I will change the wrong to right
I will never lose my sight
I'll change my world

It's with me I have to start
Take the love that's in my heart
And from this point depart
And change the world

As I stand upon this stage
I'll erase all thoughts of rage
Today I'll turn the page
And change the world

Not a country will be missed
With open hands and not a fist
In harmony we will exist
We'll change our world

I'm going to change my world
I'm going to change my world
Yes, I'm going to change my world
Change my world

Teaching ESL

Teaching ESL is such a joyful experience. I sometimes wonder who learns the most. Each day I am immersed in the values and cultures of people who have come to Canada. Many of them have escaped very difficult circumstances, often leaving everything behind for the chance of freedom and safety.

I wish everybody could hear their stories. Canadians would get a greater appreciation for our own country. Also, some of the negative attitudes towards immigrants would disappear.

Teaching newcomers is sometimes not easy. Some come from places, like China, where there is no alphabet in their language. The Arabic alphabet doesn't resemble ours in the slightest and they write from right to left. Some of our sounds are difficult for them to make, like "th".

The approach I take is like putting post-it notes on a fridge. I stick as many as I can on each day. When I arrive the next day, I see how many have blown off and I start putting them on again.

Learning a language is not an instant process. It's like putting drops of water in a glass a few at a time. In the beginning, you might not see much happening and get a bit discourages. Drop by drop the glass eventually fills up as long as you keep putting liquid in.

Come to think of it, that's the way many things are in life. We live in an era where we want an instant fix to everything, but many things, including building great character, are the result of a long, difficult process.

Fantastic!

Fantastic! Unbelievable! Wonderful! Fabulous! Awesome!

I have been teaching my ESL students different ways to say very good.

Every morning I ask them how they are. If they say, "Very good," or "Fine, thank you," I ask them again and again until they say one of these words. Once in awhile I get "Tanfastic" instead of fantastic, but just saying these words has made the class a more positive environment.

I'm sure all of the students and many of my teacher colleagues will remember me every time they hear the word fantastic.

I know some of my other verbal mannerisms have stuck on people. When I was with Softball Canada and the Canadian Association of Journalists, if I had a question, I would raise my hand and say "question". Many of my board members started immitating me.

It's funny how we associate words and things with people. It can be something as simple as yellow Volkswagons, almonds, a certain brand of perfume, but the most amusing one in my life is our toilet.

We just had a low-flush toilet installed in our home. It reminds me of our friend Goksel Kortay in Turkey. What on earth would be the association between this lovely woman and plumbing? It was made in Turkey. So every time I flush, along with the water, the memories of Goksel are flushed into my mind and I immediately start sending kind thoughts her way.