Feeling The Heat
Again, I apologize for not writing much over the past couple of weeks. This week was the first week of school, and it's been a bit busy, but there are some interesting updates to share.
1) The most interesting update of all: WE JUST GOT A NEW WASHING MACHINE!! Well, the husband and I are very excited about it. We've never had our own washing machine before. We were using the old washing machine that came with the apartment. It worked, but water always leaked out of the door and, recently, started to leak from underneath the machine. So, we decided that it was time to get a new one. It's awesome, and it got delivered yesterday. However, the guy that delivered doesn't actually install it. He can't even open the box. I love this country. We have to wait until the technician can come over, and install it. Anyways, that's fun for us.
2) My favorite classes have nothing at all to do with my program. It's my last semester, and I only have 3 more classes to take. 2 out of 3 aint bad. I'm taking a class on the Jewish Wedding in Art- East and West. The first class was all about defining folklore, folk culture, and folk literature. I guess I may be a snob since I had no idea that folklore was a serious academic field. I think it's awesome. Don't get me wrong. I think it's just as important in describing and discovering cultures as an anthropoligst's work. It's just another way of discovering ourselves and where we come from. Hebrew University has the first and only Department of Folk Studies in the world. Haifa has a Department in Folk Stories. It's great. Like the girl behind me was specializing in women in the Antiquities. Another is specializing in the evolution of women in the wedding ceremony. So, in this class we're learning about where all the different traditions and Minhagim came about for the wedding ceremony. It's really fun and a total relief from my other subjects. The other class I'm taking that I think will be the best one is Learning the lessons of the Holocaust and how to teach them in the classroom. I'm not a teacher or anything, but I think this class will be very educational.
3) I realized why I quit Hebrew last year. I'm in Heh, and, apparently I'm one level away from being considered fluent in Hebrew. It's a complete joke. I need to finish Hebrew in order to get my MA, but I won't be fluent at all when I'm done. A great example came yesterday. 2 hours in class, and the teacher spoke the ENTIRE TIME. She just lectured. She didn't call on any-one else, didn't ask any questions, or anything that would spark some-one talking and working on their conversational Hebrew or any sort of improvement in speaking or grammatical skills. It was pathetic and a total waste of time. The teacher might as well have not shown up and played a tape recorder in her stead. It was ridiculous. Why are we in Hebrew? She didn't teach us anything. I would expect that if you're in the upper levels they would concentrate more on developing out speaking skills than on grammer. Whatever. I hate it, but I have to do it. I know I'd learn more on my own, but I don't have a choice.
That's about it for now. I'm sure that I'll be back to my old daily writing self soon enough. I just hope some of you stick around long enough to continue to read what I write. Thanks.
1) The most interesting update of all: WE JUST GOT A NEW WASHING MACHINE!! Well, the husband and I are very excited about it. We've never had our own washing machine before. We were using the old washing machine that came with the apartment. It worked, but water always leaked out of the door and, recently, started to leak from underneath the machine. So, we decided that it was time to get a new one. It's awesome, and it got delivered yesterday. However, the guy that delivered doesn't actually install it. He can't even open the box. I love this country. We have to wait until the technician can come over, and install it. Anyways, that's fun for us.
2) My favorite classes have nothing at all to do with my program. It's my last semester, and I only have 3 more classes to take. 2 out of 3 aint bad. I'm taking a class on the Jewish Wedding in Art- East and West. The first class was all about defining folklore, folk culture, and folk literature. I guess I may be a snob since I had no idea that folklore was a serious academic field. I think it's awesome. Don't get me wrong. I think it's just as important in describing and discovering cultures as an anthropoligst's work. It's just another way of discovering ourselves and where we come from. Hebrew University has the first and only Department of Folk Studies in the world. Haifa has a Department in Folk Stories. It's great. Like the girl behind me was specializing in women in the Antiquities. Another is specializing in the evolution of women in the wedding ceremony. So, in this class we're learning about where all the different traditions and Minhagim came about for the wedding ceremony. It's really fun and a total relief from my other subjects. The other class I'm taking that I think will be the best one is Learning the lessons of the Holocaust and how to teach them in the classroom. I'm not a teacher or anything, but I think this class will be very educational.
3) I realized why I quit Hebrew last year. I'm in Heh, and, apparently I'm one level away from being considered fluent in Hebrew. It's a complete joke. I need to finish Hebrew in order to get my MA, but I won't be fluent at all when I'm done. A great example came yesterday. 2 hours in class, and the teacher spoke the ENTIRE TIME. She just lectured. She didn't call on any-one else, didn't ask any questions, or anything that would spark some-one talking and working on their conversational Hebrew or any sort of improvement in speaking or grammatical skills. It was pathetic and a total waste of time. The teacher might as well have not shown up and played a tape recorder in her stead. It was ridiculous. Why are we in Hebrew? She didn't teach us anything. I would expect that if you're in the upper levels they would concentrate more on developing out speaking skills than on grammer. Whatever. I hate it, but I have to do it. I know I'd learn more on my own, but I don't have a choice.
That's about it for now. I'm sure that I'll be back to my old daily writing self soon enough. I just hope some of you stick around long enough to continue to read what I write. Thanks.
posted by Olah Chadasha @ 10/27/2006 03:03:00 PM
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