Morning drives.

[discountsatori]

Week One of my job is complete. Short and complete, I should say. When they said part time, they meant it. It's a strange sort of letdown to get up at 6 AM, put on business clothes, plow through the traffic, hear my heels clomping down the marble hallway of the lobby floor, press the up button and wonder how many people had touched it before me and

Comments

[jcb9]

Oh, Times Square is still icky. Just in a Disney way rather than a hooker way.

'twas my least favorite part of NYC, hands down. Though there're plenty of folks who love it, I'm sure.

[discountsatori]

Heh. I know. The last time I was there was '01, and I remember the huuuge Internet cafe, the BB King restaurant, the MTV Studio, and the massive Toys R' Us. I can only imagine that it's gone more in that direction since then. But, y'know, better to walk with your mom through a place like that than to be surrounded by porn shops and strip clubs.

[amarins]

all you mention is still there. (two weeks ago when I was there for the last time it was). check www.flickr.com/amarins if you want to know how bad it looks.

[jcb9]

...oh, and good luck with the interview.

If you do end up doing something in New York, you might also want to look into the Teachers & Writers Collaborative. They send writers into schools to teach creative writing. I did a residency with one such teacher while I was an undergrad - it was a really interesting experience.

[hndinglove]

times square is totally gaudy and sensory overload. but i fell i love with the east village walking around there in september and it made me want to move there. something about that city still has the allure of danger and glamour i find so appealing.

oh, and hi. i've been reading your journal for years now and added you eons ago. i really like your writing and i loved reading about japan. made me want to visit there, too.

[thineownself]

my questions don't go uuuuup! at the end in the way that is common in American English

I've found that, at least among somewhat self-conscious female high school students, every sentence in American English tends to go up at the end
so everything sounds like a question ("That's, like, really cool? I really like it?"), and I kept up that inflection when I went back to Germany.
It drove my sister nuts. I remember how she kept yelling at me to speak German again, even though the words I used were German.
Very strange to be stuck between languages and realize that I no longer spoke any language flawlessly.

[discountsatori]

Yes, that'd be awesome! Aww, you'd make a trip just to see little old me? :)

I'll be there from the morning of January 27th until the evening of January 30. My interview's a pretty long affair on January 29th (Saturday). Maybe we could do Friday or Saturday night?

[discountsatori]

Heh -- it'll be interesting to see how our respective Takin' On NYC With Mom experiences go! I think mine'll be a hoot. I've never traveled somewhere with only my mom before.

I'm formulating a few lessons in my head. I'm pretty sure I'm going to put down my first choice as teaching ESL in an elementary school, as it seems to be a really, really high-need area. I know that you don't have to teach your sample lesson in your chosen area, but it seems to make the most sense (even though a part of me would really enjoy teaching a high school English lesson on Crime and Punishment or something). Do you have yours planned out yet?

[discountsatori]

Ooh, that sounds like a cool lesson! Very creative. And you can definitely adapt your tutoring skills to teaching -- they may like that you have a very warm, personal style, especially since you may want to teach elementary school.

Dude, I love my power suit too. Especially when I wear it with my Three-Inch Heels of DEATH to raise me above my genetically-determined midget height. I'm definitely wearing those to the interview. Let's hope I don't end up kicking somebody's ass just because I feel like I can.