Back to Barcelona

(Inside the Sagrada Familia)

As part of my job the past three years, I have been lucky enough to take study trips with my students to Barcelona.

This year, as in 2010, we went to the Alimentaria professional trade fair, a major networking event for the international food and drink industry.

We stayed only one night, and had a free day after the fair. I took advantage of this time to visit the Sagrada Familia Basilica, which I had last visited in 1987 -- before it had become a basilica.

The interior is spectacular, but also so spankingly new that it made for a sharp contrast with my vague memories of my visit 25 years ago. I don't recall much, but it seems at that time it was a somewhat creepy, half-open space.

Do you remember anything about the Sagrada Familia during the 80s?

On the road again

Talk about a big day tomorrow!

Rendez-vous in front of my school at 6:45 am to pick up three students and drive off to the Infosup educational fair in Toulouse...a full day of communicating about our business school...however, I must leave by 4pm because at 6pm my 3rd year students are doing their video/buffet evening about their foreign internships...

I congratulate myself for getting a post in this evening! Now off to bed...

International Relations

The campus of KHK Kempen, Geel, Belgium

My school year started out with an unforgettable experience: making an official visit to a college in the Antwerp area to set up an Erasmus partnership with the business school where I teach.

I am happy to announce that a student from my school will be attending the last semester of his third and final year at this friendly and professional establishment.

It was exciting and inspiring to see how another college system worked, and to meet enthusiastic and friendly professors and teachers.

I am truly lucky that my teaching job has expanded to include an element of international project coordination.

As for the non-professional details, I spent one night in the charming little village of Kasterlee...

...and a day and night in the friendly and lively city of Antwerp.

The past year has been a Belgium year for me: I went to a conference in Brussels in October 2010, back to Brussels with my family for Christmas 2010, and then on this trip.

I quite like the country: there's something cool about such a small place where, nonetheless, there is such diversity between the two main regions.

Of course, this diversity has caused the country some major political difficulties -- but I guess I can say this is not my problem when I'm travelling there!

Internet, teaching and guilt

(A random image that I have projected for discussion in English class)

In my dream blogging world, I not only keep up this personal space, but also blog about education in general, and teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in particular.

Wait! That's not only a dream! I actually do have a teaching blog.

But as you can see, I haven't been there for a long, long time.

Early this year, in fact, I got somewhat involved in the Twitterverse of English Language Teachers.

The talents, creativity, devotion, and sheer online output of this community are astounding...and inspiring.

But as the school year moved on and intensified, the inspiration I was getting from these teaching gods (who must be online 24/7) started to weigh me down more than pump me up.

I've distanced myself from that scene for the time being, but I may get back into it...maybe...

Paris report

Good flight...very rainy and depressing weather in the morning upon arrival...spent 6 hours in an interesting and productive meeting...had un verre with a colleague afterwards...am staying in a halfway decent hotel in la rue des Acacias...am now going to find a decent bite to eat, and then will go to bed early...have to leave the hotel at 6-ish tomorrow morning to catch my plane home, and then to go straight to work....

Off to Paris for work

One of "my" corners of Paris, January, 2010

Three or four times a year, I fly from Rodez to Paris for work-related meetings.

This professional approach to going to "la capitale" has given me a very different vision of the City of Light.

Usually, I don't even spend the night.

My typical day "meeting in Paris day" moves seamlessly from my car to the airport to a plane to a bus to a quick walk to a windowless building to the RER to the airport to a plane and back to my car.

This week I am lucky; the grand business expense total made it actually cheaper for me to spend the night in a hotel and fly back the next day than to do the whole trip in one day.

So tomorrow evening I will get a tiny taste of Paris.

Back to school, relaxed and refreshed

I don't work for the French public school system, so I don't benefit from the generous and frequent "vacances scolaires" that regular teachers get.

I worked and indeed had class up to and including the 23rd of December. (Education nationale teachers would gasp in horror at that.)

Some of my colleagues even taught on the 24th. But I lucked out on that score, and was able to take Christmas Eve off, followed by a full week of vacation since my building closes down between Christmas and New Year's Eve.

That break was apparently sufficient for me, as I went back to school/work today relaxed and chipper.

I hope this good cheer can last me through the long, cold, dark months ahead