Coaching

Coaching volleyball takes up all my time outside of school now. Our team came in 1st place out of 20 schools this past weekend!

New Sushi joint

We visited a sushi joint near our house tonight. The chef noticed me taking photos of the food. He mentioned that it was okay to take photos, but not to put them on the internet. Oh well, he missed out on a free plug. The food was great! Fresh, and made right in front of our eyes. Message me for the name of the restaurant in Richmond, B.C.

Honesty and Dishonesty in one week!

The last two days, I've encountered polar opposites in honesty. Two days ago, a mother of a piano student was trying to break it to me that she wanted to stop lessons. I had noticed from the student's notebook that ANOTHER had begun teaching her. So, I was expecting it. However, she tried to "lighten the blow" by telling me she might get her to quit piano, and that she never practices. She wanted me to give her other times during the week that I could teach her, then changed it to the good ol' "I'll call you to let you know of another time."

Tell the truth and don't sugarcoat things!

Today, I caught a student trying to hand in plagiarized work (from the translation websites). I warn my students every year that plagiarism is pretty much the worst thing to do. The student had added all these verb tenses that I haven't taught (3 grade levels above!). I kindly gave it back and told her to redo it.

Tell me, why do people think I can be fooled like that?

On the other side, I was so impressed by two younger students who had just been returned their first quiz of the year. One girl received 100% and the other 99%. However, they approached me after class, stating that I had marked one of their incorrect answers correct. While this was not the first time this has happened, I was so impressed by their honesty. I decided to just take off 1% each.

Isn't it interesting what teachers encounter every week?

Finally, what about David Letterman yesterday, admitting on his show to having several sexual affairs with staff? Having visited the Late Show in March, I know that the audience is told to laugh hysterically at whatever Dave says. But WHY oh WHY were they laughing while he was revealing this??? Check out the video for yourself.

Our Dog shops with us!

Last week we went on a typical Seattle Shopping trip. Normally our dog does NOT like to be carried in bags. But in the case of this Puma bag, she just voluntarily jumps right in, and stays there!

Mr. Kumpir POTATOES!

We often go to English Bay, and we had heard from a friend about this baked potato joint, called "Mr. Kumpir", on Denman Street that served ONLY baked potatoes. We decided to check it out. We were quite satisfied. Price for each potato was $3.99 each. Cheap date! You can see plenty of toppings choices (you get three for free, $.50 for each extra)

Blading @ Stanley Park

We took the dog rollerblading today at Stanley Park. It was the first time in years that we had even strapped on the blades together! I carried her for the first bit, not thinking she could handle the speed. However, near the end, I put her down and she kept up just fine!

Apple IPOD media event podcast

Steve Jobs made his return to the public eye after having a successful liver transplant. He certainly likes his black turtlenecks!

If you're interested in watching the whole event, click here
Lots of people were quite upset that the iPod touch does not come with a video camera, but the new iPod nano does. I'm still impressed with the lower price points (through doubling it's max capacity to 64 gb. I'm going to pick one up soon!

great eating day

We had two great French meals today, first was at Le Vaubon:

Tartare de boeuf, my second of the trip

Noix d'entrecote sauce Bearnaise

Afterwards, we had dinner at Le Comptoir de l'Arc, one block away from l'arc de triomphe. It was recommended by a friend who came here about one month ago, featuring very affordable meals (11-15 euros each!)

Brochette de poulet avec risotto

cote de veau

Le Real Mojito

3rd last day

Parisian Dinner with Friends

Steak Tartare

chocolate fondant

This is the view from the top of Galeries Lafayette

This is my godson, Jayden, born in Paris the day we arrived.

Paris 2009, jumping pics are back!

The above three were from 2007. We didn't have time to hit the Eiffel Tower today, Hopefully demain.


At the famous Louvre museum today. Of course I decided to take the same jumping photo after almost a one-year hiatus from them!

Dinner with friends at Toshi in Vancouver

Tonight we went for dinner with dear friends (and avid blog readers). We decided to hit up Toshi Sushi, a very popular joint in Vancouver, where the wait is almost one hour at least each time. So worth it, though! The photos were just taken with my camera phone!