the toughest job you'll ever love (no, not preschool)

I've taken to going for a walk most evenings, now that I've moved to Ann Arbor, a combination of wanting to get in better shape and become more familiar with the city. It's a beautiful place to be, especially in the spring. I walked for about 40 minutes tonight (partly because I wasn't quite sure where I was in relation to other things, as I kept finding intersections where both streets were labeled "South Something-or-other."

U of M's campus is lovely, especially the older buildings, many of which are Gothic in style. It reminds me a bit of my (quite possibly erroneous) conception of Oxford as an undergraduate fond of the works of Dorothy L. Sayers and C. S. Lewis, although I'm under the impression that Oxford has less "green space".

As I was walking by the Michigan Union tonight, I happened to notice a tall, thin, rectangular monument in the corner of a flower bed. Going over to read it, I found out that it commemorated the speech that John F. Kennedy made on the steps of the Michigan Union in 1960, campaigning for President, where he first mentioned the idea for the Peace Corps.

How many of you who are going to be doctors, are willing to spend your days in Ghana? Technicians or engineers, how many of you are willing to work in the Foreign Service and spend your lives traveling around the world? On your willingness to do that, not merely to serve one year or two years in the service, but on your willingness to contribute part of your life to this country, I think will depend the answer whether a free society can compete. I think it can! And I think Americans are willing to contribute. But the effort must be far greater than we have ever made in the past.

hi from the other side of the state

My fortune cookie last night said, "You will make many changes before settling down happily." Considering how much my life has changed since December, I'd like to know how many more changes I have to make. Can I count any of the previous ones retroactively? :) At least I know I'll settle down at some point.

For any readers who haven't heard, I moved to Ann Arbor this past weekend to teach ESL preschool for U of M (yeah, I now work for the "other school") for the summer. It's all happened pretty fast--I emailed them my interview last Sunday, got called for an interview on Monday, drove down to Ann Arbor to interview on Wednesday, got the job on Thursday, helped coach the LHS Quiz Bowl team at the state tournament Friday and Saturday (we didn't win either of our games, but I think the kids had fun), moved to Ann Arbor on Sunday, and started orientation for work yesterday. Whew!

I'm excited about the job (ESL! little kids! Cary! real pay checks! not subbing!), and I look forward to a summer in Ann Arbor. It's supposed to have the most bookstores per capita of any city in the US...

And now that I don't see as many people as often, I might start blogging again more regularly.