Susan Boyle gives me a break
In news that I’m sure will disappoint at least one Mumbler out there, my Susan Boyle Video has given me my first big(ish) break. This evening I met with the producer of a very well-known podcast, a podcast which sees thousands of downloads every week. It’s a podcast I listen to and enjoy, and a […]
How being able to speak Japanese has changed my life in Japan
I’ve been wanting to write this little post for some time. It’s not aimed at people who are perfectly happy not using Japanese whilst living in Japan (which I think is perfectly OK). It’s aimed at those considering studying Japanese. My hope is that it provides at least one person with a little inspiration. It’s […]
Woken by the warmth of the sun
Not a great photo, but one of the first blossoms I saw this year. It’s been a super-productive day today. It started on a really positive note, with the warm sun streaming through the trees, through the glass doors that make up a whole wall of our bedroom, and onto my face. It made me […]
Plans for 2009
George and I at work Just one more day of work at the office remains this year. Whilst I usually work alone on Saturdays, taking calls from those students of mine who are unable to call during the week, tomorrow the rest of the office crew will join me. They’ll be turning up in their […]
Phase 1 complete
Tremendous feeling of satisfaction tonight as, at the end of a long day at the office (8 hours + 7.5 hours overtime) I finally completed phase one of my project to digitise / automate as much of the teaching jobs admin process as possible. For the past two months or so I’ve been working on […]
Why I’m happy Obama will be president in a few hours from now
Wow. Kinda feeling ecstatic tonight. Been reading the news about the US election, and getting very excited. Whilst having Obama as president doesn’t necessarily mean huge changes for the better in US policy (such the entire defence budget being redirected towards peaceful solutions / humanitarian projects / environmental protection), it does give me hope. For […]
Date set for departure for a new life
This morning I decided to have faith in the international postal service and the Japanese embassy in London, and buy my flight to Japan, despite not having yet applied for my visa, or having yet received the documents I need from Japan to apply for it. Having been granted student status again I was able […]
A CELTA weekend, and Family Planning
So this is what a CELTA weekend is like then: study, study and more study (and a very enjoyable 3-hour trip out to the Peak District to see friends – thank you!) It’s been fun though. You know, I think I’m actually starting to get my head around English grammatical terms, after 30 years of […]
Graduation photos
Live from the Little Chef on the M6 heading south from Sheffield… some shots from today’s graduation ceremony. Well done all of us. Thanks Sheffield!
CILASS for Students website (private launch)
This mumble features a fair bit of bathing in my own glory (so no change there then). I’m delighted to say that the CILASS for Students website is complete. It won’t be officially launched until the next academic year, but I won’t be around then, so I thought I’d quietly launch it to my friends now […]
Degree result
Google Alert: Information Commons, Sheffield (tee hee) I worked out what I got for my degree the other day. Whilst grades aren’t officially published until the 14th July, with the results for all but one of modules (language) having been announced, it’s not hard to tot it up. I’ve guessed my mark for the language […]
LTEA Conference 2008: Long Live Inquiry-based Learning!
It’s now the day after the closing of the LTEA (Learning Through Enquiry Alliance) conference 2008, and my head is beginning to clear. I attempted to write about my experience of this event last night, but I was “all conferenced out” as fellow student ambassador Barbara put it – my mind was just a sea […]
Into the recycle bin
Busy bee, spotted on the way back from the exam. 13 hours into freedom So, I spent much of the afternoon feeling somewhat lost, before deciding that what was called for was assertiveness. I need to move on. No point in lingering in some in-between state. It’s too easy to comfort oneself with the idea […]
Sophie Mei in the semi-final of Britain’s Got Talent
Shout out to all those TV owners resident in the UK: On Monday night at 9pm on ITV1, Sophie Mei, daughter of a good friend of mine here in Sheffield, will be one of 8 performers in the first live semi-final of Britain’s Got Talent. She’s made it through to the final 40 – out […]
We Did It! Graduation Ceremony (No.1)
Our teachers will not be able to come to our graduation ceremony at the end of July as they will be in Japan. Not wanting to miss out on such an important occasion, they decided that in our last ever lesson with them, they put on a special Japanese graduation ceremony for us. This act […]
Dissertation Done and Dusted
Yay! I am Happy. Very happy (and very tired!). It’s been a 14 hour day in the library, but we got there. I’m pretty pleased with it as I’ve been able to keep my 3000 word history – well, at least for the version that I’ll have bound for myself. The department will get the […]
Awards!
Yipppeeeee! I just won a university photo competition, my prize being a £200 digital camera! I’ve missed having a small point-and-shoot as I gave mine to mum and dad at New Year so they could play with digital photos with their new Macbook. Unfortunately though, the one I gave them was a Japanese language model. […]