Goodbye, Leslie Neilsen

Canadian actor Leslie Nielsen passed away yesterday. He will be missed. One of my favorite comedians of all time, Leslie headlined some of the best comedy of the 80's and early 90's. The Naked Gun series and Airplane! are some of the finest examples of slapstick comedy.

http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/blog/2010/11/leslie_nielsen.html

Heroism in American movies always lives a whisker away from self-parody, and Leslie Nielsen was blessed with the skill and the opportunity to play in the cracks between the two. Would the actor, who died Sunday at 84, have been as mindblowingly funny in 1980's "Airplane!" if his Dr. Rumack had camped it up and played for laughs? Of course not: The genius of the performance is that it's the exact same one Nielsen had given eight years earlier as the ship's captain in "The Poseidon Adventure" -- same stoic deadpan, same wooden professionalism, same earnest cluelessness. The only differences were the surrounding madness and the star's knack for timing,

Unifying Spanish Writing

The directors of 22 Spanish language academies from around the Spanish-speaking world have met in Guadalajara, Mexico to discuss changes to the language with some points on writing.

Precisó que se determinó eliminar los acentos en las palabras “solo”, “este”, “ese” y “aquel”, porque no existe una diferencia fonética, por ejemplo, entre el adverbio “solo” y el adjetivo “solo”, y consideró que la diferencia de significado puede definirse perfectamente en el contexto del texto.

“Pero si en algún país, alguien dice, a mí me gusta, yo necesito acentuar estas palabras, ¡pues hágalo, no hay problema!”, dijo Moreno de Alba, quien insistió en que la ortografía razonada de la lengua española —cuya publicación estará disponible en México y España en diciembre— es la propuesta que los académicos de la lengua hacen para unificar el uso del español en los países hispanohablantes, y no un tratado de prohibiciones.

Removing the need for a few accent marks here and there will save me some trouble when writing.

The directors have come to the idea that the language needs a bit of modernization and some type of standard between countries, but was careful to indicate that countries should be free to choose their forms to maintain unique traditions.

Now, if someone can help me find the enye on my US standard keyboard, I'd be feliz.

Mexican Food - A World Heritage

The U.N. Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization has placed 'Mexican food/cooking' on a list of important intangible cultural heritage bringing a recognition and protection to the culinary art in the country I call home. Of course, this is something every ex-pat living in Mexico simply takes for granted as one of the top reasons to live in Mexico.

Yahoo News on the story.

MEXICO CITY – The quesadilla had more zip Wednesday and the taco tasted just a bit sweeter as Mexico celebrated its food being put on the United Nations list of intangible cultural heritage, alongside the lofty art of eating in France.

The U.N. Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization recognized everything from the growing of corn, beans and chilies to Mexican dishes prepared with grinding stones and mortars as an ancient process worth safeguarding in the face of encroaching global influences.

"Collectives of female cooks and other practitioners devoted to raising crops and traditional cuisine ... express community identity, reinforce social bonds, and build stronger local, regional and national identities," said the committee of 24 countries that determines the list.

The group, meeting in Kenya this week, announced additions to the list Tuesday that also included flamenco in Spain and carpet-weaving in Azerbaijan.

UNESCO, known for designating world heritage sites such as Peru's Machu Picchu and India's Taj Mahal, also lists traditions such as performing arts or social practices as activities worth preserving.

"I heard about the UNESCO thing this morning on the TV, and I was drooling all morning," Martin Tellez Romero, 45, said as his snack of beef-and-cheese quesadillas sizzled on the griddle of a sidewalk stand. "I couldn't even wait until lunchtime."

I was captured by Mexican food long ago...it is easily the number reason I live here and not in Canada (with the much better climate being a close second). Every time I make a trip home, I can think of only one thing...the good food I'm missing. It's difficult for friends and family back home to understand since first-world Canada offers just about every dish one can imagine, but it is never quite right. Far from right, actually.

Deported - From Mexico?

Here's an interesting story of reversal...an American deported from Mexico back to the US. "Crash" is not exactly your average American business traveler or tourist, but here is his story of being deported from Mexico back to the US, which is surprisingly similar to the stories of many, many thousands of Mexicans experiencing the same fate each year.

From the New York Times.

TIJUANA — The two men could barely communicate. One was a Mexican laborer, the other an American wanderer, neither with any pesos in his pockets. But they bonded, having just gone through similar ordeals.

“The migra got me,” lamented the downcast Mexican, using slang for the United States Border Patrol.

“I know what you mean,” said the American, sitting on a bench near Tijuana’s seedy Avenida Revolución, strumming his guitar in the hopes someone might toss him some change. “I was deported, too.”

The United States government formally deported or otherwise returned more than a million foreigners — most of them Mexicans — according to immigration data. That figure has risen steadily over the years. But much to the surprise of many Americans, there is a trickle of deportees that flows north from Mexico to the United States as well.

Between January and September, the National Migration Institute, Mexico’s immigration service, deported 350 Americans, some of them lawbreakers who had finished prison sentences in the country, but others merely travelers who were found to be without proper paperwork.

More at the story link above...

Mystery Missile Launch

Weird story on the wire right now about the launch of a ballistic missile off the coast of Los Angeles. No one seems to know where the missile came from. A story to watch today. North Korea? China? Secret US missile launch?

Aliens?

More at the Globe and Mail.

The Pentagon says it's trying to figure out whether a missile was launched off the coast of southern California and who might have launched it.

Officials with the navy, air force, Defence Department and North American Aerospace Defence Command say they are looking into a video posted on the website of Southern California television station KFMB.

The video appears to show a rocket or some other object shooting up into the sky and leaving a large contrail over the Pacific Ocean.

Pentagon spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan said Tuesday that officials can't confirm that there was a launch and if there was, by whom. He says officials are talking to civilian and defence authorities who control and monitor air space.

They Gave It Away?!!

If you won 10.9 million CDN dollars in a lottery, what would you do?

Travel the world? Buy a fancy car, or several of them? Retire?

How about just giving it all, or most of it to charity?

From the BBC...

A Canadian couple who won $10.9m (£6.7m) in lottery winnings in July say they have given away $10.2m of the prize to groups in their community.

Allen and Violet Large said they were plain country folks who needed no more than "what we've got".

The two said they had donated about 98% of the cash after helping their family.

The elderly pair gave the money to churches, fire departments, cemeteries, the Red Cross and hospitals, where Ms Large has undergone cancer treatment.

"We haven't bought one thing. That's because there is nothing that we need," Mr Large, 75, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Mr Large, a retired welder from Canada's Nova Scotia province, added that he and his wife were quite content with their 147-year-old home and everything else they already owned.

"You can't buy happiness," he said.

Noble. I'm not so sure I'd have it in me to do the same...

Teaching in Mexico - When Problems Arise

There's a good discussion (well, argument might be the best word) developing over at the ESL Cafe between a teacher and a school owner, with the school in question being Culturlingua based in Los Reyes, Mexico. A recently departed teacher is airing her grievances on the Cafe about the school and the owner of another branch of the same school (someone I happen to know fairly well) is responding. It's gotten a bit testy but there is also a lot of good information there about some of the problems both new teachers and language schools face working in this industry. A recruiter with an interest in this case has also chimed into the thread.

Good read, I leave you to it.

The Discussion

This is a feedback on Culurlingua, an English institute in Los Reyes, Michoacan

I worked for Culturlingua for two months (September and October 2010). My goal was to work in Mexico, therefore I didn’t mind the low salary given that TEFL market was extremely stagnant in August 2010 in Latin America. Most job offers are not posted on-line in Mexico, one would need to live here and find connections in order to find his/her ideal job. Therefore Culturlingua is a gateway into Mexico, a stepping stone for better jobs. But here is what you need to know if you are considering an offer from their institute:

The institute is extremely business-oriented. All policies are set to bring about profit. If a student registers a month after the semester has begun, they would not hesitate to place him/her in your class. You have to think of how she/he can catch up. Students are not allowed to fail; they would be allowed to re-take the same tests multiple times until they pass it. No materials are provided. The bookshelf where their materials from the age of Joseph Stalin are stored is always locked. If you care about your students, develop your own materials, you may be reimbursed. We were not.

Teaching: if you are looking forward to being challenged as a teacher, this job is not for you. You can only work within the structure of the book. Textbook comes first. The objective is to finish it, whether students learn or not. However, if you are a beginner teacher and are looking for a job where you can experiment without people breathing down your neck, this job is for you. The director, Ms. Cecilia Belmont, visits the school once in a blue moon. She may or may not sit in your classes. When she does, she will not offer any constructive feedback. She will isolate a few students and will criticize them for not participating or speaking Spanish in front of the entire class. That is why students do not have a good relationship with her.

Accommodation: The house is old, the T.V belongs to the World War I era, mattresses are uncomfortable, and there is a leak in most rooms. The kitchen has every gadget needed for cooking which is convenient, and a cleaning person comes every Friday to clean the house, paid by the school. This semester we had rats, the school did not take initiatives to remedy the situation until we threatened to leave. Cable, internet, cleaning materials, and gas are all paid by you. Services are relatively cheap.

Benefits: Money is sufficient for a simple living and traveling. However, you need to exit Mexico for your visa will expire in 6 months. The school will not provide visas. The whole program is structured in way to bypass immigration laws (yes! You work for them illegally), it’s been registered as a “language exchange program” where you teach English and receive Spanish lessons in return. Spanish classes were the highlight of our stay in Los Reyes, our teacher was wonderful.

Privacy (or lack thereof): the administrative staff of Culturlingua has some severe paranoia issues with their teachers. I understand that some teachers in the past might have given ammunition to this paranoia, but we were a group of professional teachers who went to work and came back to the house. No parties, no guests, no binge drinking. In spite of that, the receptionist would drop by unannounced to check around the house. We also suspect that she had come when we were in class and entered our rooms. The cleaning lady had been advised to spy on us while she was cleaning. Our Spanish teacher was admonished every time she spoke with us outside of class. She was advised never to interact with us after class.

Immersion into Mexican society: I came here thinking I would be guided to get to know this marvelous country by the school. The staff does not bother giving any sort of guidance, tours, maps, and tourist info. to their teachers. They maintain a healthy distance with their teachers. We worked here for 9 weeks not knowing exactly where the receptionist lives in this small town. We had to search everything on our own. I never felt a belonging to a group or an educational team, there were never any gestures made out of hospitality or mere friendship to ensure we are happy. Knowing how warm-blooded Mexicans are, this behavior surprised me.

We voiced out our problems from the beginning: lack of incentives, lack of materials, lack of openness and trust. They never listened. The entire system is set in a way to bring teachers from English-speaking countries (to sell their ‘native’ image) keep them for five months, and adios! There is a myth about past teachers. They deny that numerous teachers have breached their contract and left in the middle of the night without informing the school. You might want to ask them for a recent reference. They do not have any, with the exception of one or two teachers who somehow survived. There were four of us here in Los Reyes and Periban. We gradually lost motivation; we found better jobs and left the school in the space of five days. I take with me the wonderful memories of my interactions with my amazing students. Overall, I do not recommend this position to anyone.

Best of luck,
Los Reyes Teachers, 2010

A quick question- did you get to see the contract BEFORE you accepted the job and came? OR was the first time you saw the contract when you arrived in Los Reyes?

Another comment- maybe the secretary was visiting the house because she was concerned about the rat situation that occurred?

I am the owner of Culturlingua in Tlaquepaque and I wish to state my connection right now- to be up front and open.

Hit the link above for the rest of the conversation.