Riddle me this, riddle me that...

What do baked potatoes, a unicycle, squeaky rubber chickens & roasted chicken have in common?






... give up??

Perhaps a few videos & pictures of our night at the "Flying Chicken" restaurant will help you make the connection. :)

Unicycle dude showing off that chickens are a piece of cake because he can spear limes

Grant getting his helmet strapped on.

They had us try to catch baked potatoes. I was thankful that it was a baked potato and not a chicken!

They gave me one more try after this video... and I got it!

Here's proof that I did catch the potato (notice the worker's "jazz hands" in the back... I think he really wanted me to win a rubber chicken because he was guiding my helmet head to the right place. :) )

The prize for getting catching the baked potato on the helmet spoke.

Mike was too fast for me... he got the potato on the spoke on the first try,  but I hadn't started recording yet, thinking I had some time. :(

Ryan showing us how it's done (sorry it's sideways... I don't know how to turn it if it's recorded this way!)

Our fun group: Ryan & Jaime, Carolyn & Grant,  & Mike & me with the owner of the restaurant and the two talented unicyclists/food launchers.

Warning

The other night I dreamed that I was teaching middle school Spanish. They were being so ridiculously destructive, mean & ill-mannered that I marched to the principal’s office and told him, “I quit!” It didn’t matter that it was the middle of class or the middle of the school day, I clearly had had enough. I woke up feeling very tired… not just sleepy tired, but physically exhausted after disciplining to no avail in my dream. I went to school, wondering if it was a foretaste of things to come, and dreaded seeing my students. I actually felt a little hopeless as I watched them walk through the door and look expectantly at me. To my relief, they were [their usual] angels for me. I spent the rest of the day being very grateful for my sweet students. I even had one student ask me, "Mrs. Karly, why are you just staring at us and smiling?" It was a great opportunity for me to let them know how grateful I am for them and the fact that they aren't middle schoolers.I guess my dream wasn't a glimpse of what my day would look like; but rather, a warning to never go back to teaching middle school... sorry, Stephen. ;)

Don’t mess with Minnesotans

I recently blogged about how my students make fun of me for my {amusing} MN accent. My students were in fits of laughter yet again, as the pastor of one of the major churches here in Bangkok, made fun of Minnesotans during chapel today. He was discussing the vastness of creation and how minute we are in comparison to the world, yet how God lovingly knit us into being. In order to best illustrate this, he talked about the size of the world and mentioned Dave Kunst, a man from Waseca, MN who is the first person verified to have circled the land mass of the earth on foot. But then went on to say, “I guess Minnesotans have nothing better to do with their time.” I bet he didn’t think there would be someone from Minnesota in the crowd. I almost booed him… just kidding. To add insult to injury make it even better, one of my students (who was sitting next to me), turns to me and asks, “Since you’re from MN, would you do that, Mrs. Karly?” Needless to say, I gave her some major eye-rollage as I offered her some casserole and asked her if she was a scrapper, don’t cha’ know. :)

Bursts of laughter

One of my Spanish 2 classes erupted into laughter today when at the end of class I held up a bag and said, “Is this anyone’s bag?” It was about 2 seconds of laughter and then, as if they had planned it, they all simultaneously said, “BAAAAAAAAG!” and then burst into laughter again. I don’t even know why I asked in English… slip of the tongue, I guess. Either way, apparently my accent is quite entertaining to them. They made their way out the door in fits of laughter.

Later, as I was sitting in my room at my computer one student walked by my semi-open door, made sure I was looking, and yelled, “FLAAAAG” as he waved his hand in the air like a flag flapping in the breeze.

It’s just too easy to pick on a Minnesotan. Glad I could make their day. :)

Long time, no blog

Some of our lovely friends just recently hosted a Chili Round-Up. It was a chance to get together, eat some good chili, play some games, & just have fun. Here are some pics from our fun event.

 Jaimie & Ryan celebrating their awesome barrel racing time

 Lacey & Larisa barrel racing it up

 Happy Holly

 2 of our hosts at the Pink Palace: Kim & Kristi

 Jonny & Chiara barrel racing... a few points deducted for the wrong weaving pattern though. ;)

 Good times, good friends, good laughs

 Mike & Karly's turn

So fast it's blurry!

Our winners... Steve & Kam (who thought he was going to drop her 

along the way, hence the covered eyes...)

On-lookers

Katie & Carolyn

Bo & Holly

Good times, good conversations, good food

Thumbs up for good chili... or not...

Grant & George Jorge

Bo & Kam

Lovely cowgirls

Our Pink Palace hosts: Kim, Kristi & K-DUB

Just tellin' it like it is...

Our best dressed contestants

Chili cook off winner. Prize= apron & a ladle that says, 

"2010 Pink Palace Round-Up Chili Cook-off Ultimate Survivor."

I made a white chicken chili... and it was good... reeaaaaal good.

Catherine & me.

What's a chili round-up without some line-dancing?

Shakin' it up ouside

Layla showin' off her cowgirl boots

Sheila, Kam & Noey

Good stories, good times

K-DUB, Carolyn & Lissa

Tawnya, Katie & Kylie

Will (who was a little sad at the time) and his sweet Mama, Sara

Bernd & The Kim-ster

Riding horsies

Kristi, Kylie & Layla

Full bellies, hearty food, hearty laughs

Holly & Carolyn

Sweet Layla

Wild, wild west

Brian & Bernd

Height comparison

Kylie telling Bernd how old she is: 4

Bernd needing a little help telling Kylie how old he is: 30

Kylie: "Can you do this?"

Bernd: "Uhm, I think so. I'm a big German though"

Lissa & Katie

Too funny

Stacy & me

Hollister & me

Larissa, Krista & Jes

 Accountability oreo-cookie photo: Holly, Catherine & me

First impressions

I make assumptions about people, do you? It’s impossible NOT to make assumptions about people in one way or another (in my opinion), based on clothing, actions, grades, religion, ideas, gender, race or ethnicity, hobbies, etc. Sometimes I think that assuming things about people is our human way of trying to “fit” that person into a box to help us understand them better. You wear Tommy Hilfiger jeans? Oh, you must have money. You get straight A’s? Oh, you must be smart. You’re a proclaiming Christian? Oh, you must be either some crazy Jesus freak (to some people) or maybe you’re kind and forgiving. You act out in class? Oh, you must have problems at home. You didn’t understand this concept? Oh, you must have a learning disability of some sort. You’re a girl. Oh, you must be emotional. You’re funny and like to tell jokes? Oh, you must be the class clown that likes attention and the one I’m going to have to keep my eye on…

My first impression of one particular student was the latter. Class clown, joke-teller, crazy dancer= up to no good. Only senior among my mixed freshman/sophomore class=slacker. Needless to say, I was not exactly looking forward to teaching this student. As I have gotten to know him, I have appreciated his crazy sense of humor, his fun and light-hearted personality, and his laugh. Additionally, he is one of my top students and I often find him helping the other students around him when I am unavailable. Needless to say, I was humbled.

So when are these assumptions bad? Perhaps…
• when they are so solidified in your mind that you can’t/won’t change them, no matter what other “evidence” may be thrown at you
• when you act upon these assumptions
• when your assumptions negatively affect others
• ??

What are your thoughts?