An English Question

As I am a teacher of English, I talk about English a lot. Since I work with and teach people from all different cultural and textbook backgrounds, questions about English come up often. I love it. So here's a question for you:

Do you ever say "in back of"?

Not "in the back of" but "in back of", meaning the entire phrase functions as a preposition?

Fruit Salad in Heaven

"What will be the fruit of heaven?"

This question has come up at various times and places in life. It even led us to buy cookies that animals wouldn't even eat!

Yet we never knew that in all those times we were being unbiblical. According to Revelation 22:2, there will actually be 12 fruits, one harvested each month, growing on a tree of life.

How wonderful! My favorite item to eat in summer is a fruit salad with all kinds of fresh fruits, so I'm really glad there will be more than one of them to be eaten in heaven.

So now the question is "What will be the twelve fruits of heaven?"

Here's what we think in no particular order:

1) Strawberries
2) Cherries
3) Ataulfo mangoes - basically mangoes that grow in India, not Mexico
4) Peaches
5) Orange papaya
6) Blueberries
7) Jambura - a fruit similar to pomello that grows in Bangladesh
8) Avocado
9) Pears-J/Nectarines-C
10) Oranges-J/Black Plums-C
11) Watermelon-J/Clementines-C
12) Cantaloupe-J/(I just can't make up my mind!)-C

Yum! I'm looking forward to eating in heaven!

Confusion and Frustration

In our junior years of college, we both studied abroad. John was in Oxford, Great Britain, and I was in Sau Bay, Fiji. In case you don't know where Sau Bay is (ha ha), let me tell you how I got there from the Los Angeles airport. We flew for 10 hours, then took a 1 1/2 hour bus ride, then a 27 hour ferry ride, and then another hour motor boat ride. That's about 40 hours. Quite a long trip, right?

But then we were in glorious Sau Bay, so don't think I'm complaining.

Thank you for the photo, whoever put it on the internet!

John and I were obviously far apart. While I was in Sau Bay, the only possible communication with others was mail. From the time I sent a letter to John in Oxford, it took two weeks for John to receive the letter. Then he'd reply and it would take two weeks to get to me! Very understandable with all of that travel time, right?

Okay, so here's where the confusion and frustration sets in. To get from Minneapolis to Vancouver by plane takes 3 hours and 44 minutes. The drive to Langley from the Vancouver airport is another 50 minutes. That's about 4 1/2 hours.

So why does it normally take two weeks for the mail to travel from Minneapolis to Langley?

Book Recommendation

A coworker recently recommended John Steinbeck's last novel to me, The Winter of Our Discontent, and I'm really glad she did! It's quite different from his other novels, as this one is set on the East Coast. It is a great study on how money and greed can influence humans. If you're looking for a new book and want it to be a classic, check this one out!

A Beautiful Sunset

A few nights ago we were just hanging out, doing stuff around the house, when I looked out the window and saw brilliant pink between the trees. Look what awaited us once we went outside and had a clear view!

Plagiarism

We've all heard the word. We've all heard how rampantly it is occurring in universities. But do you have to deal with it?

I do, and I must admit it's one of the hardest parts of my job.

In some cultures, plagiarism is not an issue. For example, let's look at Chinese culture and the process of writing a paper. For a Chinese person, if you are doing research and an expert says something, there is no reason to paraphrase or use your own words because you are not an expert; there is no way you will be able to say it as well as her. When we, Westerners, find something that an author wrote extremely well and don't want to change as to not lose its effectiveness or strength, we use quotations. But in Chinese culture, there is no reason to change anything and no need to reference those whose ideas are being used in a paper.

Yet, I do not teach within Chinese culture. I teach within Western culture, and using someone else's words or ideas without citing them is seen as wrong, Illegal, STEALING. So, I must teach and mark from that perspective. But when and how do grace and mercy play a role in this?

Plagiarism is defined as three or more words that are not your own. [Reference for this coming - it's on a handout sitting on my desk!] How much should I let go? Should a student be given another opportunity to write a paper that originally contained plagiarism? How many opportunities should that student get in each class? Should I give any grace at all? A university professor is not going to care if you come from a different culture OR going to care about how long you have lived within Western culture. Since I am preparing students to enter university in two months, should I care? We have been learning and talking about plagiarism at least once a week, every week, since this semester began. For a professor, plagiarism is plagiarism and warrants nothing but an F. Should it not be the same for me?

Does anyone have any answers?

Four Years and a Day with My Love

Four years ago yesterday, John and I became man and wife. Thinking back to that day, I have many many special memories. Instead of sharing those, however, I thought I'd share the many wonderful things my husband does for me:

1) Takes care of me in every way possible when I'm sick. Like two nights ago, decided to sleep on a camping mat in the living room so that he could be by me while I slept on the couch - even though our bedroom is only 20 feet away.
2) Is willing to not only help me out at our garden but is willing to pull out 100+ thistles!
3) Has this great big hearty laugh that only comes out sometimes but makes me feel so good.
4) Wants us and our family to be happy, more than he wants his future career.
5) Loved his role in June as cook.
6) Uses his time so wisely at school in the library that he was one of only a few to finish his thesis on time - he even finished his early!
7) Is determined to do his very best in everything he does.
8) Listens to my complaints but after a short amount of time, reminds me to turn my attention elsewhere.
9) Loves God and loves people.

These are just a few things that have come to mind in the last ten minutes. I know there are hundreds of more things that are wonderful about him, but I must get back to the couch. Will this cold ever go away so I can get back to taking care of my love?

Let's see how much you've learned...

In honor of Canada's 143rd birthday, and in order to see how much you've learned about your neighbor-up-north over the last two years, take the following quiz. Answers are found at the end.

1) What is the capital of Canada?
2) Which province has French, rather than English, as its main language?
3) What are the two national sports of Canada? Hint: One is a winter sport and one is a summer sport.
4) What do you call the political leader of Canada?
5) Where can you find the Maritime Islands? Name them for extra points!
6) What is poutine?
7) Name the highway that crosses the country of Canada from west to east. If you can't name the highway, guess the number of the highway.
8) How many provinces are there in Canada?
9) What percentage of the Canadian population lives in Ontario?
10) To which one of these stores would you go to buy home improvement supplies: a. Canadian Tire b. The Brick c. Tim Horton's
11) Do all Canadians live in igloos?

Give yourself a point for each question that you got correct.

Answers:
1) Ottawa, Ontario
2) Quebec
3) Hockey and Lacrosse
4) Prime Minister (Stephen Harper is his name!)
5) The East Coast. Take an extra point if you named any of the four: Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, PEI, and New Brunswick.
6) We like to joke that it's a heart attack in a bowl, but what constitutes poutine is a bowl of fresh french fries and cheese curds (not melted!) with gravy poured on top. Absolutely delicious.
7) The Trans-Canadian Highway, aka Highway 1.
8) Ten. If you said 13, you were close. Three of those you were thinking of are actually territories.
9) More than one-third.
10) The answer is a. Canadian Tire.
11) No. Please don't ever tell me if you said yes.

Count your points. If you got at least one point, be proud of yourself. You know more about Canada than Canadians think you do!