Hi class,
For your homework this weekend, can you write a little about what you have learned from this
crisis ? Even though this is a very difficult time with many problems, can you think of some positive things you are learning from this experience ? Email me your writing and I'll correct it and post it !
From Brahiam:
What I have learned during this surreal time?
I have learned that connecting and showing love to your loved ones should be something to have in mind every single day.
I have noticed that my body and my mind feel grateful if I give them the care they ask for.
I have shown gratitude for the meals I am able to make every day, to enjoy the process of making them from scratch and tasting their flavors.
I have confirmed how essential and enriching the arts are, how much I appreciate a good novel and how much I cherish a good old movie or a new discovery.
I have learned how important it is to acknowledge other's feelings and above all, how helpful it is to understand my own feelings and accept them.
Most importantly I have reinforced how joyful and satisfactory it is to make time to do and honor the things that make you feel more like yourself, to embrace the solitude and to know that at the end of the day, if you have yourself, there's no way you can ever be alone. Having people around you is vital, but one is always enough.
From Akiko:
This crisis now seems inevitable.One of the most important things is to keep moving my body.My grand daughter has been taking skating lessons for many years but at this time the skating link is closed. Instead of meeting at the skating rink , the teacher sends zoom videos to help her students exercise.
My family has been using these lessons for 30 minutes every day. They are hard but good exercises.I also absolutely need to soak in some sunlight because I have older bones and they have become weaker. After being in the sunlight, I feel more energetic. We are lucky to have blue skies and warm sunshine. Another important thing is how my heart keeps peace. In order to do this, I think of some interesting things to do and keep busy all the time.
Here is a proverb:
“Through every dark night there's a bright day.”
From Joao:
During this crisis time, I’ve thought a lot about the impermanence of things. In how life is so fragile, and we don’t know much about our future, or we can’t say things will run as we have previously planned it. It is all about our impermanence.
For me, today wouldn’t be the best day to write about this crisis as my mood is really swinging in a not good way.
I have been reading books, watching films in different genres, cooking and studying more, but still some days I feel lonely. Even though Travis is always around, but it is not about him it is more about me.
I woke up grey today. You won’t find many positive things about this moment in my writing today. Sorry.
Most of the time, I’m a very confident, positive, and motivated person. However, it is tough to be like this 24x7. I need to allow myself to have my moments like this. Usually, these feelings are hidden, and I have no time to express it in my rushed routine days, so maybe now is a good time to get in touch with it and learn more about me and my feelings.
Although I’m sure tomorrow is another day and things will be better, sometimes it is hard to take the next step. We don’t know yet how this unprecedented moment will change our lives forever, but it will. It is true.
From Cindy: She wrote about Hurricane Katrina on 2005
HURRICANE KATRINA
Hurricane Katrina was one of the deadliest hurricanes ever to hit the United States. On August 29th, 2005. Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, and 80% of the city was flooded when the levees failed. The government was criticized for its lack of preparation and its failure to respond quickly or effectively. Eventually, the entire city was inundated for several weeks.
I was there a month after it had happened. My son had received a scholarship from Tulane University in New Orleans so I really wanted to know more about the school. I was shocked by what I saw when I got there. The ancient oaks laid across the roads, most restaurants were shut down, damaged rail lines forced the closure of the trams( they offer up relaxing views of the beauty, charm, and history of New Orleans), Drinking water was not clean enough. People were sleeping in trailers because of the flooded houses and collapsed walls.
But fortunately, the elevation of Tulane Univesity is high enough so the campus did not flood much. After Katrina went away, many students were stranded on roofs of the buildings, waiting for the army to rescue them with helicopters.
Although the scene after the disaster was terrible to see, Tulane University resumed on time even though a lot of students had left.
After four years, at the graduation ceremony, I saw Anderson Cooper, who is a famous news host on CNN. He gave a great speech at the ceremony that mentioned the hardship Tulane and the city had to endure.
From Sveta: She wrote about a flood in the Czech Republic in 2004
In old Czech newspapers and books, there were articles written about severe floods that occurred every hundred years in Prague, but no one believed this .... Unfortunately, a hundred-year-old flood came to Prague.
In August 2004, heavy and prolonged rains began in the headwaters of the Vltava River and other small rivers. After a few days, small rivers turned into large and large into huge. It rained for 2 weeks. Dirty brown water washed away houses, villages and small towns on its way.
In Prague, the water level in the Vltava increased by 15 feet, water flooded the central metro stations, the streets of the old town, many houses, shops, the lower part of the zoo, and public transport stopped working.
People were waiting with tension for what would happen to the sixty-year-old Charles Bridge under the pressure of furious water with fragments of houses and trees. The bridge survived ...
It also flooded the cities downstream of the Vltava River, where it merges with the turbulent Labe River.
The city leadership was not ready for such a devastating flood, there were no plans for the evacuation and protection of the population and buildings.
The flood killed 110 people. The total material damage amounted to about $ 20 billion.
Here is what I wrote:
I have learned that sometimes things fall apart. Many of our classmates have experienced war, displacement, economic collapse, hunger, violence, unemployment, homesickness and other hardships. Many Americans have been lucky enough not to suffer as much as people in many countries. So, if I need to wait in line to go to the supermarket, that is OK. If I can’t find everything I need at the store, that is OK. If I can’t go to the gym for a while, or go out to a restaurant, or see friends, it is OK. I can adjust to these problems and still be grateful for many good things that I have. I am thankful that a few of my students still meet with me and that we can study English together on Zoom. In the future, when this crisis is over, I will look back and remember what I learned. Hopefully, I will appreciate everything I have even more than I do now. I will appreciate every moment.
