No longer "Bob" and "Colleen"

I had a great time with Bob on the weekend.  He is settling in nicely at his new job and in his new neighbourhood.  We had a hilarious conversation where we finally accepted that we are no longer "Bob" and "Colleen".  No, we are now "Bab" and "Calleen"! 

Counseling in Speech Language Pathology

The in-class section of my first clinic placement has been quite interesting and has given me many insights into the American side of the profession.  

We've been discussing counseling for the last couple of classes and the professor has been referencing the following book.  I plan to order it and read it over the Thanksgiving break.  I can't say I recommend it as I have yet to read it but what we've learned in class from it thus far has been very applicable and useful.

Don't Forget to be Awesome Today!

As I'm driving the streets of Ithaca and walking around the parking lots, one of my favourite things to do is read bumper stickers.  Just about every car has a bumper sticker that shares a small insight into the car owners life and I find reading the stickers thoroughly entertaining. 

My favourite sticker thus far has been, "Don't Forgot to be Awesome Today!".  I may have to track that one down and stick it onto the old Civic!  

Here are some others I've seen:

There are a few that I wasn't able to photograph that are worthy of mention:

"I break for animals - so stay off my back!!"
"If you kill a biker you will go to jail!!"
"Don't remove firewood - it bugs me!!"

Hee hee hee, so entertaining!

Taughannock Falls

Another wonderful hike:

 

 

 A very cool Red Back Salamander we found hiding under a log!
 

Canadian vs American Schooling

Ya - it's different.

In the U.S.:
A is 90% - 100%
B is 80%-89%
C is 70%-79%
D is 60%-69%
all else is a fail.

I'm allowed to get one C and then I'm on academic probation which would mean I'm only allowed to take part-time course work.  However, for my VISA to be valid, I have to be enrolled in full-time studies.  More or less, if I get two C's I get deported!

Since I was never a particularly strong student, this info kinda freaked me out.
However, as I became familiar with the American schooling system, I've been put at ease.  I have learned that there are great differences in the American vs Canadian style of education.  Those difference would appall Hedy McGarrigle, (was that her name?). I remember her lecturing us that we are now in University and we would not be spoon fed! 

She certainly never lectured in the U.S..  

I am barely 5 weeks into the semester and I have just finished my first round of exams.  All but one of the 4 exams I wrote was preceded by a very detailed outline with sample questions.  Not only that, at the start of most lectures, there's a review of last lecture with a bit of a quiz that is ungraded.  If the class doesn't do well on these ungraded quizzes, then the information is reviewed again.

I now see why the marks are so high, you'd have to work hard to get a C with all of this support!

And - so far anyway -  the exams have all been multiple choice.  When I mention the dreaded essay question, "Describe the _____ Theory of ______" worth 20 marks, half a mark for each point, the other students look at me like I'm crazy!  They respond with, "That would be so unfair!  Dr. ____ would never ask anything like that!"

Sometimes, I wonder, is it American vs Canadian or Geeze vs not Geeze?

The Grocery Store Post

So much to write...none of it interesting I'm sure!

I'm a student so I'm looking to buy what ever is cheap.  Luckily, that is easily found here in the United States of America.  "What", you ask, "is cheap? And, what kinda 'cheap' are we talking?".

Here we go:
Brown beans: $0.40
Can of  soup: $0.40
Frozen Pizza: $0.87
Frozen burrito, etc: $0.99
Shampoo and Conditioner: $0.75 (each)
a gallon of water for $0.50
BEER!!!!: $19.98 for 30 cans - that's imported beer! (Well, okay, it's 'Blue' - but that's an imported here!)

I'm not saying that quality is good, I'm just saying it's a poor students dream!!

Other things that are cool/lame at the grocery store include being able to return pop cans and water bottles.  They have this self-serve area where you just bring in your empties, put them in a hole, and then you get a print out of how much money you're owed.  You bring the receipt to the cashier and you can put it towards your groceries or get $.

The grocery store is 24 hours (of course!) - imagine if we had this self-serve return center in Canada   The bottle collectors would be in heaven!  No waiting for the beer store to open-anytime they wanted they could just go in and cash in their empties.  I wonder what kind of problems this would create?  I think we should try it!

um...what else...oh, at the grocery store I go to, you have to weigh your own produce.   So, I get bananas, put them on a scale, enter the code, and then a sticker prints out that I put on the bananas.  (a bit of a pain, but whatev)

One final comment on the grocery store:

I'm pleased to see "Jones Soda" representing Canada in the Soda isle!

Happy shopping!