June 14, 2018

The Importance of Valencia

Here is how my boyfriend gets me to go on an easy weekend trip to Valencia: Step 1: One month prior Bring it up and dutifully listen to me as I spend two hours debating if “we” (read: I) have enough time to go. Step 2: Two weeks prior Wait for me to bring it up again and change my mind about if “we” (see above) have enough time to go. Suggest we look at train tickets at some point just to get an idea of price. Step 3: One week prior Look at train tickets. Remain patiently waiting as I change my mind between two and six more times….

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in travel fabulous

June 8, 2018

Important Friday Questions

I am a teacher with two weeks (and one day) until the end of the school year. I have 75 comments to write, quadruple that number of grades to assign (we assign four grades per student. It’s a complicated topic for another time.), two tests to compose, three tests to give and three students to meet in order to discuss their ‘extended essay’ (a 4,000 word essay that the majority of IB high school students attempt to write the night before its due.  This makes the year and half of meetings prior somewhat painful for teaching faculty.) Oh, and have I mentioned I’m moving? (Countries-from Spain to the USA.) So-this…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in randomly fabulous

June 4, 2018

Insta-fabulous

I probably spend too much time on Instagram.  Like in a “I’m-worried-I-need-glasses-now” kind of way. Why? You are dying to know! Why I Spend Too Much Time on Instagram First, as a teacher of the “pictures-are-the-new-books” generation, I think it’s fascinating how people use social media to communicate with each other.  Second, I’m always curious what my students are doing smiling into their laps all day long while they pretend attempt to listen to me. Third, as a single-platform-social-media kind of girl, it’s the only thing I keep on my phone. So…I spend a lot of time lurking around, scrolling through the photos of people I haven’t spoken to in years…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in randomly fabulous

May 22, 2018

A Typical Day

Here is a typical day.  See if you can notice any patterns. A Typical Day Schedule 6:45 AM: Wake up. Drink moderately excessive amount of coffee, but eat healthy breakfast, brush hair, etc. 7:35 AM: Leave for work.  Rejuvenating 10 minute walk to train station. Deal very patiently with Spanish slow walkers as they shuffle down the street, apparently headed for a job that starts in 2019. 9:15 AM: Tell hilarious joke to my first period physics freshmen (we were studying momentum and I told them to ‘get their mass in motion’. Maybe you had to be there.) 10:25 AM: Procure snacks for my whole 9th grade advisory because the student…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in randomly fabulous

May 18, 2018

Burning the Midnight Oil

Burning the midnight oil is truly an idiom designed for the Spanish spring. Here’s why: In Spain, May marks the beginning of the 9:30 PM sunset.  The country is in the wrong time zone, a result of the alliance between Franco and Hitler during World War II.  You can read more about that here, but know that when you hear about those “late Spanish dinners”: Late Spanish Dinner Facts It’s true.  In the summer it’s not unusual for 11:00 PM dinner reservations to book up before anything else. It’s not our fault! It’s nice if it’s actually dark out when you’re having dinner.  7:00 PM is the middle of the…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in live fabulous

May 14, 2018

Throwing Baby Showers: It’s a Girl!!

You know what it turns out is really fun?  Throwing baby showers! What? I’m serious.  Hear me out. First of all, it turns out baby showers are very American.  As with all US-related holidays, I enjoy a certain, heightened patriotism when I get to celebrate overseas and fabricate embellish upon the importance of various customs.  Like celebrating the 4th of July in New Zealand, when I convinced all the Kiwi’s we had to wear towel capes and salute each other each time we spoke.   (In my defense I was 22, and everybody was totally into the towel capes.  I think.) Anyway, it turns out that people in other countries (or at…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in randomly fabulous

May 5, 2018

My Interest with Nature: Climb Mallorca

My interest with nature started in high school.  I lived in a cabin in Maine for four months when I was fifteen, plucked up off the streets of Manhattan to participate in an intensive environmental science program in Wiscasset.  I learned how to feed a horse, drive a tractor (the first and only vehicle I knew how to drive for many, many years) and how to enjoy camping/boating/hiking/surviving in the wilderness. One of the capstone experiences of the program was a two-night “solo camp”.  This meant the exhausted, well-intentioned staff dropped off all the students in the woods near the school and left us to our own survival devices.  This…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in live fabulous

April 28, 2018

Earth Week 2018

Oh, did you guys not know about Earth Week?  It’s like Earth Day, but longer. Disclaimer: I actually sort of thought I made it up, but it’s mentioned on this Wikipedia page, so it must be legit. (You just have to scroll down a little). We celebrate Earth Week instead of Earth Day at my school for several reasons: Earth Day is sometimes on a weekend and it’s difficult to make the children come to school. (For example, this year Earth Day was on a Sunday.) It allows us to have more events and raise awareness among our students, the future leaders of tomorrow. Someone in school administration thought it…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in live fabulous

April 18, 2018

The Worst Part of an MRI

This will come as no surprise; the worst part of an MRI is sitting in that little machine. The problem is that I’m claustrophobic. It started when I was in my 20’s. I’d been living in New Zealand for nine months, desperately avoiding the ‘real-job’ thing most of my friends got into after college. Finally I’d run out of farms to wwoof and patience for backpacker conversations (and money) so I boarded a plane in Auckland bound for California. Right before the door sealed, I had this crushing sensation that all the walls were going to collapse in on me. I took some ambien deep breaths and talked myself through…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in live fabulous

April 16, 2018

Monday for Sale

At this point in the year, I’m usually ready to put up Monday for sale. When I started working my first full time job, I loved the idea of a Monday morning. It was a fresh chance to start a new week as a responsible adult. This may have been because I came to the weekday 9-to-5 later than most. First, I spent years in school working afternoon shifts. That part felt normal. But then, I spent years after college graduation in seasonal, ski-industry work. Saturdays and holidays were my on-call times. When I switched to a normal schedule, getting up on a Monday morning felt great. Fast forward to…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in randomly fabulous