June 5, 2008

It's the season for moving here in Cambridge. Like Ann Arbor, there's a period of what feels like mass exodus, where not just students are graduating and moving, but families, friends, etc. In our iBASE group about 75% of our students are returning to their home countries within the next 6 weeks. Most au pair positions are for a year long assignment, and then the students return home to begin university. It's like the gap year idea here in the UK, where many students take a year off after high school to work or travel. Anyway be pring for them as they return to their home countries and try to find chs where they can get involved.

We have a new friend, A, who has just come from the Czech Republic. She came to STAG Sunday and came to iBASE Tuesday. A's English is not very strong- she doesn't understand most of what people are communicating. So she's really struggling right now. We were so blessed to see the iBASE ladies reach out to her, and starting to form friendships with her and helping her to get settled. Our one Czech girl is returning home in 6 weeks- she's a young C but is eager to share with A. iBASE ends in 2 weeks, so pr that A would form some relationships with the girls who are staying in the UK another year.

As for me, the beginning of every week is very very busy with preparing studies or going over materials for the next study, and preparing a talk for our practice sessions at TEAM. Thursday is always a big relief- it's like the start of a 4 day weekend. :) I still have a lot of work to do on my website (which is why there are no photos going up) plus I am at the point where a complete overhaul of my photo storage system is necessary. The way I've been keeping track of my photos is no longer feasible, and I need to reorganize my computer files and start a new system. I'm hoping to do a sort of skill swap with a friend of ours who is starting a small business buying Chinese art and selling it in the galleries here in Cambridge. He happens to have some web programming skills, so I'm hoping to be able to get him to help me on my website, and I'll take photos of his art for him to use when talking to galleries and such, and on the web. We'll see.