Hiatus

For anyone who's paying attention, I've been too busy to post for the past couple of weeks -- I'm in Calgary taking graduate courses toward my master's degree in workplace and adult education (here's the program), and the workload is intense. I'm exhausted. But I'm having fun -- just finished two courses, Adult as Learners and Theory of Groups, that were interesting and challenging in ways I didn't expect, and my fellow students were a mature, intelligent, experienced, friendly, easy-going group. The entire program can be pursued online, but I decided to do my first three courses in what they call "face-to-face" mode, and I'm glad I did. I hope that, as I pursue the rest of the courses from my basement, I'll encounter students online whom I've already met in the flesh. Profs, too. In my Theory of Groups class, my group has to do a study proposal on whether a sense of community can be formed in virtual courses, where people aren't in the same room and never meet except through email and maybe audio software. It's pretty clear from the research that having some face-to-face contact at some point in the program helps that happen.

One of my classmates is from Kosovo. CIDA (the Canadian International Development Agency) is active in helping rebuild the education system in Kosovo (some University of Calgary academics are involved), and is paying the tuition of a group of Kosovars who are pursuing their M.Ed. online. A worthwhile investment, I'm sure, and apart from the benefit to the people of Kosovo, our class gained a lot from her cultural perspective.

As for Calgary, though it's a lovely city, it's awfully spread out, the traffic is terrible and without a car I'm not able to get groceries very easily. But the room I'm renting is convenient to the university. The best thing is the climate. It's been unusually hot -- 31 degrees in the afternoon -- but it's not humid, and at night it goes down to 12 degrees. A big shift from Toronto, where a 31-degree day leads to a 29-degree night, and you feel like you're moving through mouldy soup.

Yesterday I turned 49. When I woke up the first thing I heard on the radio was that Israel's bombing of Lebanon had killed 300 civilians including 100 children. So I started my 50th year in tears.