Ugly Babies and a Romantic Gesture. Party!

I have given back the students' writing assignments, so I can't give you quotes "in their own words" tonight.  However, there are a still a few stories that I want to share.

Ugly Babies

A student wrote about a recent falling-out she had with her brother-in-law.  Her sister and brother-in-law had a baby a few months ago.  She went home to see the child, and pronounced it ugly.  Her brother-in-law became angry with her, and for awhile they were on bad terms.  Later, her mother explained to her that all babies look like that, and she was surprised -- she had never seen a newborn!

A Romantic Gesture

In video class, we recently discussed the phrase "romantic gesture."  (As in, "When Bob surprised Grace with a new bike, it was a romantic gesture.")  One student wrote that he decided it was time to do a romantic gesture for his girlfriend.

He came up with the idea to surprise her with some feminine hygiene products, because he thinks doing something embarassing for a girl shows how much you care for her.  So he went to the store and waited around, pretending to look at other things until the women's aisle was free.  Then, when no one was looking, he dashed in, grabbed the first package he saw, and got the heck out of there (after paying, of course).  How romantic!

Party!

Many of the students tend to think and write about the same things in their weekly journals.  I'd say the top three topics are the future (specifically, where to go to grad school and how nervous they are for the grad school entrance exam),  their studies, and romantic relationships.

One topic that several students have written about recently is joining the Party.   There is a process of examinations and interviews, and I'm not sure exactly how it works, but apparently it is the time of year where some juniors are eligible to join.  It's a process that I would love to know more about, but because it is so sensitive, it seems better not to ask.

Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed "In Your Own Words" Week on the blog.  We will now return to our regularly scheduled programming.