New teacher = horror

by **Episcopus** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 9:45 pm

klewlis, do you like that show/movie 'clueless'. I don't but I watch it with great zeal ;D amica puellae bonam praedam habet ;D

by **klewlis** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 9:46 pm

nope, i've seen it once, years ago, and it has nothing to do with my nick

by **Episcopus** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 9:48 pm

CALM DOWN no need to be so hostile! ea puella nova erat inimica mihi

by **mariek** » Wed Jul 30, 2003 7:02 am

[quote author=Milito link=board=6;threadid=256;start=30#2230 date=1059513177] Currently... I'm in Winnipeg. As of January, I'll be in Kingston. As of July..... beats me where I'll be! (Stability is a wonderful thing..... It's so transitory! ;D) [/quote] Do you ever end up at a place with limited or no internet access? That would be like like like... the end of the world!

by **Milito** » Wed Jul 30, 2003 1:24 pm

[quote author=mariek link=board=6;threadid=256;start=30#2282 date=1059548552] Do you ever end up at a place with limited or no internet access? That would be like like like... the end of the world! [/quote] I did... and it was.... literally! Pull out a map of northern Canada, look WAY up at the top of the northernmost island (Ellsmere), a little to the east, and you will see a little dot called "Alert".... the most northerly permanently inhabited location in the world. One phone line in, three out. No internet. Too far north to see a communications satellite.... But an interesting experience, nonetheless! Kilmeny

by **klewlis** » Wed Jul 30, 2003 1:43 pm

wow, do you mind me asking what you do, that causes such widespread travel?? mariek: aside from way up in the northern territories, it's pretty hard to find places in canada with NO internet access... in fact, I don't know if I can think of any... and most by now have high-speed access as well (even hick towns in saskatchewan!). oh yeah, back to topic.... I've had three greek teachers and they were all *excellent*. They were helpful and genuinely interested, and because the class sizes were small they were able to really keep track of everyone's progress and push us to excel... I loved my greek classes. So it is possible... just keep pressing on and remember that you can keep learning and do well even with a lousy teacher...

by **mariek** » Wed Jul 30, 2003 7:33 pm

[quote author=Milito link=board=6;threadid=256;start=30#2302 date=1059571455] I did... and it was.... literally! Pull out a map of northern Canada, look WAY up at the top of the northernmost island (Ellsmere), a little to the east, and you will see a little dot called "Alert".... the most northerly permanently inhabited location in the world. One phone line in, three out. No internet. Too far north to see a communications satellite.... But an interesting experience, nonetheless![/quote] I just happen to have a world atlas here, wow, Alert is way up there! Now I know where it is, and what a great trivia question that would make.

Must have been pretty cold up there, even in summer I would guess. How long did you live there? And did you even have the luxury of television?

by **mariek** » Wed Jul 30, 2003 7:36 pm

[quote author=klewlis link=board=6;threadid=256;start=45#2304 date=1059572584] mariek: aside from way up in the northern territories, it's pretty hard to find places in canada with NO internet access... in fact, I don't know if I can think of any... and most by now have high-speed access as well (even hick towns in saskatchewan!). [/quote] I live in a fairly large city with wide-spread high speed internet. However there are pockets in nearby cities which don't even have DSL available. I know people who can't get it in their homes, and it's quite a bummer especially when you think about how you're in civilization and not out in the middle of nowhere.

by **klewlis** » Wed Jul 30, 2003 10:42 pm

i've been on high speed for so long that i am amazed that there are still people out there who use dialup. lol. i guess i am just spoiled!

by **Carola** » Wed Jul 30, 2003 11:40 pm

Sounds like Canada has tackled the distance problem the same way as Australia. We have lots of remote areas where your mobile phone won't work and TV comes via a satellite, but there is sure to be a public use computer somewhere so you can pick up all your junk email while you travel! Distance education is a big thing here - even though I live in a fairly large city (Adelaide) I do my Latin (part of a BA) at a university about 1500km away. I go there once a year and combine it with a trip to see the rest of my family. There was no course I could do in Adelaide "after hours", even though we have a very active Classics dept. at the University of Adelaide. I do the exams at a college where they seem to cater for a lot of correspondence course students, other students in remote areas would probably do their exams at the local school or something similar. I love learning "at a distance" as I find I can set my own pace and work when it is convenient to me (I have been known to do assignments whilst sitting in an orchestra pit waiting waiting for the next bit of action in a musical - beats doing crosswords!) We also have a system of fees based on whether you are a citizen or not - only fair as it is heavily subsidised by taxpayer money. We can also get loans to pay fees which are not repayable until you earn over a certain annual salary. However, all this aside, our current government is pushing up university fees and it will soon get back to the bad old days when only the very rich can afford an education.

by **Milito** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 2:20 pm

quote author=mariek link=board=6;threadid=256;start=45#2352 date=1059593619] I just happen to have a world atlas here, wow, Alert is way up there! Now I know where it is, and what a great trivia question that would make. Must have been pretty cold up there, even in summer I would guess. How long did you live there? And did you even have the luxury of television?

I was there twice, for six-month stints. Nobody really "lives" there, as in, there are no families or stores or what-have-you there. It's just a big work-location, with dorms and a cafeteria-style kitchen, with fresh food flown in once a week or so, and two major re-supplies of non-perishables and fuel flown in each year. Since my first tour was mid-November to mid-May, and my second was end-December to end-June, I never really did see a "summer"... It got above freezing now and then, but it was very interesting how quickly you aclimatized - for example, it was consistently -35C for weeks, and then we had a freak warm spell that lasted all of maybe an hour one time... the temperature warmed up to -14C, and when I went from the main building to the one I was bunking in, I had to take off my parka because I was sweltering...... Television also takes satellite, or an awful lot of communications bandwidth, so the first time, no, no "real" television. We were sent video tapes of some TV shows (including the news and some sports), which tended to arrive about 3 weeks in arrears... and we had a 3-channel closed-circuit cable TV system where we showed 24-hour movies, when we weren't showing stale news....... The next time I was up there, digital video was being experimented with, so a single channel "CBC North" was transmitted up. This wasn't the choice of most people up there, but it was the only channel that got as far as the satellite terminal closest to us, I believe, which meant that it was "the" choice..... I'm not sure what's there now, as I last left in 1995, and I know that a lot of the technology is being remoted out so that you don't have to send people up there to run it. I think the station population is down to under 100 now. And not a single book of Latin! Kilmeny

by **Milito** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 2:25 pm

[quote author=Carola link=board=6;threadid=256;start=45#2371 date=1059608440] Sounds like Canada has tackled the distance problem the same way as Australia. We have lots of remote areas where your mobile phone won't work and TV comes via a satellite, but there is sure to be a public use computer somewhere so you can pick up all your junk email while you travel! Distance education is a big thing here [/quote] Interestingly enough, distance education doesn't seem to be such a big thing here - I don't see anything other than Waterloo that's that good, although that might be because I'm not looking so much anymore.... Also, we have lots of land-mass, but most of the population is fairly much south, and there are a good number of colleges and universities scattered about there. Still, you do tend to have to "go away" to go to school.... But given the rising costs of tuition and all that here, too, yes, it's becoming very hard to afford.... Kilmeny

by **klewlis** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 2:35 pm

[quote author=Milito link=board=6;threadid=256;start=45#2437 date=1059661500] >>Interestingly enough, distance education doesn't seem to be such a big thing here - I don't see anything other than Waterloo that's that good, although that might be because I'm not looking so much anymore.... Also, we have lots of land-mass, but most of the population is fairly much south, and there are a good number of colleges and universities scattered about there. Still, you do tend to have to "go away" to go to school.... But given the rising costs of tuition and all that here, too, yes, it's becoming very hard to afford.... [/quote] Actually there is quite a bit of distance ed, just not for classics... waterloo is definitely the best for classics but if you are pursuing other fields there's always athabasca university here in alberta, which is 100% distance ed. most of the major universities also offer distance ed and/or satellite courses, and so do the major bible colleges. unfortunately, waterloo is the only one that offered a classics ba through distance ed, and now they've even canned that...

by **Milito** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 2:57 pm

[quote author=klewlis link=board=6;threadid=256;start=45#2440 date=1059662132] Actually there is quite a bit of distance ed, just not for classics... waterloo is definitely the best for classics but if you are pursuing other fields there's always athabasca university here in alberta, which is 100% distance ed. most of the major universities also offer distance ed and/or satellite courses, and so do the major bible colleges. unfortunately, waterloo is the only one that offered a classics ba through distance ed, and now they've even canned that... [/quote] They haven't quite canned it.... The have put the Honours degree on hold to new entrants, but you can still go for the major, I think. I'm glad to hear that distance ed is getting off the ground more in this country! But yes, Classics is very hard to find.... Kilmeny

by **klewlis** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 3:38 pm

i checked into it last fall, and they told me you can no longer get any BA in classics through distance ed. you can still take courses, but not get the degree... which sort of defeats the purpose for me, since i will want a degree out of it... so i'm waiting to get enough money and time to start taking classes at the university of alberta instead.

by **mariek** » Fri Aug 01, 2003 5:47 am

[quote author=Milito link=board=6;threadid=256;start=45#2435 date=1059661219] It got above freezing now and then, but it was very interesting how quickly you aclimatized - for example, it was consistently -35C for weeks, and then we had a freak warm spell that lasted all of maybe an hour one time... the temperature warmed up to -14C, and when I went from the main building to the one I was bunking in, I had to take off my parka because I was sweltering...... [/quote] How funny. I don't think I could ever live in such a climate. With so much travelling, you must have developed the ability to adapt to any environment.

by **mariek** » Fri Aug 01, 2003 5:59 am

[quote author=klewlis link=board=6;threadid=256;start=45#2450 date=1059665934] i checked into it last fall, and they told me you can no longer get any BA in classics through distance ed. you can still take courses, but not get the degree... [/quote] I don't understand that, if you can take all the courses, how much more effort is it for them to give you a slip of paper?

by **klewlis** » Fri Aug 01, 2003 2:53 pm

[quote author=mariek link=board=6;threadid=256;start=45#2477 date=1059716863] How funny. I don't think I could ever live in such a climate. [/quote] sure you could ;) i would think it's actually easier to adapt to a cold climate than an extremely hot one (eg northern africa), because you just stay inside or pile on the clothes... you hardly have to face the cold at all. i remember -54 in highschool (grew up in northern bc) and we just didn't go outside on those days. -35 is much more manageable--you simply make sure to cover up as much of yourself as possible. :) the tough part is not the cold, but the lack of sunlight in the winter. but conversely, that makes northern summers the *best*. it's light and warm and comfortable all night, perfect for camping, driving, bbq's, or anything else you might want to do in the summer. beautiful. :)

by **Milito** » Fri Aug 01, 2003 11:10 pm

[quote author=mariek link=board=6;threadid=256;start=45#2478 date=1059717578] I don't understand that, if you can take all the courses, how much more effort is it for them to give you a slip of paper? [/quote] I just got an e-mail from my undergrad advisor, and the sorry story begins to come clear.... Due to budget cuts/problems, courses are being cut, so aren't going to be available, so you can't fulfill the requirements that result in qualifying for the piece of paper. It's truly sad, because it's been a great program. Kilmeny

by **Carola** » Sat Aug 02, 2003 12:33 am

[quote author=klewlis link=board=6;threadid=256;start=45#2498 date=1059749627] [quote author=mariek link=board=6;threadid=256;start=45#2477 date=1059716863] How funny. I don't think I could ever live in such a climate. [/quote] sure you could

i would think it's actually easier to adapt to a cold climate than an extremely hot one (eg northern africa), because you just stay inside or pile on the clothes... you hardly have to face the cold at all. i remember -54 in highschool (grew up in northern bc) and we just didn't go outside on those days. -35 is much more manageable--you simply make sure to cover up as much of yourself as possible.

[/quote] And here am I shivering in our midwinter temperature (at about 9am) of about 14deg Celsius! (About 55F??) Well, it almost got down to freezing the other night!

by **mariek** » Sat Aug 02, 2003 1:57 am

[quote author=klewlis link=board=6;threadid=256;start=45#2498 date=1059749627] i would think it's actually easier to adapt to a cold climate than an extremely hot one (eg northern africa), because you just stay inside or pile on the clothes... [/quote] I agree. If given a choice, I'd choose the colder climate over a warmer climate just for that reason. You can always put more clothes on. But there's only so much you can take off. I think not seeing sunglight would really drag me down.

by **mariek** » Sat Aug 02, 2003 1:58 am

[quote author=Milito link=board=6;threadid=256;start=45#2508 date=1059779449] Due to budget cuts/problems, courses are being cut, so aren't going to be available, so you can't fulfill the requirements that result in qualifying for the piece of paper. [/quote] That's truly sad. This bad economy has hit everyone. Hopefully they'll be able to reinstate those courses once things pick up again.

by **mariek** » Sat Aug 02, 2003 2:00 am

[quote author=Carola link=board=6;threadid=256;start=45#2514 date=1059784391] And here am I shivering in our midwinter temperature (at about 9am) of about 14deg Celsius! (About 55F??) Well, it almost got down to freezing the other night! [/quote] I'm with you. I get absolutely whiney when it gets that "cold". Guess we won't get any sympathy from Klewlis or Milito when we complain about the 40 degree weather!

by **klewlis** » Sat Aug 02, 2003 3:03 am

[quote author=mariek link=board=6;threadid=256;start=60#2519 date=1059789442] I think not seeing sunglight would really drag me down. [/quote] it drags a lot of people down... that's why we get "SAD" (Seasonal Affective Disorder... basically depression due to lack of sunlight) and in the spring we all get severe spring fever. It's especially bad if you happen to work shifts... it's dark when you go to work and dark when you come home, so you might not see the sun for days... icky. but oh those northern summers!

by **Carola** » Sat Aug 02, 2003 11:44 am

[quote author=mariek link=board=6;threadid=256;start=60#2521 date=1059789655] I'm with you. I get absolutely whiney when it gets that "cold". Guess we won't get any sympathy from Klewlis or Milito when we complain about the 40 degree weather! [/quote] True Mariek, but I'd rather be wearing shorts and a T shirt than thermal underwear! Roll on summer! Actually, when you think about it the Roman (men at least) wore a tunic in the summer which was probably about the same as shorts. They were smart - they picked a good climate!

by **mariek** » Sun Aug 03, 2003 8:32 pm

[quote author=klewlis link=board=6;threadid=256;start=60#2524 date=1059793394] It's especially bad if you happen to work shifts... it's dark when you go to work and dark when you come home, so you might not see the sun for days... icky. [/quote] But I experience that it winter already, and don't even live that far north!

by **mariek** » Sun Aug 03, 2003 8:35 pm

[quote author=Carola link=board=6;threadid=256;start=60#2532 date=1059824643] Actually, when you think about it the Roman (men at least) wore a tunic in the summer which was probably about the same as shorts. [/quote] Would you happen to know of a website with pictures of what Romans wore?

by **bingley** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 3:03 am

Everything you ever wanted to know about Roman clothing: http://www.ukans.edu/history/index/europe/ancient_rome/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Clothing/home*.html

by **mariek** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 7:02 am

Very cool site!

by **Milito** » Tue Aug 05, 2003 6:53 pm

[quote author=mariek link=board=6;threadid=256;start=60#2521 date=1059789655] I'm with you. I get absolutely whiney when it gets that "cold". Guess we won't get any sympathy from Klewlis or Milito when we complain about the 40 degree weather! [/quote] This will probably amuse you highly.... because Canada uses the metric system, I saw that 40 degrees, and immediately thought "Celsius", and almost fell over from sympathetic heat prostration...... Easy conversion, Celsius to Farenheit.... double it and add 30, so.... 40 degree weather (Celsius) would be.... 110 degrees Farenheit

(I hate the heat......) But if I subtract 30 and divide by 2 I get 5 degree weather, which, in August, is a mite chilly, though shockingly warm in December...... Kilmeny

by **mariek** » Tue Aug 05, 2003 9:34 pm

[quote author=Milito link=board=6;threadid=256;start=60#2849 date=1060109595] I saw that 40 degrees, and immediately thought "Celsius", and almost fell over from sympathetic heat prostration. [/quote] How funny! I like your easy conversion. Now why didn't they teach that to us in school? It was always add or subtract 5/9 or 9/5 or something like than and then add or subtract something else. As you can see, I really don't remember what it was. The metric system seems so logical to me. I don't know why we don't just convert over to the metric system. I can actually multiply and divide by 10's and 100's!

by **klewlis** » Tue Aug 05, 2003 9:41 pm

hers is a rounding... it's actually 1.8 and 32 degrees

either way, -30 C is almost the same as -30F and in either case it is cold! as in everything else Canadian, we use partly metric and partly standard... distances and liquids are metric, but we still say "3 inches of snow" and talk about weight and meat in pounds and people's height in feet and inches. it's just to confuse the children, i'm sure

by **Milito** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 5:50 pm

[quote author=klewlis link=board=6;threadid=256;start=60#2867 date=1060119696] hers is a rounding... it's actually 1.8 and 32 degrees

either way, -30 C is almost the same as -30F and in either case it is cold! as in everything else Canadian, we use partly metric and partly standard... distances and liquids are metric, but we still say "3 inches of snow" and talk about weight and meat in pounds and people's height in feet and inches. it's just to confuse the children, i'm sure

[/quote] I was in 4th grade when we switched to the metric system. My father was a math teacher at the time, and thought it a good thing. There were two fall-outs from the process.... the good one was that my father decided to convert a bread recipe to metric, as an experiment. It didn't work well the first couple times, so he took it as a challenge, took over making bread from my mother, and has since become a terrific bread-baker..... and we got spoiled rotten at home on fresh bread, cinnamon rolls, etc, etc, etc..... The bad fall-out is that I never learned either measurement system properly..... so, for example, I don't understand liquid measures at all, measure trip distance in kilometers, short distances in inches and feet, weights in pounds, and I cook in farenheit, though I check the temperature outside the house in celsius..... Systemly-challenged..... Kilmeny

by **mariek** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 7:20 pm

Using both methods sounds very confusing. You're both ambi-measuring or whatever you'd call it.

I understand the challenge of converting recipes, I did this once for a recipe given to me in metric. My first calculations were way off, it was a good thing I rechecked my results before actually starting!

by **Milito** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 10:33 pm

Yes.... the conversions for recipe amounts seem to be more concerned with Nice Round Numbers than accuracy...... Kilmeny

by **mariek** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 11:03 pm

[quote author=Milito link=board=6;threadid=256;start=60#2974 date=1060209202] Yes.... the conversions for recipe amounts seem to be more concerned with Nice Round Numbers than accuracy...... [/quote] That's like playing with fire. Some recipes are less forgiving than others! I've seen some cookbooks which give both measurements, which I think is a nice feature. I guess they would tend to use round numbers, though they try to compensate (e.g. 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp)

by **tdominus** » Tue Sep 02, 2003 3:52 pm

[quote author=Carola link=board=6;threadid=256;start=45#2371 date=1059608440]Distance education is a big thing here - even though I live in a fairly large city (Adelaide) I do my Latin (part of a BA) at a university about 1500km away. I go there once a year and combine it with a trip to see the rest of my family. [/quote] Carola, As a fellow Aussie I'm curious which universities offer distance Latin courses. Which university's Latin course do you do?

by **mariek** » Wed Sep 03, 2003 4:34 am

Looking back over this thread, it appears we have taken a left turn and gone off topic. Perhaps we should start a new discussion thread moving forward.... ???

by **Carola** » Wed Sep 03, 2003 5:02 am

[quote author=tdominus link=board=6;threadid=256;start=75#5202 date=1062517941] Carola, As a fellow Aussie I'm curious which universities offer distance Latin courses. Which university's Latin course do you do? [/quote] I am doing my course through the University of New England at Armidale and I am very pleased with how it is all going. We have a residential school once a year for most of the subjects, which is great fun. All the marking notes I have had so far for assignments have been full of information, hints and explanations; also you can ring or email if you get really stuck. Their study guides are very good. Here is the School of Classics web address : http://www.une.edu.au/arts/scch.htm/

by **Emma_85** » Wed Sep 03, 2003 4:42 pm

I'm not really used to all this starting new threads, when things start to stray from the original topic. But that's probably because another forum I often go to has a different system. Maybe it's called the tree-system. You can see who has posted a reply to which person in the discussion and so lead a few different discussions in the same thread.

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