Monday, January 01, 2007

Five Things About Me

First of all, Happy New year to all and I hope that 2007 brings lots of challenges, opportunities and special joy. I was tagged by Vicki Davis recently and decided New Years Day was a good time to share some information. Here goes:
  1. I was born in Melbourne, Australia and lived there until 9 years ago when my family and I left for international teaching. My married name (sounds old fashioned doesn't it?) is Lindsay, of the Scottish Lindsay's (with the 'ay', not 'ey'). My maiden name is Hunter of the north Ireland Hunter's. My mother's maiden name is Irvine, originally from England, somewhere near Chichester as I had a great great uncle who played organ in the Chichester Cathedral. As you can see my origins are very much from Great Britain but being only second/third generation Australian there no convict chains rattling in the closet.
  2. I have one daughter who we named Violet Rose. I love cottage gardening and once had a wonderful garden back in Melbourne, hence the attraction to flowers. The year Violet was born she was mentioned in a noteworthy Australian magazine as being the only person with her name recorded that year. Violet as a name was more common two generations ago but I believe there has been a slight revival in the past 10 years.
  3. I am a jazz musician and have a masters degree in music (jazz analysis). I play piano and worked for many years in a band and as a soloist playing at piano bars and other venues. No, I do not sing (unfortunately), despite many singing lessons and a willingness to improve I just don't seem to have that talent. Playing jazz is my outlet although there are few opportunities here in Dhaka. Being a jazz musician is something that I treasure as it is quite personal but at the same time can be easily shared with others. I dream of one day owning a grand piano and a house with lots of windows looking out onto a beautiful garden.
  4. This is the 7th year I have lived in an Islamic country, 3-years in Kuwait, and now this is our fourth year in Bangladesh. Both countries have quite different approaches to being Muslim, however some aspects are the same. The ongoing muezzen sounding out from the many mosques dotted is a familiar sound. Also, today happens to be Eid-ul-Azha: The Festival of Sacrifice. This signifies the end of Hajj and Muslims celebrate with special prayer and sacrificial killing of animals. Here in Dhaka there will literally be blood in the streets this morning. Last night we walked around our neighborhood to see many cows and goats tied up in the streets adorned with colouful garlands and being fed copious amounts of food. Today, this morning, they will be sacrificed and butchered with the meat shared amongst the poor. It is a dramatic sight.
  5. I love my profession of teaching and particularly love the new challenges that learning with digital tools and disruptive technologies brings. Connectivity is a keyword for me. It helps to break the isolation of living in more remote places and it allows me to interact with wonderful people from all over the globe. I enjoy working with learners of all ages and despite ambitions to move into adminstrative leadership positions I am reluctant to leave the classroom as the daily contact with students is an essential element of being an educator for me.
OK, there you have it. I would like to tag Jeff Utecht, Miles Berry, and Miguel Guhlin

Balitwo057
Cows in the streets of Dhaka the night before Eid-ul-Azha


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2 comments:

Miguel Guhlin (@mGuhlin) said...

Julie, I was so enjoying reading your blog until I came to this entry.
Sigh.

;->

Happy New Year! Hard to believe that it's New Year's in Bangladesh, while my clock in San Antonio, Tx is sitting at 11:12 PM on 12/31/2006...as networked technology moves us closer together, time and place shifting occurs...

Take care and thanks for sharing the photos...I haven't seen a Brahma in a long time...

Miguel

Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher said...

You are SUCH a fascinating person. I look forward to meeting you at NECC! Wow! I look forward to wrapping up and getting the awards done for Flat Classroom. I'm sitting down to grade them today! Wow! What a great project.

You are really amazing!