Hello Spring! It is finally, officially here with the vernal equinox (spring 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of dark) and with a super moon (when a full moon is close to the earth; we had three in a row in 2019). Did you get to see the beauty? It isn't warm, yet. Good news, though. The vultures are back! When they return it is a sure sign of spring.
The warning sirens were going off here in Carmel on Friday at 11:00 am while I was writing this Update. As we wrap up national severe weather week, it is important to understand weather service vocabulary:
- watch means "watch out" for bad weather and be ready for changing conditions but go about your daily business
- warning means that the bad weather is upon you (for example, if there is a tornado warning, severe weather is occurring and a tornado has been spotted by weather watchers) so take cover
Fair warning: the Carmel Marathon is next weekend. There will be road closures all morning, so plan your travels and errands. Check out the map here.
English Learning Tip
Forgetting is a part of learning. Label everything to jog your memory. Use Post It Notes to label things in your home. You can use different colors to label categories (green for electrical, blue for water, yellow for furniture, etc.). When you make flash cards, draw pictures instead of writing the work in your home language: you skip the translation step and file the word directly with the object or action.
International Bible Study: Tuesdays, 9:00-10:00, room 100.
In the 17th chapter of John we read the longest recorded prayer of Jesus, which, if read aloud, would take approximately three and a half minutes to complete. Jesus spoke this prayer somewhere along the path that took him and his disciples from the upper room, where he had celebrated the Lord’s Supper with them and had washed their feet, to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Judas Iscariot would soon betray him. The prayer can be divided into three parts. In the first part Jesus prays for himself, that he would bring glory to God by finishing the work of salvation God had given him, and thus to receive glory from his Father. In part two Jesus prays for his disciples. He asks his Father to protect them from the evil one and to sanctify them through his word, which is truth. In the final section of his Farewell Prayer Jesus prays for all people that believe in him, that they would be united in their love for God and share the joy of God’s love for them. What a beautiful prayer Jesus offered on our behalf! It seems even more poignant when we consider the suffering and death he was about to endure for our sakes.
March 26: We will read Chapter 18, which is the beginning of the story of Jesus’ Passion. Please join us!
International Friends: Tuesdays, 10:00-11:30, room 100.
This week we talked about severe weather (and listened to the sirens) and what defensive actions we need to take to keep ourselves safe.
We took a tour of the church to learn some basic building vocabulary and fixes for simple problems. Surprisingly, our first stumper was light switch! We were all pretty surprised that we did not know the English name of this commonly used part of our homes. We laughed because we all know what a garbage disposal is, but not a faucet! By the way, there are a number of easy fixes for your disposal...wait call me first so I can charge you for service call plus a travel surcharge. We talked about GFI outlets (which, by the way, I had to check mine because my outdoor outlets wouldn't work), and fuses in breaker boxes and water mains.
March 26: Join us as we compare translators on line. It is another one of those hilarious classes where you learn a lot about languages and how they are used because of the odd mistakes.
English Classes: Thursdays, 9:00-11:30
Thank you, Friends for giving our staff time to meet this Thursday. We had a very productive meeting talking about our classes and how to serve you better both now and next year. And yes, we are already looking forward to our summer meet ups and starting our classes next fall.
March 28: Join us for our last six weeks of classes.
Parents with Children: Thursdays during our English Classes
Our children learned the story of the Princess and the Pea. This classic fairy tale is so fun to read or listen to and watch on You Tube. We made crafts, counted mattresses and even tried to see if we could feel pea under a pile of pillows and if we were real princesses!
March 28: Jack and the Beanstalk is our fairy tale on the 28th.
officially: public or formal
warning sirens: alarms that sound for people to take action to protect themselves
various: different
surrounding: all around something
take cover: hide in a safe place
county: geographic break up of a state (counties is more than one county)
check out: look at
fair warning: an alert far enough in advance to avoid something bad
check out: look at
jog your memory: help you to remember
in a row: one following another (in this case January, February and March)
betray: to deliver to an enemy by treachery or disloyalty
salvation: the act of saving or protecting from harm, destruction, etc.
thus: in this way
the evil one: the Devil, Satan
sanctify: to make holy
poignant: affecting or moving the emotions
defensive actions: things to protect ourselves
building: structure like a house or a school
stumper: something that puzzles us or causes us to think but not come up with the answer
service call: when a repairman comes to your home
plus: in addition (read this as more cost)
travel surcharge: cost charged to you for coming to your house; some repair people started charging this when gas prices were high and they never stopped!
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