Remembering John Lennon

December 8 this year is the 30th anniversary of John Lennon's tragic death. I can't remember how I got the news, but I do remember how terribly sad and angry it made me feel. Lennon was at the time an epitome of free spirit, tolerance and the peace movement. What mattered to me most - at that sensitive age of early high-school  - was that this brilliant man, who was all about peace and love, was murdered violently for no reason at all, by a delusional blockhead. That was really difficult to believe, and to accept as a fact. His death still seems absolutely pointless and absurd: he was beginning to find his new place in life, had just released a new album, and had many plans and ideas for his future, which never came to be.

That night I cut out Lennon's B&W photo from my large Beatles collection, framed it in black, fixed a safety pin on its back and thus made myself a remembrance badge to wear to school. Believe it or not, but at those 'ancient' times it felt equally important to share your feelings with others as it does now, except that now you do it on Facebook :)

When some years later I was standing on the very spot where John Lennon was killed, part of me still couldn't believe all this had really happened. Now that I can watch on YouTube how these events were reported at the time, those feelings come back with all their strength. Here is the BBC's coverage:

A bit longer news item from the American TV channel ABC (with some background info about Lennon, and a passing mention of historic events in Poland):

Back to work!

After a long and busy summer, we are all beginning whatever we planned for ourselves a few months back. I can see some of our recent graduates have already enrolled in MA courses - congratulations! I'm sure you can do it. :) Weddings took place, babies were born - again: congratulations everyone!

For me it was a pretty intensive time as well: suddenly my kids stopped being kids and became students. Feels weird, I must say, but I can't deny being really proud of them both. If only their day could stretch a bit to give them enough time for everything they do - and for sleeping too! I'm sure you all know the feeling. The summer was busy in many other ways, so I don't feel extremely well rested or bursting with energy. Still, here I am, ready to face the music. As always, I want to do my best and make myself useful around here. There are many ways to reach me, and this blog is one of them. Feel free to use the comments feature for any suggestions you would like to make and ideas you want to share (as long as they are not offensive to anyone). Have a good year!

This memory should keep me inspired and elated for a few months to come.

Bye bye :)

I've been so busy recently that I couldn't find the time to write a proper good-bye here. I know you understand me because you've been running around with much the same symptoms: rushing back and forth, forgetting stuff, with eyes wide and wild, desperate at times... But at least the classes are over, so now we can start dealing with things that have been waiting patiently for weeks.
Anyway, in this hasty mode I would like to thank you all for this year together, and for keeping high spirits in class most of the time. I enjoyed working with you.
Good luck in your work, studies, family life or anything else you have made plans for. I'm sure you can do a lot of interesting, useful things. Take care! :)

Global Grammar Competition

Click on the picture to find out more. Take a chance! :)

Fancy teaching? :)

This feels so real... ;) I hope your first teaching experience was not that harsh. What was it like? Were your students impassive or perhaps too loud? Or were they difficult in some other ways? Was there anything about the experience that really surprised you? Did you enjoy it? Here is your next task - "My impressions from teaching practice" - due by April 16.

Women in politics

Now that the new semester has begun and we are all back on the track, I would like you to return to your blogs and write something interesting again. This time, however, it's going to be on a less personal note.
There's been a lot of talk about women in politics recently. I assume you have done a 'FOR-AND-AGAINST' essay on quotas for women in your writing course. Instead, why don't you think of ONE female politician who you think has made a difference to the world - globally, nationally or locally. Try to avoid the standard 'song-of-praise' style. Present some basic facts about her, and add your personal comment on why you have chosen her out of many others. Try to make your post really interesting, so that we can learn something new and inspiring. Mind you that the women you choose may be either contemporary or historical - it's up to you. If you think hard enough, you may even find some intriguing female figures in Polish politics, too.

Childhood friends

After a few days of getting back into your school mode, you should be ready to deal with a new blogging task:
From what I hear most of you have already found childhood pictures for your blogs. I would like you to use this opportunity and let your memory take you back into your childhood for a bit longer. Together with the picture, I would like you to post a description of your school-time friend, someone you spent a lot of time with and remember well. Apart from describing your friend, tell us what sort of person he/she was back then, how you spent time together, and what brought you together in the first place. Do you still keep in touch? If not, have you tried to re-connect with them through "Nasza Klasa", Facebook or other social networking sites?
Don't worry if you don't have a picture of your friend to post on the blog. It doesn't matter. What's important is that YOU should be in it.
To make it fair, I also posted my picture from long ago
in a post from 2006. :)