Let’s talk about yogurt…
Nothing makes you feel more American than discovering what you think is snack-size is apparently appropriate for an adult meal. Nothing crystallizes my emigration experience from America like my search for a Canadian yogurt that doesn’t make me appear Brobdingnagian.
If your spoon doesn’t fit the yogurt container, it cannot possibly contain enough yogurt to be a meal. Yes? If the container fits in your closed fist, it cannot have enough protein to get you through four hours. Right? Maybe the European alcohol proofing in the beer makes it up on the other side? I am definitely not starving here in Ottawa. But I am definitely not satisfied with the yogurt situation. Stay tuned.
In other expatriate news, I have only returned my coffee three times forgetting that the default position for “coffee” apparently comes with milk and sugar. You can get a joint checking account, but cannot get a joint credit card. You can get tires at the supermarket and grills at the tire store. The credit card machine comes to you. Gambling is apparently legal and bingo is big. The DVR has become a PVR and like half the channels appear two or more times in your guide, so I have wound up recording the same show like three times too many.
In expatriate educational news, you can be a Supply Teacher or an Occasional Teacher (that is my favorite job title ever), but not a Substitute Teacher. You can be an Educational Assistant, but not a Teaching Assistant nor Assistant Teacher. Do NOT confuse “college” for “university”. You are in Grade Six, not Sixth Grade. You do not misbehave, you dis-regulate. (Giving new meaning to the idea of “staying regular”. Ba-dum-bum.) You don’t have snack, you get a nutrition break. Washroom (not bathroom).
You get the idea…Canada is a different country. Brilliant.
I remember moving to the Upper West Side of Manhattan and revisiting Seinfeld reruns to pick up the nuances I missed upon first viewing. I am not entirely sure what the exact equivalent is here, but I am considering The Kids in the Hall, Degrassi High and You Can’t Do That on Television for starters (and to totally date myself).
We have officially been in Canada for over two weeks and I am finishing up my second week here at OJCS. I am very excited and encouraged by it all. I am looking forward to seeing my kids next week (they are finished with camp and enjoying time with grandparents) and to having our whole family together again and here in Ottawa. I am looking forward to attending Prizmah’s Governance and Fundraising Academy’s (GFA) conference in St. Louis next week with a few of our lay leaders. It will be nice to reconnect with my friends from Prizmah and with my colleagues from the other participating Jewish day schools (with extra joy to see folk from my first school, the Solomon Schechter Day School of Las Vegas).
As I ease back into weekly blog posts, I am preparing to (re)focus on my OJCS stakeholder community as one primary audience. I will begin linking my blog to the school’s website and pushing out new posts through its social media (in addition to my social media). I will be thinking about how to integrate/revise the school’s existing channels of communication (Constant Contacts, email, GoogleClassroom, social media, website, etc.) to ensure parents, students and teachers have one clear address to find all they need and that all our communication vehicles are driving to that address. I will be sharing transparently about the big issues we are facing, the big conversations we are having, the big decisions we are contemplating, the big news we have to share and anything else worthy of your attention. [Spoiler Alert: Announcing the OJCS 2017-2018 Faculty coming soon!] Hopefully you will participate in those conversations by commenting on this blog, by liking/sharing/commenting on social media, by email, phone call or just dropping by for a cup of coffee (no milk, no sugar).
And for those of you who have been with me on this crazy journey across time zones, schools, organizations and countries, I hope you will continue to find this blog worth the read.
Please and thanks.
Hi Dr Mitzmacher! I enjoyed reading your blog for the first time! I am looking forward to a great year ahead at OJCS!