Soap Stars Galore

I decided to write about my NYC trip in a series of posts each with a main focus so as to not overwhelm myself or my (scant) readers. The first post is about meeting the actors from my soap since that was the main reason for our trip. I'll include a little info about characters' storylines to entertain those of you who may not watch the show. Here they are, my pictures from the As the World Turns Fan Club Luncheon 2010 (the LAST one ever so you see how crucial it is that we attended).

First up we have a paparazzi-esque shot of Michael Park (Jack). He had to leave early and we were not informed of this in time so we didn't have the time to stand in his line. Jack current storyline: Reunited with ex-ex(?) wife and recently divorced from Janet who is preggers with his baby. Also leaving early, Teri. We decided to smile like she did in the pictures - some of us achieved this and some...did not. Teri current storyline: Cooking food at Metro (THE club in Oakdale) and mourning the death of her father.

Here we have ex-Adam, Allison, and Casey. Casey is super hot which is why I insisted on having my own picture and standing next to him. Allison was really nice and asked our names and introduced herself. Adam current storyline: he's not currently on the show, but when he was he showed up having had many plastic surgeries giving him a new face and his own family didn't even recognize him (only on soaps, right?). Allison and Casey current storyline: They were engaged but she cheated on him with this guy who was brainwashed into thinking he was the villain of Oakdale who had already died so Casey broke up with her at their wedding.

Vienna, Henry, and Barbara - some of my favorites. Vienna showed up as we were in line so we got her in our pictures. She is absolutely gorgeous! She was also very touchy-feely and complimentary of Danette's deriere! Vienna, Henry, Barbara current storyline: Vienna and Henry are engaged and she wants to be his baby mama but Henry's secretly in love with the significantly older Barbara.

Brad. He had to leave early, too, but I somehow managed to sneak up in a not-actually-formed line to get close enough for a picture then got one with him that he took. Too bad he had sweaty pits. He was quite hunky. He also came out on stage wearing a tablecloth. Brad current storyline: He's dead on the show, but for a while he was a ghost (hence the tablecloth) and his death actually conjured up tears in my eyes.

Margo and Katie - Katie is probably my favorite actress/character combo. She is also gorgeous in person and Margo here was probably the only actor there who didn't look as good in person. Margo current storyline: none really, semi-solving crimes as chief of police? Katie current storyline: missing Brad, taking care of her baby, and telling Henry to marry Vienna.

Kim and Lisa were some of the classics that were at the luncheon and Mom wanted her pictures with them and we were lucky to catch each just as they were leaving. Kim current storyline: getting actually married to her husband, Bob, of 25 years and taking a vacation with him. Lisa current storyline: not a lot, attending Kim and Bob's party?

Meg and Molly had a long line so I just snapped pictures from afar. Both looked beautiful in person. We semi-talked to Molly in the bathroom line. Meg current storyline: being crazy and trying to get her baby back from her ex-husband who also used to be crazy until he had a micro-chip taken out of his brain. Molly current storyline: getting it on with her baby (well, her kid's a grown up but anyway) daddy, Holden, and trying to keep up her TV news anchor career in the "small town" of Oakdale.

Liza and I hopped in some other lines while Mom and Danette waited in longer ones. Some of the shorter lines included new-Faith and Gabriel. Gabriel was smelling good and both were very nice. Faith current storyline: being a brat to her parents and hoarding drugs. Gabriel current storyline: blackmailing Craig who is secretly his father, but all that's on hold while he's in the hospital due to getting knocked out by Parker in a building where Craig then started a fire.

We also took a picture with the kids because no one ever went to their line. Johnny, Natalie, and Sage current storyline: being terrible actors while being extremely cute.

This line was short because no one knew who these people were. I remembered Bryant (as being super hot) and we also have one of the many ex-Mikes. Bryant last storyline: dying in a car accident that was somehow orchestrated by his dad, Craig. Mike last storyline: being in debt and racing illegal race cars in South Carolina where he lives with his random wife and baby.

Noah and Reid had a super long line because apparently everyone loves Luke (who left early) and Noah who are gay on the show. Reid is also gay on the show. They were really nice, too, even when we were being rushed into photos as time was running out. Noah and Reid current storyline: Reid is a super bad ass neurosurgeon and he's going to operate on Noah(Luke's ex)'s brain so his recent blindness will be no more but Reid also has feelings for Luke.

Janet and Iris. They were confused when we just wanted pictures and not autographs. Janet wasn't showing an excess of cleavage like her character does so kudos to her. Janet current storyline: mourning the death of her father while being pregnant with her ex-husband's baby, dealing with her daughter's cancer, and having mixed feelings about her fiance, Dusty, who she believes is responsible for her father's death. Iris's current storyline: unknown, but she's coming back on the show soon to stir up some mischief.

Last photo of the day: Parker and Liberty. On the show, Liberty has cancer and she replaced a previous actress so this was the first time we actually got to see her hair since she usually wears a hat. Parker is super tall. Parker and Liberty current storyline: Parker is in love with Liberty but she wants to be an independent cancer-remission girl and Parker got mad that Gabriel is her friend so he punched him out and left him where he ended up in the fire and is trying to cover it up.

The only tables we missed were Ben and Camille (who haven't been on the show in forever), Meg and Molly, and Mick and Hunter (who aren't really on anymore either). However, when we were on the escalator going down a bit later, I looked to the side at the up elevator and said "Hey, that looks like Hunter!" I didn't mean it to be so loud but the guy looked down and, indeed, he was Hunter from the show. So I smiled and waved at him and he smiled and waved back. Thanks, Hunter!

What an awesome thing to be able to meet (and have proof of meeting) so many actors from what is probably my all time favorite show due to the amount of time I have invested in it. Seriously, almost 20 years of my life has been spent watching this show daily. I will truly miss it when it goes off the air in September; I will probably cry, but at least I have my memories of meeting all the stars in person!

Stay tuned for part 2 of the NYC blog series: Exceptional Eating.

Renacuajos and a Convert

Today was a good day at the early childhood center. I finally managed to convert the only Maestra Jenna-hater into a Maestra Jenna-lover (well, maybe not love but at least he somewhat likes me now). This one little boy has been getting under my skin since day 1. He's pretty unintelligible and he uses some random English phrases and also likes to say mean things to me in taunt-y ways. One day he said (in English): you are so dumb. The other day he said something about "chica fea" (ugly girl). Usually I can't tell what exactly he's saying but I know he's insulting me. We finally had a little chat today when he said something mean to me. I told him that I want to be his friend and I'm sad when he uses bad words towards me and that he needs to be respectful (good thing he's young because I explained my hurt feelings in pretty basic Spanish since I didn't typically have these conversations in Spain to know the appropriate vocabulary and verb tenses). After that, he perked up and became a much nicer kid. Later in the day he even addressed me and said something nice. My goal before the end of the semester was to win him over - check!

In the Spanish classroom they have been learning about growing; first seeds, then baby chicks, and now frogs. Today they had tadpoles (AKA renacuajos - seriously, my Spanish vocabulary is growing exponentially) that were already being converted into frogs. When the kids went to centers, I went straight to the science center to have a look. These renacuajos were sweet - they were mostly these long swimmy things but then, bam, it has 2 legs, too. I have never seen this marvel before so I was just as intrigued as the kids. I hope those things are still around on Monday so I can check them out again and see if more legs or frog-like characteristics have sprouted.

Early 90's TV Has a Permanent Home in My Brain

I was watching an episode of Boy Meets World today (thanks for suggesting that, TiVo) when I heard a familiar-ish sounding voice. I looked up to see a woman playing a teacher on the show. She was tall, skinny, and had voluminous dark hair. After hearing a few more sentences, I thought, Hmm, she sounds and looks like Nurse Jennifer from Saved by the Bell. My curiosity (and lack of report-writing motivation) enticed me to see if it was the same actress (Nancy Valen) and it was. Then I thought about how amazing (and a bit sad) it was that I could immediately place her as being on Saved by the Bell (best show ever) and that I knew the name of the character she appeared as only ONCE in a single episode. No wonder my brain has no more capacity for useful information

Praxis Prep

During the first half of the semester, when I didn't really have class, my friend Katherine and I would go to lunch every Thursday. After eating, we headed to Legends to study for our last certification exam (Praxis) and to throw back a couple $2 drafts. Many of the bartenders know us and we both have our preferred drinks. Since starting our internships, we haven't been able to do this so tonight we decided to revive our Thursday study session at Legends. Our corner study booth was taken and we didn't want to sit next to each other awkwardly at a table to look at the books, so we sat at the bar to study. We reminisced about how much we enjoyed our Legends Luncheons and were happy to have one last cram session at our favorite study place. That is one thing I will definitely miss about college: being able to study...in a bar...and have a couple beers in the middle of the day.

Anecdotes From My Amigitos

As my last post was somewhat negative, I wanted to point out some positive things about my internships, particularly the ones that involve Spanish-speaking kids. Two days a week I am at an early childhood center for children ages 3-4 where I only work with kids in the Spanish class. One day a week I am at an elementary school and work with bilingual kids. Let me just say that Spanish kids are adorable. Some of the things they do I would consider annoying or bratty but because they're being annoying and bratty while speaking Spanish, it's cute...most of the time. Here are some of my recent stories/highlights:

• My Spanish has improved EXPONENTIALLY. More than I thought possible. I really feel like I'm at the same level I was when I left Spain and that's saying something considering I studied abroad 3 years ago. The kids understand me and I understand them.*
• *One of my first days we had this kid and for the life of me I could not understand what he was saying except for a word or so in a long string of words. Then I found out that he speaks jargon most of the time. Mystery solved and self-confidence boosted.
  
• Today, I went over the goals I wrote for a child's IEP (individualized education plan for you non-education folks) and I did it in Spanish.
• Today I worked with a little girl on her initial /s/ sound and /l/ blends. /s/ is super hard for her and I made her work hard. Her /l/ blends were coming along nicely and I asked her if she had fun when I walked her back to her class. Her response: "lo encante!" = I loved it! Score one for maestra Jenna.
• I love that I can be called by my first name at these schools. I get called a myriad of things: Jenna, Seniorita Jenna, maestra (teacher), and maestra Jenna.
• The kids think I'm funny. I know I'm goofy with kids but I'm glad it translates across languages. They were quite amused by my fireman voice and telling of The 3 Little Pigs. I was also told that I was crazy.
  
• I have one kid that I just adore (there are plenty I love, but this kid especially) - he has a cute little faux hawk and doesn't have many words but for some reason, he responds really well to me and seems to like me. He usually tries to get me to play with him or sit by him when we come into the classroom.
  
• Last week, I was working on categorization with a little boy and I asked him where parrots live thinking he would say in the rain forest or in the jungle. Instead he responded with something unintelligible ending in "barco" which is boat. So I'm thinking, what the heck is this kid talking about and he kept telling me that parrots live on boats. Then I heard the word for pirate and realized that he was right. Apparently I'm not up on my pirate knowledge.
• Today, a kid was going on and on (in Spanish) about how sharks live in the water and they eat fish and people. The other kid looked afraid but it was an entertaining tale of all things sharks.
• Last but not least, I was in the classroom today playing with a child when another one looked at me weird and said "porque hablas espanol?" (Why do you speak Spanish?) I was wondering when one of these kids would point out that I was white. Not knowing what to say, I asked him why he spoke Spanish and then the SLP asked him if he asked me this question because I have lighter hair and skin. He said no but I think he lied.
  

The Early Bird Gets...Tired

I have recently started my school internship which is basically student teaching. This means that I have to wake up at 6:30 am. I don't want to be all complain-y about it, but I blame college. College takes people who have been in the school routine for 13 years and ruins them. In college, you can take naps in the middle of the day, you have constant access to email/internet even in class, and you can eat snacks whenever you want. Now, I am forced to get up before the sun, pack my lunch and only eat it at the specified time, and not check my 22 new emails a day until I get home. For the first half of the semester, I got up at 8 or 9 every day, laid around a lot, did some occasional school work, hung out with my friends all the time, and went to bed around midnight. Now, I am extremely tired when I get home from school and try to go to bed before 11 but my body clock does its best to resist these attempts at an early bed time. I have a feeling this "early to bed, early to rise" situation will get better with time, but for now, I look forward to the days (like today) that I have off when I sleep til 10 just because I can. I have new-found respect for people who have jobs that require them to get up early. Kudos to you, please teach me your tricks.

Go to a U of I Gymnastics meet - done! Go to the Altgeld Bell Tower - done!

Last weekend, Sarah, Katherine, and I went to see a gymnastics meet. We got to see all of the events and an Illini victory. Another item checked off the list!

On Thursday, Katherine and I had our weekly study session for the Praxis. After lunch, we went to meet Warren to go up to the bell tower at Altgeld. The original task was to ring the bells, but apparently you have to practice and set that up ahead of time so we were perfectly fine with a trip up the tower. We saw the room where they have the handles to play the bells and went up into the main tower. To get up to the bells, you had to climb up this freaky ladder way up high so Katherine and I passed. We heard the daily lunch-time concert and watched people from above. It was such a great day to go up and we had some nice views. Another item checked off!