teaching, traveling, taking pictures
This past week was the seventh week of the semester and midterms for Qatar University (QU). Lots of stressed out QU students and staff members. For me, it was a busy week: my friend Bryan visited me the previous weekend—we had fun, but I didn’t get much done; I had my unannounced classroom observation on… Continue reading Midterm Assessment
This weekend I am hosting my first guest from the US, a friend and colleague of mine from my days at UW River Falls. He and I will be venturing out into the desert and hanging out at Souq Waqif, so I won't have time to blog about my very busy week—mostly a lot of… Continue reading “#hashtags”: A Play Scene about the Qatar Blockade
On Saturday, October 21st, I will lead a TEFL Qatar workshop. This will be my first professional presentation in Qatar and the EFL setting. I am quite excited for the opportunity, and in lieu of my normal weekly blog post, I decided to work on my script for the presentation. So, this post is approximately… Continue reading Presentation Script for TEFL Qatar Workshop
Parked in the desert A colleague of mine from the Foundation Program English Department invited me yesterday to accompany him and a friend of his to go dune bashing in the desert near the southeast coast of Qatar. Dune bashing is a pretty big activity amongst the men in Qatar; however, my colleague said that… Continue reading My Dune Bashing Experience (Memory and Media)
Artist rendering of Eco-Wadi Park located in the heart of Lusail City This week was another busy week for me, per usual. I had to prep and administer a number of assessments in my courses; attend requisite sessions and workshops as part of my probationary period; and confirm my committee work and department tasks for… Continue reading Permanent Housing and a Sense of Place
Ceiling at the Festival City Mall Sunday Sunday is the start of the work week here in Doha. Also, there is a time difference of 8 hours between me and my family in the Midwest. My work day had ended, and I wanted to see if the security deposit from my previous apartment in the… Continue reading Life from Afar: US Shooting, Birthday Wishes, and Blade Runner 2049
Screenshots from a FB message that I had with my son as I was walking around the Villaggio Mall in Doha. Alas, I didn't actually buy anything from the Gucci store. Make 10 payments on my student loan debt, or buy a Gucci belt?
Sample road signs Morning My alarm app was set for 4am, but I was awake for a half hour before it went off. While awaiting the ring from my phone, I gauged how my cold was proceeding. My throat was a little sore, but I could swallow; my nose was still a little runny, but… Continue reading Thursday, September 28th – End of the Second Week of Teaching
One of the classrooms in which I teach This week was my first week teaching at Qatar University (QU) and my return to teaching full time. For the past two years, I worked primarily as a student coordinator with an occasional class during the semester that I taught as overload. While I have worked with… Continue reading First Week Teaching
Normally, I try to write a blog post once every week. However, my friend Linda asked me to write about the food that I have eaten while I have been here, so here is an additional post for this week, in the form of a listicle, that recounts some of the delicious things that I… Continue reading Most Delicious Things that I Have Eaten in Doha (So Far!)
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