Up in the air

Up in the air is a movie that tells the story of Ryan (George Clooney) who lives to crisscross the country and fire people as humanly as possible if their bosses are too chicken to do it themselves. He spends more time in airplanes than at home, is a special customer with hotel chains like the Hilton and perceives the 40 odd days a year that he actually has to live in his own apartment as miserable. Ryan has brought flying to perfection, packs super efficiently, knows which check-in lines take the longest and collects miles as an end in itself.

But in fact, it is a movie about a man whose motto in life is to travel light. No commitments, no strings, no faux sentiments or deep feelings. Possessions weigh you down, people hold you back.

It is also the story of Natalie (Anna Kendrick) who turned down her dream job in San Francisco to follow a man who might have been "the one" to Omaha where she turns Ryan's routine upside down by introducing a system that allows to fire people per video conference.

And then there is Alex (Vera Farmiga), apparent business woman on the outside, frequent flier just like Ryan. She is a lady with whom he spends pleasant moments - no strings attached - and who gets him thinking about his life as it is. Wouldn't it be nice to have someone besides you? Is life maybe better when you have company?

In the end, Ryan is back to square one. It turns out that his philosophy of life with the self-imposed rules of aloofness and distance is the best one, certainly for him. Natalie leaves the company after a lady she had to fire killed herself, and applies for the job of her dreams. The video system is dismissed. Ryan keeps living his life and Alex hers. Everybody wins - or almost.

Teaching today

Could be the title of a magazine .. or maybe it is.

So .. what I noticed when working is that today, my hands (face, pants) aren't covered in chalk anymore but - me still being the same clumsy, messy girl - in four colours of whiteboard marker. Nice, eh.

And.. they say that you teach according to your own learning preferences - I never thought I did. I am a visual type (like many) but besides writing words down and making (admittedly horrible) drawings, I pronounce very clearly, make my students listen to texts and dialogues as well as talk a lot.
But lately I realised that I do teach the way I like to learn. I love to play. It's probably due to being a single child and not having girls my age in the village where I grew up - you can get me to do anything if you put it as a game or a dare.
So anyway, I didn't play enough as a child (that I mentally still am) and so I "force" my students to play little games in class more often than not. Mind you, my students are exclusively adults, aged from their early twenties to late fifties. Should that worry me?

PS: Sorry for being so Lorelai again ;-)