Whew! My mother is right. I’m like a cat with nine lives. Throw me off the roof and I always land on my feet. Summer has arrived along with torrential downpours every day, but things are really happening fast around the Kellenberger/Marshall household. Two months ago I was in the doldrums and now I’m back on top again and in fighting form.
I’m still seeing a doctor once a week for my ear, but I’m healthy again and I have my strength back. My immune system is no longer telling me to STOP! My doctor is confident that things will be almost back to normal in as soon as a month. Since this has been going on for almost five months, I figure another month isn’t going to kill me if it means my doctor and I won’t be attached at the hip anymore. Two weeks ago, I reached the point where I didn’t need to see him before he needed to see me! I can’t tell you how good it feels to know that I won’t have to give him an invitation to the wedding just to keep me in good health! LOL.
So, what’s new and exciting? I’ve signed on for another year with my school, and they’ve given me a good incentive to come back to them for another year. Plus they are working around the wedding, which takes a load off of my back.
Two weeks ago, I started another short-term contract. This one’s kind of cool. Apparently, my voice is dull enough to record a dictionary. Yep. Those electronic dictionaries that my students can’t seem to live without will have my voice talking to them even when they aren’t in class! A teacher’s ultimate revenge! It’s a nice change from teaching, and I’m hoping it leads to more promising work for television jingles or radio work. You just never know.
John and I are deep in the land of flight reservations. We can’t believe how much airfares have shot up over the past few months. I’ll report more on our travel itinerary later this week when the 10th roles around and then it’s FIVE MONTHS TO GO!
Yours truly has also broken into the world of dance. I started taking belly dancing classes about two months ago, and I love it! It’s so much fun. I wish I could take two classes a week, but my schedule doesn’t permit, so this little lady waits on pins and needles each week for Saturday afternoon to come around so she can go and shake it with the best of them. Fun fun fun!
Last but not least, I’m finally, FINALLY, meeting up with my on-line Flickr friend, Yu-fen. I’ve dying to meet this lady. I featured her work earlier this month as a guest author, and we seem like two peas in a pod. I’m terribly excited.
So that’s it in nutshell. The final countdown has begun and we’re both getting really excited to go home. Summer is going to fly by. I hope you all enjoy your summer holidays. I know we will!
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Sounds like a good month! And enjoy the dictionary thing – I did something similar last year. It was surreal and dull at the same time – and kids think it’s cool.
By the way, if you want to get into recording work, make sure to ask the dictionary company for a copy of some of your sound files. They ought to allow you to have them, and the files will come in handy for future gigs. Have fun!
Flights are best if purchased 6-8 weeks prior the flight. An another note, momondo is a good search engine.
hola c!
good to see that you’re all healthy, with smiles all around and shakin you got twice a week (that sounds a little wrong…heh!).
Voice of electronic dictionary…hmmm now that’s seriously cool! Its not everyday that you hear people go “hey, i know that lady in your pocket dictionary!” now do you?
Hi Holly,
It has been so far.
That’s a good tip for future jobs. I recorded a few textbooks and did a Radio Taxi English in Northern China and I’ve always regretted not getting any demo tapes. I performed for three years there and have very little to show for it. I’d love to get back in the studio to record some music.
Hi Matt,
Thanks for the tip. If we were just worrying about ourselves, we’d be waiting until a little later, but we have to start thinking about things now as we’ve got a wedding to plan and most of the people who are attending have never left North American soil!
It’s easier for us to do the footwork since we’ve been doing this for ages, but it’s certainly eating up a lot of time. Everyone seems to be stressing right now as there has been a definite increase in airline tickets because of gas shortages.
We’re not concerned with the international flights, but the flights between Ottawa (my hometown) and Minneapolis (John’s home town) are absolutely ridiculous! We paid $500US for these flights last year and they’ve jumped to over $800 and they’re still climbing. John and I have always used our reward miles for these short little flights, but our other guests don’t have this option. It’s been a bit frustrating.
AT!
Ola to you too! I haven’t heard from you in ages! What’s new and exciting in your neck of the woods? I’m on my way over to find out!
Wow. Recording a dictionary. I guess I’d never thought about where they’d get people for that. Was there any kind of accent screening or an attempt to look for a “non-descript somewhere in N. America” accent? Or was it pretty laid back?
It sounds like you’re busy and doing well.
It’s good to know that your health is better and you feel alright. Apart from it I must say that you amaze me. You have so many occupations. I bet that days are too short for you.
Hey, that’s great news! So you’ll be staying a little longer in Asia? Maybe the recording job will lead to more work, recording children’s books seems like a lot of fun to me. And do you have one of those special belly dancing scarves with jingly bells? I used to live next door to a Turkish family, and during parties the women would belly dance on the tables.
Hi Mark,
Wah! I’m thrilled to see that your comments are finally making it through! I don’t know what I did, but I’m glad I did it.
There are four girls recording at the moment. One girl is British and the other two are North Americans such as myself.
The job is actually more challenging than you would think. I’m constantly aware of how natural it is to link final consonants and words together. I have to really think about making my words sounds crisp and clear, but in a natural sounding tone.
I’ve also become much more aware of pre-emptive reading. I’m recording sentences with keywords, and I often catch myself wanting to read something other than the way it is written. The company has been really good at taking my suggestions, although I try not to offer too many. In the end, I have to say what they want me to say, even if I think it’s wrong.
K,
If I could have one wish, it would be a few extra hours to my day. Yep. My life is action packed and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m happy with the way things are. I like being busy and I detest sitting around. If you’re not out living, then you’re not living!
Kim,
We have planned to come back after the wedding. John and I are both considering going to school here in Taiwan. We’d like to get our Master’s degrees.
I’m really hoping the recording job will lead to more recording work. A job doing TV jingles or radio jingles would be ideal. As much as I love teaching, I can’t tell you how nice it is to have something a little different in the sidelines.
Funny you should mention it. I’m going to get my belly dancing scarf this weekend. I’m pretty excited about it. Every one bought theirs during the first week of class and I held off because I wanted to feel like I’d earned it. I most definitely feel that I have at this point, although I’m not sure I’ll ever be up for dancing on tables!