No Children Allowed, Please

There's not much I like about Seattle; but I try never to go too deeply into that subject, fearing that the ranting might never end. I wouldn't want my Lingua Espresso students to think I was in abject depression either :-) My latest challenge here (and they have been many) is thinking about a new apartment. It's not enough that with the rest of the economy falling, Seattle still wants $1000-$3000 a month for a little apartment, no water or electric paid and no parking. It's not enough that for what you pay for a miserable crackerbox here could rent you an air-conditioned house and yard and body servants in Little Rock. Now, it seems you can't have dogs either.

This was extremely odd to me, as I searched tonight on Craigslist for apartments in the Ballard/Greenwood area. Because as revolting and tacky as Seattle can be, they DO love their dogs. The whole city is knee-deep in dogs, dog apparel, fancy pet stores, doggie daycares, you name it. Dogs are welcome in stores, in parks, and people always smile when I have my girls--Fannie and Bess--out in their stroller. So what is this thing about no dogs? Pet deposits I understand, but why no dogs at all? Well, apparently, they could cause damage and make noise.

Hmmm. They can cause damage and make noise. That's understandable, but so can those common-sense impaired little beings we call CHILDREN. Now, I'm not against having children. The reason I don't yet have children is best discussed elsewhere (perhaps in a blog called Baby Daddy), but it has nothing to do with hating them. And besides, my dogs ARE my children in many ways, and I know I'm not the only one who feels like that.

I have loved my pets more than I have loved most people, and I still ache for the loss of them more than the loss of most friends and lovers. People say that "dog" is "god" spelled backwards and that to know true unconditional love, you should get a dog. And they are absolutely right. With the exception of a 10-day-old kitten named Olivia Moses that I raised on a bottle, dogs have been the most fully loving creatures I have ever known.

In the eyes of your dog, you are the best thing since sliced bread. Your dog will beat the marriage vows any day, "for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health," morning breath, total lack of commonsense, and a habit of drinking all the milk and putting the carton back empty. Your dog will never hold a grudge, never lie to you, and always want to be with you. Okay, your dog will occasionally do something annoying like pulling the stuffing out of your pillow to wake you up or peeing on the carpet if you don't take her out when she wants. On the other hand, she won't talk back to you, drive drunk in your car, run off and get pregnant or hooked on heroin, or get "dangerous" tattooed on her butt. She won't even go to counseling and blame you for the peeing on the carpet thing!

I got my first dog when I was 22 and in graduate school. Her name was Christabel, from the poem of the same name. She was a little Lhasa Apso, and loved by everyone (including Olivia Moses, the cat who THOUGHT she was a dog). When Christa was 4, my first husband and I got Boudin, a tiny poodle/pom. When we divorced two years later, I could not keep both and let him take Boudin. It broke my heart. It was like giving up a baby. No, she wasn't perfect; but she was my baby. She was with my Ex in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit, and it almost drove me nuts until I found out that he had taken her away safely when so many pets were left to die. A year after my first divorce, I finished school and had to start working fulltime. Christabel was so lonely that I made the difficult decision to find her a home with a good family with kids who could be with her all the time. It was as complicated as a human adoption, and I wept when the family that adopted her drove away. I felt like I was doing the best thing for my child, but I felt like a criminal too.

Several years, later I tried again with Augustus; but Gus was high-strung and only six months old when he broke away from me and ran up the street towards my friend's house, a familiar path for him. He died in my arms only a few minutes after the car hit him. I thought it would kill me. An elderly neighbor was kind enough to take him out to his farm and bury him there as I kept sobbing that I couldn't just leave him without a proper burial. Then Kewpie Doll, my little pug came, and had to be adopted out too. She was a ball of energy and needed constant playmates, bless her heart. She is still happy and healthy in Arkansas. Finally, life settled out to give me more time at home. I brought home Fannie at 5 weeks and her half-sister Bess at 4 weeks. They are each other's playmates and my little companions. They can try my patience sometimes, but they are loving, darling, devoted creatures who live to love and be loved.

So the question is what to do? I need to get another apartment closer to my new work, but the idea of giving them up, especially when they depend on me totally, is a terrible thought. No one would expect a person to give up a needy, screaming, human child (who like a dog will also eat items on the floor) because he might cause damage and make noise. But I am expected to give up two little fluff-balls who like to ride in a stroller? Well then, maybe the landlords should have to give up their human children, due to all the possible damage and noise. Yeah; that should go over well.

Writing to Communicate in English: What's in an Essay?

Tonight I began my second term of teaching Writing to Communicate in English for Lingua Espresso. I really enjoyed my students in the first term, so I am really looking forward to the new group this summer. The course is made up of eight lessons where I teach foreign language speakers, usually Japanese speakers, to write an English essay. I use a wonderful book, Writing to Communicate, 3rd Edition, by Boardman and Frydenberg. We begin by dicussing the smallest unit of essay writing, the paragraph, and end up writing one complete essay over the course of the eight lessons: all the way from introduction paragraph to conclusion paragraph. And we "meet" via Skype: all the discussion is done and all the short homework assignments are delivered by computer!

I really enjoy teaching writing classes for several reasons. First, I like building interesting essays the way a carpenter likes building beautiful furniture. And I like being able to help students to do this as well. In the case of my Japanese students, English essays are often different from typical Japanese writing. English essays tend to move in a quick direct line, instead of a slow spiral. So sometimes my students are intimidated by writing in English. I'm able to show them that when you break it into small parts, it's really very easy to put a English essay together--and enjoy doing it.

I also love teaching writing because my students teach me as well. Because in their essays, they write about their lives, their countries, their opinions and interests, I learn a lot of new things. For example, until I began teaching Japanese students, I knew very little about Japan, especially modern Japan. In my writing class, one of my students decided to write about the importance of Tokyo Tower as a national monument. In the process, I learned much more about the hopes and dreams and sorrows of the post-war Japan that built the tower. I became interested in a movie, Always: Sunset on Third Street, that the author talked about which included the tower. And I could almost imagine the tower at night, lit in a different color at the changing of the seasons.

Finally, I love to teach writing because I love to meet the writers. All writers are fascinating people in various ways. Many teachers never learn much about their students outside of class. Math teachers, science teachers, and history teachers, for instance, may never know their students personal stories, their likes and dislikes. But English and writing teachers get to read the essays that reflect who the students are, what they think, and even what they did on their last summer vacation (the oldest topic in the essay book). As a result, we tend to get to know our students better and perhaps to even form stronger bonds. I am always happy when an old student pops up on email to ask a question or just say hello.

All my writers and former students are welcome to check out my current writing course at www.linguaespresso.com. We will be giving another presentation of the first lesson next Saturday, July 19th at 10:30 am, JST. After that will continue on a lesson a week for eight lessons total. Contact Yasuro Kawata at yasuro@linguaespresso.com to confirm a spot in the class!