Author Archives: wetcasements
“next bus outta here”
Pavement, “Box Elder” Well, I’m pretty pleased with this here blog but change is also good. I’m moving over to Blogger, so Wet Casements is now over here. If you’ve enjoyed any of my rants about teaching, life in South … Continue reading
Posted in Internet, Music
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So Long, Europe
So, the Brexit happened. The pound has collapsed and global markets are reeling as every sane adult knew would happen. But I’m also curious about ESL teachers with UK citizenship. My understanding was that it was very easy for them … Continue reading
Posted in ESL, Europe, Teaching
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I’m Hip! I’m With It!
That thing where ESL textbook companies assume only college-age adult students want to study English, so I end up having to base lessons around “going to the nightclub” and “Do you want to try Parkour this weekend?” for 60 year-old housewives.
Oh, Korea
As somebody who relies on my supposed knowledge of the English language to earn a paycheck every month I should support stuff like this, but I really, truly don’t: “Imposing curfew on students who receive low scores on their English … Continue reading
Huge, Classy Grifter
I’m trying to limit my Trump info-intake, in the same way that I feel terrible if I stop to stare at the aftermath of a car crash or tire fire. But I’m only human, and this is the story of … Continue reading
Posted in America, Politics, Trumpolini
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Five Years Later
It’s the fifth anniversary of the Fukushima disaster, when an earthquake led to a tsunami which led to a nuclear plant being destroyed. Japanese locals are still trying to cope with both health-related concerns and a huge cultural shift: “In Japanese … Continue reading
Posted in Advanced Conversation, Japan
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Dammit, Learn to Zig-Zag Rickon!
Was it four or five episodes ago that Sansa met Littlefinger in Moletown? And it was incredibly obvious that although she was angry at him, she should have asked for his soldiers to take back Winterfell? I guess it’s more … Continue reading
Posted in GameofThrones, Nerdery, Team Arya, Team Brienne, Team Tyrion, TV
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I-chi-ro!
So there’s a bit of a kerfuffle in baseball. At the young age of 42 Marlin’s outfielder Ichiro Suzuki recorded his 4,257th career hit and moved ahead of Pete Rose on the all-time list. Problem is, 1,278 of those came … Continue reading
Posted in Baseball, Sports
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“slinging souvlakis”
The hard-knock life of a New York City street food vendor, and the surprisingly complicated politics around what they do to make a (meager) living: “For $50, just about anyone can get a license to sell food on a city sidewalk. … Continue reading
Posted in Advanced Conversation, Food
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The New (Bloody) Normal
On the one hand, lots of people have predicted that only a series of Paris-style terror attacks on US soil would ever allow Trump to be elected. On the other, speaking as a USian, Americans were perfectly fine with 25 … Continue reading
Posted in America, Politics
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Wet Casements 