Canadian theme

So we went to Stratford earlier this week to see Twelfth Night, and it was terrific! The town itself is so neat and picturesque, and my friends and I spent almost half an hour in the coolest toy store ever. We had to force ourselves to leave because we were getting too involved in the cute stuffed animals, including this awesome stuffed frog that came with flies you could stuff in its mouth (cute, not gross) and then pull out of its tummy. It was all very sweet, including the noises it could make: a "ribbit", the flies buzzing, and, best of all, a giant belch from the frog after eating the flies. I wish I could find a picture of it! And the other cool place was Ten Thousand Villages, this amazing store which has items created by artisans from all over the world. The best part is that it's all fair trade: The artisans directly benefit from the sales, "disadvantaged producers", as the site says. It's a lot of carved wood and onyx, clothing, instruments, jewelry: all beautiful stuff. And there's actually one where I live, which I was shocked by. We don't usually have such terrific cultural stores.

Oh yes, the play! Very neat: Theater in the round, a sort of Arabian motif which meant colorful costumes for half the cast; the other was dressed in traditional English garb (they did colonize India for many years). Great acting, deceptively simple sets, good time all-around. And I have to say our students behaved beautifully, which is more than I can say for the schoolgirls behind us talking, putting their feet up on the chairs, and even playing with the hair of our girls who sat in front of them. Some people just don't get that they're not in their own living room. Aside from that, we had a good day. Plus I played Strict Teacher when I made them take out Scary Movie 4 in the bus on the way home; they were laughing like crazy but so much of it was so inappropriate that I couldn't condone our showing it to them. As I said, they'd all seen it and they could watch it on their own time. Just really puerile and gross humor. I didn't know I was such a square, but apparently molding young minds has become a quest. We watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off instead, which they didn't like as much, but what they didn't know was that it was kind of the secret teachers' choice. Hah!

And last night: Sabres beat Carolina in their first game of the season! In your face, Stanley Cup winners! We know who the REAL winners are...