Anastasia

Job Satisfaction

As second term reports are round the corner, I've been burning the midnight oil all this week in order to meet deadlines and finish my marking before April 15.  "Why worry about deadlines? After all, you are your own boss!", friends and family often remark. The truth  is I don't always understand them. Since I started running my own language school back in 1997, I've  realised that nothing really changed compared to working for other schools.

Piles of tests to mark at the weekend.

The work has to be done. Ah right! I'm only called to account for myself but, then again, I find that myself as a boss is  much more demanding than any boss I've ever had in my teaching career. One of the many reasons why I declined a job offer in public schools is because I had a very different idea of teaching English and French as foreign languages and my idea did not comply with theirs.

Working at the Weekend

I don't employ other teachers apart from myself, so all the responsibility is mine. Nor do I aspire to make big money. My greatest satisfaction  lies in my students' success. Believe me, it's very rewarding! Job satisfaction is an important element of individual well being. To me, salary is not as important as enjoyment at the workplace which, in turn , brings happiness. Surely, money is important. However, money doesn't make happiness, it may just as well  contribute to it.

The Aim of Education

Students will not succeed in life if they don't develop the important skills which they will need to help them take part in all areas of life. In addition to academic skills, another aim of education should be to develop the ability to choose from the large amount of information that bombards them every day. Showing awareness and an understanding of ethnic differences will certainly help them and they should try to be as ethical as possible.

Encouraging our young learners to develop and support  their own viewpoint on education will evetually make them aware of their own potential so that they can develop their own intellectual growth and important personal skills such as the ability to contribute to a group in teamwork. As Bill Beattie said: " The aim of education should be to teach us how to think, rather than what to think - to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves rather than to load the memory with thoughts of other men."

What matters most in education is not only the accumulation of knowledge but the development of the young learner's thinking.

Tuesday's Positive Thought - The Real Meaning of Happiness

Regardless of colour, race, religion, social status, nationality or ideology, our main purpose in life is to be happy. To me, happiness is subjective and relative to what each one of us expects in life. It's variable as it changes with age.  In my childhood, happiness was playing with my dolls and listening to my grandma's amazing fairy tales! Later in my teens,  happiness was doing well at school, hanging out with my friends, falling in love all the time and getting on well with my parents.

Now, as an adult, my priorities have changed. and happiness has become entwined with my job, my husband and all these little things  in everyday life that make me feel so happy- for example, watching the sunrise or the sunset, listening to the rain while reading "Jane Eyre" for the upteenth time, listening to Neil Diamond's Seagull and other songs like Love on the Rocks and September Morn, writing, blogging  or simply cooking a meal with Alkis.

I have now realised that happiness isn't a state, it's a positive emotion, it's an attitude, it's a hug,  it's getting every niggle off your chest, it's facing your fears and taking opportunities when they come. As the great French philosopher, Voltaire, said: " Life is a shipwreck but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats."

What is happiness to you?

Autumn vs Spring

I am definitely not a pessimist. However, curiously enough, it is spring, not autumn that makes me sad. Spring has always been identified with youth, and the sorrows of youth are poignant and bitter. The daisies, the orchids  and daffodils which challenge so bravely our boisterous and unpredictable March are soon shrivelled and defeated reminding us of the inevitable ravages of time. The world yearns for bursting life but it is only an impetuous beauty of the senses, just a passionate creation of transitory delight before summer settles in.

Photo Credit

In contrast, autumn imposes serenity. The heat, the dryness and humidity of our long summer melt into a warm contented loveliness. The early morning chill after a terribly hot summer is so invigorating even though, in Cyprus, it still mingles with the lingering warmth of summer days. I am still in summer clothes, most probably till  the end of October, but I love that light woollie early in the morning and in the cool autumnal evenings. The air becomes alive with the freshness of a sun-dried garden. 

The whole world soaks in colour. Not the reds, yellows or blues of spring! Autumn takes all the colours of spring and softens them to amazing shades of purple, crimson, bronze, amber and mahogany. I may not hear the crunch and rustle of golden leaves with every step I make, but I delight in the rich, new tones of nature while corn-stacks crouch above the stubble gleaming deep yellow in the intense sunlight of  October.

As the evenings draw in, in October ,I can still enjoy dinner outdoors unless there is one of those terrible autumnal storms, like yesterday. Last night, Alkis and I enjoyed a candle-lit take-away dinner in the kitchen while listening to the pouring rain. The strong autumnal winds and the sudden electrical storm cut off tree branches which fell on the electric wire which supplies our building with electricity. It took the Electricity Authority  hours to replace the wire in the middle of a dark stormy night. But that was the most romantic dinner I've ever had with Alkis. The wind passed and the thunderbolt gave way to billowing clouds condensing into rain, which fell all night with quiet persistance.

When the intricate patterns of branches thread again the sky and the winds veer to east and south, I am deeply aware that the death of Mother Nature is close at hand. Shelterless in cold winds, many birds will die unprotected. Countless animals and insects will freeze or starve while we relax in comfortable homes. Yet these deaths are an integral part of Nature's self-renewal and, I'm afraid, the new spring will not live up to our expectations: it will bring unstable weather, allergies for me and that sickly tiredness that accompanies the end of winter.

Autumn promises the ideal spring.

Positive Self-Talk

It is very common to hear people say "Think Positive" to a friend or relative who's been through rocky times. Few people, however, take this seriously. On the contrary, they'd rather ruin their health and poison their lives with negative thoughts.  They hardly ever count their blessings and feel responsible for all the bad things in their lives. Their mistake is that they never see the good things or that silver lining in every cloud.  They never see beyond the storm, they just see the storm. It's the way they talk to themselves - that's what it boils down to, to my mind.

Positive self-talk can lead us to a much better quality of life. We can then realise that we are not always reaponsible for all the bad things that happen to us, we can  believe, after all, in the promise of the dawn after the darkest of nights. On the other hand, negative thoughts drain our energy and, as a result, we become much weaker. Anyway, I believe that  through positive self-talk, we can all expect great things to happen in the forseeable future.

How positive or how negative are you?

 

The Disappearance of Advertising

A dramatic commercial could be made showing how much we would all miss advertising. The first few incidents would be easy. Posters and billboards would disappear. Most of the world's websites and television stations would vanish. Many newspapers and magazines would cease to exist and those that remained would be much smaller and more expensive.

Yet such deprivation would be nothing compared with the effect the disappearance of advertising would have on the process of mass production and mass consumption, on the price and range of goods in the shops, on the economy and on employment. Without advertising, many products, companies and jobs would simply cease to exist.

 We receive a pile of flyers in our mail box, every single day of the week despite the fact that Alkis and I put up a notice saying we wouldn't like to receive advertising flyers! This is what I call...aggressive marketing, yet I always have a look at the various special offers advertised.

Do you receive flyers in your area? To what extent does advertising, in general, influence your behaviour as a consumer?

 

Be Happy !

Not only did I feel the urge to take a picture of the first poppies in early Spring, but I also experienced a feeling of happiness. The great outdoors chase away all negative thoughts and make me feel as happy as a lark!  For some people, happiness seems to be a wild goose chase. This is because they never realise that happiness lies in small things such as petting a cat, walking a dog, dreaming, helping others when they need our help, feeling grateful, smiling, having a good laugh at least once a day and , most importantly, counting our blessings.

Even if happiness forgets you a little bit, never completely forget about it.  ~Jacques Prévert

 

 

Manners Maketh Man

I can't stand rudeness in any shape or form as this is a sign of disrespect for other people. Having finished work today at 9:00 pm, I went to the parking place where I had parked my car only to see that a very rude person had double parked, thus preventing me from driving home after a long day at work. If there is something I really hate as a driver is to blow the horn - especially at a relatively late hour when children might be sleeping. I waited for about 10 minutes, but nothing happened. I could have called the police but I changed my mind as this would probably delay me even more. Despite feeling guilty, I blew my horn. Five minutes later, the owner of the double-parked car arrived. He didn't even apologise!

I was raised in a family where good manners mattered. At a very early age, I was taught to say please and thank you, sit properly at the table, open doors for my elders and stand aside to let them pass. By the age of four, I had also learned to greet the people who visited us and use in greek the polite form of "you" to address them. It just annoys me to see that there are so many people out there who don't think that good manners are important. For instance, some of my students - especially teenagers - won't even say "Hello, miss" when I greet them. I guess it all starts in the home, when children are little and still learning. 

As William of Wykeham said "Manners Maketh Man", originally meaning that manners are the basis of our society and extended to manners are created by our society. We need to nurture something to be proud of., don't we? You reap what you sow, after all.

Do you think good manners matter? Do you try to instill good manners in your children?

The Future of Computers

The history of computers and computer technology thus far has been a long and a fascinating one, stretching back more than half a century to the first primitive computing machines. These machines were huge and complicated affairs, consisting of row upon row of vacuum tubes and wires, often encompassing several rooms to fit it all in.

As anyone who has looked at the world of computers lately can attest, the size of computers has been reduced sharply, even as the power of these machines has increased at an exponential rate. In fact, the cost of computers has come down so much that many households now own not only one, but two, three or even more, PCs.

As the world of computers and computer technology continues to evolve and change, many people, from science fiction writers and futurists to computer workers and ordinary users, have wondered what the future holds for the computer and related technologies. Many things have been pictured, from robots in the form of household servants to computers so small they can fit in a pocket. Indeed, some of these predicted inventions have already come to pass, with the introduction of PDA's and robotic vacuum cleaners.

Beyond these innovations, however, there are likely to be many, many more. One of the most important areas of research in the world of computers is that of artificial intelligence. When many people think of artificial intelligence, they may picture fully aware machines, complete with emotions, and the problems that can arise from them. Even though this remains the goal of many artificial intelligence researchers, in fact artificial intelligence technology is already in place and already serving the needs of humans everywhere.

One of the most powerful uses of artificial intelligence thus far is in the world of speech recognition. This powerful technology is already in place in call centers, banks, brokerage centers, insurance companies and other businesses throughout the world. While speech recognition is still imperfect, it has improved greatly in recent years, and in the future many routine, and even non-routine, phone calls and telephone inquiries may be handled completely without human intervention.

Robot technology has also come a long way, but it still has a long way to go. Robots in the future are unlikely to take human form, expect in a few specialized applications. Instead, robots are likely to do a great deal of work that is simply too dangerous for humans to accomplish. From spaceflight applications to search and rescue, robots are likely to continue down the learning curve they have already entered, further enhancing human lives and providing valuable services for a fraction of the cost of today's robot helpers.

Quantum computers are also likely to transform the computing experience, for both business and home users. These powerful machines are already on the drawing board, and they are likely to be introduced in the near future. The quantum computer is expected to be a giant leap forward in computing technology, with exciting implications for everything from scientific research to stock market predictions.

Nanotechnology is another important part of the future of computers, expected to have a profound impact on people around the globe. Nanotechnology is the process whereby matter is manipulated at the atomic level, providing the ability to “build” objects from their most basic parts. Like robotics and artificial intelligence, nanotechnology is already in use in many places, providing everything from stain resistant clothing to better suntan lotion. These advances in nanotechnology are likely to continue in the future, making this one of the most powerful aspects of future computing.

And if history is to be any guide, some of the most powerful advances in the world of computers and computer technology are likely to be completely unforeseen. 

 

via www.cbtplanet.com

In the 1970s, an expert on automation, Sir Leon Bagrit, pointed out that it was a mistake to believe that computers could "think" He went on to add that there was practically no possibility that human beings would ever be "controlled by machines". Though computers are capable of learning from their mistakes and improving on their performance, I believe that  they will always need detailed instructions from human beings in order to be able to operate. Whatever the future of the computers may be, they'll never lead independent lives or make decisions of their own. And they'll certainly never "rule the world." As far as I am concerned, I guess I'll always need a pencil and a rubber.

Vitamine C, Rhinoxehal and Green Tea

I was in the middle of a lesson on Friday afternoon when I started to sneeze every two minutes. According to a Greek superstition, when somebody sneezes you should ask that person to name a number up to 24 - the number of letters in the Greek alphabet. The person or people you know whose name begins with the letter corresponding to the number are supposed to be thinking of you. So, my kids kept naming letters ...I think everyone I know was thinking of me on Friday!!! Alkis included!

Although I'm now used to his business trips abroad, I had missed him and was looking forward to a great weekend - just the two of us. He had flown back from London earlier on Friday afternoon but, unfortunately, when I finished work on Friday night, I greeted him with a slight headache and a runny nose that spoilt my make-up and lipstick. His words were music to my ears. He said I was just as beautiful! We had a light supper but I was unable to resist the vanilla fudge he brought from London and, of course, I was delighted to upload all the wonderful photos he had taken in London for My Photo Blog!

I spent most of the weekend talking with Alkis. I honestly didn't feel ill! It was just that runny nose and  no, it wasn't an allergy! Ok here are my symptoms: a terribly runny nose, a slight headache, sneezing - no sour sore throat, no cough, no fever. Alkis insisted on me seeing a doctor but I told him I'd see the free family online doctor first. Then he said: "Oh really? Now I know you are ok". On Saturday afternoon, I took the Quiz - Cold or Flu? The verdict   diagnosis was an allergy! I think the online family doctor was wrong. Because first thing on Monday, I visited my chemist and she gave me Vitamine C and a decongestant nasal spray called Rhinohexal (it contains xylometazoline! - whatever this is). I loved the Vitamine C - you dissolve the tablet in water and , believe me, it does taste like Fanta ! As for the nasal spray, it does wonders. My nose isn't as runny as on Friday. Together with Green Tea, this combination is probably the best to fight a cold.