Good Morning from my office at Stout,

I am waiting for some students to arrive for their appointments during office hours. It is the last day to drop classes without a failing grade and so some of the students have chosen (probably wisely so) to bail. The weather is definitely late fall like and the wind has been strong and blustery. I actually makes me miss Lake Superior and its amazing power and sounds.

This past weekend I had a couple experiences that reminded me of both the smallness and the expansiveness of the world in which we live and that we how we are affected by that interaction on a daily level. On Sunday morning, I was a Perkins with a colleague and her parents who graciously bought me breakfast. At the table next to us, my colleague noted that all the people sitting there were from Michigan Tech, my Ph.D. alma mater. Being the chatty person I am I went and introduced myself and found out that they had been at the party that I had been invited to the day before, but was unable to attend. While speaking with one of them, I found out that she know two of my former students from Stout that are technical writers. It is the small world syndrome for sure. That evening, I had a couple from my church over for dinner. I have known them for more than three years, but never realized she was from Ames and that she was in a restaurant where I first worked as a server and learned to bartend.

Last Saturday night, I was invited to attend the International Dinner with one of my students from Nepal. The evening was delightful; full of cultural information about the various foreign students at Stout, the nght finished up with a dinner and a talent show. Most American students speak English poorly and write even worse. That is unfortunate, but true. On the other hand our foreign students come to Stout with an incredible work ethic and such amazing skills. Rachana, my student from Nepal, and also the person in the picture with me above, speaks 5 languages. She has not been home in over 2 years and works very hard both in her classes and in her part-time campus job. She and many of the other international students that I have had are certainly hard working, but also such a breath of fresh air in the class.

They come to us with the desire to learn; much like a sponge, they absorb every little drop they can and are always hoping to learn even more. It is fun to work with them. We are at that time in the semester that everything is due and the final push for the end is upon us. I received 60 five-page papers this week, so that is my spare time. I am thinking about the second semester already and trying to get some of that squared away in my head.

All in all, things are going well. No complaints, I am continuing to work on the range of motion and will begin some strengthening of my fingers in physical therapy. The Harley is finished and, weather granting, I might try to get one quick, but short ride in before we finish the fall. Then it will sit in storage on a battery tender. I hope this finds you all well. I am hoping to go North for Thanksgiving, but I hope you all have a wonderful holiday. That might be the topic of my next blog.

Michael