Even More Connections

I'm interested in a lot of things, so we have many possibilities for connecting. Here are a few, just for starters:

Food: I love to eat. Some types of ethnic food that I particularly like are Japanese (sushi, sashimi, shabu shabu, nabemono), Korean (kimchi chigae, bebimbop, mandu, bulgogi), Rusyn (perohy, halupki, makovnik, blinchiki, borscht, blini, baklazhanaya ikra), Arabic (khubz with zaatar, shawarma, hommus, kibbeh [both baked and raw], falafel, sfiha, tabbouleh), Mexican (ensalada de nopalitos, churros, posole, menudo, flautas, empanaditas, champurrado), Greek (spanakopita, keftethes, dolmades, avgolemono soup, galaktobouriko, baklava) . . . .

Music: When I was younger, I listened mostly to classical music. Now my musical tastes are much broader (though I don't like heavy metal or really loud pop music). Favorite classical composers include Debussy, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Mozart, Beethoven, Moussorgsky, Orff, Kodaly, Rakhmaninoff, Glinka. I also like folk music from almost anywhere . . . .

Education and Teaching/Learning: In language teaching, I'm a staunch believer in teaching what students actually need and in helping students learn to use a language, not merely to acquire esoteric knowledge about it. I'm also committed to co-teaching and co-learning. At the same time, I also believe that some teacher-directed activities have merit, and that some "old-fashioned" techniques (like oral drilling) still have a place . . . .

World Cultures: I'm fascinated by cultural similarities and differences in all kinds of areas—for example, in paralinguistics as well as language, in different ideas of "normal" vs "weird" foods, in diverse ways of celebrating life stages and holidays . . . .

This is enough for now, I think. If need be, I'll add more later.