Chapel Orahamm's Blog

Sultan’s Love

Saye – the main female character

Kainer the 9th prince – the main male character

Setting: Harem

Genre: Cis-Het Erotica

This made for a quick read of 15 chapters. There wasn’t much in the way of character development, but when it comes to short smut, there isn’t a lot of time or need for character development. The setting and color palette were gorgeously rendered. The facial expressions were consistent and decent.

It felt rather stereotypical – evil sultan, just about to have his way with a harem girl who’s never been with another man, runs away from the overly handsom main male – Kainer. The harem girl – Saye – is saved by Kainer just in the nick of time.

The story gives a taste of maybe he is tough, maybe he is gentle, and then he comes off as full on controlling and emotionally abusive by means of threatening everything she will ever interact with with death. He flip flops between caring and controlling when all the main female lead wants is freedom. He ends up misinterpreting her actions as she already having been used by the previous sultan, only to discover that she’s still a virgin in his embrace.

There’s a segment where she ends up remembering saving him from five years before and realizing that was the guy she saved.

Which is hard to fathom if you’re a girl who isn’t allowed to see much of any men ever and this one guy you sit and dress his wounds and spend hours with. It feels like she should recognize him. So, he ‘fell in love at first sight’ with the person who gave him an ounce of compassion. Then he treats her like a possession from that moment after. Do they have anything in common? Do they share interests? Has he actually gotten to know her? No. But let’s be real. We’re here for the smut. Everything else is just the lingerie.

It’s alright for a read if you get passed that manipulative possessive streak – “it’s just part of the setting”.

Seeing as it makes for a short read, it’s not something you have to commit too many emotions to or develop a lot of feelings for either character.

NEMO Science Museum

To the website

We traveled into Amsterdam last weekend to see the NEMO Science Museum at the suggestion of a British lady we talked to who works for an international school in the area. She said it was excellent and not to waste our money on the food there.

So, we did the one hour bus to tram ride up, looked at a bunch of old boats in the canals, saw a cool Chinese restaurant that’s docked outside a MediaMarkt that I want to go back and visit, and walked up to this massive copper clad ship-shaped building. The entrance did not exactly feel noticeable, unlike a lot of tourist type museums back in the US where there’s some prominence over the doors to indicate where one should go. There also wasn’t a crowded line out the door to give an indication – unlike so many stores in Amsterdam city center.

We found our entrance – there was a rotating door that is big enough to handle a couple of strollers or wheelchairs and rotates slow enough that little kids aren’t going to be scared of it. Inside we found this massive space with two levels. The entry level had a gift shop to the right with toys, swag, books in both English and Dutch, boardgames, and nifty crafts. To the left was a locker storage area for bags (convenient if you packed your lunch) and free bathrooms. You can walk into this building and they have FREE bathrooms. I can’t tell you how hard it is to find free bathrooms in Amsterdam city center, so mark this on your map as a solution to your IBS nightmare.

Before leaving the house, we downloaded the Museumkaart app, and purchased museum cards. Then we went on NEMO’s website and reserved our time to arrive. Most of the museums are going to have a timed entry – in the same way the US national parks now have timed entry. It keeps crowds down so that everyone can enjoy the attraction. Make sure to obtain that reservation before you waste your time getting up there. The Museumkaart can be used for either all or almost all of the museums in Amsterdam and will over time be cheaper than paying for every admission if you have a family and plan on visiting several different places. If you’re in for just a couple of days – it might be a wash and worth weighing the cost ratio.

At the top of the stairs from the entry we provided our timed entry reservation and our Museumkaart on our phone – almost everything in Amsterdam can be done on your phone – getting on the trams, paying for produce, etc. etc. There are some stores that will not accept cash, so make sure you have a credit/debit card or Apple/Google wallet set up. OVpay is another app to have on had for paying for transit – but that’s a different post.

They do have elevators for people who need accessible accommodations.

Upon entering the main attraction space, I, as a neurodivergent dork who forgot their Loops, abandoned ship to Wren who took kiddo to see the magnet, audio science, and a Rub Golderberg exhibit, and made my way to a cafe that was on the right side of the building from the entrance. I picked up a large cappuccino and a banana caramel tart for €9.50. That banana caramel tart is worth the money. It’s almost like a cream cheese cake, but made out of whipped cream something something something. I’m not actually sure what it was, but it was delicious. The cappuccino was modest and a packet of honey brightened it up a bit.

With my head on straight, I regrouped, took kiddo and sent Wren off to get coffee and had him also try the banana tart – to which we were both in agreement, it was excellent.

The museum had quite a massive number of interactive areas and floors. Kiddo very much enjoyed the section on morse codes in the Makery. I’m not entirely sure why that section was called the Makery, designed to look like three ‘big top’ circus tents, and was focusing on morse codes, but hey, whatever gets the kids’ attention, right? One of the neat things for this area is that there were these three ring binder ‘books’ attached to the stations that had instructions in several languages, so that kids from all over the world could participate with the experiments.

There was a section on bicycle, or fiets as they are called in the Netherlands (still not used to that), engineering which was interesting to see. There are so many types here in the Netherlands that I never saw in Oklahoma, so I can understand dedicating an entire spot in the science museum to bicycles.

One of the smaller floors was dedicated to the human body and different ways it works. Kiddo had not interest or patience for that section. But, it is worth noting, at least as someone who fits under the trans umbrella, that there was this dedicated thing – do you remember those old toys where you could rotate different clothes on a body to dress it up? There was a lit up carousel type thing off to one side that had different bodies as the base layer (mind you naked if you’re prudish like that) and a rotating set of outfits that could line up over the front of the bodies. At the top of the carousel were different sentences about each of the bodies – “I feel more masculine than feminine. I feel comfortable as a man and presenting as one.” Some phrasing like that, which was being supportive on how different people felt about gender and aesthetic presentation of self. I loved it. There were some adults who were uncomfortable with the thing. But the kids did not care. They would just spin the clothes to watch them spin around.

There was a restaurant in that section of the museum serving some type of fried food. We didn’t investigate because we had eaten lunch before we left and Wren and I had just had coffee and tarts and kiddo wasn’t interested. So, I have a feeling the British lady who told us not to waste our money on food in NEMO was probably referring to the friend food area.

Anyways, we made it up to the top deck where we had a magnificent view of Amsterdam. You could go up to the very top where there was an even smaller deck to look at more of a view and observe their solar panel system and rooftop garden where they had echinacea, yarrow, something in the daisy family, and a bunch of other pollinator friendly plants.

It was a decent science museum. It was fun seeing all the exhibits in both Dutch and English. Kiddo had a blast. If you’re wanting something to do with kids in tow in Amsterdam, this works out rather well – especially on chilly or wet days when everyone has cabin fever.

In Amsterdam

We arrived on August 5, after a tumultuous summer that involved lawyers and roofers and trying to convince the buyers for our house that we were doing everything possible to get them their house with a proper roof installed and threatening a roofer with a lawsuit if he screwed it up a third time.

On August 7th we were able to go in for our biometrics appointment for our residency permit cards. Now on August 24, we are still waiting to receive those cards in the mail.

And this is giving me *anxiety* today. I was supposed to be doing Intreeweek at the Universiteit van Amsterdam tomorrow. But, I am waiting on our new Dutch bank to say yes, I can have an account, and for my residency card to arrive. I need both those things to finish paying my tuition and finish my enrollment so I can actually show up to class on September 2nd. That’s…that’s in a little more than a week’s time.

I literally sold a house I was 5 years from paying off. Sold 3 vehicles that were fully paid off. Got rid of so much furniture, appliances, etc. etc. I downsized my entire family’s life into a 10×10 storage shed and my mother in law is watching our two Australian Shepherds for us until we can fly them over because heat embargoes in Oklahoma mean I can’t ship my dogs to the Netherlands until October.

And I MIGHT NOT ACTUALLY GET INTO UNI because of BUREAUCRACY?????

I went up to campus yesterday to figure out where I was supposed to show up for class. I need to still figure out which campus has the student services. I’ll be going on Tuesday to talk to someone there just in case maybe by showing them every freaking document I have under the sun with approval docs for residency permit and talking to a goddamn human rather than stupid AI boilerplate, someone can take an ounce of pity on me and let me register so I can…I don’t know…buy my books for class on time?

There are backup plans.

Wren is the visa sponsor for this move, so we aren’t depending on my visa to keep us here. He’s got a solid job, so we aren’t going to be in a financial pickle.

My mom and my mother in law would both be thrilled if I went back to painting and writing my books and doing book reviews. They both told me I was happiest when doing those things and that I haven’t been happy in years.

Well, no duh. I’ve been homeschooling a kid in the worst education state in the U.S. by rank in a district that is considered bad to begin with – so the worst of the worst. I haven’t had time to write books, or draw, or oil paint for five years. I’m burned out and tired and I just want the international school to tell us they’ve accepted kiddo.

If things go wrong and I can’t get the degree in archaeology I wanted, then I buy paint, I take my easel that I put in my carry on, and I go paint canals. I go see all the museums, because I paid for a museum card pass when we got here. I walk to the grocery store and the cafe and get fit and have fresh produce. These are things I can do.

I write my books. I revisit the idea of doing book reviews. Maybe I start a youtube channel and tour Amsterdam and the surrounding areas and talk about the history of the place if I can figure it out. I go to Frankfurt to see the model train museum, Disney Paris for Christmas, and Porto for Easter. I see Pompeii in May and we watch swans in the canal outside our little rental.

There are things. There are solutions. I would just like clarity as to what I’m doing with my life, because dang it’s been six months of my life being up in the air and I could really use a direction to follow today.

If I did book reviews again, I think I would do manga and light novels. Maybe classics. I need to find a niche so that I can focus, rather than be all over the place with them. And develop a posting schedule. Something that actually works for people.

Life like’s keeping you on your toes.

Slog

This is turning into a slog.

Due to a lot of shenanigans, we needed to put a new roof on the house before the buyer would actually buy. Anyways, because of the whole tariffs thing, getting the metal out to the house has been a challenge. We’ve been moved out of it since Memorial Day weekend and living with my MIL while we’ve been waiting to officially close.

In April, the Netherlands passed rulings on their rental market to provide better protection for their renters. This in turn has made the market exceptionally volatile for people trying to use the DAFT visa to gain entry there. We now need 2 years of proof of having worked in the Netherlands to rent and 1 year of proof of having worked in the Netherlands to pull a mortgage.

I have sold my house and am living at my MIL just in time to be told that I can’t gain housing.

FML

I’ve been off social media in preparation of travel. Didn’t want anything flagged in TSA systems or whatever is going on right now. That and the internet is practically dial up at the speed it’s capable of here. If more than one person is using the internet, it can take several minutes for a picture to render on the screen. I’ve caught a golden window where I got the internet long enough to actual write on my blog, so I figured I’d run updates.

Anyways, the more we fight with this whole getting into a new country thing, the more everything falls apart. I am at this point genuinely looking at either Taos or Eureka Springs to move into just so that I have an art community I can put my stuff up in. It would suck to give up on the archaeology job after all the years and mental health crap, but I’ve finally had a couple of weeks to get back into painting and maybe back into my writing in the next few days and I cannot tell you how much happier I am for holding a paintbrush again.

Also, just refusing to look at the news at this point. I can’t take anymore stress. I look forward to talking with my author community friends on BlueSky once again. At some point soon.

We’re currently playing with the idea, if the Netherlands falls through, of a custom built house. One that we know doesn’t have lead, asbestos, or foundation issues. One that is close enough to a quaint touristy city center where I can walk and drop off product at little kitchy galleries.

Breather

Taking a moment for all the updates, because jeeeeeez, it just doesn’t stop.

Alright, I have my Level 5 TEFL Certification officially recognized.

I’m taking several classes through TEFL.org, but I’m not sure I’m going to be able to do them to completion.

I say that because our house is now under contract.

The inspector showed up on Tuesday and we’re still waiting for the official statements as to what we need to fix. We already had a contractor out before him to bid us on fixing some siding and putting in a heating vent in the bathroom – things we knew needed to happen anyways. The roofer should be out in two weeks to put on a new metal roof. There were shenanigans involved with the last roof we had put on, so we’ve known that a new one was going to need to be put on. It’s a chunk of change to do it, but we’ve got that one covered.

We were able to sell some of our stuff at a garage sale last weekend. Then we drove an hour and a half into town to sell 13 bankers boxes full of all the household books and boardgames that we decided not to keep. My family is slowly coming around to my minimalist ways as they are seeing how much stuff in the house we just didn’t need for living our day to day and week to week lives.

Today we’ve got more stuff to drop off at Goodwill, and doctors appointments to get our last yearly physicals and our medication passports set up. I’ll also see what I need to do about getting my medical records translated.

We’ve been dealing with an international lawyer and tax guy to get Wren’s new business set up with the DAFT visa. That was another thing we did while we were out selling books – we got some of our essential documents apostilled. We’re still waiting on my birth certificate to come in, but that’s from a different state, so it will take longer.

I ended up deactivating my social media on Bluesky for now. I needed focused productivity time – what little I could find – until we get moved into the next place. I just don’t have the time to be on it, and I have a problem with addictive scrolling if it’s there. So, I eliminated it for now.

I’ve been reading The Art of Simple Living by Shunmyo Masuno and The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh in between running around desperately trying to get everything done. The fundamentals are becoming more appealing to me recently and with our movement towards more intentional living, I’m finding it easier and easier to relate to the teachings.

Something else I’m doing with this move is getting rid of hobbies I don’t want to participate in anymore. I’ve got some quilts I can finish hand quilting, but I’m giving my embroidery machine, sewing machine, spinning wheel, knitting needles, and crochet hooks to my sister in law. I really want to get rid of my craft hobbies. We are downsizing into a small apartment in the city, and I don’t want to be making a lot of things I need to then get rid of. I’ll keep a baggie of needle and thread to work on a long term hexigon quilt, and to finish handquilting five quilts, but otherwise, I’ve gotten rid of all of my fabric and fiber stash.

I gave my niece my electric guitar and amp – that was a fantasy self instrument that I was not giving the attention it needed to participate with. I decided to keep my mandolin though. That one I really want to learn how to play again, and I wasn’t giving myself time to do that when I had so many craft projects.

We’re taking some boardgames – Cytosis, Mysterium, Letters from Whitechapel, Azul, etc. So we’re going to do that more. And we got rid of the Xbox360, PS4, and PS2. That let us drop down to just the 3Ds, the Steam Decks, and the Switch. I’m wanting to play more video games, and I’ve always had a hard time giving myself permission to do that, because of my upbringing: I had to have finished ALL of the chores before I could play. Living on 4.22 acres meant I was never finished with chores. Downsizing into a little apartment that will take less time to clean and put in order means that outside of Bachelor degree homework, I may actually have time to participate in that hobby too.

We’re looking forward to this move. It’s just getting exhausting. We’re approaching the weekend that we will need to sell as much furniture as possible. Fingers crossed.

I’m hoping for some lovely walks along canals and wandering through copious museums.

Lesson Plan: Lisa Jobe Carmack – Philippe in Monet’s Garden

Philippe in Monet’s Garden by Lisa Jobe Carmack, illustrated by Lisa Canney Chesaux.

This post contains affiliate links.

I am in the midst of learning how to lesson plan and evaluate authentic source materials for Level 5 TEFL certification. I wanted to practice a bit more utilizing some of the resources before doing the last assignment. If you are a teacher with experience, please realize that I am new to lesson planning, evaluating, and creating activities. I don’t fully know what I’m doing yet, so do your own research and adjust this content accordingly if you want to use it. I made the worksheets and they are free to download and use for your own classrooms.

This lesson is created for a B2 class.

VocabularyRhyming Words & Similar Vowel SoundsCollocation and PhrasesFollow-on activitiesProcedureBibliographyVocabulary

Vocabkitchen – a useful tool I used for checking the vocabulary difficulty of this text for ESL.

A2 Vocabulary to teach:

storywayspecialeveryoneexcepttoeskeptpardonpainterwouldn’tpinkcallbakedfriedguidecountrysidejusttriedgatesizeperfectbecamecouldownunhappynetfaircriedfarwon’tsignbelievegrewquitesoadded

B1 Vocabulary to teach:

frogmindsmileunkindshapebugsescapemilescene

B2 Vocabulary to teach:

pondteasedestateexpressionfoundthighsbelongbeggedimpressiondespairfateadditionfond

C1 Vocabulary to teach:

dumbbidbulliedsuitedbet

C2 Vocabulary to teach:

leapexclaimedgrinRhyming Words & Similar Vowel Soundsway – dayknows – toesfried – guide – countryside – stridePhilippe – leap – feetplay – daymind – unkindlong – wrong – belongcrept – netPhilippe – feetfair – despairnet – betnot – caughtleap – Philippe – sheep – bleathopping – stoppingescape – fategate – estatesign – finepardon – gardenmy – size – eyesexclaimed – painterphysique – tres magnifiqueaddition – kitchenmile – smilewide – friedexpression – impressionpond – fondlight – nightkind – dinehome – owngreen – sceneCollocation and Phrasesfrightful wayspecial of the daybigger the bettermade funno time forgruesome fategrew a mile wideimpression – a play on words for both the influence on feelings or senses (Merriam-Webster) and Impressionist – a type of art style that Monet was famous for.painted the light (referencing the Impressionist style of painting)Follow-on activities

Dictionary Activity

Alphabetize Vocabulary list with definitions. Go over the stress of the words in class.

PhilippeMonetsGardenDictionaryActivityDownload

Rhyming Activity

To be used in pair or small group work. Cut out the rhyming words and distribute them such that each group has a set of matched rhyming words. Go over how to pronounce each word, then allow time for groups to determine what words rhyme. Go over them at the end to see if the groups were correct. Or make it into a team race, etc.

PhilippeMonetsGardenRhymingActivityDownload

A Discussion

The Water Lily Pond, Claude Monet, 1899.

Based on The Denver Art Museum’s provided Lesson on The Water Lily Pond by Claude Monet: https://www.denverartmuseum.org/en/edu/lesson/frog-water-lily-pond

Describe the piece by Monet – looking for adjectives (soft, light, airy, whimsical, etc.) colors, etc.Procedure

Materials:

Images of several of Monet’s paintings featuring water areas (printed or suited for projection). An image of a frog (printed or suited for projection). The book: Philippe in Monet’s Garden. Print offs of Dictionary ActivityMarkers or method for writing on board/smart board/paper if one-on-one

Warmer: (Italicized words are harder, will probably not be provided, but informative if they are) Utilizing image of frog – ask class to describe what the animal is, and some of it’s characteristics, where it lives – frog, jump, leap, amphibian, green, pond, lake, water, wet.

Utilizing images of Monet’s works – ask class if they know what they are: painting, painted, art, Impressionist, impressionistic, Claude Monet.

What could a frog, and Monet’s paintings have in common? Habitat, where frogs live.

Activity 1: Present book as read aloud.

Activity 2: Provide Dictionary Activity, go over stress of each word (write stresses on board so that students can place them on worksheet)

Activity 3: Pair work – Rhyming words and phonetic pronunciation matching work.

Activity 4: Pair or small group work – Collocation & Phrases, extrapolate and use in Freer Exercise.

Wrap Up – Collect paper & rhyming words, provide Q&A time, allow for group discussion of the art, book, frogs, and listen for utilization of new vocabulary words & phrases. Ask leading questions to instigate discussion if no questions are being asked by students.

Bibliography

Britannica Kids. Claude Monet – Kids. Encyclopedia Britannica. 2025. Accessed on 04/01/2025.

Britannica Kids. Frog – Kids. Encyclopedia Britannica. 2025. Accessed on 04/01/2025.

Carmack, Lisa Jobe. Philippe in Monet’s Garden. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. 1998.

Claude-Monet.com. The Water Lily Pond. 1899. Accessed on 04/01/2025.

Denver Art Museum. A Frog at the Water Lily Pond. Denver Art Museum. 2025. Accessed on 04/01/2025.

The TEFL Academy. Unit 10 Assessment Evaluation Check List. Accessed on 04/01/2025.

Vocabkitchen. Accessed on 04/01/2025.

TEFL classes after certification

Today I am in the midst of finishing the last assessment for the Level 5 Certification hosted through TTA TEFL. It also coincides with several sales. Yes, these organizations host sales with great frequency. However, I am trying to time getting moved to a different country. So, I signed up for follow up classes, even though I don’t have this last assessment done, and therefore the certification finished.

I want these classes to help refine my offerings and I am desperately hoping that they also provide me with more practice on analysing lesson plans, seeing as I am not confident even after 160hrs of lecture material in my capacity to do well by my students. This is a personal thing for me. I’m not saying anything ill about the course provider. I just like to do things only after I fully understand them.

So,

For almost all the money I made on this last editing job I took, I signed up for about 150 credit hours more in TEFL classes.

Teaching Business English: 30 hrsExam Preperation: 40 hrsTeaching English for Academic Purposes: 40 hrsTeaching English Online: 40 hrsTeaching Neurodiverse Students

I really want to be there for my clients, but I’m also probably procrastinating trying to gain clients by signing up for yet more classes. I’m not confident in securing the sort of clientel that would help me be a stable digital nomad, and I feel like it will be easier if I have more available to give them. Also, I want more information on how to deal with online classes. I’ve only had to deal with Zoom about three times in the last 5 years since it gained popularity, and I never initiated any of those calls. I couldn’t tell you without poking around the site how to send a client a file, sign in to start a video or anything like that. On top of that, there are probably more classroom websites than just Zoom and I have no idea what those are because I somehow graduated from university just a couple years shy of that becoming a prevalent thing. So, I’ve got gaps in my knowledge that need to be addressed.

The next thing to figure out is how to pass a CIPLE test for Portugal. That will probably mean hiring my own language tutor and getting to be on the other side of the screen for that.

TEFL Assignment B Passed

Today I obtained confirmation that I have passed Assignment B – creation of a 60 minute lesson.

There were segments that need refinement, and I personally believe they are the types of refinement that come with experience, so I will not take it as a person failing. It had to deal with a class of 14-16 year old students at an A2 language level. I chose to utilize the book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie for teaching the ‘first conditional’ or protasis and apodosis.

I distinctly remember being 17 and taking a Spanish class in my high school. I had some background in Spanish from a different school, but I was no where further than an A2 for this class. I loved when we were able to use the massive picture books that our teacher had in class. I remember Stellaluna most distinctly of all in this case. It felt like a treat when we got to use those, rather than struggling through reading a chapter book aloud. That thing was painful.

The reason I bring this backstory into play is that I based my lesson on the joy I remember feeling as a language student in a classroom setting around picture books that we otherwise were ‘too old’ to enjoy anymore. All age groups can enjoy picture books. We just put limit on for ‘social propriety’. Anyways, the feedback I obtained from my grader stated that teenagers would most likely not enjoy using a picture book and that the lesson would be more suited for a significantly younger class.

Maybe the grader is right. Maybe teenagers would be too uppity to enjoy a picture book. Maybe I was just the weird one out who has always loved looking at picture books because I admire artists and what they do. Who knows. I was extrapolating out of lived experience.

So, I was feeling kind of neutral about the grade – it wasn’t the best, and it wasn’t the worst – it was enough to pass based off her assessment. Because I haven’t had a lot of practice in planning lessons, let alone executing them with live students, I have to defer to her understanding, and that’s okay. It was the fact that about five minutes later, I received an email from the Universiteit van Amsterdam with the grade for my Matching class for the Bachelor Archeologie. I passed the second assignment, but not at a grade I wanted for the number of hours I put into it. That was demoralizing for having read and synthasized over eighty pages of materials. The reason for the demoralization is that I failed to focus only on the tablets and instead read literally everything in the website…so missed the part of logicing my way through a few tablets and making estimations – what would happen in the field when you find an artifact and don’t have a massive research paper already attached to it. I got it in my head that if I’m being provided with material, I must use all the material.

At least the feedback at the end praised me for being willing to read all the materials…

Anyways, so neither of them were perfect grades. Not even close to my level of perfectionism that rules my life.

Driving up to the post office to ship off the last bit of our tax filings for the year, I told my SO that I want to teach English in Portugal, rather than get my archaeology degree in the Netherlands. I’ve had a month to sit on both of these directions, and honestly, opening up a tutoring shop is turning into my dream job at this stage in my life. I don’t want to deal in dead bodies. I love history. I love learning about it. I love memorizing antiques and their uses. But I don’t want to take forensics classes. I don’t want to run into skeletons at digs. I could work in the preservation rooms, that is entirely doable, but they aren’t the digs I want to be in.

UvA’s degree in Archaeology is focused on European archaeology. This is not surprising by the least. But it’s not my interest. I have my first bachelor’s degree focusing on Asian Art History and Asian History. I want to study Japanese and Chinese art – not the European middle ages. I purposefully avoided all art and history classes relevant to Europe other than one that was focusing on historical trade between East and West. I love the influence of Ukiyo-e on the Impressionists – but that time frame doesn’t readily slot into archaeology. So, I’m kind of feeling stuck. SO wants me to chase my dream, he’s giving me options, but the reality is that this degree is the store-brand-version of the degree I want. I have tried on numerous occasions to explain why this isn’t the degree I want, but he’s very set in ‘it has the word archaeology attached to it, so therefore it must be the thing you have said you wanted to do for the last 15 years I’ve known you.’ Sadly, the visa program in Japan is terrible for our economic stability. He can’t work while I’m a student – you tell me how we’re supposed to survive.

And so, I’m at a point – and thankful for that Matching class – where I’m looking at this thing critically. I love archaeology, but the field of focus for this college is not where I want to go with it. I don’t like kids all that much in groups, but I do enjoy tutoring folk in a one on one bases.

What I want now is to open a tutoring office in Portugal. I want cozy nooks, bookshelves filled with a variety of language levels, Montessori stations, and a feeling of relaxation for learning. I’m in my mid-thirties. I’ve entered into my NPC era where all that’s in my head when walking down the street is the coffee I’m looking forward to getting at the cafe. I don’t have lofty goals of turning into Indiana Jones anymore. My joints crack too much and I haven’t felt well rested since October when I had a biopsy done on my thyroid.

I was looking forward to the Archaeology degree. Please don’t get me wrong. But the longer I have to consider it and all the factors that go into obtaining it, with it not being the legit degree I actually want (Asian Archaeology), I just can’t come to grips with spending three years on the bachelors, two years on the masters, another 2-4 years on the Ph.D. in a focus that I’m just not interested in. That’s the next decade of my life in a field adjacent to what I want to work in.

Whereas, at least with TEFL, my goal there is aligned with the Editing career I’ve already been building for myself. I need to gain some more clients soon, but getting a lot of life figured out on this side of the pond has ended up taking priority. I am willing to show up to schools and provide my services there until I have ‘worked in the trenches’ long enough to be a respectable tutor who can provide valuable education in one-on-one settings if that’s what it takes. And, if the tutoring office doesn’t pan out, I can still travel and see the world and work with schools in other places too. I can see doing this for the next thirty years of my life and being content in it. Show up, watch people learn things and feel pride in that, go home, eat, plan a day trip for the weekend, watch SO play a video game. That’s where I’m at in life. Is that…is that okay?

TTA TEFL

In order to provide better accommodations for my editing clients, I’ve been working on certification in Teaching English as a Foreign Language. Why TEFL? If I’m working in manuscripts, why?

More self-published authors around the world are breaking into the publishing market. With a variety of avenues like Draft2Digital, Kobo, and Smashwords, people are able to bring their stories to the masses without getting trapped by the mainstream publishing house glass ceiling. On that note, a very large section of the market is in English. There is more frequency in writers trying to publish in English so as to have access to that market.

I am hoping that through this TEFL course, I will be more accommodating to the international clientele I wish to work with. When I have edited for clients in the past, I have been told that my way of editing is like taking an English workshop. I prefer to involve clients in live commentary and have their inputs to justify what they are trying to achieve so that I don’t strip their soul out of their work. When doing live commentary, I tend to end up explaining the logic of why one would cut up a sentence or restructure a paragraph for this or that reason.

I wanted a refresher on certain grammar also. Proofreading is not my strong suite. I am aware of this. Commas and semicolons can drive me up the wall. I wanted to work on those issues, so that I could do better by my clients.

On top of it being for client benefit, I am also hoping to provide one-on-one tutoring sessions. I need to finish my main TEFL Level 5 Certification first before taking the 30hr class on one-on-one tutoring. This one I am hoping for actual language clients, but I’m also seeing it as a potential benefit for authors. I want to communicate with them better and have more capacity to providing online video supported systems in place, such as with Zoom where I will be better prepared for speaking and leading the author through their manuscript adjustments efficiently.

Maybe that is too ambitious. Or misguided. I’m aware of the University of Chicago editing certification. That would truly benefit both myself and clients. However, the cost is a little out of my wheelhouse right now. So, I’m finding the work around that I can do. As long as there is always some progress going forward, right?

My goal right now is to have my TEFL certification finished before the end of April. From there I will have client openings for manuscripts available starting the first of June.

Christine Feehan: Fire Bound

Book five in the Sea Haven Sisters series by prolific romance writer Christine Feehan, Fire Bound follows the life of Lissa, a fire elemental and trained assassin and her developing love of Casimir.

Alright, dust of the hands, that’s a wrap folks!

Sorry.

It’s alright. I’ve been reading Feehan since 2004 and enjoyed a great many of her books. Dark Destiny was my first, and I’ve read Water Bound about three times.

But, I think the years have affected the writing. Outside of a very good standard formula that makes it easy to expect long sex scenes, quick burst of action, and minor character development to justify the static world build, the books are what they are: Walmart popular. And it sells, because it’s guaranteed what you’re getting. Hot characters, detailed spice, a happy ending.

The style has shifted, though. The early Dark series was softer in tone. I don’t know how to pin point it, but the recent years have been leaning harder into dom/sub territory mixed with a certain level of crassness. I noticed the frequency when her motorcycle series came around. It feels like she can’t quite split up her styles anymore. She can’t differentiate them outside of the minor magic rules.

I would love to see what those early 2000s held. To feel that style in her writing again. I keep going back to reading her books, but keep feeling disappointed. I like a good spice scene. I eat that up. But anymore, I’m just flipping through the chapters, jumping paragraph to paragraph – speed reading so I can have the plot. At least she’s taken to giving the female characters more time to develop to orgasm rather than just depending on the characters to poke them a couple times and use that as justification for a spectacular outcome.

One would ask why I keep going back to read her work if I don’t have rave reviews. Easy – I know what to expect. Sometimes that’s what I’m in the mood for. I don’t like chancing wasted time of writing that might be frustrating if I’m already struggling to fit reading into my schedule.

Is this one I want on my shelf? Nope. I rented the ebook through Libby and enjoyed it for an afternoon. I own Water Bound as an ebook and am happy to leave it at that. Fire Bound is just a bit more repetitive than Earth Bound in making sure the reader knows what is going on up front. That isn’t a bad thing if you read your series out of order, but for those reading in order, the amount of ‘what you missed’ needed to be taimed.

Also, her editor is getting lax on catching typos. And the over used words and repetitive words. Its a cheap paranormal romance. I shouldn’t be all that judgy, but still – the number of times ‘velvet’ was used for a particular chapter was grating.

Suggest it?

Yeah, sure. Enjoy. Maybe you’ll find it a fun little diversion.

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