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Life of Charles
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First Breath of Air
I was born in the Washington D.C. area eight days after the Woodstock music festival. -
Entered the D.C. Public Schools
In the D.C. public schools I was a minority. The schools there were Predominately black, but in my area (the embassy district) there were also children from any place you can imagine. I began to understand how diverse my world was. I heard different languages every day, and found friends of many cultures. -
Parental Divorce!
My parents divorce would mix things up for quite a few years. -
Beginning of The Ping Pong Period
Once my parents had divorced, my mother had moved to New Mexico, while my father stayed in the D.C. area, I became a ping pong ball. I'm shown here waiting for the train In Lamy N.M. I don't know which way I was going at the time of the photo, but traveling back and forth as a ping pong ball I got to experience two radically different cultures. [further details of this event are available on my PDF description] -
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The Ping Pong Period
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First Exposure to a Foreign Language: Spanish
In high school I was required to take a foreign language and since my mother was living in Santa Fe, the natural choice was Spanish. I took two semesters in high school and afterword though I had retained very little, but soon found out that I had in fact learned some of the language. Our Spanish teacher gave us extra credit for watching a flamenco performance and as it turned out Maria Benitez was performing in Washington. Maria is well known in New Mexico but I first saw her on the East Cost. -
Dropped Out of College and Traveled to Mexico
My first excursion out of the U.S. and has left me wanting more travel ever since. I dropped out of college at UNM, loaded a backpack, and left the United states just as we were going to war with Iraq (the first time). I stayed in Chihuahua, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico city, and ran out of travel cash on the southern coast around Puerto Escondido. [further details of this event are available on my PDF description] -
Began Living in Abiquiu NM
Every town has its own unique personality and to understand the culture of Northern New Mexico it is good to experience life in the little towns in this state. I don't feel like I would have such a connection to New Mexico without my experiences in Abiquiu, Villanueva, and Medanales. -
Began Living in Villanueva NM
Every town has its own unique personality and to understand the culture of Northern New Mexico it is good to experience life in the little towns in this state. I don't feel like I would have such a connection to New Mexico without my experiences in Abiquiu, Villanueva, and Medanales. -
Began Living in Medanales NM
Every town has its own unique personality and to understand the culture of Northern New Mexico it is good to experience life in the little towns in this state. I don't feel like I would have such a connection to New Mexico without my experiences in Abiquiu, Villanueva, and Medanales. -
Graduated from UNM
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Began self study of Kanji
I have always been fascinated with Asian written language, but at this point I began committing the characters to memory in earnest. I began creating my own flash cards for Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana (Japanese language characters). The Kanji characters alone number around 1,800 with various modifications. There seems to be an infinite number of ways to express yourself in the Japanese language. -
I Begin TESOL Program Starting With EDUC-261
A new step toward language education across cultures.
