Hello, My Name Is

We made it to Friday!   I don't know about you but id did not seem like it was ever going to get here.  I might be really excited for the weekend because it is a 3 day weekend over here. I hope you all have a 3 day weekend and spend some time thinking about Martin Luther King Jr and his impact on our world.

That is a weird intro to follow the title of this post.  MLK Jr. and Voldemort share nothing in common and I apologize for my lack of transition.

In case you are new around here let me tell you a little about me.  I work as a teacher and counselor at a high school in Southern California.  The school I work for has a huge population of students from Asia who have come to America to learn English and earn a high school diploma with the hopes of going to a good college in America.

I really love the population of students I work with.  One of the things I love the most is learning from them about a part of the world I have yet to visit.  I also love that we do things differently.  One of the most obvious examples is in the way they choose their names.

When they come to our school we give them the opportunity to choose a nickname or an American name.  The process by which they do this is hilarious and I want to share some of my favorite with you now.

I Love Basketball Names

Alan Iverson (as a first name)

Michael Jordan (first name)

Howard

Dwight

Kobe

I Love Pop Culture Names 

Harry Potter (again as a first name)

Beyoncé

I Found A Website of Popular Baby Names From 1920

Mavis (beacon teaches typing)

Rita

Shirley

Henry

Mabel

I Want To Be Original Names

Quintella

Kalyn (to be pronounced KEElin)

Afra

Po

Ethnicity Ambiguous Names

Tores

Jamile

Quintella (again)

Rico

Arturo and Esmi (they are brother and sister. To be fair they lived in Spain for a long time)

The Terrifying Names

Lucifer

I Only Know a Few Words In English Names

Tree

Blue

Bunny

April

Yoyo

Twitter (Just Kidding, but really it is bound to happen soon)

I had a conversation with one of my classes last year about their names and asked where they came from.  The categories above are pretty much what they told me.  I had the funniest image in my mind and wanted a brave student to go to the office and ask for a name change.

I thought it would be hilarious if one of my students went into the office and said they wanted to change their name to Voldemort, totally serious and dead faced.  I work at a Christian school and I know how that would play out.  For some reason I just thought it would be the funniest thing in the world.  I pictured him going to class and having his name on the roster as Voldemort and his teachers calling him "The One Who Must Not Be Named."

I have a student who has accept this challenge, but has yet to work up the courage to do anything about it.  I have faith that by the end of the year Voldemort will attend my school.

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And now I would like to introduce you to one of my first blog friends Brittany from Blissfully Britt.

Britt is a a college student in Minnesota freezing her booty off right now. She didn't tell me that I am just guessing that anyone who lives in Minnesota is always cold.

If you want to read more about her booty check out her post Getting Cheeky With It (sorry for the awkward transition!) Also read her post about her cute pup getting older,  Growing Pains.

And now she will tell you a little about herself and why you should be blog friends.

 

Where have you traveled to? What has been your favorite place and why?

 

I love love love Chicago. I actually only went there for the first time a few years ago but I now I go at least twice a year. My boyfriend is from there so that may have something to do with it. But I really do just love everything about the city. It such a beautiful place, the food is the best around, and there is so much to do. Outside of the US though, Madrid, Spain. The Best. 

 

Do you have a fury friend? Tell us about them. (He is super cute by the way)

 

In June, on a whim my boyfriend and I drove four hours away to pick out our baby. We had gotten the okay from my mom the night before (we live with her) and I wasn't risking her changing her mind so off we went the next morning. We fell in love with our little guy because he was so playful and the fluffiest thing ever. He is the sweetest little Bichon Poodle and we named him Colby Jack :) Yes, like the cheese. 

 

What song is your jam right now? 

 

On any given day the answer to this would be anything by Justin Timberlake, but to change it up I am going to go with All Of Me by John Legend. Ever heard of it? If not go listen now! It is the sweetest song ever and makes me so happy. 

 

What do you love about blogging?

 

I am about to cliche here but honestly it is so true. The best part about blogging is the friendships that come out of it. But aside from that I just enjoy writing typing my thoughts and if I want to I am able to go back and look at what was going on at a certain point in time. 

 

Favorite Movie, TV show, book?

 

Favorites are always so hard for me. How do you just pick one? My all time favorite movie is How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days. But I also love The Bourne Trilogy, Spider-Man, and What A Girl Wants. For TV shows I would have to go with Parenthood, Numbers, White Collar and Brothers & Sisters. 

You can follow Britt on Twitter, GFC, or Instagram