Saturday, October 10, 2009

A World Wide Web Tour


This week Brett and I each started teaching a new class - he introduced his students to postmodernism, I introduced mine to the wide world of blogging.

How did I introduce them to it? You ask curiously.

Ah, I'm glad you asked.

I sent them on a webquest - a guided tour of the internet - to discover some of the wonderful blogs that exist and get ideas for their own future blogs. Now, if you'll trust me, I'll lead you on a webquest of your own, involving some great travel sites and maybe a few other things...

Stop #1: "The Longest Way" video at youtube. It's a virtual video flip book of a hike across China. I guarantee it will surprise you.

Stop #2: One of our new faculty members, Carolyn Emigh, has her own Bulgaria blog called "Karolinka In and Around Bulgaria." She recently wrote about our Balkan dance classes - that's right, I'm taking Balkan dance, and my experience was not so very different from hers...

Stop #3: Sometimes I miss reading the L.A. Times Travel section back in Full of Life bakery on Sunday mornings. But then I remind myself I am getting to see the places I was reading about. But then I decide to go online and read about them anyway, because it is just so fun. This slideshow of "63 Destinations off the beaten track" is one of my favorite L.A. Times features ever.

Stop #4: My Little Paris is a fun mini-guide to all things French. A recent post claimed to share the recipe for "Chocolate Orgasm." Can't be too bad - can it? If you don't like My Little Paris, you might like David Lebovitz, an incredible culinary blogger located in Paris.

Stop #5: National Geographic Traveler is, in my opinion, the best of the dozen or so travel magazines available in the U.S. And their online version isn't so bad either. This week I discovered that one of my students, originally from Georgia (the country by Russia), who now lives in Bulgaria and is learning French, lived for the last four years in China. Can you imagine having that many experiences by 10th grade? Check out the Beijing gallery at National Geographic Traveler, if you want to walk a mile in her shoes.

Image Source: "Earth." http://www.townofbeloit.org/earth.gif. 10/10/09.

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