Analysis of a Teacher

My teacher dresses very formally in a dress shirt, pants, and shoes every other day of the school week. He's quite a bit younger than most of my teachers and perhaps because of this he is more laid back and jokes with us; is very outgoing. He can easily tell us short stories about his family that relate to German or a topic that someone was talking about. He keeps a very organized desk and has a detailed schedule of what we're to do everyday and what he is to teach. When he thinks no one is looking or not paying attention, he takes a sip from his water bottle. Sometimes he scratches his nose, absentmindedly rubs his arm, or fiddles with a shirt cuff when he's teaching.

     In his classroom there are lots of different sized German flags on the walls or by his desk. There's a SMART Board on the wall in front of a white board, an old map of Europa (1) to the side of it, and a bunch of fotos (2) and posters of German cities and foreign exchange students on the walls. A black television is suspended from the ceiling in the corner. Deutsch-Englisch Woerterbuechern (3) are on a set of shelves, a stool is by a rolling counter by the board. An old cane with a rounded handle the teacher sometimes uses as a pointer hangs from the marker sill on the white board. A rolling cart of Apple lap tops are by his desk as well as an old overhead projector (4). You can tell he really likes teaching and his students as there's pictures of every class in each year he's taught since coming to our school. By his desk on the wall are colored pieces of paper with all the seniors he's taught in every year. Next year there will be a picture of me up there along with a small handful of others.
     I think everyone who's ever had him as a teacher will agree with me in saying: "We love you, Herr Mitchell!" (5)

KEY:
(1): Europa means Europe in German.
(2): fotos mean pictures in German. Photographs are Fotografie or Photographie.
(3): Deutsch-Englisch Woerterbuechern means German-English dictionaries in German. Deutschland is Germany. Deutsch is used both for the language and class at school, same with Englisch. oe = o umlaut and ue = u umlaut.
(4): Now, since SMART Boards were invented by Smart Technologies, overhead projectors are not widely used in most schools.
(5): Herr is Mr. in German. Frau is Mrs. or Miss in German. Also means husband and wife respectively. 

Cambodian Market

A woman with long black straight hair pulled up into a ponytail is gutting piles of fish to sell in her local town market in Cambodia. It is a busy day, with lots of people walking around. Lots are wearing jeans and brightly-colored pants with matching mid-sleeve shirts. It's a hot day so the woman decided to wear Capris and flip-flops with a light-colored mid-sleeve shirt of her own. There are bright green weighing scales next to her for her to measure out costumer's orders. She separates the tiny fish from the bigger ones by putting them in a bright red plastic bowl. A woman next to her sells whole thin chickens; already naked of their feathers. She also has her black hair off her neck and wears a pink baseball cap to keep the sun from heating her head. She wears purple Capris and flip-flops, with a matching floral shirt. There's stalls all along the way with a thin alise for people to walk through.

A Sweet 1900s Family

Left to right: Lizze (11), Matthew (43), John (5), Annie (13),

James (7), Marion (37), baby Young, Mary Anne (14), and

Briget Angela (9).

It is October 5, 1913. The Young family of Waterford House located in Waterford, Munster, Ireland are at a local photographer's studio. Since it is Octobor, it seems they would be there to take a Christmas or family photo for extended family and friends. During that time, photography was still fairly new and expensive, so it was a rare and treasured gift to recieve or have a photo taken. That's why most do not smile and are dressed in their best, or "church clothes".
     The patriarch of the mainly all-women family, Matthew Young, sits in a hard-backed cushioned, wood chair. He wears black or brown boots and a dark three-piece suit (perhaps black or brown), with a white dress shirt underneath and a bow tie. He is a Fishmonger by trade. It would seem he makes a pretty good income, as his family is able to afford all those pretty dresses for the young ladies and a nice three-piece suit for himself.
     His two middle daughters, Lizzie and Annie stand on either side of him; Lizzie on his right and Annie on his left. They and their younger sister, Briget Angela, wear their best white lace dresses with high collars and wrist-length sleeves. Their black Mary Jane's, with the low heel and rounded toe, make for a nice contrast between the white dresses and socks. Their long wavy hair has been pulled back and tied with matching ribbons of a dark color (now known as pig tails). The oldest sister, Mary Anne, stands next to her mother Marion and behind Briget Angela, a hand on her shoulder, as the younger girl sits in a chair with her hands folded in her lap and ankles crossed like a true young lady. Mary Anne is also dressed in her best mid-sleeve dress of a dark color with pointed collar and buttons. We can assume she wears the same socks and shoes as her sisters.
    The two boys, James and John stand in the front. John, the second-youngest stands between his father's legs, smiling. He wears dark boots and light shorts with a light high-collared long-sleeved shirt (now known as a turtleneck). His older brother, James stands before Annie wearing the same shirt as his brother but darker colored shorts and boots. He's grinning with his hand in his back pocket. The baby of the family, (who we don't have a name for), looks around one year of age and sits on a stool, held up by her mother. She wears dark colored boots; perhaps black or brown, and a lighter colored coat or dress. (Although I think it's the former). The children's mother, Marion, wears a floor-length dress of presumably black with a high collar and wrist-length sleeves. Her shoes are also black.
    They stand on an intricately patterned Persian rug with potted plants behind Lizze and Briget Angela. Long heavy drapes trimmed with babbles frame the wallpapered-background.

Originally posted on Flickr.com by "National Library of Ireland on The Commons". Title of the photo is "October 5, 1913". The ages, names, Matthlew's trade "Fishmonger", and where they live is all fact. Waterloo House has since been torn down.

A Day at the Beach

It is a nice sunny day. The water cools the little boy as he splashes in it with his yellow lab puppy. A person, maybe one of his parents, puts a little toy wheelbarrow over his neck. He gets down on his hands and knees on the sandy bottom of the beach and the boy looks like a carthorse but with a smile on his face. The short curly black hair is sticking to his forehead as it is wet. The puppy jumps into the wheelbarrow and sits patiently, waiting for the child to move him around the beach. But the puppy is too heavy for the little boy and he stays still.