Over the last two months I have devoted most of my time to readings on the methodology of teaching English and the use of computers and technology in language teaching. I have also been working on my personal website called Nataly's ELT Cafe. It is both for students and teachers of English. The site consists of a Student's Lounge (for my university students majoring in philosophy and journalism), a Teacher's Lounge (offers diverse teaching ideas and lecture notes on ELT methodology), Useful Links, Publications, Relaxation, and Album pages. I plan to upload this website in early January and then will proceed to develop a set of blogs to accompany it. In addition, I continued to visit classes on Second Language Teaching Practice; Computers in Language Teaching and Teaching with Technology while also continuing my on-line course on English Grammar.

Besides studying I also enjoyed cultural events in Eugene. These two months seem to be filled with holiday events. It was particularly interesting to join two families for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. What fun it was to watch a big American family unpacking their presents on Christmas Day! It felt as if I was in some movie. Moreover, holiday fairs offered another great insight into American culture. Our trip to Portland (the biggest city of the state) introduced us to the metropolitan atmosphere of a big American city. So now I will have a better idea what Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations are like in the west of the country.

Nataliya Perun
nperun@uoregon.edu
nkitsera@hotmail.com