I am a North American mix of Canadian Midwest/Southern California something, born in Los Angeles, raised in Winnipeg, Canada, and then back in L.A., where I attended university and worked as a newspaper journalist for several years. I have been teaching at the University of Łódź, off and on, for more than 15 years, mostly focusing on practical English classes (conversation, writing), which I truly love, and some North American and Jewish cultural studies, with an interest in migrants and refugees, and all things Yiddish. My family background is rooted in Poland and elsewhere in Central/Eastern Europe, which has made my experience in Łódź particularly special and meaningful. I have a certain love for the written word (I still can’t shake that reporter’s itch, always having a notebook and pen ready), and I try to impart some of the knowledge I gained from working with some excellent editors and mentors during my newspaper days. Add a certain street sense from being a reporter, and having lived and worked here and there abroad (U.S. Peace Corps humanitarian aid work in Albania, agricultural work in Israel, teaching in China, bookseller at the largest independent bookstore in Canada), I believe I help bring the real world into my classes, helping stimulate learning and discussion, culminating in trying to understand issues that aren’t always so easy to grasp.