(I know my title has nothing to do with this entry, but I heard about his death yesterday before I began teaching for the day and I have to say that it really saddened me to hear of his death. Dirty Dancing was one of my favourite movies!)
Okay, I can officially say I’ve survived the 11s for this week (although, I have a feeling if it was any other teacher, they wouldn’t put up with the BS I’ve done without handing out detention...or as they call it, “catch up time”). I will try to grow a bigger backbone next week...one thing at a time.
It is really funny that in the past two days, I’ve had people ask me about my teaching experience, where the conversation began, “So, how long have you been teaching?” They clarified by saying they could tell that I’ve been teaching for some time, as I apparently have a presence about me that seems to exude that. I find it odd because I really feel like a new teacher, yet again, this year...and don’t know what this “calmness” is that they speak of that I apparently give the impression of having. One of the other girls also mentioned that I hide my stress or being tired better than some of the other girls. Meanwhile, I think I look tired all the time (though I wouldn’t be able to tell you for sure as there are NO mirrors in the school to see what I really look like...I just hope I don’t have a piece of broccoli in between my teeth most days...LOL).
After school today, I continued to stay behind a bit to see what I have to plan for next class as well as for next week. When I was leaving, I ran into the other Canadian, Melanie, and I walked her home (as she often finds her way at our house that she lovingly calls the Canadian Embassy). It was a nice walk, taking a different route and having a conversation that lead to a discussion on our plans for the October break. She mentioned she would like to go to Scotland and to London and I mentioned that I would like to join her. She is totally for it...yay!!!! I will keep you posted!
Part of the reason I’ve been staying behind at school that past couple of days is that I am REALLY trying to get back into my routine where I do all (or the majority) of my work at school so that when I get home I can relax. That was my plan last night...to sit back and watch Bones, season 1, but that plan went awry. I will, however, attempt it tonight...wish me luck.
Interesting Facts:
1) It’s a good thing I only by a small 593mL bottle of milk because, according to the label, once you open the jug, it is best to finish it in 3 days. (That reminds me, I need to make some tea).
2) There are stinging nettles here that really have a quick effect. I found out about them the hard way when I was walking one day and my hand brushed up against this plant and it felt like I had been slightly scratched by it. (But when I turned to look at what I had touched, they didn’t seem very scratchy). As I continued to walk, my hand began to get bumps – much like exaggerated mosquito bites – and they were kind of itchy. As I didn’t know what they were, I just rubbed the area with my hand sanitizer (the only thing I had on hand). Since then, I’ve been given cream to use if it happened again. [Don’t worry; the next day when I woke up, the bumps were gone].
3) I mentioned once before that there aren’t a lot of insects, here, but they do have a lot of bees and spiders. Well, today as I was finishing my dinner (steak, mushrooms, and onions...yum); Krista and I heard a weird sound in the kitchen...kind of like a weed-wacker sound. I was curious to see what was making the noise – if it was inside or out. I walked into the kitchen to find this huge, bee-looking thing (on steroids, that is) that was trying to get out of the kitchen (as I had the kitchen door open when I cooked dinner). I was scared to try and push it out the door or to “shoo” it in any sense (in case it had a stinger). Krista, my hero, eventually saw an opportunity to bring it back outside and we quickly shut and locked the back door. Yikes!!!
4) Every day at lunch, the school’s “restaurant” (I still feel weird calling it that) offers a type of pudding (a sponge cake type thing covered in custard). Today’s, for example, was chocolate and prune cake. I know...odd sounding and not a regular combination one would think of. However, strangely enough, it was delicious (especially as I asked for only a little bit of custard). That being said, my favourite dessert so far since I’ve been at the school was yesterday’s sticky toffee pudding. If you’ve never tried it before (and I hadn’t until yesterday), you’re missing out. It was DELICIOUS!!!
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