It's Hump Day. The only thing incorrect with that monocer is that it implies that the rest of the week is downhill. In my week, it doesn't start going downhill until Saturday at about 4:30, you'll see why as the week continues.
First things first, Wednesday's are usually a breeze, but this one was a little 'special.' I don't know how many days in a row I will say 'This day is a little different than a normal day' before I just accept that every day is a complete surprise and test in adaptability. I started my day at 8, which is the latest I can get up all week. From 8 o' clock on, I had a series of misunderstandings. First and foremost, I must have had a stroke in my sleep because I completely lost reasoning skills. I knew I had to be at school by 9:50, and school is about 15 minutes away... naturally that led me to deduce that I couldn't leave the house any later than 8:40!! I still have yet to understand what the hell I was thinking.
ALL morning, I was running around thinking I was late. I skipped my shower, didn't have breakfast, didn't even make tea in my travel mug, and luckily I forgot my Palm pilot with my schedule in it, HAPPY WEDNESDAY! But at least I was being evaluated by my company today, which also helped me calm down. I arrived at school right in time, sat down at my desk at 8:50... the regular English teacher who helps me in class just looked at me and was like, 'Why you so early today?' I thought at first, she was mocking me for walking in with a minute to spare, so I was like, 'Yeah, I know I'm really late, but I'm on my way to class now.' By that time she was totally confused and said, 'You'll be waiting for a very long time for your class.' Then she sat me down and taught me how to tell time on the watch I've been using for five years. At that point, I hated myself a little.
It wasn't all bad because she and I had a chance to chat about her break and have an apple. I told her about Rick (our Academic Director who is a Canadian who has been teaching in Dalian for about four years) coming to my class and that I was nervous for no reason. Rick is one of the nicest guys I've ever met who always sees the best in people... for some reason that makes me so uneasy. Anytime we're not talking about education, he and I get along amazingly, and even once got into a drinking competition at a company dinner. (Picture 1) Very professional on both of our parts. I didn't even remember leaving the restaurant and I reportedly went to four other bars that evening.
More to the point, the day went pretty well. I got into the groove and had some fun with my classes today. I didn't want to teach from the book because it bored me, so we played tongue twisters and word games; I'm allowed to get away with doing anything I want in order to 'teach' and the school loves it. Rick was pleased with my class (even though it was the worst one I've done yet) and he had mostly good things to say with only a few tips. Really, I was so tired today that in retrospect now, it was all pretty much a blur. I just remember that it was all good and that I love Junior school sssssoooo much better than Primary.
After school I had to go to my office in Sanba to give my passport to April for bureaucratic purposes. Something about residence permits. Afterwords I went for some street food to see the city. In Victory Plaza (Pic. 2), which has the enormous underground mall, I remembered that they had an incense store so I bought some incense and some Chinese art. Got a pretty good deal on both and then came home to enjoy them. I practiced writing my Chinese characters, talked to Liz (High Big!) for awhile and hit the hey. I'm just dreading tomorrow when I have to go to Jiefang Primary all day. To make things better, I have been trying to get moved from that school, so I told Rick today that the school doesn't give me any help from the regular teacher (which is true) and he hit the ceiling. One of the biggest problems in the school is that none of the teachers talk to me, the school is a 45 minute walk away from my apartment and the students can be hard to manage. By the time I made it to the Sanba office in the evening, Jonah had already called the school and bitched to them about my situation and they will have a TA for my tomorrow. That'll make me popular with the other teachers! At least it's my worst school and the only one I teach at two days a week.
The joys of teaching. Cheers!
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