It's not that I've been particularly busy recently; it's just that I haven't felt bloggy. But I got inspired again this weekend, so here's the long and short of the last couple of weeks.
Long:
The leadership retreat two weeks ago was my last hurrah with my year 11 students. With beautiful, cool weather up in the hills around Bandung, it almost felt like a mini-vacation. We teachers had almost no supervising responsibilities since the programs were run by an outside organization, so we were free to enjoy each other's company or hang out with the kids. We watched them earning points to eat supper by participating in team-building activities (don't worry; no one starved), and I got to slip out of teacher mode and just enjoy being with my students one last time.
Since I've said goodbye to the year 11 kids, I've been in a weird transitional time for a couple of months until I get a new batch of year 11 students. Last year, I taught 8th graders, but this year I'm teaching year 10 English and Study Skills. It's a good opportunity to get to know them before January, and it doesn't hurt that my teaching schedule is a bit lighter (no classes on Mondays or Fridays), which gives me some time to reflect on last year and plan better for next year.
Last week was a snore. Karla was out of town about half the week, and Carol was gone the whole week, so I had no one to bug, and hardly any classes to teach. I compensated by taking the morning off to go to the bank on Friday. I tried going on Monday, but apparently they won't let me take money out of my U.S. dollar account after 2pm. (I asked about four times just to make sure.) It only takes 5 or so minutes to walk to the bank, but I was drenched in sweat by the time I got there. Ick. Thank goodness for air conditioning.
I've had a nasty cold. I'm mostly over it now, but it's been a slower recovery than I expected. I've consumed mountains of tissue, cups and cups of tea, a whole bottle of hand sanitizer, plenty of cold medicine, and hours of extra sleep, but I'm still croaky, and it feels like someone's driving nails into my sinuses when I bend over. On the bright side, one of my students remarked that my voice sounds nicer when I'm congested. Thanks?
Saturday I went to yoga class at my gym for the first time in a couple of months. I always find yoga class vaguely amusing, but I was welcomed back with a friendly "Apa kabar?" (How are you?) from our instructor, whose black mesh shirt and navy swish-swish pants I know so well. I also got a "We haven't seen you in a while" from the guy next me who was wearing a blue striped polo, white man-capris, and a red terrycloth headband. Ok, maybe the clothing is part of the reason I find yoga funny, so in the interest of descriptive fairness, I wore my teal yoga pants and my black cotton/spandex t-shirt.
I also worked up enough courage to get a haircut on Saturday. I've only been to a salon twice now in Indonesia. I have this mistaken idea that no hairdresser in Indonesia knows how to deal with curliness, and I choose to ignore the fact that my hair is very forgiving of imperfect haircuts. Mostly, it's the language barrier that keeps me away from Indonesian scissors, but I haven't actually had a bad experience yet. And this time? Success.
Short:
I have 120 new 10th grader names to learn, and I'm not very motivated. I think I miss my 11th graders.
The funniest moment of my weekend was hearing a Nigerian imitate JFK's Massachusetts accent in "Ask not what your country can do for you."
I conquered the stubborn gradebook software and successfully entered all my grades and comments last week.
We had an American-style Thanksgiving lunch at church yesterday. Yum!
My current bedtime reading is The Magician's Nephew.
I got to teach people how to play euchre, and I'm hoping we can start a regular euchre-playing evening.
I accidentally bought chunky peanut butter last time I was at the grocery story.
My computer's power cord is shot. Likewise the battery. Lethal combination.
Work is eating up two Saturdays this month, so less yoga fun for me.
I've started mentally packing to go home and making a list of everything I want to bring back with me.
I just had three year 11 students who are leaving IPEKA to pursue studies elsewhere come in to say goodbye. Did I mention that I miss them?
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