So school's in full swing now and my classes are shaping up pretty nicely. The grade 7's are angels so far, the grade 8's a bit of a challenge but all's well for now, and my 9's and 10's are even better than I remember from two years ago! Most of the same kids are still here, and it's like I never left, except they're a lot taller and more mature and we're having a great time. The elementary classes are going to be the toughest part of my day for sure. The grade 1's hardly speak english, the grade 2's are a NIGHTMARE, and the three's through six's are a mixed bag of good and ADHD.
Friday was a perfect re-initiation to the Chinese system, as I endured an-all day exercise in futility. I was asked on Thursday to put together a proposal for all the changes I would like to see in the computer lab. Now let me be clear, I'm perfectly happy with my lab as it is. It's a brand new lab, and I have NO complaints. But my principal asked me to put this together, so I did. I mean, really the lab is good, but it could afford to be tweaked a bit. Then Friday morning I presented my proposal to the school director and chinese computer guy and proceeded to jump through ridiculous hoops and dance like a monkey for them for the rest of the day only to find out an hour after school ended, that I'm actually getting everything I asked for in 10 days. The computers I have right now are temporary and they ordered new ones for me a couple of months ago. So my whole day on Friday was wasted running around like a chicken with her head cut off strictly for the entertainment of few little chinese men who wanted a good laugh. : P
Otherwise, the weather's been kinda crappy. The typhoon rains are hanging around a lot longer than normal, so everynight is a thunderstorm and most days are overcast and drizzly. Next weekend is a new long weekend holiday here, the mid-autumn festival. Not to be confused with the Moon Festival coming up two weeks later. I'm planning a bit of a dinner party for the long weekend with some of my chinese friends. It's not looking good that we'll have our passports back from the visa office by the October holiday week, which is too bad 'cause I was totally looking forward to a beach holiday in the Philippines. Oh! My big news...I bought a piano this weekend! Yeah! It gets delivered on Wednesday. I already have a couple of piano students, so that's great, I was hoping to teach here again this year. And yeah, so life is good here. : )