The Calm After the Storm

Whew. Made it.

The last several weeks of term were a crazy ride. I was, in the famous words of my favourite singer Paul Hewson, Running to Stand Still. Things got really hectic with exams and all. I thought exams would make things easier as, for a week, all I had to do was supervise exams and mark. What I didn't bank on was the fact that I'd have about 100 hours of marking to do. Damn! Then I had to enter all these marks and comments into their reports. Damn! Then I had two parents nights! DAMN! Then I had my regular classes that I had to plan for, mark, and keep focused while I had all the exam marking and report writing to do! DUH-AMN! Did I mention all the Christmas stuff?

Whew. I was one tired puppy last Friday.

The last week we also had a choir service that ran until 9:00 pm on Tuesday. That was quite impressive actually. Then we had a staff get dinner where we had to pay for our food but, get this, the school paid for our drinks! There was a Karaoke machine involved and I got the party started with a smoking version of Tom Jones' Sex Bomb. It was a great time. These teachers really know how to have a good time!

Then Saturday night the Sports department went out for their annual "Hootenany." This is traditionally held on the last Thursday of term and involves much more drinking and revellery. Friday was only a half day with an assembly, parties for the kids, and then a staff lunch which involved yes...more food and wine.

I came home at 4:30, slept until 7:30 then went to bed at midnight only to wake up at 12:00 on Saturday.

Things have gone well over all this term. I'm still finding my feet as a teacher but that's par for the course I suppose. I've run into problems with classroom management of all things - which I really didn't expect. It's been difficult to get the kids to behave and I actually got called into the office about it. I think I turned a major corner in the last week as I instituted a system of warnings and consequences and was ruthless with my insistence that they be respected. The kids turned around quite quickly. Now I just have to keep consistent next year.

Babagenouche and I had our annual Christmas bash and it was a real success. We had a bunch of people over on Saturday night and had a rip roaring good time. We got to meet the downstairs neighbours as well as they came up to party it up.

Overall things are going really well. I feel much more satisfied and relaxed this year. I feel like I've settled into the country to a large degree. It's nice to go places and know where you are and not be constantly confused and disoriented. Also, Gen and I are both working so we can actually pay our bills for the first time in 2 years. This makes life a lot more relaxing.

I'll miss everyone in Canada over Christmas though.

Oh...if you're reading this feel free to live a comment so I know you're out there damn you!