a busy august

august kinda snuck up on me. we all had a week break the last week of july and then jumped into august not exactly realizing what that entailed.

like all months as a part of this school, we had a birthday party and a field trip with our students.

however, this was also the end of a semester. so, like every third month, we had finals and report cards for both elementary and kindy students. ok. . . busy, but still doing ok.

i went back to trivia night for two weeks. . . won the first week, so returned to help host the next week.

there was an added all day class, for the elementary students who are off on summer break. so a new teacher arrived. someone new to welcome and show around.

add in another work dinner to welcome the new teacher. . . and a thank you for the hard work done for open class.

oh right. open class. open class, where parents get to come in and watch their child and you. . . or me. not only is it just any old class, it needs to be this well rehearsed little play where i have to be at the top of my game and so do my students.

i immediately thought of this little joke among theatre technicians about avoiding shows with kids and animals.

guess if all my 3 and 4 year olds acted accordingly. . . just guess.

overall it went pretty well. . . not terrific, but one student refused to participate- as he always does when he’s in a strange place or when strange people are present. . . and my 3 year old student had a burst of toddler syndrome. he acted like a 3 year old and his mother is upset and wants to watch back cctv to see if her son always acts that way or if he ever behaves. he’s a smart 3 year old. ahead of several other students in that class. . . but for the love! he’s fucking 3! he spent the first 3 weeks of class crying for his mom and had to be held to calm down. maybe that’s when you should’ve wondered if he was ready for school.

one of our teachers will be leaving at the beginning of september, so there’s been a push to hang out and get some last things done while he’s here. we worked in the nine inch nails concert, an evening in itaewon (complete with a beach party themed bar, and another bar hosting a zombie costume contest), and a trip to the dmz just yesterday.

in the midst of all this, our school also decided to change the internet and cable company in our apartments. so we had to finangle time to be home and allow mechanics to set us up.

one student in my 5 year old class is leaving, so hazel and i threw together a snack party on friday, her last day.

the swine flu scare has returned. parents are calling and asking what we are doing to keep their kids safe. there are a couple of cases in ansan public schools. the parents are putting a lot of pressure on the school and so the school is asking the teachers to adjust our habits. . . yet parents send their kids to school sick and some refuse to retrieve their kid even when they are coughing and have a high fever. let’s be honest. most likely, the swine flu will enter our school through a kid. my students lick tables, pick their nose, cough with open mouths, sneeze on their friends’ lunches. they are walking biohazards. . . but the solution is to ask me to avoid public places when they are busy. awesome. brilliant. strong work there parents.

oh, and about a week ago i had another small cold. . . or maybe it’s just hay fever or something since i still am blowing my nose a lot.

looking back, there was my trip to the hospital for these bizarre joint pains, possibly brought on by the extended and extreme heat and humidity. as it was explained to me, the sheath that holds the tendons in my wrist was swollen. i couldn’t bend my wrist without pain, and i couldn’t flex or grip my fingers at all. they immobilized my wrist for a couple of days and gave me some pain killers. it seemed to do the trick on my left wrist, but while it was immobile, my right wrist got sore. so i switched wrapping each wrist and for a couple days, both wrists were wrapped.

both wrists seem to be fine now, but i’m wrapping them while i sleep for good measure. randomly at the same time my knee would lock up, my ankles got sore, and even my elbows, which is what made me think it was the humidity. i’ve never had that, but it all disappeared with the anti-inflammatories i was given. it made the first two weeks of august more interesting than i would’ve liked. i’d really like to avoid that in the future.

there’s been a general fatigue running through most of the teachers. we all seem a little dead on our feet and ready for august to be over. realistically, this busy august won’t pass till the end of the first week in september. . . after we have our new schedules, new books, new students, and have written syllabuses.

it’s hard to believe all this has been only august.

it’s finally starting to cool off. . . even just a little. i was still baking a little during the dmz tour. the skies have been gray pretty often (which may be adding to the dismalness) but i can feel a coolness as evening turns. i’m looking forward to the fall.