It’s getting better

OK, my sleep patterns are becoming better regulated. Yesterday morning I went into school and played with the kids all morning. It was great to see them. One little boy had forgotten his colors. The little girl who only used to speak English is now talking non-stop - IN RUSSIAN! - and the dad of one of the new boys is on the professional soccer team in town. In fact, he shot the tying goal the other night. Now it’s really going to be exciting to go to the games. Both new boys recognize the colors, so it seems that the will pick things up quickly. I went out with them to the playground and we had lots of fun chasing each other all over the place. We had a “team-building” conference at two that went for over 3 hours. It was one of those touchy-feely pieces of crap, where you do things together and then express your thoughts about them. All it proved is that the roles on the team are not going to be changing at all and underlings will stay be afraid to voice an opinion and try new ideas. One sees immediately who the power-hungry are. When I got home, I did some texting and studying. I’ve been good about keeping it up. Everyone has noticed the improvement. Today I spent the morning shopping and got lots of things to cook in the oven....if they ever got over here and figure out how I, going to plug it in! Because so much renovation has been going on at school, they haven’t had time to send anyone over. OK, I’ll live on noodles and spaghetti sauce awhile longer. Be that as it may, I want over to school in the early afternoon and sat at lunch with all the administrators. I made a point of telling the director that she had better create a handbook for the incoming foreign teachers so that they will be able to navigate the post office, drug store, etc. I was at the post office today to mail a letter. I pressed the button on the machine for the ticket which I thought would get me to the right counter. After waiting 20 minutes, my number was called. And went up, told the lady I wanted to mail a letter, and she promptly told me I was at the wrong counter. She walked me back to the machine, pushed the button for the right ticket and made me wait another 20 minutes. Geez, it’s the first time they’ve been so bureaucratic there. But at least I saw which button I have to push now. After lunch I went down to the room to do lesson plans because the kids were still asleep and I wanted my to let my TA know what materials I needed and what she should download for me. Then I stayed long enough for the kids to wake up and surprised the ones I hadn’t seen yesterday. We ended up playing Candyland, which I brought along from the States. The older ones loved it and immediately caught one. I ended up eating supper with them before I came home. Tomorrow I’ll go in for lesson planning, but don’t think I’ll go in to see the kids. Thursday is a state holiday so I’m going to do lunch with Anna. I’m getting back into the swing of things.