First Full Week of School

Monday-Sunday, August 25-31, 2008

The school here is like a zoo! It is getting better, but if I had one word to describe it, it would be “Disorganized!” I am slowly getting the supplies I need, but it is all piecemeal, with no rhyme or reason as to what I get and when. Oh well. :) I have a good class of kids… just lots of different needs.

I got my hair done Thursday night. This time the girl I had did not give me a massage. I asked for a trim and got a complete cut and hair do. It wasn't what I asked for, but I can't complain because it does look really good. Next time, I will have to be very specific and firm if I just want them to trim and not "cut." :) Also it took 3 1/2 hours. They do everything like it is their only job. It is quite different from the states. It's a L'Oreal chain. I think they were trained the European way. Another thing that they offer was a membership for 2000 Yuan. With this you get a 35% discount every time you have your hair colored. Normally this is 550 Yuan. What I finally understood was that it is a “pay in advance” type of membership. You pay the 2000 Yuan and it goes into your account. Then they just deduct the 35% off the charge for the color and then deduct it from your account. When you run low or out, you just pay in advance again.

I went to a meeting on Saturday night with 2 other 10 year old teachers. This was really helpful for me and I think I have a better grasp now of what I will be teaching for Reading and Language Arts doing Reading/Writing Workshop. I felt a lot better after this late night meeting.

Today, Sunday, we had lunch with another couple a little older than us that teach at the other international school in town. We hit it off right away when we met, and we realized that the grass is not greener on the other side. We have been dealing with accepting the situation that we find ourselves in and not being angry and bitter about it. We just have to take baby steps and know that each small step forward is a blessing and a reason to rejoice. Many times it’s 2 steps forward, 3 steps back.