Craziest. Day. Ever!!!
Warning: This post was written only for my own sanity. Please do not feel compelled to read it. It will only bore and/or annoy you.
A recap of my day:
1. Wake up late and don't get time to practice yoga before school.
2. Receive an email that they do not have the ESL materials for our trip to Cambodia, so I will be totally winging it. I am sad to say this trip is turning into an organizational nightmare. More on that later.
3. Because I will not be at the final Cambodia meeting, I gather all of my materials and give them to Wanda to take to the meeting for me.
4. Receive 4 emails from my accountant regarding my taxes. Turns out that though I was in a lower tax bracket when I lived/worked in the states, I have to pay taxes based on my current income, which means I'm in a higher tax bracket...even though I'm not even taxed on the income I currently make because I'm overseas. So now I owe WAY more than I imagined. I also have tons of paperwork to fill out and FedEx because of expat extensions, overseas banking accounts, etc. NIGHTMARE.
5. Go to class and students ask me why I haven't graded the vocab quizzes they took last class. I tell them I'll remember that as I write their comments.
6. The IB director stops by my desk during my planning period and tells me he'd like me to go to IB training in Australia on April 18. He says he's not sure if he can make it happen, but he'd like to.
7. Get a little loony during 4th block when I realize I only have 6 comments left. Kids think their teacher is losing it.
8. Finish all comments 5 minutes before the end of the school day. I actually got teary eyed, and my very sweet Calvin Chu hugged me. He told me he was very proud of me. I promptly changed his comment.
9. My department head tells me they're sending me to Australia with my coworker and friend, Jaami (same guy I went to Macau with). Jaami and I have code names for each other, Felix and Viv. I send an email to Jaami with the following phrase in the subject line: "The Adventures of Felix and Viv"
10. Felix and I are pumped until we realize that it will be a 12 hour flight, we'll miss 5 days of school, and we leave 5 days after we return from spring break...a break that will be anything but relaxing for both of us.
11. Gather all essays to grade, comments to proofread, and books to annotate while in Borneo, and by the time I'm ready to go, I realize I've missed yoga class.
12. Go home and eat green beans. (Don't ask).
13. Take a 20 minute nap and wake up thinking how in the hell will I survive the next 4 weeks??? Here is my schedule:
15. Realize that this might actually be what people call "the prime of your life." It's exhausting, but only because it's so exciting. I love feeling like a part of the world...like I am in sync with everything around me...constantly growing...constantly moving forward...dodging the rocks in the river, trying to make it around the bend to the next peaceful stretch. It's invigorating. But it also makes my neck hurt.
15. Get a massage.
A recap of my day:
1. Wake up late and don't get time to practice yoga before school.
2. Receive an email that they do not have the ESL materials for our trip to Cambodia, so I will be totally winging it. I am sad to say this trip is turning into an organizational nightmare. More on that later.
3. Because I will not be at the final Cambodia meeting, I gather all of my materials and give them to Wanda to take to the meeting for me.
4. Receive 4 emails from my accountant regarding my taxes. Turns out that though I was in a lower tax bracket when I lived/worked in the states, I have to pay taxes based on my current income, which means I'm in a higher tax bracket...even though I'm not even taxed on the income I currently make because I'm overseas. So now I owe WAY more than I imagined. I also have tons of paperwork to fill out and FedEx because of expat extensions, overseas banking accounts, etc. NIGHTMARE.
5. Go to class and students ask me why I haven't graded the vocab quizzes they took last class. I tell them I'll remember that as I write their comments.
6. The IB director stops by my desk during my planning period and tells me he'd like me to go to IB training in Australia on April 18. He says he's not sure if he can make it happen, but he'd like to.
7. Get a little loony during 4th block when I realize I only have 6 comments left. Kids think their teacher is losing it.
8. Finish all comments 5 minutes before the end of the school day. I actually got teary eyed, and my very sweet Calvin Chu hugged me. He told me he was very proud of me. I promptly changed his comment.
9. My department head tells me they're sending me to Australia with my coworker and friend, Jaami (same guy I went to Macau with). Jaami and I have code names for each other, Felix and Viv. I send an email to Jaami with the following phrase in the subject line: "The Adventures of Felix and Viv"
10. Felix and I are pumped until we realize that it will be a 12 hour flight, we'll miss 5 days of school, and we leave 5 days after we return from spring break...a break that will be anything but relaxing for both of us.
11. Gather all essays to grade, comments to proofread, and books to annotate while in Borneo, and by the time I'm ready to go, I realize I've missed yoga class.
12. Go home and eat green beans. (Don't ask).
13. Take a 20 minute nap and wake up thinking how in the hell will I survive the next 4 weeks??? Here is my schedule:
- Wednesday 3/23 - 4:45am meet at school to get the bus to the airport and fly to Borneo for a conference. While I'm there, finish comments, grade 42 essays, read two novels, and create 2 unit plans based on the novels I just read. Also...go to the conference. Also...get a tan. Proboscis monkeys are dropping on the priority list. Bummer.
- Sunday 3/27 - 10:15pm flight arrives from Borneo. Board the bus at 11pm, get home at midnight, and be at school at 7am the next morning, ready to teach 2 novels I just read 2 days before.
- Monday 3/28 to Friday 4/2 - Teach, catch up on grading small assignments, and plan. Put together taxes and FedEx. Try to go to yoga and stay sane. Prepare for trip to Cambodia.
- Saturday 4/3 to Saturday 4/9 - 6am meet at school to get the bus to the airport and fly to Phnom Phen. Go to Killing Fields, shop for supplies for orphanage. Go to orphanage in Kamang Cham on Sunday and stay through Friday. Return to Phnom Phen. Fly home Saturday.
- Monday 4/11 to Friday 4/15 - Teach and make lesson plans for the ENTIRE following week. Hope that I can make plans that do not result in an enormous amount of grading when I return.
- Saturday 4/16 to Thursday 4/21 - Go to Adelaide, Australia for an intensive 3 day IB training workshop with Felix. 12 HOUR FLIGHT EACH WAY...ugh!
- Friday, 4/22 - Somehow show up to work and teach.
- Saturday, 4/23 - Regain sanity.
15. Realize that this might actually be what people call "the prime of your life." It's exhausting, but only because it's so exciting. I love feeling like a part of the world...like I am in sync with everything around me...constantly growing...constantly moving forward...dodging the rocks in the river, trying to make it around the bend to the next peaceful stretch. It's invigorating. But it also makes my neck hurt.
15. Get a massage.
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