Oh B*****ks

Sorry I haven't been around recently but things have got a little hectic.

On the DELTA front, my written work last week was ok but my actual teaching was a disaster - I'm beginning to think I can't do this but I'll keep persevering. I have another background assignment and lesson to teach this week and I'm only part way through it. I hope to get the majority done tomorrow.

News about the flat. I went into the school today to ask the Director what was happening. It seems the school hasn't actually confirmed with the landlord when I have to leave! According to the lease I have to be out on Wednesday (which is also the day I have my DELTA observed lesson) but the director 'is sure the landlord will give us a few days more'. He was also incredibly surprised when I told him he'd have to get someone in to pack up the kitchen. He seems to think I'm going to do it, because, hey! I don't have anything better to do with my weekend, do I? There seem to be all sorts of plans afoot to move people around but, of course, no-one is being told anything. Remember, we are mushrooms information is power and why would mushrooms need to know anything. Moving home is in the top three of stressful life events and being told 'don't worry' just adds to that stress.

My feelings about the school are not positive at the moment. It is another example of them cocking-up but not having to deal with the consequences. I'll bet the director isn't having broken sleep worrying about where he's going to be living in three days time.

Nothing really

Ummm what to talk about today?

Wrote another 700 words today but I'm not sure they are making sense, I'll have to print the whole lot off and read it over a cup of tea tomorrow.

The DELTA group had it's photo taken today - no warning so we looked kind of scruffy but I'd had a shower, washed my my hair and put clean clothes on as I was teaching today so I only looked mildly hideous (makes it sound like I don't do these things if I'm not teaching and that's sooo not true - I only don't do those things if I'm not going out of the flat).

Taught a vocabulary lesson this evening. It wasn't supposed to be vocab as such but that's how it ended up - I love organic lessons, that's when we really respond to student needs and interests.

Had a bolognese for dinner (with bread not pasta).

Going to bed soon.

Thinking

Hmmm... the weekend is rapidly drawing to a close and what have I done?

Well, I've caught up on the housework, I now have clean clothes to wear and no washing up waiting for me. I've done a little food shopping so I'll be having breakfast tomorrow at least. Also I've done some writing (about 1,000 words with 1,000 to go). I've run out of inspiration and enthusiasm but, no doubt, it'll all come back tomorrow when the deadline creeps up on me.

And I've slept, lots. I can't remember being so tired. And it's not physical, it's mental tiredness. My concentration is shot to pieces. I keep drifting off, thinking about having to move flat, where I'm going to end up (it won't be as good as where I am at the moment), what I'm going to be teaching this week, what my teaching timetable will be this year, my current writing assignment, next written assignment, where I'll go after BsAs. Trouble is, none of it is particularly productive. I'm kind of back to stream of consciousness thinking rather than organised thinking.

Oh well.

Weekend plans

Ah Friday night, the sweetest time of the week. The knowledge that I don't have to get up tomorrow morning. That I don't have to drag my sorry carcase across town to an input session. That I don't have to pretend to be intelligent on a Saturday. Bliss.

We were supposed to be DELTA-ing tomorrow but we've rearranged the schedule so that we have a complete weekend. Now don't you be thinking I won't have anything to do because I will. Apart from the normal housework things of washing, cooking, tidying up etc. I also have to write 2,500 words on using authentic materials for listening, plan the lesson and plan a couple of others leading up to it.

Finally had some news on the flat. The landlord definitely wants it bad, preferably by the end of the month (ie 28th Feb). The school is looking for somewhere else for me to live (having been told that there was very little around I asked what the contingency plan was... the answer "we will find somewhere" - not that reassuring) and it was suggested that maybe I would like to start packing! Note, this isn't just my stuff but the whole flat, as all the furniture belongs to the school and that includes all the kitchen equipment. I'm trying to remember the last time I had to pack up a house and move - I'm damn sure it took longer than a few hours.

However, after a mini-rant to L earlier on today, I'm back to not letting it worry me (much). Things will get sorted out. Or else.

Observations

I had an observed lesson today. Hmmmm, don't know if it went well or not. I managed to do all the things in my lesson plan in the order that they were supposed to happen but... was I teaching the students or teaching the plan.

I need to reflect on it a little more. I get feedback tomorrow, wish me luck.

Teeth

Went to the dentist today. He fixed my tooth and told me I suffer from night grinding (sounds good but...). According to him, the reason my front teeth are damaged is because I grind them in my sleep. Being asleep, I'm not aware of this and nobody I've ever slept with has mentioned it. Bruxism (the technical term) has a variety of causes but the most common is stress - what a surprise.

The treatment for bruxism is a bite guard, to be worn at night while sleeping (obviously). I'd have to have a mould made at the dentists and that gets sent away for the guard to be made - somewhat like the braces you have to straighten your teeth. Unfortunately this is not covered by my health insurance and will cost 200 pesos.

I'm in two minds about whether to get one. I have been thinking about getting my teeth properly straightened (really it's only two teeth that are out of line) and I don't want to spend money on this if I go ahead with the braces.

What do you think?

Open mindedness

Don't have a lot to say today. Up early as usual, good input sessions. Planned a couple of lessons, taught this evening - not so good but heyyyy... Had to explain the difference between a partner and a lover (as regards to a relationship) to my class this evening. The eighteen year old was fascinated by it and decided that he had two lovers, everyone knew he was fibbing and teased him about it. Interestingly, for a catholic country that still outlaws abortion, Argentines are fairly open about sexual matters (not that we discuss them in any depth).

Legs and arms still aching from the gym and I'm going again tomorrow. Not teaching tomorrow so I'll have to get a lot of reading and writing done. Being observed on Thursday so I've got to write a proper lesson plan (gulp).

Can't think of anything else to say.

Firsts

Two firsts today. Ok, not technically firsts but restarts after a long break.

Number one was a return to the gym. Oh my aching muscles. I was fine all day until I got home. You know how it is, you get home, you know you can relax (a little, still shedloads of reading to do) and the body bites back. Now the thighs are whining about the work they've had to do, now the arms are whinging and claiming to be too weak to carry anything. Worst of all, my calf muscles have decided to go on strike - I'm walking like Albert Steptoe at the moment.

Number two was a return to the classroom - this time as a teacher. It was a team effort and I wasn't up for too long but, oh dear... I spoke much too fast, demanded much too much and drew a complete blank when trying to explain things. I have an hour to myself tomorrow so I'm sure things will get better. It's just hard adjusting to lower levels after teaching such high levels all last year.

Also I've decided what I'm going to do about for the writing I have to do. I'm happy with the decision and that's lifted a weight off my shoulders.

Finally, the day after tomorrow is Valentine's Day. I'm not expecting anything but those of you with a sweetheart - DON'T FORGET!

Starting Over

Following this week's study, I've re-read my assignments from the Milan DELTA and I can see where I went wrong. I've also re-read the (few) comments I received on them from the tutor and I can see that they really didn't address the issues. The comments were well meant and probably the best the tutor could do at that time given his lack of experience (my tutor wasn't the course leader but someone who was training up).

I really wish I didn't have to do so much writing again and I've been putting it off but experience has shown me that when I don't get something the first time, a repetition sticks. So this week I'll be writing a listening background assignment. In all honesty I'll probably tweak the one I wrote two years ago to see if I've got the message (and I'll have to do a new lesson plan etc.) and then it's on with a vocabulary one. I haven't written a vocabulary assignment before so that'll be something new.

New regime starts tomorrow: writing and gym in the morning, studying in the afternoons and teaching in the evenings. Do not expect coherence from me for the next three weeks (after which I will collapse in a quivering heap and expect hugs and kisses from everyone).

Sleep

I am soooo tired and I don't know why.

It could be because I've had to get up early all this week - well, at 8am and only since Wednesday BUT including today - but somehow I doubt it.

It could be because I've been back in the classroom as a student and my head is buzzing with all sorts of new(ish) information - a possibility as my brain is a weak under-used organ.

It could be because it's hot and humid again here and I keep waking up in the middle of the night with a drenched pillow - a distinct possibility.

It could be the disturbing dreams I've been having (no, I'm not going into details, suffice to say men were involved) - could this be linked to the previous point?

Any way, today I reinstated the siesta. Got home at 3pm, showered and slept until 6pm. It's now 10:30pm (don't you like the precision) and I'm thinking of heading back to bed. What do you think?

Dogs

Dogs are quite important here in BsAs. Many people have them and an industry has grown up around looking after them. It's fairly routine to see dog-walkers with around eight to twelve pooches attached to their belt. Have a look here for more details.

The downside of this is, of course, the debris said dogs leave behind. Most pavements in BsAs are covered in doggy debris, in fact it's had to walk more than a couple of metres without encountering some and this, combined with poorly maintained pavements, makes walking around the city a little bit of a challenge.

Today I saw a few dog related incidents.

Number one, on the way into the school. A man watching his alsatian pooping on the corner outside a cafe. It was obvious that the man had no intention of hanging around and clearing up the mess When the dog had finished. However he hadn't anticipated another man who got out of his parked car (maybe to have breakfast in the cafe) and shouted at him to clear away the mess. The last I saw was the first man trying to punt the debris into the gutter without actually touching it with his trainers (somewhat impossible, wouldn't you say?) while the second man looked on.

Number two, on the way home. A slightly older man walking a poodle in a harness. The dog was desperate to squat and do it's business. The man was blithely unaware of this and thus dragging the dog along in a squatting position. Dogs do slide.

Number three, also on the way home. At the junction of two fairly busy roads, by the underground and outside a corner cafe (which, of course, has tables and chairs constricting the pavement), a dog stretched out for a nap. And people stepped over it and around it (including me).

Sometimes I envy them (but not often).

Spaken Sie Deutch?

Day two of the course is over and my head is about to explode. All the stuff I read and wrote about a couple of years ago is coming back to me (but not in enough detail) and I'm getting new stuff all the time.

I'm still uncertain about how much it would be appropriate for me to do (Should I do a practice background assignment? should I push to do as much teaching practice as the others or take a step back? That sort of thing.) Yes, I'm paying as much as the others but I've got most of my work out of the way and I'm not sure I want to push myself as hard as they will have to. I know I need to talk to the tutors about it - soon, I promise.

Yesterday, we listened to a recording of a conversation in German and had to do various things which included identifying the reason for the conversation. As you know I don't speak German (actually at the moment I can barely speak English) but I was able to work out that it was someone opening a bank account! I am a genius. All those years of wandering around foreign countries, not able to speak the language but still communicating has obviously paid off. Now, if only I could learn to speak a language (any language would do but Italian or Spanish for preference).

In one way it's exciting to be learning again, my brain is fizzing and, as I said, things are coming back to me but, my god, am I tired.

PS I apologise to any German speakers for the title, as I said I don't speak German!

It's begun.

Day one is over - and it was good.

We have a timetable so we know what we're going to do and when we're going to do it. All the vital bits are there including tutorials (something that was missing from the previous course) and designated feedback sessions (rather than peer feedback given immediately after teaching). This one feels organised and professional.

I've offered my previous work as object lessons in what not to do and for the others to pull apart and put back together again. The group feels cohesive (although this is only day one and who knows what might happen under stress) which is good seeing as some of us only met today. We had lunch together and swapped stories. Found a few 'small world' moments. Finished off the day with cake and sprite as it was one of the tutors birthday on Monday (should there be an apostrophe? If so, where should it go?).

On the way home I bought a handbag.

I am happy.

Tooth and nail

Interesting day today.

Started off lovely - I woke up to brilliant sunshine and a cool breeze - it reminded me of being on holiday in Spain. Did a shedload of cooking this morning - a chicken curry (much better than my last attempt but with room for improvement: many thanks for the spices, Christian) and the most ginormous bolognese (five meals worth) - and all this before going to work at 1pm. The afternoon wasn't so good. Not bad as such but slow.

Umm... have you ever had a dream (or nightmare) in which your teeth split (generally the front of the tooth from the back)? I had it a few times when I was a teenager and it is supposed to signify either that you are telling lies or that someone close to you is ill or being hurt. I remember such dreams as horrifying. Not as horrifying however as it happening in real life. Like it did to me. Today.

Walking downstairs at school minding my own business (actually picking at my teeth with my little finger nail - I know, disgusting habit, so sue me) and I felt something loose under the nail. At first I thought I'd broken the nail but when I looked, the nail was intact. The tooth, however, wasn't.

It's the front left one and most of the bottom edge has gone (you may remember I had a similar problem with the front right one). It doesn't hurt but it does annoy me. I have an appointment for a week Wednesday. It isn't with the original dentist Dr A because he did such a lousy job but with Dr S at the same practice (who did a wonderful job correcting the work done by Dr A). Let's hope Dr S can put this one back together.

Holidays

Ah me...

I went back to work today, very peculiar. I was the only teacher in this morning but we weren't too busy - I had time to do a little reading as well as some level testing.

Everyone else (well the full time/regulars) was in this afternoon so there was a lot of 'how was your holiday?', 'what did you do?', 'where did you go?' as well as more level testing and a little bit of inventory-ing.

I finished at 4:30pm and came home.

Not much else to say except 'We are the champions, my friend' (you know who I mean!)

Back to work

Today was the last day of my holiday... where did all the time go?

I did manage to do the major things on my 'To Do' list and a fair few of the minor but there are odds and ends left over. Mind you, at least that'll give me something to do at the weekends!

Ring

I have had the quietest Friday on record - apart, that is, from cold calls. For some reason my telephone number is doing the rounds. It rings at 10am, it rings again at 11:15am and yet again at 4:30pm. Each time the caller spoke in Spanish even though I answer the call 'Hello?' - it's like they don't actually hear me. Generally I have to interrupt them to say 'No hablo espanol' at which point generally they put the phone down (without even saying sorry/excuse me/ok). If I don't answer the call a message is left on the answerphone, I get all excited - and for nothing! In addition, sometimes they don't even use real people but an automatic system. This annoys me the most. I have got into the habit of just saying 'Do you speak English?' and 'I have absolutely no idea what you are saying' before just putting the phone down.

So if you call me (unlikely I know) and I seem abrupt, it's probably because I've already had several cold calls that day.

Visitor

I've just had the fright of my life. I was sitting here at the computer watching an episode of Enterprise when a huge brown insect flew into the room and landed on my desk. Now, as you may know, I'm not too fond of flying insects, moths give me the heebie geebies but I've more or less got that under control, insects bigger than the average moth and flying faster and more erratically however... swearing does occur (although, interestingly, I don't scream).

Luckily I had a can of insect killer left here from my parents visit (they really didn't get on with the mozzies) so I ran to the kitchen, grabbed it and started chasing the insect around the living room. When it wasn't flying, it was running really, really, really quickly and I realised I had a cockroach - an Asian cockroach.

Now, let me put this into perspective. This insect was about 2 inches (5cm) long, brown and SCARY. I think I emptied half the can at it. It kept disappearing under one piece of furniture and reappearing somewhere else. And it kept coming towards me (I think the sweat attracted it). Eventually the spray got to it because it was flipped onto its back and couldn't right itself. I put a glass over it (thus getting a really close up and personal look) and lifted it using cardboard as a base. It didn't move (although the legs did seem to start kicking again) and I managed to throw it out of the window. Point of interest: don't stamp on cockroaches - the females carry eggs which are released into the flooring where they will hatch giving you a cockroach infestation.

I've just had a quick read up and it seems that they are attracted to bright lights and are good flyers - hence arriving here on the seventh floor. They are mostly active... well it seems anytime of the year with global warming.

I'm feeling all itchy and my windows are now shut.

Niggles

I had an unsettling telephone call yesterday. The man who owns the flat I live in called about the damage done by a leak in the bathroom of the flat upstairs. This happened several months ago and he wanted to know if everything was now dry so that it could be repainted. He also wanted access to the flat so that he could measure up to fit something. I don't have a problem with this and told him he could get the keys from the school at any time (I've met him and he's a very nice man).

The unsettling part was when he asked me when I was leaving. At first he misheard my 'December' for 'Sunday' but once I repeated it he sounded somewhat surprised and told me the lease on the flat ends in February. I told him he'd have to talk to the school about it (the lease is between the school and the landlord). I went into the school today to raise this with the Director who, unfortunately, had met someone at the airport very early this morning and wasn't available. It also wasn't clear if he'd be in tomorrow. I can't say I'm happy with this situation. I had a quick look at the contract and it does say it's until 28/2/07 (it's in Spanish so I don't know if there's any mechanism for extending the contract).

What concerns me is the surprise the landlord displayed which, coupled with his intention to come in and measure up to fit something, would indicate that he assumed the flat would be handed back no later than the end of February. I was speaking with a couple of my colleagues and one, who had just popped in to say hello was informed by the cleaner and receptionist that a new flatmate is arriving tomorrow. Nobody in management had bothered to pass on this news and they have all our email addresses as well as our telephone numbers. That colleague was hoping to move into a single person flat in March but has heard that a couple who've just arrived have been put in that flat.

Finally, it seems that we return to work next Monday (5th February) and we're expected to be level testing on Monday and Tuesday. The only information I've had is from the DoS of the other school - but hey, we're mushrooms and, it seems, completely disposable. L, U and myself will be doing the DELTA for the remainder of February but a conversation was overheard in which it was stated that we could do the DELTA input sessions and then return to our school to do testing - because we don't need a life, do we?

I have to say the lack of organisation and care for people teaching in the school is beginning to annoy me. The people in charge are so firmly embedded in, they seem to have forgotten what it's like not to have family and friends around you. I've always known that teachers on time-limited contracts are seen as numbers to be played around with. This has happened in all the schools I've taught in but this particular one is by far the worst.

I'm hoping all this is going to be resolved easily and without causing me any hassle but (in light of my experience) I'm not holding my breath. One thing I have decided though, is that I'm not going to worry about it. The school can sort it out and if I don't like the options I may well stamp my foot!