has it really been that long?

I haven't blogged in a very long time... I didn't realize the time was whizzing by so quickly. Life has found a new routine here, and I must admit it is nice to have a schedule again. Knowing when I have to do something and so forth. There are still a few things that I am adjusting to, for example so long without a schedule has made me much lazier than I want to be. So when I get home from school and notice that the floor needs to be vacuumed or the laundry done, I will say “Oh I will just do that tomorrow.” Of course tomorrow comes and I still don't want to be bothered. But that just takes a little bit of work to fix and a lot of self determination.

I think part of the reason why I am struggling here with writing the blog is because I have gotten into a little routine, and life for the most part is the same. I wake up at 530, shower, get dressed with hair and make up done, eat breakfast, read my scriptures and am out the door around 7. I get to school at 730 do a little finish prep. work/ check my email and then teach the classes I have that day. Monday through Thursday it is about the same. The only difference is what classes I go to. I get home around lunch, so I make something to eat and then I have the rest of the day to spend how I want. That usually means I cross-stitch and watch TV or plan lessons for the next week. It had gotten cold, but there still isn't any snow, so I haven't been hiking as much. Maybe I should.

special guest

Of course there are bright spots in my days when my friends and family skype with me or chat with me on Facebook. But for the most part life is the usual. I am loving what I am doing however.

I am working at three different schools: The BORG, HAK, and HLW. They are all in the same building which is nice, because sometimes I go from one school to the next and then back again right after each other. I really love teaching at the BORG, my mentor teacher is a great gal from Scotland. The students are all really great too. I really like working with the older classes (16-18yrs) because we get to play with the language a little more and we can banter back and forth. The younger kids (13-14) are great too, because they are still willing to do crazy stupid games with me. I teach the most classes there, working with all of the different grades most of the time.

special guests

In the HAK and the HLW I am not as regular, so I don't know the kids as well. In those classes I am usually by myself. I don't have a problem with that, but the topics I get to teach aren't as fun most of the time. I work with to classes in the HAK, almost every week. In the HLW I work with 3 different classes, but hardly ever all three in the same week it is usually just one class or maybe to, if I am there at all. Sometimes I feel like the teachers aren't using me to my full potential. As in having me talk with the class and practice their language skills, but they rather have me go over homework or supervise group work. That is ok, it is part of teaching, but not exactly what I am here for.

Halloween

There are some rules that I am supposed to follow, like not teaching alone, which is ok as long as I don't mind, but I have noticed that one of my teachers seems to be using me to teach her classes so that she has extra time off. That is absolutely not what I am there for. I will need to speak with her to make sure that she is in the building just in case there is some sort of problem. I have no idea what I am supposed to do if there was any sort of emergency while I was teaching.

Halloween

I have had some fun experiences while I have been teaching. And those are always good. The week of Halloween was a school break, and so the week before in most of my classes we did Halloween. We played pin the spider on the web, and witch's cauldron, where the kids had to get as many pieces of paper out of a bucket as they could using only a straw. I also found different Halloween themed crosswords for them to work on. With the older kids we played the who am I game. I pinned a different character of phrase on their backs and they had to figure out who they were. Then we watched a movie from the history channel about the origins of Halloween. They got a crossword to take home and enjoy over the break. Everybody really enjoyed the week.

Other little things make me smile when I think back on them. When I first introduced myself it was shortly after one of the classes had seen a video on YouTube about a lady who loves cats, I am sure you have seen it, but here watch it again.

Apparently I looked similar, at least to my students, to this lady. And when I told them I had a cat. One of the students turned around to their teacher and asked if I was her. My teacher laughed and told them no, and told me the story after word. I thought it was quite funny. Then a few weeks ago in the 8^th class I don't remember why exactly, I think it was to get their attention again, I starting saying, “I love cats, I just really really love cats.” Even though it was a different class, everyone burst out laughing. When they started getting off track again. I said, “Sorry I was just thinking about cats again.” Once again we all laughed and were able to finish the lesson.

Halloween

Overall life is good here. I am really enjoying the time, and although I am spending most of my time alone, and I am not meeting a lot of people my age. It is proving to be a wonderful experience. I was able to go to church for the first time, since getting to Austria, because it is a 2 hour train ride away, on Sunday. It was wonderful to be able to go again. All of the people I met there were super friendly and one sister offered for me to stay with her on Saturdays so I didn't have to get up so early on Sunday to make the drive. This weekend will be full of adventures in Graz, and so I will have something excited to write about. Until then :)