nephew's 1st birthday, busy schedule, and a lot of work
maybe it's just me, but i feel like August has been dragged out because of all the Sundays we had this month... i feel like September should already be here, but find that there are still a couple of days in this month. :P
anyway, this month sure has been eventful for me both in work and leisure. as far as my teaching goes, i had actually two responsibilities this month: teaching my regular morning classes and arranging this month's lessons for our Monday playgroup. i was originally in charge of October (had a Halloween theme planed out and everything!) until the mom who was in charge of August flaked and no one else could pick up her slack. i shouldn't be so judgmental 'cause she is a nice person and she was moving house this month, but seriously, would it be so much to ask for her to at least try and attempt to plan something that is only 4 times a month...?? :P i mean, it doesn't have to be perfect or anything as long as the kids are having fun, ya know?? i guess i'm so used to planning lessons anyway that i can't understand why someone wouldn't be able to do what i do...
so, my basic routine for most of this month was as follows:
7:30 wake up and shower
8:00 do laundry and get Kay ready to go
8:30~9:30 head on out depending on what day it was
9:30-10:30 commute to where ever i teach class that day
10:30-11:30 teach
11:30-1:30 wind-down and have lunch with Kay
1:30-3:30 run errands and commute back home
3:30-6:00 writing up class reviews, answering e-mails, and generally work on the comp.
6:00-7:00 make something for dinner or get take-out (had a lot of the latter this month:...)
7:00-8:00 dinner with Kay
8:00-8:30 give Kay a bath
8:30-9:00 bedtime routine with Kay
9:00-11:30 work on lesson plans, curriculum, flashcards, props for class, etc.
11:30-12:00 get ready for bed
that was pretty much every day except for the 8th, 20th, 21st, 26-28th, and if nothing comes up, the 31st of this month. :) yea. now you know why i haven't posted much. if i have time like now, it's because i've done a lot of extra pre-planning beforehand.
even if i only had a handful of days off this month, i was lucky enough to get the 26-28th off. well, technically, it was the evening of the 26th through the afternoon of the 28th, so a day and a half in total... :P i say i was lucky, because my brother in-law and nephew's birthdays were on the 26th and 27th respectively. :D both my sister and i thought it was really divine intervention that came up with such a great coincidence! naturally, i jumped at the chance of going down to see them and also was very happy to be able to celebrate my nephew's 1st birthday! :D Saito-san couldn't make the trip down since most of it was during the weekdays, and he has been up to his eyeballs in new clients and interviews for potential translators lately.
when i got off the high speed, i was surprised that i wasn't jumping for joy or even remotely relaxed. i mean, wasn't this suppose to be a vacation?? i guess i'd been wound up so tight in Taipei that i was kinda stuck. :/ i didn't really start to relax or unwind until the 27th when my sister and brother in-law took Kay and i out driving around Tainan and stuffing ourselves silly with omnominal food! i found out later that i gained 1 kilo in just 1 day with them ^_^;; everything is just sooo good that you just can't help stuffing yourself silly :P
as much as i wanted to really let go and relax the whole time, i still had my classes to work on. before i came down, i had just taken on an 8 kid class (all 3-4 yo) that starts on Sept. 2nd. it's the biggest class that i've taken on since i started teaching again, and i knew that i would have to create some good activities and games for those 8 kids. so, i ended up taking my print-outs, art supplies, and my handy dandy roll of "laminating film" (loosely translated) to try and put a dent on the mountain of flashcards i needed to make for that class. i was only able to stop, because i'd used up all the laminating film that i'd brought along. :/ so basically, i played during the day and worked at night, so naturally, i didn't feel all that rested when i came back home to Taipei. ^_^;; if i get a chance to next time (which will probably be Christmas), i'm going to stay an extra day. :)
anyway, i'll leave you with the photos(just keep clicking next) from my trip and a few vids my sis and i took while we were there :D enjoy!
Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing
Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing
Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing
Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing
Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing
Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing