a chance to breathe...
So much to do and no time to do it in... such is the story of my life... ^^
Just finished a 7 day marathon of teacher training up north. It was hard - getting up at 6am, leaving at 7am, arriving at 8:15 and then teaching the same class of teachers - local Chinese English teachers from the district - from 8:30 to 2:30. Even with an hour and a half for lunch that's still 4.5 hours a day with the same people - it's hard to plan for that amount of time, keep it interesting and keep it motivating. You can't let up, can't slow down, and when it's over - you immediately start planning for the next day.
See, I had topics, but no lessons. So I spent my days teaching and my nights planning 4.5 hours worth of material and making powerpoints to show it off in interesting ways. I did everything short of interpretive dance to keep these teachers interested and it seems to have worked. ^^ The teachers bonded with me, and we had a fantastic time. They're a hardworking, fun-loving bunch and I'm glad I'll get to see them once more next week when we hand out their certificates.
Adding onto the stress was developing a mild case of bronchitis last week, so my last three days with them sounded like I was speaking through a foghorn. Then I had doctor training Thurs, Hong Kou training Friday, and thank god HK was only 3 hours in the afternoon. I slept for about 16 hours before I had to get up and go. Now it's Saturday and I feel better - colds going away - so I'm gonna be a lazy ass and nap today when I'm not watching movies or catching up on the internet.
In other news, I have a new office! I've been moved up to the 3rd floor where I can see all my lovely CD's - and I have both an A/C and a door. ^__^ I shall turn my little niche into a block of ice. ^^ I still have to move my teaching supplies, costumes and props into it so it doesn't look so empty yet.
Just to recap, last time I posted we were at 5 animals - Ruthie, my two boys Sammy and Yuki, my pal L's cat Kettingur (babysitting for 2 more weeks) and a foster kit named Chico. On the left is when he arrived. On the right is him today (pictures courtesy of angel_katchan):
Well, last Friday night we had an addition to our ranks.
I was walking Ruthie when I got to witness an actual animal dumping. The woman dropped three animals to the ground. Two of them darted off into the bushes but the 3rd stumbled around trying to follow the woman, crying plaintively. My heart broke. She left and I brought the little guy in. He was shaking, so tiny - his ribs and spinal cord were clearly defined, he was nothing but skin stretched over bones. He was matted with fleas and crap and his ear was torn up with dried blood all over. He could barely walk.
We didn't even tell the child about him because I figured he was going to die overnight. We brought him to a vet first thing Saturday morning and they cleaned him up a bit, cleaned his ear and administered medications and flea treatment. We had to wait until Tuesday for an appointment at PAW. When Kat took him in, the vet said his hind leg looked fractured. They couldn't do anything until he gained weight.
So we're stuffing him full of calorie-rich food. A full week later (today) and he's cleaner, stronger, and his face has filled out. His nose and ear are healing and he's put on enough weight to give a bit of padding to his ribs and spinal cord- he doesn't look so skeletal anymore. He's moving a lot more - chasing paper, playing with our fingers - and he's talking more too. Before, he could only rasp at us, mostly air coming through his vocal cords. Now he's making impatient noises when we don't come to get him quickly enough!
So yeah, he's doing well and the vet thinks he'll make a full recovery. He goes back for a followup next week to check his weight and his legs and anything else that needs checking, but if all goes well, little Remy will be attending the August Adoption Day. :)
Here he is at the vet - notice how the vet's fingers can curl right around his ribcage? He has NOTHING to him. On the right is Kathy trying to feed him some high-calorie formula.
He's doing well, our little Stinky Remy. :)
That's it for now. Catch ya later!
Just finished a 7 day marathon of teacher training up north. It was hard - getting up at 6am, leaving at 7am, arriving at 8:15 and then teaching the same class of teachers - local Chinese English teachers from the district - from 8:30 to 2:30. Even with an hour and a half for lunch that's still 4.5 hours a day with the same people - it's hard to plan for that amount of time, keep it interesting and keep it motivating. You can't let up, can't slow down, and when it's over - you immediately start planning for the next day.
See, I had topics, but no lessons. So I spent my days teaching and my nights planning 4.5 hours worth of material and making powerpoints to show it off in interesting ways. I did everything short of interpretive dance to keep these teachers interested and it seems to have worked. ^^ The teachers bonded with me, and we had a fantastic time. They're a hardworking, fun-loving bunch and I'm glad I'll get to see them once more next week when we hand out their certificates.
Adding onto the stress was developing a mild case of bronchitis last week, so my last three days with them sounded like I was speaking through a foghorn. Then I had doctor training Thurs, Hong Kou training Friday, and thank god HK was only 3 hours in the afternoon. I slept for about 16 hours before I had to get up and go. Now it's Saturday and I feel better - colds going away - so I'm gonna be a lazy ass and nap today when I'm not watching movies or catching up on the internet.
In other news, I have a new office! I've been moved up to the 3rd floor where I can see all my lovely CD's - and I have both an A/C and a door. ^__^ I shall turn my little niche into a block of ice. ^^ I still have to move my teaching supplies, costumes and props into it so it doesn't look so empty yet.
Just to recap, last time I posted we were at 5 animals - Ruthie, my two boys Sammy and Yuki, my pal L's cat Kettingur (babysitting for 2 more weeks) and a foster kit named Chico. On the left is when he arrived. On the right is him today (pictures courtesy of angel_katchan):
Well, last Friday night we had an addition to our ranks.
I was walking Ruthie when I got to witness an actual animal dumping. The woman dropped three animals to the ground. Two of them darted off into the bushes but the 3rd stumbled around trying to follow the woman, crying plaintively. My heart broke. She left and I brought the little guy in. He was shaking, so tiny - his ribs and spinal cord were clearly defined, he was nothing but skin stretched over bones. He was matted with fleas and crap and his ear was torn up with dried blood all over. He could barely walk.
We didn't even tell the child about him because I figured he was going to die overnight. We brought him to a vet first thing Saturday morning and they cleaned him up a bit, cleaned his ear and administered medications and flea treatment. We had to wait until Tuesday for an appointment at PAW. When Kat took him in, the vet said his hind leg looked fractured. They couldn't do anything until he gained weight.
So we're stuffing him full of calorie-rich food. A full week later (today) and he's cleaner, stronger, and his face has filled out. His nose and ear are healing and he's put on enough weight to give a bit of padding to his ribs and spinal cord- he doesn't look so skeletal anymore. He's moving a lot more - chasing paper, playing with our fingers - and he's talking more too. Before, he could only rasp at us, mostly air coming through his vocal cords. Now he's making impatient noises when we don't come to get him quickly enough!
So yeah, he's doing well and the vet thinks he'll make a full recovery. He goes back for a followup next week to check his weight and his legs and anything else that needs checking, but if all goes well, little Remy will be attending the August Adoption Day. :)
Here he is at the vet - notice how the vet's fingers can curl right around his ribcage? He has NOTHING to him. On the right is Kathy trying to feed him some high-calorie formula.
He's doing well, our little Stinky Remy. :)
That's it for now. Catch ya later!