Friday, June 30, 2006
Mutianyu & My Crazy Week
Our Sunday visit to Mutianyu was great. :) Mike & I went with the three ESLA interviewers, Paul, Loretta & Jon, plus one Canadian teacher, Monique, who tagged along for the ride. She's been here for almost a year and had yet to go to the Great Wall.
Monique was a downer! She took the cable-car up with us, took 3 pictures, then said "I'm going to the van, see you later, maybe I'll see you at the restaurant for lunch". Even the three visitors thought she was antisocial...but I'm glad she went back, because she gets like that a lot and she's really no fun to be around when she's that way.
But the rest of us had so much fun. It was quite the hike all along the wall and it was a crazy hot day. A lot of hard work to get around when the temperature is so high. And the five of us got along so well, it was like we'd been friends forever. :)
Back to work Monday...somehow Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday just vanished! So busy & so exhausting. Everyone knows how much I hate to complain, but this even pushed my limits, lol! I feel like I've lost 10 pounds in the last week. No time to even eat, just juice on the go or watermelon.
Thursday was "the" day. ESLA! It's a huge exam that the Grade 11 students have been working so hard towards this year. Mike & I had to be in the office by 7:15, pick up our ESLA kits and be in our assigned classes for 7:30. Cynthia & I supervised together.
ESLA is torture...for students & teachers, lol! The exam is 90 minutes of reading, 30 minutes of listening & 120 minutes for the writing section. Four hours of the most intense work, pressure, etc. for those students. Being a supervisor isn't very easy either. Four hours on your feet, pacing around the room on the look out for cheating, and I had to write the time down on the board every ten minutes. Every ten minutes for four hours! I thought I was going crazy :S We need to start printing "I wrote ESLA & survived!" t-shirts or something, lol
It is now the end of the work day on Friday, and most of the students are gone. Many of the Canadian teachers went in to BJ on the bus, but Mike & I are going to have a quiet night home. Tomorrow is going to be busy! We've got a lot of running around to do, picking up items we need to take home (gifts, etc.). I'd like to squeeze in a visit to a Buddhist temple if I can...hmmmm
8 days until we arrive in Canada :) Can you tell I'm anxious?
Monique was a downer! She took the cable-car up with us, took 3 pictures, then said "I'm going to the van, see you later, maybe I'll see you at the restaurant for lunch". Even the three visitors thought she was antisocial...but I'm glad she went back, because she gets like that a lot and she's really no fun to be around when she's that way.
But the rest of us had so much fun. It was quite the hike all along the wall and it was a crazy hot day. A lot of hard work to get around when the temperature is so high. And the five of us got along so well, it was like we'd been friends forever. :)
Back to work Monday...somehow Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday just vanished! So busy & so exhausting. Everyone knows how much I hate to complain, but this even pushed my limits, lol! I feel like I've lost 10 pounds in the last week. No time to even eat, just juice on the go or watermelon.
Thursday was "the" day. ESLA! It's a huge exam that the Grade 11 students have been working so hard towards this year. Mike & I had to be in the office by 7:15, pick up our ESLA kits and be in our assigned classes for 7:30. Cynthia & I supervised together.
ESLA is torture...for students & teachers, lol! The exam is 90 minutes of reading, 30 minutes of listening & 120 minutes for the writing section. Four hours of the most intense work, pressure, etc. for those students. Being a supervisor isn't very easy either. Four hours on your feet, pacing around the room on the look out for cheating, and I had to write the time down on the board every ten minutes. Every ten minutes for four hours! I thought I was going crazy :S We need to start printing "I wrote ESLA & survived!" t-shirts or something, lol
It is now the end of the work day on Friday, and most of the students are gone. Many of the Canadian teachers went in to BJ on the bus, but Mike & I are going to have a quiet night home. Tomorrow is going to be busy! We've got a lot of running around to do, picking up items we need to take home (gifts, etc.). I'd like to squeeze in a visit to a Buddhist temple if I can...hmmmm
8 days until we arrive in Canada :) Can you tell I'm anxious?
# posted by Kirsten (of course!) @ 3:32 p.m. 
