A Relaxed Week

Well, the main of the swine flu scare is over. After a four-day quarantine, there are only 2 sick students remaining. School has resumed, and the week is back into progress.

I really enjoyed this time off. I graded 50/57 papers Mon-Wed and will finish those today. Almost 6 weeks later, I can finally return my Hamlet book to the library. I did start to get a little cabin fever by the time Tuesday evening rolled around. I should have thought to take a walk during those two days, but didn't end up leaving the house at all. Wednesday-Friday I'm not teaching (Wed-test, Thur-Fri - a mini-unit done by Jill). This mini-unit is a poetry analysis on John Donne's "Batter My Heart." The poem again reminded me of the work Christ has yet to do in us. Donne contrasts God as a "tinker," or one who mends things, and God as a "smith," or one who completely melts down and makes anew, the latter process obviously being more painful than the former. It causes me to ponder which I let God do in my own life.

This weekend I'll be finishing a 5-hour BBC movie on Charles Dicken's Our Mutual Friend with some of my friends. A couple of us have gotten into the habit (3rd time around) of watching long BBC films along with dinner. We all bring ingredients to contribute to the meal (homemade pizza, taco salad, potato bar) and then watch the movie. This has been so fun! I hope we get one more movie/dinner in before I have to leave. I'm also going to a bridal shower and swing dance over the weekend. Originally, I was going to a swing dance in Basel with a friend here (we both share a common interest in dancing and have tried to go to a few) but then found out about a local swing dance the same night. We decided to go the local one b/c of the higher likelihood we'll find people who speak English (some other BFAers should be going). It'll be fun!

Wow, only 3 more weeks left! I can't help but think back to my first trip to Germany. It was only 3 weeks, but at the time seemed to take much longer. Now, I've been here over 2 months and it has flown!

Due to the 3-day week, we've had to change our teaching schedule around some. I'll most likely be teaching 4 out of 5 days next week: this will complete my teaching time at BFA. The remaining 2 weeks will be for observation only. A relaxing change :).

Back to those remaining 7 papers!!

UPDATE: The papers are done, graded, and posted for all parents/students to see. Time to get my "tough skin" on.