What’s Been Goin’ On

There’s a lot keeping me busy and avoiding the notion that my days here are numbered.

My friend GL is just as obsessed with the Olympics as I am (she might be more so…with here Olympics Fanfare ringtone that makes me jealous) and when she suggested we go curling, there was nothing that would stop us.

Note how serious GL is on the right. We are not messing around, here.

We got to work, learning the inside shot and the outside shot. I’m rocking the ribbons, so as not to completely intimidate everyone.

GL follows though.

As much as we made fun of NK for wearing Vans with no socks, he swept like a pro.

And look at that focus on the throw.

The next night, I went with NK, AL & LL to see Seth Meyers. He was performing in a science lecture hall at Stanford. It was “the worst place he’s ever performed in.” But at least he had the periodic table on the wall, just in case.

Meyers kept the room in stitches with great bits about T9 texting errors, some of the bits that didn’t make it on “Weekend Update,” and what happens after you finish a date that lasts for ever (45 minute flatulence). I would have paid much more than $12 to see this.

While waiting in line, the woman behind me asked me if she was in the right line. Then she said, “Maura?” It was the younger sister of one of my close friends (Danny the Dark Green Dinosaur) all through school. She is out here getting her PhD and in the way the small world works, was behind me in line to see Meyers.

Last weekend, I biked 20 miles round trip in strong winds to make my pilgrimage to Maker Faire. This year didn’t do it for me for some reason. I stayed less than an hour and hustled home to see the exciting end of the Tour of California. Props to Leipheimer and Zabriskie for making it exciting and leaving it all out there. Can’t wait to follow Le Tour.

This cute thing was roaming around the Faire. It’s part of The Tiny Parade, which is a semi-autonomous robotic float. The girl at the right was entranced, as were many kids, following the train around while patient parents had no better offers.

Monday meant AL’s birthday. I’ve been saving the dozen copies of his school picture all year and knew there would be some occasion that would demand their use.

Don’t worry, our Cultural Proficiency professional development session was still professional, despite the decor.

To continue the celebration, some of the crew went to the Giants/Nats game on Tuesday night. We trained it up to SF and I had everything possible in tow in preparation for possible rain and cold. It was actually quite pleasant and the game was a pretty good one.

P-squared and I amongst all the fans dressed as empty seats.

AL got himself a Panda hat and enjoyed my binocs. KMc might be contemplating finding new friends.

The genius of the AND came through and I set up a scorecard in my Moleskine. And taught P-squared to keep score. Pretty sweet.

Currently, we’re in our Intersession at school. For the most part, this means that we have a bit more free time. There are fewer days when we’re staying late after school and our teaching is nearly done.

On Thursday, I was going to see SATC2 (should I not admit that?) at 8pm in the town where I teach. I had work to do, so it didn’t seem worth it to go home. Of course, when given the opportunity, the boys I work with will find some sort of game to consume time.

The Aikido class is set up in my classroom and so NK and Beej just had to play Korean rules handball (totally made up) against the wall with the balance ball that the kids use. I was out almost immediately. This reminds me that my expectations for the behavior of my male students should be kept realistic.

So, that’s the report. You can see that a lot of my life here centers around school, but I’m lucky to have colleague that I love and enjoy adventuring with. I am trying to relish my time with them and psych myself up for keeping in touch despite the time difference.