Though all teachers made it a goal not to become what I call "mission-control" - people who countdown - it was something we all ended up falling into.
I'm not sure if it's the lighter work-load, the level of maturity of my students, maybe it's the fact that I'm actually taller than most of them and thus feel more like a teacher, or it could be because they give me lots of compliments, but I don't have the same craving for days off like I used to.
Sure I still become physically drained from doing this job and want to get out of my class for some alone time, but usually it's just for the sake of recharging myself, either by lying down and resting, reading or going into my head to play with my imagination.
Whatever the reason for my lack of desire for days off I now find myself with an entire week off because of National Day (comparable to July 4th). We had to teach Saturday and Sunday like we would on our Mondays and Tuesdays respectively in order to accommodate this schedule, and unfortunately I haven't planned any trips for myself.
Realistically though my lack of travel plans may be for the best: everyone will be traveling somewhere at this time so hotels are likely to be booked, tickets all sold, so on and so forth. And in the meantime I can focus on getting to learn the lay of the city better, planning my curriculum, practicing some Kung Fu (falling behind with that) and improving my Chinese vocabulary. Not to mention getting some time to do some reading, which I haven't been able to do because of work and all the time spent getting my documents in order.
Now the pictures:
View from my office building (on the floor just above my office)
Dinner with the Foreign Language College Teachers and Administrators
Choosing what we'll eat
Some of what's available: Poultry (heads are always still attached), bivalves (BIG ones), frogs (still living), turtle (had that once before, not bad but not noteworthy)
