So much for updates.
If I said I simply haven't done anything interesting enough to participate in and report, I'd be a huge liar. This past month has been filled with so much... everything. Anticipation for the pending job; excitement to meet these students from all over the world; surprise at the new best friends I've made in Spain (come back soon); exhaustion from the 17 trips a day up and down three flights of stairs; contentment at the feeling of accomplishment every night/sunrise/morning. I can't even remember everything I've done this month.
But I do know this. Changes are in the wind...
BTW: I'm reading this great new series of books that I can't put down, the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. I'd compare it to the fanciful nature of Harry Potter, just not quite as intricate. Check it.
And I love my facebook now for the sheer fact that it's like the UN - so many countries and languages.
7.31.2008
7.03.2008
Foreign Relations
I am currently located in the computer lab sitting staring at a blank screen that I refuse to leave unless it's filled with the words I know I want to pour out. Life is moving by slowly, yet I can't remember when it became July.
I am officially back where I am supposed to be. I'm not just in the California state boundaries, I am back at school. Living in a dorm room with not nearly enough space. I already have a pile of laundry that rivals Mt. Everest and the bathroom that has only been inhabited by me for a week since May is beyond cluttered. It's good to be back.
So in my incessant effort to organize my life, I'm going to list the state of things (once again) because it helps me to feel like I actually have a bit of control. Bear with me if you've had to endure this before - basically anyone who's read more than a weeks worth of blog entries..
I am living in North Hall once again, in a single room (closet) that is the only inhabited room in the top two floors. The other 3 R.A's are living on the first floor. Yay for dark hallways with monsters in the shadows at night. I'm still in the process of organizing my belongings , but that won't be too necessary as I'll be moving to South Hall in a month, and back to North Hall again for the school year. Good thing I've had practice, I guess.
For work we've had a meeting each day, usually only for an hour or two each time. And every meeting I feel like I'm that much more unsure of what I've gotten myself into. I'm supposed to be an activity leader and a resident adviser - basically a package camp counselor. The kids are ages 10 to 24, from a foreign country such as Italy, Russia, China, etc.. and they take ESL classes in the mornings. From noon to midnight I get to entertain them, eat with them, and walk the hallways.
After a while the kids I'm supposed to be entertaining and watching over sound more and more like inhuman demons rather than foreign minors. The need for a supervisor at meal times to ensure that no food fights ensue is disconcerting in the least, and I'm hoping the nerf guns are a joke and not a required part of our safety as a staff member. Seriously.. there are nerf guns. God help me.
Aside from the scary part, I get to play games with them, paint faces, teach them a bit of english along the way, swim with them, etc... basically anything to distract them from realizing they are in America essentially unsupervised by parentals. The best part is the fact that even though most of these kids are from foreign countries where they start drinking at the age of 12 - and even when there is an age restriction it excludes beer and wine - I get to be the one who takes the alcohol/cigarettes/drugs from them and tell them to go to sleep at the ungodly hour of 11pm. Seriously, can i have an escort please? I'm still not convinced that the extra security guard the school hired is for the minor's safety and not ours.
Oh, and apparently each and every one of them will develop a crush on each of the staff members. This can only end badly.
Bring on the first 134 students.
I am officially back where I am supposed to be. I'm not just in the California state boundaries, I am back at school. Living in a dorm room with not nearly enough space. I already have a pile of laundry that rivals Mt. Everest and the bathroom that has only been inhabited by me for a week since May is beyond cluttered. It's good to be back.
So in my incessant effort to organize my life, I'm going to list the state of things (once again) because it helps me to feel like I actually have a bit of control. Bear with me if you've had to endure this before - basically anyone who's read more than a weeks worth of blog entries..
I am living in North Hall once again, in a single room (closet) that is the only inhabited room in the top two floors. The other 3 R.A's are living on the first floor. Yay for dark hallways with monsters in the shadows at night. I'm still in the process of organizing my belongings , but that won't be too necessary as I'll be moving to South Hall in a month, and back to North Hall again for the school year. Good thing I've had practice, I guess.
For work we've had a meeting each day, usually only for an hour or two each time. And every meeting I feel like I'm that much more unsure of what I've gotten myself into. I'm supposed to be an activity leader and a resident adviser - basically a package camp counselor. The kids are ages 10 to 24, from a foreign country such as Italy, Russia, China, etc.. and they take ESL classes in the mornings. From noon to midnight I get to entertain them, eat with them, and walk the hallways.
After a while the kids I'm supposed to be entertaining and watching over sound more and more like inhuman demons rather than foreign minors. The need for a supervisor at meal times to ensure that no food fights ensue is disconcerting in the least, and I'm hoping the nerf guns are a joke and not a required part of our safety as a staff member. Seriously.. there are nerf guns. God help me.
Aside from the scary part, I get to play games with them, paint faces, teach them a bit of english along the way, swim with them, etc... basically anything to distract them from realizing they are in America essentially unsupervised by parentals. The best part is the fact that even though most of these kids are from foreign countries where they start drinking at the age of 12 - and even when there is an age restriction it excludes beer and wine - I get to be the one who takes the alcohol/cigarettes/drugs from them and tell them to go to sleep at the ungodly hour of 11pm. Seriously, can i have an escort please? I'm still not convinced that the extra security guard the school hired is for the minor's safety and not ours.
Oh, and apparently each and every one of them will develop a crush on each of the staff members. This can only end badly.
Bring on the first 134 students.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
