Two Weeks of Treaching

I have a new found respect for Elementary School teachers. Not that I didn't respect them as much as a High School teacher, I just thought teaching was teaching.

WRONG!

After my first two full weeks I have learned teaching to this age well takes the devotion of a Labrador, the patience of a Saint, the planning of a NASA Apollo mision, the oration of a Toastmaster, the endurance of an Iron Man runner and the proper sleeping of a narcoleptic. I am napping for the first time in about twenty-five years!

Not only have I gone from one country to another, I have gone from teaching one extreme to another. The families that can afford this school are significantly different than the ones whose children attend the inner-city day care center that was Manual High School. On one hand the majority of the parents don't show up for conferences, and on the other hand the parents show up out of nowhere to speak with you. On one hand the kids take public transportation or walk through gang areas to get to school, and on the other hand the families "driver" drops them off in the morning. What is it with me and extremes. Not only can I not sort them out of my personal life, now I am dealing with them in my professional life as well. Ahh the ol' yen and yang. There is a balance to the world.

This weekend I am off to a famous Crusader castle (not going to even try and spell it) and next weekend we are off to Lebannon for some international banking and drinking. In that order of course. Hope all is well in the States and I will leave you with this nice international joke:

The UN sent an urgent memo to all countries asking if they would please share thier opinion on how to end starvation in the rest of the world. They replied as follows:
China didn't know what opinion meant.
South America didn't know what please meant.
Western Europe didn't know what starvation meant.
The Middle East didn't know what share meant.
The US din't know what the rest of the world meant.