Final Exams

Great news! Classes are over. Today we begin "Review Days", then I give my Final Exams (my students are freaking out, they know I give hard exams, sweet!) The only stressful thing to do now is to actually write out the tests, administer them, and then grade them, which I will want to do as quickly as possible. As soon as the last red pen mark is made on that last exam, I will soon be tasting sweet sweet freedom.

...for 3 weeks. Then back to the second semester. But a break is desperately needed for everyone.

A quick recap of the past few weeks.

As soon as I got back from Guam (still a surreal experience, it almost seems like a dream) I still had to adjust to my new glasses. My eyes were still in pain for the first few days, and I tried not to panick, thinking "Man, will I have to go BACK to Guam?" But thankfully, I got better.

I got back on my feet, and after examining the craziness of this semester, I seriously rethought how to pace myself. So the past few weeks have been much better, compared to my doom and gloom blogs in the past. I'm more relaxed, less stressed, but more importantly I'm back to focusing on why I am here. That helps a lot for me. I ask myself "Why did I come here? What am I DOING here?" If I think about that every day, or especially when I'm down, I remind myself of all those reasons. Long story short: I'm here to help people. I can do that, and I like doing that, and I think i'm decent at that job, so I feel better.

Then I tell myself "Hey man, I'm just trying to have a good time," and then I usually feel more at ease with myself, my coworkers and especially my students. When we're all having a good time, serious learning gets done. My energy levels rise and my enthusiasm comes back (which is seriously needed in my profession right now, since I completely lack any competence for teaching, so my energy must blind my students of that fact.)

So, other than that, nothing exciting has happened (thank the lucky stars).

Well, unless you consider my hair cut!!! Girls across the world: I am very sorry. I know how dissapointed you are. But it was a fun experiment while it lasted (one year) and it was getting too annoying and too hot (heat wise). It feels great not to wipe that long, surfer hair out of my face. But more importantly, it feels good to be back to the normal AJ. It was a lot of fun seeing everyone's reactions, especially the new JVs that have only known me with long long hair. It was also endearing to see some of my Seniors (Juniors last year) get excited for my new hair cut because they were also like "Ah yeah, the old AJ is back." Because that's how they used to remember me when we first met.

Speaking of the old AJ, it is officially down to 6 months until I make my way home. I'm trying really hard not to think about it or plan anything yet (I still have no life direction ... a huge prize to anyone who figures it out for me ... and I'll throw in eternal glory!). But I cannot help but to think about it. The emotions are high and mixed, but all in all, I think I will be OK to leave.

But that thought is premature, and I need to focus on pushing back the boundaries of ignorance with my students and make some hard finals. (Or, in reality, to catch those bad students who have been fooling around all year with their pants down - not literally, although when the girls leave campus, the boys love to run around in their underwear - and give them their comeuppance for being a "cool kid" while they suffer through their final!)

Ah, it's nice to be a teacher.

So I'm doing very well. Christmas packages would be most welcome, of course (books, Nutella, chocolate things, pasta stuffs, the usual). I love hearing from everyone. I hope my blog is interesting.

OH: new pictures are up. Go to "2nd Year Pics". I put some new ones (still with old, long hair) in Random Pics, and a lot of new ones from my second Xavier Day 06. You can see my new, awesome, totally hot haircut in that one. Hotness.

You are all great. Have a great time with the upcoming break. Good luck to all of my friends (the smart ones) who are taking final exams in grad school.

Take care.