Endings

I do realize that it's been a while since my last post. I blame the chaotic move of classrooms from our downtown campus to what might as well be Timbuktu for all the difficulty in getting there via public transport. The best thing I can say about it is that it's over, and all of us are glad to be back in our own building. The students can sit in non-cramped, airconditioned theatre style rooms, and I have SPACE to walk around. I no longer have to squeeze my thighs through a row of chairs to make it anywhere, or tiptoe around the front row of students to reach the black board, which the ones on the front left or right were not able to see because they were so close to it.

Back in our shiny new business building, with elevators that work, and the conference book stalls removed. Of course, it wasn't entirely tidied up. My classroom had an extra desk in it and the wrong chair underneath the podium at the front. As a consquence, when I tried to lower the podium, the chair's back crushed the bottom of the podium platform and chipped off several layers of white latex and MDF. Ooopsie. Not my fault!

Where last week was hectic and insane, this week suddenly seems more than manageable to the point where I'm too bored to actually do any of the research that's in a large pile on my desk, awaiting my attention. So instead, I procrastinate by filling my day with "Oh, I need to do that for my class" type tasks.

In the meantime, I've also reached the very last week of my Francais 5 course, and am being examined for whether or not I deserve to pass. The instructor grouped me with two of the less good students in class. Not ideal. I had strategically sat down next to someone who speaks decent French, as it makes the conversation flow much more easily and showcases your skills to the tape that records it. But no. I was unceremoniously lumped with those who still struggle to conjugate the present tense properly and basic pronunciation, let alone construct elegant phrases about what they "would have done, if they had time", or "will be doing in the future". You might argue that I would therefore stand out on tape. Sure. But it also drags me down to their level because otherwise they haven't got a clue what I'm saying. Tonight's the last part of the exam. TFTO.

My students are now doing their group presentations which means my life is easy and consists of nodding and looking awake. And then giving some sort of grade. I've decided this time to give feedback to the class as a whole; it saves me a lot of repetition, and everyone benefits from consistent information disclosure --- looks like I learned something after all from my investor relations past.

Their final exam is Saturday the 19th, followed by a convocation ceremony on the 22nd. After that ... it's Vegas bay-bee!