Intensives, Day Three

Monday's snow day has really thrown off my rhythm this week. On top of the longer teaching day due to Intensives, I'm still adjusting to the idea that although today is Thursday, my work week is only half over (actually, now 3/5 over since I'm back at home). This working-a-full-day-on-Saturday concept is a tough one!

Nothing too eventful to report with respect to teaching, except:  in my Science class we were discussing how to classify animals (mammals, birds, amphibians, etc.), and then we talked about other ways you could group animals, such as by the shape of their teeth (sharp vs. flat). This led to a round of my questioning the students about the various animals they've eaten. I covered the conventional ones (cow, chicken, pig...), then branched out to the less conventional (lamb, rabbit, deer...), and finally onto the more unusual (snake, reindeer, dog, horse...). One student, who wants desperately to get the award for best participation, said he'd eaten every animal I asked about; he looked so earnest, too. I guess I'll have to believe him even if his responses grossed me out.

In other news, my apartment got re-wallpapered today, thanks to some paternal intervention. Like a good father, my dad was concerned about the mold situation and offered to cover the expense of installing new paper. He spoke with my manager, who made a few phone calls, and viola! New paper, and the building super covered the cost.

The super arrived early again this morning, and I left for work excited about returning home to a less-drab, less-moldy apartment. Then, later in the day, my colleague informed me that the work was finished but that the super told her I'd need to clean up the mess when I got back. Perhaps something significant was lost in the translation because I was left with the impression that I'd arrive home and find heaps of glue and paper on the floor. Fortunately, it was not that bad at all; more importantly, the new paper has definitely helped to brighten up the place. I'm really looking forward to a power-cleaning evening to get things into a more habitable state. For now though, sleep.