Long Day's Night

So some of the people back home I've talked to have asked essentially what do I do with all my time. I have classes for a very busy 10 hours, three days, a week so I'm a bit flushed with extra time. Monday is my busiest day I have 4 hours of class in the morning followed by two hours in the lat afternoon. Since I usually get on an odd sleep pattern on my four days off I rarely get more then three or four hours of sleep Sunday night so I go to bed early on Mondays. On Tuesdays I only have two hours in the morning then I meet up with Ken, Dave, Steve, and often Amy for lunch at the North Cafeteria in the school. The cafeteria has a bunch of different food vendors, actually it has two whole levels but apparently the lower one isn't as good. The students are around then also, they eat in about 15 minutes and the rush off so by the time we're done eating the place is empty besides a few brave couples who are sitting around. I then have a bunch of time in the afternoon before my tutoring session in the evening. Usually since I haven't studied Chinese as much as I should have during the week I try to cram some more in during this time. In the evening I meet Winter and Olivia, two of my students for an hour of touring. An hour may not seem like a lot but it's as much as I can handle.

On Wendsday I have classes in the morning again then a bunch of time before an evening class at Super. That's usually when I plan what I'm going to do at Super and do some blogging or other writing. After the classes at Super I sometimes have lunch with another America teacher there who is actually from near DC. On Thursday I usually sleep in until nearly time for my two o'clock tutoring session with Carrie then I have some more time before English Corner. Going shopping fits pretty well into this time period. English Corner lasts a little more than an hour, actually it lasts longer than that but I don't really like it, I never know what to say, so I only go for an hour and a half or so. After that we play poker which is mostly made fun by Steve's running commentary and constant belief that if he had just held onto those cards a little longer it would have worked out. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I have essentially nothing scheduled. I spend a bunch of time walking around the school or the city. The students who see me walking around in odd places always give me weird looks. I also have a bunch of time to read, and of course play computer games.

So that's pretty much it. If it doesn't sound like a lot that's because it isn't. I pretty much have to find other stuff to do to amuse myself. Going around the city is more fun now that the weather is nicer. I'll also go down to see the gardens in a nearby city one of these weekends. I really just have quite a bit of time to read, write and watch TV. To my parents, and others, that may freak out that I have so much free time on my hands, though in this economic climate they're probably more envious than anything, I think this is, oddly enough, how you raised me. This isn't to say that both my parents don't work hard, I think my Dad's average answer time on an e-mail is 45 seconds, but I guess all that time spent in France rubbed off on me, there's a saying that goes, "The French work to live, but the Swiss live to work." I saw an interview with Cormac McCarthy where he was asked if he had any interesting odd jobs when he was younger. McCarthy said that he never really wanted to have a job and that he figured that if he worked hard enough at it he didn't have to. Who knows maybe some day I'll want to come from Neverland and have a real job, but right now I'm pretty happy doing whatever I want to do here in the workers paradise.