The Tooth Fairy's Helper and Other Jobs

...that's me!
"What's wrong, Blanca?" -"I can't find my fallen tooth! (starts crying)" "Hmmm...let's look for it." I can't believe I found it...in the garbage. She had wrapped it in a small tissue and another student had thrown the tissue in the garbage (of course, the ONLY time small kids care about cleaning up). I seriously can't believe I found it. She sure looked relieved.
"What's wrong Lola?" -"Carmen drew a black line on my pink sweater (starts crying)" "Ah, that's nothing...let's go to the washroom and clean it up. A little bit of crayon gets easily washed off." Lo and behold, I was right. Again, look of relief. I think that I am well on my way of acquiring my very own pair of angel's wings. Maybe next week, when I help a kid out of his shoulder-high wedgy I will even have my very own halo.
Things at work have been busy as usual. I was very tired this week. Usually the worst day is Wednesday...a long siesta before the evening classes start is highly needed. Sometimes I manage to sleep a bit, sometimes I don't...which unfortunately happens more often than not. I did have a good time though, teaching my students the animals´names in English...TOTALLY goofed off by imitating we were cows, horses, dogs, you name it. I don't remember the last time I had so much fun clucking like a hen. Imagining everybody else seeing me act this way though, mortifies me...hehe.
Oh. Man. The only bad thing about it is STILL having the "Here on the Farm" song in my head. Oh God...where's "Jump in my car" when you need it?
Last night I went to see Little Miss Sunshine with my friends. Loved it! It was really great, and I almost pooped my pants from laughter at the "Superfreak" scene at the end. The characters were just great...definitely one of my fave films of the year so far.
Tonight I am going to celebrate my birthday with my coworkers (yeah, a bit early, since my birthday falls on a Monday this year, ugh) by going out for some chinese food and later going to the Buddha bar for some dancing. I'm looking forward to it, should be good. I'm craving chinese food...unfortunately it won't be a buffet (miss that chinese restaurant that was close to our Pimlico house!), but it should be delicious nonetheless.
In other news, I only have 1 more applicant profile to write! I'm so happy...man I hope that a good Uni accepts me :) Boy, I'm excited for this and I won't even get to hear which uni accepts me until April. Slow down, girly girl!
"She's a super freak, super freak, she's super FREAKKKKKKKKY!"
xoxoxox lots of love, H

3´s Company...

Today is a national holiday in Spain...sweet.
Last night, after work, my roommates and I went to La Feria de la Tapa. It was great seeing so many people all gathered under a giant tent, trying out the various delicious tapas. We had ourselves a great little time, and then later proceeded to go to 2 other bars. The last one was great, it's called the Buddha Bar and has all of these really great paintings and decorations from India. The place is huge, and a great place to dance, something which I had been dying of doing. It's definitely a place where I want to go again, that's for sure. Really cool atmosphere and all kinds of different music.
Since I barely did anything today (a.k.a sleeping in until 11:30 a.m., ordering pizza with my roomies, watch tv and then nap for another 3 hours) I decided to go for a walk...and here I am, back from my 1 hour long excursion. I always feel so much better after a long walk with peppy music.
It's so strange having a day off on a Thursday, since tomorrow I have to go to work again. At least it's Friday...and then it's the weekend again. Man, I don't know if it's just me, but time is FLYING. It seems as though the longer I am in Spain, the faster time is going. What does that mean?
Can somebody tell me if that crap song from Evanescence "Call me when you're sober" is a big hit in Canada? I really hate that band...it's bad enough MTV España and Los 40 keep playing the video. Please tell me Canada still has a little bit of taste in music.
That was random (but I'm an expert on that). Moving on...
Rachel, please tell me that The Scissor Sisters cancelled their set in TO because they want to come to Madrid instead ;P Heheheh I can dream, no? I'm glad you got my postcard, by the way.
Toodles for now everyone, love you all, H xoxoxoox

It's a little bit funny, this feeling inside...

My little students are SO cute. There are actually a lot of little angels...of course, a few monsters roam around as well, but overall I have very good students. My schedule, after the first week, is already full...so that's good. Hopefully there won't be anymore changes to my schedule (there shouldn't, really).
I danced, I sang, I sprang, did the robot a-la-simon-says...and oh yeah, I'm getting payed for this, and more than at Inlingua. It's amazing what energy I have to use for the younger kids classes, but I'm having a good time with the children and love seeing them laugh and excited when we are playing together. I'm gaining valuable experience with really young children, and I know that after this year is over, I'll feel even more prepared to start Teacher's College. I really do want to pursue teaching.
The pre-teens are alright. I like them, although their oral level is really low (which is no surprise...remember what I had said about my teens from last year? Same thing). We should be getting the books soon, although I'm not counting on getting them next week...we'll see. Inlingua prepared me for teaching without books (took about a month for all of them to arrive, I remember).
I have more adult 1:1 classes. I have yet to meet one more adult, but the ones that I have already taught seem very nice and friendly.
So yeah, it's a packed schedule and I'm working a lot on Fridays as well, but most of my mornings will be free (Monday 12:30-1:30 conversation class), so I guess it's not too bad in the end. Inlingua made me work mornings, afternoons and evenings, which was a bit crazy for a while, so I should be able to work with this new schedule...takes always a bit of time to get used to a new routine, but I'm ready for it.
I'm happy with our work atmosphere. My coworkers are great, and we went out for some drinks and montaditos (little sandwiches that only cost 1 euro each!!!) last night.
So, now it's the weekend again, and I'm probably going to tackle yet another TC essay...U of O and U of T are done, so we'll see which other U's essay I'll start.
(yawn) I might go to bed for a snooze later on, as well.
So now it's October already...and on the 12th we have a holiday. Next week will be nice and short. I'll still have to come to work next Friday because we don't get "puentes", but perhaps some of my adults will cancel...
I feel like I have no anecdotes or interesting stories to tell, unfortunately. I've just been busy at work this week, getting everything organized and learning 63 names by heart (which, I'm proud to say, I did quite nicely).
I was thinking of dressing up for the kiddies for Hallowe'en, but they don't really celebrate it here. Argh. Oh well, I'll bring some sweets.
Anyways, that's it for me for now, have a good one everybody :)
P.S. It's still around 26 degrees here, so EAT IT xoxoxoxoxooxxxoxoox H

Beginnings (Take 2)

Well...it appears that I am about to embark on another new school year. I've prepared my classes for the next 2 days, printed off attendance sheets, photocopied worksheets, etc. Yes, I'm a bit nervous again, hopefully all will go well. I always feel like this before a new job...maybe I'm too hard on myself :P. All will be fine...somehow. I hope. Hehehe. Once I'm in the classroom with the students, I usually feel better.
I've written 2 TC essays out of my 5 so far. U of O: check. U of T: check (just needs revision from Shane). The other 3 will be dealt with later when the craziness at work slows down a bit.
On a good note, my 1:1 French student José seems to be really happy with my classes. I'm actually also going to be teaching an English conversation class to one of his coworkers. I was pretty proud of myself when my boss told me the flattering news.
I must say, pretty much all of the adults that I taught so far have been wonderful. Hopefully this keeps up...:)
I can't believe that I'll be teaching everything from 5 years old to adults again this year. I have never taught children who are that young...well, thankfully the school has a lot of great ressources and games for children. You should see how many games we are going to be playing this week, using basic vocabulary and numbers 1-10. My classroom for the 5 year olds makes me feel like a kindergarten teacher. Hey, I guess in a way, I am. But I'll also have 6 year olds and 11 year olds...then the rest are adults and one 18 year old who is preparing himself for the First Certificate Exam in English. I'm looking forward to the 11 year olds, actually. I hope we'll have good fun together.
So, I'll be super busy again, trying to get used to my new classes. Last year's October was nuts...but it was nice having Shane there to calm things down a bit :) I'll miss him even more when Oct. 12th hits.
The weather is still really beautiful here...I took a walk today and was sweating up a storm when I finally arrived back home. It felt like 30 degrees again, although the net said it was gonna be 27. Man....and it's October. Logroño wasn't even this warm, hehehehe. Yup, things are different in the south.
My coworkers are lovely. I went to see a movie with Donna last night and it was fun chatting together. Belen, Donna and I also went for some tapas a few days ago...was good fun, I always love meeting new people. I have yet to acquire the phone number from the other 2 teachers, Ruina and Shivonne.
So, overall I'm happy with our work team. We are going to be 6 teachers (another one coming tomorrow named Maria).
Hmmmm what else to say? You know that work is restarting when you go and buy a printer...yayy for printers :) I think that this was a good purchase...already printed off lots of documents, and it'll be vital for all of those TC essays.
Anyway, wish me luck for another school year. I can't believe this is my 2nd year of teaching. I remember how I always used to say in the past: If I have my 1st year of teaching behind me, everything else will be just a bit easier...
I think I 'll give my 400% percent again this year. Let's just hope my energy level doesn't get too drained during the first week.
love you all, xoxoxoxo H.