The Bar

Last weekend I started making a bar/island/countertop for the kitchen. We are in need of more space! I had hoped to finish it last weekend, which was, of course, silly. Maybe I can wrap things up today. This is the last big project that needs to be done for this whole moving in process. After this it is a bunch of smaller things like hanging up pictures. Hopefully we can be pretty much done before we go to the States...

I have solidified a new strategy to deal with school this week. Perfect timing now that the year is over! As a first year teacher, I can manage one class at a time...most of the time. Two classes at once is too much. I often have to work with colleagues who are also first year teachers, or interns, and when we are teaching together on the leerplein, it is as if I am alone. In the past months I would spend a lot of energy trying to control these two classes. This week I realized that this is quite draining and it undermines my authority because it often does not work: I tell the kids to be quiet and they don't. So I stopped trying! This breakthrough is a huge relief - I have more energy, less stress, and more authority.

It will also be useful for next year. We got bad news this week. Currently, our building has not enough space. Next year we get 6 new classes and 18 new colleagues. We were supposed to have the new classrooms in place already. Now they tell us they will not be finished until mid-October. We have no idea how we will solve the problem, but the chances of pure chaos in the first 6-8 weeks of the school year are very high. As those are the most important weeks which set the precedent for the entire year, it sounds like next year will be chaos. I guess I will have to continue using my new strategy...less is more.

As a school, we planned a bit of a city trip. Last year they went to Riga. This year we are meant to go to Bologna, Italy, home to the oldest university in Europe. Then they got rocked by earthquakes the past two weeks, so the trip is in question. Our tickets are for Friday. We would still like to go but some colleagues are backing out. One had a wife who is a Hindu priestess and she had a very bad feeling about the trip, so he decided not to go several weeks ago - before the earthquakes happened. To me, it all sounds like a bit of an adventure...

Friday we were gone for 16 hours. Directly after school we rushed to the nearby Metro station (getting lost on the way) and barely made the train to Eindhoven. Naomi's best friend was having a birthday/end to thesis party. Long day. Saturday morning was a welcome surprise. We went grocery shopping and all of the summer beers were 40% off! Chocolate was on sale too. We ended up packing all the beer onto my bike and Naomi had the chocolate and real food on her sports bike. We barely made it home. That was the heaviest bike I have ever ridden! For now, lunch is approaching and the bar needs some work...hopefully there will be pictures of the finished product next week!

Sometimes a car would be nice...

All in my bike...healthy groceries, right?

Working on the bar.