Chicken Feet

I. am. irritable.

Because the students aren't here yet, all of the classroom aircons (everyone else in the world calls air-conditioning aircon) are turned off, which means it. is. hot. everywhere.  There is no relief.


I meet with students on Thursday, but I don't know which ones because I don't have my schedule yet.  Because I don't have my schedule, I don't know what lessons i'll be teaching to whom.  Because I don't have a schedule yet, I don't know where the classrooms are that i'm supposed to go to.  The school is a maze.  I haven't received any guidance on which books are appropriate for which level readers.  I spent a week in this school doing nothing.  I was on holiday all last week with no where to go and all the time in the world.    I was here yesterday doing next to nothing and most of my day has been me trying to create "just in case" lesson plans.


Today's school lunch menu included white rice, some sort of cooked sprouts, and a lovely peppers and chicken feet dish.  Chicken. feet.  The girl in front of me in line identified for me "what is that?"  Thankfully none of them made it on my plate.  You serve yourself, thank heaven.  I'm feeling fairly confident, had any of them ended up on my plate, there would have been a scene.

As Ron Burgundy would say, "I'm in a glass case of emotions."

I guess my attempts at being in the moment and not worrying about the things I can't control are working a little.. because the thing i'm most upset by today is the lunch.  The fact that there were feet of chickens in a meal set out for me just really burns my biscuits.  I suppose this is cultural even though i've never seen chicken feet on a menu.

When it is all said and done, I can entertain children for an hour, but I don't want to look like an idiot.  The less organized I am, the harder it is to maintain control and set myself up for a successful term.  I'll just keep plugging away, keep bugging people, prepare the best I can and hope for the best.

What i'm really hoping for is never to see chicken feet ever again.