Scattered, random, and etc...

So, one week down and 11 more to go! I can't say that I don't like teaching because the truth of the matter is I really do. What's not to love... social time, conversation, language, grammar, and best of all, a captive audience?! :-) Oh.., I know.., the prep time and the time it takes me away from my boys...that's what I don't love. [Or should I say, "I'm not loving..." Use that rare progressive form with a stative verb to show emphasis!!! :-) --Can you tell what I've been up to this week?!] Anyway, I'm definitely pulled there, but life is what it is right now and I continue to live and learn.

I figured out this week that public transportation, though quite accessible to us living downtown, only gets me to my destination at most twice as fast as just walking... How might you ask did I figure this tidbit out? Well, thanks to some bicycle racing that took place in the city, our main tram line was shutdown and a lot of the buses changed their route. And to add to the caos all traffic was almost at a stand still on our main street, so instead of the 20-30 minute trec home, I walked home and it took less than an hour! It's a weird feeling to be walking faster than traffic. Even the sidewalks where congested with people!!
Then there's the daily walk to the school where I teach. Most of the time I just choose to walk since it only takes 15-20 minutes. I could take the tram that passes a block away from our house but even if there is no wait at either stop (school is one stop east, switch trams, and then 2 stops north) it still takes 15-20 minutes! Go figure! So, maybe soon i'll be in pretty good shape...I figured out that most school days I walk about an hour!

Moving on to the weekend. Andy ran the local 5k run and the whole family had fun. My language helper joined us as we watched around 2000 people take off running down Krasnaya (our main downtown strip--like a "Main St.") Then less than 15 minutes later, we saw the first runners return--they said they were Olympians!! While I think Andy enjoyed his run, I was once again caught off guard by the fact that races are not a simply a spectator sport. When he did his marathon, I remember also getting a 4 hour workout walking back and forth to different spots. Well, this being a short race and having two kids with me, I figured I was safe. I walked the 15 minutes to Krasnaya from the house but when Michael John saw all the people running, he decided to join in. Thankfully, Vika was their to help me. She stayed with Nathanael while I let MJ run up and down one of the blocks while we waited for Andy to came back around!! MJ ran almost 4 blocks!!!! Needless to say he took a great nap that afternoon!!! :-) I'll try and see if I can get some video of it. He was so cute!

Well, I need to get to doing some homework and preparring my lesson for tomorrow, so off I go!