A Good Week

This past week I had a really good week. I think it is important to verbalize this as all too often I feel like I complain about stuff in my life instead of looking at all the good things I've been given.

This was a week of balance. Time for reading and for watching Lost with my roommate. Good food cooked at home but with a few meals in restaurants. Time of fellowship at the pool hall and time alone. Warm sunny afternoons and cold crisp nights. Time to exercise and time to sleep in. Busy afternoons and quite nights. Thoughts of the future and preparation for tomorrows.

I'm sure I complained this week both out loud and to myself but I wish that I hadn't. I think we have good weeks and even great weeks all the time we are just too self absorbed to see them. We imagine that for things to be good they should work out exactly as we wished. What a boring world that would be! Like they say: "Life is what happens to you while you're making plans".

Take a minute to think back on your week maybe it was better than you thought.

This weekend has been the calm before the storm. Next week we start our first full week of classes. Overall I'm ready for it. Ready for a routine and to start teaching again. I know I'm not the best teacher in the world by any stretch of the imagination but I do know I love teaching. I hope that is something I can keep up. I know a lot of teachers that have got burned out on teaching and I have to admit that part of me is afraid I will go to school and spend all this money and time to get a teaching degree and end up one of those teachers spending the last 10-15 years of their career waiting out the clock. I know a lot of these teachers might even still enjoy teaching but they can't stand the bureaucracy that more and more seems to be enveloping all aspects of the job.

I'm lucky that teaching over here in the Czech Republic I've been able to avoid the worst of it. Part of me wonders if I'll be able to adjust to teaching in America or if it is just in this particular situation that I like. In the end though I feel like there are some things I will like better and other things I won't but I guess I have to actually try teaching in America before I can really say too much more on the topic. So here's hoping.

Anyway like I said I'm ready for a routine. It's hard for me to get anything done with one. I love taking break and vacations but I like feeling that I earned one first. I feel like this year is going to be a lot of work but I'm looking forward to it. Like Thomas Paine says: "it is dearness only that gives everything its value". Now be sure to remind me of this when I'm flooded with school work both from my students and for my teachers!