This week is super hectic at work, especially for me (usually the boot is on Cassy's foot), so sharp eyed readers may have noted I'm a day late with this posting. I'm also going to be relatively brief and try to keep the verbosity to a bare minimum!
We're in the throes of 1/2 yearly testing this week which demands a lot of one-on-one testing in all the skills areas of speaking, listening, reading and writing. Accompanying that, we have to juggle a few different teacher's schedules and try to preserve times that they feel are sacrosanct where they must have all kids in attendance. Most of them are pretty flexible, but there are a few who have a bit of a god complex. Throw in a visiting math consultant taking up my time and theirs as well as a visiting author (likewise) and you have a very busy, mixed up week.
Adding to the madness, we have an obligatory gig, a "parent reception", at the American Club this evening. Cass did her equivalent night last week and found it to be most tedious. It's a fundraising event only vaguely disguised, so many of the parents have sussed this and tend to stay away. Last week there were more faculty attending than parents and it may well be a similar scenario tonight. Wal and Grande and I will meet at Uli's for a beer before we head down together in a taxi, to avoid the "fun bus" leaving from school with teachers and parents(!)
We had a fun weekend and finally found the Holy Grail! I was more than ready to give up the quest, but Cass insisted in crusading on to find the mysterious and fabled Aubergine restaurant. We had one last address to check, this time in the far north eastern suburb of Neihu. As "Blackie" was literally now firing on all cylinders and the mechanic had managed to stitch together her shaking frame to avoid the death rattles, we hopped on our trusty steed for one last foray into the unknown. With a minimum of fuss (and the help of Google Maps!) we managed to find the address, and most importantly, the restaurant in situ and fully operational. We had an excellent meal with all our favourites and just hope this branch, at least, keeps going strong.
We had a coffee mid week at the funky local haunt, "The Soup" and discussed some of the latest hiring/retirement/moving news from the faculty. There is quite a bit of movement as always at this time of year, and it provides great fodder for gossip and speculation. Never a dull moment around contract signing time! For those who might be interested, we've signaled our clear intention to the administration that we'd like to be offered another contract in December. If this eventuates, which we assume it will, we'll be committed here until at least June, 2016.....time rolls on!
Photos: election signs, The Soup, a beautiful Porsche in our lane, Aubergine at last, a quirky motor scooter and a complaining fat cat!
P.S. We're off to London for Christmas....we've decided we want to relax and speak English and not country hop this time: Good ole England!