Hey, how good is this middle school English teaching gig?! Now that all the exams are graded, the reports are done and dusted, the recommendations slung away and the farewell assemblies, dinners and get-togethers are (almost) over, we've got a couple of moments to breathe before we wing it away to Paris for two weeks. It doesn't get much better than that!

I'm slightly euphoric (can you tell?!), as Cass and I have had a quite horrific two weeks which has finally ended. She is still putting the finishing touches on a couple of grades and recommendations, but as I wait, I've decided to tap out a short entry. I felt neglectful not doing it properly the last couple of weeks!

We've endured a perfect paper storm: at this time of the year a swag of kids seek recommendations from their core teachers for possible entry to boarding schools in the States for next year. We've copped a lot of them and they need to be done in triplicate, get approved and edited, then sent away. Along with this we've had final narrative and grade reports after issuing all the kids with a final grade update. The narrative reports had to include references to the "affective domain" to keep in line with new guidelines and this made them a little trickier than usual to complete. We were just done with writing, revising and editing these when, without chance to draw breath, exams were upon us!

The 210 strong cohort of eighth graders filled the upper gym on Monday morning and we've been furiously grading their output ever since. Just to complicate matters further, they needed us to proctor and invigilate in other exam rooms during the following days, interrupting our marking flow. We have to reset and re-calibrate every time we get back from such a duty and strict protocols mean that we can't let a pencil feather a paper while we're on duty!

The trouble with giving highly motivated, talented and dedicated 14 year old academics an hour to write an essay is that they write a lot! To say we have been goggle eyed is an understatement especially considering the varying quality of handwriting samples. Some delightful charmers write in an impossibly pretty, highly legible font that grader's dreams are made of, while other less popular members of the gang dance hieroglyphics across the page, scratch meaningless graphite etchings or write in such impossibly minuscule letters that it is impossible to decipher with the naked eye. It's all part of the frustration and joys that we experience each day!

Coupled with grading fever has been an emotional roller-coaster of sorts with our great mate Shaun leaving tomorrow. We'll miss him professionally as our divisional principal, but more importantly personally. Wal and I were delighted that Shaun carved out some time from his busy going-away schedule to join us for a beer on Friday night. We had a great time: it was just like the good old days with plenty of laughs and lots of reminiscing. It's been good to be feverishly busy actually: we haven't been able to dwell on the inevitable.

We'll be ensconced on the Left bank in a few short days and have already mapped out a few must "re-visits". I'm keen to explore the new area as well as get back to some old stomping grounds to drink in some artistic perfume at de l' Orangerie, d'Orsay, Marmottan, Picasso, Pompidou and many more. We've got some premium seats to La Traviata at Opera Bastille as well...should be quite amazing: it's the hottest ticket in town!

Apart from bathing in fine arts we'll be consuming more than our share of wine and food from as wide a variety or restaurants and cafes that we can find! Happy Christmas and New Year to any readers....I'll have another short break while we're in gay Paris and be back with tales of our adventures after that!

Photos: Jacks design studio (we bought two more stunning Moller 71 Danish 1950s dining chairs to complete our set), kids in the gym, proctoring a Mandarin exam, and the spoils of a Grade 8 English teacher: top quality champagne and chocolate!

This week's blog is late and maybe this short: hopefully I'll re-visit it in a day or so. Very rare shots of Mary who is extremely camera shy. The reason this blog is like this is down to four very important words that are occupying all my time: ninety two narrative reports!

Hopefully back later....

We celebrated signing our contracts this week by getting out in the great outdoors via Youbike! The days were crisp and dry, the sun tapping a steady rythm on skin and the breeze just a zephyr to fan the sheen of sweat we produced: ideal bike riding conditions! We are often neglectful of the many incredible resources and services available to us as residents of this great city, so wanted to get out and experience the combed lawns, riverside gardens and smoothly paved networks of bikeways all in close proximity to our apartment.

It's a crazy hectic year. Cass is doing an enormous job running our curriculum on Grade 8 English and I am trying desperately to wrap my head around the day-to-day demands. I did teach the course last year, but to a boutique class of only 5 kids: now I have 92 kids spread across five classes! The teaching is quite Utopian in that the default kid is hard-working, respectful, delightful and eager to take part in everything we present. The difficult part is the grading and now, coming up, the report writing...should be interesting!

We've been busy to such an extent that we've flopped exhausted into the bosom of the weekend in the many past weeks and not given a further thought to anything resembling planning or scheduling. For that reason we haven't organized any holiday for the Christmas break as yet. Normally at this time of year, we've planned, scheduled, paid for and almost started to enjoy the feel of our chosen destination. We're hoping that our agent can work some magic and squeeze out a flight to Paris for us: it's been a long stint since my last visit and Cass goes there like it's a weekend away....we know it almost as well as Taipei! Anyway, hopefully a couple of weeks in our second favourite city (if we can arrange it at late notice) will get us revved up for action in second semester.

Mary is slowly coming to terms with the loss of her life-long partner and sister. She still flares up at night sometimes and wails for her, disturbing our sleep, but the incidents seem to be waning. She seems more relaxed in her waking moments and is slightly more attentive, even though still wary, even after 15 years! We brush her constantly and pet her if she seems distressed and she's slowly responding. If it wasn't a little tragic it would be funny: we've caught her snuggling with a tiny teddy bear that Cass put near her basket...so she definitely yearns for her companion.

Photos: One of my kids has a sense of humour with their copy of F451!. Interesting signs and doorways on our way to the supermarket. The idyllic waterside bikeways and our favourite little coffee shop, Ruelle (complete with Aussie "flat whites"!).