it's been a while!

I'm here having a ten minute break. For each hour of class that we
have, we actually teach for only 50 minutes then have a ten minute
break. So a 3- or 4-hour class that starts on the hour actually
finishes at 10 to. Somehow, by some freak of scheduling, I am now
teaching 3 Pre-Intermediate classes, and one elementary, plus an
intermediate private student. 2 of the pre-int classes are at about
the same polace in the book. At first I thought it would make my life
easier, plan once, teach twice.... however, with my sucky memory I
seem to be forgetting whom I've taught what to. Hehehe I said whom. I
like saying whom. I don't use it with my students though, the pre-ints
and elementaries don't know about that yet. too much at once and they
could self-destruct!

But anyway, I feel like I've always been here. There is no longer
anything unfamiliar about the place. My flat is homey - I'm living
alone right now which is really nice. My neighbours are friendly, the
men in the shops at the corner know me. The mussel-man in the street
said I can pay anytime I want. I haven't taken advantage of his easy
credit system yet, but it's nice to know it's there. I don't have to
keep loose change for mussels if I don't want to. my students are (for
the most part) really sweet and nice, and most of them are good
students as well. The weather is getting hot, but my flat is cool and
breezy all the time. Something to do with the oasis outside the window
I guess, and the uninterrupted plain beyond it. At school the
classrooms are air-conditioned and I've managed to find the exact
setting that pre-empts the shivering motions and requests to turn off
the a.c., while still keeping me cool and collected. Incidentally,
most people don't seem to understand the concept of a thermostat. I
used to have the setting at 23 degrees celsius, that's a good 3
degrees above comfortable room temperature. After a few minutes,
everyone would complain that it was too cold. Geesh. I realise that at
24, it cuts off at just the moment they are about to complain that
it's too cold (in fact, sometimes they try, but by the time I make
them ask me to turn it off politely in proper English, it cuts out :o)
and at the moment when a bead of sweat is forming on my forehead (and
theirs) it cuts in. Turks are breeze-a-phobics. I'll explain this
later.