A long time since pen to paper

My internet radio is lulling me into quiet contemplation as I stare out from behind my desk in my classroom. I'm free from kids for the moment, but I know my Grade 9 Advisory will be invading these walls in a brief seventy minutes. Psychology texts cover my desk and world maps stare at me from three walls. Although the radio plays pleasantly in my ears, I can also hear chants and marching orders out the window, coming from the nearby Chinese school. Local schools often begin the year with mandatory military "training", where they learn to chant and high-step and stand with straight backs to show their obedience and loyalty to the state.The hallways in my own school, though, are quiet. The classrooms are full.

The past few months have been full of transitions, and it's hard to believe that I've already been back to work for more than two weeks.

(**Side note: As a teacher, I hope you'll never hear me complaining about the length of my holidays. If I do, I hereby will allow one stiff slap upside the head for such nonsense. I've got a pretty sweet life.)

These transitions could seem ground-breaking when looking through an outsider's eyes... new job, new home, new colleagues, new domestic situation, new classes, new students, and a whole new life. I'm now living in a new city, teaching at a new school, and have started a new life with my partner and friend, M. There has been so much change, and I'm loving every minute of it.

I'm mainly writing this to reconnect a bit with some people I've lost touch with, and since I just received an email from one of my oldest, best friends this morning from her vacation spot, I thought I'd start here.

In her message, J wrote, "I am wondering how you are, and where your head is at, and what makes you happy and causes you worries lately. What are you reading and have you been writing? It has been too long since we had a good long talk."

Too true, my friend. Too true. In that spirit, I'll leave just a simple response:

At this moment in time, I am full of happiness and reasons to thank the cosmos, and I can only hope for more to come. I'll try to find time to fulfill the rest of J's inquiries soon. Until then...

T