Alaskan Bulgarian

School Days Again

There is very little worse in this world than waking up to an alarm when you haven't done so for a week and a half. Even if that alarm beeps at 9:30, a pretty late wak-ups call, after all those days of strict relaxation reality hits pretty hard. Then I had class to look forward to, and all those kids who sometimes just won't be quiet. Sigh.

Fortunately, it all went pretty well. I got back into the teaching groove pretty easily. The kids could have been better. A lot better, but everyone has warned me that these last few months only make them noisier, roudier, and more of a pain.

There's the heat, which is slowly building and making me fear May. For some reason every student sitting next to a window is the kind of Bulgarian that fears the evil dichinie, or draught. These kids can be like my grandmother when it comes to complaining about draughts. The slightest breeze makes their immune systems quiver in horror, and if one of them has a sore throat, God help the kids sitting inthe back of the room with the sun shining on them and no windows they can open. They're stuck.

Then there's the upcoming multiple, back-to-back-to-back vacation weeks. Time off=good, but it also means the students do nothing but look forward to that next long weekend, and Bulgaria treats them to a few. Cyril and Methodius' Day is coming up pretty soon I think. And there's George's Day squeezed in there somewhere, but I'm not altogether sure if they have that day off. Whatever the case may be, spring is full of holidays scattered everywhere, and the students know it.

Fortunately for me, I have the weekends too. This one happens to hold the all-important birthday, and will mean good times to come in Sofia. So I have that going for me. Which is nice.