Sore feet

The first week back always gets you. It takes awhile to get all the little piggies used to standing and being in heels for hours on end. The first week is always the most brutal...and I'm feeling it tonight. However, other than sore feet, it's been a great week. It has been wonderful to be back in the classroom. Until this afternoon, all of the classes I had were new classes (students I've never taught before). There's something about the freshness of a new slate with a new class that I love. Not to mention the fact that they explode with praise of, "You're so beautiful!" My students I've had before are more likely to say, "You're fatter than before!" Why yes I am, and I enjoyed my ice cream in America very much. However, I also love the comfort and familiarity of a class I've taught before. The class I taught this afternoon was one I've had for three semesters and have a tremendous relationship with. They understand me well enough to get my sarcasm (a tough thing for Chinese students to catch onto), to know when I'm serious, and when I'm kidding. They laugh at my jokes and clap when they find out I'm their teacher. They know when I mention football to cheer, "Go Ohio State!" and obligingly ask how my team is doing. And they make me laugh. Today I gave them a "quiz" about me to see how much they remembered. Part of the quiz was listing my hobbies. The class quickly came up with photography and cooking, and then were working on guessing the other two. From one corner of the class came "sleeping!" Well, yes, I do like my sleep. "Eating!" That could be true too. One sweet girl called out, "smiling!" Lest I get too big a head from that comment, a student called out from the front row, "giving quizzes!" Ah yes, this class knows me well. Later on, I was telling the class that I had changed apartments. As an explanation, I added that I now had a bigger kitchen. The quip from the second row quickly followed--"so now you can bake us more cookies!" I'll get right on that...