This & That Last Week

My exam for my last module of TESOL is tomorrow - the last written module, that is. Then I have to teach a class and I will be done! Finally! It has been a long 6 months and I must admit that I lost interest halfway through Module 2 but thoroughly enjoyed Module 3 so that kept me motivated for a while but Module 4 has been a drag as we spent a lot of time drafting lesson plans. The course has been ok, I guess, except that I think it was too exam-focused. We were told what we would be tested on and then taught what we needed to know for the exam. I know a lot of students would love it, but I was looking for something more. I did the course out of interest, not for a piece of paper and I would have enjoyed more discussion and exploration of language issues.Well, anyway, the course is almost over and as you can see, I am blogging while I should be studying... a bad habit picked up from my daughters :)

I have had a pretty good week, though a really busy one. I suppose that was because I was in office for only 3 days and all the work of the week got squeezed into those 3 days. I took Monday off to give myself some 'me time' as Tues was a public holiday. It was a good long weekend. I had planned to do some studying, but no I didn't. On Saturday we went to watch a movie - 'Wild Hogs' - because we needed to use movie vouchers that were going to expire. It was funny at parts but quite ho-hum. On Sunday, Rubhi and I went to watch The Phantom of the Opera. That was wonderful! This was the second time I had watched it and it was still spell-binding. The special effects were really awesome - my favourite is the 'river' that flows into the Phantom's hideout and of course I always feel so sorry for him....

Had a nice lie-in on Monday and then got a surprise lunch invite from Wai Yin who had come to MOE for a meeting. I get to see her so rarely that her call was a lovely surprise. We went to look at her house which is being renovated and oh my goodness, it is going to look really lovely. Then we went to Da Paulo's for lunch. Lovely Italian food... mmmm :) Tried vary hard not to gorge - actually had only a salad, but oh the bruschettas....

Then I had a lovely 2 hours at the spa with a scrub and a massge before going for dinner with my sisters in law. Two of them had finished courses they were doing so it was a celebration of some sort, plus I guess we hadn't met in a while. I think we chatted more during post-dinner coffee than during dinner itself. We went to a restaurant called Moghul Mahal, but I wasn't impressed with the service. I felt rushed and was quite upset at the way they started clearing away our plates, making it impossible for us to linger. I would have understood if the restaurant was full, but there weren't that many diners there. Anyway we went down to the Starbucks for a chat before going home.A nice evening catching up with each others' lives. We took a photo but the light was bad and the waitress didn't do too good a job with the camera so nothing to post.

So back to work on Wednesday and here we are on a Friday evening already. Oh, I received an interesting letter today from the National Council of Collegiate Scholars - I have NO IDEA who they are. But apparently I am to be congratulated for the part I have played in Jen's success because she has been nominated to be a member of this Council for being within the top 20% of her cohort. So hey - congratulations, darling. Yet again you have made me proud :) I am still a wee bit suspicious though, because the letter is full of American enthusiasm and sounds a bit like the letters that Readers' Digest sends out promising millions in their sweepstakes. Please tell me this is genuine and indeed something to be excited about, because I am thrilled about it :)