Final Exam and last day of work

The long school year is over! Normally I would be doing summer school, but I elected to leave early when I first signed my contract. The management became quite perturbed about it as the time grew closer, but I stuck to my guns and managed to get them to pay me all the money they owed me. Perhaps I shouldn't have signed that renewal contract in April, but I did and there is nothing one can do about that now.

This week has been one of the most boring of my days here. I didn't have class, so I was stuck in the office for most of the time just reading or playing on the internet. It was definitely not as productive as it could have been! I did invigilate an exam or two during that time and help some students study for another one, so at least I was able to find something productive to do! That and I finished my portfolio I was required to do for the semester. I am still not quite sure what it is or why we are doing it, but I did it because it was supposedly required.

Today was the final exam for both my Intro and Advanced classes. The tests had some tricky questions on it, but a couple of students we were really worried about seem to have done well, though we need to wait for the final results to be sure. One of the requirements for the Intro students was to write an email. One student left without doing this portion. As it is a significant part of the test, one of the instructors went to ask why she didn't do it. "I don't like emails" came her reply. "We need to know you can do this," I told her. She didn't care; she was still insistent that she didn't like to write emails. "Then write a letter." My suggestion brought first a look of confusion and then a bright smile. "Ok. I will do that." She took the paper and went and finished the test. I hope she did well!

Today was also my last day of work. Saying goodbye to the students was hard for me, but I did it mostly quickly and quietly. I am excited to leave, but saddened as well. I have known some of these students since I came here in March 2009, and even the ones who came this past October have found their way under my skin. If I don't come back, I will miss them all very much; I wish them well!

I fly out of here on the night of the June 27th! Erbil -Beirut-Paris-Chicago-Saginaw! What a trip! I hope that the airlines can check my bag all the way through; it would save a lot of hassle in Beirut. I kind of wish I had a little extra time in Lebanon; it would be nice to visit some people and to see a little bit of the country. Ahh well, maybe next time. The days are getting closer and I am getting more and more nervous. Let us hope these moths die away and there are butterflies to replace them...though I could do without them as well.

Calmness before the storm!

Once again I have been very busy and my daily posts are actually more like monthly. I can't help but get a little distracted with all the stuff I am dealing with here. Summer school was originally supposed to start the first week in July or so, but someone made the decision to make the ending dates for most of the classes at the end of May and the beginning of June. They are stagared throughout, so no one really knows when summer school starts anymore, and the students are confused about when they actually need to come to school.

My Advanced English class will go unitl the final on the 24th of June, unless we move it sooner. Then I will be able to leave as I am not teaching summer school this year. Of course this has just caused a huge problem with pay that should not have happened as they knew that I would be leaving early ever since I resigned the contract for this year at the beginning of this school year. What is one supposed do with these people?

I am officially supposed to return next year, but with this new problem, in addition to the old ones and the not having an air ticket home yet, I am not sure that I want to come back. I have been looking at other jobs just in case. It is a very difficult step for me because I really like these students as well as the area and don't really want to leave. The administration/management are just making a decision to stay very difficult. Perhaps this is some sort of test that is preparing me for something else later in life, though I hate to imagine what that could possibly be.

All in all though, I am really pleased to say that I am feeling quite peaceful and relaxed about the whole situation at the moment. I have been very stressed over it, but for some reason, this morning I awoke and was able to say "no matter what happens, it will be good. I am ok!" It feels good to be able to do that once again.