Fifth Entry

It has been a while since I have written in my blog. I am just lazy. I wish my computer had some sort of speech to text program on it.

Last week from Wednesday to Friday, I substituted at a Kindergarten class. I expected it to be a complete nightmare. It ended up being a really good experience. The kids were extremely well mannered and they obeyed their substitute the way they should.

One thing that was really weird about this Kindergarten class was that they tattle a lot. Every little thing was tattle-able. I had forgotten how kids their age still dont really know what is important enough to tattle. Interesting.

This class was also a bilingual class, English/Spanish. I cannot speak nor understand Spanish to save my life, but I am able to read it fairly well out loud. Some of the kids confused this ability to read and make the accurate sounds with my actual ability to speak and understand Spanish. I would speak with the kids in English and most of them understood me and could talk back in English. But some of the kids would forget that I dont know how to speak Spanish all that well and would start rattling off in Spanish to me. It was pretty funny.

Although there was no naptime, there was a snack time where the kids were served Apple Juice and Crackers. I noticed how none of the kids could hold the cup of apple juice straight up and were always flirting with spillage.

On Thursday night, Amy, Carolyn, Lisa and I went to some Indian restaurant in Alameda. Carolyn was in the mood for some meat. And by meat she meant beef. None of us realized that Indian people do not eat beef. There was a collective duh when the waitress informed us of our misfortune. No matter, I guess, cuz we went on and ordered our chicken, lamb and "quesadilla". The dinner was pretty good. The after dinner rating gave it a solid 7.

That same night, I found out that Americas golden girl Michelle Kwan won only the bronze medal at the Winter Olympics of Salt Lake City 2002. That upstart teen from Long Island, Sarah Hughes, is the one that won the gold. Bitter. Whatever...

On Friday night, Amy, Carolyn, Jen, Lisa and I took Louis out for his San Leandro birthday dinner. It was a good dinner at Paradiso restaurant in the lovely North Area of San Leandro. I had been there before and recognized the waitress who was serving us. I had pork chops which were cooked to perfection. I wish I could say the same for the "wilted spinach". It looked like crap and almost tasted as bad. The mashed potatoes were absolutely perfect!!

After dinner, we all decided that it would be fun if we all went Karaokeing. At first I thought we would go to the Hayward place...our usual karaoke venue. But someone came up with the idea for Manor Bowl. Freeeee!!! I did not sing, neither did Jen or Lisa. Amy sang once, and sang well at that. Louis sang about 5 or 6 songs.

After Louis Karaoked, I took everyone home and Jen and I went exploring. Actually, at first we were looking for the Tapioca Express in Newark without taking the freeway. At least that is what I was doing. No such luck...we got lost in Newark and ended up near the entrance to the Dumbarton Bridge. At that point, we decided to go home. It was an interesting drive though. I got to see parts of Newark that I had never seen before. Not like I will remember any of it anyway cuz it was dark when I saw all these things.

Saturday...class in the morning...boring.

Saturday night was supposed to be our first annual drunk night. We were just going to get drunk and watch DVD's or TV. Three people flaked, so all that was left was Jen and me. We made Pina Coladas and Screwdrivers and watched Sex and the City. Very funny show.

Sunday morning, I awoke to my dad telling me to get up. After 4.5 hours of sleep, it was time to go to the snow again. We were all psyched up for this trip. When we got there, there wasnt even half the snow that there was the previous weekend!! Apparantly it had rained during the week which melted some of the snow and turned the remaining snow into hard packed ice...very slippery. We drove for quite a bit and finally found the last good patch of snow that was not full of people. It was on the side of the road. At first we didnt see any potential, but on my insistance we stayed. After a while we found what would become the perfect intertube run. Steep, narrow, and long it was all the things a successful run needed to be. After we took a shovel to it and shaped it, we were ready to ride. And ride we did. It was really cool.

After a tiresome day of snowplay, we went home. I slept forever.

Monday morning, I went to substitute a 3rd grade class. They were good kids. They listened, they worked. Some of the kids were a little hyper, but I could manage. It was quite a big contrast with the Kindergarten class from the previous week. They were more aware, and were more helpful. It was fun.

On Tuesday, I was assigned to the same class and it was also fun. The kids seemed a little more restless. I think it was hotter on Tuesday than on Monday.

And that brings me to today, Wednesday. I had lunch with Lisa. We went to Ray's Sushi. It was really dark in there. We realized that they were not open yet. OOPS. Then we tried Rock 'n Roll Sushi next. They were open. I had a Chicken Teriyaki Bento Box. It was cheap and good, but not very filling. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.