Finally

I've finally taken the time...or rather made the commitment to start a blog. I guess in so many ways I've felt that my life is simply boring. The interesting factor in my everyday life is fairly low. When I remember my days in Istanbul and all the crazy things that I would see...like the cow eating out of the trash can in the middle of the city...I just can't compete with that in small town Kansas. Even then, when I'd see something funny or unusual I would jump on my computer and email home...just to hear my mom laugh (in my imagination). So...when I moved home to the states and thought about starting a blog, I could only imagine the boring postings that I would have. That was...until the other day. Many people don't know this, but this is my first year teaching in the middle school. Yep...I am the English/writing teacher at Hutchinson Middle School-8. I have obviously chosen to teach the most difficult, uninteresting, and impossible-to-motivate subject available to teachers. The other day I was giving a quiz. I had just handed out the paper and sat down at my desk to take attendance when a student raised his hand. When I asked what he needed, he asked to go to the restroom. Every good teacher knows that as soon as the quiz is handed out, students don't leave until their quiz is finished. So, I told him rather impatiently that he could wait until he was finished. He turned to look at me and said, "but Miss, I have gum on my eyelashes." And sure enough...I looked and he had green gum stretching between his top and bottom eyelashes. I didn't ask any questions. It's truly the first time I've ever had anyone get gum stuck in his eyes. So, sometimes teaching 8th grade is about as amusing or strange as living in another country.