It's Thursday

It's my last official day in the office and I'm counting off all the things that need to happen before I leave.  Now, there's a sign on my door with my blog address and email address for those who want to get in touch with me.  The reference letters are taped to the door so that students can get them or I can ask Juanita to address and mail them out.  I've copied rubrics that must be entered into the TK-20 database with the thought that some day I may have to learn to use that system.  I'll deal with the online connections for my laptops when I come back, even though Susan has been most gracious through all my emails that essentially said, "I have no clue about wireless connections and what I'm supposed to do."  I just can't believe that it's taken me all day to get this little stuff done! 

Of course, I did manage to deal with a lot of spam and several important emails.  My two independent study students, Janelle and Kathleen, were on my mind and I've almost finished up the arrangements that I need to make for them to complete a really exciting study of exemplary teaching.  We're all so excited about the possibilities of what they will learn and how we're able to document this!  Watching young teachers is so inspiring and they offer such great hope for my grandchildren.

I also started checking the auto trader website that my younger brother, Themba, had recommended.  Based on all the feedback from former Fulbrighters and friends, it looks like it's advantageous to buy a car.  Themba has been kind enough to give me websites, suggest makes and models with high resale value, and point me towards service and insurance options.  So, today I took a break to look at cars in my price range.  Now, I've just replaced one old car with an older one at home so Ben will have something to drive when he returns so buying another car isn't really something I'm overly eager to do, but those little cars are pretty cute!  But I'm also really nervous about driving on the other side of the road and dealing with a manual transmission that's also on the other side as well.  After looking a bit, I dropped Themba a line to share my concerns.  Here's part of his reply:

"The R50k will be more than enough to buy you a good car, we just need to choose the correct vehicle...I think being nervous is quite ok because if you were not something will be wrong. You are leaving behind your beautiful house, family, comforts, snow etc and that will make many people change their minds. The advantage though for you is that you are going to a very familiar place and will interact daily with people that you already know. As for the driving, I think it ill also be easy because we drive on the left lane but cars are right hand drives which is opposite your system. If the cars were also left drives driving on the left hand lane that would have been tricky but I see you driving alone from day one from the garage to home."

As you can see, my South African family is just lovely and perhaps you can understand why I love them so much!

Well, I'm dragging my feet.  It's not because I don't want to head home to prepare a spaghetti supper for the whole family this evening as Ben and I prepare to say goodbye and take lots of pictures to share (although you probably know how little I enjoy the cooking side of things!).  Goodbyes are always hard and I have to say goodbye to students I'll miss as they've returned for senior and grad semester classes.  No more trips to the dean's office for free coffee. No more lunches with "the wonder women" and no more chats up and down the hall.  Of course, people who teach in 3110, 3105 and even 3150 don't have to worry about me dropping in to interrup their classes either!  But I'll certainly miss my dear friends in Memorial Hall.  As my friend, Mike Renfroe told me long ago, "You're supposed to be sad when you say goodbye to the people you love."