Everybody's working for the weekend...

My long weekend has finally come. And by long weekend I mean that I am packing up my desk, clearing off the computer and getting ready to split. Foooreeeevvvveeer (anyone seen the sandlot?).

I'm kinda sad, one of my students who I was never sure really liked me gave me cookies today and his email address. Otherwise, my permanent departure from school is being heralded by, well, nothing. I'll see my coteachers and a few other of the nicer teachers at the end of August before I come home, but this is it for school. I have had some really great and some really horrible times here. I can't say I'm not looking forward to my 2.5 weeks of freedom, but I'm not sure I expected it to end like this. Me, alone in my nearly empty office.

It sounds like you all are having a great time though, and I can't wait to be in the same country (maybe even state) as you all soon. I hope you can come down to Madison, or Rochester sometime after I get back Ginny and Marie (August 22nd, mark your calanders!).

Also, just a quick plug: The weekend of September 10 is the Greek Festival, which has moved from the Civic Center to our brand new and swanky-or so I've heard- church (still at W Center St, across from Lourdes). I believe there are festivities Friday, Saturday and Sunday and I'll no doubt be there, so you should too.

a comedy of errors

hey girls. marie - i'm glad you're living like a true new yorker. are you still seeing the boy in times square or is that done with now?

i went on a big camping trip this weekend with a big group. there were twelve of us total, but my part of the caravan left on saturday morning, a car of four. we had trouble from the very start. my friend dan was supposed to drive but his battery died the night prior, and his stereo then thought the car was being stolen and locked up. we took wendy and jacobs car instead, a bit of a beater. we had to stop to get an oil change an hour into the 5 hour drive.

so when we finally get to the damn park (sleeping bear dunes, in very northern michigan. it's BEAUTIFUL. there are 100 foot dunes that you can climb and the lake is clear as a bell), we get lost every which way we go. it's uncanny how at every possible chance we took a wrong turn.

but we get to swim and hike and make a fire, set up tents, grill some dinner. we drink and talk and look at stars and generally every thing is aiiight. everyone bunks down around 1 am, just in time for it to start sprinkling a bit. then it begins to rain. then pour and thunderstorm. this isn't a problem for me and dan in our tent, we had a sturdy rain fly and were quite snug. wendy and jacob however had recently lent their tent to wendy's younger brother, who returned it fly-less. they got soaked and had to sleep in their poor car.

so we got through the wet night, had a bit of breakfast, had another campfire, got back on the road. it was nearly 100 degrees by sunday afternoon. 5 or so hours later, right around gary indiana, we blow out a tire. i have never before been in a car that blew out a tire. i've been in a car that got a flat once, from a little puncture, but that's pretty different from the entire tire tearing to shreds. we change the flat on the side of the road where the heat has got to be well over 100 by now, and get back on the road. where we promptly discover that the breaks are fucked. how scary is it to be going down the highway at 60 and realize you have no breaks? fairly damn scary.

we pulled over with only one side breaking, go to a gas station where jacobs father walks him through some crazy maneuver to reset the breaks, and take side roads all the way back to chicago. we get home around 7 pm. in jacobs words:

"me, wendy, VA, dayne and our donut rolled back into town about an hour and a half ago... when I parked the car I half expected an atomic bomb to go off before I got to the door... "

what a weekend. despite all of out trouble it was still totally worth it.

so mara and kristin - i'll be in madison the weekend of august 5th for annie mcguires wedding. she's marrying her hippie carpenter of a boyfriend. should be fun.

and there are my boobs

Gin, your life sounds so fun! Grilling and pools and biking. It's raining here. Again.

My life has become a little ridiculous. Last friday I had a physical. I'm not really sure why since I'll be leaving my school in a month or so, but I had to do it anyway. The first bad omen was that I was trying to fill out a medical history report, except that it was in korea, and no one could explain the stuff I didn't know so they basically crossed a line through most of it. Then they started out with the normal stuff. Height, weight, blood pressure, heart rate, eyes, ears, etc.

Then we stepped it up a notch. Urine and blood tests. Now your regular urine test isn't fun- this one was worse. They give you a small strip of what looks like litmus paper with different colored bits on it. And then they send you to the bathroom out through the waiting room down the hall, and you hold the thing while you pee on it. And after you pee on this thing how do you get your pants back on one handed? It's not fun being stuck in a small stall trying pull your pants up while also trying hard not to get pee all over yourself. So then you finally manage to get yourself presentable again, and then you have to walk back down the hall and throught the waiting room with your pee-stick before the nurse looks at it and then you throw it away. Seriously, I would have given anything for a cup.

Then I gave blood (no bandaid afterwards, you have to hold the cotton ball on your own arm) and then they had to listen to my chest or something. So they take me in a room at the end of a small hallway and the doctor without so much as a 'hello how are you' (in English or Korean) lifts up my shirt. The door is still open. Naturally I was like "what the hell!" and then he showed me the stethiscope (sp?) and so I sat rather stunned as he once again proceded to lift up my shirt and listen to me breath. The door is still open. Luckily for me no one decided to walk by at that minutes, but it sure does make me appreciate the privacy that you get back home!

I also had to get a chest x-ray done, which was retarded if nothing else.

The best part about it all is that I'm pretty down sure I will never know the results. I'm guessing the school will get them. Hopefully I don't have a strange disease!

Next time you get a physical make sure you are thankful for the small things. I'm on the last week of classes, and quite frankly neither the students nor I want to be here. It's summer right now and everyone is ready to hit those fun summer activities.

Miss you guys! 42 or 43 days until I'm back in the country!

man it's so hot. mara - my parents just called me from your poolside. i discovered a great treasure hidden in my neighborhood today: the pulaski park fieldhouse and pool.

it's a triple outdoor pool with slides and fountains and cool water and it's free. booyah. it's got a LOT of chlorine in it however, so i really am going to need a shower in the next four hours or else my hair will turn green.

it's another weekend of grilling and drinking in chicago. my favorite quote from a new yorker: "goddamn, all you chicago people ever do is bike, drink, and grill!"


so so true.