Noob.

It’s funny–some days I feel as though I’m really getting the hang of this job, and other days I realize just how much of a noob I still am. And the days aren’t predictable. Something like, say, explaining what a “motif” is and getting the students to become aware of the recurrence of language having to do with blood, masculinity, owls, darkness, vision, Christ-figures, and what have you, in Macbeth? I turned out to be a pro at that. Something as seemingly simple as showing a movie version of Macbeth on the last two days of class before Christmas Break? Completely threw me for a loop. First I check out all of the VHS versions in the school library (4, in case you were wondering), then I realize I don’t have a VHS player and that none of those versions are very watchable anyway. I borrow an extra one from the school, take it home, and completely fail to put it up successfully. I decide to shelve that dilemma, rent a movie from the Fan Video, settle down to watch it, and realize that it completely sucks. So then I spend two to three hours driving around Chesterfield (I get lost) in complete desperation in search of a DVD version that another teacher recommended. I rent what I think is it, then realize within five minutes of playing it that it’s laughably bad. Finally I suck it up and watch the Roman Polanski one (which is actually fairly good, if dated) and just tell the students to close their eyes for the violent parts. Oh, and I’m leaving out the part where I had to beg the librarian (who is very sweet, luckily) for help finding a stand with a TV and VCR, then lug it around to all of my classrooms.

Go me.

And, she’s back.

I would apologize for dropping off the face of the earth there, but I doubt that anyone’s actually reading this yet. Suffice it to say that November–and NaNoWriMo–did not exactly go as I planned/hoped. The weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, along with the weeks leading away from it, were challenging, sad, exciting, and difficult.

There was a car accident involving Pete, Blondie’s fencing coach, and three freshman boys who were in the car. Pete was killed, and one of the other boys died two weeks later. One of the other boys came away with a broken wrist, and the last had to have two surgeries but has since been released from the hospital and appears to be recovering well. This has been an incredibly sad time for the team, for Blondie (who was the captain for two years and is still heavily involved as a graduate student), and for me. There were many times at William and Mary that I felt disconnected from the school and the students. My personal growing pains sometimes made it difficult for me to find rewarding friendships, but the team has been incredibly generous and friendly and good to me for the past three years. It is hard to see them so sad.

Work also took a turn for the chaotic last month–between exams and papers and rewrites, I found it difficult to keep my head above water. Thanksgiving was nice, but a bit too short, and it has only been during this week that I’ve been able to return to a somewhat normal schedule that allows me to feel relaxed and confident. I’m remembering why I liked this job in the first place, and that’s good.

I guess that’s all the news that’s fit to print. I’ll try to figure out what to do with this blog at some point.