I’m still here….

Seattle is still a bit of an oddity to me, but, only5+ months since returning, I am attempting to get things figured out again.

My job is going fine.  I haven’t seen my evaluations from last quarter, but I felt the whole thing went pretty well.  Only real issues: a LOT of students dropped the class or did VERY poorly.  Then again, I also had a substantial number of 4.0 grades – so perhaps it balances out.  The quarter system is REALLY FAST compared to the semester system.  And the breaks are so short!

Besides that, classes and students are much the same.  Upper class Egyptian kids or community college students, the problems are just about the same.  Language issues – both spoken and written.  Lack of study skills.  Outside time demands (my CC students are frequently raising families and have full time jobs – kinda different from my Egyptian students!).  Reticent attitudes about engaging in INQUIRY.

The last is the one that pains me the most.  The idea that people don’t want to find out the answer seems unfathomable.  Student attitudes of “Just tell me the answer/what is on the test” without an interest in the HOW or WHY is, literally, hard to imagine.  And yet, every term, there are a few students whose small epiphanies are sufficient to keep me at the job.

Then there is the personal readjustment.  I am dealing much better with getting out in “this culture” than a few months ago.  I’ve FINALLY gotten back to regular swimming at the Y and yoga – both are as much for sanity as for fitness – although I am certainly in need of the fitness.  We have been slowly refurnishing our house after purging nearly everything in the move.

Sunday knitting at our local is starting again and there is decent beer and wine here – so life is not too bad.  I still miss Cairo and the friends we left there.  Insha’allah I’ll get to go back soon for a visit, but in the meantime, Seattle is feeling a lot better (and wetter) than when we first got home.