Early Birthday Pressie

I walked through the fresh new snow to my early class, Wednesday mornings are challenging for me, 4 classes all in a row starting at 8.10 and going through until lunch time. It is also a bigger challenge as the classes are all Junior 3, who are in a busy important year of study and often prefer to do homework during my classes, no matter how fun and interesting I try and make the lessons. It can really hurt when you spend hours finding lessons for them and they don't want to listen. Not as bad as when they think your lesson doesn't meet their fun expectation so they would rather play cards or talk though. Junior 3 is really very very difficult and you have to build your strength and try not to take it to heart otherwise it can be very hurtful. That being said I must also mention that some J'3 students are the exception and great kids and some classes are better than others. My Junior Two classes have had the opportunity to have been with me from their first days at school and we mostly seem to have a good understanding of each other and with Nettie's help, my junior 2 classes are really very very good, not the same problems in these classes. It really makes much more sense to me to just teach Junior 1 and 2 from Day 1, they will get the same amount of lessons from me for a full two years and wont impose into the busy Junior 3 schedule. Oh well, mei ban fa!
Anyway, I have wondered off down a different path, back to where I started,
I walked through the fresh new snow to my early class, up the 6 flights of stairs to my class and got ready for my mornings classes, the bell went and no students arrived, the start of class bell rang and still no students. I tried to ring some of the teachers...no luck, so I locked up class and started back down the stairs to the office. On the way I met Tina who gave me a huge early birthday present, the news that Junior 3's have exams today and tomorrow and they wont have my classes. I only have Junior 3's on both of these days, so I don't have to teach until Friday! I walked back through the snow singing "Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me.....a day early, how cool :-)
You really never know what will happen until it happens here in China. It keeps you on your toes :-)