Happy New Year

I was all set to do a chipper end of the year, everything has managed to work its way out posting. I mean, I showed up at school today high on the holidays (5 christmas parties have helped to get me into the spirit of things). The school had finally decided it was indeed cold enough to turn on the heat in the teacher's lounge (there still isn't heat in the rest of the school, but at least i can be warm while on break) and Santa has a gotten a new head. Even my neighbors have managed to put a few lights up in the neighborhood (strangely one of them put up a giant x-mas light American flag in their window...i am not sure how patriotic that is, since they have no actual ties to the US.) And I am finally all packed and ready to leave for my 24 hour voyage to Thailand (a ferry, a bus, a couple of trains and 2 planes...but Chiang Mai here I come). I thought nothing could dampen my spirits.....until I was handed a brillo pad and asked to join the students in scrubbing the hallway floors at school....Its the end of the year, time to get rid of all the old scuff marks on the floors (I thought maybe i would donate a floor buffer to the school so that no one would ever have to get on their hands and knees and scrub ever again..) I am not sure how wierd this is, but as I was scrubbing the small little circles in the linoleum, I kept hearing Mr. Miyagi's voice telling me to "wax on, Wax off." I suppose, relatively speaking it certainly wasn't the worst thing that could have happened, but annoying nonetheless.

Happy New Year everyone, I hope your year has managed to work itself out as much as mine has....