Gone With The Wind

On paper it’s break time, but in practice it’s mostly the opposite. Teachers & future teachers may receive mandatory holidays & vacations but a large portion of that spare time is devoted to behind-the-scenes schoolwork like marking tests & assignments, and planning units & lessons. Having a two-week break is beneficial in that it’s possible devote time for R&R before continuing with research & planning. Truthfully, this past week has been mostly leaning towards the R&R side but I spliced in serious work whenever possible.

Since I’ll be briefly teaching the Year 9s about Rwanda, I rented Hotel Rwanda from Blockbuster to get a better mindset about the place. I won’t be showing them the movie because there’s no time for a film study but I’ll encourage them to see on their own time. Hotel Rwanda is set during the infamous 1994 genocide where 800,000 Tutsi were slaughtered by Hutu extremists in 100 days.

The genocide would have been happening during this time 15 years ago, while the Western & European powers didn’t care at all, refusing to support the UNAMIR mission, and only stepped in after the Tutsi rebels, the RPF, ousted the Hutus from power. It upsets me that the same is currently happening in the Sudanese Darfur region & little is being done.

The Belgians are to blame for creating the Hutu & Tutsi division via ethnic classification on identity cards in the mid-20^th century when Rwanda was ruled by the European power. The Tutsi were the elite & the Hutu were poor farmers.

The pendulum will be swinging to the other side for this week, and I may be spending many days at Villa Maria preparing my lessons. With this much focus on teaching practice, you tend to ignore the obvious & differences around you. Just yesterday, I noticed & remembered that the company handling Ilam’s elevators is called Schindler’s Lifts!

The flock of ducks that usually hang out in Ilam’s Quad Area have mysteriously disappeared. I’m guessing they decided to migrate somewhere else during the winter months. The weather has also changed into constant overcast, drenching Christchurch in a dome of white & grey gloom. It actually makes you feel like you’re living in a self-contained biosphere. Well, at least there’s some sun out today.

Lastly, I never thought this day would arrive so fast; it’s mid-April meaning I’ve beaten my previous record of 19 weeks living without the close assistance of my parents. My record is now 20 weeks & counting! I can still remember way, way back in the day when going to a sleep over or staying awake all night was a big deal. Well, when I journey back to Canada I’ll have to decide what to do first: go to Tim Horton’s, or get a shawarma?