Teach till you drop

I tried to nap today. Twice, in fact. The first time was most-unheard-of, as it involved me trying quite futilely to take advantage of Taiwanese elementary schools' naptime by putting my face down on my desk while trying not to slide away on my rolling chair; the second was just too short, given the amount of time between when I get home from school and go to Chinese class on Mondays.

So, I'm tired. I've traced it to an essential lack of a weekend--last week was teach, travel, teach, explore Kaohsiung, do Easter, tutor--and a correlating lack of sleep. Don't get me wrong, it was absolutely wonderful, but it was also absolutely exhausting.

But that's not to say it wasn't a good day! At school I had lots of fun teaching the 5th graders pictionary and talking to my colleagues, and when I got home, I found a letter from Maggie (Isabel and Sophia's mom) waiting for me--and full of Starbucks coupons for free drinks, redeemable only in Taiwan! Starbucks is a rare luxury for me here (they don't scale prices to the local economy), and one I've been cutting back on to save for travel and "real life" back home, so these little coupons are a real blessing. I can't wait to try them out. Thanks Maggie!

Yes, I was tired today. Yes, I'm still tired now. But life in Kaohsiung carries on, in its lovely and irresistible wonderfulness.