What goes up must come...

Dear All,

That's right! You guessed the name of this blog post without my saying it. Since they haven't disproved the theory that what goes up must come down, I shall blog accordingly.

This is the 'down' time, where students are starting to realise that school comes attached with grades and such things, and playing in class might not be the best way to pass the midterm test that's coming up tomorrow, or today for some, who only know this if they've been paying attention.

Speaking of things which go down, or up... On my way to school, everyday without fail, at approximately 4 minutes before I reach school, I look up to the right, in between the swaying tree branches, and squint my eyes to see what the temperature reads on an enormously towering building by the school. If it reads anything above 32 Celsius (89.6 F), I glare at it and rain down threats about smashing it. This temperature gauge is also my mood gauge - the lower the temperature, the better my mood. In direct relation, the higher the temperature, the worse my mood and consequently, the rest of my day.

Today as usual, I checked the temperature on my way home after school, (many hours after school ended), and what I saw made me want to sing. If I had had my camera with me, I would have taken a picture right there and then and proudly displayed it at the beginning of this blog. The temperature read 23 C (73.4 F). My mood jumped up 98%.

And lastly, though not least, another thing that drops down, is health. Because of the major changes in temperature, (on Sabbath it was 35 C = 95 F, and tonight 23 C = 73.4 F - that's major change in 2 days)and because students happily share everything, including colds, and because going to bed late and waking up early are not conducive to staying healthy, I have succumbed to some sort of nasty cold.

It's not quite the flu, and I wouldn't say I caught it either, it just came to me, and has decided to set up residence for a while. It first appeared the end of last week, and on Thursday morning I felt like turning invisible for a day, since my throat hurt so much.

But by Friday, I felt like I could face the world, as long as I didn't have to sing or speak much. So since I was still standing by the end of the school day, I tackled food shopping. It must have been a mistake.

Sabbath morning I woke up eyes that kept sending me 'I'm closing' messages, and a nose that wouldn't turn off. Halfway through the sermon my head had begun to commiserate with my eyes and nose. By the end of the day every part of my body was sympathising with my nose, which still insisted on running profusely.

Sunday morning my nose and the rest of my body continued aching in harmony, and I decided the one thing I was grateful for was that it was Sunday and I had one more day to recuperate. But it's midterm time and Sunday found me grading papers in the office again for a good part of the day.

Monday morning, well, that was today. My nose continues to run, only now it alternates between running freely and blocking itself up so strongly that my head hurts from the pressure. My eyes have decided now is their time to complain loudly, since everything else is, and they are voicing their discontent with much gusto.

But besides that, I am getting some grading done, and it's 'teaching as usual' here in Taipei. I did overhear one student happily say there is a new strain of flu going around. Wouldn't it be something to be one of the first people to try out the new bug? All I can say is, it definitely works.

Until next time,

- R