Thursday, November 9, 2006 ;
4:36 PM
Updates on what I am feverishly working on during this supposed "holiday":
1. Remedials and consultations with students (cos their A levels end only on 23 Nov)
2. Haven't started packing but I am supposed to clear my old house and my own place of stuff and pack them nicely in boxes, sorted into stuff that I am bringing and stuff that I am leaving behind. But those left behind need to be neatly packed in boxes too, cos of the people staying in these places, namely my in laws and my own folks. They should not be left with a trail of mess to dust and look after for 2 years.
3. Clearing up my desk at work. This will be quite difficult too, as I have amassed an amazing load of files, stationery and resources. However, I do not need to cart everything home cos I got willing takers for most of the stuff. Judith wants my notes and such, Mag wants my document trays, pull out box, coloured boxes, bar magnets etc and I am sure Lawrence will take the rest of my rubbish. Since his table is already full of it, a little more wouldn't make a difference. :-)
I'd be sad to return my laptop though, it is such a nice new one. A good widescreen Acer. I will miss that.
4. Settling plane tickets, applying for US visas. This is what I am doing now and it really takes a lot of effort. Mrs Ang has been telling me it is not an easy process and I must be sure to do it early. I have been trying to search for a relatively free "window" period to do it since October. But it is only now that I didn't get inundated with requests from students for consultations. Reason being, their 1st Bio paper just ended on Tuesday (3 Nov) and the next Bio paper is on Monday (20 Nov) so these few days they will be busy with Maths, Chem and Physics papers. Phew. I have Wed to Fri this week to do the visa application. So whole of yesterday I pored over the US embassy website and tried to prepare the stuff they required - went to the bank and had to spend $680 getting cashiers' order (really feel the pinch!), fill in online forms and so on. And early this morning I dropped my kids off at my mom-in-law's and went with my mom to the embassy. Will blog next on the experience after I have obtained the visa. The plane tickets for all of us cost $8000 (not incl dh's). So I am really pouring all of my savings into this US stint. Must pray that it is worth it, that we will be safe, that we will find it a good learning experience.
5. Taking care of my kids (this is really time consuming!) It leaves me with very little free time each day to do the above things.
Ok, so now I have just returned from the US embassy, kids are napping, and I hope to check some emails. Haven't done so for a few days, no time!
Dh's update (via 3 SMSes) - he managed to check into a motel but found that the price really matched the conditions. Also the surroundings did not seem very safe and he later learnt that it is not on the safe side of the city. So the next night he stayed in the same hotel as where the conference was held, and got a free stay cos he helped out with gathering contacts and tallying of results, it seems (admin work). Well, that's good, although he had to work till late at night but at least he is safe and getting a free stay as a bonus. Today would be his 3rd night now.
rainbows every day, do not worry for the morrow
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