Monday 27 August 2007

I miss . . . .

Bank Holiday Monday.

It's the last Monday in August, and it's always a bank holiday in England, the excuse for a nice weekend away at the seaside, or a long weekend to visit family and friends. Here in the US, the contrast is pretty stark because the last Monday in August is the first Monday of term. So my teaching begins again, and traditional year schools begin their school year, so Emily will be back to school on the same day. It's a strange feeling; no sign of the cool autumn breeze that characterizes the return to school in England. It is still roasting hot here, with daily visits to the pool, and air conditioning on all day.

I am not going to complain, though. I am missing family and friends in England, but it's great to have Viola's mum Lettie with staying with us at the moment, and after a nice long summer, one of my most profitable for writing for a long time, I am looking forward to returning to teaching again.

2 comments:

Jacqui said...

Hope you have a good day, I don't envy you wil all those freshman.

My youngest starts today at the University of North Texas, so I will be interested to see how she fares. My other kids started last week.

I don't think US High schools (well in TX at least) prepares kids well for the change to University as I have seen many of my elder daughter's friends and my own Son flounder badly in their first year.

Then with all the working to pay for fees and cost of living, by the end of 4 yrs (if they are lucky), a lot of them are pretty burn out. No luxury of resits over here, fail a credit and you pay again. High GPA but still companies are insisting on masters. Its a very hard world these days for students.

You may have lost a bank holiday but you have gained a Labor Day :)

Mark Goodacre said...

Hi Jacqui. Good luck to your youngest. Unfortunately, I don't get a Labor Day holiday -- it's teaching as normal at Duke. But the kids will be off school.