Exercising With the Old Ladies

I just came in from my morning exercise. I went out at 6 and came in at 6:20. I couldn't bear the heat, even though my computer says it's only 75 degrees (I think my computer is wrong).

It was a hazy morning and it smelled like smoke. Seems someone is burning trash somewhere. Perhaps those big smoke stacks I see all over are incinerators? The campus is lush and looking a bit overgrown. I suppose that with the rain, the gardeners are letting it go until the rain stops and then they will go out and trim the bushes and cut down the grass. It feels very jungle like and wild though. I like it.

I did a few rounds of the campus and stopped under a tree to do some of the exercises I saw as I was walking around. Things like swinging my arms in circles, circling my hips, banging on arms, shoulders, chest, etc., with a closed fist. I saw one old dude who looked like he was about 100 years old, rail thin, doing push-ups and then balancing on one arm while he turned and pointed the other arm straight up towards the sky. We did things like that in yoga. The next time I passed him, he was hitting a tennis ball against a wall. I don't know if I want to live to be as long as he is, but I would love to be in the kind of shape he's in. I am going to try to go out and do a little exercise every morning. I think these folks have the right idea.

Yesterday we had our first meeting with the other trainers in our group. The other three guys in our group are a bit odd. They all seem in their late 20's or early 30's and I think they are all SIT trainers. One guy kept using lots of SIT terminology that I didn't understand - ELC, PPC, PLOP (I'm making these up but this is what it sounded like to me). I didn't pursue. I figure since I have been teaching ESL for about the same time he's been living, I didn't need to know what these fancy terms meant. I will just teach the students things that have worked for me. Practical is the word. SIT is a good school and they have great teacher-training programs, but sometimes they can be a little full of themselves.

Today we will have a little opening ceremony and then level the students. After lunch we will have our first sessions with them. My computer says it is going to be 91 degrees today and it looks like it will rain. Students can you say "sweltering?"

I just got a message from Sonja. She has been up since 2:30. She only slept 4 hours. I think I got about 7 hours sleep, even though I went to bed around 9 and woke up at 4:30.

The adventure continues.....