![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Shrieking on a Tuesday
Feb. 1st, 2022 08:54 pmEvents continue to Unfold. Today’s new event is learning that some of our kids are leaving due to Politics. We all hope it won’t be for the rest of the school year. We’ll be working on a plan to support them through distance learning, but it’s just a shitty situation.
So far, we regular citizens are not being advised to leave. There’s so much conflicting information in the news, but from what I can see, the US and UK in particular are making a lot of noise that is likely unnecessarily loud and confrontational. The US, UK, and Australian governments are the only ones who advised their citizens to leave Ukraine and moved out their embassy families. No other country has taken this step. Which is not to say the increased military build up is not serious, but perhaps we aren’t quite on the very brink of war, not in the way American media wants us to believe. Here in BLR, it seems to be political maneuvering rather than safety concerns, for now. Of course things can change at any moment.
Our most immediate concern really should be COVID. We went online again this week, and we have many positive cases among the students, especially the young children in elementary. That is really scary because so many of them are unvaccinated. BLR just barely started bringing in vaccines for elementary aged kids. From what I can tell from local news sources, COVID is hitting Belarusian children hard as well. I don’t have much contact with elementary students or their families, but what I’m hearing is that the symptoms aren’t super serious, which is good. It’s just scary over all.
My stomach hurts all the time, and I’m breaking out in stress rashes, which is probably something I should pay attention to, re: stress levels.
I’m 99% decided about going home after this school year (if I don’t get another job). I will most likely sign up to be a sub for a few days a week, something to keep me from fully draining my savings but something that has much less stress and is flexible enough that if a job opens with a late start, I can hopefully take it (again, assuming I don’t get something before summer).
I’m getting better but still coughing a lot, especially if I have to talk for any length of time, which isn’t great for teaching. I’m really tired.
On the plus side, I’ve gotten into these LEGO-type models of shops from a series of city blocks. I found some sets randomly at the store where I get my groceries, but lately they haven’t had new sets. I did order some and have them sent to my house in Idaho (like a Bubble Tea shop!). But I’ve been bummed out that there aren’t more here to put together. Then, I went to Miniso today to get gifts for my departing students, and lo and behold, they had FOUR new buildings, including the cafe set! They are about three times more expensive than the sets I bought at the grocery store. They are clearly the same series, just rebranded to have Miniso on the box, but I’ve got the money, so I splurged and bought the sets. I’ll take photos later. They are really cute.
So far, we regular citizens are not being advised to leave. There’s so much conflicting information in the news, but from what I can see, the US and UK in particular are making a lot of noise that is likely unnecessarily loud and confrontational. The US, UK, and Australian governments are the only ones who advised their citizens to leave Ukraine and moved out their embassy families. No other country has taken this step. Which is not to say the increased military build up is not serious, but perhaps we aren’t quite on the very brink of war, not in the way American media wants us to believe. Here in BLR, it seems to be political maneuvering rather than safety concerns, for now. Of course things can change at any moment.
Our most immediate concern really should be COVID. We went online again this week, and we have many positive cases among the students, especially the young children in elementary. That is really scary because so many of them are unvaccinated. BLR just barely started bringing in vaccines for elementary aged kids. From what I can tell from local news sources, COVID is hitting Belarusian children hard as well. I don’t have much contact with elementary students or their families, but what I’m hearing is that the symptoms aren’t super serious, which is good. It’s just scary over all.
My stomach hurts all the time, and I’m breaking out in stress rashes, which is probably something I should pay attention to, re: stress levels.
I’m 99% decided about going home after this school year (if I don’t get another job). I will most likely sign up to be a sub for a few days a week, something to keep me from fully draining my savings but something that has much less stress and is flexible enough that if a job opens with a late start, I can hopefully take it (again, assuming I don’t get something before summer).
I’m getting better but still coughing a lot, especially if I have to talk for any length of time, which isn’t great for teaching. I’m really tired.
On the plus side, I’ve gotten into these LEGO-type models of shops from a series of city blocks. I found some sets randomly at the store where I get my groceries, but lately they haven’t had new sets. I did order some and have them sent to my house in Idaho (like a Bubble Tea shop!). But I’ve been bummed out that there aren’t more here to put together. Then, I went to Miniso today to get gifts for my departing students, and lo and behold, they had FOUR new buildings, including the cafe set! They are about three times more expensive than the sets I bought at the grocery store. They are clearly the same series, just rebranded to have Miniso on the box, but I’ve got the money, so I splurged and bought the sets. I’ll take photos later. They are really cute.
