Tuesday, Sept. 02, 2003
First day of the third year teaching, posted at 7:03 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com Wow, have I ever had a hell of a time getting to the Internet lately. I've gotta get it going back on in my house.Lots is new, and I'm sure I won't be able to cover it all. The biggest news is that today was the first day of school. It was phenomenal. I really needed to feel how I feel in front of a classroom, the uninhibition I have in front of a group of young minds, the sense of nervousness meshing with confidence, the (yes) power of being the facilitator to a richer and fuller understanding of the world, the passion I have for it. School is my church. I have faith in the minds of our young people and their ability to change the world, and today I felt that, even when my voice was hoarse from talking too much and even when I spent much of the class apologetically going over the syllabus, which honestly isn't very exciting.
It was great to be back, and I'm excited about this year. Teaching is great because it allows you to have an almost total fresh start every year, and I felt it today.
The day was filled with tiny victories. At the end of last year, I wrote a letter in support of five students who were on the transfer list. All males, they all succeeded in my class but did poorly in others, but I felt like they were on the brink of greatness. (Students get reassigned to horrible zone schools if they get a low GPA freshmen year.) I wrote this letter and CC'd it to all these important people, including my principal who makes me feel like an 8-year old. Well, I saw four of the five kids today as they came and visited me (without my prompting!), so that makes me feel like my letter did some good. I hope so. One of the kids was "Barry," the kid who I had a daydream that I adopted last year. I'm glad he's still there; I worked hard on that one.
I organized a little Happy Hour for our department after school today, and had a good time with my colleagues. We're teaching on an A/B schedule this year, meaning kids come and see us on alternate days, and we basically teach the same lesson that we taught the day before to the kids on the alternate days.
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In other news, the restaurant is still going well. If I would have journaled on Friday, you would have read that I was worried about being fired, because I'm a very bad waiter. I do not possess any of the natural waiter tendencies that many people have. I'm a genuinely friendly personwho enjoys to converse with people, but I've never been one to pay attention to details too much and am not very agile when moving quickly. I've been stiffed a couple of times on tips because I've been such an insufficient waiter, and Friday was a pretty bad day for that. One woman dining alone tipped me $5 for a $40 bill, after having to ask me both for service and for her check. In my defense, she was also very picky and I was very friendly with her, so I still think she's a bitch, but still. Yesterday, a family of four with two little kids tipped me $4.50 for a $37 meal. Otherwise, though, things are going well. I worked a hell of a lot this weekend, and didn't make much money ($20 in tips for 6 hours of work on Sunday; $24 for 7 hours on Saturday), but Labor Day is one of the slowest weekends in the restaurant business and I did do pretty well for myself on Friday night ($60). My co-workers tell me that $150/night is not unusual once things pick up, which it is destined to do very soon.
I got much better after Friday night. I'm beginning to remember all the tiny little details. And despite the fact that I failed my first time on the menu test (ugh), I hope to pass it with flying colors the next time. I've got flash cards and everything.
It seems that I will be mostly a weekend worker. I have not been scheduled at all this week, but have been scheduled 39 hours on Friday-Saturday-Sunday. That's a hell of a lot, but it's also because it's the Ukrainian festival and everyone has to work a double every day. I should make a shitload of money, I hope. I'm finally starting to catch up with bills, though the light at the end of the tunnell won't be completely visible until the end of the month.
I admit I'm a little worried about keeping two jobs during the school year, but I will do it as long as it does not affect teaching. Waiting tables is hardly relaxing, and waiting at a fine restaurant is certainly not brainless, but it's a bit of a stress release for me to be friendly with people and, of course, to have some money on hand. I told my boss today that I'm keeping the waiting job for a bit. She seems supportive, though hesitantly so.
The people at the restaurant are pretty fun. They're a bit crazy, but friendly, and I work with the one of the most beautiful girls I've ever encountered. She's this Polish girl named Gorcia, and she's absolutely mesmorizing. And with a boyfriend, but, you know, of course that would be the case.
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So that's pretty much a snapshot of the weekend and the first day of school. I've been doing a lot of writing and reflecting lately, though not on-line, so you might see the product of that in the coming days.