Today I'm Gonna Talk About School

When I was in the B class, our classroom was situated in an adjoining building that is taller (by one floor) and facing a different direction so the move from A class to B class was an extremely pleasant one seeing how great a location my classroom had. It was on the top floor of the taller building and I believe faces south so we don't get the rising morning sun shining right into our faces. Plus of cos the teacher I had, Klas, is the nicest and most fun teacher in the school. At least he jokes around with us, shows an active interest in our lives and is sympathetic to any difficulties we may have.

That is something strongly lacking in Anita, my teacher now. No jokes, no interest, no sympathy. And the classroom faces east so it's blindingly bright during the morning lessons.

But back to my B class. The classroom is much airier and brighter (in a not blinding kinda way) which psychologically speaking creates a better environment for learning. I sit right at the back next to Knut who's from Germany. That's him in the far left of the classroom picture. I sit there too but he gets the window seat. Damn...

See just how wonderful the view is from all those windows? The view overlooks the way to the outskirts of town so one sees more of the train tracks, older style houses and wide open fields.

The view below is what I can see from my window. Interestingly, this picture was taken in the Spring on easter week. It must have snowed more in that one week than it did in the entire month of January!

We had a little of an impromptu feast in class on Wednesday before Easter. The day before, Som, the Thai lady who lives in Askersund as well, came over to my apartment so we could bake cinnamon buns. And since we had to wait so long for the rising of the dough, we decided to bake muffins in between as well. So the next day we brought the buns and muffins. Vlasta, the Slovenian lady who sits next to Som, brought a loaf of traditional Slovenian nut bread and Klas had brought a large bag of Easter goodies for all of us. So I guess it was perfect timing that everyone brought all that food on the same day.

The B class was the biggest class in the school at the time I was in it. And it was made up of very interesting characters. The guy to the far left is Latiff and he is from Malaysia but unfortunately wenever got the chance to really chat to each other. Our longest conversation was on that day when I handed out the muffins and he asked me, 'Is this kek pisang?' and I said no. And we both laughed. And for those of you interested to know what Muthana looks like, he is the guy with the beard and hat in the far right of the picture.

In the spirit of introducing the sights and people of school, I now present to you, Leif, my teacher from A class. He is also the man who gets called the slow talker cos he talks oh so slowly which is a direct opposite of Klas who talks like a speeding train. It's quite funny that Klas calls Leif a super slow talker and Leif jokes that Klas talks too much and too fast. I do have to agree with what someone said before about my classes, I have a lot of 'Mind Your Language' moments be it with the teachers or the students. It's fun!

For those interested, I am not planning on ever taking a picture of Anita simply cos I don't want to go thru having to actually ask her. Ugh...it's too intimidating.

Sussie Thaws..

Sussie's new favourite spot has changed from under the sofa in the livingroom to a corner in the kitchen under the short stepladder we have. Therefore, I moved her bed from the livingroom to that spot in the kitchen and she finally began using it. I also moved her litter box from the livingroom to another corner in the kitchen which had been our plan all along.

It's become almost a ritual now every night when I'm in the kitchen and Sussie's in there with me, I will start playing with her or feeding her a treat that she loves. She gets that treat once almost everyday cos her 'mummy' is such a softie and can't bear to see her without it. Sussie is no longer as afraid of me or Mathias as she was before. I think she's starting to feel comfortable in the apartment and has finally accepted us as her owners although she is still too afraid for complete submission and has to be coaxed before she will let us pet her.

But the great news is that we can finally pet her! Her trust issues with humans, having been abandoned when she was young and later being captured in a trap had really made her afraid of people so her being at this level of affection with us is just fantastic progress. One can tell that she really craves the affection and petting from us but she's afraid to come close so it takes time but she does come. And I think she actually knows her name cos she turns when we call out to her but not when I'm calling Mathias or talking to him.

She's such a smart kitty!

Her favourite game now is for us to throw her favourite toy to her onto the bed so she can play catch with it among the pillows and quilts. It's funny how among all her toys, her favourite is the cheapest thing that Mathias just put together. It is actually a newspaper page that he folded into a small rectangle and tied to the end of a long piece of cotton twine.

She absolutely loves it! She especially loves string and chewing on it. It's oh so cute when one watches her trying to hold on to the string between both paws to chew on it while attempting to remain upright on just the back paws. And she is funny to watch when she's busy chasing her own tail on our bed, running like a kitty on ecstasy back and forth in the livingroom and when she's trying to decide whether come close and let us pet her. She literally walks back and forth trying to decide if she feels good enough to come close to us. But she's a cute kitty with a small face, big ass ears and a long body.

Sometimes I wonder if she'll grow into those ears. One never knows.