Well, other than an official grade change form — one of those grade-change requests was actually valid! — and handing in some official forms, I’m done with my work for the semester! I’ll be handing in the last of my paperwork tomorrow, including gradesheets and attendance forms, paperwork to collect my pension money from my last job — apparently you have two years to do it — and a sheet notifying Academic Affairs that I’ll be out of the country for a month this holiday. (Lime can’t travel, so I’m going alone.) I’ll be in Laos for two weeks, and then in Thailand for another two.
The form to get a grade changed, by the way, takes the filling out of some serious forms. The thing is three pages long, with lots of redundancy — you have to write the student’s name and student number three times, the original and new grade twice, and so on. All for a computer error where a grade was truncated instead of rounded off! Lime says the pain-in-the-butt nature of the form is to discourage changing grades, because it’s a “serious” change. The reason that one doesn’t get this impression from students is because, I’m guessing, for one of two reasons:
- Students are afraid to bug some of them about their grades. I know one professor who makes it abundantly clear how annoying she finds grade-grubbing. I don’t think they bug her too much!
- Korean profs know to make sure their grades are entered good and early so that any mistakes can be corrected well ahead of the deadline, thus avoiding the annoyance of this long, complicated form.
But anyway, it’s (mostly) filled out, and tomorrow, I’ll be done with it. I have a little time, but also feel a little out-of-it: maybe it’s a cold? I sometimes get sick after the end of semester. The stress-release gets me every time. (Same thing at the end of a trip, too.)
But hey, I’m going to be in Laos. And then I’m going to be in Thailand. Okay, I’m not crazy about Thailand, but it’s warm, and I’ll mostly be at a beach, I think.
Your not crazy about Thailand? Why? I loved Thailand when I was there.
The first time I went, I either lost my wallet, or it was stolen.
The second time I was there, my father passed away suddenly and unexpectedly.
Probably just irrational emotional associations, but there you are.
It’s also pretty crammed with tourists, especially Eurotrashy sleaze. But I’m sure that’s avoidable and maybe I’ll manage it this time. Where did you do, and what did you like?
Endless semester? For me it went by with barely a notice ^^
Happy New Year :)
Did it go well? I was thinking we should meet up if you’re still going to be around for a bit. I’m headed to Laos in a little over a week, and will be back (via Thailand) in med-February. I see you’ll be taking a class in January (you are already, maybe?), so you’re around. Maybe we can meet up before I go…
Ah, well, I can understand if you have unpleasant memories associated with the place.
My wife and I visited Ko Phi Phi, Bangkok, Ayuthaya, Ao Phang Nga, and Chiang Mai. Bangkok, in my opinion, is inevitable because all roads lead there, but on future visits I wouldn’t have a problem with giving it a miss. Ayuthaya was great for seeing all the old temples and other architecture. Ko Phi Phi was your typical island paradise, but we had lots of fun snorkeling and getting sunburned beyond recognition (OK, maybe that last part wasn’t so much fun). We did a 24-hour tour of Ao Phang Nga, where we spent the night in a fishing village, and that was quite an experience. Chiang Mai was probably our favorite stop, though. We did a one-day “trek,” spent another day at a Thai cooking school, and just really enjoyed the cooler temperatures and laid back atmosphere. There are a lot of tourists there, no doubt, but such is the reality of travel in Thailand. We still enjoyed ourselves immensely.
Actually, if you’re interested, I have photos and a travel journal from our trip up at my site.
I’ll go have a look. Some activities like those might well interest me after two weeks chilling out in Laos.
(And I’ve long been curious to see Chiang Mai, about which I’ve heard great things.)
Yeah, I had a great time the past semester, still don’t want to go back home. :)
Let’s meet up – my class is on Mon-Thu, 2-5 PM but aside from that, I haven’t got any plans!