Erev Tov....mah zeh?

Hey there boys and girls.

So I had a long morning at the heb school today. As I was driving in I asked one of the teachers if it was OK to park...she looked at me and said "mah?" - what? I thought wow - this is going to be a different experience than SweetHome. I wondered if I was too different. The Israeli guard gave me a hard time but I finally convinced him that I was safe and he let me park. I walked with my gigooondo portfolio (which no one even looked at btw) to the Starbucks across the street and met up with the head of the English department. We chatted about me and the school and education in general. IT was nice - she is around my age - married to the Asian chemistry teacher (scandal!) and it turns out that she grew up unaffiliated - which made me feel a whole lot better about things. The school is pretty loose, but in a way that is cool - it allows you to do whatever you want and experiment with different kinds of pedagogy without worrying about state wide assessments etc.. We chatted for an hour and I realized how much easier it was for me to talk about teaching than it was for me to talk about movies or the entertainment industry on any of those interviews...everything that came out of my mouth was spontaneous, natural and sincere. Easy. WE walked into the school and she walked me right into the classroom without really preparing me so I just went with it and started the lesson. The kids were just like the kids from Hebrew High and from camp. It was a pleasure teaching them. They were neurotic, perfectionists, smart, funny and challenging. I was nervous and had certainly packed way too much into the lesson, but I somehow managed to get it done within the time frame. I walked around and talked to a few more students and teachers - everyone was so warm...it was like being at Shaary Zedek teaching Hebrew School again. I felt much more comfortable than I thought I would. I went in and had a chat with the principal - who hails from the HArvard school of education - not bad. We talked about Vygotsky and educational philosophy - he gave me a bibliography and said that he enjoyed my lesson - although you couldnt tell that as he sat stoic in his little desk chair. Anyway I had been there for almost 3 hours at that point so I headed to Bev Hills for work - where I accidentally put a giant (even the mecanic said so) dent in the passenger side of my car. Those of you who were familiar with peebo will be happy to know that I am getting it fixed on SAturday morning for 50$ and some beer! Aren't you proud of me - so grown up. I was a wreck and work and ended up leaving because I felt so terrible and couln't even focus. PLus they don't pay me when I am not there so I didn't feel guilty at all. I saved them almost 100 dollars - wahoooo. So I still haven't heard back from the other job, but I have to say that I was more excited about the teaching job than I have been for any other interview I have had since moving here. I think I am really a teacher - Hello, my name is Na-na and I am a teacher. Yeah. Who knows. The best part...all the Jewish holidays...the dept chair told me that next year was particularly vacationy in terms of heb holidays...that means I can come home to visit and have time to write - it might just be the perfect thing....if the pay is any good. So we'll see. I think it is going to end up being a couple of weeks before I hear anything and I may have to go back in for another interview.

I will certainly keep you all up to date. Tomorrow is another day after all. I think there is some big hot movie star coming in tomorrow but honestly I could care less. I am immune to hot make movie stars at this point. All I want them to do is read their copy and leave...some of them are sooooo needy...Nance - can I listen to myself again - can we do that again for the 30th time - I am not sure I got the tone right when I said that McDonalds was the world's classiest burger joint. What an experience. I do like the animation auditions though I have to admit - those guys can really crack me up. I have yet to be really entertained by any of the female stars....they think they're funny, but they're not (plus they don't have a penis and the right kind of scruff.) Too much info.

Good night everyone. Lihitraot! Na-na