Visiting Day

I decided to go to my old high school and visit some of my former teachers yesterday afternoon. I only called ahead to one of my teachers as I was pulling into the parking lot. I saw some students I knew or remembered as I walked up to the front doors and once I entered the school I was immediately questioned as to who I was and what I was doing there. After the office assistant finally called the teacher I had phoned ahead to, I was given a visitor's pass and was allowed to enter the main building.

I made my way down the old hallways, making the same turns that had become habits when I attended KWHS back in the day. Some of the names on the doors had changed, but overall things were the same. The smells, the feel, the atmosphere, everything felt like it was kind of stuck in time. I made it down to my former math teacher's room and she jumped up from her desk and hugged me. As a UVa graduate, she had plenty of questions to ask me about the school and how I was liking it. I told her about my problems with the Education program and she said that if I can just stick with it through this semester that things will get better. We talked for a little bit about random things, how other people I was in class with were doing, etc., and then my friend Anna came in. I really don't think any of us were expecting to see the others that day so it was a rather good surprise to have us all back together again.

When we finally broke away from "Jean Bean the Sex Machine" I went down to see my old Spanish teacher. On my way down to the language hallway I caught up with my calculus and physics teacher. We conducted the general small talk until we had walked down to the atrium and I found my Spanish teacher. Always the one for enigmatic emotions, she looked as though she had been crying recently. I stopped and talked to her for a bit about how school was going and she asked if I would be interested in coming down next year to talk to her students about college and setting goals. I said I'd be glad to do that if she just lets me know when she wants me to come down. As we were talking my old US History and Government teacher approached us. She and her AP Gov. class had just returned from the General Assembly so she was on one of her political process highs.

I went down to my Spanish teacher's room where I talked to her a bit more about Spanish, Polish, and Japanese, as well as other random things. I then popped in next door to the NHS sponsor (and other Spanish teacher, although I never had her). We talked for a good while and I had never realized how much she liked me before. I guess because she didn't like my brother and I never really interacted with her except when I was complaining about something with the NHS, I figured that she didn't really like me either.

I eventually made it down to my drama coach's room where they were having play practice. The play "Greater Tuna" was one that I was supposed to be in my sophomore year in HS, but because of cast problems and the general suckiness of the play, we scrapped it, salvaged part of the cast and put on "10 Little Indians" instead. As I was watching these kids rehearsing their lines and trying to act, I realized how glad I was that I didn't have to do that play....especially since I had been cast as a woman.

When I left the drama area I made it back down the math hallway to the first math teacher I had had at KWHS. She and I talked about UVa and John Casteen because she had taught his kids when they were younger. She was also kind of critical on Mr. Casteen's number of marriages.

I also went to see the English teacher I had T.A.'d for my senior year. She was working on yearbook stuff as the yearbook sponsor always does around this time of the semester. She told me she always thought I would go into politics of some kind because I'm good at talking to people. I didn't want to mention how I am unelectable and have politics that are FAR too left for this country, but I did kind of entertain the thought in my mind of eventually going back to school and looking into politics (although I would really like to do languages).

It was about 4:45 by this time and I was supposed to be in Williamsburg by 5:45 for dinner with a friend so I tried to pull myself away as nicely as I could. I stopped and talked to the mom of one of my classmates (her mom also happens to be a math teacher at KWHS) and we talked more about school and how the budget cuts have been affecting things recently.

I finally hit the road around 4:50, stopped at home for about 3 minutes to pick up my jacket and laptop. I made it to the Burg by about 5:50 which was actually great considering the traffic I hit on Route-30 in New Kent. My friend (who happens to be the former wife of my boss who was arrested for selling cocaine last Spring Break) and I talked about my situation with one of my roommates and her situation with the guy she likes. It was very relaxing and nice to be able to get everything out. We reminisced about working together and hanging out with this one girl who makes the BEST "Would You Rather"s ever. For example, "Would you rather never be able to bathe ever again or have an ugly midget in the shower with you trying to wash your back every time you tried to bathe." And fyi, the midget will be in whatever shower you are, no matter where, I've already asked that question.

So we laughed, talked, laughed some more and finally had to call it a night. I made it home in time to watch Community and then have an hour break to do nothing before 30 Rock came on. Parks and Recreation and the Office are...not my kinds of shows. In the process of watching my shows and also an episode of Kitchen Nightmares with my parents I had four glasses of wine and then a dose of Nyquil. Needless to say, I was in bed early last night.