Entering the fourth week of final exams is really nothing special at this point. I have written previously of how I miss what the procedure was at Penn State. While I’m not sure it is universal, the two incredibly stressful weeks was, in the long run, a lot kinder than a month of drawn out examinations. At this point, I am just looking forward to being back in classes (with no actual break between finals and class). This means that when I finish my degree, I’ll have been involved with school for more or less a straight year. An interesting prospect right?
It seems that I have been sucked down the rabbit whole and have missed a week. I suppose it does not matter really. I wrote last weeks post but apparently never publuished it. All that I really had to say last week was how training in Givatayim was (which was excellent). It is a small-ish group and they are absolutely amazing. Very kind hearted people and so keen to help.
Unfortunately I made a University of Texas mistake (some people will not understand that) at the training. Towards the end of Bassai Dai, I changed a few moves to Empi. No big deal, I just felt quite silly afterwards.
After training we were told that in Haifa there were also Kangeko trainings the following two days. I was convinced, without much difficulty, to attend. Of course getting to Haifa from Tel Aviv by 5:30 means a very early morning. I will spare the details of the sleepless night, but I just wanted to say how amazing the training was. Adults and kids of all levels. And in the bleachers of the gymnasium we were practicing were a dozen parents who had brought their kids and were staying until the end. Some watched on while others read a book or the morning paper.
What is the point of training so early? Kangeko, I am told, translates as purification. Or is the general term for mid-winter training. I am not sure; I prefer to think of it as purification. The wonderful early morning run and kicks galore. By the end of training every muscle was sore and I looked forward to the hour and a half ride home nap. I felt bad for the people driving. They were really quite nice to volunteer to drive all they way up, but try as I might I could not stay awake.
That said, since last Monday I went to a second training up in Haifa. It was similarly a wonderful experience, and the night before my War and Peace exam. The class is essentially world history since the fifth century BC. No biggie. I wrote and wrote for that in-class essay exam, but no idea yet on how it went. That is the story with all of my exams, and to tell the truth, it is a bit annoying. I have a total of seven more exams left, with the first coming up next Sunday. Should be a fun one. Anyway, school isn’t very fun to talk about. I’ve been writing paper after paper and generally speaking, I haven’t come to any global happy solutions as of yet.
Rather the three real fun things that I have been doing alongside my examinations have been karate, some minor exploration and geocaching. Well, the geocaching will happen this afternoon for the second time. It definitely is a fun way to pass an afternoon and explore new places! To more of each and more good times.
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