You may not know this, but in the (not quite) year since I returned from Russia, I have been doing more than ruminating philosophically. I do, in fact, have a Job (though it could be argued that the capital J is unwarranted). I work at the Carnegie Library, in the Children’s Department, teaching Spanish, and doing Spanish- and Russian-language story times. It’s taken some getting used to, working with this age group, but I’m enjoying it. Instead of plagiarism and apathy, my biggest battle is when one little four-year-old decides to get up and run around the room uncontrollably in the middle of story time, and all the other little four-year-olds decide to join her.
Despite my self-doubt and reservations, I must be doing something right, because one of the kids (this one a little older than four) drew me this last week, and told me I had to put it on my fridge at home.