Maybe I shouldn't have started this blog now, not with everything that's been going on.

Had our faculty workshop today. Actually I guess it was more of a team-building activity, the last one which I had almost two years ago, facilitated by my co-teacher who then went on to become college vice dean.

We started out with a tour of the campus, which was more for the benefit of two of the three new teachers (the third - or actually the first - one had already gone through the motions during the Open Campus).

At an agreed-upon resting point, we had snacks and the first of four planned activities.

This was really the basic "getting to know you" activity, revised to include people's first impressions to contrast with it. It was all done in the context of what a person's favorite or ideal pet would be, compared to the actual preference.

This was, of course, all tied in with the attitude the person exudes and, with that initial judgment, deciding what kind of pet would the person take care of best, or would fit his or her particular traits.

It was somewhat surprising that among the single faculty members, low maintenance charges counted for majority of the answers.

The second activity was supposed to be about teamwork and finding out a teammate's possible contributions to the group. We were to make three paper airplanes, and label them "Good, Better, Best". The longest flight for each set would win.

What I also liked about this game was that in dividing us into seven teams, the facilitator, instead of asking us to count off, had us sing the musical notes in order. That was how I became part of the "Re" team, my other groupmembers of which were both my superiors.

But my plane, in the "best" category (not out of choice), was the second longest flight - for what it's worth.

What wasn't laid out to us clearly was what were the consequences for picking the best plane incorrectly, how it was going to be determined, and what the prize (won by Team "Sol" with only Maila and Jenny as members) was.

At least in the first activity there was a prize (choco peanuts) for the best disclosures.

The third activity was about trust. It was called, "I'm falling". People were just standing around, and when one says he or she is falling, the others have to catch him. If anyone falls to the ground, he's out of play.

But here, the last person standing is the loser, because that means that person did not trust his teammates to let himself fall.

Obviously, a padded floor a good venue for this activity. But to make it clear if someone has fallen or not, baby powder was sprinkled on the floor.

This, of course, made the women who did not bring change of clothes from joining. So there were only six of us who played.

It was fun for a while, especially since the only girl tried to catch me and instead fell herself. After a while though I just pushed one of my cop-teachers and said, "He's falling!"

The dean caught him, then said, "He's falling again!" and let go.

We just horsed around afte that. I guess the mechanics of the game needs more work, particularly if we're going to be using it in the leadership seminar in a month's time.

I'll finish this day's events tomorrow.