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

Just a few more details about last Thursday’s mechanics one lecture exam before I proceed to the field trip and finally close the book on last week.

First, I let them bring home their questionnaires, and see what they will do with it.

Next was that I announced that they could get their tickets for the field trip as soon as they passed their waiver forms. There’s an epidemic on slacking around here and it seems that even when it involves a little fun, they still need a bit of prodding to work just a little for their enjoyment.

I also had to deal, as usual, with people who – still because of the epidemic – are paying for the field trip only now, or promise to the next day. At least that was one contingency that years of organizing these activities have prepared me for.

I emphasized yet again that they were not required to go on all of the rides mentioned in the activity sheet. One student, in fact, asked if there was a minimum number of questions he could answer to get a passing grade in the report, which I tagged as ten percent over and above their other requirements. It was not mandatory, after all, and those who chose not to go have not asked if they could do an alternative project, and I have not announced anything.

Now, on to Saturday.

For some strange reason the storm to the East of where we are, which had devastated the area south east of here the past few days, and which was moving to the north east already, turned around and provided us with our first rainy day in a week – right on the day of our field trip, which is very ironic because it was sunny this morning.

I got to the park with some of my students who met in the nearby mini mall at 1030am, and we stayed until well past 9pm. I did anyway because there were no other teachers present

It started raining in earnest at around 130pm and we stayed in the arcade for an hour waiting for it to stop, but after riding the two park’s two wet rides several times in succession, the students didn’t care anymore about the rain. In fact, some of them were joking that we actually went to Splash Island, the water park just a few kilometers away.

Some, in fact, were already mumbling about being absent the following Monday because they were assuming they’d get sick from the exposure. I just kept warning them to take a lot of vitamins as soon as they got home and rest on the next day, although a few students did go home at the first hint of rain.

Local comedic actress and model Wilma Doesnt hosted storytelling hour at the bandstand in the afternoon, and she was still there during the early evening variety show standing near the backstage while the students were resting between rides.

All of a sudden she was asking for someone to ride with her on the Space Shuttle. The boyfriend of one of my students stood up, but I pushed John, this shy student, forward instead. Another male student of mine also stepped up and that point and Wilma almost rescinded her offer when there were three guys in front of her, so two of them backed down. She went with John, and they were holding hands on their way to the ride.

When the other students got back from wherever they went, they were excitedly told the news, and they didn’t believe us until John back alone. Wilma followed giving him a thank you kiss and allowing for their picture to be taken with her hugging him.

The normally quiet John was definitely the main man from that point on, and continued to be when the rest of the his schoolmates hear the news last Monday.

That’s all the time I have for today. I’ll finish recounting the field trip tomorrow. Class dismissed.