Oh yeah...

I am a head judge for the Moldova Odyssey of the Mind competition happening this upcoming weekend. My group is judging The Jungle Bloke problem (if you know the OM problems this year, if not...look them up). I am excited about seeing what the students in Moldova do during the competition and really can't wait to talk to them in English and see what they have to say. It is something different in Moldova, where people aren't so quick to think outside of the box and nothing in their day to day life needs creativity. Students here are slow to think critically, independently and creatively and so I am glad they have the opportunity to do this through Odyssey of the Mind. I will take pictures and put them up soon.
Also, every school in each region sends students to the regional center to compete in every subject. I am hopefully going to send a student for English, but all the best students are going to the competition for other subjects and the times conflict. I don't know what the says about the students here, but there are extremely bright and motivated students who excel in every subject, and then the rest, it seems, excel in nothing and just merely get by. The teachers also compete in little competitions as well, such as Volleyball and table tennis. I was approached today by another teacher who asked me if I knew how to play table tennis. She competed in the sport the last year and wanted to give up her position for someone who could do a better job. So I had to display my ability to her by playing with a 7th grader. After a minute she was like, "Yeah, you will do well, yeah, you are better than me. Good Good, you will compete in table tennis." So it is settled. I don't know when this competition is, but wish me luck!