Talking shop

I just arrived back home after a wonderful meal at Springwood's Orient Hotel. It was a staff dinner. Several non-teaching partners of the staff had that half-bemused expression as the teachers did what they do so well: talked shop about students, classes and teaching methods. No matter how earnestly we promise it won't happen, it always does...

The restaurant seems to have become become a staff favourite over recent years. Although there are several cosy nooks inside, we usually end up in the large front area, which is a transparent plastic-curtained area (with gas heaters on poles). The looooong table made conversations a bit restricted, so there was plenty of chair-hopping during the night.

When there are lots of us, there is a cheaper, limited choice menu available but, last night, we ordred from the regular a la carte selection. The lamb dish sounded very tempting, but I'd eaten lamb only last Wednesday, so I went for a well-recommended barbecued chicken fillet dish, which was scrumptious.

Oh, by the way, I've recently stumbled across the blog of Ian MacLean, a student of Dearborn, Michigan (not far from Ann Arbor, where my penpal, Olivia, lives) in the USA: The Chronicles of Ian. I absolutely love his blog's motto: "... where I'm Ian, and you're wrong."