Bring me a bed

This week was all about being tired. I don’t know what hit me, but no matter what I do or how many hours I sleep: I’m tired ...dead-tired.
Some people say it’s the cold weather. Others blame the short days. P’s traditional answer is “get a blood test”, my mom’s eternal solution is “take vitamins”. Somehow everybody (even me) seems to miss the most obvious: I’ve been working like crazy.

I started working again 2 days after getting back from Mexico, jetlag included. No time to recuperate whatsoever. At school, my energy is drained by a small group of three female students. They’re quiet – very quiet. They give no feedback. They don’t react. They’re just....quiet. I’ve tried roll plays, games, videos, songs, articles, group discussions, you name it. I’ve tried every trick in the book. They stay in hibernation-mode. I have to pull every single word out of their mouths. They always look (extremely) bored. Yesterday, I worked for more than five hours on today’s lesson. I took a topic that interests them, I went to the library to look in every single Dutch course book for cool activities, I spent hours online. At 9.00 pm I thought I had the best lesson ever made.
Today in class: you’ve guessed it....same-same-same. At the end of the lesson, I was ready to start crying. And then, suddenly, the girl I thought hates me most, came up to me and said “The lessons are really good. We like it – better than with the first teacher. You make us talk. It’s good. The others say so too. Thank you.”

I’ve never been more surprised in my life.
And I’m tired. So tired.