Training Day 67

This is actually going up Thursday night... Well, crossing into Friday morning. I can't sleep. Neither can a few other Marines on my deck. It's weird.

Language: Wow. Today was actually a great day. I had my teaching test with my teaching team leader and he sounded pretty impressed with me. He said that I was well above the passing mark and that I had used several grammar patterns repeatedly that most students have an impossible time using. I also have a good knowledge of grammar even if I sometimes stumble over the exact pronunciation of a word. So I am starting this test off on a good foot.

There was more BS in class today between various students... Many of them are being increasingly negative and it's distracting. They are making a choice to be miserable here instead of make the best of their situation. In other news, I was invited to a brainstorming session before my class leader meets with a 4-star general tomorrow to discuss the testing and curriculum problems. The upper echelons are finally noticing that their budget is being thrown at ineffective projects...

Tonight I met with my speaking partner. I helped her with her homework for a bit and then we just chatted in the target language. It was free-form and a whole lot more productive and entertaining than I our previous sessions. I started by asking about her about her new job and we just ran from there and pursued tangents as they presented themselves. She asked me about life before enlisting and I asked her about Korea. At some point I meant to ask her about immigration and instead asked her if she was pregnant...

Apartment: Still no luck on the phones today... And craigslist is not turning up any leads. My chit is still delayed too. I guess I should have known better than to put much stock in an ETA concerning a colonel's office. Heh.

Military: The Corporal cutting scores plummeted this month... I'm not above the cut but it's interesting to see who is getting promoted. It's far from a perfect system. Right now, I am going to focus on getting my Lance Corporal self squared away before I start plugging away towards Corporal. I want to make sure I'm worthy of the rank.

Fitness: My platoon announced today that starting next week PT will be at 0515 on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. This means that, with my apartment, I'll probably have to get up around 0400 everyday. I was rather annoyed at first because even if I were to be PT exempt I still have to show up at 0515 for accountable but then I formulated a plan to make the most of this.

I'll show up for PT at 0515 on 4/5 workdays. It'll be squad or fireteam PT probably which is generally pretty solid PT so I'll start my day off with a good workout. After I PT I'll go to the fitness center, where I will have a locker rented out, and shower with spare hygiene gear I leave there and the towels they provide.

Once I am approved to live off base I get a commuter student ticket for my car. Right now, as an on-post student, I'm not allowed to drive around during the duty day. Master Guns is of the opinion that I have no reason to be driving anywhere on such a tiny base. However, commuter students commute so they can drive anywhere and no one raises an eyebrow. Therefore, I can drive to the fitness center on the other side of base during my 1:50 long lunch hour on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays and go lift weights. I won't even have to change or shower (I don't sweat when I lift) but just take off my cammie blouse and stick it in the locker. Boots and utes is an authorized PT uniform.

Then in the afternoon is my marathon training. The Momrine isn't as solid a runner as I am so the marathon training, aside from the really long Sunday runs, isn't very challenging for me. The morning PT will make sure that my personal fitness continues to develop while the Momrine and I work on our marathons and her PFT.

All said and done I'll be done with my workday and all the PT that entails (almost 3 hours on some days) by 1700. Not bad at all. That still leaves me with five hours to do whatever until I hit the rack at 2200.

Gaming: I finally found the not-sucky mods for Mount & Blade. Woo!

Personal: It's funny how a bad situation can turn out for the best, isn't it? A lot of it has to do with how you approach the problem. Do you want it to suck? Or do you want it to benefit you? I prefer to have it benefit me so it does.