I had a really stressful sleep last night- it's pathetic, but I was really anxious about my S4 pupils returning after exam leave. As it happens, only a few of them showed up, but they were being their usual un-motivatable selves which utterly frustrates me. Today was, all in all, really tough. I don't know if it's the same in Brevig Mission, but kids here really don't respect anybody in any position of authority; our relationships with our pupils are purely a business arrangement, which is sad I guess, but there has been so many incidents that you can't really forge any sort of real bond with a child any more- hell, you can't even give them a hug if they're crying about something!!

Me and all of my colleagues are totally wiped out. The term from October to Christmas is the longest here in Scotland, and by God am I feeling it. I'm becoming as lazy as the kids, yet I still have a massive pile of marking to do when all I can think about is Christmas time. It sucks. Plus, I had to sit in traffic for over an hour on my way home...and them some idiot woman nearly crashed into the side of me. Stressed, moi???!! I tell you, teaching somewhere outside the city is sounding increasingly more appealing as the days go by!