plexiglass, plastic and people

For the first time since March the 12th, I actually met some students and colleagues face to face last Friday and what a lovely first step back to normal life it was. Not that it was really normal, because circumstances and policy dictate that we still have to take quite stringent measures to avoid infection.

Although the schools aren't completely open yet, we had to conduct some speaking tests for students taking their ESL exams. I am one of the examiners and I was together with a team I haven't seen for months (other than on video), so it was really quite a special reunion. We still had to keep our distance from each other. No hugs, cheek kissing (not even air kissing), or any kind of touching were allowed, but we made up for it in spirited conversation.

The examining itself took some getting used to. Instead of tables quite close together, where the candidates sit next to each other and share certain tasks, they had to be separated and even further divided with plexiglass screens. The examiners too had screens in front of their desks, and we had to wear plastic gloves. Instead of booklets, we had wipe clean laminated exam materials. It was a bit of a scuffle now and then, especially for me.

I'm a bit absent minded at times, I confess. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to remembering procedures. I'm that mother who forgets to feed her children until they holler, or cooks food for visitors without ever giving it to them. Once, years ago, I made fried eggs for a visiting boyfriend and found them a week later. No wonder he didn't hang around.

Anyway, apart from forgetting to change the materials until seconds before the next round, and then giving the wrong speaking task to the wrong student on one occasion (luckily no one noticed and it didn't matter anyway), it all went well enough. Some of the students looked a bit alarmed by the unexpected screening, but we did our best to make them relax and feel comfortable; not that we were all that at ease either. It was a toss up as to who was more nervous, but I'm guessing the students won that one.

I often muse on whether this is going to be part of that 'new normal' everyone's talking about now. Seriously, I have a feeling some things are going to change permanently as a result of the Coronoa crisis. Not only do we have a whole new way of teaching, otherwise known as Zooming, we may well have to employ more rigorous practices when it comes to classroom and exam work in the future.

I'd love to think things will go back to the way they were again, but I do wonder. What do you think?

Meanwhile, the border between the Netherlands and Belgium will be open again next week. I'm very much looking forward to crossing over and returning to my customary shops. We've had to drive quite a bit further in recent months to go to the hardware store, the pharmacy and the bigger supermarkets. It will be a relief to go to our nearest serious town, which just happens to be in Belgium.

That'll be a little bit of 'old' routines back again.

Have a good week allemaal. Here are a few photos of our surroundings now.

It's poppy time. I love poppies.

The Belgian border nearby. That gap on the right?
That's where the bicycles creep through

Koos might look a bit serious, but we were actually enjoying our first cup of
coffee at a local hostelry in several months. They are now opening up.
Another step towards normal life, but all at a distance, of course.
The photo foreshortens things, but everyone was the regulation 1,5m apart.
Interestingly, many of the customers were from Belgium, where they still
have more restrictions than we do, but our borders are open while theirs aren't.