Get Back To Work!

After a decadent month off in Maine I finally had to get back to work. Not that teaching Mah Jongg is a hardship job, but the backlog of people wanting to learn was growing ever greater. Today was the first of my fall semester of the fifteen classes that are already on the calendar and this class is setting a high bar for being fun for me.

If this class had a title it would be “Mountain Mah Jongg Camp” and is my first time teaching in Roaring Gap. I hope it is not my last time. One of my beach students, Tracey, approached me this summer to see if I would consider teaching a group at Roaring Gap. My response was, “As long as I have a place to stay.”

For the record, I did not say, “As long as I have a fabulous place to stay, with a generous hostess, a fabulous club to teach in, yummy lunch, brilliant and fun students, a celebration worthy dinner, and the most comfortable bed ever,” but that is what I got.

I arrived on the mountain before lunch after the familiar drive up from Durham. Carter spent eleven years at camp cheerio here so driving up felt like coming home. I met my cute hostess, Ellen, at her gorgeous house. She had expertly organized the whole event so I just get to breeze in and teach.

We went to the golf club and had lunch before everyone else started to arrive. Originally the class was going to be 16, but due to Hurricane Ian we had an extra refugee from Florida who joined us. Our first lesson was this afternoon and so far they are all A students.

There are six of us staying at Ellen’s so the party does not stop between lessons. After a few drinks at home we returned to the club to have dinner. It was delightful to get to know these women personally rather than just teach them.

Now I have to try and turn my extrovert brain off so I can sleep enough to be an effective teacher tomorrow. This has been a most excellent way to get back to work. Being a Mah Jongg teacher is the best job when you have students like mine.