[nok]

I called up one of my colleagues ( also a teacher) on her cell phone at 9:00 p.m. last night. I try to call at times when I know for sure that she's free to talk to me ( such as lunchtime, late night, etc. ). She's a schoolteacher and I know that she's at school the whole day so no use calling her "whenever."

It turned out that she's at winter camp with her students and since it was late at night, they were having a night gathering together and the kids were having a great time . I could hear them over the phone ( the laughter, shouts, hollering in unison, etc.) . I enjoy talking to my colleagues because sometimes they have different viewpoints than me and I like listening to their thoughts and ideas. I know that I am not always right so it's great to brainstorm together and see what others think. In the past, I totally trusted myself and solved problems on my own. Now I know that it's best to ask for others' opinions and then decide on the best solution for myself.

We had a nice phone conversation about one of the schools that we're both teaching at and my colleague friend is really straightforward so it's fun talking to her. This is the first time I've called her up ( not because I don't want to talk to her but in the past, I was rejected by so many people that I finally gave up being the first to make a move when it comes to friendships ). Usually, she's the one who calls me. Not that it matters who calls whom.

I'm usually not "into" using the cell phone when having friendly chats with people because it's so expensive but sometimes when the person you want to talk to is in the middle of a forest camping, driving on the road, sitting in a bus, etc., you really don't have a choice when it comes to reaching them. Regular phones are so much cheaper to use.