2. I just banged my knee against the corner of my desk, and then had the strangest urge to lick the tiny film of blood that has formed over the scratch.
3. When you say you like hiking here, be prepared to follow through. They don't fuck around with hiking. Two of my co-workers have taken me hiking over the mountain behind the school so far, and many more offers are pouring in from others to take me mountain climbing on weekends. Wednesday's steep climb made me want to die (but in a really good, happy way). Some of my co-workers hike over the mountain to work. Contemplating joining them.
4. Lesson planning, lesson planning, revising, lesson planning, "do you have any suggestions?", revising, lesson planning. Most of my C-level kids can't read English.
5. I made a 2nd grade girl cry today, then felt like a useless turd for the rest of the day. The first day I taught her class, I made all of the students do short introductions of themselves in English. She was shy, that day, and it was obvious to me that she didn't want to get up and introduce herself, and she wouldn't meet my eyes, etc.... but golly. Today I asked the students to practice a dialogue in pairs for a few minutes, and when I got to her and her partner to check up on them, they weren't talking. So I asked them if they had any questions. Do you understand? Do you what I asked you to do? Are the words hard? Do you need help pronouncing them? No response. Her table partner tried urging her in Korean. My co-teacher, Shin-Jeung, came over and tried urging her in Korean. She wouldn't speak in Korean or English, wouldn't meet our eyes. Please try, please repeat what I say (pointing to the dialogue). Nothing. This is English conversation class, you have to try to speak. Don't worry, you can do it. Please try. She started tearing up. Oh, fuck. I didn't mean to make you cry! Next class, I said, I'm going to ask you to speak again. Finally, a nod of comprehension, and a meeting of my eyes. What on earth should I do? How do I help her?
6. Goddamnit, stop serving fish patties for lunch. But those pheasant eggs are delicious, mmhmmm.
7. Just discovered aloe juice with aloe pulp at the supermarket. This might well replace my love affair with mango juice.
8. I feel overextended. Can you tell that I feel overextended?
9. But sometimes, over-extension makes me happy. Maybe this is one of those times.
10. The mosquitoes here have quick reflexes. Think killing mosquitoes is easy? American mosquitoes are lazy. Korean mosquitoes are fast. It land on your foot --> you start thinking about your foot --> that damn-ass mosquito is out that bitch. Tricky mind readers.
I just killed one, though, that had been torturing me for a half-hour. Damn, I love killing mosquitoes.
6 comments:
Oh no! If I were in your place, I probably would've started crying too.
Is there anyway you can meet with her privately? Maybe one-on-one tutoring might make her feel more comfortable?
Poor thing. I'm sure the added pressure of being in front of/around all those other students didn't help.
PS. Aloe juice? WHAT.
Sounds like you're doing well with the shy girl. I would try making her laugh, or make a joke about yourself. That usually works. I knew you were mean, but GEEZ PAMELA! LOL -JUSTIN
This entire post cracks me up. Life sounds interesting there... :) -Sara
It totally blindsided me! She was quiet the first day, but she was able to get up in front of the class and introduce herself. I don't understand what happened yesterday.
And I don't really know if there's a way I could meet with her outside of class (or if it would even help, really). It's possible that what she's most terrified of is not English, but me. That happens with some of the students, despite my best efforts to smile and be friendly and encouraging. They have a deep-seated fear of somehow messing up their English in front of me. I'll have to speak to Shin-Jeung about meeting with her privately, maybe.
P.S. ALOE JUICE IS SO GOOD. IT COMES WITH CRUNCHY FLOATY BITS OF ALOE ALL UP IN IT TOO. MMMMMMM.
I drank a whole liter while I wrote this post last night.
Maybe if you tried to speak Korean to the girl and fucked it up pretty bad, then she wouldn't feel so bad about her poor English skills. Nothing made me feel better about how bad I spoke French than hearing Dominique fuck up something in English (as rare as that happened).
Basically what I am saying is make yourself look stupid in front of her, then she won't feel like such an ass. Works every time.
Also, congrats on finally killing that fucking mosquito. I knew you would make it your bitch.
Heartz,
Roomz
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