It's Thursday night, which means it's really Friday night. No work tomorrow, as usual. Usually I don't update until Sundays, but I've just got that much free time on my hands, so I'm doing it tonight. Work weeks go by so quickly around here. I still don't know any of my students' names, just their faces. I remember who participates and who doesn't. And every week I swear there are students I've never seen before, which actually is not the case. Having so many groups of kids and seeing them so infrequently is not my favorite way to teach, but it does mean less work for me, as I can teach the same lesson over and over until its two-week expiration date.
Today in one of my classes, I took half the students for the entire period while the regular teacher took the rest of the students. She'd given me the students who tend not to speak up but are actually very intelligent. She figured that if they were separated from those who do all the talking in class, they'd be more willing to talk. Not the case. I had three main activities for the lessons planned, one which I knew would be most fun for them. I was farily confident, though, that we could get through all three, so I started with the not-as-fun ones. Bad idea. They took FOREVER to get through it, and it definitely shouldn't have taken so long. I ask them question or give directions, and they stare at me, doodle on their papers, look at their paper pretending to look like they know what they're doing, etc. I had to explain that I don't know what they do and don't understand. It's frustrating because I don't know if the problem is that they don't understand my directions, if they do understand but simply don't know how to proceed, or if they flat out don't want to do it. And often, things are written out for them, and all they have to do is read it. And no one will read! They're just so shy and won't speak up. I understand the whole concept of only speaking the target language in class. It's good for the kids, but at times I really wish I could just speak French with them. It would save a lot of time if I could explain in English and then re-explain certain words in French. We get caught up on describing a verb, which isn't even the point of the lesson, but is necessary to understand in order to proceed. If I could just give them the word in French, everything would go a lot faster. But I'm not supposed to speak French with them at all, so I don't. So anyway, I wasted a lot of time trugging along slowly, and by the time I got to the "cool" activity, they all got really excited. Unfortunately they barely had any time to do it, and the bell rang before they could get very far. Hearing the sigh of disappointment form the students, though, made me happy because it meant they were enjoying what I had planned for them. And who knows if I'll have the chance to do it with them in two weeks; usually the teacher change topics so often that she'll have me plan something else. Oh well! Now I've learned my lesson: start with what I know they'll like, and waste time at the end once the fun part is over.
In the rest of my classes, I put names of famous people on the board and had them in teams describing the celebrity to a teammate who couldn't see it. I have to share this. One of the people was Michael Jackson. This girl started describing him and said, "It's a man. He's American. He's Black. No. He's White. No!!!" She covered her face in embarassement, although it was really a mixture of frustration and laughter. It was a great laugh for us all. I was surprised at how many of them didn't know Martin Luther King, Jr., but also surprised at how many details they knew about most of the people, like Albert Einstein. But in the end, it sure did get them talking. Most classes loved it and wanted to keep going. And in a few, I had them write some for me to guess, which turned out to be almost better because I couldn't help them!
I need a routine. I've been here for four months, have five to go, and still don't have a routine. My only regular thing is getting up and going to work. Some days I have stuff to do in town, and most days I don't. There was a lot more to do before Christmas because I was planning a vacation as well as still getting situated. I'm pretty situated now, only a couple things to follow up on. Which reminds me...
I called Orange (the internet provider) today to ask a question and give them some information they needed from me, which I know for a fact I've given them at least four times now. But hey, it's France. Don't ask why, just do it. I hate calling places in French, especially when it's something like this, dealing with my money. I want to make sure it gets done correctly and that I'm not paying extra for things I shouldn't be. Because trust me, they'll make me pay extra and if I don't notice, they won't say anything. Long story short, I paid for a month of service I never had internet (as you all know by now), and I paid for another month twice, on two different plans. So basically I need two month's worth of phone service back, and then I'll be happy happy happy. It makes me mad though that by the time I get it all figured out, it'll just be time to leave. And to be honest, I'm really nervous about leaving and having to deal with closing the account and everything. Fabienne said she's going to try to keep it open for next year's assistant (Sam's idea, which I passed along) so he or she won't have to deal with waiting for internet service like I did. Plus, she'll be the one doing it all over again anyway, so it would save her a huge hassle. That will be interesting, trying to change the name on the account and the bank information. Hm. Just keeping my fingers crossed. (I'll have to be sure to close my bank account before they can take more of my money.)
Ask me what my plans are for the weekend.
Nothing. Just chillin at home.
Anyone interested in coming to Lure in February? I'd love the company. Let me know, because I think I'm going to stick around during my two-week break. (Okay, so I know no one really will. But it makes me happy to put the offer out there.)
One thing I definitely will have gotten out of this by the time I return home is how to enjoy being alone. I have always loved being alone. But now I really have to learn how to enjoy being alone all. the. time. I plan to be a lot more productive in the upcoming weeks than I have been this past week, and hopefully much of it will be enjoyable rather than "work." I'm also learning to make do with what I have. What do I mean by this? I don't NEED a dishwasher (although I'm sure one day I'll say I do). I don't NEED a television (although I'm sure one day I'll say I do). I don't NEED a clothes dryer (although I'm sure one day I'll say I do). I don't NEED a car. (Okay, so in the US I do need a car.) We don't NEED to throw away every loaf of bread that touches the conveyer belt at Target, and we don't NEED to pack grocery bas so light that we end up using 16 every time we stock up on food. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.
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