or maybe not? apparently i'm not so good at pulling teeth. which is basically all this job is. they kept warning me yesterday about how naughty my children were. i was really, really scared. like, terrified of going to the class and having to be the teacher. but a stern look was all it took for the kids to quickly remind each other to quiet down and then cower in their seats. granted, this lasted a good minute before i had to yell at them. some of my kids seem to be really great and ready to learn. some just yell "hahah ting bu dong! hahaha" the whole time ("i don't understand what you're saying"). most just sit there doing other stuff. also, i mean, i knew these kids wouldn't be speaking anything close to fluent english, but jesus. some of these kids looked genuinely confused as they muttered "ting bu dong" when prompted for their favorite color. today i only taught junior 2 (7th or 8th grade? i'm still not 100% sure on that...). i had four today and four more throughout the week. i also have 5 junior 1 (6th or 7th grade?) classes this week. honestly, i have so much more respect for my middle school teachers now. granted, they got to speak the language of their students, so probably they should be respecting me. i wasn't planning on using any chinese in the class, but it's becoming clearer and clearer that i'm going to need to use quite a bit. i think they'll be more responsive if they know what the hell i'm asking them.
it's also pretty funny because i had 2 classes before lunch and 2 classes after. my first classes had quite a bit of trouble following me as i walked them through the process of making name plates. my last two classes started folding and writing their names before i even told them to. they could also guess houston when i asked where i was from. i haven't gotten a chance to read all them, but a lot of kids also wrote things like "welcome to our school ms. marie!" and "nice to meet you" on their name plates. also, none of them have english names?? i was expecting them all to have english names. but maybe 1/5 of them do. i was planning on giving them english names til i realized that'd be like 500 english names. on top of the fact that i can't tell which name plates belong to boys and which to girls as i don't fucking speak chinese. so i decided that would be a fantastic way to kill a class by having them pick their own. i also get to spend a class teaching them all about texas!
oh, on side note, one of my students said "fuck your mother" in my class today. i could tell by the way he said it and his reaction as i stopped class to glare at him til all the other students turned around to look at him and he said "sorry" that he either had no fucking idea what he said and just then found out it was bad, or forgot that i would understand what he was saying. either way, i don't think it was directed at me. also, i think when my kids immitate me behind my back they will do "very good!" with a thumbs up. apparnetly telling them very good is fucking hilarious. they laughed their asses off every time i did... it was weird.
on a more postive note, i am quickly being befriended by the other teachers here at school. the teacher in the cubicle next to me sat with me at lunch and wants to help me learn chinese. the secretary who doesn't speak any english at all has invited me over for dumplings. my contact teacher brought two friends to dinner last night and they would like to go again soon. a number of male teachers have told me i'm beautiful or have nice skin... that's actually fucking awkward, if you can imagine. but hey, at least they're honest, right?
my apartment is still gross, and i still don't have internet. but, since i got a 2 hour nap at lunch time (don't even act like you aren't jealous that i get a two hour nap every day) i think i might have enough energy to do some cleaning tonight. it's just incredibly overwhelming. i want it to be clean so bad, but when i think about the massive task of actually CLEANING it, i want to run away from it or go to sleep.
also, of the 20-25 english names i actually got, so far i have noticed at least 4 "candy"s and i think one girl might be named jock, but she whited it out before she gave it to me. i'll get back to you when i actually get them all names and see what they come up with. oh, one has also named himself tracy mcgrady.
sorry for the two super long posts. i just haven't had internet access when i felt like ranting until now, so you must all suffer my super-rants.
San Jose: In a world of plastic and noise
11 years ago
3 comments:
OMG. That's awesome. I think you are destined to live in a country that gives you a 2 hour nap time in the middle of the day. It's like daycare for grown-ups. I wish I had that.
ms. marie, i miss you terribly, but it is good to hear that you are maintaining your sense of humor. law school blows-- as usual. So, when you are getting down and out about not knowing chinese and being far from home just think, "at least i'm not in law school."
also, i am super excited about this naming activity. do they have to pick "for real" names or can they be ridiculous (obviously i am suggesting that jock is a completely normal name). if you get to assign them names, i think it would be funny to just name them after random things in the english language (but obscure words, just in case you actually end up teaching them some english)(like dishwasher, light bulb, hand towel, etc.)
or you can name them after people you know. i would love to be in china one day and meet a blossoming young person who introduced himself as "cassie dallas" (yes, himself)
best of luck to you. i miss you.
cassie
ps did you get my voice mail, i tried to leave you one.
pss i still have skype, so let me know when you have time to get on. it's an 11 hour time difference, right?
psss do they have pedicab drivers where you are?
hahaha ms. marie! classic.
also, where the hell did that kid get tracy mcgrady?
I'm 100% positive you never cleaned. And I'm also 100% positive that you make fun of those kids behind their back too. I can totally imagine your impression of their impression of "very good!" *thumbs up*
I found your Mimi's name tag today. I felt like you were my long lost ex bf or something. I miss you
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