seasonal update
Time for the obligatory seasonal update.
In case you missed it on facebook (not that I would hold that against you), I broke up with my girlfriend a few weeks ago, after 9+ months. The reasons were complicated, as they usually tend to be with this kind of thing, but to put it simply: she was thinking about the future more than I was, and the fact that I couldn't feign a substantial desire to get married to her someday made her too uneasy. She felt there was no point in continuing the relationship if there was a good chance we might just break up a year from now, so we both reluctantly decided it made the most sense to end it now. We both still liked each other a lot, so it was hard. Even though it happened far sooner than I expected, I know it was the right thing to do, so I don't have any regrets. Still have a bit of the ol' loneliness, though. So it goes.
The Obama thing made me very happy, but I'll avoid going into it too much here because it's all been said before. In a nutshell: I feel pride in my country and its people, and hope for the future of my country, the likes of which I've never felt before. It's a good thing!
One of my JTEs at school collapsed a couple weeks ago and was rushed to the hospital...turns out he's completely brain-dead, and will never be coming back to consciousness. He was a bit of a cantankerous guy, but was a good man and helped me out many times since coming here, so I owe a lot to him. He will be missed. In the meantime, because there is no substitute teacher system in this lovely and backwards country, the rest of the English teachers at school, including me, are doubling their workloads and driving themselves nuts taking over all his classes, and combining some other classes to make ends meet, until another English teacher can be found. Teaching an English writing class of 70+ 16-year olds by myself is FUN.
(actually, it kinda is)
This year, as every year, I've been working closely with a few third-year students who want to study English at college, to prepare them for their entrance interviews. I'm working with far fewer than usual this year for some reason, and of the 2 that I've put a significant amount of work into so far, both made it into the school they were aiming for. I may not be making much of an impact on the class of 280 students as a whole, but I know I made a very big, very positive impact in the lives of those 2 girls, and no matter the number of students, this remains one of the most rewarding parts of my job.
Looking forward to winter vacation! A good, long break from everything will definitely be in order.
In case you missed it on facebook (not that I would hold that against you), I broke up with my girlfriend a few weeks ago, after 9+ months. The reasons were complicated, as they usually tend to be with this kind of thing, but to put it simply: she was thinking about the future more than I was, and the fact that I couldn't feign a substantial desire to get married to her someday made her too uneasy. She felt there was no point in continuing the relationship if there was a good chance we might just break up a year from now, so we both reluctantly decided it made the most sense to end it now. We both still liked each other a lot, so it was hard. Even though it happened far sooner than I expected, I know it was the right thing to do, so I don't have any regrets. Still have a bit of the ol' loneliness, though. So it goes.
The Obama thing made me very happy, but I'll avoid going into it too much here because it's all been said before. In a nutshell: I feel pride in my country and its people, and hope for the future of my country, the likes of which I've never felt before. It's a good thing!
One of my JTEs at school collapsed a couple weeks ago and was rushed to the hospital...turns out he's completely brain-dead, and will never be coming back to consciousness. He was a bit of a cantankerous guy, but was a good man and helped me out many times since coming here, so I owe a lot to him. He will be missed. In the meantime, because there is no substitute teacher system in this lovely and backwards country, the rest of the English teachers at school, including me, are doubling their workloads and driving themselves nuts taking over all his classes, and combining some other classes to make ends meet, until another English teacher can be found. Teaching an English writing class of 70+ 16-year olds by myself is FUN.
(actually, it kinda is)
This year, as every year, I've been working closely with a few third-year students who want to study English at college, to prepare them for their entrance interviews. I'm working with far fewer than usual this year for some reason, and of the 2 that I've put a significant amount of work into so far, both made it into the school they were aiming for. I may not be making much of an impact on the class of 280 students as a whole, but I know I made a very big, very positive impact in the lives of those 2 girls, and no matter the number of students, this remains one of the most rewarding parts of my job.
Looking forward to winter vacation! A good, long break from everything will definitely be in order.