(no subject)
it's due time i've posted something about my life here. so here ccomes a long entry.
i'm so happy to say that i love my job. i was nervous about teaching older kids, but after two weeks i can honestly say i love it and that it's rewarding. i love that my problems that i worry about now are how to force my sr.2s (jr's in high school) to do their reading (we're reading the youth novel "i am the cheese") and that i notice when vocab words are present in my real life speaking/reading/writing english.
my colleagues are all really great teachers, warm, and some are pretty quirky in a good way. i know i can learn a lot from them, and in fact i really already have. it's nice to have the taiwanese office style in our esl department, so that every break i'm not teaching is spent at my desk but also with other teachers who have that free period.
the biggest problem with the job is that i have a long commute (i'm a real city girl now -- woohoo!) which means that to be on time to school i need to get up around 6:10. but i don't mind since it's mostly riding the mrt and i just listen to my ipod. especially on the way home i use the time to just reflect and explore my thoughts, and depending on what song is playing, think of people i love who live back home. (sara cowgirl, this is your week on my ipod).
i really love the students. sometimes they're crazy and bizarre or cute and funny. last week when we were practicing the intricacies of finding out where someone is from, many of the boys told me they were from mars, neptune, or pluto. i think this same class accused me of speaking chinese when i told them when a word ends in 'z' or 'ch' to "add an 'es'" (they claimed I said "jah ee guh 'es'"). i didn't speak chinese but i thought it was hilarious they thought i did.
a standout is wesley, who often stays after class a few minutes to talk to me about csi miami and ask questions about the states and cities in the u.s.
and one of my students changed her name from jessica to lavigne. so i honor her wishes and feel so strange calling her by avril's last name. not many taiwanese people know avril's last name since in chinese she's known soley by the character transcription of avril. so i think it's cute that jessica chose her last name, and i feel like she sees it as our little secret that she's actually named herself after her idol.
the last big news is that this weekend is moon festival, my birthday, and the arrival of a huge typhoon. my students were SO excited about the possibility of a typhoon day on monday (i doubt it will happen). it sucks that it's coming though because it'll probably ruin my bday plans and it will definitely ruin moon festival. the major moon festival activity is having a big bbq with your friends/family.
however, last night as i was walking to ellen's i passed by several families/friends having barbecues on the steps in front of their storefronts or houses, sheltered by the awnings. they just use those little portable grills here so it was possible, and it made me happy.
i'm so happy to say that i love my job. i was nervous about teaching older kids, but after two weeks i can honestly say i love it and that it's rewarding. i love that my problems that i worry about now are how to force my sr.2s (jr's in high school) to do their reading (we're reading the youth novel "i am the cheese") and that i notice when vocab words are present in my real life speaking/reading/writing english.
my colleagues are all really great teachers, warm, and some are pretty quirky in a good way. i know i can learn a lot from them, and in fact i really already have. it's nice to have the taiwanese office style in our esl department, so that every break i'm not teaching is spent at my desk but also with other teachers who have that free period.
the biggest problem with the job is that i have a long commute (i'm a real city girl now -- woohoo!) which means that to be on time to school i need to get up around 6:10. but i don't mind since it's mostly riding the mrt and i just listen to my ipod. especially on the way home i use the time to just reflect and explore my thoughts, and depending on what song is playing, think of people i love who live back home. (sara cowgirl, this is your week on my ipod).
i really love the students. sometimes they're crazy and bizarre or cute and funny. last week when we were practicing the intricacies of finding out where someone is from, many of the boys told me they were from mars, neptune, or pluto. i think this same class accused me of speaking chinese when i told them when a word ends in 'z' or 'ch' to "add an 'es'" (they claimed I said "jah ee guh 'es'"). i didn't speak chinese but i thought it was hilarious they thought i did.
a standout is wesley, who often stays after class a few minutes to talk to me about csi miami and ask questions about the states and cities in the u.s.
and one of my students changed her name from jessica to lavigne. so i honor her wishes and feel so strange calling her by avril's last name. not many taiwanese people know avril's last name since in chinese she's known soley by the character transcription of avril. so i think it's cute that jessica chose her last name, and i feel like she sees it as our little secret that she's actually named herself after her idol.
the last big news is that this weekend is moon festival, my birthday, and the arrival of a huge typhoon. my students were SO excited about the possibility of a typhoon day on monday (i doubt it will happen). it sucks that it's coming though because it'll probably ruin my bday plans and it will definitely ruin moon festival. the major moon festival activity is having a big bbq with your friends/family.
however, last night as i was walking to ellen's i passed by several families/friends having barbecues on the steps in front of their storefronts or houses, sheltered by the awnings. they just use those little portable grills here so it was possible, and it made me happy.