Teaching
So, something that's frustrated me lately is that a lot of aspects of the school don't seem very organized. I keep trying to sit down with the English teachers to know where to integrate what kind of lessons. One of them finally just told me today something along the lines of, "If you have something, just show up and teach it."
Something I thought of last weekend was making these cultural worksheets, where I talk about an interesting cultural aspect in the US. I already drafted one about greetings, since in Spain they kiss both cheeks when greeting. I already knew they did something like this, but I didn't know that this was done even in formal situations, for example, meeting my co-workers. My first day, I would try to hold out my hand for a hand shake, only for the person to ignore it while putting their hand on my shoulder and kissing my left and then right cheek. I'm used to it by now, and now I know whenever I meet someone, that's what to do. But I like musing about that initial surprise.
I can at least say that I'm not bored this time. I haven't even been here a full month, and already my time in Spain has been significantly better than Freiburg overall. That's not to say I didn't like Freiburg-- I LOVE that city very much, and I did have lots of good times. But truth be told, I was bored a lot as a student in the university there. I wasn't prepared for how rarely the classes met or anything. I guess it was good, as it allowed for more travel, especially since the airport was only an hour bus ride away. But I really was bored a lot, which made me depressed. I'm definitely not bored here. I stay at the school much more than 12 hours per week, even though that's all I'm paid to do. Why? Because I like to keep myself busy there... plus there's internet. haha. But seriously, I need to have something to do. I like that I feel like I have more of a purpose here than I did in Freiburg.
I can also say that I'm practicing Spanish a lot more than I practiced German in Germany. I feel like my fluency is picking up. But I still have trouble understanding the typical fast, Andalusian Spanish spoken here. For example, one of the English teachers was giving this whole speech to his students yesterday, and I could understand a few key points he mentioned, but still not the majority of what he said. I really hope that soon I'll be able to understand everything. But for now, my speaking and listening are both improving a lot.
Something I thought of last weekend was making these cultural worksheets, where I talk about an interesting cultural aspect in the US. I already drafted one about greetings, since in Spain they kiss both cheeks when greeting. I already knew they did something like this, but I didn't know that this was done even in formal situations, for example, meeting my co-workers. My first day, I would try to hold out my hand for a hand shake, only for the person to ignore it while putting their hand on my shoulder and kissing my left and then right cheek. I'm used to it by now, and now I know whenever I meet someone, that's what to do. But I like musing about that initial surprise.
I can at least say that I'm not bored this time. I haven't even been here a full month, and already my time in Spain has been significantly better than Freiburg overall. That's not to say I didn't like Freiburg-- I LOVE that city very much, and I did have lots of good times. But truth be told, I was bored a lot as a student in the university there. I wasn't prepared for how rarely the classes met or anything. I guess it was good, as it allowed for more travel, especially since the airport was only an hour bus ride away. But I really was bored a lot, which made me depressed. I'm definitely not bored here. I stay at the school much more than 12 hours per week, even though that's all I'm paid to do. Why? Because I like to keep myself busy there... plus there's internet. haha. But seriously, I need to have something to do. I like that I feel like I have more of a purpose here than I did in Freiburg.
I can also say that I'm practicing Spanish a lot more than I practiced German in Germany. I feel like my fluency is picking up. But I still have trouble understanding the typical fast, Andalusian Spanish spoken here. For example, one of the English teachers was giving this whole speech to his students yesterday, and I could understand a few key points he mentioned, but still not the majority of what he said. I really hope that soon I'll be able to understand everything. But for now, my speaking and listening are both improving a lot.