Friday, July 24, 2009

goggles and swim caps

ok. so my sporadic updates are not from lack of eventfulness... its just that it all seems normal now. (it's going to be interesting living in indiana after this year)

we went on a "field trip" yesterday to the swimming pool. it was also the day of my last (and most difficult) open class. so i wore shorts and a tank to the pool. i was not planning on getting wet. i figured the swim instructors and the three other teachers could handle it. well... one of my preschoolers was have issues with her goggles, so i went over to her to help her out. the kids were so adorable with their goggles and all of them had swim caps. so then, without (an english) warning, i was soaked. one of the instructors told the 50some students to splash me!! so at this point i just jumped in. when the pool fun was over we followed the girls into the showers, where christina and i proceeded to rinse off our naked lil girls. they stripped their suits and just stood there in lines waiting for us to rinse them off. then they pranced into the changing room and changed. i proceeded to glare at the jerk instructor that got me all wet and then plop onto the cold tile floor waiting for jason to take pictures of all the kids. when we got back to school i changed into my dress for open class. i had a science activity with the lil newbie kids. when i walked in, they were all freaking out bc amy had smelly clay. so when i told her to put it away she started pouting. then hugh started pouting bc his helicopter pieces were white and not colored. so i switched him. but then amy wanted by pink balloon. so i gave it to her, but then she popped it. so i had to give her her old one back. and then hugh and jessica popped their balloons and jessica started crying. so i made her stop crying but then she climbed onto my lap and the strap on my dress started ripping. SOOO, i went home and changed for the third time that day. i ended up having to make a-young (one of my best/favorite students) write 'lines' today bc she was so disrespectful. and then my open class didnt go well bc the students wouldn't talk. they wouldnt even repeat new vocab words i was teaching them. my boss left me a note saying that the parents think the material i'm doing is too boring and that the kids dont speak enough. IT'S THE SCHOOL'S CURRICULUM!! bah
anyways, today stephanie offered to take all of the staff to a movie and dinner. no one went. so bryan and i went. it was incredibly awkward. i felt like i was in a class being taught on how to act like a 21yr old korean girl. i was disregarded and pushed aside so much by stephanie. she would barely answer anything i said to her. i was expected to sit there and listen. it was ridiculous. she was all talking it up with bryan. at one point bryan looked at me and was like "so beth, what do you think?" it's unbelievable that i can be one of her best teachers and that means squat to her. she treats the male teachers so much better. and she treats christina better bc she's older. but i get nothing. it's soooo completely different from the american merit based system. and i've had class after class tell be about the difference in certain cultures, but it's still so insulting when you have to live it.

ok. well that's just a small glimpse as to what my days consist of. haha.

i'll be in chicago/nwindiana from july 25-july 30. and st louis for july 31-aug 1.

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