October 30, 2010

Costumes and Charades

I think I scored some cool points with my students this week, giving them candy and letting them wrap their classmates up in toilet paper finally let them see that their uptight American teacher could let her hair down and still try to teach them something.


Or at least in my idyllic little mind that's how I feel like it went. It's all a part of my charade of being an educator. 


For the most part my students are my favorite part about this place. At least 50% of them adore me and the other half either can't understand me or just don't care. I've won over almost all of the girls, except for one who is hellbent on finding a boyfriend. The boys are trickier, the studious ones seem to like my classes, but if their friends don't care it's not cool for them to care either. Ugh. It's the same story in the United States with any age group, and it's frustrating.


I'm getting a little bit better at classroom management, showing those boys who think they can walk all over me whose boss. They're the same age as me though, so it's weird having to lay down the law. 


I ate lunch with one of my students the other day and asked a million questions about her life outside of the classroom. She likes computer games and KFC -- a lot. From my observations in the cafeteria, she also really likes her boyfriend, who is a student of mine in another section. (I swear, I'm not a creep, it's just easy to pick things out on the smallish campus). 


Her boyfriend has a VIP membership to the school gym, which Alex and I paid a visit to on Friday.  (Asians love the VIP status. More on that to come in a later post...) Anyway, the gym smelled like no gym I've ever smelled before, and I've smelled some rancid ones -- six years of hockey trained my nose well. It felt like the kind of place I could catch athletes' foot in just by looking in the mirror.


Needless to say, Alex and I will not be getting VIP status at that gym. We checked out the neighborhood Best Western fitness facilities today and opted for a membership there. It has a sauna, yoga and dance classes, and smells nice and fresh. Also, it's open late which means Alex and I can still work out after we put in our 12-hour days at school.


Well I'm off to a Halloween party. I don't have a costume, but I just happen to be dressed head-to-toe in navy blue, so I guess I'm a blueberry?

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