A thirty-something woman's scribbles about travel, teaching, relationships, and life.
Some of the kids I teach are ridiculously wealthy. One boy (Tiger) says his family owns several convertibles in a very blasé, offhand way like it’s no big deal. They have all these little accessories that they attach to the phones so when I collect them before bed I’m literally weighed down by phones with their [...]
Foreign kids are, well, foreign. Roman (another Russian – no surprise there) has me in stitches most of the time. When the sports coach suggested he do some press-ups he said: “Pah!” and shaked his head, with a disgusted look, as if this was the most absurd thing he’d ever heard. He also said he [...]
We went to Wat Chalong, beautiful temples in Phuket. I love seeing the Thais stick gold paper onto statues of monks, the bowls filled with orchids, and the way they reverently light incense and candles. Had to shake these sticks and the stick that fell on the ground had my lucky number. A Thai lady translated my fortune, [...]
We had a disco last night for the kids. Sad that this is the extent of my social life at the moment. The staff ended up taking to the floor, while the teenagers lurked in the corners, mustering up the courage to ask each other to dance. I asked a boy to dance and I [...]
Sometimes I manage to grab all my students’ attention and they’re totally engaged – then it’s all worthwhile. That lasts about five minutes before someone farts or burps or starts throwing origami planes made from their notes. My friend who taught in a US inner-city school said that one student unzipped his pants and peed [...]
Filed under: Relationships, Teaching, Travel
Somehow all the deviant, angry kids ended up in my class. Viktoria, another Russian student (why is it always the Russians?) is the bane of my teaching existence.
Filed under: Relationships, Teaching, Travel
