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October 24, 2006
Gymnazia Studentska
My first day of school was last Tuesday (again, sorry know that happened awhile ago). I was nervous because I guess I wasn't really sure what to expect. The first day I actually had no idea where my school was, but I walked to Jennifer's school with her (Jennifer and I teach at separate schools), and one of the teachers from my school came to pick me up. It turns out that instead of working with just one teacher I work with 8. I honestly think their goal is to get me into as many classes as they possibly can, which I am ok with, but it tends to be a bit stressful when trying to remember names and faces. Especially when they are not names that you have ever heard before because they are in a different language. It can also be a bit stressful and unorganized as far as who I teach what lesson… I have to keep very good notes.
So from the first day they threw me head first into the water, a sink or swim type situation. I went into the classroom, and they immediately expected me to talk about myself and answer any questions the students had about me, or anything they wanted to know about the U.S. Oh man, talk about the firing squad. And like I mentioned, this wasn't just the first day, it was for the whole week because I kept meeting different groups of students! Now, I must admit, I knew that my students knew English, but what I didn’t know was just how much. It differs between classes, but most students know a good amount of English. I found out just how much English some of them knew when I was in a class where a student gave a presentation about domestic violence. Yeah, nothing like tackling the tough issues, and not only that, but not even in their native language!
So needless to say they asked the tough questions right from the beginning. Do you like president Bush? How do you feel about terrorism? Are you scared of terrorists? Do you think that 9/11 was a conspiracy? What can you tell us about Indian reservations? And my favorite- "How do you feel about (whispers something in Czech to the teacher) black people?" Gee Wiz! I realize that some of these questions also stem from the age they are (teenagers, geesh) but for real.
Other than that I really do enjoy the teachers and the students. It is very customary here that wherever you go, they serve lots of coffee and tea, as a way of being polite. I think that in the first couple of days in my school I was pumped full of more tea than the Boston harbor when the Boston tea party happened. Thankfully I like tea, but if I come back to the states and start drinking tea everyday, don’t be surprised. I am slowly starting to recognize more and more faces, and starting to work on pronouncing the names right, but so far things at school have been a great experience.
Seriously, I am going to tell you about my trip to the grocery store. Seriously, real soon…
Dobre Den (Good day)!
Posted by Amber Ruppert at October 24, 2006 09:00 AM
Comments
It's a good thing they didn't ask you where is the continent of India! Phew, close one.
Posted by: Sarah D at October 24, 2006 07:12 PM