So I am putting my travel writing on hold since there is so much and it is all just so overwhelming.I just finished my first whole week of school with all of the students and I am feeling pretty good for this semester.
Pre-Students: School started for the teachers last Thursday and I wasn't really sure if I was going to school until Wednesday. Again, definitely not the most organized...
Thursday: First day of school for the teachers and basically just a meeting the entire day about the beginning of school and your standard standards. At least I got to listen to a lot of Spanish and learn the schedule for the year.
Friday: Rearrangement of the teacher's room... The English department used to sit in this cramped little space, but now that there are so many of us, they had to move us to our own little room. Last year, there were four teachers and me. Then they fired one of the English teachers and hired two new ones. So now there are five teachers, me, and we are expecting another gringo from the Ministry. So now its just a little crowded in a bigger room.
Monday: was the first day for the students. The entire objective for the day was for the students to get to know their homeroom teachers, anything new with the school, their schedule, and general maintenance. Since I don't have a homeroom, it was a good thing I brought my computer and hung out in the teacher's room, trying to figure out where I am going to live and what I am going to do when I get home. However, I did get a little break from that to do the very important job of hanging letters "Bienvenidos 2012" on the stage. After 3 hours of doing nothing, there was a welcome assembly where they basically just introduced the faculty and staff of the school. Surprisingly I was called up on stage as part of the staff, I am quite astonished that someone remembered me. They also remembered me when they gave teachers whiteboard markers and erasers... last semester I bought all of my own things. But this time they remembered me! Except for ink (they have rechargeable whiteboard markers)...I need to ask the secretary every time i need more ink.
The school uniform is navy, grey, and yellow. However the company that makes these uniforms does not make this color scheme anymore. So now all of the freshman and any new students have black, red, and yellow uniforms. They are very distinct uniforms so the students who are new stand out as well as most of the freshman last year who got left back and are repeating the year (there are quite a lot of them)
Monday, the rest of the teachers got their schedules so I could finally make mine. I made my schedule and gave myself Fridays free. Kind of worked out too that there was only one class that I could have gone to on Friday, and it just seems a bit silly to travel for two hours to only work for an hour and half.
Rest of the Week
Tuesday and Wednesday were half days for the students and Thursday was a full day. So far I like the large majority of the classes and they generally went well. There are still a ton of students in each class. They could have been behaving better since it was the first week of school, but I hope they stay this way... we shall see and only hope for the best! I definitely feel more confident and comfortable in the school now, I feel like I belong more than I did in the first semester and that I am capable and knowledgeable about some of the ins and outs of the school. I talk to more of the staff and I definitely understand more. One of the ballsy juniors asked if I had learned more Spanish since he remembers that before I really didn't know anything. A couple of students that I talked to, also remarked on how my Spanish got better and they wondered how that happened....hope their not lying to try to win some points.
A new thing in my schedule is that I will be teaching "special" executive classes to my bosses. All three schools will be teaching the administrative staff English for four hours a week. I have to give them homework and tests and so on. So now I have to teach my principal, my vice principal (who doesn't like English) and some others who I don't know. We will see how that goes...I feel like they are too busy to actually come to class.
Oh random, but Thursday was "Dia de mujeres" Women's day... all the women got cake, flowers, and a drink. There is a women's day, but no men's day.... it was all very peculiar to me. I thought we had a meeting in the library, but instead we got greeted by kisses and flowers. If we had a women's day and no men's day in America...people would call it discrimination. The teachers were pretty surprised that I was surprised with this day. Ah the cultural gender differences in Chile and the States.
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