Tuesday - 2nd day of teaching

Time is flying with little time to myself. Having to write this in bits and spurts.

On Sunday we met with our teachers. Heni came to meet me and another gal, Eileen. We talked about about the school and what we would be doing, but ended without a real clear understanding of how it would all work. Heni arranged to pick us up from the hotel to take us to her school on Monday.

We climbed into the car with her husband, 8 year old daughter and all their stuff and headed off to school. It wasn't too far, and we walked back to the hotel after school. It took us about 20 minutes to walk back. We work with two teachers each: my teachers are Heni and Anika. Next week I will have a different teacher. The first day was quite busy with classes four of the six periods. I had the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grades and basically introduced myself and talked about Alaska. I showed some pictures and answered questions. Although the 7th and 8th graders have been studying English longer, the groups I had were the lower groups and they were also embaressed to speak, so their English was not much better than the 5th and 6th graders.

Tuesday's classes were a bit better as I had the 4th, 5th, 7th and 8th. Here is what I wrote in our team journal about my day:

What a wonderful day! Again, everyone was excited at breakfast to head off to school, and were feeling more comfortable about what to expect. Unfortunately, our walk to school took longer than anticipated and Eileen and I were a bit late. I felt the difference between this day and the first: more students came up to talk to me and the teachers in the teachers room were much more comfortable with us and enjoyed joking around. The highlight of my day at school was sitting with Ferenc during math class, taking the math test, and having Ferenc check my work after! (I had 100%!)

One of the most interesting things for me is the difference between British and American English. I was aware of the differences in pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary, but did not realize there is also a difference in grammar. It took some adjusting to listen to the teacher instruct students to say, “Susie has got a sweater.” Instead of “Susie has a sweater.”!

I don’t know if two days makes a habit, however both days after school I have stopped at the Fisherman’s restaurant on the way back to the hotel and enjoyed visiting with Milt and Annie D. – I hope I haven’t given away a secret! I enjoyed the local fish soup the first day and a bite of Annie’s fried fish and potatoes the second.

Our evening program was a visit to a local vineyard for wine tasting and goulash soup. The dining room was quaint with pottery on the walls and the backs of the wooden dining room chairs painted with a flower design. We tasted six wines ranging from a light white through a cabernet and then a grape juice. I definitely preferred some over the others, but I dutifully drank each portion served to me. The goulash soup was heavy in vegetables, beef and a delicious broth seasoned with caraway. As is standard, bread was served, sans butter, for use in soaking up all the broth.

As each day has been, this day was quite busy. I have found that I need to sneak away for a break in the afternoon to have some time to myself, as I am usually so tired when we return to our rooms in the evening, I go right to sleep. Friendships are developing between the team members as we share our experiences in the classrooms, give advice on possible solutions, and commiserate about the typical teenage behavior! I am looking forward to further developing relationships with the students and the teachers at my school.