Roll Call!!!

Here's a quick update on my students/jobby-job:

The school is working me quite hard and there are some pretty long days. The turnover at the school kind of high and according to a few people it is one of the more expensive English Schools in a pretty pricey city. I am also, seemingly, the only one in charge of English Club & we had our first successful meeting yesterday - think back to high school "Spanish, French, German Clubs". Also, there are no resources at the school, I have to scrounge for dry erase markers, scotch tape, etc. Teachers share books and audio CDs and most of the time if you aren't there first - you have to wing it.

Guakhar - She's a favorite pre-intermediate student of mine. She's ambitious to learn and loves talking about things I like - music, food, film. I found out recently that she is the editor of a very popular magazine here in Kazakhstan - kind of like their 'People' and she's a successful jouranlist. Unforturnately, she's very busy with work and I don't think she looks at her English homework till way after midnight. She also recently auditioned for a movie being shot in France.

Elena - She started out very nervous and quiet as a pre-intermediate student. This older lady originally from Siberia is more comfortable and doesn't rely on her electronic translator like she used to. We use the same material as Guakhar and it's amazing how different they learn. Some concepts are easy for one and some are more difficult. I asked her for her favorite comedy film and she said Pulp Fiction.

Yulia - A new student who last lived in Moscow. She is originally from Siberia but went to Moscow to become a doctor. She ended up marrying one of her patients, a man from England so now she needs to know the language; plus she's going to Indonesia to meet his children in December. She is in Almaty because her husband moved here from work. We meet everyday for 1.5 hrs and on the first day she prescribed medicine for me because I sniffled. Haven't quite gotten it filled.

Dimash and his friend - Two young teen boys who are intermediate level (all these different levels mean different books, prep, etc.) They really want to learn and like soccer. I think they get a kick (no pun intended) out of my teaching. They both study at a Math & Physics school. Gotta try to remember the friends name.

Symbat - A young teenage girl who for some reason loves German. She studies all in German at school even though she is Kazakh. Very quiet but clever. She is my easiest student because she is elementary but I really think she faked her test, because the lessons are so easy for her. However, this class is usually late at night until 8:00PM so I'm pretty whupped. She wants to go to England or Germany (of course).

Elementary group (Natasha, Alea, Arman) - Three students who come everyday; they aspire to go to an English speaking university here in KZ. I teach them on Wednesdays - very enthusiastic. Arman asked me the other day what a "husband" is, but it came out like "who is your husband" and the 2 girls were rolling.

Upper-intermediate group (God help me if I can remember their names) - They all love to learn but some are more advanced than the others. One girl, in particular, is a bit of a kiss-up. I asked them to write about stereotypes of thier country and she turned around and gave me homework and asked me to write about American stereotypes. One of the students is around a 40yr old lady - very nice and lives in the same apartment complex as me, so we usually talk about whether we had hot water that day. This class is at the WONDERFUL time of 630 - 800PM on FRIDAYs.....

One of my favorite students, Nurdulet (young boy who loved to talk sports & play hangman w/me) no longer can come. Apparently, he is very sick - bronchitis or something hospital worthy. I was bummed on his last day and told him that of all my students, he was the best - which was true. I mean the kid goes to school for 10 hours a day, than came to me for 1-2 hrs of English every day. Another student, Malika, a stubborn teenage girl, also finished her classes. Won't miss her too much - more preoccupied with her phone and when it was time to write she would say her wrist hurt.

So... those are some of Joey's Kids (even though half of them are older than me.) I do enjoy seeing them progress and they all look up to me. I think having a native speaker is important. They don't have the safety-net of me dropping into Russian if they don't understand me. And fortunately, I have some creative body language - you should have seen me trying to demonstrate what Thanksgiving 'STUFFING' is! Just like in most jobs there are times I like it and times I can't stand it. Also, like back home, actually doing the work is fun and enjoyable, but all the administrative issues drag you down. I definitely talk a lot more here. My throat gave out on me last week. It was common at Tetra Tech to go through a workday(s) with rarely having a conversation.

Yesterday, we held English Club. Unfortunately, it was the Joey show with the only help coming from guest speaker Amanda. The theme was American Family Culture and everyone really enjoyed it. Lots of icebreakers to get them to speak English. Since my immediate family is kinda small, Amanda presented on her family which is kinda big. The students (for some reason) thought I looked a lot like my dad in one photo (scary.) We also played the Sister Sledge song, "We Are Family" to both their and my enjoyment. The discussion got a little heady when I started talking about differences in American culture. They were quiet and fascinated by 1)Happy Childless Marriages 2)Adoption of Different Races, Cultures, Etc. and 3)Elderly Care or lack of in the U.S. I also told them of the family trends of smaller families, people living longer, and non-traditional families (same-sex, single family, etc.) They found all this different but loved hearing about it. I lightened the mood with some family words - family heirloom/reunion/vacation/(other families like work family/school family/teams/and friends ie 'calling someone your brother' even though there is no blood. For family recipe Amanda and I made cream cheese brownies and they grubbed 'em up. I was just about finished when I asked them if they wanted me to go on and talk about Thanksgiving. They all did and listened attentively. They loved hearing about the history, the meal, the parade, etc. The ladies loved hearing about 'Black Friday' and I told 'em how my mom gets up early and doesn't come back till late. We finished up by eating and drinking a little bit before it was time to clean up.

All the Turkey Talk made me definitely thankful for everyone and everything in my life!