Saturday (tomorrow in Asia. get it?)

Sometimes I don't blog because I have nothing to say. Sometimes I don't blog because I have too much to say. This time is one of the latter.


Where do I begin?

And just as I wrote that last sentance, I received a call from our office to substitute a class tonight, so I need to go to the school and get the book and then write some lesson plans.

My classes this morning were a little rough. The first class was not so bad. My CD was skipping on the lesson about animals in Australia, but fortunately I already know the song, 'Kukaburro' (though I may not know how to spell it) by heart. And Ranger and his sister Jessica always come by my classroom to smile and wave. I love that. Sometimes they come in the middle of class to say hello, and I smile, evily comforted by the fact that they are no picnic for their new teacher either.

Here are some of my former students in the hall. From the left: Ranger, Jessica, Yang, Mary, Eddie.


The second class was crazy. I sometimes let the kids use my markers to draw the pictures from the book, and I did that today. I let them go, and they drew, and wiped the board, and drew some more. They love it. There is a rag for wiping the board, but I noticed that it lay on the table untouched, and I looked over at what they were using. Small, wrinkled, torn pieces littered the floor, they were using the tissue that I had been blowing my nose with all morning.

Others crawled on the floor in the corner trying to pick up stray pieces of glitter and show them to me. The door was constantly opening and shutting with children who said they needed to use the bathroom or drink water; I don't know if I could ever tell them they can't, for fear of the consequences.


I suppose this is a normal class for a large group of 5 and 6 year olds in a small room with flimsy excuses for desks (FIVE newly broken desks before my class started today), playing marbles, cards, and eating candy at break. And Jack came to me with gum in hs hair this morning. They fight and cry and tell me, "No!" sometimes. However, I have found that if one of my students starts singing a certain song, they will all join in (LOUDLY) and it takes me a good five minutes to quiet them down. It's the Vietnamese National Anthem.

This video is Calvin. He is my favorite, hands down (Notice how he gets on to the girl who is blocking the video of him). He can frustrate me, but I forgive him immediately because he is my favorite. He's just so darn cute. And one day I read a book and he was talking while I read it. I started to recognize some of the words, and realized he was translating for the other students. Not because he speaks English. He just looked at the pictures and took it upon himself to tell the class. He also helps me take roll. I'm almost embarassed that I am so unashamed for having a favorite. Almost.