Frustrations.

As of today, I only have three of my classes 2 times per week, which means I have another 9 classes one time each week. This is frustrating because of how much I have emphasized the importance of repetition for my students to understand the new concepts I will be introducing, such as creativity, free thinking, games, activities, projects, group work and communicative rather than translation activities. I’m not just going to accept this schedule, and will do everything I can to fight it, openly or subversively. My main supporter seems be angrier that I was assigned weaker students, who “have no intellectual potential”. I don’t believe in such predetermination, and am sure that their previous low performance is due to lack of motivation. Obviously it will be more challenging to introduce new methods at the same time as convincing these kids that they really do have potential. Hopefully I can get this worked out, and avoid making any enemies this early in the game. Got to brush up on my polite Ukrainian.
I met a beautiful family on Wednesday. I have not been impressed by authoritarian Ukrainian parenting, but their little five year old girl was an angel. They used polite phrases with each other; disagreements were worked out rather then overpowered with seniority, and she seemed to know that whining would not work. After eating lunch with them, they took me on a tour of local churches, most of them built in the 1700s.
A few nights before that, I had been at a party at a teachers house, and trying to leave, fighting back the constant invitations to stay longer, when a bag of meat, sweets and alcohol was forced on me. The only way I was allowed to leave was if I took the bag. I was really frustrated, because I know it’s part of Ukrainian hospitality, but it is applied in excess because I am an American. Culture shock, round two.
Smoking is still cool, as is real animal fur, and not wearing seatbelts.