I always try to be positive, but sometimes things outside of my control are truly frustrating. I don't have the willpower to compose a well organized argument, so I'll just let frustrations flow, numbered for easy scanning when you get tired of reading whining.
1. Bribing and cheating in universities is alive and well. Students buy course papers, buy attendance records and it's fairly easy to buy a diploma. The reasons go far beyond laziness. The quality of many classes is fairly low, and the grading system is absolutely opaque. Some classes the professor reads out of a book and the students copy down notes. Some others students are asked to present their HW on the board, only to be told that there is only one correct way to do this. Grading is up to each professor's discretion. There is no requirement to publish rubrics or expectations at the beginning of the semester, and no requirement to disclose a student's mark to that student until after the course has been completed. I'm speaking about two universities in Lviv, and not about the entire Ukrainian higher education system. What worries me is that these universities are well respected and rank high in Ukraine. It goes beyond academics. Bribes are expected to reserve dorm rooms, and even get spots in certain classes.
2. It's not all bad news; I finally figured out that classroom discipline depends very heavily on giving daily grades. So, really good that I figured this out. Really bad that it took me so long. There's a great Ukrainian word for this process, дійшло, which translates to something like "it finally soaked through my skull".
3. Workplace attitudes especially among higher ups are negative. It's just work, no reason to worry so much about it, and everyone would be much happier if there was some humor added to the stress. It's almost like there is some job description that says "this is a serious position, it requires a serious disposition, no smiling allowed".
4. I hate when people tell me to take off my hat. This goes back to second grade when mom told me that Quakers have a long tradition of not taking off their hat for royalty, to demonstrate the equality of all mankind. Of course this always gets me in trouble in school. In high school it got me sent to the principles office and into a long philosophical discussion about how agreements require concessions on both sides, and both teaching and learning in a school requires a common code of conduct, which can even include clothing. Anyway, it was freezing yesterday in school, and I just buzzed my head so it felt particularly cold. It was late in the day, and the students were only taking a test, so I had my wool hat on as I wondered the classroom making sure they weren't cheating. My former host mom/boss/assistant principle walks in a chews out the students for missing on of her classes. Then just now she finds me and says "make sure I never see you wearing a hat in school again", as if somebody told me that there is a no hat rule in school (I could have assumed it). I do respect her for not telling me in front of students, but what really gets me is that women are allowed to wear hats, but men aren't. I really have to pick my battles, and this one I won't fight, but it gets under my skin.
5. My bus to Stuttgart is 27 hours. Actually this is a positive, because I'm going to Germany and will escape some of the above for a while. So yeah, that's it. Now I'm going to be positive. I must get lunch, go to a parents meeting, teach the ecology club about water pollution, meet with director about the aids training in February, pay rent, check post office, go to Ukrainian tutoring, make dinner and do it all again tomorrow. Three days till holidays! Sweetness.
