As it happens, there is a certain teacher at my institute who shall remain nameless, from a certain Southern state that shall also remain nameless. Said teacher and I currently share a class. This means that he teaches the class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I teach the class on the other days of the week. I was a bit apprehensive about this arrangement at first, but as it turns out, it´s not such a big deal after all. Anyway, because of sharing the class, we often talk a lot when we see each other at the institute. We kind of did before, too, just because he´s actually pretty fun to talk to. Not my cup of tea, but good to have as a friend. Well, I also happen to have a 2nd class (that I don´t share with him) that is composed of 6 teenagers - 5 girls and 1 boy. They range in age from 13 to 16, and they are indeed typical teenage girls. One other detail I might mention - the teacher from the Southern state that shall still remain nameless just happens to be pretty good-looking.
...You might be able to see where I´m going with this. Teenage girls + hot older teacher = trouble. I almost lost my patience today. They seriously SQUEAL whenever they see him. And somehow, they think I have the inside track just because I talk to him a lot. Today when we were in the cafeteria during our 15-minute break from class, they demanded that I introduce them to him. With a look on my face like ¨I just ran over a puppy¨, I turned to him and said under my breath, ¨I´m soooooo sorry about them... but they want me to introduce them to you.¨ Poor guy. But he took it all in stride. I´m thinking he´s probably used to this by now, teenage girls fawning all over him. And honestly, I´m trying to rein in my impatience because the thing is, I remember what it was like to be a teenage girl. I remember what it was like to have crushes on cute older guys. I remember what it was like to feel my heartbeat speed up when I saw that guy, and to turn to my girlfriends and excitedly whisper, ¨There he is!¨. God love ´em. I really do love this class - which is saying something, because before the summer term started, I was praying that I could avoid classes with teenagers. Now, I love them. I´m not saying it´s always wonderful, but I really am grateful to have been challenged with this group of students. Now if I could only get them to stop screaming when they see this one teacher...
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Pink-Haired Punks (and other things)
Here I am on the metro, minding my own business, enjoying the extreme greatness that is the red line (or something like that). Out of the corner of my eye, I see a splash of color. Turning my head slightly to investigate further, I am greeted by the sight of 3 teenage girls walking right behind the linea amarilla (they are outside of the metro car, I am inside). ALL THREE have pink hair. All three appear to be friends. I ask myself, what could possibly motivate all three of them to dye their hair pink? Don´t most people do that thinking that they´re being non-conformist, swimming against the current if you will? So why dye your hair the same color as your other two friends? Magically, all of these thoughts must have infused themselves into my gaze, because the next thing I know, one of the girls is giving me the finger. I narrow my eyes, resist the urge to lower myself to her level, and silently stew, thinking to myself, ¨Those little punks! Why I oughta...¨ Am I getting old or something? Will my next thoughts be, ¨These kids with their loud music... why, back in my day...¨ Anyway, then I find myself thinking that perhaps I shouldn´t get so mad. They´re just being punk kids, after all. So I smooth my hand over my own hair as my mouth turns up at the corners, and relax for the rest of the ride.
Edit: I´m mostly calling them ¨punks¨because of their behavior (i.e. giving me the finger), not so much because of their style. Although maybe that´s how they´d describe their style, who knows.
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And now, for something completely different... yesterday morning before class, I was in the bathroom downstairs at the Institute. What was I doing, you might ask? Using the bathroom, fixing my hair, checking to make sure I hadn´t mysteriously gotten dirt on my black pants? Ohhhhhhhhh no. I was washing a plastic hamburger. Yes, that´s right. Don´t judge, lest you find yourself in the same position some day. Actually, it was just a prop I was going to use for one of my classes, but it appeared quite strange to the girl who walked into the bathroom just then. She didn´t really even say anything, but I could read it all in her gaze... I knew she was thinking something like, ¨Isn´t there a screening process for people to work here at the Institute? Shouldn´t we make sure they´re not complete weirdos before hiring them?¨ My face turning a bit red, I muttered, ¨It´s for my class¨, and continued on with my task of cleaning the plastic hamburger. Next time, I don´t think I´ll explain myself. Maybe it´s more fun just to let people invent their own explanations. ;)
Edit: I´m mostly calling them ¨punks¨because of their behavior (i.e. giving me the finger), not so much because of their style. Although maybe that´s how they´d describe their style, who knows.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
And now, for something completely different... yesterday morning before class, I was in the bathroom downstairs at the Institute. What was I doing, you might ask? Using the bathroom, fixing my hair, checking to make sure I hadn´t mysteriously gotten dirt on my black pants? Ohhhhhhhhh no. I was washing a plastic hamburger. Yes, that´s right. Don´t judge, lest you find yourself in the same position some day. Actually, it was just a prop I was going to use for one of my classes, but it appeared quite strange to the girl who walked into the bathroom just then. She didn´t really even say anything, but I could read it all in her gaze... I knew she was thinking something like, ¨Isn´t there a screening process for people to work here at the Institute? Shouldn´t we make sure they´re not complete weirdos before hiring them?¨ My face turning a bit red, I muttered, ¨It´s for my class¨, and continued on with my task of cleaning the plastic hamburger. Next time, I don´t think I´ll explain myself. Maybe it´s more fun just to let people invent their own explanations. ;)
Monday, January 5, 2009
New Year´s Resolutions
Well, better late than never, right? I don´t usually make New Year´s resolutions, mainly because when I have in the past, I´ve, well... FAILED. But this year (and I don´t really know why), I had an urge to make some. It´s just that there are a few changes I want to make in my life, so why not start with the new year? I may add to these over time, but these are the main ones I´ve been thinking of:
1. SAVE MONEY. This is one of the more important ones, especially now that I´ve found out that my parents have more debt than I thought. I knew they had some (like most Americans), but I didn´t know how much. I also have a bit, and I´d like to get out of it, as well as try to actually save some money. And if there is any way I can, I´d like to try to help my parents a bit (yeah, probably not on my English teacher´s salary, but at some point down the line).
2. Quit spending so much money on puras weas. This goes along with # 1 - my thinking is that if I can stop spending so much money on stupid (or maybe it would be better to say ¨unnecessary¨) things, I can actually save some money, right? And when I think about puras weas, the first thing that comes to mind is Coca-Cola. Sweet nectar of the gods it is. And 600 pesos doesn´t seem like that much when I´m spending it on a Coke, but when I add it all up and realize how much money I spend in a month on Coke, I shudder. That, and real coffee. I´m sorry, but having a Starbucks just a few short blocks from where I work is ridiculously tempting. Although I have to say, I haven´t been there that much lately (go me!). Still, good grief... it´s like the Chilean universe is conspiring against me and my budget.
3. Stop taking the easy way out when speaking Spanish. Or, in other words, stop being lazy. The thing is, when I´m talking to D (who understands almost 100% of what I say in English), it´s so tempting to just finish a sentence in English that I start in Spanish, if I can´t think of the right words to say. This is fine as far as his comprehension goes. But NOT fine as far as me getting over that hurdle and becoming fluent in Spanish. My Spanish is pretty good, and I do know a lot of chilenismos, but I´m not quite fluent yet, and I want to get there. So one thing I need to do is quit being lazy, and force myself to complete the thought in Spanish, no matter how challenging.
4. EXERCISE. If there existed a Top Ten list of New Year´s resolutions that Americans make, this one would probably top the list. That, or quitting smoking. It´s almost cliche, it´s so common. But I don´t care - call me cliche if you will, I really do need to start exercising. No one´s said I look fat or anything, but I just FEEL a lot better when I exercise, physically and mentally. I long for the days when I ran on my high school´s cross country team. That was the best shape I´ve been in in my life, and I want at least a semblance of that back.
5. Read as much as I can. I love reading, and it really helps me with writing, and even gives me ideas for my English classes sometimes. I´m stoked because I got 2 Barnes & Noble gift cards for Christmas, so I brought back a nice stash of books with me to Chile (I am indeed a nerd, have I mentioned that on this blog already?).
6. Travel to the south of Chile. I´ve wanted to do this for so long, and have never really had the opportunity or the money. I want to make it happen sometime in 2009 - if not in February, maybe in September during the week of dieciocho, when I´ll actually have some vacation time.
That´s it for now... I think 6 is plenty. Now all I need is someone to help me stick with these resolutions!
1. SAVE MONEY. This is one of the more important ones, especially now that I´ve found out that my parents have more debt than I thought. I knew they had some (like most Americans), but I didn´t know how much. I also have a bit, and I´d like to get out of it, as well as try to actually save some money. And if there is any way I can, I´d like to try to help my parents a bit (yeah, probably not on my English teacher´s salary, but at some point down the line).
2. Quit spending so much money on puras weas. This goes along with # 1 - my thinking is that if I can stop spending so much money on stupid (or maybe it would be better to say ¨unnecessary¨) things, I can actually save some money, right? And when I think about puras weas, the first thing that comes to mind is Coca-Cola. Sweet nectar of the gods it is. And 600 pesos doesn´t seem like that much when I´m spending it on a Coke, but when I add it all up and realize how much money I spend in a month on Coke, I shudder. That, and real coffee. I´m sorry, but having a Starbucks just a few short blocks from where I work is ridiculously tempting. Although I have to say, I haven´t been there that much lately (go me!). Still, good grief... it´s like the Chilean universe is conspiring against me and my budget.
3. Stop taking the easy way out when speaking Spanish. Or, in other words, stop being lazy. The thing is, when I´m talking to D (who understands almost 100% of what I say in English), it´s so tempting to just finish a sentence in English that I start in Spanish, if I can´t think of the right words to say. This is fine as far as his comprehension goes. But NOT fine as far as me getting over that hurdle and becoming fluent in Spanish. My Spanish is pretty good, and I do know a lot of chilenismos, but I´m not quite fluent yet, and I want to get there. So one thing I need to do is quit being lazy, and force myself to complete the thought in Spanish, no matter how challenging.
4. EXERCISE. If there existed a Top Ten list of New Year´s resolutions that Americans make, this one would probably top the list. That, or quitting smoking. It´s almost cliche, it´s so common. But I don´t care - call me cliche if you will, I really do need to start exercising. No one´s said I look fat or anything, but I just FEEL a lot better when I exercise, physically and mentally. I long for the days when I ran on my high school´s cross country team. That was the best shape I´ve been in in my life, and I want at least a semblance of that back.
5. Read as much as I can. I love reading, and it really helps me with writing, and even gives me ideas for my English classes sometimes. I´m stoked because I got 2 Barnes & Noble gift cards for Christmas, so I brought back a nice stash of books with me to Chile (I am indeed a nerd, have I mentioned that on this blog already?).
6. Travel to the south of Chile. I´ve wanted to do this for so long, and have never really had the opportunity or the money. I want to make it happen sometime in 2009 - if not in February, maybe in September during the week of dieciocho, when I´ll actually have some vacation time.
That´s it for now... I think 6 is plenty. Now all I need is someone to help me stick with these resolutions!
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