Finished my first week of actual teaching and there have been a lot of ups and downs, but I am starting to get familiar with my way around the school. So here is a brief recap of this crazy week.
Ways I embarrassed my self:
1. I wore a skirt that unknowingly to me became a bit see through in the afternoon Malaysian sun.
2. I held a conversation with my mentor in the office, the loud speaker had been left on and the conversation was broadcast to the whole school. Luckily very few people speak enough English to understand me, but that was actually what the conversation was about...SO maybe not so much.
3. I tried to shake a male teacher’s hand after being introduced to him while standing in a crowded room. The entire room went quiet and I became the morning topic of gossip. Easily the most embarrassed I have ever felt.
Crazy things that I never expected to happen in my life:
1. I now own and have been practicing on my very own motorcycle at the stadium near my house. On Sunday I am going to try driving it to school.
2. I have become a minor celebrity here. On Tuesday a national newspaper reporter took me out of class to interview me and then took pictures of me teaching. Wednesday he had me go to the Central Market for a photo shoot. The article is going to be the front page of this Sunday’s paper.
3. On a lesser crazy scale, but still high on the scale of things I never thought I’d have is an ant sponge. In our kitchen we now have an ant sponge and a dishes sponge to clean with. I have been massacring ants everywhere in the house, but their numbers seem to be growing.
Things that frustrated me this week:
1. Most of my classes are great and I am excited to teach them more, but a couple of my classes are extremely weak. It was really frustrating when I was standing in front of a class for 80minutes trying to get them to say a few just a few words and the all stared at me blankly. In conclusion, teaching is hard and I now respect even more what my mother does on a daily basis.
2. At times I have become frustrated with not being able to show the Malaysians who I really am. There is a lot of pressure on me to fit into the Malaysian notion of what a teacher should be that at points it means contradicting what I actually believe. Hopefully as the community becomes more comfortable with me I will slowly be able to introduce them to more parts of who I am.
Things that made me smile this week:
1. After the really frustrating class I walked into the cutest and most excited class I had all week. During the ‘Get to know Miss Chelsea’ activity one of the boys asked me why I came to Malaysia. I told him that I liked adventures. After a few moments he whispered into my ear, “Miss Chelsea, I think you are very brave”, and then he ran to the back of the room.
2. A primary school girl came to the teacher’s room to see her mom. She ended up hanging out with me drawing pictures back and forth learning their names in English and Bahasa as well as their sounds. She then gave me some math problems. When I got the answer to 408+2 correct she was so proud of me that she told all of the other teachers in the room. It was adorable.
3. I received a letter from Will and several emails from other friends this week. I love hearing from all of you and being connected to everything back home.
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