English

The children I’ve recently started to teach here in Bulgaria don’t take English very seriously. It’s not that way with all of them, but most of them. You see, here in Bulgaria, the high schools are very specific. A student can apply to an art school, a technical school, a language school, and many others depending on their interests. So, for those students who don’t plan on going to a language school and feel that they don’t need to check the bilingual box on any future job applications, they just don’t care all that much about my class.

I also feel that their lack of knowledge combined with textbooks that are not only above their heads but completely unrelatable culturally, they get frustrated and that frustration manifests itself as a couldn’t-care-less attitude. I won’t let this discourage me. They’re great kids. Funny and witty and full of ambition. I know that if they were given a reason to care, a reason to take English class seriously, they could be great students. I’m not saying they’ll all be fluent by the end of the year but they’ll make progress.

Right now I’m just trying to figure out what makes them tick. They may not enjoy English for English’s sake, but there’s got to be a reason or two out there for them to buckle down. Getting to know my students well is going to be the key here, and keeping a positive attitude. I plan on wowing them every chance I get. Going above and behind and dragging myself back home at the end of the day from pure exhaustion. But they will learn. They will. If God is my…just kidding, I’m not that dramatic, usually.

Anywho, wish me luck as I try to woo the hearts and minds of 60 or so elementary and middle school students. 

-Age

Why Yes, That is the State Seal on My Underpants

So, I've had a pretty eventful time recently. I just got back from a week-long training that involved the cutest damn 3rd graders anyone's ever seen and a group of veteran volunteers and knowledgeable Bulgarians that taught me so much. I feel truly prepared for the upcoming school year. Though, I'm sure when the first day rolls around all of that will fly out the window and I'll have a "what was I thinking?" moment...again. But I've gotten used to those. I usually respond to the over-panicked side of my brain with a soothing, "Shut up, whiner."

I got to see all my PC friends again, I didn't realize how much I missed my satellite group members until I saw their beautiful faces peeking through the window of the train. The 9:00pm train. The late-ass train that they had to take because they missed the reasonable-hour train that was supposed to bring them into my village before it was creepy and dark. Stupid punks. But, yeah no, I really missed them.

On our way back from the training city of Blagoevgrad we stopped in Sofia, the capital, for some Starbucks and a dooner. At the dooner stand we met another American who referred to us as "yanks" and was immediately our favorite American in the room. He told us he worked for the US embassy. We were impressed until he told us not to be, so were weren't. Except that we still were kind of. He told us that he thinks the Peace Corps volunteers and Embassy employees would make a good team because people are often intimidated by them (what?) and we are so in-tune with the locals with all of our grassroots awesomeness (my word, not his), we could learn from each other. No argument here (but that's mostly cuz of the whole being intimidated by him thing).

He told us that other Embassy people were getting together for a party and the man hosting was a former PC volunteer from Macedonia. He invited us but only I could go. I said yes, of course. This wasn't because I was intimidated to say no but because I immediately thought of what a cool facebook status I could write if I went to an Embassy party. I know that's dorky but I'm hoping the honesty of it will put me back in your favor. And if it helps, no one seemed to care all that much. I blame it on jealousy. Or misspelled words which is also a serious possibility.

I went. Met some very cool, young, funny, down-to-earth people and I hope I get to see them again soon. Well, since I accidental left my sunglasses at his house I probably will have to see them again soon but at least I won't be intimidated. Well, only a little. I'll try to imagine them in their underwear. Matching, American flag underwear. With the state seal sown into the label. Those would be some pretty intimidating underwear. Crap.

I have pictures but it's late and I'm too tired to post them. I will soon though cuz the kids we taught were well worth having their faces bragged about on my blog. Maybe even more so. Love you all.

-Age

Peace Corps Thursday

I graduated with my Teaching Credential a couple years ago. Actually, it’s coming up on two years this June that I have been with a Credential but without a job that actually requires one. While I was student teaching, the state was just beginning to make their budget cuts to education and many of the teacher’s I was working with were stressing out over the threat of pink slips. I had a feeling that finding a cushy job as a second-grade teacher was gonna be a little more difficult than I had originally thought.

Since then, I have been working hard just to make ends meet. I often have two jobs and for a little while there I actually had three which, needless to say, was a little much. I’m not complaining, I know that most people my age are going through something similar. We had these dreams of being wealthy World-Changers by 26 but instead we are hoping our rent check clears. It’s just life. Stories we’ll tell are grandchildren to impress them with our past work-ethic and ingenuity.

This is what drove me to explore other employment options. The Peace Corps was one of many ideas I had back in November but it was the one I felt God was pushing me toward and who am I to say, “Uh, God, are you sure about this?” Of course He’s sure. He’s God. He made the heavens and the earth and narwhals.

Anyway, I thought I’d share with y’all what I’ll be doing in Bulgaria.

I’m going to be teaching English to elementary/middle school students. I’ll also be training teachers at the school different techniques regarding English as a Second Language instruction. Also, most Peace Corps volunteers have a second job or project. I will only be able to work at the school 18 hours a week so I will have down time to work on other things.

Some of the other projects mentioned in my packet involved working with youth in terms of sex-trafficking prevention. I am VERY interested in these types of projects. The rights and education of women has always been very important to me, I may have even been called a feminist once or twice (or 217 times) After reading Half the Sky and learning of the terrible things that can happen to girls all over the world, I hope to educate and inspire the young girls in Bulgaria to have higher expectations for their lives.

But before I can do any of this, I have to go through training. I will spend three months living with a host family in a larger city in Bulgaria, possibly Sofia, learning how to speak Bulgarian and receive TEFEL training that will help to sharpen my teaching skills. They also show us how to apply for grants to receive funding for those secondary projects. I will train with a group of Peace Corps volunteers and will hopefully make friends in the process. Unless they think I’m a weirdo. Or maybe they are all weirdoes too.

The three groups I could potentially be working with are: Bulgarians, Roma (gypsies), or Turkish immigrants. Of course, I am fascinated by the possibility of working with gypsies and have been learning a lot about them since, before this, I didn’t know they still existed as a race of people. Their history is so shrouded in mystery and intrigue. I hope I’m able to meet some Roma people even if I don’t work with them directly.

I will also have to come up with summer projects while the kids are out of school. I’m thinking maybe a sports-based or arts-based camp but I really don’t know for sure. So much is still up in the air.

Basically, my work will be focused on the youth; building their knowledge base and self-esteem so that they can go on and become successful in the new free-market economy that Bulgaria is struggling to promote. I will work tirelessly and it will be full of struggles and hardship but I am going to learn so much and grow as a person in ways I can’t even begin to predict.

Very excited!

But not as excited as this guy:

-Age

I Fully Support Corporal Punishment

I just watched The Bank of Hollywood, that show where people ask famous millionaires for money. They just gave a woman over $4,000 to buy shoes. Shoes. Um, excuse me, I could use four grand and I would do more than buy shoes thank you very much. I mean, I’d buy shoes, just reasonably priced ones and then donate the rest to world peace. Can you just write “World Peace” on a check and then toss it in the mail? Probably.


My work just recently cut my hours. Just like everyone else, they are trying to make every penny count and that has luckily had little effect on me in the past…but now…mucho effecto.

Which means I’m going to have to start substitute teaching again. Boo. I really hated that. Right after I got my credential and was all gung-ho about teaching I started to sub and very quickly realized I hate children. Kidding. That’s a gross exaggeration. I don’t hate kids. Kids are great. It’s just that trying to control a different group of them in a classroom setting day after day can take a toll on one’s mental well-being.

I wanted to preserve the well-being of my mental so I stopped submitting myself to the torture that is the public school system and now, after 7 glorious months, I have to return.

I imagine myself, in uncomfortable teacher-clothes, marching up to the school office at some ungodly hour like 8:30 and asking the disheveled secretary for a key to the classroom. Then I walk, slowly, to the multiple lines of children on the playground trying to figure out which class is mine for the day. I see a nice, straight row with smiling faces and the look of academia written all over them and pray they are mine. No. It’s the kids in the crooked line, chewing gum, pulling hair, and participating in general acts of tomfoolery. I’m all for tomfoolery but only with people who are of legal drinking age.

I try to be the cool sub, the strict sub, the nice sub. The whatever sub that keeps them from destroying the classroom and setting me or anything I own on fire.

The funny thing is, my rookie mistake: I actually try to teach these kids something. I have actually gone hoarse (no joke) trying to convey some sort of knowledge in my short time as their temporary teacher.

Why do I do this? I should know better. I tortured subs as a child. I switched name tags thinking it would be hilarious if the sub called me Amanda all day but then I forget after about 30 minutes in which the sub calls out “Amanda” twelve or so times before I get elbowed in the side and go, “Ow! Oh…here!”

I like to teach. I think knowledge is wonderful. Teaching, an art. Learning, a treasure. Let’s just say if I could be a fan of “The Pursuit of Knowledge” on Facebook I would totally click that button! But trying to do it in one day with kids I don’t know (or like very much) is just plain torture.

When I think of hell I picture florescent lighting and the smell of dry-erase markers.

(picture stolen from here)

-Age