Pics from Tatarsk

Tatarsk

Wow, it’s been quite a while since I wrote anything! Sorry everyone for not keeping up. I at least hope that you enjoyed the pictures from Halloween. I’m not exactly sure what I’ve been doing since that time that has kept me so busy. Obviously teaching, but really it seems like time is disappearing almost too quickly.

 

Well certainly the most important thing that happened since I last posted was Obama’s victory in the presidential elections. This is probably actually the most important thing that has happened since I’ve been born. I want to first of all congratulate everyone back home. It’s so f’in amazing! On the day of the elections, (actually it was already the next day here in Novosibirsk) I woke up at 6 a.m. and went to my American friend Todd’s apartment where we watched the news coverage of the elections on the internet. It was really an amazing thing watching the events unfold, and I found myself overcome with emotion for the rest of the day. I walked around the academy that day smiling uncontrollably and excitedly told the news to everyone I knew. People here are generally happy that Obama won the election, but I think it is difficult for many of them to understand, first of all, the significance of Obama’s victory in American history, and secondly, the significance of the victory to all the Americans who supported him. I really wish I could have been in the U.S. to experience and celebrate this historic moment with my friends and fam… As I told all my students and coworkers, I’ve never been so proud to be an American (and then of course I sang that song “Im proud to be an american, where at least I know Im free, something something something, And I’ll proudly stand up next to you, and defend her here today, cause I’m proud to be an American, God bless the USA”).

 

 

This weekend Nick and I took a two day “business trip”, as we called it, to this small town called, Tatarsk (татарск). We were invited there by a woman who runs the local pedagogical institute in Tatarsk to give presentations to their students and teachers. Nicholas and I agreed as it appeared at the very least an opportunity to see what the heck life in a Siberian city of 20,000 is like. It was definitely interesting. Our host, Natalya Ivanovna, showed us some real Siberian hospitality. We were put up in a surprisingly new and nice hotel with a mini-fridge stocked with vodka and snacks. The beds were nice and the water was hot, although it smelled like farts… The first day of our stay we gave talks/presentations to the students of this institute, which as far as I can understand is located somewhere on the Russian education hierarchy approximately equivalent to a professional or trade school in the U.S. This place was training future teachers. Their English was in general much poorer than that of our students here in Novosibirsk. They were nice kids though. On this day we also got to see a bit of a performance at the local cultural center where they were celebrating the “day of farming and agriculture”. There were some pretty wonderful songs sung by old women as well as a couple of great accordion/voice duets. Then we did more presentations, after which we were asked to be part of the jury for what was basically a bunch of silly games and contests between students carried out in their gymnasium…  The next day we did some more presentations and then went to a really great museum (see pics below).

 

The only negative part of the trip was the fact that our host was constantly pressuring us to eat. We ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner with her in her office both days, and every meal consisted of nearly the same amount I usually eat in one day. In Russia it is considered quite rude to not eat absolutely everything offered to you, and when either Nick and I attempted to protest that we were already quite full, Natalya Ivanovna became upset. It was of course very nice of her to feed us, but who eats potato soup, a huge plate of mashed potatos, chicken, fish, bread, fruit, and tea just two hours after their previous meal. I mean come on! I never thought I would react so negatively to free food, but after two days of constant feeding I was very happy to get away from this woman.

 

The other strange thing about this trip was that I often felt as if I was some exotic creature being displayed for the amusement of the rural Russian citizens. If I’m somewhat of a celebrity figure at SibAGS, I was as good as an alien creature at this school of about 300 students. Walking through the halls, Nick and I were stared at by everyone, and asked to take fotos with every pimple-faced fifteen year old girl in the damn building. When we went into a store to buy beer, the stares of the other customers reached an unforeseen level of discomfort.

 

What made this trip wonderful, though, were the many moments of hilarity shared by Nicholas and I as our friendship was strengthened in this strange and hostile environment…

Pics coming soooooon

Halloween

Last Friday, Nicholas and I hosted an American Style Halloween party at the Academy. We had cake, tea, wine, candy, jack’o lanterns, scary stories, the Monster Mash, one zombie, one pirate, and a bunch of Russians. For almost all of these kids, it was the first time they had celebrated Halloween in any form. Our friend, Masha, took some great photos which I will now share with you all. Enjoy. Go Obama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Valeri the Balalaika Man

I’ve never been a big fan of superlatives, and as a result I always struggle more than necessary with “what’s your favorite ___” questions. I seem to be facing these kinds of questions very often here. Some popular variations from Russian students include “What’s your favorite American movie? What’s your favorite rock band? What is your favorite football club? What’s your favorite Russian food? What is your favorite night club?  Who is your favorite student?” I don’t believe I have yet answered such a question in a satisfactory manner during my two months here.  But if someone were to ask me who my favorite Russian person is, I would, as of today, be able to answer this question immediately and precisely. His name is Valeri Viktorovich and he teaches balalaika at the Novosibirsk Music College. I met him today due to the kind efforts of my second favorite person at the moment, my friend Zina.  She, knowing that I was interested in studying some kind of Russian folk instrument, tracked this guy down and set up a meeting for me. So today, Zina and I showed up at the Music College at 4. I was a bit nervous, and quite unsure of what exactly was going to happen. Zina hadn’t told this guy that I was American, spoke broken Russian, had no true musical training, couldn’t read music, etc. Luckily for me Valeri turned out to be perhaps the nicest, most energetic, least intimidating person I’ve met here in Russia. Not only did he agree to give me balalaika lessons, he gave me a balalaika to take home to practice, refused my money, and then, best of all, told Zina and I this story all about how he used to have a huge beard when he was in college. So, check it out! I’m now learning to play the balalaika! And my teacher is my favorite person in all of Russia…

 

Yesterday I made my first foray into traditional Russian cuisine with a valiant attempt at Borsch soup. For those who don’t know, Borsch is a soup with beet, cabbage, potato, carrot, and (optionally) some meat. Throw in a dollop of sour-cream and eat it with some black bread. It is freaking tasty. My friend Lena gave me her recipe, and I must say that it turned out quite delicious. I was actually quite surprised, considering that I am quite an amateur when it comes to cooking anything more complicated than fried potatoes and eggs. The soup, although perfect in taste, had a bittersweet emotional aftertaste. It made me miss getting together with my friends to cook dinner, drink beer, and make wildly inappropriate jokes. The main reason I haven’t attempted any exciting culinary experiments before this time, is because cooking alone sucks, and all of the Russian kids I know here don’t understand the appeal of such  dinner gatherings.

 

I’ve taken up chewing gum.

 

Among other exciting news, we now have another native English speaker working and living here at the Academy! His name is Nick and he is from Manchester. This is his second year teaching English here. Nick enjoys night clubs, bad euro-pop/electro music, and Russian women. He works as little as possible but dresses like a true English dandy. Predictably, he loves James Bond and plays cricket. Although we are in many ways quite different people we get along wonderfully and laugh our asses off on a regular basis. We complain to each other about poor students, wonder aloud about illogical actions of co-workers, amuse each other with expressions specific to our respective countries, and play table tennis. We make quite the anglo-superhero  duo.  If I could just think of some cool names for our super hero characters I would feel obliged to start writing a comic about our adventures in a hostile land, working together to thwart our mortal enemy – incorrect English grammar!

 

I carved a jack-o-lantern, but still have no Halloween costume…

 

Oh yeah so two weekends ago I went to a place called MEGA. It was strange. MEGA is basically an enormous, modern, American shopping mall in Siberia. I really felt like I was in the U.S. If I had been wearing earplugs I wouldn’t have known the difference. A mall like this is probably the last place I would want to go if I was back home, but for lots of young Russians MEGA is freaking awesome. They love it. And I suppose from their perspective, a clean, shiny shopping mall, with trendy clothes, enormous all-in-one Wal-Mart inspired stores, food court, and ice-skating rink is something new, different, and exciting. I suppose found MEGA so strange and disconcerting because, although there is a lot of money in Russia, the average salary is so much lower here than it is in the U.S. I find it hard to understand how a mall full of fancy shops, selling fancy things, stays afloat when there is really no middle class to support it. Even outside of the mall, so many things here in Novosibirsk are as expensive, and often times more expensive, than they are in either Oklahoma or Portland. I’m really amazed at how people manage to live as they do when living costs are equal with those back home, and yet the average rate of pay is so much lower. I may have already mentioned this before, but one of my friends and co-workers, who works 5 days a week in the office of international relations, earns 4,000 rubles a month. This is less than 200 u.s. dollars. Without her husband there is no way she could live off this sum of money.  I think I’ll try to see if I can’t find some official numbers about the average salary here.  Anyways, at MEGA I bought some stuff for my room from IKEA and a DVD player, because I’m a rich American boy with money to burn…

 

So I more or less accidentally began attending French classes three days a week. I was working one day at the International Relations office, sitting behind a computer, when suddenly I found myself sitting with a small group, looking at a sheet of pronunciation rules, and struggling to make some strange, guttural, “r” like sound come out of my comically contorted mouth. So anyway, free French classes three days a week. It’s quite difficult to receive foreign language training in a foreign language. The vocab is easy enough from my mediocre knowledge of Spanish, but I suck at pronouncing this ridiculous language. During the lessons I find myself thinking in Russian, English, and even Spanish.  This is pretty cool, but usually, by the time I am able to sort through all the different mental flashcards, find the right one, dust it off, and then try to answer the question the class is already over and everyone else has left…

Last second costume ideas?

Oh yeah…

Fulbright has requested that I write a disclaimer stating (more or less) the following:

Attention! Friends, family, and misguided web-surfers! This blog and the words, phrases, and thoughts contained within the combination of those words and phrases are those of one, Matthew Brian Nelson. They do not in any way represent the ideas, theories, policies, political affiliation, sexual orientation, or ontological philosophy of the Fulbright Foundation!

p.s. If this wasn’t already obvious to you, you probably should stop reading my blog.

Tomsk

So this last weekend I went to visit my homie Jason up in the wonderful city of Tomsk. Jason is also a Fulbright ETA, he teaches at the Polytechnic Institute in TOmsk. Tomsk is located about 3-4 hours by car away from Novosibirsk. By Siberia’s standards, this is incredibly close. It’s really a stroke of amazing luck that Jason and I are in cities so close to each other. I am also lucky to be friends with a group of people (2 Germans and 1 Ukrainian) who wanted to visit Tomsk over the weekend. And the best part is that the German guy has a really nice Volvo. I had never dreamed of traveling in such luxury in Siberia. So on Saturday the 4 of us drove up to Tomsk where we met Jason beside the world’s largest wooden ruble. Jason and a Russian guy, who claimed his name was Mark, played tour guide as we walked around Siberia’s oldest city. Tomsk has a reputation of being the “St. Petersburg” of Siberia. In the Lonely Planet Guidebook for Russia, it will tell you that Novosibirsk is the largest city in the area, but you’re much better off going to Tomsk. It’s old, historic, and pretty. Lots of nice brick and wooden architecture. It’s also about 1/3 the size of Novosibirsk so it feels a bit calmer. Yesterday, as we walked around we were treated to the most beautiful weather. I never would have thought that in mid-October in Siberia the weather could be so wonderful. Due to the great weather and the weekend everyone and their mothers were out walking around, hanging out in the parks, hang-gliding, and getting married. It was wonderful. I had the feeling that everyone in the city had secretly received a notice that morning that this would be the last and final day of autumn so they had damn-well better get out and enjoy it. (Sure enough, today the barometer has dipped near 0 Celsius). Our day of walking was followed by much beer drinking and chit-chatting at Jason’s apartment. He has a really sweet place, right in the center. I was quite jealous… How I would like to have a nice apartment of my own… He has a roommate from Belgium who was mostly absent…. Me, Jason, “Mark, and Jason’s friend “Sveta” drank beer, talked, ate smoky/stringy cheese braids and pumpkin seeds, played/listenedto banjo while the others were at a cafe. Later Jason and I went to the park, drank more beer, and violated Russian taboo by sitting down ass-on-grass. We night-capped with another 1.5 liter of delicious, fresh, local beer and made it to bed by 4. The best part of this day was being able to talk with someone who is from the United States who is also teaching English in Russia on the same program I am on. It was so great to have someone who could fully understand all of the numerically endless things that make living and teaching in Russia so different/interesting/strange/similar/frustrating/amusing/enthralling/enigmatic. No one in the U.S. can fully understand it (not only due to my inability to articulate), and certainly no Russian can… So this was really nice, and I think even beneficial for my mental health.I hope that in another month or two, when I’m crazy and perpetually snow-blind, we’ll be able to meet up again to share more impressions, high-fives, and beer.

Written 2 weeks ago, posted… Now!

30/09/08

Wow, what a day. Today was definitely the busiest work-day of my short teaching career, but also probably the most fulfilling as well. Perhaps it just seems that way to me right now because I’m still on a bit of a high from the success of my first English Club Meeting. I showed up without much idea of what I was going to do, how many people would be there, what their expectations were, etc… I didn’t have any idea of how the English Club had been run previously. I wasn’t sure if I should give a presentation, make it like a casual open-topic conversation table, or run it like one of my classes. I had prepared a small PowerPoint presentation about myself, Oklahoma, Portland, LewisandClark, my fams, etc… I showed up, having come directly from my private lesson with Nikita and Sasha, and was surprised to find the designated room literally overflowing with peeps. We had to move the “meeting” to a larger room. All in all there were probably 35ish people there. It was pretty crazy. After the tech dude showed me how to hook up my computer to the t.v. (something I’ve been fruitelessly trying to figure out for the last month), I began the meeting by introducing myself and talking about myself with the aid of powerpoint pictures. Before I came here and began teaching I never knew I could be so comfortable/calm/silly/funny (or at least attempting to be)/voice-projecting/interest-holding/tangent-making-taking/etc. in front of a crowd of people. But that’s how it went (from my point of view). They had tons of questions for me which sparked all kinds of random conversations. However, it was really quite impossible to turn it into an open conversation because there were so many people there, so I found myself answering and asking almost all of the questions myself. I hope that in the future I am able to maximize participant involvement, after all these people aren’t coming just to hear me talk about the U.S. (that’s certainly part of it), but also to practice their English. So I think for next time I will run it more like one of my classes, only it will be completely open. I will present myself not as authority figure (not that I am that authoritative in class, only so much as is necessary), but just as a coordinator/organizer/guider of discussion. And I won’t include any grammar or phonetics, just pure conversation. I want to show lots of video clips and play all kinds of songs. I actually want to make mix cds for everyone to truly illustrate the diversity of music that I listen to and that we have in the U.S. So yeah, I’m pumped about English Club. It’s like taking all of the good things about my classes and removing the things I don’t like (constant reprimanding and correcting). Also at this meeting I felt like more of a celebrity than ever before. It’s strange, but I am beginning to enjoy standing at the center of many people’s attention (for short periods of time).

Well, before I go play banjo I’ll tell briefly about my conversation with Anatoli, the security guard. He works at the desk located in the corridor that connects the “hostel” to the school. There he sits and checks the passes of people going into the “hostel” part of the complex. Anatoli gets very bored at work and so often creates his own security measures in order to stop people and talk to them. Every once in a while, as I pass his desk he engages me in short little conversations. Today as I was going to my room from the meeting, he asked me where I was coming from. Anyway, we ended up talking for quite a while about a few different things, but mostly fishing. This dude loves fishing. He is a pensioner, he worked at some sort of aluminum factory for 30 years, he goes to the theater twice a year, and he loves fishing and talking about fishing. So now I know all of the best spots to go fishing at Lake Baikal. Seriously.

бабье лето

I’m currently sitting at my traditional Sunday morning internet spot – “Rostiks”, which is the Russian fast-food chain owned by KFC! I like to come here every Sunday morning and support the only truly American fast-food restaurant in the city. It’s the perfect cultural/corporate complement to the linguistic conquests which I undertake daily in the classroom. With my help, we’ll soon turn this nation of irrational, overemotional drunks into a God-fearing, English-speaking, fried-chicken-loving nation of pseudo-Americans! But really, I come here because they have free wifi which is surprisingly fast and reliable. Anyway, I’ve had my chicken sandwich and coffee and tried unsuccessfully to skype my Moms, and now I’m trying to figure out how to go pee without getting my laptop stolen and without losing my spot next to the power outlet…

Yesterday, Saturday, I bought a house plant. This was very exciting. I’ve been wanting to spice up my room a bit and this beautiful little bush is perfect. It smells wonderful, and I love knowing that he is feeding me delicious plant-filtered air.

On Friday I went to Academgorodok to help give a presentation about Fulbright programs. Academgorodok is a small city just south of Novosibirsk. Some consider it part of Novosibirsk, some consider it it’s own city. It was founded, I believe in the ’50s, as a city dedicated to education and research. It is the hard-sciences capital of Russia, and there are something like 50 different universities, academies, and research centers there. It’s a really beautiful place, surrounded by forest. It was very tranquil there and the air felt really clean. It didn’t hurt that the weather was beautiful. We are having what is called “бабье лето”, something like “old-peasant woman summer”, or as we in the states who are less inclined towards political correctness say “indian summer”. So anyway, I went to Academgorodok where I was met by Victoria, with whom I gave the presentation. She is from Buryatia, which is the Buddhist region of Russian, bordering Mongolia. She worked last year as a Russian Fulbright Foreign Language Teacher’s Assistant at Mount Union College in Ohio. So she and her friend Natasha showed me around some of Academgorodok. Then we gave the presentation, in which I talked a bit about college life in the United States. Afterwards, Victoria, Natasha, my friend, Zina, (who studies at the conservatory in Novosibirsk and is applying for a Fulbright) and I all went to this Russian restaurant. We ate blini, drank morse (popular Russian juice made from black currants) and had a lively conversation. The best thing about this whole experience is that the whole day I was speaking Russian. I even gave my part of the presentation in Russian. For once I didn’t feel inhibited by my Russian speaking ability. It’s strange how one day I feel like I can’t speak a damn word of Russian, and then the next day I feel like I am entirely competent. I’ve heard that in learning a foreign language we regularly take two steps forward and then one step back as our brains attempt to organize, and memorize, all of the new information we take in. This day was definitely two steps forward.

My classes are going well. Before I got here I really had no idea if I would enjoy teaching, or even feel comfortable leading a class. I have been pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying teaching and feeling content about the job I am doing. Last week I started working with a group of students who are studying in the Public Administration department. Their class is basically a business English class. We are supposed to use the textbook “Keys to Management”, which seems to be the standard business English ESL text, at least here in Russia. This book is really quite boring. And what’s more, only three of my students actually have the book! Apparently the library ran out of copies because the English teachers here seem to use it for every class they have. But I’ve been splitting the time in this class half&half between working with the textbook (which they have to know to pass the end-of-semester exam) and doing more fun, interactive, conversational activities which I try to gear towards business-type situations (which I know absolutely nothing about!) On tuesday I am hosting the first meeting of the English club. I’m not sure if this should be more like a presentation by me, or more like a conversation group hosted by me. Maybe both. So my schedule is starting to fill out. Soon, (next week?) I’ll begin the class with advanced translation students. I’m also doing a couple of language exchanges with some people, and taking a private Russian lesson once a week.

Oh, and I’ve been practicing with the Academy’s basketball team. It’s been so great to get some exercise and shoot some hoops. I’ve never played organized basketball so it’s kinda tough at times, especially since I don’t understand 50% of the coaches instructions. I’m definitely one of the worst players out there, but these kids aren’t amazing. I’ve talked to a few of the kids and they’re all very nice, but when they speak with each other I can’t understand a damn thing because it’s all slang and very fast.

Well I spose that’s all for now, I must be plannin my first annual English Club meeting. I was thinking about talking a bit about college life in the U.S., a popular topic. Any ideas?

Siberian Dixieland

 

I haven’t written anything since last Friday, this might be somewhat representative of the amount of interesting activity that occurred over the weekend. Really, I didn’t do much besides study Russian and watch Russian television. I also walked around the city a bit by myself. It’s strange to spend entire days in which you don’t speak to anyone. However, this weekend didn’t really make me feel lonely or sad. I was happy to spend some serious time studying Russian (of course I get to practice speaking everyday, but my grammar sucks and it really helps to study that from a book). Maybe I’m only saying this because I’ve only been on my own here for two weeks, but I’m feeling much more independent than I did the first time I came to Russia. I mean not only that I’m able to do things like ask directions, purchase items, etc. but also mentally, I feel stronger. I’m able to spend time by myself when necessary, entertain myself with reading, music, studying and not become lonely and depressed. When I lived in Petersburg, my time alone was occupied with thinking of people and places far from where I was. Of course, I still think of my friends and family in moments of bittersweet recollection… But whatever, it’s not like you guys are that cool…

 

Last night I went with one of my students, Artur (nickname “smiley”) and his girlfriend to the Park of Victory. Artur is one of my best first-year students. His English certainly isn’t the best, but he always pays attention, participates, and asks lots of questions. He is also very excited to speak to an American.  Apparently, I am the first foreigner (outside of former USSR) that he has ever met. Artur told me he had always wanted to meet and befriend a foreigner. So yesterday when I ran into him in the library and he asked me to hang out with him, and help him practice his English, of course I agreed. While we were walking around, he continually commented on how strange it was to be spending time with a teacher, outside of class, talking amongst each other as friends. He told me, “in the room you are my teacher, on the street you are my friend”.  Beyond warming my heart just a bit, this comment emphasized for me, once again, the expected level of formality between teacher and student in the Russian classroom which I am trying to lower while still maintaining a certain level of respect for the teacher and the other students. This has been perhaps the most difficult part of teaching so far, both for me and the students. I’m trying to get them to be a bit more relaxed and less afraid of vocally participating. I don’t want them to be afraid of making mistakes, and I don’t want them to be afraid of me. At the same time I don’t want them talking to each other while I’m talking, and I don’t want them texting their friends during class. However, this is basically the exact opposite of a typical classroom here. Students address their teachers formally. They speak only when called upon. They aren’t used to working in groups. They are however used to playing with their phones while the teacher lectures away about some grammatical rule. I believe that creating the kind of classroom environment that I want to teach in will be the greatest challenge of my first month of teaching.

 

Holy Shit! It’s snowing and there is dixieland music coming from the stereo that has only one knob – volume…

Americans = Fat

So I guess I’m now really, officially, a teacher. Yesterday was the first class of my English teaching career. I had spent quite a lot of time preparing the lesson for this class, but of course I was nervous. It didn’t help that the size of the class had doubled overnight when one of the other teachers fell ill. So I had 23 students, and enough handouts for 10.  This was okay because Russian students are good at sharing, and are even suprised when I tell them that they can keep the handouts. So anyways, the class went pretty well. I spent some time introducing myself, and then let them ask me questions. Before I was even two sentences into my introduction I was asked my age. I think all of the students were surprised to have such a young teacher (especially since I look 18). Then I asked them to introduce themselves, but of course I immediately forgot all of their names. Then we did some pair work, and class discussion related to the U.S., American culture, and stereotypes. I think every group included “fat people” in their list of stereotypes about Americans. Go America, Leader of the Fat World! It’s true though, that there are NO overweight people in Russia. Of course some of the older generation are a bit chubby, but it’s very rare to see anyone under the age of 40 who we would consider fat. Then we read and discussed a short text about American vs. Russian smiles.

The class was quite fun. Many of the kids are outgoing and seem genuinely excited to be there and to have a young, American teacher. One kid, Artur, has shaken my hand and thanked me after both classes I’ve had. The kids want to know about me and what I’m doing in Russia. They are especially interested in my ability to speak Russian, and constantly try to elicit Russian words from me. This has been one very major difficulty of the two classes I’ve taught so far. These kids have never been in an English only classroom, and I get the impression that many of the English teachers here at the Academy speak to them mostly in Russian. Therefore they are constantly asking questions in Russian, talking to their peers in Russian, and translating vocab into Russian when I try to get them to explain it in English. When someone is speaking in Russian I usually yell “English” at them, or just glare at them. Today I threw a marker at a kid. However, the level of most of the students is really really low, so many of them don’t have the vocabulary to explain things in English. Others are just shy.

Another difficulty is the drastic difference in appropriate classroom behavior here in Russia. Students talk to each other while the teacher, or another student, is talking. Students send text messages and play on their phones during class. One kid today was even listening to music during class! These things are pretty common in classrooms here.  I explained to them that in the United States this kind of action is very disrespectful, but I haven’t decided if I should tell them no cell-phones in class. One kid told me today that I am strict. It’s strange, I’m much more open and friendly to these kids than any of their other teachers. I haven’t assigned them any huge essays. Yet I’m strict because I don’t want them texting throughout class. I think for some of the kids, it’s just difficult to adjust to a classroom setting they’re not used to.

This morning I had my second class. This class consisted of half of the students from yesterdays large group. Basically there are 20-some first year students in the International Relations concentration who are studying English. That group was then divided into two groups based upon ability. So basically there is a strong first-year group and a weak group. Today I had the weaker group, and I realized that I am going to have to find some new teaching materials that are geared towards lower-level learners. It’s tough teaching these kids because their level is quite low. There is one girl who so far hasn’t been able to say a single thing in English. All the same, there are a few kids who are very active and bright, and at least attempt to say things in English. I played the students a Neil Young song, but I don’t think they thought it was that great. I think they might be more interested in rap, hip-hop or pop music. Most of the male students said they like Linkin Park. I guess they’ll just have to suffer through my music selection, because I’m sure as hell not bringin anything remotely like Linkin Park into the classroom.

Last night I gave a short talk at the American Center, which is a small English language resource center at the regional library. I talked to a group of about 20 about myself, 9/11, George Bush, and a variety of other things mostly related to American politics. Then we watched Fahrenheit 911. Watching this was more depressing for me than I had expected. I left the library feeling ashamed of my country, and afraid of what could happen if the next presidential administration continues to fuck up in the way the current one has.

The hot water is supposed to be back this evening, I’ve been counting down the days!

Don’t know what I’ll be doing this weekend. I want to start getting serious about studying Russian and find some tutors/conversation partners.