I know it's been a while since I last updated. I've been so overwhelmed with everything that I haven't even had time to think about this blog. This post actually won't even be very long because I have a paper I need to go write for my ICELT (the Cambridge teaching certificate I'm getting here).
It's been a long two weeks. Being a noob is difficult here because you have no true experience to pull from as a reference if you don't know what to do, so I spend a lot more time than I'd like to on lesson planning and stuff. Not to mention, the first week was what everyone was calling "rediculously abnormal" in terms of all the chaos; the level I'm teaching, Pre-Intermediate (PIN), didn't have the right books. So basically, all the teachers planned from the third edition book and all the students had the fourth edition, and they're pretty much nothing alike. Sooo, all that time and effort in planning was scrapped....the day before classes started. You can imagine my frustration here. Needless to say, I was having a really rough time, but my ICELT tutor and some of the other teachers in my unit have been really helpful. Not to mention I've made a few friends who have my back in a few different ways, so that's been a lifesaver, too.
Rimond is here, too, and it's so nice :) I honestly don't know how I'd be making this journey without him. And that's not because it's an impossible journey (though it has seemed like it sometimes), but moreso because I just love him so much ;-) He's made friends with a lot of my friends and he often introduces ME to people while I'm off at work and he's off exploring the area. We make a good team here.
I love the language, too. It's hard to learn, but it seems like once you figure out the grammar you can definitely get a better handle on everything. Some of the sounds are difficult for me to make, but people usually understand what you're trying to say (plus, as I've learned, a great way to start an English pronunciation lesson is by attempting to speak some Turkish so students can correct/laugh at you. When they see you struggling in their language and try to help you, it makes them a little more understanding and open to the fact that I know they're struggling with my language and that I want to help them, too. Yes, I'm your teacher, but I'm also human). I wish I had more time to devote to learning Turkish, but right now it's just not possible. I'll take what I can get and practice where I can.
My students are nice. They're quiet and a little reserved, and only recently have they started to open up to me and actually talk during discussions and speaking lessons. I think I'm really lucky in a lot of different ways with this group, especially because they're really patient with me and they don't really try to push me or test me. At least not yet, anyway. It is only the end of week 2. I just can't help but feel I'm doing my students some sort of injustice in terms of my inexperience, and I'm worried that if some of them don't do well on their exams that it'll be my fault because I'm not the best teacher they could've had. I dunno. I guess we'll see what happens.
I have my first unassessed teaching practice (TP) next week. I'm teaching quantifiers and I'm unbelievably overwhelmed with the material and how to present it. This is a very sensitive subject in my opinion, and teaching it ineffectively can lead to a lot of confusion for my students. I guess I'm happy it's an unassessed observation, but still, I'm not looking forward to all the time I'm going to be putting in to one 50 minute session. I guess that's the reality of things though.
I knew it would be a lot of work coming here. I know what I signed up for. Now that it's all thrown in front of me, it seems a little unrealistic, but I really don't want to quit. I've cried a lot because I feel lost a lot of the time but I'm not the only person in this boat. Though that sounds really selfish, it's comforting to know I have good people around me who are also going through what I'm going through. I just wish I had more hours in the day. I think once I get a routine going and understand the system and the way things work, I'll feel a bajillion times better. They say course 1 is always the most difficult for noobs, so I really hope it'll just be a seemingly sort of downhill from then on. I'm trying to stay positive. There really is a lot of support here, you just need to know when to ask for (or beg) for it.
I think one of the reasons I hadn't updated in so long, too, is because I didn't want to just bitch bitch bitch. I'm a very lucky individual to have this opportunity here. When you look at the statistics of how many people got chosen vs. how many people applied for my position, it's somewhere along the lines of 7 vs. 200 or something like that. I don't want to seem ungrateful or negative, and because I knew my chaotic situation would be temporary (at least I hope it is), I didn't want to say anything at all. Bayram, a Turkish holiday, is coming up at the end of October. I'll have anywhere from 4 to 10 days off. I think having that time to just free my mind and not feel any pressure will do me some good. Plus me and Rym really wanna go get lost in the city. We were thinking about traveling, but instead we'll probably just explore our local surroundings and visit some stuff here before we venture out. We'll be able to save some money that way, and when the holiday in February comes around, maybe we'll be able to travel around then. We'll see. I just need to get a little more comfortable here first, and that hasn't been something that's been easy as of yet.
I miss everyone very much! I need to find more time for Skype and stuff. My Magic Jack has been a miracle, too. I recommend one to anyone who will be going overseas and will have access to a stable internet connection. Anyway, more to come later! :)
(So much for not having a long post, eh? I guess I'm just procrastinating my paper!)
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Sunday, September 2, 2012
First Week Survived
It's been a week since I got here, and so far so good. I've met a lot of great people from all over the world, so not only will I learn about Turkey but I'll also be getting some new perspective from other places, too.
I had an 11 hour layover in Frankfurt, Germany, so I went out into the city and explored a bit. There was a festival going on down by the river so I enjoyed myself there, but then I got a little lost. Some German lady cussed me out when I politely asked her if she spoke English so I could get directions. She said it all in German, but I understand what she said, which was, "No, I don't speak English. We're in Germany, we speak German." Even though it actually hurt my feelings a little and was extremely rude, I was glad she said it because in my head this was a very "American" thing to say. It was almost like, "Ok, this doesn't just happen in the US, maybe we're not so bad" type of thing, because I know the reputation Americans have sometimes. What I mean is, it's not about where you're from or what language you speak, it all boils down to what kind of person you are; if you're an asshole, you're an asshole. Real simple. She was one of those people who wore a permanent frown, so really I should have known better than to say anything to her anyway. I ended up calling the tour driver who I had befriended on our drive into the city and he came and got me and we hung out for a bit before he showed me how to take the metro back to the airport. His name was Ingo, and he was my savior! I'll definitely hit him up when I'm in Frankfurt again. Bless his soul.
Induction has been going pretty well so far. A lot of information about the school and what's to be expected has been covered, and I've also started my survival Turkish lessons. I like the language but it's all suffixes and there's a different word order, so I know I'll have to practice a lot. At least I can order a glass of red wine, that's what's important here.
The group has been introduced to a few nice bars and restaurants on or near campus and we did the city tour yesterday. Thursday was a holiday so Emily and Nadia and I took the bus and metro to Kizilay and Bachelievler (spelled the way is sounds because I don't have the Turkish letters on my keyboard) walked around and ate lunch. Emily has been here for two years teaching in a different city, so it's helpful to explore with someone who has a decent grasp on the language. I've been to a few malls and stuff nearby, too. Their regular malls are like our Mall of America, minus the rollercoasters (although there is a small fair outside one of them!). I've been spending a lot of money because I've been piecing together my apartment with things I need that you never really knew you used a lot until you don't have one. I also don't have a dryer, and you can't drink the tap water. Little things like this will take some getting used to, along with the dry weather. Being from Florida, it's always humid. Here the air is really dry, so my nose has been bleeding a little bit and my lips were really chapped for a while, but you adjust in time. I like the weather difference so far, actually, I just don't like the process of adjusting!
Next week starts more training as well as the ICELT course. I'm looking forward to that but not really at the same time because I've been told it's really overwhelming and time consuming. My fiance will arrive on Friday afternoon though so I'll be happy to have him here and it'll be a nice beginning to the weekend. The internet has been out though and will be all next week, which majorly sucks, but there's a Starbuck's close by (it's everywhere, actually) so I've been using their internet and Skyping with my family and fiance.
It's only been a week, but it's still hard to believe I live in Turkey now. Not having the internet to Skype with people or anything has also made me feel really removed from my "old life" in the states. I've felt a little lonely because of it, but thank the Universe for Starbuck's because being able to talk to my mom and fiance and a few friends from home has been the highlight of my day today. I hope I'll be able to better balance my time with all that as everything continues to develop here. Even though it's all a little overwhelming, I'm really excited to experience everything this next year will bring!
I had an 11 hour layover in Frankfurt, Germany, so I went out into the city and explored a bit. There was a festival going on down by the river so I enjoyed myself there, but then I got a little lost. Some German lady cussed me out when I politely asked her if she spoke English so I could get directions. She said it all in German, but I understand what she said, which was, "No, I don't speak English. We're in Germany, we speak German." Even though it actually hurt my feelings a little and was extremely rude, I was glad she said it because in my head this was a very "American" thing to say. It was almost like, "Ok, this doesn't just happen in the US, maybe we're not so bad" type of thing, because I know the reputation Americans have sometimes. What I mean is, it's not about where you're from or what language you speak, it all boils down to what kind of person you are; if you're an asshole, you're an asshole. Real simple. She was one of those people who wore a permanent frown, so really I should have known better than to say anything to her anyway. I ended up calling the tour driver who I had befriended on our drive into the city and he came and got me and we hung out for a bit before he showed me how to take the metro back to the airport. His name was Ingo, and he was my savior! I'll definitely hit him up when I'm in Frankfurt again. Bless his soul.
Induction has been going pretty well so far. A lot of information about the school and what's to be expected has been covered, and I've also started my survival Turkish lessons. I like the language but it's all suffixes and there's a different word order, so I know I'll have to practice a lot. At least I can order a glass of red wine, that's what's important here.
The group has been introduced to a few nice bars and restaurants on or near campus and we did the city tour yesterday. Thursday was a holiday so Emily and Nadia and I took the bus and metro to Kizilay and Bachelievler (spelled the way is sounds because I don't have the Turkish letters on my keyboard) walked around and ate lunch. Emily has been here for two years teaching in a different city, so it's helpful to explore with someone who has a decent grasp on the language. I've been to a few malls and stuff nearby, too. Their regular malls are like our Mall of America, minus the rollercoasters (although there is a small fair outside one of them!). I've been spending a lot of money because I've been piecing together my apartment with things I need that you never really knew you used a lot until you don't have one. I also don't have a dryer, and you can't drink the tap water. Little things like this will take some getting used to, along with the dry weather. Being from Florida, it's always humid. Here the air is really dry, so my nose has been bleeding a little bit and my lips were really chapped for a while, but you adjust in time. I like the weather difference so far, actually, I just don't like the process of adjusting!
Next week starts more training as well as the ICELT course. I'm looking forward to that but not really at the same time because I've been told it's really overwhelming and time consuming. My fiance will arrive on Friday afternoon though so I'll be happy to have him here and it'll be a nice beginning to the weekend. The internet has been out though and will be all next week, which majorly sucks, but there's a Starbuck's close by (it's everywhere, actually) so I've been using their internet and Skyping with my family and fiance.
It's only been a week, but it's still hard to believe I live in Turkey now. Not having the internet to Skype with people or anything has also made me feel really removed from my "old life" in the states. I've felt a little lonely because of it, but thank the Universe for Starbuck's because being able to talk to my mom and fiance and a few friends from home has been the highlight of my day today. I hope I'll be able to better balance my time with all that as everything continues to develop here. Even though it's all a little overwhelming, I'm really excited to experience everything this next year will bring!
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