This and That

Some random thoughts...

I visited a Russian-speaking church last Sunday (the language divide here affects even Sunday worship). I was invited by the pastor and his wife—they and I have a mutual acquaintance in America. She speaks excellent English and has kindly befriended me since they live fairly close (and by close I mean an hour and half and three bus rides later—public transportation is not built for speed). I really enjoyed visiting their church (it was the first Moldovan church I’ve seen so far where the woman wear pants—I was in heaven!) I was able to sit with a young woman who knows English well enough to translate everything for me. Still, it was completely frustrating not to understand a single word. My Romanian is pretty bad, but when people talk I can usually make out at least some of what they’re saying. Being there was literally going back to square one, and I did NOT like it. I need to learn Russian.

My host mom informed me the other day that I am very well behaved. Not exactly a compliment you’re looking for when you’re 23! Sometimes I get the feeling that she doesn’t quite see me as the independent, self-sufficient adult that I feel that I am. But then I think about the fact that I can’t cook, sew, preserve fruits and vegetables, tend a garden, butcher poultry, or even heat water by myself (the pilot light for our hot water has to be re-lit with a match every time and is such a complicated affair that my host mother informed me she wouldn’t teach me how because she’s afraid I’ll blow up the house—I think she has a point there). It also doesn’t help things that I do crazy, un-ladylike things, such as walk around wearing a backpack and wipe my hands to dry on my jeans after washing them. So unless I start honing my domestic skills, I think I’m destined for eternal adolescence!

This past week I acquired 3 English clubs in the course of a day. I’ll be leading two at my lyceum (5^th-8^th grades and 9^th-12^th) and one with students from the other lyceum in town. That’s in addition to the 7 different English classes I’m teaching in school. Do you think a person can get tired of her own language?

more pictures

It's a happy day, folks! I added more pictures to my Picasa web album (see link to the left of the screen). The PST album has some more, and I also created a new one. Happy viewing!

One Down...

This past week was my first week of school. I feel a sense of accomplishment writing those words, not because I did anything great, but because I survived. And because I accomplished small victories like communicating to the school librarian about the textbooks I’ll need and successfully reviewing past, present, and future simple tenses with my 12th graders. Such accomplishments are significant to me because I very rarely knew what was going on this week, let alone why. Feeling clueless is par for course for any new job. Throw into the mix a completely new set of cultural norms and a language which I don’t really know yet (not to mention the fact that some students and teachers at my school primarily speak Russian, not Romanian), and I was one lost soul.

Somehow I managed to show up to the right classes, do a little bit of teaching (usually with no prep time), and—I think—successfully hide my fear. I also managed to learn quite a bit about education in Moldova. The following observations aren’t true of every school in the Moldovan public educational system, but they are reflective of my own experience:

• There is no set schedule for the first (and sometimes even the second) week of school. Teachers find out in the morning what classes they have for that day and their times. Moldovan teachers have perfected the art of going with the flow.
  
• Students have no textbooks the first week or two of school. This is also often the case for new teachers (myself included). For some classes students have to buy their textbooks.
  
• Unlike many American middle/high schools, students only have a certain class, such as English, 2-3 times a week. There are 6 periods in a day, and school is done by 1:30.
  
• Most students start learning English in the 2nd grade and continue to study it up through 12th grade.
  
• Moldovan teachers get paid by the hour. So the more classes they teach, the higher their salary. My workload will probably be about half that of my fellow teachers.
  
  Here’s hoping that my second week will be just as enlightening but slightly less exhausting!