Harry and I have been having a torrid time. Harry got sent to detention (for almost killing Malvoy), and had to serve time on the same Saturday as the Quidditch Championship game. Ron's broken up with his girlfriend, and so have Dean and Ginny.
The strain today was difficult to endure. The students were unusually rude and defiant, and although I was firm but calm, I felt like I was in a very long and difficult exam.
On the way to work, after having read about H5N1 in China (in a school), and knowing what we do about what is happening in the world, it is hard not to feel as though this world, now more than ever, desperately needs saving. We don't seem (most of us) capable of saving ourselves. So what we need is a Saviour, a hero.
There were no heroes in sight at the Post Office today. There was a strapping Korean guy with big muscles (but apparentyly no brain), a young girl who may have started working there this week), and just stood around going 'Chahshimanjoh - please weait" and an old woman who muttered and ran around in circles and didin't seem to have a clue what she was doing. Quite an interesting post office crew that.
Even after paying them and giving them an exact copy of the details of the last package (almost a carbon copy) they struggled for so long to put my package on the system that I eventually had to leave to go to work, with no receipt, with everyone still fumbling through books and gawking at computers. I arrived at work with about 3 minutes to spare.
Corneli said they called her and so apparently it was shipped off today. I will pick up the receipt tomorrow I expect.
I'm not going to go through the details at work. Actually, I am.
The Power of Negative thinking is this: we can see how things are...not make them worse than they are, just see things the way they are...
Suffice it to say the children were very unruly today. I took the diskman that I bought from Karlee (for about W40 000) and thought I'd give it, as a reward, to one of the best students. Katarina who was my first candidate, unusually, came in eating takpoki, so I gave her W1000 instead (as a reward for filling up her sticker paper).
Julia and Jeeny came in 15 minutes late, which they've been doing for 2 or 3 weeks now. I took them to the director today and after the class was over he was still lounging on the phone while they stood idly by.
A while later I asked if he understood the problem, and then I impressed upon him that "These students come to school sometimes 15 or 20 minutes late. Their parents are paying for English class, but they're not even in the class."
I sent one or two other students to the director, which is unusual for me, as I usually just put up with it all. Perhaps I've been 'putting up with' far more than I should have. Perhaps I've needed to complain more. In the last class the director actually hit Terry and Peter with a plastic thing that looked like the end of a vacuum cleaner. He'd watched my class on the monitor and saw that they weren't there for the first 5 minutes, and when they sprinted from the hallway to my class (from the opposite end to where the director was sitting) he saw them.
There were PLENTY of other problems today...the kids were just listless and lazy and wanting to speak Korean and insisting on doing their own thing.
I also spoke to Sharon and saw she wasn't following me, and after students interrupted us she looked down and continued her work. I stopped her, and said, "You know, you didn't understand what I said, but then you didn't ask me...you didn't find out what's wrong. Your job is to help me, as my supervisor, your job is to listen and understand my problem with students, or with material. I know your English isn't perfect, but you need to try to listen to teachers sometimes too. You ask me to do something and I do it, but if I ask you something you don't listen. Can you please listen to me if I'm talking to you?"
I wasn't in a foul mood today, I felt drained and my body was kind've trembling from taking two Tylenols in about 6 hours. It was just a tremendous strain to keep things going while kids seemed to be trying their best to taunt me. One kid that I'm really fond of - his name is Dain - wrote "Teacher is shit, teacher is very very very shit." No big deal, and they're just having a laugh...I mean me and him get along well... unless you hear that shouted at you for 10 minutes while you're trying to get other students to write something, and trying to listen carefully to them read what they're writing. Dain made the mistake of laughing at a kid who misunderstood me, and this kid took it upon himself to grab Dain's paper (where he'd written in Korean 'Teacher is shit') and take it to the Director. I let him, curious to see what would happen. The director came to the class after a few minutes and said a few words to Dain. When he looked at me I just smiled and shrugged like I didn't know what was going on.
At the end of the day, I still have my Diskman. I'm thinking maybe I should take it with me in the plane and give it to David, my friend Allan's son, who I've said I might give my Notebook to as well.
The Power of positive thinking: this is the power to transform the present into a more positive world, and ourselves, into perveyors of a more positive truth.
Harry's team won the Championship even without him captaining the side, and he was so happy that he kissed Ginny in front of everyone, even Ron. Ron, Ginny's brother (and Harry's best mate) fortunately gave him a well, if you must nod.
My good news is I didn't have any of those terrible hour-long coughing fits at school, and despite some deplorable behaviour I didn't come unstuck despite being physically predisposed to tiredness and irritation. There's some reward also in seeing the director scrambling after his own students...which shows to what extent he is not interested or attentive to the goings on at his own school (unless someone tells him). I'm sure some of the impressions of today will stay with him when I'm no longer here, because I feel it communicated a stronger sense that he is totally unaware of the real situation in many of the classes, and parents would be horrified if they knew how little he does to enforce discipline, maintain order and encourage meaningful education, and a meaningful application of their children's time and attentions.
And I feel like my health is improving. And I sent another box off.
I've called Brian this evening. He is going to Yongsan tomorrow and will pick up two things I need for my computer. That helps me immensely. I bought cereal and a tin of beans on the way home. I didn't have enough money for more because the Post Office charged me for insurance...so the box came to W35 000, but they didn't understand that I didn't want insurance, so I had very little money left for groceries. Corneli has been kind enough to pick up some groceries for me, as she's just called to say she is going to Carrefour anyway.
It'll be my turn for a kiss in just a few days ;-)
No comments:
Post a Comment