The First Full Weekend

So naive of me, former office 9-to-5 office drone that I am, thinking that it would be a good idea to update this blog on Sundays. That is not going to fit into my new life as an ESL teacher at all. I will always be run completely into the ground on the weekends. Wednesdays it is.

To clear up some confusion, I do not teach at a public school. I work at a private language center, so the majority of my hours are on nights and weekends. (Mostly weekends). I just experienced my first "real" week of teaching, clocking in at 19 hours. I taught one teenage class (3 hours) last Thursday, and then 9 hours of classes on Saturday and another 7 on Sunday. As a new teacher, this is daunting. During the CELTA, I had endless hours (even days) to plan 45 minutes of a lesson. Obviously, teaching 16 hours in 2 days, I do not have this luxury anymore. As a brand new teacher, I do not have the "stalling" -- or "expansion"-- skills to make class exercises longer yet. I do not have an arsenal of classroom games stored in my head to eat up minutes at the end of class where a bunch of teenagers just want to play on their mobiles and make fun of me in Vietnamese.

To begin with, I was pretty sick this weekend. I am not sure if it is the pollution or my increasingly worrisome smoking habit, but I was in the throes of a pretty serious sinus infection. I was exhausted because I couldn't sleep on Friday night due to nerves. I lost my motorbike keys, so I had to take Grab to work. I barely made it through Saturday. Espresso kept me going all day, I didn't even get to eat until I got home at 10 pm.

On Sunday, I nearly lost it. I was scheduled to teach a class at 7:40 am. I got to the language center at 6:40 am to prepare, but the printers, air conditioner, copiers, and internet were not working. I didn't have the book for two of the classes I was supposed to teach, and the office staff did not arrive until 7:35 am. I didn't have the supplementary materials (puppets, posters, etc) required by the books that I did have. I couldn't even print coloring or "hidden pictures" pages for the students to do. I made it, though, just barely.

I learned more in those two days than I did in the whole month of the CELTA. I now know how to entertain a bunch of 5 year olds for 2 hours with a big soft number die and a few flashcards. I know not to let 23 teenagers stand up during class, because they'll never sit down again. I learned a game called "Sumo," that 6-10 year olds love, and will, in fact, chant and whine for until we play it. I actually have sore quads from doing so many rounds of "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" with the little kids (and running up and down the stairs because I can't handle the banshee-style screaming in the elevator).

Despite my complaining, I am happy. I survived the worst-case scenario weekend. I earned double my rent working for 2 days. I feel myself improving. This weekend didn't feel any worse than working 2 doubles in a row at a restaurant (ESL teaching feels a LOT like working in the service industry, actually!) I can do this.

My first classes

I taught my first two honest-to-god paid classes this weekend.

Last night, taught a class of teenagers for three hours. The lesson is pretty clearly laid-out in the teacher's book, but I still spent hours preparing anyway. It was not nearly as difficult as I thought. The other teachers at VUS have been so helpful in explaining where to find resources, games, and how to arrange a lesson. I was warned that teenagers are a more difficult group but I was very lucky-- I got an insanely loud class. I was worried that I would get a very shy, very disconnected group and I would have to force them to talk. With this class, it's actually hard to actually get them to shut up and sit down. I can't blame them. Their desks are really uncomfortable and I'm just some dumb new person who doesn't know how to pace a class. I'll be better off next time. It didn't help that I did not have my "share" folder yet, so I couldn't sprinkle in videos or audio clips.

I stupidly tried to relate to the teenagers by asking if they play Pokemon Go. Apparently this is not cool to them, because that is for "kids." The boys like super violent games and mentioned that they like killing prostitutes in Grand Theft Auto 5. Inappropriate. Also inappropriate, a few times one of them said "what the fuck?!" and then the whole class would chant "TEACH-UH! TEACH-UH so-and-so said FUCK!" I still have to figure out how/if I want to deal with this. They clearly know that it is a bad word and they should not be saying it in class, but I have no real power to punish them for saying it. Drawing attention to it seems like it will only make it worse. I've been putting on "earmuffs" and giving them my best angry mom face.

This afternoon, I taught 6 to 10 year olds for 2 hours. I had only ever observed a class of under 4 year olds and a class of 6 year olds. I had no idea how to deal with these guys. Thank god for my amazing teaching assistant. They were very energetic and willing to participate, but unfortunately knew all of the material for my entire lesson. I think I learned more in that lesson than they did, mostly that I need to develop an arsenal of educational games to play and probably keep a book of hidden-pictures in my bag in case I need to fill up time. I think I will get better at this in time. I am very willing to look stupid and sing loudly, which seems to be an asset for teaching kids.

Overall, though, I am loving this. It is going to be really fun. I left my teenage class buzzing with energy. I'm sure it will wear off (judging from the other teachers) but for now I am ready to dive into this.

Loss

I skipped Sunday. A lot of things have been going on. I'll try not to make a habit of it. 

I thought that I did not miss home at all.

I was wrong. I haven't been feeling homesick because I bailed on my life and started a new one. Everything fresh, everything unfamiliar. Vietnam Nadine is very happy. She just got a job, she found an apartment, she can navigate the streets of Saigon on her motorbike and give directions to backpackers. She's independent and a little reckless. She makes friends easily, drinks too much, and smokes too many Vietnamese cigarettes. She's pretty selfish.

And yet... I should be feeling loss. My niece was born two weeks ago, and who knows when I will get to meet her. My friends are starting new jobs and new exciting things. Everyone is making plans for Halloween. My family is probably getting together for Thanksgiving. My relationships are crumbling because I can't be bothered to maintain them. I feel loss and regret very acutely for a minute or two at at time, but that's it.

Maybe I am feeling a little moody because I have decided that I am staying here for longer than a year. I am on a part time contract for 3 months at a language school, and if I get my work permit and am invited to stay, I will probably sign for a full year. This will extend my time in Saigon to almost 18 months, especially factoring in the backpacking and traveling that I want to do. And who knows, if I am good at this, maybe I will stay longer. I don't know. I am having a proper quarter-life crisis.

Real Life Starts Now(ish)

The CELTA class is over. I passed, if anyone was feeling the suspense. I went out on a good note, with significantly less anxiety affecting my performance in my last lesson.

The students in our teaching practice class took us to a beautiful restaurant in a park to celebrate on Friday (see above, some of my CELTA classmates and 2 students). I got to eat the most enormous snails I've ever seen in person. I didn't even have to drown them in butter like I do with escargot. 

I am still in the midst of my post-CELTA celebration. I spent yesterday at a spa/pool in District 7-- it only costs 110,000 VND to hang out all day-- nursing a hangover from Friday night. I got sushi in the most creepily-empty plaza I've ever seen. Right now, I am supposed to be packing to go to Vung Tau, a beach a few hours away. My lovely world-traveler friend, Jo, made the bookings, I just have to show up at the ferry. 

When I get back, I need to get a job, get an apartment, get some Crocs, find a yoga studio, find an esthetician, find a hoop practice space, get a better brick charger so I can play Pokemon Go for longer, and figure out what I am doing with my life... probably in that order. I've been in vacation mode until now, even in the midst of the CELTA training. I wish I had the funds to stay in vacation mode forever.