So adorable...

I had this email waiting in my inbox today:


dear miss peterson

how are you.its been a while sense i last wrote to you.im about to go to middle school which is a little bit scary.how is the family doing.have you got marryed yet? guess what at my new school the have the honor role progrem and i got honor role ever single time. I still can,t wait till six grade through. please reply because i realy want to know how you are doing.

from p.s. i will try to write often
ameen


Ameen was one of my third grade students when I worked in Maryland. How cute is he? When I left that school, I was engaged to get married the next fall.

I can't wait for the reply when I write him back and tell him I have gotten married, and I'm going to have a baby!

Yesterday afternoon, I was in the dining hall with my class for "Tea time." Yes, we have tea time. It's all very British. Sometimes, they serve tea to the students, sometimes not. Yesterday, it was hot chocolate, which to me, does not taste like hot chocolate.

Anyway, I was talking to my teammate and I heard smack. I turned around and a girl in my class had her hands up, covering her face and one of my boys was sitting next to her, looking defiant. I asked her what happened and she said he had slapped her across the face. I asked her if she was okay and she said yes, and then he proceeded to defend his horrible act by claiming she was making fun of him. I told him to get his things and he'd be going to the Headmaster.

As I marched him down to the Headmaster, confident that justice would be served, I felt myself get more and more angry. "You never, ever, ever, ever hit a girl! Ever." The Head was in a meeting, but I left the boy outside his office and told the secretary what had happened. On my way back to the dining hall, I came across the acting Deputy Head and asked him if he would take care of the situation. He assured me he would and I once again felt confident that justice would be served: suspension, maybe? I mean, that is what has been announced at assemblies as the consequence for physically touching anyone in the school in such a way.

Guess who is here this morning? That naughty little boy who hit a girl. The way I figure it is if my bosses aren't going to punish him, then I will.

I am so thankful and fortunate that I have never been hit or abused like that from anyone, aside from maybe my brother. And he never actually really hurt me. And I intend on keeping it that way. And I intend on keeping it that way for as many other girls and women as I can. I just feel like if this kid learns at this point that it was no big deal for him to slap this girl, then it could potentially lead him down a very ugly path for his life. And an even uglier path for the girls and women he associates with.

If this was a one-time issue with him, I'd still punish him, but would be more understanding with giving him a warning. However, I have issues with this kid daily. He seems to be one of the most troubled, obnoxious, naughty boys I have ever taught. And he seems to be allowed to do whatever he wants most of the time. He's making me bristle up.

Things will not be so pleasant for this little guy for the next week. I decided he and the girl are not allowed to sit near each other, play together, look at each other, or talk to each other. And I'm going to do it until he cracks and apologizes, since he has yet to actually apologize. He just keeps defending his actions, "But she..."

I'm over it. No more Nice Mrs. Bruce.

Da-da-dummmmm......

I'm Losing It...

Have any of you ever just passionately disliked your job?

Like, hate it?

If you have, or do, help me out. Tell me how you keep on going. Tell me how to get up in the morning, without feeling sick to my stomach. Tell me how to write the term reports that are due next week. Tell me how to have patience with my students. Tell me how to discipline without anger and annoyance and attitude. (The 3 A's - hehe) Tell me how to get through until June 12th. No wait, June 13th. We were just told today that the last day of school is actually on Saturday, June 13th because we have to have the awards ceremony for the students! Silly me, I would've thought that was scheduled for the last day of school on Friday. I mean, that is what every other school does.

So, we have been forbidden to fly out on that Saturday because our attendance is mandatory at this thing. That's not it, though. That evening, there is a "Summer Ball" that we are required to attend with the parents.

Seriously.

It's this junk that keeps me from enjoying any part of being here. I just want to leave...yesterday.

Could It BE Any Colder...

There is something wrong with this picture:

Can you tell what it is?

Yes, we are inside.

Yes, my students are wearing coats.

Why, you may ask? Well, today, my thermostat started to drop drastically. It started off at a comfortable 23 C. That's what it's set at. For all y'all who don't know Celcius, that's about 73.4 F.

Within a half hour, I watched the temperature drop down to 17.5 C. That's 63.5 F, people. That's when I sent my teaching assistant to find out what in sam hill was going on. She was told they were changing the filter in the furnace.

I watched it drop down to 16.0 C. That's 60.8 F. The F stands for FREEZING. That's when my kids' lips started turning blue and one of them asked me if it was going to snow in the classroom. We all put on our coats and tried to "toughen it out." I'm a very motivational speaker sometimes.

The fix-it man (if you can really call him that) stopped by at the end of the day to say it probably won't be fixed tomorrow. I told him (he speaks Russian) that it dang well better be because I have twenty students whose tails will freeze off if it's not fixed. He just looked at me with that Lady, I have no idea what you're saying and I don't care look.

And here's a glimpse into ex-Soviet living.

This is called: Here's a fancy-schmancy electronic thermostat so you can see how hot or cold your classroom is, but we don't trust you, even enough to control the temperature in your own classroom, so we're going to put a plastic case over the thermostat and a LOCK so that this one maintenance guy in the building can decide if your classroom's temperature is conducive to learning or not.

Students...

With every year that I teach, certain things become more and more difficult, while other things obviously become easier. It seems that the things that should be "simple" and mundane become a hassle and tedious.

For example, lining up. This should be an easy task. When I say, "Boys and girls, push in your chairs and line up," here is what happens: They all jump up and run. The only ones who run to the line are the ones who want to be first, for some reason. The rest of them just look like they are busy. Groups of about 4 to 5 girls gather in various places of the room and just hen-peck. Gab, gab, gab. About nothing in particular or important.

I count down. "Get in line! You have 5...4...3...2...1! You should be quiet and in line now...No, that's not a line. That's a bunch...Turn and look around the room, boys and girls! Most of you did not push in your chair! Now, as you walk to PE, please stay in line - that means you are right behind the person in front of you. No one is beside you. No talking." And that's when I just hate the sound of my voice. And as they walk out the room, following my Teaching Assistant, they all start quietly talking to each other and are moving as one large mob. And as they move down the hallway, I can hear them getting louder and louder.

This is my life. Daily. I feel like I've never seen kids like these who just do whatever they want, all the time. It is the most frustrating situation. I have tried all different ways to punish them when they don't listen, but they don't care. These problems continue to be.

I don't want to teach anymore.

I know some of you would disagree with me and urge me to continue doing it. However, each year that I do it, I feel more and more strongly that it is not for me.

I do have my moments when I enjoy it. It is the once in a while, rare occurence when my students are actually listening and paying attention. They'll give me feedback during the lesson and I begin to have fun! It is just so RARE. It's just not worth it.

And I wonder why I'm doing it, when I feel like I'm not making a difference at all. At least, I can't see the impact right now. Right now, I am a baby-sitter, at best. A nagging, grumpy, unhappy baby-sitter.

Like the baby-sitter that took care of me when I was 10 and my brother and 3-year old sister for a weekend while my parents went away, probably to a business conference in Omaha. I think they called a baby-sitting service to hire her. I remember she was old, didn't smile, and extremely grumpy; downright mean, if you ask me. Anytime we asked her if we could do something, the answer was a sharp, "NO!" We had to play very quietly in our house for the whole weekend. I remember Kelsi coming into my room after bedtime and sleeping in my bed with me because she missed Mommy and she was a little scared. I took care of her. I protected her. I dressed her. And I comforted her.

Now, I am the nanny. I am grouchy and I never smile. Does that sound like me?

I am ready to leave the big K. I want to leave the big K.

My Day...

Right now, it is 5:33.

I have 38 seven year olds in my classroom. They are watching Planet Earth.

We have just (finally) welcomed the President of the big K to our school. At the moment, he is down the hall, visiting a Year 2 classroom. Then, he's on to other various points in the school. He'll be here, maximum, a half hour.

We have been waiting since 8:00 am for this. Actually, we've been waiting since the beginning of September. This is the fourth time he has said he is coming, but the only time it has actually happened.

This is Kazakhstan.

I am tired. It is Friday. It is now 5:36 pm. I still have 38 children in my classroom. My estimate is that children don't even begin to be picked up until at least 6:30.

Apparently, we will have an assembly and tea time before they go home.

Somebody shoot me.

11 Days...

I'm not organized enough, and I don't have enough time to post every day and countdown to when we get to the US. I wish I was because I could also keep up with what all has been going on during the past week or so.

It has mostly been a week of sorrow and angst and more frustration. However, things are looking up because in ELEVEN days, people, we will set foot on our home soil.

I know I am going to enjoy my 3 1/2 weeks in the good 'ol US of A. I will make the best of every single moment that I have there. However, I can't help but already be dreading when I have to step back on the plane in Denver to head back out of my home.

I am kind of worried about it!

I am just hoping for strength, as I know it is going to take more than I feel like I can muster right now.

Anyway, anymore opinions about what to do about my hair?

Oh, and the President of the big K is "definitely" coming on Friday to visit the school. We are having school from 10 am to 5 pm. Is anyone happy about this? Um, no.

Grrrr.......11 more days.

Memorisation...

Remember when I posted about writing reports the "British way"? Well, it's report time again...

Now, I have learned to say, "Vladimir needs to practise memorising his basic Maths facts."

Pretty neat, huh?

Just thought I'd let you know I'm learning more British than Russian!


Oh, and by the way, I have only had ONE friend give me their hair color vote. Very disappointing. Come on, people. Don't let me down. This is your chance to change the way I look for awhile! This opportunity only comes once in a blue moon.

What does that mean, anyway?

Should We Stay or Should We Go?

Some of you are aware of the “situation” with my job at the school. I’ve hinted at it a few times here. Let me give you a taste of what that’s been like and what we face now, because of it.

When we first moved here this summer, we lived in an apartment, temporarily, until I was to report for work. The school would be providing the teachers with subsidized accommodations.

Remember that first apartment? We frequently were without hot water. We didn’t have internet at all for the first 3 out of 5 weeks that we lived there. I kicked out the Internet Master by saying Goodbye! in Russian. I was home alone during the day while Stephen was at work, watching FoxNews repeat itself in 4 hour cycles and watching Friends on my computer because the DVD player wouldn’t play our DVD’s. I knitted a lot. I didn’t know anyone and I was lonely. I wondered what we were thinking.

We were so excited to move into our staff accommodation! Although we moved in a week late, since they weren’t finished yet, we were going to have internet, a large apartment, the quiet of living just outside of the city, better t.v.! Things were looking up!

Now, I don’t want to seem ungrateful, so I will tell you the good things about living here before I inform you of all the problems.

• We have made some good friends while living here than I’m not sure would’ve happened if we hadn’t lived in close proximity with the teachers.
  
• This place is huge! 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms that I get to clean, a large kitchen, two living rooms…Huzz and I lose track of each other sometimes! Much different from our NYC studio.
  
• I have free transportation to and from the school with these little buses the school has.
  

Now, for the gripes.

• We had no t.v. service or phone service for the first 5 weeks we lived here. We still don’t have internet service. The first month we received our bills, we got one for a “service charge,” which came to about $200 a month! This is essentially a home owner’s association fee, which the teachers were not informed of, ever. We were promised that the school would pay that for the teachers.
  

One week later, they said they couldn’t pay it because it wasn’t in the school’s budget.

Believe me, this is only one of the issues the teachers have been fighting since August. The downstairs units are falling apart, due to faulty plumbing and wiring. Just last week, we didn’t have water at all on one side of the house because the pipes were clogged with plastic bags and building materials. The plumber made known his disdain for us in Russian, because as you know, we love shoving plastic bags and drywall down the toilet. We are forced to stay at the school at the mercy of the bus schedule, which most days come to twelve hours. It seems that everyday, there is something new. It is incredibly wearing.

The teachers have had it. Last weekend and this weekend, several teachers have moved out of the accommodation houses, at the risk that they will not receive the subsidy that has been promised, as yet not fulfilled. We have learned that the Soviet apartment buildings, while ugly on the outside, actually have pretty decent apartments inside. You have to tread through dark, smelly, syringe-filled hallways. But, once you get inside, all is good. Then, today they had another meeting with the housing people. Apparently now, they have offered to pay the service charges for us and pay our bills, plus have “promised” to get internet installed.

Now, I am not a stupid person. Based on past experience with these people, I’d say they’re full of it. I’d say these are empty promises. I’d say we still won’t have internet by the time we report for school in January. I am not being pessimistic. I am being realistic. And smart.

If they actually did fulfill all of these “promises,” I would love to stay where we are at. #1 reason is because I am sick and tired of moving. This would be the third move in 4 months. Doesn’t that seem a bit excessive?

More pros to moving: All of our friends are moving out of the staff accommodations, so we could get an apartment near them, hopefully. And without them, I’ll be lonely again. The school will have one less thing to have a hold on me. No more taking rent money out of my paycheck! We’ll actually save a significant amount of money by moving. I actually think I might be a lot happier if we moved away from the accommodations. I say might because I don’t want to commit myself to some feeling that I’m not ready to display.

Anyway, that’s just a taste of what we (I) have been dealing with for the past few months. Now, just apply that to starting a school, teaching for 6 weeks without any books or supplies….the list goes on.

Now, I have that song in my head Should We Stay or Should We Go?

I better turn on some Christmas music. That’s much better to have in my head!

He said the "G" word...

Student (we'll call him Bob): Mrs. Bruce, Vladislav said the "G" word.

Me: What's the "G" word?

Student (whispering): You know...G-U-Y...

Me: Guy?

Student: No, gay.

Me: Oh, well, that's not a bad word. How did he use it?

Student: Bob, are you gay?

Me: Well, are you?

Student: No.

Me: Then, you just say, "No, I am not gay."

He then went back to his seat and started singing, "Vladislav and Richard, sitting in a tree...K-I-S-S-I-N-G!

Clearly, lesson learned.

Practise Your Maths

Since things are not quite as organized as planned at my school, we did not have parent/teacher conferences this October. Thank goodness. But, we did have to write student progress reports.

I normally do quite well with this ~ don't have very many errors with spelling or grammar.

Until I started being forced to speak like a Brit.

The British people have two spellings for practice.

• Practice - noun, verb, -ticed, -tic·ing.
  –noun
  1. habitual or customary performance; operation: office practice.
  2. habit; custom: It is not the practice here for men to wear long hair.
  3. repeated performance or systematic exercise for the purpose of acquiring skill or proficiency: Practice makes perfect.
  4. condition arrived at by experience or exercise: She refused to play the piano, because she was out of practice.
  5. the action or process of performing or doing something: to put a scheme into practice; the shameful practices of a blackmailer.
  6. the exercise or pursuit of a profession or occupation, esp. law or medicine: She plans to set up practice in her hometown.
  7. the business of a professional person: The doctor wanted his daughter to take over his practice when he retired.
  8. Law. the established method of conducting legal proceedings.
  9. Archaic. plotting; intrigue; trickery.
  10. Usually, practices. Archaic. intrigues; plots. –verb (used with object)
  11. to perform or do habitually or usually: to practice a strict regimen.
  12. to follow or observe habitually or customarily: to practice one's religion.
  13. to exercise or pursue as a profession, art, or occupation: to practice law.
  14. to perform or do repeatedly in order to acquire skill or proficiency: to practice the violin.
  15. to train or drill (a person, animal, etc.) in something in order to give proficiency. –verb (used without object)
  16. to do something habitually or as a practice.
  17. to pursue a profession, esp. law or medicine.
  18. to exercise oneself by repeated performance in order to acquire skill: to practice at shooting.
  19. Archaic. to plot or conspire.
  
• Also, British, practise (for defs. 11–19).

Now, since I believe all my readers are from the U.S., you most likely agree with me that practice with an "s" is just practice misspelled.

One more thing that has bothered me since I came here is that the British teachers call math, "maths." I don't know why, or where it comes from. But, I cannot simply change my whole life of saying "math" to now saying "maths."

However, I have been advised that I do.

On a much nicer note, look what I get to see out of my classroom window each day:

Except for today because it's cold, foggy, and dark. Depressing. And, it's FREEZING in the building because for some reason, the air conditioning is running full-force.

Ummmm....

Found this on the boys' restroom door the other day. It makes me giggle.

P.S. I miss Velveeta Shells 'n Cheese

How Are Things?

It's been a little while since my last post. Sorry 'bout that.

The kid that I got suspended is still having issues. His lovely mum approached my teammate a couple of weeks ago out in public and told her how much she despises the "insert name of school here" teachers. She ended up yelling at *Shelly and *Shelly ran away and hid behind a pillar until the mom left. Crazy, huh?

Then yesterday, I noticed the student wasn't at school. Turns out he's been psychologically evaluated and will not be returning to the school. It's so weird how things can turn out, isn't it?

Although, I saw him here today, so I think his parents must be sending him here until they figure out what to do with him. Fantastic.

Stephen and I went to the opera house last Friday night to see the ballet, Swan Lake. It was pretty good, actually! Surprisingly, I liked the music more than the dancing. I was surprised at how much of the music sounded familiar. Tchaikovsky. Did I butchar that spelling?

After the ballet, we went to a German restaurant with our friends, *Joe and *Valerie. We had big plates of french fries and a huge platter of sausages. I was so exhausted from the busy week that I was falling asleep at the table by the end of the meal. We had a good time.

Then, on Saturday night, we went out with Shelly and her husband, *Mark and another teacher couple to an early dinner and had a delicious meal. We stopped at the neighborhood bar to send off one of the teachers who has quit and is headed to Hong Kong this week. We then made our way to Shelly's with a cake in hand that our driver had given us. His son had turned 1 on Saturday, so he gave US a cake! Weird tradition, but I like it. The cake was pretty good and we had a fun time getting to know our new friends.

We went to church on Sunday, for the second time, and met a lot of new people. The pastor's wife invited us over for lunch this coming Sunday and there will be several other people there for us to meet.

I am spent. It turns out that I have a much heavier timetable than most of the teachers here (yet I am getting paid the same) and they are talking about making us teach our class more by replacing one of the Russian classes with more English. Yipee-skippy.

We still don't have resources and curriculum. Teaching is....well, you know.

I have a large stack of grading to tackle.

Dos Vadanya.

*names have been changed to protect the innocent

Wow, what a day....

You know when it feels like a Friday, but it's not? And then you really start wishing that it was? That's me, today.

It's only Thursday at lunch time and I just need it all to be over.

This morning, I took my class to use the restrooms at break. So, I am standing in the hallway, waiting for them to line up. A teaching assistant was also in the hallway, thank goodness. So, a Year 9 student (13 years old) who is a head taller than me, came out of the bathroom, looked at the TA and said something like, "Wow, wow, wow," and looked her up and down. Then came towards me and bent down and whispered in my ear something in Russian.

I was so shocked.

I have never taught in a school with older students, so I have never experienced anything like this before. I immediately asked the TA what he said to me and she said she didn't hear it, but she told me what he said to her. I took my kids back to class (luckily, they had language classes, so I was free for a period) and I went straight to the Headmaster and told him what had happened. Long story short, I hunted the boy down in Biology class and had him brought down to the Headmaster. Myself, the TA, Headmaster, and the boy had a meeting. The boy kept changing his story and lied and said that we had made a mistake.

He has been suspended through the weekend.

His mother showed up to take him home and I guess was a total beast. Apparently, she is just as tall as her son and is quite scary. She doesn't know who I am...yet.

One last funny part is he decided to come and have lunch in the dining hall before he left. Headmaster would have none of that and I stood there and watched him pull him out by his arm, yelling.

All very interesting. And it's only lunch time.

Oi....

Little video...

Here is a video that one of my colleagues here at school put together of the first couple of weeks of school. He does a great job with these videos. He had made one of a bunch of the teachers who went on a helicopter ride. Maybe I can get that one on here, too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZP2FeGS8_Q

I'm sorry, but youtube.com looks different to me over here and I can't figure out how to embed the stupid thing. Actually, there's no option for me to save the video, so I can't upload it on blogger.

The guy standing in front of the school shield is our Headmaster, Andrew. Nice fella.

Here is the helicopter trip video, too. Hopefully you can view these!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms7Zw82y0fI

Told You!

So, I am finally able to post on here again.

No, we did not get internet at our house yet.

We finally got internet at the school and I finally have had time to sit down at the computer and do some surfing before the bus is scheduled to take teachers home again.

If you are looking for a place of uplifting right now, you might as well skip reading my blog today. I am tired. I am discouraged. I am frustrated.

The Big K is a land of big promises that are not filled. I promise you that every promise that has been made to Stephen and I, regarding accommodations, amenities (t.v. and internet hookup), getting paid....basically anything that a new job promises they will provide for you...has not actually happened.

This does not mean that we are living in a cardboard box in a field with all the stray dogs that love it here. We are, in fact, in our apartment and thankfully, have not had any major problems with it, as other teachers have had. Some teachers have had flooding in their basements, mold is covering walls, dishwashers have flooded kitchens, due to improper installment, lamps have caught fire, due to faulty electrical wiring. I am extremely grateful that none of this has happened to us. What I am struggling with is having any sort of normalcy and routine.

The school I am working for (I won't name it on here - if you're curious, email me) opened on Monday, the first, with a ceremony. The mayor actually attended and said a few words. (He had said he was coming to visit last week and never showed up.) There were children and parents EVERYWHERE, not moving, not doing anything we asked them to do -- You mean "Please move to the atrium for the ceremony" doesn't actually mean, "Please stand in my classroom doorway and block the way for anyone to move"? By the way, the big K doesn't believe in any form of a line or waiting turns. It's a free-for-all. I hate it. I need order, people!

Okay, first day of school was yesterday. It went alright. I had 19 students -- 7 boys, 12 girls. 4 of them speak English. About 5 of them understand English at a basic level, and the rest - TEN - do not speak or understand English at all. This is fine, I tell myself. I have taught non-English speaking students before. They learn it quickly and all is good. Today, I feel outnumbered.

One of the students told my teaching assistant, Kathrine (who is kindly translating for me in Russian) that he doesn't want to listen to me. She should just tell him what to do. She told him that will not be happening and for the rest of the day, he glared at me. After school, I met with his father and informed him of this and his father's attitude was that his son is bored and should skip a grade. Our registrar said absolutely not. Second day of school, people.

I have a headache because I am extremely dehydrated. I forgot my water bottle at home this morning and since the school doesn't have any drinking fountains - STUPID - and only serve this nasty "juice" at lunch, I am darn thirsty.

Are we doing alright? Yes, of course. I am so blessed to have my husband. He is so supportive and loving and has been listening to my gripes every night with so much patience. He feels my pain, too, and knows that things are different here. It all just makes me want to leave here. I am missing home. The familiarity of how the U.S. does things is what I crave. It is what I know and love. It makes sense to me. For the most part, when you are told that something will happen, you can bet that it will.

Obviously, I am coveting some prayers, if you think of it. I am just sad and discouraged right now, which I have been experiencing off and on since we got here. I know the feeling will pass in a day or two and I will be back to myself. I was supposed to get paid last week and haven't because the school's accountant is a pain in the butt. I know that's not the right attitude, but it's true. Hopefully, she will believe be this time when I tell her that the US doesn't use IBAN numbers. I don't have an IBAN number. I will never have an IBAN number. I am not a liar.

I am hoping I can post more often. Hopefully with a more upbeat message. It is very difficult right now, though, as I am bound to the school's schedule with transport. My internet exposure is very limited. Love you, my precious little readers!