NetherAmerican

Quotes of the day:
"That's the American way..."
"Well, Americans..."
"Here are the hungry Americans..."

Btw, Ashton and I are on the school's website, and it says in the end of the paragraph that our English isn't the preferred British English but the American English. Whoa. 

What's up with that?!

i had a really long day today. 7:35 - 5:00. My 4th years received their new literature book today, and started on a poem. One of my 4th years gave me his dialogue journal - that makes 7! I'm so excited about it! I taught my 5h3 class over Mix -n- Match article. We had a chalk talk and an awesome discussion about mixed races and interracial dating. It was awesome. However, the students weren't motivated to answer the questions, sadly enough.

Funny story: One of my students is Filipino and she knows Tagalog. Well, there's this other student who is outspoken in the class, and he said "Maganda ka" which means "you're pretty" in Tagalog. I blushed like a teenager because the last person who said that to me was my ex-bf, and it completely caught me off guard. 

I also taught the 1st years today who needed help. We did Find Someone Who and Charades. It was fun. I also picked up another project: teaching two 4th year Turkish girls English grammar. They will meet with me at least three times a week, and both are very excited about learning English, which makes me really happy. 

Today, my mentor teacher and I talked for a long time. It seemed as if we hadn't had a chance to really sit down and talk. She gave me Dutch/Indonesian recipes that I have to try - so excited about cooking! 

My mentor teacher wants me to work with a group of students with their English from the 4th year class - which is completely fine by me. :) 

I'm also working with this 5th year student with his grammar, and I think he finally knows that I do care and want to help him. He's paying more attention in class and participating. I love it! I wish I could have taken a picture of the chalk talk today. It was great. 


Problem of the day:
Most students have lost motivation to do their school work - or at least in my English classes. There is no reward system here like in the US, and so students just don't want to do anything. My mentor teacher and I talked about possibly incorporating some kind of small rewards for the students to get them motivated - and I was talking to the other teacher I work with about this. Another teacher butted in and started saying "Well in America, that's how you do it. This is Netherlands. Competition will make mean people." Of course, I said nothing. I told her I understood where she was coming from but she kept saying how the reward system is the "American" way - but other countries do it too...


There was also a parent information meeting today for students who are interested in attending our school. Ashton and I arrived at 7:30pm for dinner when dinner was at 5pm. Whoops. We got left over though! Chinese/Indonesian food. :)

Instead of seeing the presentation, the janitors kept us occupied in their office by talking to us and entertaining us. Anto, who is an amazing man, cycled from Rotterdam to Paris! AH! He doesn't have a license and he's been cycling since forever. 

When we finally caught up with my overseas coordinator, the presentation is over and the individual meetings started - all in Dutch. We talked to one of the English teachers, and asked him about applying for a job. He also told us that teachers get 14 paychecks a year - a bonus during Christmas and one in May (for vacation money). Whoa right?! He told me that I would have to learn Dutch to be able to teach and get my teaching certificate approved by the Ministry of Education here in Rotterdam. I swear, if they offer me a job, i will learn Dutch as quick as possible. 

...I have hope. We'll see. I also contacted Macon County for a job. Ugh. I'm missing out on teacher fairs and such!

V-Day is coming up....I'm dragging Ashton with me to Maastricht to attend the carnival during V-Day - kind of like Mardi Gras in the US. 

I'm ready to start traveling. One more week until Paris and Barcelona with the roomie! YAY!