Abby and I are getting excited to go home on Dec. 26th. Our flight happens to be the same because it was the cheapest and we will endure the journey together. It is officially one month away, how exciting! The time will pass quickly I am sure. I am busy with school and I have a new schedule now. I teach Monday through Saturday because of a special case VIP client. My boss asked me to do them a favor and test drive this 13 year old advanced student. She wanted to see if he would like me as a teacher and vice versa. He had previously been through 4 other teachers that weren't to his liking. So I was really nervous to see if I would pass the test. Well he really did like me and told me I was the best teacher he had had so they gave him to me permanently. So now I teach him 6 hours a week. This meant that I was working too many hours so they had to take away two of my classes, which was really sad. I said goodbye to my students in these classes and they were pretend crying and I love them for that. The good news is that since I work an extra day I get paid more. Also this 13 year old boy, his name is Yura, wants extra lessons with me and he wants to pay me to tutor him privately for about the equivalent of $33.oo an hour. This is the going rate for English lessons and is more than I get paid for at Language Link so I said heck yes! He is a very strange boy though and there is a reason that he has been through so many teachers. He makes shocking and inappropriate comments to see how I will react and I just don't give him the satisfaction.....a problem my predecessors had. So now that I know how to handle him I actually enjoy teaching him, he is very smart and studying for the CAE exam, which is very difficult and many native speakers wouldn't pass it. He is also a typical spoiled rich kid and I thoroughly enjoy giving him some tough love. I have created this environment so that he really likes me and we joke around and when he is bad I simply tell him that I won't be his teacher anymore and he pretends to cry and he gets all whiny and we laugh.....so I can tell he likes me and I feel good that I succeeded where others failed. It was a big deal to keep him as a client because he is so rich and has so many individual hours......he pays about $100 an hour to study with me through Language Link.
My other classes are still hilarious. I just think they are so funny and I really want to take them home with me. One of my students in my English in Mind 2 class is a total smart-Alec and I asked him what his favorite film was and he said the Telepusiki film.....which is Teletubbies in Russian. So this has become a class joke and I make fun of him all the time about it. He is one of my regular trouble-makers as well. His name is Artyom and when his friend, Nikita, is there too the class is pretty hard to manage. So a week ago I explained to them how I couldn't hit them in school because I would get in trouble, but that if I ever saw them on the streets of Zelenograd that they'd better watch out! They proceeded to throw some gang signs at me (because they think they are gangstas) and they said that all their friends would be with them to beat me up. So I pounded my chest and challenged them to a fight in the parking lot at 4:00 pm on Saturday. They accepted and the whole class thought it was hilarious. These boys brought it up for the next few days in class about how I better watch out on Saturday.....I just told them that I could take them. When I would yell at them in class they would just say, "four o'clock!" and I would laugh......they are so funny. So needless to say I didn't show up....but I think they did because on Monday they were really upset that I didn't show up....hahahaha. I think this little stunt has endeared them to me forever. Today I threatened to give them to another teacher and they begged me not to so I think I have won them over.....even though it is unconventional to challenge your students to parking lot fights, it is effective! I really think that my little trouble-makers are my favorite students because they provide me with banter to entertain the whole class and the key to management is to get the leaders on your side. I also love Andre and Roma in my English in Mind 4 class. They are like 15 years old and I still have to send them to the corner and I am of course and laughing the whole time and so is the class because it is so ridiculous.....I love it when they beg for mercy....mwahahahaha.
So now my life has settled down again and I am getting into a regular routine. My Thanksgiving was sadly lack-luster though. It was another typical day, but I did talk to my family which was nice. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday I think....the meaning behind it is so pure and untainted. I also love how it is just about love and family. I have great memories of my Thanksgiving last year in Greece when all the study abroad students banded together and made a potluck Thanksgiving! There was no topping that so I just made potatoes and fiesta eggs and ate by myself in my room....hahaha....it sounds so pathetic.
This weekend I think I should relax and not do any sight seeing. I followed this advice a couple of weekends ago and I layed in bed watching Xena Warrior Princess all weekend long....it was the best. But last weekend I went to a beautiful park and convent called Novodevichy in Moscow. I just enjoy walking
around and catching up with Abby on our weeks and our wonderful children. It was so funny, when we went to Starbucks, the cashier guy was making fun of me because I didn't speak Russian, but luckily Starbucks is an international language.....hahaha, so anyways, I was going to buy a drink and this really cool travel mug in the shape of a Matryoshka doll, but the guy told me that I could have it for free! It was like a $10 mug and I didn't understand why I got it for free......I think it is because he was making fun of me and he felt bad. I have had him before as my cashier and he always makes fun of me in Russian and I can understand enough Russian to know when I am being made fun of.....hahaha....I will go back this weekend and see what I can get for free! Maybe I won't have to buy Christmas presents after all....hehehehe.
No comments:
Post a Comment