This is what I spent my afternoon making…I cannot WAIT for Dinosaur Week in my classroom.
“Ms Betsy
About 3 weeks ago, I started teaching full time preschool and, as you might guess…I have been thoroughly exhausted.
I am teaching an “international” class of 10 two to three year olds and it’s a lot of fun but a HUGE challenge.
Not one kid’s first language is English, making communication fairly difficult.The languages in my classroom include:
Vietnamese (3 boys and a girl)
Mandarin (1 girl from Beijing)
Spanish (1 girl from Argentina)
Catalan (1 boy from Spain)
A local Bengali language that I haven’t been able to decipher the name of (1 girl from Bangladesh)
Persian (1 boy from Malaysia)
Korean (1 girl from Seoul)
It’s like spending the entire day at a baby UN convention…and it’s lovely!
…when you walk out the door of your nicely air-conditioned classroom and it feels like someone’s just dumped a bucket of warm bathwater all over you.
…when the trees lining the streets sing, or rather…I suppose the cicadas make deafening noises…same same.
…when you barely even notice mosquitoes biting you.
…when it’s much to hot to eat phở bò and yet, for some reason, you do anyhow…
…when the young local women wear shirts that leave absolutely NOTHING to the imagination. Sheer and/or tight seems to be the name of the game.
…when getting on your motorbike is actually a huge relief - just to feel some wind in the stale Hanoian air…
You know when you’re really stressed out and in a bad mood and every little frustration actually feels enraging?
…well try that while living in a country where half of what happens barely makes sense even on a good day….
.yea. it’s fun.
Yup.
While trying to think of famous people for my “Guess Who?” classroom game:
Me: How about Queen Elizabeth II?
My Canadian: How would you describe her?
Me: I don’t know…”grey hair…that old queen”? Elton John?
My Canadian: Oh, “that old queen.”
