Friday, September 16, 2005

First Week Teaching Nightmares

So, even though we have been teaching now for about 6 weeks, I thought I would share a couple of funny stories about our first week of classes. As most of you know, we are here in Japan as English teachers. We work for a small, private eikaiwa or English conversation school. Most of of our students are younger elementary, although we also teach some junior high and adult classes. Kids will be kids, no matter where in the world you are, and -- let's be honest -- sometimes they are gross! So far, we have witnessed nose-picking, scab-picking, gas expelling, and other not-so-sanitary kid behaviors, all during an English lesson.

However, the grossest (is that a word?) thing of all happened to me on my third day of teaching. I had a student puke all over the floor at the end of one of my classes. And guess who had the privilege of cleaning it up? So, I'm down on my hands and knees, mopping up puke, and trying not to throw up myself, and all the time I'm thinking "I never had to do this when I worked at Highland." Church secretaries (or, to be P.C., administrative assistants) do a lot of things, but cleaning up puke is generally not in the job description. It was a real low point for me.

When teaching children, you tend to do a lot of moving around -- singing, dancing, playing games, etc. Rusty, being the big, loveable, energetic guy that he is, probably does more moving around than most. So, he is teaching his very first class, on his very first day, to a group of toddlers, and he sits down crossed legged, and his pants split wide open (WIDE OPEN), right up the crotch (all the way to the upper peninsula). To make matters worse, the toddlers' mothers were all in the class with their children, sitting on the floor (in full veiw of old glory). Needless to say, Rusty was embarassed (only as much as any other guy would be). He had to run out during his break between classes to buy some new pants. Luckily, he was able to find some that were big enough for his American-size posterior! (well, almost)

5 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:06 AM

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  2. Anonymous6:33 PM

    LOL! Too funny... lets get together soon.

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  3. Laura~
    It is great to stumble onto your blog! I wish I would have gotten to see you on your stop at Metro! Ron told me about the upcoming addition. Congratulations! You are going to love this new phase of your life!
    Blessings on your jobs in Japan!
    Lori CLark

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  4. Hey Laura, Rusty and ????,
    Many, many congratulations guys!!! Babies are the best!
    My advice for now is SLEEP. Even when you are not tired. Just sleep. You will look back fondly at these times when you can just go take a nap!:-)
    Glad to find your blog!!
    Love you--Cheryl

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  5. Hey there, Laura! Eek. Sounds like a couple difficult moments! I don't think cleaning up puke could be anything but a low point.

    Be encouraged you guys! We love you and we continue to pray for you.

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