So. I'm really glad this week is over. It was crazy difficult. Thanksgiving was different this year. I went to a Vegan restaurant with my roommates (Rachel's bf is vegan). It was really good! I'm sad I didn't take any pictures, but suffice to say it was amazing. It was the first time I'd ever had Tofurky and it was pretty tasty. It doesn't really feel like Christmas time to me yet. Probably because I don't have any decorations. But my moms been taking crazy pills decorating the house so I'll get enough of it when I go home. I saw Milk and Synecdoche, New York recently. I liked both of them. You should go see them, or at least go see Milk.
So. On Monday I had quite an adventure. I had to teach both the basic and advanced classes so I was kind of nervous. Long story short, I was waiting for the bus downtown where it comes only on the weekends so yeah... I was crazy late. But it ended up being ok...Somali people are sort of known for being late, so no big. The lessson was great and my students are wonderful. They are so eager to learn. It's an incredible feeling to be able to teach them. I don't know if I've said it or not before, but Somalian people have only recently had a written language. The majority of my students have never written anything in their lives. So that adds another element of difficulty for them. They struggle to hold a pen. We focus more on talking but this week they wanted to know more about writing. They asked me what a colon was. So, we discussed punctuation marks. Then we wrote down on the board our favorite foods. The difficulty is that they write down exactly as they speak, "I like Eggs and milk and cheese and beef." So that took a whole minute to tell them how to use a comma. and why. So we ended up discussing punctuation marks and our favorite foods for three hours. Somali people are so earnest and friendly. They always give me a hug after the lesson and tell me how grateful they are for me. So this holiday season, I'm grateful for my students, and for the opportunity to teach them and make them feel comfortable with their new lives in the United States.
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2 comments:
it is really badass that they don't know how to write. imagine learning all of the mechanics and reasoning and rules at our age. what!
or much much older than us. they're between the ages of 35-50. it must be really weird to have children here that are learning so quickly. crazy huh? miss you jo see you soon. :)
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