...but I assure you they're even worse when you're the teacher, because you don't have the option of sitting in the back of class and refusing to participate. Despite early classes, I've survived and even enjoyed my first week teaching solo. My students are, in general, very shy. One of my classes this week preferred to sit in almost complete silence rather than speak English to me, which made it particularly difficult to avoid the sound of the two pigeons having sex and/or dying outside the window of my classroom. Most of my classes warmed up eventually though, and when they did they were hilarious. In most cases, I am the only American these students have ever met, and all they know about America is what they've seen in the movies. Because of this, they have a lot of questions for me. Some of them so far:
- Do you watch Nascar?
- Do a lot of your friends have guns?
- Is school really like in American Pie?
- How do you feel about the death penalty? What about separation of Church and State?
- Are there really McDonalds' everywhere?
On more than one occasion, my students have burst into song. At one point, one of my classes had me laughing so hard that I thought I would have to leave the room to regain composure. Other times, I have been supremely frustrated with the students who sit around looking bored, speaking to each other in French, refusing to participate. Surely, an hour with a young American is better than spending class time actually sitting in class...no? I guess 14 year-olds are obnoxious no matter what country you're in.
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