Things to not get upset about today: The fact that you have been working to put together a showing of It's a Wonderful Life in English with subtitles in French for three weeks (technological confusion, logistics, time for advertising, etc) and not a single person showed up. Not a teacher, a student, another assistant, a staff member of the school - just you and the same 16 minutes and 20 seconds of Christmas music you have had saved on your computer for close to 5 years now. Talk about overinflating a balloon and letting it go without tying it.
The truth is, I was pretty sure there wouldn't be alot of people there, but NO ONE was a surprise I could have lived without. I have plenty of other things to do with my afternoon - shopping for presents, deciphering a cryptic letter, going to Sedan with Alice, buying the ingredients to bake cookies tomorrow, volleyball practice tonight, and getting myself organized to go to the Prefecture tomorrow (like getting my visa this summer, this process is worked up to be extremely difficult and annoying but I am hoping it turns out to be rather simple).
I can't give up hope though. I know these kids are just like American students - eager to participate in anything fun they can, especially with their friends; but hesitant to jump into the pool of academic extracurriculars. Actually, there are no extracurriculars here. Which is why I thought maybe this would work. And Marco is currently thinking, "Stop trying to Americanize everyone," but I honestly believe that these kids could use a few "extras" in their lives. I don't ever want to become a teacher, because the disappointment of having students who are bright but uninterested would kill me. But for this year, I am going to do it. I am going to teach, and amuse them, and make them want to learn. I am going to figure out how. Because I want everyone to be able to enjoy school and more importantly right now, English.
I'm off to improve my spirits. Love and hugs and four more sleeps, ~Heather
The truth is, I was pretty sure there wouldn't be alot of people there, but NO ONE was a surprise I could have lived without. I have plenty of other things to do with my afternoon - shopping for presents, deciphering a cryptic letter, going to Sedan with Alice, buying the ingredients to bake cookies tomorrow, volleyball practice tonight, and getting myself organized to go to the Prefecture tomorrow (like getting my visa this summer, this process is worked up to be extremely difficult and annoying but I am hoping it turns out to be rather simple).
I can't give up hope though. I know these kids are just like American students - eager to participate in anything fun they can, especially with their friends; but hesitant to jump into the pool of academic extracurriculars. Actually, there are no extracurriculars here. Which is why I thought maybe this would work. And Marco is currently thinking, "Stop trying to Americanize everyone," but I honestly believe that these kids could use a few "extras" in their lives. I don't ever want to become a teacher, because the disappointment of having students who are bright but uninterested would kill me. But for this year, I am going to do it. I am going to teach, and amuse them, and make them want to learn. I am going to figure out how. Because I want everyone to be able to enjoy school and more importantly right now, English.
I'm off to improve my spirits. Love and hugs and four more sleeps, ~Heather
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