Teaching Teaching Teaching and a little Black Sea

Last Saturday some of the international students took a day trip to Agva, a small town located on the Black Sea. We literally wound around on narrow roads for two hours to get there. The town was pretty quiet, but really beautiful. I love how everywhere in Turkey there are beaches surrounded by mountains. Of course, I had to put my feet in the water. I've officially been in the Black Sea. I was told while I was there that it is called the Black Sea because there are a lot of rocks in the bottom that cause whirlpools which cause people to drown. This made me glad it was too cold to actually swim in it.

We had lunch on a boat that was a restaurant, which was totally fitting. The guys were of course trying to make us get fresh fish, which was expensive. I chose to have a lot of little fish instead. First, the fish here look like real fish, not like the fliets you get in the states. Second, I am pretty sure I ate anchovies. But they were good. Since I have been in Turkey, I tend to try food before asking what I am eating. That way, I try everything.

This reminds me of the dinner I had on Friday. My friend and I went to the bridge that is famous for fishing in Istanbul to get a real fresh meal. The guy got us to sit at his restaurant because he promised free coffee and dessert. As soon as we sat down, they brought out some super fresh fish and slopped them around the table in front of us trying to get us to buy the most expensive ones. Ew they were so slimy and unappetizing but at least I know what I ate was fresh. The fish looked like fish, but once I got over that I found that they tasted delicious.

Now to share a little about teaching...

I have taught a ton on my own this week. It is ridiculous how last minute this country is. My mentor teacher usually begins teaching during the third lesson of the day, but I get there before the first lesson. I can sit there and help her prepare the lessons for two periods and don't find out until five minutes beforehand that I will be teaching the coming lessons on my own. Today, I passed my mentor teacher in the hall (she was in meetings all morning, and I usually don't go because they are in Turkish), and she handed me some materials and asked me to go to her lessons to teach. Right then.

Even though all this last minute stuff isn't really my style, it has been really good in helping me prepare to be a great teacher. I feel so comfortable with the students now, even though I don't speak Turkish. When I tell them that they need to speak English, it is amazing the sentences they come up with. I am always impressed with what they can do when they need something! I love teaching English as a foreign language--the students are so eager to learn. I feel so fortunate to have this experience.

Yesterday, I had a meeting with the principal in the morning. It was interesting, but he basically just told me a little more about the school and what teaching positions would be opening up relatively soon. Then today, he came up to the foreign language office at the end of the second lesson. He called the other student teacher and I over, and told us that we would no longer be following our mentor teachers but we would follow a new schedule. Each class of students has two English teachers--one Turkish-English teacher and one native English speaker teacher. Some of the classes do not have a teacher who is a native speaker, so he gave me the first grades that do not have a native speaker and the other student teacher got the second grades. So this is a pretty big responsibility and I hope that I can live up to the principal's expectations. Fortunately, many of the native English speaker teachers are very willing to give advice on how to work with students when they are alone in the classroom.

Also, today was Teacher's Day. It's a really big holiday here. The students buy flowers for the teachers and sometimes the teachers also get chocolates or notes. It's kind of like Teacher Christmas. After school, there was a ceremony for the teachers. A new teacher had to repeat after one of the administrators, so I am guessing this was some sort of oath (the whole ceremony was in Turkish). The teachers from the foreign language department were a part of the ceremony--they performed a skit. Apparently it was pretty funny, because the whole audience was laughing. And a number of teachers were in the beginning of the ceremony, singing and acting like they were at a dinner party. It was cool to see how highly teachers are regarded in the Turkish culture. I definitely think America should celebrate a Teacher's Day.

Right now I have a lot on my plate (and unfortunately not for Thanksgiving :( ).
Less play, more work.