If I've learned anything in the past two weeks of spending my mornings with toddlers, it is summed up with the following statement: You never know when they are going to vomit. It could (and often does) come at any time, any place, with any facial expression; it's a strategy game much like chess, if the chess pieces were interactive in the worst possible way. One particular child causes me great vexation as I have seen him vomit through multiple facial expressions; he would be a great poker player as he has no 'tell'. Typically I put a arm's length of distance between myself and this kid when he gets any sort of strange expression (I have known it to begin with the eyebrows but it shifts to various locations from there). I sincerely hope that my constant backing away from him will not give him any issues later in life, but unlike the toddlers I don't bring an extra pair of pants to school.
My list of favorites has expanded to include a boy who doesn't talk much, but gets very excited when I wave to him; the smile that spreads across his face is adorable. He also enjoys sitting with me when it's playtime, this is cute because he'll stare at me quietly but intensely until I lift him onto my lap. It's endearing until I realize that he is the one who pees his pants the most; thankfully the two have not mixed...yet. There is also one boy who is like a wise old man, but in toddler form. He's always looking out for others, telling me when they want seconds at snack time, or when they need help finding their pink bowl--he's very smart and he has taken to greeting me with a big hug in the mornings. The other day during playtime he created a 'stamp pad' out of plastic connecting blocks--he gave me a 'stamp' of a cat on my hand. This kid is adorable. But fret not, I give the ugly children enough attention too, as suggested by the previously mentioned rule.
Here is my primary educational concern involving the toddlers: I have the power. Quite literally, I have the power. It is only a class of eight kids, but the majority of English those eight kids hear comes from me. In their impressionable state they will pick up on what I say, thinking it's proper/normal English and possibly repeating it outside of class. Obviously this is not a concern about anything inappropriate that I've said, but rather directed toward any uncommon and/or strange and/or uncommon-strange expressions. For example, it is a habit of mine, as some of you know, to exclaim "man down!" whenever something (anything) falls or is dropped. I didn't realize how bad of a habit until a crayon was dropped and a toddler repeated "man down!" after I yelled it from across the classroom. This power is awesomely frightening--soon there could be a gang of youths running around Taipei using Lindsay-isms, and thinking it's a perfectly natural way of speaking. Part of me wants to see where this could go, while the other part feels badly about how power-hungry I have the potential of becoming.
Moving on to the big kids...
It was the last day of the unit for the level five class, and they basically had a free class to receive their graded tests and have a day of fun activities. It had been decided that this would be the day to unleash the new teacher on them; I would be able to observe their behavior through activities, and they would band together in a test of my limits. After consulting with the other teachers about what games would work best (and not be boring enough for them to begin to resent me immediately) I narrowed it down to those that required the students to yell loudly and/or throw a suction-cup "sticky ball" at the whiteboard. The games would take place during the second half of class time, while the first half would be devoted to going over the tests and writing out their corrections--those who finished quickly would complete a word search of past vocabulary words. The students didn't appear to need any extra incentive to complete said word search other than the pure motivation of who would finished first (Taiwanese students are fueled by even the silliest type of competition), but I had purchased candy for the winner just in case. While the students worked together to complete the word search there was an extreme amount of Chinese-speaking occurring...not alright. The "CT" (Chinese-speaking teacher) and I did our best to regulate, but it wasn't happening well--a threat would be needed. Gaining the class' attention by waving my arms and yelling, "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" I announced that the next person caught speaking Chinese would do twenty jumping jacks at the front of the room. They laughed and shook their heads, and announced that it wouldn't be them but I was still hearing Chinese. I really didn't want to embarrass anyone so I waited a while before "catching" someone, but catch them I did. Narrowing down the punishment to ten jumping jacks, I insisted that the youth stand in front of the class while he laughed his way through the calisthenics. I didn't hear much more Chinese after that. The games went well, and my nerves subsided early on in our second round of "Hangman". I began to act goofy and mess about with the students, creating a rapport (as was suggested by my fellow teachers). I walked back to the MRT (metro of Taipei) with a bit of a teacher's confidence swagger; perhaps this wouldn't take long to get used to...maybe I'll easily step into the role of the enthusiastic and entertaining teacher. My rest on Thursday evening came easily, and with dreams of productive, laughing youths filling classrooms.
I was wrong. What were they thinking by boosting my confidence with a silly games day?! I was not prepared for teaching regular curriculum in a regular class. On Friday I bombed. I was awkward. I spoke fast. I skipped activities. I took too long on activities. I didn't demonstrate the games well. And above all, I confused the students to a maximum. This was a level one class, and it was still early into their lessons--it was understandable that they would have a harder time. Sure, I had them giggling a few times, but the giggling to confusion ratio was not evenly distributed; the scale was leaning much more in favor of the latter. The same thing happened Saturday morning, only without the poor timing...I made sure this wouldn't become an issue by purchasing a watch at the Roahe Street Night Market on Friday night. There is much work to be done in order to gain my footing in these two older classes--I had been spoiled by how easily entertained the "Yo-Yo" class is. Damn toddlers and their bubbles! Too bad bubbles and Play Dough wouldn't work on the older kids...I'll have to think of worthy substitutions.
Culinary update! Last night a group from the hostel made a reservation at the 'Hot Pot' place (all you can eat and cook it yourself at the table in the 'hot pot'); I was intrigued and accepted the invitation. The 'hot pot' itself was less exciting than I imagined. The novelty quickly wore off as I tired of stirring and timing and essentially cooking my own food every time I wanted to try something new. Although try something new I did! I gave duck a taste, and finding it even less appetizing than I originally thought (and I hadn't high hopes to begin with) failed to finish the rest. I also think I unintentionally tested lamb, but I can't be too sure...there was a lot happening. The thing about the 'hot pot' is that we had a group of ten and only two pots--it was quite crowded. I kept getting excited about different items I was putting in the pot, only to have them disappear forever beneath the constant dumping of other ingredients on top from the others. To be sure that I wasn't embarking on a food adventure without being properly prepared (*cough*mysterious meats*cough*) I mainly stuck with vegetables. Yes, you heard correctly. Since the few questionable meats I have encountered have stuck with me (not always in a good way) I have taken to preferring vegetables over meat in certain items. It's a world I'm not familiar with, so I have a few vegetable kinks to work out, but it is a re-occuring decision nonetheless. However, when I am confident with the identity of meat I am more than happy to embark upon a taste test...it's just that not all meats are so easily identifiable. It's a constant battle, but one that I've brought my 'A' game for.
Chinese progress: I've learned how to say 'right' and 'left'. I also learned how to say 'do you speak English?', but I've forgotten already. I've got to start taking notes...
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