Friday, October 26, 2012

Busy

Ok, this website makes me sad. I haven't posted a lot because I couldn't get it even give me a new post for the longest time and when I finally did get this new post, I wrote a lot, saved it, came back later and it was blank. All it saved was the above title, "Busy". Well, that's helpful.

Ok, so since last time I posted, a lot has happened. For one, I taught English this week at a school I live a block from. My students are about 14-16 years old. I taught three different class but I had the same lessons for all of them. I prepared a PowerPoint about my life and then I just kind of hold an open forum for questions. My PowerPoint has pictures of me when I was younger, my city, my school, my favorite and least favorite subjects, my hobbies, favorite sports teams, etc. I have a slide about my fraternity and me doing theater as well. They love personal photos so seeing me in crazy costumes really made them giggle.

I really enjoy their questions. They want to know everything from whether I prefer San Francisco or San Sebastián, who's going to win the election, are American boys all cute, what clubs I go to here, how much an iPhone costs, how Christmas is celebrated, what music do I like, etc. I got asked twice what I would do if I were the president of the US. I think my favorite question was actually one I couldn't answer. I got asked if McDonald's is the same here as in the US. Can't say. Haven't been to one here or there. The one time I ate at McDonalds was in France and I had a cafe and a croissant.

I also really enjoyed talking Real Sociedad v. FC Barcelona with the boys in my morning class.  I have both Barça and Reala on my sports teams slide. That got all the boys' attention. I told them I'm a Barça fan but I'm becoming a Reala fan here. They tested my knowledge. They asked who my favorite players on each team were. I told them the young Frenchman, Griezmann, for Reala and it was between Xavi and Iniesta for Barça. They asked if I liked Messi or Ronaldo. Of course I like Messi. But Ronaldo is definitely on my list of least favorites. The guy can play but he's not the greatest and thinking he is doesn't justify his prima dona attitude in my mind. Also, the teacher asked the class who wore number 11 for Reala and I was like, "Isn't it Xabi Prieto?" I was right and she said I knew more about Real Sociedad than they do. I don't think that's true but it was amusing nonetheless.

Also, it was supposed to be a secret that I can actually speak Spanish in order to encourage the students to ask in English. I blew my cover in the second class, the morning one. After the class though. Cover blown, I thanked them in Spanish and said goodbye to them in Basque. Agur is totally my new favorite way to say goodbye.

The funny thing I realized about teaching is that it's very much like acting. My musical theater background was very helpful in teaching English abroad. Teachers almost have to be like clowns to keep interest. I at least have the benefit of being a novelty going for me. I'd heard from others that being from California means in European minds that you are a movie star or you know one. My students definitely thought so, especially after I showed them my theatre slide. Even still, I'm pretty sure my students had a good time. I certainly did.

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