Some Gripes

It's not necessarily the students that are stressing me out and exhausting me even though my first lesson with 8b was reminiscent of some of my worst classes from last year. It's the colleagues and the seeming utter disorganization of the school that makes me want to hurl myself back into bed and hide under my new Ikea blanket.

 I was supposed to teach 2nd and 3rd grade today in the afternoon so I planned for it last night, but as I emerged from my apartment to go back to school, some of the teachers told me that I probably wouldn't have those classes because they are not mandatory. I thought, "ok, whatever...now I have plans for the next week." Then my contact teacher who will remain anonymous for now (an exact opposite of Etelka) comes up to me when I was supposed to be in my second afternoon lesson and tells me that I won't have them today. I couldn't help but wonder...WHY the HELL do YOU think I'M sitting HERE not TEACHING them??

Now, you're probably thinking I'm being a little harsh. But this was the same woman who changed her mobile phone number and forgot to give me her new one. I had been calling her old phone for ages and never getting a response. When I actually had to ask for it myself, she said, "oh uh-huh yeah i forgot to give it to you." The best way to describe this woman is a loose lightbulb. Something's flickering, but it certainly isn't strong. My other complaints just result from a very confusing schedule of four different 8th grade classes all taught by different English teachers who have different grading systems and who go at different paces with them. I was merely trying to figure out what I'd be doing for Wednesday and my colleagues seemed to think that they should help me with the least relevant topics instead. This makes me exhausted.

 Sure, teaching is tiring, but constantly being given contradictory information really just makes me have to take things into my own hands and hope for the best. I know they mean well, but I think it's hard for them to realize that even though I taught for a year in Szerencs, schools have different ways of doing things. It's not a cookie cutter system. Everyone seems to think I can handle everything on my own and when I do ask for help, I almost wish I hadn't because I really have to concentrate when I'm listening to my colleagues. Their English is fine, but again, a simple chart or two could fix the way they present all this tidal wave information to me. Yikes! Oh, and one more thing...none of my new students know where Szerencs is. They all thought I was talking about the chocolate...in fact, they've never even heard of the town. I guess if I've taught them anything so far, it's about their own country's geography.