Teaching "Englsh" and Other Happenings...

I am going to Bakuriani (about 20 minutes outside of Borjomi...I mention this because it's famous for its water and because you might have better luck finding on the map) tomorrow for a small getaway with some other trainees. We are going to just relax on Saturday I think and then do some hiking in the mountains surrounding the town on Sunday. The hiking should be excellent since Bakuriani is primarily known as a ski resort. Peace Corps gave us 100 lari for the trip, and transportation plus lodging is only 20 lari, so I think there will be much left over for future travels, which is nice.

I taught English (or "Englsh" as one of the 7th form textbooks says...in big bold letters on the cover) for the first time this past week. It went pretty well, although planning was a bit difficult. I had no idea as to how long each activity would take or about the level the students were at. But both of those should easily be remedied with experience. The kids are great though - or at least they are so far. I've taught 5th, 6th, and 7th forms (form = grade, basically) and have generally been successful in getting the students to participate. Most Georgian schools still operate on a Soviet learning system, which means that the students memorize long passages in English and recite them but can pretty much only speak from those particular passages that they have memorized verbatim. So, consequently, when I ask a student how they are doing today, every single one of them responds "I am fine, thank you." I doubt that they even know what it means. So enacting a more participatory learning style is very challenging, but really necessary because I don't want to spend my two years here talking to human textbooks.

So, getting students to participate is pretty tough. They can read English (even aloud) well enough, but they don't speak it in class. Old teaching methods just didn't put any value whatsoever in being able to hold an actual conversation. But even in one week I have seen a lot of improvement in this area, so hopefully I can draw out the students in my permanent school as well in a few months.

I'm still eating a lot. Usually four meals per day, sometimes five if I'm lucky. And I still haven't found appropriate ways to exercise, so I should be gaining much weight. But, alas, I'm not. So that's the update there. And still no diarrhea (or any medical problem, for that matter).

I am an idiot and forgot my flash drive, so no pictures today, even though I have tons of time (as evidenced by being able to write this long post on the ridiculously slow computers). I might be able to send out some emails on Sunday, so maybe be on the lookout for that. And email me, or write comments, or whatever, I really enjoy them. Ok, time to try and access the news...


Tim

Teaching "Englsh" and Other Happenings...

I am going to Bakuriani (about 20 minutes outside of Borjomi...I mention this because it's famous for its water and because you might have better luck finding on the map) tomorrow for a small getaway with some other trainees. We are going to just relax on Saturday I think and then do some hiking in the mountains surrounding the town on Sunday. The hiking should be excellent since Bakuriani is primarily known as a ski resort. Peace Corps gave us 100 lari for the trip, and transportation plus lodging is only 20 lari, so I think there will be much left over for future travels, which is nice.

I taught English (or "Englsh" as one of the 7th form textbooks says...in big bold letters on the cover) for the first time this past week. It went pretty well, although planning was a bit difficult. I had no idea as to how long each activity would take or about the level the students were at. But both of those should easily be remedied with experience. The kids are great though - or at least they are so far. I've taught 5th, 6th, and 7th forms (form = grade, basically) and have generally been successful in getting the students to participate. Most Georgian schools still operate on a Soviet learning system, which means that the students memorize long passages in English and recite them but can pretty much only speak from those particular passages that they have memorized verbatim. So, consequently, when I ask a student how they are doing today, every single one of them responds "I am fine, thank you." I doubt that they even know what it means. So enacting a more participatory learning style is very challenging, but really necessary because I don't want to spend my two years here talking to human textbooks.

So, getting students to participate is pretty tough. They can read English (even aloud) well enough, but they don't speak it in class. Old teaching methods just didn't put any value whatsoever in being able to hold an actual conversation. But even in one week I have seen a lot of improvement in this area, so hopefully I can draw out the students in my permanent school as well in a few months.

I'm still eating a lot. Usually four meals per day, sometimes five if I'm lucky. And I still haven't found appropriate ways to exercise, so I should be gaining much weight. But, alas, I'm not. So that's the update there. And still no diarrhea (or any medical problem, for that matter).

I am an idiot and forgot my flash drive, so no pictures today, even though I have tons of time (as evidenced by being able to write this long post on the ridiculously slow computers). I might be able to send out some emails on Sunday, so maybe be on the lookout for that. And email me, or write comments, or whatever, I really enjoy them. Ok, time to try and access the news...


Tim

Weekend Update (sans pictures)

Really tired. Stuck in the same routine. Work is frustrating. The food is artificial and dull. But enough about you…

I feel…very alive. No culture shock, or homesickness, or jetlag, or worries, or anything of the sort. And, when I walk out my door, I see mountains! (Going hiking hopefully tomorrow, too)

Well, I guess I just completed a normal week of PC training. Well, as normal as they get, anyway. Attending 20 hours of language classes, learning how to teach English, and eating lots of food were my main accomplishments for the week.

The cow still wakes me up every day. Also, I think Georgians never sleep. Pretty much my whole family is awake when I retire for the night and they are all awake when I break my slumber in the morning. And it’s not like I’m getting tons of sleep per night; I’m think I’m averaging around 6 hours per night due to many nights of playing jokeri, among other things.

We are going to Gori tomorrow (well, I guess I’m there now – or have already been there – if I’m sending this email) to see the castle/fortress, which was constructed eons ago. It was actually besieged by the Roman emperor Pompey in 65 BCE, so it was built (obviously) sometime before that. We’re also hoping to get to the bazaari (yah, this is a cognate. They’re rare, and I’ve learned to appreciate them very much), where I intend to buy more clothes (finally – I am already sick of wearing khakis and polos everyday…any other suggestions for business casual in a non-air-conditioned environment?), a clipboard, some sandals, folders, hand soap, a hat, and some other things that I can’t remember right now. Oh – and this is the kind of place where bargaining is expected. So that should be interesting. I don’t know numbers very well, so I expect to get ripped off. Thanks, Peace Corps, for only teaching me 1-10, 15, 18, 20, 22, and 100. Hopefully I can settle on these prices with the vendors, but that is of course unlikely. A visit to the internet café is also on the docket.

Keep the comments coming. They’re entertaining.

Webshots might be updated soon. But probably not. I have tons of pictures though, just to tease you.

Has anything important happened recently? I don’t watch tv here (my family has one, but it’s been on for a grand total of ten minutes since my arrival – and this is not a complaint) and there are no newspapers available in Sveneti, so I have zero knowledge of current events. I guess I could try to find English language news on the radio, but that require me possessing a radio, which I don’t. Maybe I’ll try to find one in Gori tomorrow. It’s really nice to get away from celebrity romantic misadventures, runaway brides, and the genre that includes Scott Peterson, but we could have invaded Iran by now and I might not actually be aware of it. So that’s bad.

In case you couldn’t tell (and if you couldn’t, my sincerest condolences regarding your late-onset illiteracy), my English language skills have been declining drastically since I entered the country. Any suggestions? I read the most recent Atlantic (from JFK Airport – really captivating article about the Monster of Florence, by the way), but that doesn’t appear to have helped.

My medical kit, I’m happy to report, remains pristine and undisturbed. Diarrhea – ranging from casual to chronic, according to our medical handbook – has not afflicted me thus far. But, it is the most common ailment among volunteers, so it might just be waiting to play it’s cool tricks on me later. The diarrhea monitor might become a weekly (or however often I update) feature, since I know most of you only read this for updates on the congealing ability of my bowels. But, it’s a frequent topic of conversation amongst trainees here in Sveneti (along with the minutia of our meals, the topics sort of flow together, it seems), so I guess putting it on the internet is the next logical step.

We gathered at my place today and watched Garden State as a break from the intensity of learning Georgian. The movie is still good, even when viewed abroad.

Even though my English skills (term used loosely) have declined, my Spanish has improved a lot since touchdown in T’bilisi. Whenever I am speaking in Georgian and don’t know the Georgian word, I say it in Spanish because it’s still a foreign language to me and I feel better if I don’t say it in English. Nobody understands me, and they’d have better luck if I just said it in English, but speaking is for the benefit of the speaker (obviously), so I do the Georglish anyway. And, Spanish mixed with English is becoming the language of choice for communication between Americans here. So, although my Georgian bad and my English getting worse, my Spanish is improving. So I got that going for me, which is nice. An aside: anyone want to send me Caddyshack on DVD? You’ll get nothing (and like it) for your efforts, but don’t let that discourage you.

Peace Corps is having a barbeque on the 4th of July, somewhere near Khashuri. I heard rumors that it’s at a cool place (think monastery or cave city or something), so hopefully it is. Simple hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill would satiate me though – it could be in a Soviet-era prison cell, I wouldn’t really care.

Oh, and send me emails about what you have been doing. Or create a blog…