My last update was on 30 December, so I’m going to try to cover what I learned and did in a quick format.
On New Year’s Eve, I had a meeting at school, to celebrate. In Ukraine, New Year’s is a much larger celebration, spent with family and friends. It was a lunch party, my meeting, complete with cognac. There were toasts (a shot equaled a toast), and lots of traditions going around. When you clink glasses in a toast, you are supposed to clink lastly with a man, as that will give you good luck and prosperity in the New Year. The entire staff was given a bottle of champagne and a large bag of chocolates. It was an amazing look into traditions and life in Ukraine.
Just after midnight, here, the fireworks, gunshots, and other explosives rang in the New Year.
Very early the next morning I was able to converse with a group of good friends at a New Year’s party in WS. I think most of you read this blog. It was really nice to see and talk with you at the annual New Year’s Party. Wish I could have been there.
On Orthodox Christmas (07 January), I watched a Nativity play put on by the Pentecostal church. It was a very interesting take on the traditional play – it involved time travel. I was invited by a friend of A’s, who always invites her to events. After the play, there was an after-party in the Sunday School room. Sodas, tea, and biscuits, and talking to friends and people you know.
My primary assignment – TEFL – started the next day, when I met with the three students competing in the English Olympiad. They have speaking, reading, listening, and writing components.
That Friday, 10 January, I got up at a very early hour in order to catch a 6.40 bus to Kirovograd, the capital city in Kirovograd Oblast. In Kirovograd, the group of teachers and I met the director of a gymnasium with which we are being merged. We watched some of the auditions for the school – dancing, multiplication tables, violin, singing – and met with some of the English teachers. We watched a written entrance test for English. After a bit, A and I left to go get some coffee and meet with the head of English teacher’s licences. If you want to be legally allowed to teach English in the Oblast (equivalent to the state), you need to talk to her. She wanted to meet me. A and I talked with her for about half an hour, before we needed to head back to the gymnasium. Special note, pizza restaurants in Ukraine have really good espresso drinks.
That weekend, I met up with another PCV, and we talked for a while. While we were chatting, a young man walked up to us and asked for our help. He was taking a test in English, and had a few questions about his review material. That’s Goal 3 of the TEFL plan – helping the community in which you are sited. I made more borshch over the weekend. Still really need to look for spices.
Classes started back up on Monday, 13 January 2014. I’m teaching forms 6-11, not including 7th. I’m trying to wrangle the new choreography schedule (the Kirovograd Gymnasium specializes in dance) to have many clubs. I want a conversation/culture class for the 9th -11th forms, and a regular English club for the lower forms. The teachers and admin want me to teach them to speak English. I want to try to get a Russian tutor, and I might have someone for that. I’ve been planning each lesson the night before, as A and I try to co-plan the best we can. Also, I only have a few lessons’ worth of copied textbook.
On Tuesday, 14 January 2014, it was Old New Year. There was wheat sprinkled all over the floor of the Gymnasium, as it is for a happy and prosperous New Year. In some parts of Ukraine, a man needs to “first-foot” (be the first person to enter your house/flat in the New Year), and sprinkle wheat on everything, as that a good sign that you will have a happy and prosperous New Year. The wheat can not be cleaned up until more than 24 hours have passed, or it is bad luck for the forthcoming year.
The students are very interesting. In each class, there are very high level students (one of the 6th formers can translate for me), and some very low level students (in the same class, some of my students have trouble telling me their names). As the Gymnasium is a mixture of town and village students, they have had differing amounts of English at their previous school.
The students are also very happy to be in class. I am reminded that they have hometask that I haven’t collected, and they seem to be trying to out-compete each other in every one of the four skills – reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
After my first official week teaching, I went to the bazaar on Sunday, where I bought a chef’s knife, and a drying rack, so I can do laundry in the flat. I spent the afternoon cooking borshch, which was much better after I found and bought spices at ATB. A went with me, and helped me identify ground pepper, bay leaves, etc, which really help when cooking. Today was a day of hugs, so I was randomly hugged by students and staff. I think it has something to do with good karma.
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