Half Way There-CELTA

Seems like I can only catch up on blogging on the weekend. So here are some highlights from my week! 

Milestones

21/10/14
Heard my first thundercrack in Bangkok. A friend was teaching the lesson, and the rest of us nearly jumped out of our seats when the thundercrack hit. The lights flickered, we nervously laughed, and the students just grinned at us, surely thinking in all of their L1s, "Noobs."

21/10/14
Taught my third lesson. Much better outcomes-improved on all of my mistakes from the first two lessons. I incorporated a lot more games and pair work, as my elementary students are mostly visual- kinesthetic learners. However, their primary aim is to improve their speaking skills. Many of them are uncomfortable about making speaking mistakes while talking to the teacher, so I gave them paired activities.  Of course, also had some new criteria to improve on. I still struggled to give clear directions without talking at length. I realized I'm enjoying CELTA so much because it is so challenging to constantly self-monitor and stop yourself from repeating teaching habits you've witnessed for more than ten years. In this sense, I count myself lucky that I don't have teaching experience.

22/10/14
Never thought I'd come to this, but as of this date, I'm a convert to skirts and dresses. The humidity is so damn oppressive (and it's mild at this point of the year) that wearing pants means you feel sticky all day. As much as I dislike the expectation that women should be wearing skirts/dresses, I reconsider and come to the conclusion men have it worse. They are expected to wear long pants, a long-sleeved dress shirt and a tie. (The most oppressive and ridiculous dress expectation know to man, as my Australian coworker said.)


23/10/14
Divali! Had a great night celebrating Divali, an Indian holdiay, with bf's family after I came home from IH.  As is customary, they cleaned the house until it was spotless, and everyone showered. We lit some diyas (candles) inside and outside the house. Then I helped bf's Mum create a rangoli outside of the door on the tile floor. She was a little bit embarrassed because she thought it looked childish (not very intricate) but I thought it was beautiful. We used water-color paints, and her neighbors used dyed rice. I asked why they chose different mediums, and she explained that she didn't want to waste the rice, and that the rice designs, which take a few hours to create, are often destroyed by careless tenants walking past on the stairs. After we were finished with the rangoli, we went inside to change. For Divali, you dress up to look your best.

Painting our rangoli

Finished rangoli

Neighbors' rice rangoli

There are many interpretations of Divali, but the one that was explained to me by my bf's Mum, as they are Hindu, is that it is a celebration of the return of Rama after he returns from 14 years of exile. I asked her to explain it, but she laughed and said it was a long story, so she gave me a children's comic instead. But the rangoli and the diyas are to welcome Rama and celebrate his return and the larger triumphs of good over evil. Afterwords, she helped me dress up in a beautiful pink and green sari. We took some pictures, and then we said some prayers and thanks to Ganesha, who is known as the remover of obstacles, and is worshiped for his valor and wisdom. One of the stages of this was to tie on a friendship bracelet. It struck me that the pairing of the humbleness and celebration was very similar to what I've seen and experienced around Christmas and especially Easter. After the prayers, we ate some delicious food that bf's Mum had prepared.

Offerings for Ganesha

Sweet potato patty with chickpeas and tamarind sauce and yogurt
and vada with coconut chutney

24/10/14
Switched from elementary students to intermediate students. I'm really going to miss my elementary students. It was so fun to pick up on their group dynamics and individual personalities. They were also a bit of jokesters, much more so than the intermediate students. But I'm sure I'll learn to appreciate the intermediate students soon. My next lesson with them is on Tuesday.

24/10/14
 Had my first tequila shot! Celta crew went to a nearby pub to decompress and celebrate passing the half-way mark. One of the women ordered a round of shots on the house, figured it was a great time to try one. I used the chaser at the end, but I didn't need to. I thought it would be a lot more difficult to chug and was surprised that I was able to handle it. Now I understand, though, when people say it goes straight to your head. Everyone was finally laughing, letting go of all the stress from the last two weeks. Had a great time getting to know more of my CELTA mates. During the course, we're always stressing about the next lesson, about how our lesson went, about the hordes of new information we have to apply every day. Before the bar, hadn't actually gotten to know them much as individuals. But I'd already had half a glass of wine and hadn't had dinner, so I played it safe and called my bf to come pick me up.