I am a Teacher!

I taught my first class today at the British House. This particular class is very advanced. Today we discussed challenges in life: how births and deaths, weddings and divorces, illness or disease, living abroad, learning a new language, leaving for university, working stressful jobs, raising teenagers, etc, make us feel and how we deal with them emotionally. In Spanish, I can say, "Dos cafes con leche, por favor," and then ask for the check. Sometimes I think that's pretty gosh darn good. Today, one of my students said, while looking at a photo of a new mother in the hospital, "I think she is very glad because she is smiling. But also, the twins look like they may not be healthy, because they have tubes for oxygen. So maybe the mother is very scared that they will not live or they might be ill. And, she must also be feeling apprehensive about raising two children at the same time." How impressive! And yet, I feel that I was able to teach them some new vocabulary, etc. I also taught someone how to spell 'brief' properly! Not bad for my first hour and a half class!

Craig and I have both been assigned several hours a week by British House. They want Craig to teach the bulk of the advanced students since he has the technical side of the grammar down, and they want to eventually put me with children...which, although I'm not too excited about it, is the best way to utilize my own talents. I am actually also working as a private teacher for a 14 year old girl. I interviewed for the job this week, and I was hired to begin Monday. I am no longer scared of being able to find work, and I am much more confident about teaching. I think paying attention in class all my life is really paying off now!