First Day of School

Today is my first day of teaching English in Georgia as a TLG Volunteer! 

I have been assigned to the Batumi Public School N6.  I officially have two co-teachers because I am only supposed to go up to the 6th grade but there is another English Teacher.  My co-teachers are Nino and Nat'o.  I am free to help the other teacher, Nana, when I am free.  She teachers the older students (High School).  When I arrived at the school, I could not remember where the Teachers Lounge was.  After the introduction meeting on Thursday, I was given a VERY quick tour of the school.  There were several times this morning when I was attempting to find the Teachers Lounge that I would open a door to a classroom instead. OOPS! Luckily, I found my co-teacher, Nino, in the hallway shortly after that.

I think today was observing day, which I liked because I did not get a lot of prep time with my co-teachers.  I introduced myself at the beginning of each class (4B, 4A, and 3) and the most common question was "Is she married?"  I got more questions about my martial status from the children than from my host family!  In 4A& B, the students had memorized a part of a letter and we read that several times out loud.  Repetition is a strong element of the Georgian School system.  Then, I read the next part of the letter out loud.  I mainly helped with pronunciation.  Nino, double checked with me on several words to make sure that she was saying them correctly.  I really appreciate the fact that Nino is easing me into teaching.  I know that I will be comfortable soon, but it's a little difficult since I don't know the Georgian language, but I am still learning.  During orientation, they stressed that the management of classrooms is not the greatest.  I found that the 4th graders seem very attentive and there was a girl that looked like she was about to cry because I did not call on her first to read the letter.  She relaxed once I called on her later on in the session.  However, the 3rd grades are not very attentive nor do they participate as much.  They has recently learned the body parts and now love to sing "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes".  After that, it was a struggle to get them to take notes from the board.  When the children became unfocused, Nino would take a marker and tap it on the desk many times until they were all quite.  She only had to do it a few times.  I believe that she has her classes pretty well managed.  I think that having 2 teachers circulating in that class will help the children focus more.  I have some ideas in mind and I'm excited to try them out!

I will spend my Sunday prepping for classroom ideas! However tomorrow, I will be having lunch with a fellow TLG Volunteer from my session who is visiting Batumi for the day.  Also, I am meeting up with a TLG Volunteer,Charolette, who I met today.  Charolette was apart of the first group who came to Teach in Georgia, she taught at my school for a year, and now she teaches full-time at Batumi University.  I am excited to brainstorm ideas, and to know another American who is living close by. :)

Pictures of the school are coming soon!
Until next time!
Adventure is out there!

PLACEMENT!

Big News Everyone!! Yesterday, the TLG group of January 15th, 2012 has gotten their placements! I have found out that I am going to be in beautiful port city of Batumi in the Adjara region.  It's a port city on the Black Sea.  (The picture on the right is of Batumi and I think it's the Meskheti mountains behind it.  Don't quote me because I'm probably wrong.)  It is in the southwest corner of the country.  Using a map, I roughly estimated that Batumi is about 10 miles from the Turkish border and 230 miles from T’bilisi.  I am so excited to go to Batumi!  I was really hoping for a chance to be on the Black Sea because I love the water.  I never actually thought I would get what I wanted, but it looks like the universe was on my side. 

Towards the end of the day, some of the current TLG members came in to talk about their experiences so far in the program.  We talked about their schools, their homestay families, how to deal with classroom management, after school programs, working with the co-teachers, traveling around Georgia, and so much more!  I would share that the main concerns in the group so far are dealing with the gender roles and the stray dog situation in Georgia.  First I’ll talk about my understanding of the gender roles.  Georgia is a traditional patriarchal society, which means that the man is the head of the house.  Men are the breadwinners and women are traditionally stay-at-home moms.  This is not always the case; it is changing in urban areas.  Many of the women are actually school teachers to earn extra money, but I’ll talk more about this later! J Now about the dogs… Georgia is full of stray dogs!  Let me tell you, do not approach them!  This is what I am working on because I love dogs.  I just want to run over, hug them, and take them home.  But I won’t.  Strays are a big problem because there are significant amount of dog bites/attacks to humans during the year.  Last year alone there were 34,000 dog bites/attacks in Georgia alone.  After hearing that statistic, I am keeping a very watchful eye on any stray that crosses my path.  I have seen about 10-12 strays so far and they have all been pretty distant.  I am always watching though in case one might decide that I look tasty. 

Well that’s all for now, mainly because it’s breakfast time and I’m SUPER hungry!  Until next time!

Adventure is out there!

I'm on day 2 :)

Welcome to Georgia!  I have arrived in T’bilisi.  It took us two days to travel here.  Luckily, we had a 12-hour layover in Warsaw, Poland and we were able to explore some of the city.  We took a 45-minute bus ride from the airport to the city center.  We explored a small part of the Old Towne, found a monument dedicated to the Uprising, etc.  I forgot to mention that while walking around Warsaw, it was snowing big, beautiful flakes, but it was very windy.  I did not mind that much.  I was cold, but I was in Poland! J After lunch and the attempt to find the Warsaw Ghetto, we went back to the airport and waited to get on the plane.

This picture is in the Old Town Square of Warsaw in front of the Royal Castle!

We arrived in T’bilisi at 5 o’clock in the morning, and were welcomed by the local media news crew.  There were a few TLG participants who gave interviews on camera.  I had heard rumors that the media would be interested in us, but I did not actually believe that they would be there as soon as we stepped off the plane.  It was a little strange to have my picture taken because I’m sure that I did not look my best after two days travel and it was also 5am.  Very attractive.  Ha! 

We, the TLG members, are staying at the Bazaleti Hotel in T’bilisi.  It really has been two full days, but due to the jet lag, lack of sleep, and busy orientation schedule it feels like I have been here for weeks.  The only thing I regret is that I have not seen very much of the city so far.  I made the mistake of sleeping during the time that we were designated to use for exploring… or sleeping.  I took the sleeping route.  We have a Shopping Excursion scheduled for Friday and I will be able to get to see the city a little bit then.  I am planning to come back for a weekend or a day-trip later on in my semester.

So far during our orientation, we have had seminars on Georgian Language, Safe Transportation, Intercultural Training and more.  I am really enjoying the language classes and I feel like I’m picking it up fairly quickly.  I just have to concentrate on private study time to keep my mind fresh.  However, my favorite session so far was the “Stereotyping” section of the Intercultural Training.  We had written down the areas where we were from on a piece of paper (e.g. I wrote “Wisconsin”) and then taped it to your back.  Then we went around the room writing down stereotypes that we know of in everyone’s areas.  Things that people wrote on my sheet were:

-Cheese

- Fireworks

- Funny, mid-western accent

I suppose that those would be correct, except for the fireworks comment.  I did not know that Wisconsin was known for its Fireworks production.  You learn something new everyday!  After that, we went over the stereotypes that Georgians have of foreigners/TLG volunteers.  Their stereotypes:

-Brave

- Dedicated

- Adventurous

- Willing to learn another language

- Willing to visit an exotic country

- Privileged

- Rich (we don’t need to work)

- Knowledgeable

- Movie Stars (That explains why the media met us at the airport)

- All Americans live in L.A. or New York

- Not family orientated

- High divorce rates

- And the biggest conspiracy theory is that we are all Spies

I loved hearing what the general Georgian population thought of us because I had no idea what they thought of us.  I suppose the only stereotypes that I have for Georgians are:

-       - I have been told that they are very welcoming and hospitable, I’m hoping that’s the case

-       - Crazy drivers!

-       - Very curious about foreigners

That’s about all I have heard or experienced at this point.  I am interested to see how these generalizations will change after getting my assignment and meeting with my host family.  I can’t wait to see what happens in Intercultural class tomorrow!  Plus learning more Georgian!  J

K’argad!

Adventure is out there!

Date of Departure!

JANUARY 13^th IS HERE!!! The day that I leave for Georgia is finally here.  I think I might be feeling a little more nervous now, but it still doesn’t feel real.  Once I get on the plane…

This is what my day looks like. Actually it’s more like the next couple of days:

-       Finish packing and re-packing

-       Leave my room in utter chaos because I was frantically looking for my travel towels.

-       Two days of travel until I reach my final destination.

-       Lengthy waits in between my three flights.

-       Trying to contain my excitement and attempting to sit still on flights is going to be a struggle.

-       Meeting new friends in the program on my flights!

-       And I should probably eat at some point during the two days.

In less than an hour, I’ll be leaving for the airport.  In two days, I’ll be in Georgia.  In one week, I’ll be meeting my host family and begin my life as an English Teacher living in Georgia!

Wish me luck! Here’s to hoping that my suitcase is not too over weight!

Adventure is out there!

So it begins! The Georgia Chronicles!

This is the beginning of a very big adventure.  Well, I guess it really began a couple weeks ago.  I was in the situation like so many others living in America today.  I am a recent college graduate with a degree in History, moved back home to save as much money as I can, and no idea what direction my life is headed.  My story has changed.  Slightly.  I am still a recent college grad.  I am still living at home, but only for another week.  I am beginning to see the pathway of my future and that pathway is leading back across the Atlantic Ocean!

In November, I was doing some Googling and attempting to find some insight as to where I would like my life to go.  I have always been interested in traveling, and it where my search began.  Through Google, I found Greenheart Travel, which led me to applying to teach English in the Teach Abroad in Georgia program.  I applied, interviewed, and was officially accepted into the program on December 27^th, 2011.  In about I week, I will be traveling to Tbilisi, Georgia (the one bordering Russia, not the Carolinas) to begin my orientation!

I am scheduled to arrive on January 15^th to begin the orientation.  I don’t know what ages I will be teaching or where I will be placed.  Even though that part of the program is uncertain, I’m not worried.  Since I’ve been accepted, “Are you nervous?” is probably the most popular question I’ve been asked.  Each time my answer has been, “No. Not really.”  I’m so unbelievably excited that that emotion is over-powering any other feeling I might have at this moment.  For the most part, I love not knowing where I’ll be placed or whom I will meet.  That allows me to not have any expectations at all!  I don’t want to know what to expect.  I have traveled in the past and it has always been the best part of my life.  I’m ready to go to Georgia, meet the people, experience the culture, and above all, Explore!

A new place.  No expectations.  An open mind. J

Adventure is out there!