(no subject)

[yiskah]

I have no idea what to post about on LJ at the moment (everything seems to involve too much background and context), and am having a slow Friday (day-off plans foiled by ill couchsurfer, though I may go out shortly to read a book in a cafe or similar), so I am going to do this meme. I always assume that everyone knows everything about me, but maybe you don't.

The problem with LJ: We all think we are so close, but really we know nothing about one another. So I want you to ask me something you think you should know about me. Something that should be obvious, but you have no idea about. Ask away. Then post this in your LJ and find out what people don't know about you.

Have at it!

Hm, I will even make this post public, so that you can ASK ANONYMOUSLY if you want. Don't be evil though.

Comments

[angiv.livejournal.com]

Now that you are teaching, is it as bad as you thought it was going to be, or do you enjoy it more than you expected? I seem to have the feeling that it's the latter, but wonder if that's wishful thinking.

[yiskah.livejournal.com]

Good question! I was talking about this with a friend last night (who taught in Japan for two years and then in Sudan for about three months, before going off to do far swankier jobs), and we agreed that we both find teaching surprisingly enjoyable when we're actually doing it, but somehow there is a persistent dread of it the rest of the time. I don't know why, and it doesn't make sense, but there you go.

To elaborate a bit, I am currently working two jobs - my university day job, and three evenings a week at a private language school. The teaching at the university really varies - some of my classes are great but all of them have some trouble-makers (or just slackers) and if they're in the mood to play up I end up having to do discipline and shouting and ARGH I absolutely hate that, especially because it's a university, not a school, and I'd rather not have to teach people who clearly would rather not be here. However in my evening job I genuinely enjoy my classes, as they are full of people who have paid out of pocket to be there (as opposed to the university, which is full of spoiled rich kids whose parents have paid out of pocket) and really really want to learn, and we have a great time. So yeah, I guess in conclusion I would say that I really enjoy the bits of teaching that are about teaching, and I really really hate the crowd-control aspects.

That said, although I do enjoy it, I don't find it particularly intellectually stimulating or challenging (English language teaching, anyway - there are almost certainly other subjects that I would find far more interesting to teach) and would hate to have to do it for the rest of my life.

[zoje-george.livejournal.com]

...we both find teaching surprisingly enjoyable when we're actually doing it, but somehow there is a persistent dread of it the rest of the time.

That's exactly how I felt the entire time I was teaching.

[yiskah.livejournal.com]

It's so weird, isn't it? And it seems to be quite common among teachers. Every time I get in front of a class I'm like oh, this is fine, what was I stressing about? And yet why can;t I carry that realisation over into the rest of the time I spend dreading it? BAH.