Four days into my teaching gig and they haven’t pelted me with rotten
fruit yet, so must be going ok. Last week I taught 26 doctors from 2
rural provinces at an Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Hospital. This week
I have 30 rehab technicians (assistants) from the same rural provinces
and am teaching at a university.
It was a bit startling on day #1 to walk into the classroom and see all
of them rise to stand to greet me. For the most part they are super
attentive and engaged. And, just like when teaching at home, you can
quickly spot the really good students.
A number of students have given me gifts of special treats. Last week I
received an absolute bucket load of cashews, as they are grown in the
province where some of the students live. I also received an unusual
chewy rice treat flavored with orange (so they said, I couldn’t taste
it) and today was given candies made from coconut and durian. In return
I have been giving them small Canadian treats for jobs well done.
Today it was candy canes (thanks MB). They celebrate Christmas, but had
never seen candy canes.
The one thing I can’t quite get used to is returning from the long (2
hour) lunch break to see them all sleeping on the floor, on the desks,
anywhere! It is so hot here, culturally they shut down after lunch to
avoid the heat of the day.
So, as usual, due to my “incredible” sense of direction, I have been
lost on campus (seven thought it is darn small). The other day I was
discretely looking for the washroom – although one could argue that it
is hard to be discrete when carrying one’s own toilet paper, and a guy
started yelling and waving at me. Turns out I don’t have to use the
student washroom, I am entitled to use a much nicer (read cleaner) one
in the administration building. That may have been the highlight of my
day. It’s the simple things in life!
After your post about the machinations of buying stationery and the post office, I can only hope that the students better understand what you are teaching them!
No posts about long curly hair in the heat?