Summary of 2008
Jan and Feb- still working in my old job, fed up and thinking of leaving
March/ left job, started applying for other work and lived with mom for a bit.
April- started working in Bournemouth teaching English . No intro to teaching, did well under the circumstances. Breaking wasnt great, though found a very good spot for gymnastics.
June, July- Bournemouth again. Sun expected though rarely there. Not enough hours, low earnings.
August- Interview for Portugal- highest wages in Europe for Tefl teachers.
Late August- going to Portugal!
September- Bummed around Brum not doing alot, I would later regret this
Late Sept- Lisbon. Generally good, started blog, shite training but Lisbon was/is amazing.
Oct- Trouble in paradise, you can read it all here.
Nov- School gets better, weather still good, tho home life is stormy with the two girls bitching at each other no end, this lasts for over 5 weeks.
Dec- festive season is here, tho the weather is still warm ish. Teaching drags, especially the last 15 days. Housemates leave early and there is a wide selection of guests staying- Portuguese, portuguese french, turkish. I try to keep my head. Injuries come bk, I stagnate,
Portuguese comng along, learn the present continuous, simple past and present s=tense of regulars and a few irregulars,
Late Dec planning- In store is xmas at home in brum, boxing day with my gf, a fe days with friends, 30th in london, ny in brum then chill out till the 5th when all sytstems go, arriving into faro in the morning, 4 hour trip bk, blast it home then teaching till 10pm. Will be crazy.
The year from different perspectives
Economically- good and bad, got a job at least. Debts still loom and investments have lost 60% of their value,
Physically- up and down. Was very up unit injuries came bk. Since the start of the year I have damaged ligaments in my foot, re fucked my dislocated finger and had wrist issues. That said, i'm still alive!
Intellectually- Reading was good in UK, though here in Portugal I'm short on reading material!
Linguistically- Getting there with Portuguese, tho my Spanish is eroding and my Japanese has all but vanished!!
Spiritually- The sun and Ajuda help me through the low periods. Though my room will soon be a training spot, that'll see me through my f-ed up finger or not! Haven't devoted much time for the wej in me..
Professionally- Up and down, ending the year higher than I started! Got some praise from senior teachers and the big boss. Getting on well with teachers, staff and kids, albeit the bboying teacher might annoy through his general enthusiasm.
Musically- Couldnt dj in BM, and have no instruments in Lisbon. 09 is the music year, I am gonna start piano, and possibly buy a guitar.
Bboyingally- Hmmm, generally been a bit down on it. Bournemouth was dry until my final week. Lisboa aint got shit. There best bboy is a swiss 18 year old (who wants to get out as soon as poss, can't blame him). Oddly enough, training alone has pushed me further towards the abstract goal of ' getting better'.
That's it. Now write yours and post it in the comments section!
ps. Bet you won't.
Sunday, 21 December 2008
Wednesday, 3 December 2008
Some Comic Relief
Cambridge Comic relief
Well, juggling the morals of laughing at students is tough. In general, I don't do it- other studnts mocking other students sends me a tad loco. Though this example was so instantly funny it passed the ethical service station- no time for a stop, and kept on going, and going, and going.
The brief background to this story is one worth repeating as a) it sets the tone and b) my day (barring the joke) is almost identical, every Tuesday and Thursday.
I get in around 1ish, though sometimes before and sometimes after, depending on the transport and if the drivers have bothered turning up. At school I prepare, joke, eat scraps of food then 'teach' my level 5s, aka,private school punks that really need a reality slap from a big wet bacalhau (sticky, salty,wet, wide, fish, oh.... and Portuguese). I get through this class like an addict gets through rehab, kicking and screaming. For avid readers of the pearls of wisdom that are my entries on this online home of random ramblings, this was the group I 'happened' to be observed on (microscoped, prodded, and beaten with constant 'constructive'
So once I survive that 'class', and get out before preemptively chopping selective students, oh who am i kidding, all of them, into little pieces , it is on to the next section of my day. My exam class. They are all well meaning students. Though they always seem to comment, in fact, add a commentary to what is going on with me, uncannily reading me like I was an open yellow pages and they are comparing the looks of each and every ad. They do that, without me sayig a word. Soooo,. after the usual invigorating exam class I am normally famished. Eat a cheese roll(the only thing we get free at my work, oh and a free headache, but they don't seem to promote that much), then back in the 'game'- for my level shits, sorry, level pricks, sorry level 6. Dicks.
Anywho. These are also from the private school up the road, though you wouldn't know it aside from the odd mention about going to Amsterdam, smoking drugs, shockingly pretentious gems of language use I tell thee, so much so I've recommended that a few become poets.
On the whole the class is okay, though having already taught other teenagers I'm not that up for another lot. Luckily there are a few characters and it can sometimes be ok, better than the deathrow inmates (level5s) anyway.
So, the other day we were in class and one student asks me a question. It was near the end of the day, I was tired and this was a quiet student. He says, blank-straight faced, almost asking 'Jake, I have a cock,'. Hmmmm, how to respond. I honestly couldn't. I kinda just said 'hmm', then promptly laughed. He repeated, so did I. Then he said ' I toss cock'. More laughs from moi aka Mr Professional.
Turns out he wanted to say cough, cough in Portuguese, regrettably, sounds like toss. So, momentarily my normal Poker faced professionalism was shattered. Beautifully, no one else knew what was going on. So, perfect comic relief for the prison guard, sorry Tefl teacher(moi for those that can't keep up), at the end of a loooooooong day. Genius. Thanks Bernardo.
Well, juggling the morals of laughing at students is tough. In general, I don't do it- other studnts mocking other students sends me a tad loco. Though this example was so instantly funny it passed the ethical service station- no time for a stop, and kept on going, and going, and going.
The brief background to this story is one worth repeating as a) it sets the tone and b) my day (barring the joke) is almost identical, every Tuesday and Thursday.
I get in around 1ish, though sometimes before and sometimes after, depending on the transport and if the drivers have bothered turning up. At school I prepare, joke, eat scraps of food then 'teach' my level 5s, aka,private school punks that really need a reality slap from a big wet bacalhau (sticky, salty,wet, wide, fish, oh.... and Portuguese). I get through this class like an addict gets through rehab, kicking and screaming. For avid readers of the pearls of wisdom that are my entries on this online home of random ramblings, this was the group I 'happened' to be observed on (microscoped, prodded, and beaten with constant 'constructive'
So once I survive that 'class', and get out before preemptively chopping selective students, oh who am i kidding, all of them, into little pieces , it is on to the next section of my day. My exam class. They are all well meaning students. Though they always seem to comment, in fact, add a commentary to what is going on with me, uncannily reading me like I was an open yellow pages and they are comparing the looks of each and every ad. They do that, without me sayig a word. Soooo,. after the usual invigorating exam class I am normally famished. Eat a cheese roll(the only thing we get free at my work, oh and a free headache, but they don't seem to promote that much), then back in the 'game'- for my level shits, sorry, level pricks, sorry level 6. Dicks.
Anywho. These are also from the private school up the road, though you wouldn't know it aside from the odd mention about going to Amsterdam, smoking drugs, shockingly pretentious gems of language use I tell thee, so much so I've recommended that a few become poets.
On the whole the class is okay, though having already taught other teenagers I'm not that up for another lot. Luckily there are a few characters and it can sometimes be ok, better than the deathrow inmates (level5s) anyway.
So, the other day we were in class and one student asks me a question. It was near the end of the day, I was tired and this was a quiet student. He says, blank-straight faced, almost asking 'Jake, I have a cock,'. Hmmmm, how to respond. I honestly couldn't. I kinda just said 'hmm', then promptly laughed. He repeated, so did I. Then he said ' I toss cock'. More laughs from moi aka Mr Professional.
Turns out he wanted to say cough, cough in Portuguese, regrettably, sounds like toss. So, momentarily my normal Poker faced professionalism was shattered. Beautifully, no one else knew what was going on. So, perfect comic relief for the prison guard, sorry Tefl teacher(moi for those that can't keep up), at the end of a loooooooong day. Genius. Thanks Bernardo.
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