School life in UB
If you are new to this, UB is short for Ulaanbaatar. Ulaanbaatar means Red Hero (Ulaan = Red, Baatar = Hero). It's quite a lengthy name, and the foreigners have brought it down to just UB... and the nickname has stuck.
We are finishing our second week of class here in UB. I was truly blessed to find this job! I work with students aged 7th-11th grade. I'm teaching them English. Amongst them we have other languages spoken... many other languages spoken... such as Chinese, Japanese, German, Turkish, Swedish, Korean, Russian, Kazakh, Polish... and I know there are many more, I just cannot think of them. And the places they have been! It's incredible. It's a far cry from the tiny town of Isabel I taught in. But in a sense, it isn't that different. We have the same dilemmas I faced there... no printer, all ages of students (6yrs-18yrs) in one building, really tasty food that will eventually make me fat (again!)... so on some days I feel a long ways from home, and other days it's nothing different.
I know in South Dakota we would sometimes complain about school things. Not enough colored paper, the ink cartridge in the printer needs changed, etc. It seems so mundane now in comparison to what takes place every day here. For instance, we don't have any kind of colored markers, pencils, crayons, paints, nothing. Posterboard? Nope. Construction paper? Nope. Just the other day our electricity went out and we spent the morning with no lights. I was concerned as to how we would eat lunch. Lunch is cooked in the basement of the school, and that is also where it is served. I really didn't know how they could have cooked it in the dark and then were we going to EAT in the dark? I'm always thinking with my stomach. Incredibly, when the lunch bell rang, lunch was ready, the lights were on, and we ate in the normal situation. One thing I learned last year in Mongolia (on my first trip here), everything will come together in the end. It's just that the "end" may take a long time to get here... hot water for example... but that is another posting.
Some students live in the dorm here, others are bussed in, and still others come by taxi. Most people in Mongolia don't own a car. Those that do pile into them! Carpooling is essential for survival here, or walking! Riding a bicycle isn't a good plan because the drivers are crazy. They will run you over and smile doing it. Amaraa's little brother was hit by a car while riding his bicycle. He's ok, but I'm pretty sure they won't move the Tour de France to Tour de Mongolia anytime soon.
We have "duty" at this school as well. All schools are different in this sense! Some schools it's a daily activity, others a weekly. Here it is a daily activity where you watch "your end" of the building (in my case, the secondary side) between classes and lunch time. For the most part it is pretty calm, but one thing I have difficulties with are the unattended children. They just sit in classrooms with no teachers and ... do whatever! I assure you kids aren't THAT different around the world, so you have those general activities of text messaging on cell phones, card games, horseplay, and such; and our windows, I was noticing, are huge (big enough for a body to go out!) and have no screens or safety features... it would be very simple for a person to be pushed our fall from them. You see lots of crazy dangerous things like that in Mongolia; you just say a little prayer in your mind and look away. I don't know what else you would do. If you tried to save everyone from the dangers, well... come here and see.
Also, President George W Bush would be beside himself with our lack of teaching standards and the number of children being Left Behind on a daily basis. We don't have any state standards, national standards, continental standards, nothing like that. Just whatever. So you are used to teaching TO the STANDARD? Try teaching with NO standard. At least WITH standards you have some ideas on where to start, what the children should know...
Write with any questions about our schools. I'll try and post again tomorrow with a new topic... Where's the damn hot water?
Sher
We are finishing our second week of class here in UB. I was truly blessed to find this job! I work with students aged 7th-11th grade. I'm teaching them English. Amongst them we have other languages spoken... many other languages spoken... such as Chinese, Japanese, German, Turkish, Swedish, Korean, Russian, Kazakh, Polish... and I know there are many more, I just cannot think of them. And the places they have been! It's incredible. It's a far cry from the tiny town of Isabel I taught in. But in a sense, it isn't that different. We have the same dilemmas I faced there... no printer, all ages of students (6yrs-18yrs) in one building, really tasty food that will eventually make me fat (again!)... so on some days I feel a long ways from home, and other days it's nothing different.
I know in South Dakota we would sometimes complain about school things. Not enough colored paper, the ink cartridge in the printer needs changed, etc. It seems so mundane now in comparison to what takes place every day here. For instance, we don't have any kind of colored markers, pencils, crayons, paints, nothing. Posterboard? Nope. Construction paper? Nope. Just the other day our electricity went out and we spent the morning with no lights. I was concerned as to how we would eat lunch. Lunch is cooked in the basement of the school, and that is also where it is served. I really didn't know how they could have cooked it in the dark and then were we going to EAT in the dark? I'm always thinking with my stomach. Incredibly, when the lunch bell rang, lunch was ready, the lights were on, and we ate in the normal situation. One thing I learned last year in Mongolia (on my first trip here), everything will come together in the end. It's just that the "end" may take a long time to get here... hot water for example... but that is another posting.
Some students live in the dorm here, others are bussed in, and still others come by taxi. Most people in Mongolia don't own a car. Those that do pile into them! Carpooling is essential for survival here, or walking! Riding a bicycle isn't a good plan because the drivers are crazy. They will run you over and smile doing it. Amaraa's little brother was hit by a car while riding his bicycle. He's ok, but I'm pretty sure they won't move the Tour de France to Tour de Mongolia anytime soon.
We have "duty" at this school as well. All schools are different in this sense! Some schools it's a daily activity, others a weekly. Here it is a daily activity where you watch "your end" of the building (in my case, the secondary side) between classes and lunch time. For the most part it is pretty calm, but one thing I have difficulties with are the unattended children. They just sit in classrooms with no teachers and ... do whatever! I assure you kids aren't THAT different around the world, so you have those general activities of text messaging on cell phones, card games, horseplay, and such; and our windows, I was noticing, are huge (big enough for a body to go out!) and have no screens or safety features... it would be very simple for a person to be pushed our fall from them. You see lots of crazy dangerous things like that in Mongolia; you just say a little prayer in your mind and look away. I don't know what else you would do. If you tried to save everyone from the dangers, well... come here and see.
Also, President George W Bush would be beside himself with our lack of teaching standards and the number of children being Left Behind on a daily basis. We don't have any state standards, national standards, continental standards, nothing like that. Just whatever. So you are used to teaching TO the STANDARD? Try teaching with NO standard. At least WITH standards you have some ideas on where to start, what the children should know...
Write with any questions about our schools. I'll try and post again tomorrow with a new topic... Where's the damn hot water?
Sher
posted by sheridan | 11:41 PM
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